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I've two simple questions on the Quarantine.

How long has it been in effect? A century? Less? A year?

And how much of Arad does it cover? Looking at the map, the Lost Lands, Lapis, Faedh Vil, and Sirak Drauth make sense due to the mountain range (maybe not Sirak Drauth as with their mountain range it might be easier to set up a border) but I'd love if there is a definite answer to the question.

It's the whole western half of the main continent (west of the huge central mountain range). Note the "Quarantine Wall" (or is it labeled Great Wall? either/or) down south on the western border of Grum - they and the Nuum (in an amazing display of cooperation, considering the two nations typically don't like each other) built that to make sure nothing spread over to their half of the continent. Sorry, Hillfolk of Karnath. They don't really have any problems in Karnath yet infestation/taint-wise, but they still can't head east anymore.

Rithiel and I have been working on a timeline for some time now, so this may change (doubtful) but for now you can assume the Quarantine's been in effect for around a century.

Clarification: The western border of Grum, by the mountains, was originally a mountain pass but the pass is now completely blocked by a glacier (not of Grum or Nuum's doing). The southwest border of Grum, leading to Karnath, is where the wall was built.

Thank you Rias. That clears it up nicely.

[quote=Rias]
Rithiel and I have been working on a timeline for some time now, so this may change (doubtful) but for now you can assume the Quarantine's been in effect for around a century.[/quote]


Persons cannot get out of the quarantine area, but could we not say that occasionally someone leaves the safety of the outside and slips in to the Lost Lands?

People can get in just fine. It's getting back out that's the problem.

What if any nations used banishment beyond the Wall as a punishment?

Goods get traded in and out, I've heard - what nations trade with the Lost Lands? What kind of inspection/customs happens?

Mail gets back and forth just fine?

Hmph. That would be very cool. Are the caves and tunnels of Sirak Drauth heavily infested? If they're not, perhaps thieves and exiles are forbidden entrance and are forced to survive on the surface where the infestation is loose.

Trade occurs, but with some very thorough inspections. That goes for mail, too. I don't really have many particulars in mind on the subject yet, other than that it's a very tedious process. Note that goods can get out - people can't, barring a very, very select few with the proper authority, paperwork, and so on. No player character should assume they're one of these privileged people.

Grayish areas are port cities, where outside traders can obviously come ashore to take care of business, but are most likely limited to the dock districts, and access to the dock districts is likely limited to specific authorized people who work as go-betweens between the visitors and the locals. Such people are likely regularly inspected, and thoroughly.

All that said, there are sure to be the odd illegal operation here and there. The quarantine is not perfect - you can't flawlessly guard the entire western coastline of an entire continent.

Exiling to the Lost Lands certainly makes sense. I imagine it's a fairly common sentence for offenders who aren't quite bad enough to be straight up executed, or in instances where execution is deemed unethical or otherwise inappropriate.

Regarding Sirak Drauth: It's a pretty cold place, so the infested don't like it much. Doubtful they have any noticeable presence there.

Cool, thank you for the quick response!

The Lost Lands is where the eastern governments put the unwanted people whom they know to be innocent! A glorified Chateau d'If.

Do the Giganti live on the surface and below then? The blurb on the Mountain Father almost made them sound like stereotypical fantasy dwarves, living in a large underground kingdom and all but abandoning the surface.

Giganti live out on the surface, too, but most big city equivalents are inside the mountain, in no small part due to the scarcity of flat land to build on, and the cold weather. The primary reason is the cultural influence of the Mountain Father, of course.

Citizens of the underground cities likely still get outside fairly often, to do things like hunt, cultivate what crops they can get to grow in the cold and rocky terrain, tend to herds of hardy mountain critters like goats and yaks, gather other resources, and just enjoy the outside world's fresh air, sunlight, the sky, things like that. So no, they're not an underground-only culture. Their subterranean cities are amazing, though, and many of them do spend a lot of time underground, relatively speaking.

Awesome. Thank you Rias. So despite being within the quarantine zone, they're not suffering from it nearly as much as the Lost Lands.

Correct. Both Sirak Drauth and Karnath are relatively untouched by the troubles that plague the rest of Western Arad.

Well shoot, I might as well write up a few lore articles on the wiki at this point. Stay tuned.

Sweet!

Nice! Playing a Gigan, this background info is very welcome.

First up, blurby info on, and a map of, the Quarantine:

http://wiki.contrarium.net/index.php/The_Quarantine

Well huh! I didn't realize the plague as such, was considered over. Burnt itself out, and just left the remains. If those within the west are generally immune, does that mean those born in the west end up being so also?

And wouldn't those being sent into exile then be exceptionally vulnerable to the infestation?

Just in case you're confusing them, which I'm not sure if you are, the Plague and "infestation" by resen spores (i.e. infested carriers, infested cats, infested diner waitresses, etc.) are not the same.

I am! For some reason, I assumed they were. I suppose considering the mass of overgrown places, and infested creatures. You know I'm now just going to ask information on the plague right?

This is why we need an in-game Cultural and Historical Preservation Society.

Or just more ingame books! I'm sure there has been a lot of stuff that has turned up at events, or just NPC interaction, that isn't on the main pages that I imagine a lot of us would be very curious to know about.

Or a person at an event that could talk about lore!