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Well, during the last few weeks RL has been pretty invasive for me. That said, Eruvian continues to grow and attract new users with a passion for building worlds and sharing the fruits of their imagination.

I'd like to take a moment to extend a special thanks to Jason M Showell, the artist featured at left. Jason is amongst a small number of artists who have been kind enough to allow the use of their artwork within the Eruvian environment. I really like the detailed simplicity of Jason's work; you can find more of it at Jason's Elfwood gallery.

Two other artists who have allowed their work to be displayed on Eruvian are Hannah Lee Fritz and Iain Scott David. Hannah is a fellow lover of Tolkien and her work often speaks of Middle Earth, but within Eruvian her contribution enhances a simple barmaid, one of the many characters in Middleton. Iain's work can also be found on the island of Hydanham, but only if you're signed up as a GM for Pelagos.

I heartily recommend reaching out to the brilliant artists of Elfwood. Just be sure to get permission before posting any of their work. Cheers!

For a change of pace, a group may occasionally want to leave the fairly idealistic high-medieval fantasy behind for a darker, more corrupt setting. Some may even prefer this, players taking on a world where evil seems to be winning the epic struggle for humanity and life itself. To enhance this somber tone, dungeon masters may consider going beyond just expanding on the conflicts of the multiverse and actually change the balance of visible light and dark to mirror them.

Lighting is a powerful tool in setting the mood in movies, books, and games; sunlight is generally associated with happiness and success, rain with sadness and failure, and storms with approaching threats or doom. Likewise, a fairly safe, default setting in a roleplaying game assumes days with equal parts light and dark, encompassing normal dawn and dusk. Undead and other evil beings may plague the night, perhaps in cycles related to the moon, but are rendered dormant during the daytime.

However, different light-dark balances or endless night are other options to consider not just for outer planes of evil, but the Material Plane itself. Shorter days, with 60% to 80% of the time being noticeably dark in some degree, anywhere from dusk to pitch-black, are an option that avoids the troubles that eternal darkness brings, but still enhance the world's tone. Still, less sunlight may make it far more difficult for green plants to grow, making the land appear relatively barren.

Eternal dusk or darkness is another possibility; it adds a real note of eeriness. There may be no moon, or alternatively, time may be based on the moon's cycles. However, without natural light, normal life is not possible, so an alternative explanation must be found if verisimilitude is to be maintained. Green plants are autotrophs, taking their energy from sunlight and forming the basis of the food chain. In a setting with dusk or moonlight, they could arguably be enough for more efficient versions of real-world green plants. In an completely dark world, this is harder to overlook. Other options include an eons-old magical force that feeds life, one which plants can tap directly into for their energy. Fungi could instead form the basis of the food web, feeding off a similar force and replacing plants all together. While somewhat far-fetched, this force would explain the existence of plant monsters, natural plants that sucked up too much or were corrupted by this magical or evil force.

On a related note, climate is equally important. A bone-chillingly cold land could be quite interesting, but a temperate or forever lukewarm world would work as well. While not typically associated with undead and similar evils, a wretchedly hot, either dry or muggy, land is another option. Also to consider are the effects of wind and precipitation; a land of eternal rain differs from one with rain often, rarely, or never. A sunless world is realistically going to be bone-chillingly cold, lacking the primary source of heat input of most worlds. To solve this, one option would be to have heat seeping out from cracks in the earth due to volcanic, fiendish, or magical activity.

So, next time you assemble a party to embark on a gothic campaign or an adventure to delve into ancient and terrible mysteries, consider making the world itself reflect what it contains.

Share your thoughts about this article at Eruvian.com....

As alluded to in the last issue of the Erudite Eruvianite, Eruvian.com is hosting a mapmaking contest sponsored by our friends at Dundjinni. All Dundjinni maps submitted to Eruvian before December 15th will be reviewed by Eruvian's judging panel and the creator of the best map will receive $25 in Dundjinni software of their choice. The map must be made using only Dundjinni and its base art (no art packs or other software may be used).

Here are the details:

• Submissions must be part of a locale or other component in any setting or the Repository, and must be published - and thus visible to the world - on or before Saturday, December 15th, 2007.
• Once you have uploaded and published a map that you'd like to have considered, you must use the Eruvian Message Center to send a message to Eru that includes the name of the component the map is attached to (e.g. the name of the locale) or its Eruvian URL. Alternately, you can send an email to Eru@Eruvian.com.
• There is no limit to the number of maps that you can submit - feel free to submit as many as you like.
• Judgement will be in the sole discretion of the Eruvian panel, but all community ratings and reviews of components related to submissions will definitely be read and considered.
• The winner will be announced on or before Friday, December 21st, on the homepage of Eruvian.com and will receive commendation on Eruvian's homepage at least through the end of the year.
• The prize will take the form of a $25 store credit redeemable on Dundjinni.com.
• In the event that an unexpectedly large number of submissions are received, additional prizes and/or an increased grand prize may be offered at the sole discretion of Dundjinni and Eruvian.com. Numerous early submissions will likely increase the chances of this happening, so don't wait until the last minute!

Did you know that Eruvian allows you to upload audio files?

The first is called the Pronunciation Audio File and, as the name suggests, it allows you to guide the hapless user in getting their tongue around the 8-syllable name of that new dragon you just created. This is especially useful in the fantasy or sci-fi genres, where creators often feel it necessary to include accents, hyphens, or both in the names of their creations. Even names that you're SURE are simple and easy can be mispronounced by those not in the know - in other words, everyone but you.

The second type of Audio file is called the Introductory Audio File. This audio file is automatically played whenever a user visits the component in question. It is great for characters, allowing the creator to record an actual greeting or introduction in the character's voice. Don't have the vocal cords for it? Hit up one of your buddies to record something for you. You'll notice in the Eruvian User Profile that several users, such as Jaerc, have "Provides Voiceovers" as part of their list of skills.

Support for multimedia within Eruvian is still in its infancy. There are plenty of ways it can be used and refined, but it all depends on what you, the user, would like to both create and enjoy. If you'd like to see more development done on adding better support for audio, please don't hesitate to drop me a line.

by Michael K. Tumey (a.k.a. gamerprinter)

Humanity is on the brink of annihilation. Cursed by the gods with massive earthquakes 40 years ago that dropped 90 percent of the Greco city-states culture into the sea, the survivors live in pockets numbering from dozens to several thousand scattered in broken city-states across the fallen lands of Hadriatica. Each believe they are the last vestiges of mankind, facing daily starvation, pestilence and a final war against a half million orcs under their paragon overlord, Ghul Khan.

This is a dark setting of epic high fantasy within a framework of fanatical religions, total war, a post-apocalyptic environment and a grim perseverance to survive. This is the Fallen Lands.

The setting began as a joint project between Richard Brunke the original cartographer and creator of the Fallen Lands concept and my own campaign world, the Isles of Caillech – which fits perfectly with the recently developed vast northern reaches of the continent, called Dorica.

Although Fallen Lands is listed as "published" on Eruvian.com, it is still largely undeveloped and requires extensive contributions to be truly ready for publication.

Queenfange is developing one of the most intriguing humanoid races of Fallen Lands, the Gnomes and the Gnomic Syndicate. Take your standard D&D gnome, add Star Trek Next Generation's Ferengi and their Rules of Acquisition, darken it up with slave breeding and the slave trade, arms dealing, treaties with orcs, and finally study their shrinking pantheon, as their gods continue to kill off competition – and you have the Gnomes of the Fallen Lands. Think of their syndicate as a racial thieves guild and you're spot on.

There are plans to develop a complete series of campaign modules taking a party of adventurers from 1st to epic levels of play. The rich storyline provides many opportunities for both "hack-slash" and pure roleplaying – thus, this is a complete RPG campaign world. The dark and epic nature of the Fallen Lands should keep a group of players interested and on course to the climactic end. I plan to include alternate "beginnings" and "endings" with many side adventures throughout the modules to offer more individuality for DM preferences.

Know this, even though the modules are built to follow an ongoing storyline, the Fallen Lands is a complete world, varied enough to include adventures and mini-campaigns outside the primary campaign saga. All areas of the Fallen Lands are being developed.

Aside from publication on Eruvian.com, I have big plans for Fallen Lands! Because I am an author, artist, publisher and industry professional, I plan to not go the "Indie" publication route, but rather the professional print-on-demand route and may even be providing these services myself.

I will be offering both printed maps and VTT map products for Fallen Lands. I plan to follow the E.N. Publishing example by providing a free downloadable campaign setting with optional POD printed versions, and paid-for adventure modules and maps – all offered through my website.

I even plan to offer post-market handbooks focused on the various races of Fallen Lands, including: the Orcs of Ghul Khan, the Gnomic Syndicate, and the Barbarians of Dorica.

Think high fantasy in a dark post apocalyptic world, throw in the recent movie "300", Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey, the Adventures of Hercules, Robert E. Howard's Conan and 500,000 screaming orcs and you have the Fallen Lands. Do you want to play?