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Hakkon's Gift
I can't put an apostrophe in the main title =(
This is a level I created for my entry to Community Contest 1. Instructions are located in the README. Of particular note would be the .met, .mmh, .msh and .phy files included; see the README for instructions on where to place these files for infinite draw distance on models. The area is quite large and to see Hakkon's Gift as it was imagined and intended, I highly recommend using the infinite draw distances (you may experience slowdown on lower end machines, as these are not actually lower poly models).
* * *
Hakkon's Gift can be renamed as appropriate for any module it is used in. Basically, Hakkon's Gift is a former Avvar village built into the side of a snowy ridge in a newly explored area of the Frostback Mountains, Wintersbreath Pass. It is now populated by hardy Fereldan hunters and trappers. Obviously this can be changed to reflect the module- I tried to arrange the terrain and vista mountains so that the entire scene sloped upward, so that it didn't necessarily have to be located high in the mountains. It could be used as a mountaintop town, a snowy foothill town, etc.
All models are stock- I made heavy use of buildings pieced together from various props to portray a primitive culture. Hakkon's Gift includes two zone entrances/exits on opposite ends of the village, with paths leading away. I included a possible dungeon/adventure zone entrance just outside the village- an ice cave, its entrance frozen over (can be set up with an invisible area transition). A team has broken through and maintains a small entrance into the cave. I tried to set it up so it could be easily ignored (by removing the props or just not adding an area transition) and used simply as a place to visit just outside of town if the module does not have such a dungeon/zone.
Points of interest: Craft enclave and trading post, frozen ponds/lakes with ice fishing camps (ice is walkable), totem poles to the ancient Avvar gods, a butcher/meat trader, bridge over a frozen ravine, storytelling cave, shaman's hut with ancient runestone, a new building's construction site, Hammerhall (intended as a tavern/mead hall/whatever), frozen cave entrance, thane/village chief's longhouse.
I recommend using the rectangular Fur Door placeable for doorframes where applicable!
* * *
All hope is abandoned high in the Frostback Mountains. But smoke and towering totems can just barely be seen in the distance, through the driving snow. Come, adventurer. Sanctuary lies just over the rise.
* * *
The brave Fereldans who first scouted what is now known as Wintersbreath Pass neared death. Their food and water had run low, and their strength was sapped by a horrific blizzard that lasted for days and the relentless cold it brought with it. Their leader, the great explorer Abram Barlowe, urged them through the blinding white, assuring them that their quest would be successful; they would soon reach Orlais and the world would know their names as the men who conquered the southern Frostbacks. But the mountains soon wore Abram down as well and his prayers to the Maker went coldly unanswered. One by one the men began to succumb, and Abram desperately cried out to Hakkon Wintersbreath, the Avvar god of winter.
As if in response, one of the men began to shout that he had spotted what looked like a gigantic tree with no leaves or branches. Lo and behold, over the next rise they came upon an Avvar settlement built into the side of a snowy ridge. The "tree" was one of the enormous totem poles that rose high above the many huts; monuments to the Avvar gods. The men were overjoyed; some cried tears that froze on their reddened cheeks. Abram, of Chantry faith his whole life, fell to his knees and prayed his thanks to the Lord of Winter.
The Fereldans spent nearly a fortnight in the care of the Avvar. Abram, eternally grateful for the hospitality, became close with the tribe's thane. He shared with the tribe the tale of how the team had set out to discover a path through the southern Frostbacks and theatrically described the harrowing tale of their ascent. The Avvar were fascinated by the bravery of the lowlanders and by their leader's newfound reverence to their god, and offered to show them the way to the western slopes.
Once the storm had passed, the Avvar led the team down the ridge and through a vast, snowy wood. They knew secret ways between the peaks and across deadly yawning crevasses. The way was unmarked, the journey perilous; even if the men had survived the blizzard, the expedition would have surely failed without the guidance of the Avvar. When the rolling hills of the Dales finally came into their view, Abram turned to the thane and vowed that once he made it home, he would return to the village and show his appreciation to the Avvar with gifts and goods.
Abram Barlowe was a man of his word. Upon returning to Ferelden, he immediately organized an expedition back to the Avvar village. He chose the hardiest men and women he could find for the journey, for he knew that the mountains would try to finish what they had started. The way was cold and hard but Abram's memory was sound, and after a grueling journey the team at last came to the village. Abram threw down his pack and ran across the wooden bridge, making for the thane's hut. So excited was he that he did not notice that the village now had a ghostly silence and stillness about it. No torches or fires were lit. No tribesmen treated hides, chopped wood or prepared meat outside their homes. No freshly treated animal skins or braided ropes hung from the Avvar huts; only a few trappings and scraps shivered in the icy wind. When Abram entered the home of the thane, he found that it had been abandoned.
It appeared that the Avvar, such as they are, had moved on. Only their bare huts fashioned of wood and hides and the great totems to their ancient gods remained. Abram was saddened by their absence; he had truly thought of the tribe as friends after his experience in their domain, and he had hoped and indeed expected to see them once again. But he knew the ways of the Avvar. Nothing was permanent, least of all a brief encounter with a lowlander.
Abram decided to remain in the village's skeleton and build up a new home around it; a tribute to Hakkon Wintersbreath and the Avvar, and a bold statement to the mountains that had nearly claimed him. The settlement is now known as Hakkon's Gift and inhabited by those Fereldans hardy enough to carve their living from the dire Frostbacks. Those who seek to enter Orlais via Wintersbreath Pass undoubtedly stop to rest or trade there. But how long will the village survive the scorn of the mountains?
I can't put an apostrophe in the main title =(
This is a level I created for my entry to Community Contest 1. Instructions are located in the README. Of particular note would be the .met, .mmh, .msh and .phy files included; see the README for instructions on where to place these files for infinite draw distance on models. The area is quite large and to see Hakkon's Gift as it was imagined and intended, I highly recommend using the infinite draw distances (you may experience slowdown on lower end machines, as these are not actually lower poly models).
* * *
Hakkon's Gift can be renamed as appropriate for any module it is used in. Basically, Hakkon's Gift is a former Avvar village built into the side of a snowy ridge in a newly explored area of the Frostback Mountains, Wintersbreath Pass. It is now populated by hardy Fereldan hunters and trappers. Obviously this can be changed to reflect the module- I tried to arrange the terrain and vista mountains so that the entire scene sloped upward, so that it didn't necessarily have to be located high in the mountains. It could be used as a mountaintop town, a snowy foothill town, etc.
All models are stock- I made heavy use of buildings pieced together from various props to portray a primitive culture. Hakkon's Gift includes two zone entrances/exits on opposite ends of the village, with paths leading away. I included a possible dungeon/adventure zone entrance just outside the village- an ice cave, its entrance frozen over (can be set up with an invisible area transition). A team has broken through and maintains a small entrance into the cave. I tried to set it up so it could be easily ignored (by removing the props or just not adding an area transition) and used simply as a place to visit just outside of town if the module does not have such a dungeon/zone.
Points of interest: Craft enclave and trading post, frozen ponds/lakes with ice fishing camps (ice is walkable), totem poles to the ancient Avvar gods, a butcher/meat trader, bridge over a frozen ravine, storytelling cave, shaman's hut with ancient runestone, a new building's construction site, Hammerhall (intended as a tavern/mead hall/whatever), frozen cave entrance, thane/village chief's longhouse.
I recommend using the rectangular Fur Door placeable for doorframes where applicable!
* * *
All hope is abandoned high in the Frostback Mountains. But smoke and towering totems can just barely be seen in the distance, through the driving snow. Come, adventurer. Sanctuary lies just over the rise.
* * *
The brave Fereldans who first scouted what is now known as Wintersbreath Pass neared death. Their food and water had run low, and their strength was sapped by a horrific blizzard that lasted for days and the relentless cold it brought with it. Their leader, the great explorer Abram Barlowe, urged them through the blinding white, assuring them that their quest would be successful; they would soon reach Orlais and the world would know their names as the men who conquered the southern Frostbacks. But the mountains soon wore Abram down as well and his prayers to the Maker went coldly unanswered. One by one the men began to succumb, and Abram desperately cried out to Hakkon Wintersbreath, the Avvar god of winter.
As if in response, one of the men began to shout that he had spotted what looked like a gigantic tree with no leaves or branches. Lo and behold, over the next rise they came upon an Avvar settlement built into the side of a snowy ridge. The "tree" was one of the enormous totem poles that rose high above the many huts; monuments to the Avvar gods. The men were overjoyed; some cried tears that froze on their reddened cheeks. Abram, of Chantry faith his whole life, fell to his knees and prayed his thanks to the Lord of Winter.
The Fereldans spent nearly a fortnight in the care of the Avvar. Abram, eternally grateful for the hospitality, became close with the tribe's thane. He shared with the tribe the tale of how the team had set out to discover a path through the southern Frostbacks and theatrically described the harrowing tale of their ascent. The Avvar were fascinated by the bravery of the lowlanders and by their leader's newfound reverence to their god, and offered to show them the way to the western slopes.
Once the storm had passed, the Avvar led the team down the ridge and through a vast, snowy wood. They knew secret ways between the peaks and across deadly yawning crevasses. The way was unmarked, the journey perilous; even if the men had survived the blizzard, the expedition would have surely failed without the guidance of the Avvar. When the rolling hills of the Dales finally came into their view, Abram turned to the thane and vowed that once he made it home, he would return to the village and show his appreciation to the Avvar with gifts and goods.
Abram Barlowe was a man of his word. Upon returning to Ferelden, he immediately organized an expedition back to the Avvar village. He chose the hardiest men and women he could find for the journey, for he knew that the mountains would try to finish what they had started. The way was cold and hard but Abram's memory was sound, and after a grueling journey the team at last came to the village. Abram threw down his pack and ran across the wooden bridge, making for the thane's hut. So excited was he that he did not notice that the village now had a ghostly silence and stillness about it. No torches or fires were lit. No tribesmen treated hides, chopped wood or prepared meat outside their homes. No freshly treated animal skins or braided ropes hung from the Avvar huts; only a few trappings and scraps shivered in the icy wind. When Abram entered the home of the thane, he found that it had been abandoned.
It appeared that the Avvar, such as they are, had moved on. Only their bare huts fashioned of wood and hides and the great totems to their ancient gods remained. Abram was saddened by their absence; he had truly thought of the tribe as friends after his experience in their domain, and he had hoped and indeed expected to see them once again. But he knew the ways of the Avvar. Nothing was permanent, least of all a brief encounter with a lowlander.
Abram decided to remain in the village's skeleton and build up a new home around it; a tribute to Hakkon Wintersbreath and the Avvar, and a bold statement to the mountains that had nearly claimed him. The settlement is now known as Hakkon's Gift and inhabited by those Fereldans hardy enough to carve their living from the dire Frostbacks. Those who seek to enter Orlais via Wintersbreath Pass undoubtedly stop to rest or trade there. But how long will the village survive the scorn of the mountains?