"Ibonost" is location article for Columbia Games Harn generic fantasy role-playing setting, written by Jonathan Nicholas.

For those not familiar with the setting, Harn is a Madagascar sized island, loosely based on 11th/12th century Britain. It is a place of mystery and strange happenings, on the island are nine states, seven human (Chybisa, Kaldor, Kanday, Melderyn, Orbaal, Rethem & Tharda) and two non-human (Azadmere & Evael).

The article is available for download from both Harnmaster.Net and Lythia.com, as a free 1.59MB ZIP file which contains the article in the form of an 11 page PDF file.

HARNWORLD: IBONOST, OVERVIEW.

"Ibonost" covers a Royal fortress located in the western Harnic kingdom of Kanday, aside from its role as a summer residence for the King, it is also a center of trade with Kandays northern neighbor, the Thardic Republic.

The article begins with a two page description of the settlements history, government and economy. This is followed by maps of the settlement and the dominating castle accompanied by descriptions of the buildings and some of the inhabitants.

The last three pages provide information on the Royal Constable (The official who 'runs' the castle when the king is not in attendance.) and on the noble families in the surrounding area. Also discussed is a disputed manor near the castle and the activities of a group of bandits who are attacking traders on nearby roads.

HARNWORLD: IBONOST, COMMENTS.

Most of the fan material produced for Harn focuses on the eastern kingdom of Kaldor, so to see someone tackle the western states is welcome.

The article is short but well focussed, for example, the section covering the inhabitants concentrates on those figures PCs are most likely to interact with (officials, shopkeepers, etc), which leaves the GM free to fill out the remainder of the buildings with characters of their own creation.

The information provided on the various prominent noble families like the 'local region' maps provided with the more recent "Ravin Manor" place the featured settlement in context with the area around it.

The maps created by the author using Campaign Cartographer are of high quality, as are Richard Luscheks' illustrations, with pride of place going to the picture of the knight on page nine.

Finally, I would like to say that, "Ibonost" is well worth downloading, as it provides a look at a region of Harn that, with the decision by Columbia Games to release a 2nd Edition Kingdom of Kanday module, is likely to come into prominence

HARNWORLD: IBONOST, VERDICT.

"Ibonost" is a well presented article that is perfect for the GM looking for somewhere to base his players as it offers plenty of opportunities for customization.