Author: Jonathan Perrine

So, I have a lot of content (Dragons, Places, Plots) from almost every game of Epy I’ve run. What stuff might I mine from those files and share with the community which could help others in their games? 

Alternatively, would it be more useful to discuss the strategies I use to hang leading questions and kick-start worldbuilding at the table? 

I talk a lot about Strongholds in my game – Places where Dragons grow up. Here’s one from one of my earliest games. After I post a few, I might write a move for the one that people seem to like most. 

Wickerhome (A Stronghold of HouseTessith)

Many dragons of Tessith made promises to themselves and their families as they emerged from The War. The ancestors of Wickerhome’s inhabitants promised ‘Never Again’. Never again would they be tied to one place which could be besieged, and forced to choose between their lives and their homes. Under the leadership of elder crafters, and the hands of drake and dragon trained nearly from birth in the arts of weaving, Wickerhome wove itself shelter – Shelter that would never be tied to one strip of land. 

The treehouse homes of this Tessith enclave resemble massive upside-down teardrops, woven from not reeds or grass but from massive strips of bark and whole saplings, with larger homes housing larger dragons, who seem to barely fit, bird-like, into the round holes of the homes. However, what makes Wickerhome’s dwellings unique is their mobility.

Scouts map out copses of Leviathan Pines ahead of each migration. When the time comes for the nomadic tribe to move on, larger dragons merely unhook the dwellings of their smaller brethren from the branches and carry them to their new homes, hanging them in the boughs of a new, distant Leviathan. Of course, no larger dragons exist to carry the largest dwellings – Most seasons, the tribe’s largest members are content with the canopies for shelter, although a particularly beloved elder may receive a gigantic nest and ‘Honor Flight’ to move these enormous structures. 

Drakes are put to work young in the house. A young dragon might be tasked with scouring the forest floor for suitable materials, clambering over dwellings to spot weakness and perform repairs, and of course, every drake in Wickerhome is taught the ins and outs of elaborate weaving, both structural and decorative. In addition to woven art, Wickerhome’s oral traditions are alive with stories woven through with clever and determined dragons, who always know when it is prudent to press onward valiantly, and when to withdraw and gather their friends. 

(Next- Rabaton, the Rothscar Supply Depot)