Hi everyone!
This is my first attempt to codify my campaign world and I am looking for feedback, ideas and primarily QUESTIONS since they allow me to expand on the nations alot. What follows below is a quick summary of the nations of Araneia - I tried to attach an image but it didn't work.
I will post information on the rules we use, what classes and races are available, some info on the "unknown history" of the world and how it all ties together later.
[size=+1]Nations[/size]
The Sword Union
Newly formed union of four countries, one was taken by force (invasion) and has had bloody uprisings where the Sword Guard have slaughtered thousands of peasants. One nation was betrayed 'from within' as Swordbearers (devout believers of the Sword) took down the government and took control - heretics were drowned alive. The last nation converted by its own choice, since a majority of the leading nobles were Swordbearers and persuaded the King of the benefits of a Union.
Theme: Dark Ages Europe, with a touch of Rome. Dark steel armor and shining swords, dirty lands, fire is holy and water is evil, fundamentalist, dark colours.
Tangian Empire
Old empire which stretches across vast swathes of land, it is rotting from within from corruption and dissent. They have ousted all Union diplomats, but the Trading Cities are conspiring to either join with the Union or seek independance with the help of the Union. On the other side the Kipoki are stirring and raids have increased even as the Iron Lords are striking down merchants and academia who come to their land. The old druids have awakened an ancient evil who now draws nearer every night, a living forest and its slaves.
Theme: Russia, and the end of Rome. Decadence and depravity, coupled with great minds and understanding, a viciousness (both in lifestealing warlocks and warthirsty Iron Lords). Animal fur on thick clothing, coats, spears and halberds.
Khidian Clans
A fallen empire whose verdant lands have been transformed into a desert, they are raiders and traders first and foremost. Many hate magic and all have strong psionic talents, some embracing their wild emotional states, others turning away from it. This is because they had to turn to a psionic bonding with the crystal sands to survive the holocaust of their empire, a magic apocalypse. Part of the fall of their empire bonded the naturally existing crystals to them, making them apart from the humans they once were. There is no real unity, each Clan decides for itself. Some are allied to the Tangian Empire, others conduct trade between all major regions bordering theirs. There is great internal conflict, the only thing all Clans agree on are patroling the open portals left by the fallen empire and the sanctity of the Sand Cities - the summer refuges where a Clan stays during the hottest summer months.
Theme: Arabian nomads. Loose clothing, often lightly coloured. Almost no armor, but fast strikes, crystal blades. Trade and hate.
The Khad Clan
The remains of Khidium, the fallen empire of the Khid Clans now rule over verdant hills and crystal castles. Their land is one of highlands, hills and farming - but also one of strange traditions and old mysteries. The "lesser Khad" are infected with the magical disease which among other things, put an end to Khidium, the "eternal empire" - the "true Khad" have transformed themselves into a higher state of being which leaves them unaffected by the disease. They require their lessers to constantly copulate and breed, to provide a stable basis for their race and have the lessers fight among eachother to prove their worth to the Khadic Council. Every year, before the coming of their 25th birthday (when the disease finally kills them), the Council chooses those who have proved themselves most and have bred atleast three children to become transformed.
Theme: Depraved scotsmen, old castles and rolling hills. Eerie music, great camraderie among the transformed, fear and constant bickering among the humans.
il-Ghalad
A collection of city states and peasant communes, this land is frought with conflict. The cities are advanced, housing mecha-like armor and technologically minded Priest-Engineers. The peasant communes are rural but prosperous and all are taught to defend themselves with "wardances" - specific martial arts. Both need eachother, neither can survive without one another but they are also separated in their views on ideology. The city states are theocratic, while the communes are democratic. They are also divided by religion where one states the needs of the people at large (cities) over the individual, while the communes ironically believe in extreme individuality as the key to divinity.
Theme: Tibetan monks and advanced Arab cities. Loose and colourful clothing, sparkling and golden cities, abundance of food and knowledge (but separate). Dark inquisitiveness, secrets boiling underneath. Mastercrafts (weapons, everything).
Quatl, the City
A superpyramid which houses an entire civilisation it is situated on an island where two rivers divide before meeting the sea. It is defended by ancient blood magic rituals where children are sacrificed, a necessary trait to defend it against a vicious living jungle which would rip it all apart. River traders and explorers, the Quatl have mapped most of the known world and retain this knowledge to this very day. The Quaqocl (illithids) are the administrative class of the Quatl culture, overseeing the mining operations, mapping and charged with keeping the pyramidcity safe from internal strife. On the upper levels they are as common as the humans who rule the great pyramid - the feathered priestesses and serpent warriors. In the mines, mindless slaves toil for their entire lives, never knowing of the world above - this too is deemed a necessity for the Quatl society to survive and the rulers have decided that this is a sacrifice all should be ready to do.
Theme: Aztecs and refugees. Blue and gold, splashed with red (colourwise and blood everywhere), a culture with dark secrets. Bone armor and weaponry.
Dvergun
Tribal civilisation who worships totems and traverses the mountains as if they were plains. They are astreched across numerous mountainranges where they herd goats, hunt the beasts who roam the cliffsides and sing songs to the glory of their totems. They used to work as mercenary warriors, but with the rise of the Sword Union and the return of the Cauchemars, they are returning to their old alliances and have stopped working as mercenaries. Tribes can be small or large, but never go to war against eachother, even though competition for food or resources can lead to skirmishes, the winning tribes usually allow the losers to retreat instead of killing them.
Theme: Celts and native Americans, only in mountains. Natural colours, deep and striking tattoos, axes and bows. Animal fur as clothing.
Note: These are the dwarves of this setting.
Cauchemars
An highly honourbound and militaristic society, the Cauchemars were driven beneath the earth in a great war by the il-Ghalad and bound by technomagic. They have broken the sigils and are returning to the surface, but now they have learned much from their experiences and are using this knowledge in a war against the humans (they see no difference between an Ghalad and other human, although this may change) and have called upon the soul-oaths of the Dvergun Tribes. They despise both psionics and the incarnum-based magic, only seeing their own "truebred" magic as worthy of exploration - but they harbor a deep resentment towards technology.
Theme: Samurai Japan, but with warlocks who run the show. Drawn steel swords, banded mail, honourable warriors. Deep and bright red, demon masks. Blue clothes when not at war, respect eachother.
Kipoki
The great kipoki federation is composed of a multitude of smaller communities centered around (mayan) pyramids which connect them with the sky; believing their dragon gods reside in the stars. They have been relentlessly hunted by humans as monsters, but a rise of theocrats has changed how the kipoki co-operate and a surge of dragontouched (nach drachai) are now ruling the kipoki who are going to war. Kipoki war is slow and guerilla like, often focused on taking captives who are eaten to celebrate their dragongods, or transformed into the neverdead servants - bodies without souls. They often dress in extremely colourful clothing, often with strong tones of blue to ofset their dark green/black scales.
Theme: Mayans who worship dragons and have neverdead slaves. Great pyramids, pounding drums, human bone decorations, eating of humans.
Note: Kipoki are kobolds.
The Black Islands
Merchants and pirates extraordinaire, the black islands are home to a Shar lord and his Ghûl servants. They raid the mainlands and other islands for recruitments to their Black Ships and do normal trade for the mithril and gems found on their islands. They are a cross between a dictatorship and a magocracy where the magically enhanced Ghûls lord it over lesser Undead and the human slaves who work on the islands. When not raiding they dress in mithril-laced thick clothing, often with gems embedded into their flesh as a form of jewelry. Their clothes are often red to counter their jetblack hair and eyes and the females often show off alot of flesh underneath their clothes.
Theme: Greyjoy / Iron Island raiders from A Song of Ice and Fire, together with an enchanted India-feel to them. Great white palaces, beautiful orchards coupled with dark mineshafts, slavery and undead rulers.
Note: A Shar is a type of undead, Ghûls are humanoids who have been "blessed" by the Shar and are half-undead.
Khraani
Invading bodysnatching aliens who are caught in a world which has turned on them. They are organized under a form of representative democracy where each house send representatives based on the trust their familymembers have in them. They shave themselves completely, tattoo, scar and pierce themselves to come closer to their alien origins and were the first culture to embed other materials into their flesh, which they taught to the islanders from the Black Islands. They are in the middle of a religious upheaval where one house has turned to worshipping a native sungod while the others are literally awakening a new god in the Well of Souls.
Theme: Invaders taking over the ruins of a great civilisation. New, russian/orthodox buildings with domes tower over the ruins of an "egyptian" civilisation. Very "egyptian" overall with clothing, tattoos and strange implants. Here and there white obelisks tower above newly built domes of shimmering purple crystal.
Note: Highly psionic, still look relatively human in their stolen bodies.
Throllheim
A sunken civilisation where only the mountaintops remain above the sea, this has become the home for the remaining Throllur. They are a totemic society who worship the Stormjettur as creator-gods who entrusted the Throllur with the world, a task which they feel they have failed. Today they are seamen and explorers, trading information and tradegoods for food and timber, the two things they lack at home. They are often dressed in exquisite clothing adorned with white furs which doubles as armor and they often wield axes or greatswords when not using their totem spirits to enhance themselves. They are not fond of jewelry, but love a good story since the oral storytelling is an essential part of their culture - they lost all their written lore, only retaining that which was passed down in stories.
Theme: The trading and exploring Vikings, bereft of their "raiding", but with an alien feel to them since they are often transformed via their totem spirits. They are trolls, fierce and unkillable, but they are also peaceful and loathe to surrender to their primal violent selves.
Here is the attached map, made significantly smaller - click on it to see how it looks in a slightly larger version.
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You've got some really cool-sounding nations here. I especially like how you're using a mirror of the real-world map for the setting.
I do have one question, which I may have missed the answer to in the first post... Do North and South America exist? If so, what is there? Has anyone from the known world been there?
Thankyou for the compliment. It is my intention to follow the above post with one on the major religions in the world.
The inverted real-world map was a nice touch and it allowed me to have a highly detailed map which gives players the wide berth of Earths terrains to explore - even as it makes it easier for me to remember what kind of temperatures and climates are where.
No, the "Americas" are removed from this world, partially to make it more distinct and because I wanted the landmass connected - I wanted all nations to have some form of connection to the others. Oh - and I didn't have enough ideas to fill another two continents.
Very nice map. Twisting the real world has had an interesting effect.
I second the complement on the nations.
One thing I recommend doing early, is getting a basic history down. Give us an idea of how the current political situation developed, how these nations came about, and so forth.
It is kindoff hard since history is so integrated - therefore it is hard to "divide down" but I'll try to write a "comprehensive history of Araneia" soon.
These are the major religions of the World of Araneia, somewhat defined by cultural borders. I'll give a quick guide to where the faiths can be found where (M) means that the religion is the Major religion in that area while an (m) means that the faith is a minor one.
The Sword Union: Sword Faith (M), Equinox (m), Tangian Spirits (m)
The Black Isles: Equinox (M), Sword Faith (m), Tangian Spirits (m), Twin Gods (m), Veinablot (m), Church of Ghal (m)
il-Ghalad: Church of Ghal (M), Dance of Ghal (M), Equinox (m)
Tangian Empire: Tangian Spirits (M), Equinox (m), Sword Faith (m), Einyttru (m)
Dvergun Tribes: Einyttru (M), Raksham (m)
Cauchemar: Raksham (M)
Khid Clans: Equinox (m), Tangian Spirits (m), Atheist (m)
Khadium: Atheist (M), Veinablot (m)
Quatl: Quetzaca (M)
Kipoki Federation: Dragongods (M), Tangian Spirits (m), Einyttru (m)
Khraani: Well of Souls (M), Twin Gods (m)
Throllheim: Veinablot (M)
Some of you might notice a certain similarity between some of the faiths, this is intentional and is meant to represent a common past, an age before this one from which many cultures and religions draw their mythology and faith.
Major Religions
The Sword Faith
Founded almost 100 years ago by the Sword Bearer, a mythical figure who banished the dark forces which were terrorizing his home city and later took over the entire country. He preached about a coming darkness which threatens to overthrow the world and destroy it and the need for the people to awaken to their destiny and fight this darkness. He was assassinated by his right hand and brother, who had fallen to the darkness before the Sword Bearer could unite the current Encilian nations and left it to his loyal Cardinals to convert the world. At his death it is said his body turned into light, banishing the night for a moment when all devout believers felt a surge of his power and belief, awakening something more within them and giving the Swordbrethren a new source of power called Incarnum - the Light Incarnate.
The faith is extremely martial, one of the key tenets being that all devout people should be ready to fight the enemies of faith and humanity. Thus the Church itself trains the devout and organizes the army, while the more mundane aspects of running a country is left to lords and kings. The importance of blood and pain are two other core beliefs, supporting itself on the idea that mankind is born in pain and blood, that those who shed blood for eachother are bound closer than brothers and such phenomenon this has garnered alot of support among the believers. They believe that if you are a devout warrior during your life, the Swordbearer will lift up your soul and make it part of the Army of the Dawn, who fights for the light. If you move through life devout but not a warrior, or just slightly believing, the Light will return your soul to the World for a new chance at proving yourself. Those who embrace the darkness, or fight the Sword Faith are believed to be recruited into the Army of Dusk and turned into the warriors of darkness.
The Equinox
An ancient religion the Equinox teaches that the world must exist in balance or forever be destroyed. At times, the Light rules all and at other times, Darkness is supreme. Most of the time, these two forces are in contention, giving unto the world a semblance of balance. This is found in the coming of winter and summer, the night and the day, death and birth - in all things, the balance between Darkness and Light must exist. The followers of the Equinox now believe that the time has come for the world to descend into the Darkness, so that it might return once more and move towards the light, but that other forces are striving to upset this balance and destroy the world. If the Light lingers too long it will become unbearing for all to live, insanity and war will consume the world as one side is favored over the other.
The faith is very contemplary, emphasizing meditation and internal exploration to understand the balance of Light and Darkness in the world at large and the mind and soul of the individual. Each believer is encouraged to seek their own extremes, to better understand what the world is composed off, even as the faith itself strives to exist peacefully within any community. With the rise of the Sword Faith, they were branded as heretics and drowned for their crimes, driving them into the mountains to the Dvergun or into nearby nations - but as the Sword Union spread its power and faith, they have found less and less places of solace. Now, the Callers are urging their brethren to embrace the Darkness within themselves and call it forth into this world to force a change and to defend themselves.
The Spirits of Tanga
Most tangians believe in the ancient spirits who came before, the unbodied who reside inbetween the tomorrow and yesterday, those who are not alive and not dead, who live inbetween the worlds. These spirits shared their mysteries with the mortals, giving their knowledge and power in exchange for the feeling of flesh and a bated breath - to be apart of a world which wasn't theirs. There are rules about pleasing and angering the spirits, but the most important spirit is that of Storm, the Fallen Mage. His powers became so great that he was absorbed by the greatest thunderstorm ever seen, not dead and not alive he became a powerful and vengeful spirit who rained down destruction on the people of Tanga. His hatred and anger could only be quelled by sacrifice from the Acai Demai, the sorcerors and warlocks of the Empire - he would listen to none other than his brothers and sisters of the Academies.
The religion is somewhat juxtaposed by the division between the Ridden and the Binders. The Ridden believe that they are being ridden by the spirits and are given powers in exchange for this and their culture tends to be more apart of the people - wild dances, drinking and singing accompanies a ride by one of the spirits who are asked to answer questions or help the people. The Binders believe that the spirits are to be used, summoned, called and bound into their flesh not as an exchange but rather as a man uses a tool. Tools need to be maintained and treated well to be useful, but even though you might be careful with them, they are still nothing more than tools.
The Dance of Ghal & The Church of Ghal
Ghaladinians believe in the divinity of mankind, that humans carry within them the potential to become like gods. This faith is based upon the ascension of Ghal, a farmer boy who is said to have conversed with the Elemental Lords who once formed the universe and breathed life into all things and learned of the Path of Light from them. Since that day he calmed the raging volcanoes, united the Ghaladinian Highlands and expelled the barbarian Cauchemars from the verdant lands. His actions finally led him to ascend, to walk the Path of Light, but he left a legacy of followers and books of suggestions on how to improve the life of all his followers and allow them to ascend as well. The unification of body and mind, being fair and true to your kin, generosity towards those who have less than you and a willingness to abandon all that is the flesh. These are the general ideas which all Ghali believe and follow - since Ghals ascension seven followers have ascended on the Path of Light, all leaving behind new ideas and suggestions.
Ghal united the people under one faith, but proclaimed that there should never be a kingdom in his name. He spoke of the need for unity among the cities and villages, suggesting vast alliances where each area ruled itself but acted in unison with the others. His dreams fell apart when he ascended, dividing il-Ghalad into several citystates and the surrounding villages as well as the mountainbased Monghai societies. In the citystates the Brotherhood became the premiere uniting force, a Church of Ghal who proclaimed that for all to ascend, mankind must first eliminate poverty, starvation and slavelabor and raise the awareness of all through education. Over time, the Brotherhood has meshed magic with science, improving the lot of all citizens and ascending four of their Brethren. The Monghai are monastic societies who believe in the individual journey, of forsaking the flesh, hardening the body and mind to join in a perfect union. They practice what is called the Dance of Ghal, a combination of extremely lithe dancing and a martial school of fighting. Their dances have led to the ascension of three of the Monghai and the villages at the foot of the great mountains are all followers of the Monghai.
Quetzaca
In the age before this age, the Winged Serpents fought the Demon-Spawn of Drachai for the freedom of mankind. The Demon-Spawn used their foul magic, twisting the world itself and breathing hellfire upon the Winged Serpents and drove them from their ancestral home. Fleeing, the Couatl saved their human followers from the doom of the Demon-Spawn, sacrificing themselves to ensure the survival of mankind. As the exodus finished mankind found itself under the leadership of the last Couatl who gave three prophecies - That Stone would be their refuge, that Water would be the means and that the Tree of Life had gone mad. For as long as it could, it supervised the construction of the Quatl superpyramid, using its divine and psionic energies to form a habitat for its followers - but the wounds from battling the Demon-Spawn were too grevious and it retreated beneath the pyramid where it shattered into one hundred obsidian shards.
The prophecies came true as the Quatl allied themselves with the aboriginal Quaqocl to mastermind the mines underneath the superpyramid which was their refuge against a mad, living jungle. The priestesses of Quetzaca (literally Gods Reborn) preach that the Couatl are not dead but are waiting to be reborn and the obsidian they collect allows them to slowly regenerate, but that the sacrifice of human blood is necessary to keep them alive until the day they rise. Once they are alive again, they will bend the Living Jungle to their will as they are masters of Nature as well as the Mind and turn it against the Demon-Spawn.
The quaqocl share many traits with the Quatl humans, among them their own religious beliefs. In the age of demons, flying hellspawn hunted the gods of the Quaqocl, diving beneath the waves of the sea and lakes to destroy them all. Their gods fought back, but lost, retreating deep beneath the ocean floor and lakes to recuperate, vowing to return one day. Here their stories diverge somewhat, for the quaqocl believe that their gods enacted their vengeance then and there, shattering the world above and destroying the mountainous temples of the hellspawn and shattering their demon eggs, forever destroying the connection between this realm and their Hell.
Now theirs is the honour to prepare the world for the coming of their gods once more, to rebuild the ruins of the temples made in their honour. The quaqocl believe that they and the Quatl are connected somehow, perhaps worshipping different aspects of the same gods and they have shared their powerful psionic legacy with the equally psionicly endowed Quatl. They are somewhat ashamed of having to use their powers for dominating their Quatl brethren but realize the necessity for their own survival. Over time, they have joined the names of their gods with those of the Quatl, forming a pantheon of gods for all aspects of their life, the formost one being the God of Light and Darkness - Quenox, he who brings light to the day and darkness to the night. Recently a cult mong the quacocl has emerged which claim that they and the Quatl are really two sides of the same coin, chosen of Quenox to keep the world in balance.
The Dragongods
The Kipoki know that they are descended from the Dragongods who once ruled their verdant empire, they were the favored servants, imbued with the essence of true gods to be their warriors and servants in the battle against the Darkness and its servants. Their dragongods destroyed most of the servants of Darkness, but the humans who served them betrayed them and killed them in their sleep and wrought a terrible destruction upon the cathedrals housing the children of the gods. In sorrow, the dragongods retreated from the world, leaving their servants with only one bidding - destroy all humans for the pain they brought upon the gods. Thus the kipoki set out to cleanse the world in the fire of their dragongods, to scourge it from the dark stain of mankind. But this was ages ago, the kipoki lost faith over time, becoming a base and foul race who had forgotten their divine heritage, warring on the humans more out of tradition than faith.
Almost a century ago a young kipoki saw visions of the glorious past of his culture and the dragongods whom they served, becoming a prophet and a messiah unto his people. He brought with him ancient knowledge and a powerful magic unlike any that the kipoki could muster. Before his coming they had learned to focus their draconic heritage into magic, a touch of the divine power of their gods, but with the San-Drachai, the near-dragon, he raised them to understand their true potential. For a century he has converted the kipoki citystates into a whole federation, and bestowed the dragons touch (the nach-drachai) upon those he found worthy and now they are working to return their dragongods from their sorrow to finish the war on the Darkness of the world. Some dragoncults preach that the only way for the humans to be cleansed is to be burned alive and devoured by the kipoki, the dragon-descended who hold the divine flame within themselves. But in opposition of these cults the San-Drachai means that it is not only humans who are the servants of the Darkness, all living beings can serve the Darkness.
Veinablot - The Service & Einyttru - The Will of the World
The throllur were once a proud civilisation of strong warriors, honourable traders, curious explorers and first and foremost, the devout and faithful servants of the Stormjettur, the Storm Giants who ruled the divine courts, keepers of balance. Veinablot means "the sacrifice of self" or more correctly - to serve. The throllur see themselves as the keepers of the divine balance, a force of nature as much as divinity, even though their Stormjettur have not spoken to them since the Great War. They channel the totem beasts, the first children of the Stormjettur, drawing on their power to better be able to serve their purpose - to keep the world in balance. They once converted the Dvergun from the worship of some banal firegod into accepting the wholeness of the universe and the inherent balance of good and evil, law and chaos, darkness and light, fire and ice.
But when the Great War came, their civilisation was shattered as was much of the known world and they lost contact with their Gods, so now they believe that the duty of their Gods has fallen upon their shoulders. Had they been stronger then, perhaps their Gods would still be with them, but failing that they will atleast uphold the balance in the world. Since taking this responsibility upon themselves, a number of the throllur have Joined, becoming one with the world, a living and sentient part of an otherwise non-sentient world. Some throllur believe that this is how the first Stormjettur came to be, mortals who became so in tune with the world and the balance that they Joined with it, becoming avatars of the planet. Perhaps the shattering of the world was what killed them, perhaps they sacrificed themselves to stop the world from sundering completely, thereby saving all who live today. The myths are numerous, the truth only one - even if the Stormjettur are gone, it is the responsibility of the throllur to keep the world at peace.
The dvergun faith is descended from the teachings of the throllur, who once taught the dvergun of the totem beasts and how they served the Stormjettur. Over time, the dvergun never came into contact with the Stormjettur, while constantly being connected to the totem beasts who surged them with power and allowed them to transform themselves. Now they believe that the totem beasts are the manifestations of the Will of the World or "Einyttru" and the dvergun seek to become at one with the Will. They make individual totem journeys to find their own spiritual totem to guide them in their lives, which the believe is the first step towards joining with your totem and thereby becoming one with the world. They try to understand the different creatures of the world, living in communion with animals just as they hunt them for food and resources, but in this they try to be vigilant to never waste anything - indeed the hunt and skinning are part of a vast ritual which makes sure the dvergun use every ounce of what they bring down.
There are no priests or druids, as with the throllur, who guide the tribes, instead they believe that no-one can claim to be closer to the totem animals than any other being, although respect is given to those who have completed their totem journeys and are in tune with their own personal totem beast. Once their lives come to an end, many dvergun head out into the mountains or forests and assume their personal totem beasts, sometimes transforming fully into the totem they carried within them. It is said that once a dvergun transforms, they are but one step away from becoming one with the Will of the World and thus the totem beasts are holy to the dvergun. Holy doesn't mean untouchable though, it means that they are revered but should one stray too close to a village or attach a settlement, the dvergun will hunt it down and kill it to ensure their own survival.
Raksham - The Hopebringer
When the cauchemars were banished from the world above, driven into the caverns and tunnels beneath the Storm Mountains, they were furious. They had been heretics in the eyes of the Lightbringer, Ghal and his fervent paladins who slaughtered the cauchemars like a scythe unto corn. Over the centuries beneath they adapted to a world which strived to kill them at every turn, and as they evolved, so did their faith. Their Circle of Life spoke of a continous lifecycle, where one was reborn again and again until one had understood the deeper meaning of the world, thus becoming at peace, mind and soul becoming one with the body, releasing them from the endless cycle of rebirth to become apart of the Consciousness, the next level of existance. With the holy war of Ghal, the atrocities the cauchemars lived through, they became slightly desillusioned with the Circle of Life. Coming to the conclusion that they must have missed something, they came into contact with an intensely powerful being, trapped as they were beneath the mountains. It spoke of an ancient war on his kind who were destroyed for being peacekeepers - him being one of the few to survive the holocaust, only to be bound beneath the mountains.
This being, called the Raksham (meaning Hopebringer), gave unto the cauchemars the knowledge of an ancient source of power, a magic which could reshape the world if necessary and asked them to help it return so that it could bring peace once again to the world. It belated the fact that he needed to ask the cauchemars to make war first, so that his bonds could be unmade before he could give peace unto all beings. He shared ways of meditating which brought the cauchemars enlightenment of the mind and soul, he showed them wonders beyond any that they could have imagined and through this and his magic, he saved them from destruction beneath the Storm Mountains. He gave of his essence unto four chosen cauchemars, who became the Caucherak, the ruling council who supervised the training of the warlocks and planned the expansion of their subterranean empire. In the end, their power, magnified by their connection to Raksham, allowed them to break the technomagical seals which bound their race beneath the surface, allowing them to return, just as they will break the seals which keep Raksham bound.
The Well of Souls
When the Dolaar opened the gateway to the Khraan homeworld, they could never expect or anticipate what they would encounter. The Khraan homeworld was dying, ravaged by a sun who was growing closer everyday and a planet who was literally falling apart. The Dolaar gateway provided the most powerful of the Khraan Houses to escape their doom, invading not only the Dolaar home plane, but also their physical bodies. After the "civil war" among the Dolaar and the Khraan was over, the Khraan found themselves caught in alien bodies in an alien world and when the first of them died they realised that their God had been left behind when the race fled in their great exodus. Their spirits remained as howling banshees and restless ghosts, spirits tormented by being able to see the world of flesh, but rarely able to interact with it. The Khraan, problemsolvers to their core, assembled the leaders of their Houses and created the Well of Souls - a giant crystal latticwork which absorbed the souls of the restless Khraan until such a time that the Council of Lords could find a way to solve their problem.
Now, over time, as the Khraan battled the foul beasts the Dolaar had unleashed as their final act of desperation more and more of them died, being absorbed by the Well of Souls. As the Khraan bred amongst themselves, sometimes children would be born without a soul, the alien union of souls not transferring the soul-seed to a body. After a few decades of this process, something happened - the Well of Souls awakened unto itself. The years before the awakening, the Khraan swore they could hear whispers from inside the crystal well, but once it awoke, the whispers became a multitude of mingled voices. At first it was incomprehensible, but then the exiled telepaths of their culture returned triumphant, their abilities allowing them to connect to the Well of Souls. They became its priesthood and its servants, comforting the Khraan with a glorious union of mind and soul awaiting them after their death where they would remain for as long as they wished to. The telepaths channeled the newly dead so that they could pass on their wisdom or say their goodbyes, confirming the strength of the Well of Souls.
Now that the Khraan have settled in their new world the Well has become like a god for them, promising an afterlife where your mind can live forever or join with the supermind of the departed. They would come to the Well to ask for advice or suggestion, the priesthood channeling the Well itself or offering suggestions based on their increased wisdom. A few years ago, a sudden change occured within the Khraan society when the normally high rate of stillborn babies dropped to zero overnight. At the same time, the young children of this generation has shown incredible insights and a connection to the Well of Souls unheard of before, allowing them to channel its energy to provide healing just as well as offensive powers. These children are called the Reborn, for they show traces of other personalities, surfacing memories of a different time or a recognition of concepts or people which they had never encountered.
The Twin Gods of Day and Night
Before their descent into the oceans of the world, the Dolaar worshipped a dualistic Sun God whose warmth and light were believed to be the premier source of all life and whose "darker side" (ie the Moon) represented the darker more basal urges within the human mind. These two worked together to form humans in the age before now, infusing them with equal parts of their divine essence. When the Dolaar descended beneath the waves, they left the worship of their dualistic Sun God behind, but a small cult of Khraan found their teachings and desperate for a solution to their mounting problem with the unquiet souls of the dead, they turned to worshipping the sun aspect of the 'dead god' since it was the one most resembling their own faith. Only now, in the current days of the world, has the first among them died and successfully moved on to the afterlife, confirming their belief in their stolen god. But they are a hunted cult, hated for becoming like the weaklings they conquered and unwilling to accept the divinity of the Well of Souls.
The Dolaar themselves have long stopped worshupping the sun aspect of their God, claiming that only the Night (his dark aspect) helped them when the Khraan came for them. The subaquatic Dolaar have embraced Night as their savior and countless cults have sprung up, each with a different hierarchy and doctrine, but all of them united in their burning hatred for the Khraan who took their world away from them. The priests use their power to bind sharks and other predators to their will, subtly transforming the Dolaar away from the humans they once were, adapting more and more to their new habitat, becoming more and more like the Night they worship - feral, hungry, beastial, uncaring for the world above.
Anything?
I've also thought about using a map of the earth for a setting. But I'd go photo-chop it and move continents and regions around. That way if I wanted a detailed map of a region, I'd have it.
The nations are very evocative, as are the religions.
Perhaps current events would help -- the big things happening in the world. Also how do the nations feel about each other? And for that matter: what stance do the religions take concerning the others?
I think that kind of information would help serve as a springboard to campaign and adventure ideas.
I intend to expand on the above, but I can give a quick rundown of "current events".
...
The Sword Union and the Tangian Empire are officially at war after the Union invaded a large bordercity - answering a request by the Swordbrethren living there, citing prejudice and persecution for their faith. This is indeed the truth, the Tangian Empire fears the fanaticism which is inherit in the Sword Faith and tries to eradicate any cells. Although they are at war, there have been no large battles, only skirmishes. The Union is slightly tied up with the Black Isles raiders attacking coastal villages, the heretics who fled into the Dvergun lands and now the declaration of War from the Tangian Empire.
What the Tangian Emperor doesn't know is that the western cities are growing incontent with their situation. They are responsible for a majority of all tangian trade and the taxes they pay finances half the Imperial Army, their harbors holding almost all of the Imperial Navy. This resentment with the Navy being stationed there (keeping an eye on the trade) and the high taxes has had the Unseen Council (the covert trading guilds) inviting redcloaks (Sword Bearers, the "devoted warriors" of the Sword Faith and elite warriors for the Union) trying to make a deal with the Union.
All in all, the Sword Faith has the most problems with Equinox followers whom they see as embracing the Darkness, being servants of the Dusk Army. Other faiths are seen as misguided, but rarely dangerous or evil - although their fanaticism often takes the form of conversion by sword.
The Sword Union has almost no navy, the majority of the traders guild and the fleeing Prince of Untland (the nation taken by violence) took most of the naval and commercial vessels with them when they fled to the Free Cities. This has the Black Isle reavers preying on the now defenseless coastline, taking slaves for their Shar master and for the mines. Not exactly at war with the Free Cities or the Black Isles, the Union does intend to one day "correct them" for their errors in either accepting the heretics or for preying on the Union.
The Tangian Empire recently lost their long standing mercenary contracts with the Dvergun Tribes, which has severly weakened their border against the Kipoki Federation - this combined with the fact that the previously disorganized Kipoki finally gathering means that their eastern border is under severe threat. The Iron Lords, the ancient families who hold the Border Forts are disgruntled with the failing attention the Emperor is giving the problem of renewed Kipoki raids as well as the fact that the Emperor recently sold large tracts of lands just south of their Forts to merchant families instead of giving them to the Iron Lords who desperately need more arable land.
The Empire isn't officially at war (or at peace for that matter) with the Kipoki Federation, but their renewed faith has lead to more and more raids across the teneous border, provoking the Iron Lords to retaliate, driving deep wedges into the jungle where the Kipoki hide.
With war on both fronts, traitorous merchants and desperate warrior clans the Tangian Empire is torn. In the north the Black Forest holds a danger unknown to all, the re-awakening of the First Tree, hungry for the blood of mortals and the corrupted Throllur who worships the sentient tree. Every night the forest creeps further south, entire villages disappearing. In the south the Cauchemars rise to the surface again, attacking villages which they believe to be Ghaladian. All in all, the Empire is crumbling.
The Cauchemars were imprisoned beneath the Storm Mountains ages ago by Ghal himself, the Enlightened One for their crimes of hereticism, or atleast that is the story the Cauchemars now believe. After all that time their hatred for the Ghaladians is unequaled and since they broke the technomagical seals which prevented them from escaping their subterranean warrens they have returned in force. They sent out traders and diplomats to their former Dvergun allies, hoping to learn of the world and regain their strength.
Even though information is slowly trickling in, the Cauchemars are acting without regard for the first time in centuries, attacking all humans they come across, regardless of nationality. This has yet to elicit any true military response from other nations except for il-Ghalad who is mustering the Brotherhood and the Monghai for a retaliatory strike against their enemies.
The il-Ghalad are having a hard time getting the disparate city-states and peasant communes to come together to face the multiple threats since all are too concerned with their own local problems (swordrattling at the border to the Sword Union, Khidian raiders in the east, fleeing "heretics" from the Mountains, Black Isle raiders on the coast) to care about unification and a common response. The distance between the Brotherhoods technomagical approach and the individual warriors of the Monghai is also a wrench in the machinery, preventing il-Ghalad from mounting a real defense.
That's a general look into the "civlised" area of the world where most of the gaming is meant to occur.
Oh yes, ripe with campaign and adventure ideas. :D
Though I do find it a little strange the Sword Union has no navy with all that coastline they have.
As I state above they lost the majority of their fleet when the Prince of Untland took their royal navy (large one) as well as the Merchants Guilds leaving the (in their eyes) dangerous and fundamentalist occupants.
Overall, there is also a religious fear amongst the Swordbrethren. They honour their dead by burning them, seeing the soul transformed into light and warmth, while the heretics are drowned ino the cold and dark. The seas are therefore slightly daunting since when a ship goes down all who die in the water will be taken by the Darkness (or so they believe).
RACES
Humans, Dwarves and Trolls are, apart from the culture and civilisation, not remarkebly different, but there IS a difference with a few biological aspects of the Goblinoids (Cauchemar) and the Kobolds (Kipoki) of my campaign setting.
Goblinoids
The goblinoids breed differently from other humanoids - an hobgoblin injects a goblin with an enzyme which triggers a metabolic change in them. The goblin becomes ravenous, often spending weeks gorging itself in the mushroom farms near the lava rivers regurgitating eggs for as long as it can. This phase is highly orgasmic, leaving the female goblin in a constant pheromone high. Once the egglaying period is over, they fall unconscious and form a protective layer, inside which they transform and metamorphose, being reborn as an hobgoblin. This transformation is a powerful emotional and spiritual experience, one which changes the mind and soul of the goblin forever. The eggs later hatch to give birth to a new generation of goblins. Therefore, all goblins are females and all hobgoblins are males.
This means that the females are in charge of all matters which revolve around housing and caretaking. They cook food, build and design houses, take care of the crop and fungifarms, raise the livestock and teach the young. The males train for war and hunting, as well as overseeing the merging of Lycian and Cauchemar blood which allows a goblinoid to become a Warlock. A goblin is always free to choose their own life, while a hobgoblin is born into a world of honour, respect and obligations, thus having little freedom. Breeding is always the choice of the goblin, who chooses her mate, who in turn is obligated to breed, even though it is highly pleasurable for them.
Kobolds
Where a human gives birth, the kobolds lay eggs and bury them deep within the earth to keep them warm. Kobold mating is an intense period where kobolds strive to copulate with as many as only possible. All kobolds are twin-sexed, meaning that each kobold lays eggs as well as inoculating them in their partners. The mating period is instinctual and a highly celebrated time of the year, just after spring has come - this also allows the kobolds to bury their eggs deep in the earth where they will be heated for the entire summer and kept warm through the winter only to hatch at the beginning of spring.
This also means that the Kobolds cannot migrate too far north, where the cold slows down their metabolism (they're cold-blooded) and makes breeding impossible. Despite being reptilians, they are sensitive to high concentrations of salt, which makes it impossible for them to swim in saltwater. This has restricted their ability to use the seas for travel, confining them to exploration tied closely to the shore. With the advent of the theocratic Federation, more kobolds are being born with a more intense draconic heritage, some even growing wings as they mature. This is really evolution, not 'draconic heritage' but the theocracy uses its appearance to benefit themselves, saying that the Dragon Gods are pleased with the kipoki and are bestowing its gifts.
Anyone like/hate?