Limitless Worlds

Limitless Worlds

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Pulpwood!'s Setting Pt. 1: The Hispanic Americas

So, I've decided to include a setting with Pulpwood. While it will be pretty easy to morph into any setting you want, it serves two purposes

1. For someone who doesn't want to create a setting, they can easily use this
2. It allows me to build the world I want to play in, as well as gives me notes to build a bestiary upon

The bestiary is important. I need monsters, but I don't know what I need. If I actually write out what monsters and creatures are where, I'll get a good sense of what I need to write up.

So, I present the first section I wrote for the setting, which is the Hispanic Americas. This deals with the Caribbean, Mexico and parts of South America. To give a quick rundown of each area:

Northern Mexico: Drug cartels everywhere, and they are in league with the Mafia!
Southern Mexico: Aztec cults, ruins, and the walking dead!
Caribbean: Modern day pirates, along with mind controlled 'zombies' (instead of the real ones)!
Peru: The Inca actually discovered space travel and took to the stars! Channeling a lot of TORG's Space Gods supplement here, but these Inca are just technologically advanced humans. They also probably got the tech from Atlantis (whoops, spoilers for a later edition ;D)
Amazon: Lots of lost world/King Kong stuff! Giant ants, mysterious tribes, all that good stuff.


Mexico
Mexico is a very long and varied country. Though most view Mexico as an arid badlands, this only really applies to the northern most areas, near the border. The coasts are mountainous and full of beautiful beaches. A lot of these areas are ruled under a huge drug cartel, known as Los Nueve Gatos. The leader goes only by the name Calico. They often make raids on small, defenseless towns in search of supplies to grow cocaine. Though cocaine was originally used as a pain medicine, this cocaine is raw, unrefined and extremely dangerous. Calico is known to be heavily invested in many other major criminal syndicates, such as the Mafia and the Jade Fists. They've recently also started extending their influence into the Caribbean.
As you journey south down Mexico, the deserts slowly give way to dense and inhospitable jungles. This was once the home to the mighty Aztec civilizations, who were all but destroyed by the Spanish, but their massive ruins and pyramids are still scattered amongst the jungles. However, many indigenous people still practice their ancient Aztec traditions. Some even venture too far, forming a cult following around them. One of these people is Jorge Rivara, now known as Jaguar With Two Hearts. He claims to be the reincarnation of Quetzalcoatl, and he has built up quite a following. He promises his disciples eternal life, and some natives have given reports to the Mexican government of 'Muerte Camino', or 'walking dead'.

Caribbean
  The Caribbean is a large island chain just off the coast of the United States. They used to be the battlegrounds of the Spanish, Dutch, French and English during the Age of Exploration, but mostly all of the islands are now independent nations. Their mixed heritage shows in the food and culture of each island.
However, piracy is not dead. Several rogue bands still run around, longing to live out the days of yore. Though their equipment is high tech, their methods are not. The pirates often raid cargo vessels headed for New Orleans or Miami, and with the rise of the drug trade from Mexico, the Caribbean can be a dangerous place to tread if you value your life.
        The Caribbean is also the heart of the Voodoo religion. Voodoo worships death and the afterlife, and many priests and priestesses deal in hexes, curses and evil potions. Some potions are even said to put people into a zombie like state, where they become slaves to the owner's will.
        Baron LaCrux is probably the most famous Voodoo priest on the islands, along with being one of the richest men. He's also the head of a large pirate fleet, though you may end up missing a few body parts if you tell anyone. People say his crew is composed of mindless zombies, and given the Baron's reputation, this is not unlikely.

Peru
Peru is on of the most mountainous country in South America. These giant mountains, inhabited mostly by goats and grasses, was once the home of the mighty Inca civilization.
The Inca, unlike the Aztecs, are relatively unknown. The few details are told through their giant mountain peak cities and their mastery of astronomy and the stars. They actually developed a calendar that accurately kept dates for over thousands of years! Though much of the indigenous population of Peru has Incan heritage, few don't know (or either won't say) what happened to their ancestors: mostly all the discovered cities are in too good of a condition to have been destroyed as the result of an attack, but if this is the case, what happened? Some theorize that the Inca had managed to build spaceships and head towards the stars.
This may actually have some credance to it. There have been reports of strange light shows in the mountains near Cusco, and other reports of robed figures and shadows around the ruins of cities such as Machu Picchu. Could the Inca have finally returned from wherever they ran off from? And if so, why did they come back?

Brazil
Brazil is the largest country in South America, and is also home to the mighty Amazon River and it's surrounding jungle. The Amazon accounts for about half of the rainforests in the world. It is dense, deep, and forboding. While traveling through the Amazon, you are never far from the Amazon River, which is one of the largest in the world.
The Amazon is relatively unexplored. It is extremely easy to get lost amongst the trees, river branches and dense canopies. All types of terrifying creatures lurk within: tales of giant apes, ants and beetles the size of cars, and uncontacted native tribes who would not hesitate to kill or capture any 'white man' that enters their territory.

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