Runes Of Magic: Southern Janost Forest Preview

11 May 2010 at 11:08:18 by Bill Vaughan

Frogster has revealed details and new screen shots of a new zone in Runes of Magic, Southern Janost Forest.

The area contains marshes and rugged hills, and the humanoid races that can be found there are Rh'anka and humans. Read a full description of this new zone below, and don't forget to take a look at the brand new images:

Zone Description:

The Southern Janost Forest lies to the northwest of Thunderhoof Hills. The marsh air is moist and cloying, and the marshes teem with life. Horses move slowly across the marshy ground. Hence, unlike on the Sascilia Steppes of Candara, rogue knights seldom venture here.

As grain grown in the Southern Janost Forest tends to go moldy, most inhabitants still fish and hunt to survive. The marshes are filled with malanga, a special crop that forms the basis of the local diet. As malanga requires only water to grow, famine is never a problem.

Warnorken Castle is the main source of trouble in this zone. The dastardly Baron Reuen von Jura treats the people on his land as playthings, bringing chaos and turmoil to this once tranquil forest. At his contrivance, bad feeling has taken root between the residents of the village of Kandor and the people fleeing his land, and he relishes the prospect of future conflict and bloodshed. For the inhabitants of Southern Janost Forest, Baron Reuen von Jura is a nightmare that has become a reality; a nightmare that they desperately hope someone can help them to end.

The Principality of Shador

Founded by Jenny (Thousand-Feather) Giant, the Principality of Shador, also known as the Thousand-Feather Principality, boasts archers that are unrivalled on the entire continent of Zandorya. Like the Principality of Kalon, Shador has no order of knights, and in this principality horses are only used in relay stations and for tilling the land. As Giant was a hero who possessed great skill with the bow and arrow, her descendants also learnt her exceptional archery techniques, but although they are all accomplished archers, there is nobody left who is worthy of the title of “Thousand-Feather”.

Shador’s architectural style seems an Elven feel, the brightly-colored buildings have an elegant grace to them. Giant ballistas called Thousand-Feather Arrows are mounted on the city walls, as if in warning to all enemies bold enough to consider attacking Shador: “Remember the might of our army of archers!” Shador also borders the Milasso Forest, which provides a natural shield to the rear, as it is said that humanoid creatures who are also adept at the bow and arrow live within these woods – the centaurs. The royal emblem of Shador even has a centaur with his bow drawn on it, making one wonder what the nature of their relationship is. It is said that it was the legendary Centaurian archer Horzorun Silverstar who imparted his skills to Giant, and that the reason that Antaikolon, the king of the Elves thought that Giant’s archery skills came from the Elves was that the Elves themselves originally obtained those skills from the Centaurs, and the similarities between the two styles, which were to be expected, led Antaikolon to his conclusion. However, compared to the Elves, whose abilities centered on grace and precision, the humans’ arrows were quick and deadly, which bears a possible close relationship to the centaurs’ earlier way of life as wandering nomads (as recorded in their history).

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