Challengea - Domain of Primitives and the Lost

[HyperionSol]

A while back I made a post asking about a stone age domain and what one might look like. This idea hit me recently and I decided to put it on paper and see how it turned out. Inspired by The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle, here is a domain of dinosaurs, stone-age tribes, and a thirst for discovery in the darkest sense.

Challengea - Domain of Primitives and the Lost

The mists part, but linger in the hot and tropical jungles of this circular plateau. The air is thick and muggy and the sounds of exotic insects, animals, and other creatures constantly sound of predators, prey, and apex predators. Signs of civilization are few and far between.

This is the land known as Challengea, a plateau that contains an entire land that time had forgotten. Creatures, plants, and other creatures that had long been extinct still exist here. The isolation also allows for strange, new inhabitants to exist without corruption from the outside world.

Culture Level: 1 (Stone Age)
Religion: The Three Primals
Terrain: Rocky cliffs, tropical jungles
Government: Tribal Chieftans
Ruler: None
Darklord: Professor Archibald Challenger

Professor Archibald Challenger was a belligerent man and one that was hungry for prestige and glory. Sadly, he lived in a time where all academics truly believed that there was nothing left to discover in the world. Humanity had traveled to all continents, trekked every mountain, and many believed that there was nothing left to learn.

Challenger refused to believe this. This was not a belief born from scientific altruism or for the thrill of discovery. Challenger simply wished to have credit for discovering something groundbreaking and cementing his name into the annals of scientific history. To this end, he was known to be almost brutish, paranoid over his research, and often willing to jump at any possible theory which may bear fruit.

This was not to say that Challenger was a crackpot who believed any theory he came upon like a bone. He meticulously studied, experimented, and tested everything he felt may be a plausible and potential discovery. It was what kept his reputation sound despite his bully-ish behavior and demanding attitude. His methods did make several interesting studies, some minor discoveries, and helped build a respectable reputation, but none of it was the true recognition and history-setting fame he so desired.

His opportunity came while during an expedition into a tropical region, he found the ill and weak form of another explorer. The man could barely tell Challenger his name, but in his belongings was a worn and filled-out pocket journal. Interested, Challenger read it while the man slept. Inside were detailed notes, observations, and even directions to a plateau of land which had species of animals and plants which were thought extinct in the rest of the world.

With so much detail and observations, Challenger knew this was no fever dream or fraud. Realizing he was on the verge of a great discovery, he decided to pounce. However, he wished to be the one to discover it and be credited with it. To ensure as such, in the dead of night, he smothered the weak and sickly explorer with a pillow. With his ill health, no one questioned his passing as more than ill-fortune.

Challenger quickly made his pitch to the scientific authority, passing off the explorer’s notes as his own and seeking sponsorship for another expedition. He was met with ridicule by most, but there were some who saw possible merit. A reporter volunteered to record the journey. A lord who was an expert hunter and worldly man likewise volunteered. Challenger’s greatest rival, Professor Winters likewise volunteered, if only to prove his rival wrong.

The expedition set out and following the notes, Challenger found the way to the plateau. Scaling nearby rocky protrusions, they managed to reach the natural unreachable plateau. Being insistent on being the first there, Challenger boasted of naming the new plot of land Challengea, mixing his own name and the name of an ancient landmass.

The expedition moved forward, but found their way out sabotaged by superstitious locals who believed the place was one of evil and destroyed their makeshift bridge. With no other option, the expedition continued. They soon discovered many dangers, which included roving dinosaurs, massive insects, and different tribes of beast-folk who lived in different terrains and warred with each other.

The expedition was saved by a tribe of primitive men who welcomed them to their home. One of their greatest warriors, a woman who had golden blonde hair, revealed Challenger was not the first to step into the plateau, but the second. She and her parents's expedition visited it first but suffered the same bad luck of falling afoul of the superstitious outsiders who believe the plateau was nothing but evil.

Challenger seethed at being denied his due in a new discovery but knew he would be the first to discover much about the new land he insisted on calling the name he gave it. None of the primitive tribes cared though, ruining the importance he placed on it.

As the group stayed and made the best of things until a rescue party could come, Challenger explored different areas of the plateau. During his wanderings, he came across old ruins of a sophisticated ancient society. One which had a developed pantheon, tools, trade, and even mystical secrets. Ones which, if he understood carvings correctly, would allow him to harness the beasts of the plateau as his minions.

The expedition was proving to have much fortune. Among the natives, they discovered not only the old ruins, but also signs of untapped resources. The Lord Hunter discovered diamond deposits among the rocky cliffs. The reporter uncovered potential gold veins in the jungle. Professor Winters even discovered many new medicinal plants which could greatly aid medical treatment.

Challenger seethed at the discoveries happening. Each of the members laid claim to patches of the platea where their discoveries were found and giving them names. Challenger felt his anger rise and the indignanty. He was not the one to discover the plateau, he was not the first civilized man to step on it, he was not the first to discover the riches. The only thing he could claim was the ruins and there was so much of it he could not understand!

He threw himself into studying the ruins and managing with the aid of the native humans, he made progress. He even managed to unlock the spark of magic, being able to turn away a dinosaur that wandered too close. He returned to the camp to boast about his achievement when he overheard his fellow expedition members speaking. Their words spoke of cataloguing and sharing credit for discoveries they made in their time on the plateau. Challenger’s name would be there, but they were all insisting on getting what credit they had due. The reporter joked that since they found riches, their names would be remembered first.

It was a joke made entirely in jest, but to Challenger’s humorless ears, it sounded akin to a plot to steal his rightly deserved dues. Furious, he went back to the ruins and used the power he uncovered, abusing the natives’ knowledge and what little he had of his own, and caused numerous dinosaurs to emerge from the jungles.

Professor Winters soon found himself poisoned by a spitting dinosaur’s venom slipped into his foods. The Hunter found himself outmaneuvered by predators when he went on a hunt with the natives. The reporter almost met his end were it not for the golden-haired woman who fell in love with him and helped drive the dinosaurs away. All the while Challenger directed the dinosaurs to kill those he believed were trying to steal his due credit.

After the failed attempt on the reporter, Challenger attempted to return to the village, only to find the villagers barring his way. Challenger was able to hide signs of his crimes from his potential victims but considered the natives far too primitive to understand what he was doing. This was far from the truth, as they put the pieces together and saw him for the evil man he was. At the front were the reporter and the golden-haired woman, both declaring Challenger would face punishment for what he did and the world would know what a foul, miserable man he was.

If Challenger had a plan of action or was just acting out of sheer emotion, no one could say. In that moment, his rage flared like never before. In response, several predatory dinosaurs burst from the jungles and towards the natives’ camp. Once the dinosaurs smashed through what natural fortification the native tribe had, the massive animals began a massacre as the tribesmen tried to fight back. The reporter and golden-haired woman fled into the misty jungles as did Challenger with his beasts.

Challenger was never seen again.

Darklord of Challengea

Challenger found himself lost in the mists but did not fear anything happening to him. He was the master of the mightiest beasts in the plateau. Nothing would dare to try and bring him low. His wanderings took him back to the ruins he discovered and he sent more dinosaurs to hunt the last member of his expedition.

All he had to do was wait and no one would know what transpired.

Current Sketch

Challenger is perhaps the lone civilized human in the entire Plateau. Any remains of human tribes now see him as an enemy and his only place of refuge is the ruins he so obsessively studied to even gain his powers. He believes himself better than them, so he does not miss the contact and considers himself invincible because he can control the dinosaurs…although that swiftly changed.

As a Domain of Dread, Challengea has other nonhuman tribes appear. Pterafolk live in the mountains, taking the pteradons and mastering the skies. In the swamps and plains, lizardfolk tame and ride the herbivores and use them as battle steeds in their battles. The rivers and massive lake in the middle of the plateau are ruled by primitive sahuagin who rather than use sharks, use the sea-faring dinosaurs and prehistoric fish. Challenger can control the predators like raptors and t-rex, but he cannot control the others if the other tribes have tamed them with their magic.

Each tribe revers a primal deity, shaped like a dinosaur which represents their aspect of the plateau. The land, the sea, or the skies. They are all primitive tribes, but work well with their own groups. They are constantly at war with one another and do not trust or accept outsiders unless something grand has been done in their favor.

Darklord of Challengea

Challenger’s power as a Darklord is the magic to control the predatory dinosaurs of the plateau. If he can concentrate and focus on a dinosaur, he can use powers akin to Dominate Beast with automatic success. Herbivores and other dinosaurs require the saving throw. If the dinosaurs are enchanted with the magic from the other tribes, then he will automatically fail.

Challenger’s curse as a darklord is the utter frustration he suffers at knowing so little of his own discovery and fearing he will be outed as a fraud. He studies what he can of the ruins he got a taste of his power in, but without the native human tribe to help him, he can’t understand anything more than he has. The other tribes have similar ruins, but Challenger cannot get close as the other three have strongly defensible locations even his dinosaurs will not be able to get through easily, if at all. He never even considers trying to parley, since he considers himself so superior for coming from the ‘civilized’ world, not realizing he is just as savage as anyone else there.

He frantically tries to understand the ruins and have a proper study, thesis, and other academic processes complete before his rescue party comes for him. He knows the rescue is long overdue, but still fears it may come at any time before he is ready to go home. He fears even more that the reporter escaped the plateau and has already told someone what happened.

Adventure Seeds:

A party in Challengea are likely explorers themselves. Challenger will try to have any civilized explorers try to learn more from other ruins guarded by the tribes, but then try to silence them after getting any knowledge they have gleamed.

As Challengea is discovered by other domains, many civilized domains may try to send their own expeditions to set up no businesses there, especially if the rich resources are discovered. This can lead to colonial adventures as forces from Domains such as Dementlieu, Borca, or Lamordia try to create colonies and must contend with the natives declaring war on them. Challenger will be a constant threat in the shadows as he will see the colonists as people trying to steal his credit for his work. If he understood more of the hidden history and ways of the ruins, he may try to convince the people it was his discovery, but his curse prevents it.

The ancient civilization which built the ruins could also be a factor. Something they created could still be down under the ground, or perhaps the force which destroyed it untold years ago. Challenger’s obsessive studying and poking around could threaten to wake up that force and unleash it not only on Challangea, but perhaps allow it to cross the mists to other Domains.

Dread Possibility
It's possible that something in the nature of Challengea will have the three nonhuman tribes advancing their societies faster than they would otherwise develop elsewhere, becoming Aztec, Mayan, and/or Inca-like in terms of culture. They begin studying the ruins within their territories and uncovering relics and magic which advance them. As colonists begin coming to Challangea, they may be civilized enough to open trade. Challenger may become a true monster at this point, doing everything he can to keep the 'primitives' from advancing and discovering more about the ruins and ancient society before he can and try to escape so he can claim the credit.

[Manofevil]

Great one but I wonder if it doesn't belong on Gothic Earth. You ever see the lost world TV show?

[HyperionSol]

I did, but I have also read the original story too.

[Mistmaster]

Why make Challenger the villain thiught? He was not in the original story.

[HyperionSol]

Have you read the original story? The man's a belligerent brute, proud, and makes for a good villain if his morals were not what they were. That was my mindset when I wrote him up in this.

[Mistmaster]

I read it, he was proud and belligerant but also straightforward and honest.

[Manofevil]

I read the book, too. Great stuff, but I still think if you're going to use Challenger and the greater scientific community of the time, you should set it on Gothic Earth. Then again, maybe it could start on Gothic Earth and end up an island of terror in Ravenloft. Imagine Challenger somehow shedding his Darklord status and leaving the plateau only to find it surrounded by ocean instead of jungle, then getting picked up by a primitive sailing ship and taken to the core where he is met by a completely foreign society. Suddenly he's Gulliver wandering even stranger lands than in that book. There's nowhere left to publish his discoveries. etc. etc.

[HyperionSol]

Yeah, considering how it's based off The Lost World, the domain being from Gothic Earth would probably be the best. Like Odiare.