The Crown-World,
the atlas of Sylkaen
Sylkaen is not a young world set on fresh foundations. It is a land carried, shaped and rebuilt by successive civilizations, each building on the remains of the last without ever erasing them. Six regions, six capitals, and no map that is quite right.
The regions, their cities district by district, ready-to-play rumours and hooks, and the roads that tie it all together. 5e and 3.5 editions included.
No map of the Crown-World is ever quite complete, or quite false.
Here, you do not conquer
a map
You negotiate the right to pass. A fortress rests on an older city, an imperial road crosses a forgotten kingdom, and a whole mountain can hide a buried town.
One answer per region
In Ailenor, a visitor without wings does not climb: they are hoisted. In the Canopy, a missed clearing costs a year. In the Sands of the Suture, a bought route goes out of date before it has been walked. Each region answers the same question differently: what do you do with a land too old for anyone to know its depths?
What cannot last
The Standard of the Trading-Posts governs trade (the Nail, the Measure, the Full, and the Shard for what no purse can carry). The Rarefaction explains why the balance between the six powers will not hold, and what that changes for the characters.
One part per region,
and enough to play there
Each region gets its chapter: the territory, its sub-regions, its cities described district by district, its notable places, its figures, and a "Run It Like…" section to bring it to life at the table.
The Lands of the First Furrow
The central continent and its trading posts, from Ambrelis to the hive-city of Khépra, with the Bastion of the Seven Locks and the Temple of the Repeated Dawn.
The Suspended Peaks
The Chain of Colossi, the Passes of the Little Sky and the Howling Rifts, out to Cendrelune and Kaer-Vhol.
The Canopy of the First Age
The world-forest, its inhabited heights and what its roots touch without ever bringing it back up.
The Monoliths of Vaor
The First Galleries, the Bedrock Shafts and Vaor, down to the Crypt of Genealogies.
The Submerged Fringe
The Ancient Trenches, the Border Reefs, Brisant-les-Quais and Vaskarr, out to the Silent Trench.
The Sands of the Suture
The Open Scar, the Villages of the Rupture and the Point of Suture, where two Strata touch.
An eighth part closes the book on travel between continents: what it costs, what it takes, and why so few people do it twice.
What you get in
a region's chapter
Take the Lands of the First Furrow. The five other regions are built the same way, so you never have to relearn where to look.
The territory, then those who share it
The region as a whole first, then the powers that carve it up: the Merchant Republic of Ambrelis, the kingdoms of Orlévie and Cœurfontaine, the Rectories of Cristalume and of the Hills, the March of the Trading-Posts, the Eastern Hives.
The cities
Nyméria the capital, then Ambrelis, Cristalume, Khépra, Gantelieu, Corolle-Basse. Each with its districts, who gives the orders, and what you can get there without asking twice.
The places you actually go
The Bastion of the Seven Locks, the Temple of the Repeated Dawn, Khar-Vel, the Descent of Aubran, the Rive-Basse Dig, the Relay of the Nine Markers. Neither scenery nor dungeon: places that give you a reason to go.
Every entry arrives ready
They all follow the same cut: what is found there, the figures to talk to, the adventure hooks, then the dangers and mysteries the GM keeps to themselves.
Eighty-seven people
with something to hide
An atlas can make do with names on a map. This one gives each of its figures a full entry, secret included.
An entry, not a line
People, class, level, location, affiliation, then what the figure wants, what they hide, how they react when pushed, and their stat block if the conversation goes badly.
Hulmar Deux-Encres
Colossus, archaeomancer cartographer of level 14, workshop on the third terrace of Baszurok. Forty years of surveys and a hand no one disputes: no pass caravan leaves without one of his plates. “I have never drawn a false thing. Take away whatever you like from a map: what remains is still true.”
What they hide is written down
Every one of his maps is accurate, none is complete: for every plate sold he keeps a second, with what he removed from it. And he has sold nothing himself for two years. The plates circulating under his name are another hand's work, imitating his line and filling in his omissions.
They know each other
Sevre Forty-One, the very next entry in the book, has descended for twenty years with his plates and has never received anything but the complete version, without asking or paying for it. He couldn't say why. She has never known either.
Frequently asked questions about The Crown-World
What does The Crown-World contain?
It is the atlas of the inhabited world of Sylkaen, in 356 pages and eight parts. An overview part (the six regions, the Standard of the Trading-Posts, the Rarefaction, the figures who matter), one part per region with its sub-regions, notable places, figures and its "Run It Like…" section, the capitals and great cities district by district, and a final part on travel between continents. Rumour tables, adventure hooks and adversaries with their stat blocks make it all playable. Both rules editions are included in the same purchase.
Do I need the other books to use it?
No. It is an atlas: it describes a world, it does not restate the rules. It reads and works on its own, including in a campaign that has nothing to do with Sylkaen. The Complete Bundle is still what you need to play Vestiges itself, with its peoples, classes and setting.
What does it add to the Game Master's Book?
The Game Master's Book gives you the frame of the world in a few dozen pages, among many other subjects. This atlas gives it 356: one part per region, cities described district by district, sub-regions, notable places and local figures. Where the GM's book draws the map, this one fills it in.
How does it relate to the Nyméria sourcebook?
Nyméria is the capital of the Lands of the First Furrow, and The Crown-World describes it as such, in the middle of its region. The Nyméria sourcebook devotes a whole book to the city alone: its five districts, the Workshop beneath its streets and 47 personalities. The two complement each other, and neither needs the other.
How many regions and places does it cover?
Eight parts, six of them devoted to a single region each: the Lands of the First Furrow, the Peaks, the Canopy, the Monoliths, the Submerged Fringe and the Sands. Each unfolds its territory, its cities, its notable places and its figures, and the whole book carries 87 main characters with a full entry each. The eighth part covers travel between continents.
Where can I get it, and at what price?
On the official itch.io store, pay-what-you-want from €8, like the rest of the line: as a high-definition PDF, with instant download and future updates included. Each title is bought independently.