Earlier this week, I set the stage, outlining the setting of my homebrewed solo campaign, which I’m dubbing Age of Wonders. Today it’s time to dive into the core location for my adventures, the bustling town of Oakton.
For today only, I’m gently placing my Crusaders rulebook to the side in favor of a minigame and tool that I’ve been eager to try. Pendulum is a worldbuilding assistant from one of my all-time favorite creators, Jon from Tale of the Manticore. Jon’s podcast is the reason that I first became interested in solo roleplaying, and he has long been the inspiration for me combining my solo play with fiction writing. It’s a thrill to pick up my favorite of his various Drivethrurpg creations and give it a spin.
Pendulum is a settlement builder, a way of working through the history and society of any settlement in a fantasy region, beginning at its emergence as a hamlet all the way through however large you want to make it, up to a large city. I’ll loosely show you how it works by creating Oakton, the central location in which Age of Wonders will begin. At each stage, I flip a coin to determine whether Law or Chaos rules that stage, with a narrative table in Pendulum guiding me through prompts for what happens. As you’ll see from the output below, it’s a lengthy process (Jon says it takes 6-9 hours to complete each settlement, which sounds right to me), but suuuuuuper satisfying.
Do I need this much detail on Oakton’s history before jumping into an adventure? Absolutely not. But I’m appreciative for the depth this sort of tool invites me to create, and it jumpstarts my brain on several issues in the setting that will make the characters more textured and interesting.
Here we go!
The Beginnings of Oakton
Stage 1: Law. Year 1. Ruler: Pera Luz (age 35). Population 55.
Oakton began as a collection of fishing families who arrived from ships fleeing Mesca, a continent conquered by a dragon (it was, after all, the Age of Wyrms) across the sea. They chose a location set away from the immediate coast, with access to food, water, and timber, on the eastern shore of a large, unoccupied bay, with an inland lake and wetlands stretching to the east and up into forested hills. They were led by Pera Luz, a capable warrior and bull of a woman, leader of the expedition.
The most distinct feature of the landscape was a gargantuan oak tree, inland from the bay and on the lake’s shore, the largest tree that any inhabitant had seen in their lifetime (truly like a tree given a growth potion… over 400’ tall).
Stage 2: Chaos. Year 11. Ruler: Anton Luz (age 26). Population 70.
Ten years after establishing a lakeside home, under the far reach of the mighty oak, Pera died to a wild, monstrous beast while exploring the countryside. Her four sons began infighting over who would take over the hamlet. After a brutal and bloody conflict, the eldest son Anton took the reins, with his youngest brother supporting him, another brother dead, and the last fled east*. It is Anton who dubbed the settlement Oaktown.
*This brother, Sente, miraculously survived the wilds and found sanctuary in a distant township. There he gained some renown as a fighter and became leader of the town’s militia. Any mistrust that easterners have for Oakton likely originated from Sente and his bitterness towards his brothers.
Stage 3: Law. Year 16. Ruler: Anton Luz (age 31). Population 85.
Pera’s death emphasized the danger of the surrounding wildlife, and Anton feared that other sailors may arrive from their homeland to claim their fledgling settlement. Thus the hamlet began construction of stone walls to replace the wooden palisades. By the 16th year, Oaktown had a proper, fortified defense against threats from both the land and sea. Beyond the inner keep walls, a new palisade stretched wide around the farmland and included the massive oak, which the townsfolk had begun to view as divine, a remnant of a time when gods roamed the land in the Time of Immortals.
Stage 4: Chaos. Year 36. Ruler: Anton Luz (age 51). Population 100.
Disparate ships did arrive, small pockets of refugees, but none threatening to conquer the young hamlet. During this time, the settlement faced two setbacks: First, sickness ran rampant through Oaktown, due in large part to dumping sewage into the lake. Many people died, negating any population growth from the incoming refugees and forcing the town to rethink its waste disposal. Second, an attempt to build simple roads east and south through the countryside was met with disaster as monsters feasted on anyone venturing too far beyond the palisades. Reluctantly, Anton called a halt to the roads project, declaring that the hamlet would stay insular. Feeling like a failure, he retreated to the inner keep, increasingly gone from public view. When he died, it took two days for his servants and family to realize it.
Stage 5: Chaos. Year 38. Ruler: Mara Luz (age 36). Population 90.
Anton’s sole remaining heir, his son, fell ill to the same disease that had claimed so many other residents, and died within days of his father. After a period of acute confusion, the town councilmembers decided to elect the wife of Anton’s youngest brother (who had died several years before) to lead them. Mara Luz, a black-skinned woman of the Kalee nation far south of Oaktown, became the subject of mistrust and racism by the families from the original settlers, sparking violence and unease throughout Oaktown.
Mara kept her seat of power because she was (much to her detractors’ dismay) a warrior of an ancient order and skilled with a blade. What no one knew until much later was that she had also been sent by the Kalee queen to bring Oaktown under rule because the queen saw the location as an ideal one where she might establish a trade port. Her marriage to the youngest Luz had been true love, though, and had delayed her sending word back to the queen.
Stage 6: Chaos. Year 43. Ruler: Mara Alaa (age 41). Population 65.
For the next five years, Oaktown was a nest of tension and inner turmoil, with Mara ruling with an iron fist. When an armored militia from the south arrived to formally incorporate the hamlet, many of its residents resisted even as Mara threw open the walled gates. After a brief and bloody conflict and five days of public execution (called The Hanging Days, still commemorated today), the settlement began flying banners for Queen Karpenta of the nation of Kalee. Mara abandoned her married name of Luz, reclaimed her birth name of Alaa, and continued to oversee the town.
It is believed that it was this period of rule where the town’s name began to change, as the Kaleens pronounced “town” as “ton.”
Stage 7: Law. Year 63. Ruler: Mara Alaa (age 61). Population 150.
With the rule of law established, Mara began work on the project her queen had demanded: transforming the bayside shoreline into a trade port. The construction went quickly, but the settlement was not near enough existing trade routes or other population centers to flourish. Still, a steady influx of oversea travelers and visitors from both the south and east grew the once-struggling hamlet into a village of enough residents to expand the palisade wall further. Warrior bands helped farmers and hunters beyond the walls survive against the dangerous wilds.
Stage 8: Chaos. Year 83. Ruler: Mara Alaa (age 81). Population 200.
Beginning to appear on Kaleen maps (as Oakton), the settlement began to be the target of pirates. For nearly fifteen years, Mara oversaw the village’s defense against marauders, all the while sending messages to her queen for aid. Kalee was going through a change in its monarchy with Queen Karpenta’s death, however, and could not be bothered to send ships or soldiers to defend a backwater coastal village. Oakton was left to protect itself, and did so through several bloody conflicts. It is said the heart of Oakton was forged in these years, and why its people are so defiant and fierce. If one positive can be said about this time, it is that the populace set aside their various racial infighting against a common enemy.
Stage 9: Chaos. Year 88. Ruler: Marter Moon (age unknown). Population 160.
In a particularly bloody year, an elderly Mara Alaa and her household guard were killed by invading pirates, and Oakton was claimed by Captain Marter Moon, aka Captain Bloodmoon. Moon was able to keep a grip on the now lawless settlement for five years before he was murdered in his bed by a prostitute. For the better part of a year, Oakton was a ruler-less den of scoundrels and mercenaries, ignored by Kalee’s new queen.
Stage 10: Chaos. Year 89. Ruler: Chanu Karpa (age 23). Population 150.
A sea serpent entered the bay and attacked the port of Oakton, sinking several pirate ships and injecting yet more disarray and chaos into the lives of the settlement’s people. The creature, whom the locals dubbed Berotassa, the Bay’s Fang, would occupy the nearby waters for years and further imperil arriving ships.
Later that year, a band of Kaleen warriors finally arrived to establish rule in the struggling village. The warriors battled and slew many of the worst criminals in town, a time they called the Red Spring. When the dust had settled, a young and proud warrior named Chanu Karpa reclaimed Oakton as under Kalee rule and took its rule in her queen’s name.
Oakton the Trade Port
Stage 11: Law. Year 138. Ruler: Chanu Karpa (age 72). Population 900.
In Chanu Karpa’s second year of rule, a local resident discovered a cache of gold and treasure from the Age of Immortals outside the palisade walls, within the forested hills. This discovery would make the settlement rich and, more profoundly, ignite the imagination of people for hundreds of miles in all directions.
During the next 50 years, Oakton would reestablish its port, repel Berotassa back to the sea, strengthen its walls and defenses, greatly expand its footprint inland, and become a destination township for brave treasure hunters. Proper roads were finally established between Oakton and towns to the east and south. With the influx of people came a merchant class and guild structure, plus multiple fledgling universities. The population exploded with diverse people who lived in relative peace and prosperity under Karpa’s watchful eye. The Kaleen warrior proved to be a fair and clever politician, able to satisfy guild leaders, farmers, sailors, and merchants alike. Oakton, with its ancient tree, shimmering lake, and capable leader became a jewel of the Kalee throne far to the south.
Stage 12: Law. Year 142. Ruler: none. Population: 950.
Chanu Karpa never had children, so when she died at age 75, Oakton collectively held its breath. Would the township collapse back into years of chaos, torn apart by its diverse factions? Three candidates stepped forward to vie for the role of castellan: a) Munder Bayford, one of the town’s wealthiest merchants who claimed to be from a founding family, b) Seki Keme, a retired Kalee naval officer and one of the heroes of the campaign that expelled Berotassa from the bay, and c) Frada Pagona, the beautiful and charismatic head of the Weavers and Dyers Guild. The three were asked to appear in Kalee’s capital to petition the queen, a perilous journey that would take a full year roundtrip.
This year would be known as The Headless Year, both because of the lack of castellan and the public executions of outlaws during such a sensitive and tense time. It is also the year in which many believe the Blackpaws, Oakton’s powerful thieves guild, was founded (several wealthy families were robbed, likely initiation rites of the guild).
Over a year after their departure, Munder Bayford and Seki Keme returned to Oakton, with the former as new castellan. Frada Pagona perished in the journey, killed by monsters.
Stage 13: Chaos. Year 147. Ruler: Munder Bayford (age 45). Population: 950.
Bayford’s first five years of rule were marred by the most direct attacks from creatures outside the wall in the town’s memory. For reasons unknown, monsters threw themselves at Oakton’s defenses, killing travelers and terrorizing its citizens. Several areas of the palisade wall were destroyed and rebuilt, and one beast even made it to the inner keep walls, destroying much of it. Eventually, the frenzy of the monsters ended, and the creatures moved back into the surrounding forest and hills with no one knowing what had triggered the attacks.
Stage 14: Law. Year 162. Ruler: Munder Bayford (age 60). Population: 1500.
In the next several years, with monsters no longer actively prowling its borders, Oakton’s population bloomed. Meanwhile, across the bay, the town of Saint Oro had been steadily becoming a second (and more prominent) port trading hub, and one of the religious mechas of Kalee. Its founder was a holy man who believed fervently that the gods had not abandoned the world and would return, and when they did, they would purge corrupt settlements like Oakton from existence. Understandably, relations between the two port towns over the decades had been chilly at best.
The wealthy Bayford, however, saw an opportunity to strengthen the area’s economies and military strength by uniting. He initiated lengthy relations with the leaders of Saint Oro and their merchant guilds, establishing a joint navy to patrol the coast and removing the taxed levies each settlement had inflicted upon the other. In recognition of his efforts, the body of water between the two townships was officially dubbed Munder’s Bay, its current name.
Bayford the Builder and Modern Oakton
Stage 15: Law. Year 207. Ruler: Annet Bayford (age 67). Population: 2500.
Two years later, Munder Bayford fell ill and died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones. The rule of Oakton was passed to his son Kaster, a well-respected member of the Apothecaries Guild. Kaster made it his life’s purpose to establish the largest and best medical temple in Kalee and poured the town’s funds and effort into his vision. The Eternal Shade, a towering apothecary and medical academy, became the town’s largest single structure, sitting lakeside under the Great Oak. Kaster died before the building could be completed, but his daughter Annet finished the work when she became castellan. Its completion sparked an architectural renaissance in Oakton, including several of the town’s current landmarks.
Over these decades, the merchant navy repelled two pirate invasions and Oakton’s militia established regular patrols along its outside roads. As a result, the town’s population continued to swell, and its economy prospered.
Stage 16: Law. Year 235. Ruler: Annet Bayford (age 95). Population: 3600.
In the town’s 225th year, Kalee’s Queen Suna visited Oaktown and Saint Oro, the first visit to the region of any of Kalee’s monarchs. The lead-up to the visit and its aftermath marked a six-month celebration unlike any seen in the town’s history, and establishing Queen’s Day as its most joyous holiday. Annet Bayford, a wizened but quick-witted figure, utterly charmed the queen, and gained generous funds used to complete several large construction projects.
“Bayford the Builder” is still considered the single most successful and beloved castellan in Oakton’s history, and a statue of her was erected outside the town hall following her death at age 95. Ever the planner, she passed her seat without incident to her grandson, Gilan Bayford.
Stage 17: Chaos. Year 250. Ruler: Arryn Bayford (age 45). Population 4100.
Dragon! Arriving from the north, the first dragon in Oakton’s history arrived three years after Annet’s death. Temethys, who the locals call the Red Devil, did not linger to wipe out Oakton and Saint Oro, but it did smash most of the merchant navy, burn Oakton’s docks and ships, and set a fire that raged for more than three weeks across the town. Gilan Bayford died in the fires, and his son Arryn became emergency castellan. The great wyrm settled atop a mountain to the east, now known as Devilspire, where it still sleeps today. Devil’s Day is a local holiday in which, in remembrance, residents stay indoors with loved ones, give thanks, and ignite no fires.
Saint Oro largely avoided damage from the dragon’s attack, and its religious orders proclaimed it a sign of the town’s righteous blessing, saying that Oakton was paying for its sins and greed. Saint Oro sent little aid to its sister town across the bay, which enraged Oakton residents. Any attempts to rebuild the merchant navy fell apart, and though the towns did not reinstitute levies against one another, the relationship between the two grew contentious.
Stage 18: Chaos. Year: 295. Ruler: Sendo Avina (age 51). Population: 5000.
After more than one hundred and twenty years with a Bayford as castellan, an envoy from Kalee arrived in the town’s 270th year. It seemed that Queen Mati had offered the distant-but-promising town to the cousin of a favorite noble in court. Young Estet Mukka was just 19 years old when she arrived, surrounded by Kalee warriors, with her royal writ. Understandably, the Bayford family and guild leaders were thrown into disarray.
Estet proved to be a decisive by naïve leader. During her ten years as castellan, she further alienated Oakton from Saint Oro, reestablished many of Kalee’s traditions and holidays (stamping out several local ones), and created jockeying for her favor with guild leaders that would rival any royal court. All the while, she turned a blind eye to the seedier elements of the town, allowing criminal gangs to flourish.
Then, as suddenly as she’d arrived, Estet abruptly returned to Kalee’s capital to be married, leaving the head of the Shipwright’s Guild to lead the town, a boisterous man named of Sendo Avina who Estet favored because of his quick wit and fondness of history (it is widely believed the two were lovers).
Sendo was indeed infatuated with the Age of Immortals, a time when gods roamed the world and magic was everywhere. He saw the possibility of making Oakton the epicenter of museums and artifacts of this ancient age and founded the Adventurers Guild. He promised rich rewards for historical treasures, drawing mercenaries and charlatans from far and wide. As it had 150 years before, treasure hunters abounded in Oakton and scoured its countryside.
These treasure hunters would, of course, unleash The Wyrding, beginning the Age of Wonders.
And there you have it! As you can see, Pendulum just takes you on and on. I didn’t even get to the midpoint of the prompts, and carried all the way to the end would likely see Oakton as a bustling metropolis. I’m happy with where I’ve left Oakton’s size—a medium-sized, established town—and history, though. I already have a far better feel for the place than what I could have come with on my own. Thanks again, Jon!
Next step: Let’s go find out protagonists… We’re close, now.
My Hero Brain 