Here are some elements from a new world I'm considering putting more work into. No real-world specific time frame for the setting. Elements of the renaissance might exist, but also the learning of the 18th and 19th centuries-physiology, psychology, geology etc. are all very well advanced for a fantasy setting. Humans are the dominant race-I don't have any specific ideas on other races but it's not off the table yet.I also haven't really nailed down the tone of the setting, at times it seems like it wants to be goofy and others downright creepy. Then again, no reason it can't be both right?
What Gods?
Oh, they are not happy. Consider the opening words of the leading religious text:
"...The gods, of which their are many, quarreled. This is how the world began. It was not divine inspiration, piety or grace, but wrath & division that sowed the seeds of civilization...."
The gods are still quarreling, or depending on which Priam you ask, will continue to quarrel until the current cycle of cosmic conflagration ends. After which, there will exist a period of Providence in the mortal realm, and then another Era of War to follow forever and always. Like the yet-to-come era of Eden upon Earth, the fallout from the Divine War can be felt in the mortal realm. The especially hateful and violent Bolis, a vile demon with blood-sucking tendencies can be blamed on the bloodshed of the gods. According to the Book of Monsters:
"...Sonnen Loth cursed the flesh of his brother, Fuleth, and caused boils and cysts to appear. As Fuleth writhes in Divine Agony and Sonnen Loth skewers each new welt, Terthra, his wife holds a basin below the bed to catch the blood. Any drops that spill over the edges fall to Earth. The blood of Fuleth that strikes the earth during Noon-Tide will form into a Bolis, a blood demon...."
The Earth is Quite Hollow
A sun about 1/100th the size of the entire sphere of the Earth exists in its own direct center. Several layers of inner atmosphere, an alternately rotating (and consequently upside-down) inner 'surface', several thousand more layers of varying rock, dirt, metal, ruin and things unknown cannot stop the radiant heat from bursting out of pockets and geysers on our own side, that is to say the Surface Proper. This explosive (albeit almost entirely harmless) energy evacuation from the Inner Earth has been found to be the source of all magical power. The Sun, at the center of our Earth emits a light and power that causes the very ether to be embued with a magical quality. The air you breathe, the water that falls upon trees and crops, everything is infused with varying levels of magical potency.
The Way of the Wizards
The Onerai are brute-force wizards, literally coaxing sorcery from the ether, often at great physical cost to themselves and other they have bonded with; most commonly teachers or lovers. The Onerai live secluded lives on the fringes of modern society. However it is not uncommon for a King, Queen or Priam (a sort of socio-religious politician) to have an Onerai or two tucked away for a rainy day, despite the historical pattern for Onerai to often use the ends to a means-that is to say when employed by people in positions of power, the Onerai might do so with secondary (usually nefarious) motives. Caution to the wind, an Onerai on ones side is a powerful weapon to bring to bare.
The Contriving or Orchestral mage is a more subtle sorcerer. Using careful tables, diagrams, charts, formulas, or a focus figure, the wizard may produce specific and deliberate spells with many different variables in play. To say an Orchestral Mage is simply not as powerful as the headstrong Onerai is misleading-over the course of a lifetime (sometimes prolonged by those very works), a Wizard devoted to the careful study of his craft might yield the most potent spells of all time. And of course that whole psychological/physical disfigurement thing is off the table too.
True to their name, the Learned mage is most often responsible for items of magical origin. The powerful Artificers Guilds have long held a monopoly upon the market of rare and quality items of magic.
Still Yet, Industrious is Man
The Industrial age is centuries away. Despite the presence of a highly sophisticated magical economy and practice, (or quite possibly because of it) technological advancement remains stagnant. But the foundation for a revolution is present. Black powder is a novel item, more a jesters toy than a generals secret weapon. Simple machines with wooden and forged metal parts may be found in prosperous cities-turning mills and powering irrigation. Clockwork is an emerging art form in some lands, as well Thaumaturgy, Geomancy and Elementalism. The clash of magic and technology as the dominant power/economic force can easily be predicted-but might be avoidable all together.
Sounds interesting! I'm not getting a goofy feel at all. More sinister than not, with the quarreling gods, etc...
I like your hollow world. IMC, there is something quite similar. The sun at the heart of the hollow world emits a "bitter radiance" that allows life to exist there, and which seeps into the inner layers of the Underdark (does it make it to the surface? I've never decided. Is it the source of magic? Dunno that, either.) But that sun is said to be either a prison for the evil God Aragh, (Death, War and Plague), or perhaps is the body of a missing evil Goddess. In any case, the radiance it produces is most definitely not "good". While it imbues beings with power, it also corrupts and taints all who subsist on it. Thus the core world is the home of all the most evil and deranged races in my campaign world.
Quote from: Gilladian
Sounds interesting! I'm not getting a goofy feel at all. More sinister than not, with the quarreling gods, etc...
I like your hollow world. IMC, there is something quite similar. The sun at the heart of the hollow world emits a "bitter radiance" that allows life to exist there, and which seeps into the inner layers of the Underdark (does it make it to the surface? I've never decided. Is it the source of magic? Dunno that, either.) But that sun is said to be either a prison for the evil God Aragh, (Death, War and Plague), or perhaps is the body of a missing evil Goddess. In any case, the radiance it produces is most definitely not "good". While it imbues beings with power, it also corrupts and taints all who subsist on it. Thus the core world is the home of all the most evil and deranged races in my campaign world.
Interesting! So in your world, the power source at the center of your world is decidedly evil. Interested to see how this manifests in magic users, do you have any material posted on the guild? I should mention that the goofy vibe I was going for was maybe more in the way the info was written. Usually when I write I'm all furrowed brow and tense in the shoulders. This was super easy to write because I approached it with a light hand. Not sure if that makes sense-thanks for taking a look Gilladian!