Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Finder’s Archives.
In this column, we take some of the lands from Magic: The Gathering and turn them into something you can use for your fantasy games.
The stats given in each entry assumes that you’re using Pathfinder 2 for your games, but they can easily be converted over into any fantasy system. This week we look at something that history has forgotten, the Buried Ruin.
Buried Ruin
The location of the Buried Ruin is shrouded in mystery, as no one actually knows where it is located. Local myths and legends have placed it all over the world, in the most likely and unlikely places. This ranges from mountain tops, inside volcanoes, to the deepest and darkest depths of the netherworld or the biggest oceans.
The reason for that is simple: At one point, all of these tales were true. Through magical rituals, the leaders of the city used to move it around, as a magical defense against invasion. In the end, it wasn’t enough and they fell through treachery from within, and demons from without.
Lay of the Land
Bridgehold, as the now-buried ruin was originally named, was intended as both a physical and metaphysical bridge between cultures from all over the multiverse. Never intended to be a rival to a place like the City of Doors, it was intended to provide the inhabitants with some of the same advantages that the inhabitants of the Cage enjoyed: Easy access to resources, from a secure location. It is even rumored that there was a permanent portal to the City of Doors within Bridgehold, though this has never been confirmed.
Bridgehold was split into several wards, and while unconfirmed, it’s possible that these wards were split apart when Bridgehold was invaded. The wards were the Governmental Ward, Magic Ward, Mercantile Ward, and the Astral Docks. Within the Governmental Ward (which was the smallest) was where the leader of the city (known locally as the Primarch, the senior spellcaster of any type within the city – determined every 5 years) and his designated workers would live and work. Typically, the Primarchs kept the same staff around, and some families had been employed in the same positions for decades – it practically became a tradition that only a handful of positions would change places during the reign of each Primarch.
The Magic Ward was the center of magical learning in Bridgehold, and home to two magic academies, one which specialized in the various theories of magic, and the other which specialized in the direct application and use of magic. Often these two schools were at odds with each other over whether magic was a tool to be used directly or if it was better to study the finer points and apply more finesse in one’s application of magic.
The Mercantile Ward was where trade happened and where most of Bridgehold’s citizens lived, including the city’s well-trained militia. This was where its wealth came from as creatures and people came from across the universe to trade at a safe location, and preferably one that wasn’t placed on the Outer Planes for whatever reason.
Finally, the Astral Dock was where magical ships and creatures were moored upon arrival at the city. The magical barriers of the city prohibited teleportation magic, and only more physical forms of travel would allow one to enter Bridgehold. Most therefore used magical vessels of some sort, though these were all scuttled when Bridgehold fell.
Dangers
Bridgehold was invaded by demons and the inhabitants were all slaughtered. It now stands as an eerie ruin, a testament to the power of mankind, and the fragility thereof when it is not applied properly. The demons are long gone as are the inhabitants, but the city is haunted by the thousands of spirits of the people who died in those terrible days. Any kind of incorporeal undead can be found here, but the single most terrifying one is The Grim Reaper (PF2 / for 5e, treat as a Lich ) that has made it its mission to spread its gospel of pain and death across the world. It has one goal, and one goal only: The end of all life. But it cannot escape Bridgehold. Only if the city is restored, and the magical barriers lowered once more (which can only be done by living creatures) will it be able to leave.
Kim Frandsen
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