The Campaign Builder's Guild

[ic]"Almost 9,000 years ago all of creation was born in a grand cosmic conflagration, and the charred husk that remained, grew and flourished to become the world we know as Aedaeion. '¦Or so the story goes anyhow. The Elves have quite a different tale of creation, but who listens to Elves anyways? They're the singularly most self important race in all of creation. Apparently after the grand burning, the world was forsaken in an abyssal darkness. The race of man stumbled from our of caves, and eked out a miserable existence in the oppressive Evernight. And at some point, the gods returned to our world, and brought with them, the Sun, and salvation. And that is where we begin: a light by which to see the world; and that was all man needed to conquer it." [/ic]

What is Aedaeion?
Aedaeion is a complete fantasy world, dominated by nations of men who are on the brink of the greatest global conflict in recorded history. While these Empires and Republics prepare and position for war against each other, little is mentioned in the halls of power about: the united Orcish war-horde of the northern Wildernesse, the bizarre Black Dream epidemic which is driving countless arcanists of every race blabbering mad, the discovery of a vampire spy network which apparently has agents in every court and reports to an unnamed lich-god who command numerous death cults, or the warnings of the Elfish God-King who claims a forgotten enemy to all mortal races has returned and is preparing to doom the world. Aedaeion has almost all the classic elements of fantasy including: Dragons, Elves, Dwarves, Undead, Wizards, Clerics, Sorcerers, Paladins, Kings, Goblins and Orcs, etc. Almost all aspects of traditional D&D exist somewhere in Aedaeion.

 [ooc]Theme and Mood: Aedaeion was designed to a familiar setting for people picking up the D&D core books. Humans are adaptable and numerous, Elves are an old aloof race, dwarves dig and dwell in the world's mountains with as much zeal as ever. But Aedaeion is intended for the role players, who want social, cultural, racial, historical and political intrigue. Of course though, there is more than enough room for the Dungeon crawlers and loot lusters (someone has to clean out those old dungeons). But Aedaeion was to made to be wholly consistent and researched, in the style and spirit of a certain Oxford English professor, as opposed to the more high fantasy, ad hoc settings of TSR. Aedaeion certainly welcomes all styles of role-playing, but we think the real 'in character', and fans of historical fiction will gain the most from this work. [/ooc]

The Ages, a Brief History
The Elves, a race older than the current gods, know that the world is nearing the end of its fourth age. The first age was that of the Elves alone, when they knew and walked with the old Gods, and saw the corruption of the Titans. With coming of the new gods, and the young races: men, dwarves and the enemy, the Raejins, came the second age. When the Raejins launched their war against all the other races, and one of the two aspects of creation was slain, so passed the second age. The third age began with a thousand year darkness, from which men arose and conquered the world. After almost 5,000 years of prosperity and relative peace, the world Empire crumbled and collapsed to a barbarian horde that vanished from history as soon as it came. Over the bones of this was fought the War of the Remnant, and this began the fourth age, when the White-Terror, Tyrus founded his Iron Empire and enslaved much of the civilized world for two hundred years. After his mysterious disappearance the Empire crumbled and many nations arose. Over a thousand years later, those nations have long since rebuilt themselves and about to launch a cataclysmic war that will encompass all of creation.

Themes

A Gathering Storm: Almost all the nations of the world are on the war path, alliances are being drawn and broken, armies mustered and threats levied.[/list]

Rarity of Magic: Tyrus's Empire was made possible by wicked Sorceror Princes who enslaved most of humanity. The civilized world loathes any sort of magic. [/list]

Remains of Empire: Empires build cities, fortresses and monuments to their own fleeting glory. Aedaeion is littered with these, as there have been two near global Empires of man. This serves to give players a sense of history, and context for the world they're adventuring in. [/list]

Competing Cultures: The different human cultures and nations have very distinct views. Some advocate slavery, other reason, and some outright barbarism. if you need or want a particular flavor for a society in your adventure, you will find it in Aedaeion. [/list]

Impending Apocalypse: Long forgotten evils have returned, and if unchecked, the Raejins will destroy all of creation.[/list]

 [note]A bit about the Cosmology: In the beginning there was a infinite twilight sea. Wholeness and emptiness, everything and nothing, light, dark. Spontaneously, a leaf appeared in center of this ocean, and it agitated a ripple, which became waves and then a great tumult. All of the sea spun around the leave until the light and the darkness separated, and whirled away into the sun rotating the leaf through the heavenly darkness: the void.

Two consciences awakened: Illyia, the light and Chaos and creation, and Sull, darkness and order and entropy. Around this leaf grew a tree, in whose roots dirt formed and made the world. Together the two forces created four Titans who sculpted the world, and shaped it. Then together they made a race, Elves. And thus Elves are the perfect harmony of existence. All following races were made by Sull or Illyia, never again combined.

The Titans were tricked by an Elf who was jilted by a lover, and turned Evil. He made the Titans resent the two supreme gods, and encouraged to claim the world for their own. Illyia and Sul promptly took the titans and put them to sleep, burying their massive bodies deep in the earth. The corrupted divine energy that exudes their sleeping bodies is power that fuels all arcane magic.[/note]

Races
Humans
The freest, most common, and most powerful race in Aedaeion. Almost every single nation in the world is Human ruled, and certainly the past 9,000 years and two ages has been dominated by mankind. Adept, resourceful, Humans are very our of the PHB. There are three primary cultures in humanity (with several other minor cultures):
= Alkan: Before Atreal conquered the world, their Hegemony ruled. They still respect the institution of slavery, have more draconian laws, value the arts less. The Alkan nation is fairly handicaped but dreams of restoring their former glory an position. Their sister nation which is dominated by Alkan culture is much more powerful, and the Alkans hope to marry the countries of Alk and Edagnia into a pan-Alkan Empire, to threaten the world.
= Lunswick: The smallest of the three major cultures. Not too recently, the Lunswick were called the Arrik barbarians, and over the course of two thousand years they migrated into the Atrelean world-Empire and settled. Now they form two nations which are in the middle and undecided about how to support in the coming war.
 = Viobardi: The largest and most diverse culture, spanning at least four nations and two sizable empires. These two Empires are the main movers in the coming war, as Thon wishing to attack Virgilinae, and the recent revolution in Thon, and its new Paladin-dictatorship is gearing the Empire up for war. This culture is the most advanced in the arts, liberties and sciences. Also they hate magic the most, as they were the primary victim of Tyrus' wrath and opression.

Elves
The oldest race, since they defeated the Raejins at the end of the second age, they withdrew from the popular world. In the following several thousand years, the Elves have battled the Raejins in a global shadow war, uncovering plots, attacking scouts and honestly trying to just annihilate the race. Not all Elves are of noble heart, but they can remember beyond the sundering of Sul, humans and dwarves, so they know the true story of creation which makes most Elves loyal adherents to Illyia. Knowing the truth removes the uncertainty of 'faith' that allows for relativist philosophies and doubt. Many Elves still adventure, and even hope that one day they will again fully integrate with the popular modern world. They are tall, handsome, graceful and immortal.
Raejins
Created out of jealous of the Elves affection for Illyia, Raejins are inherently a magical race who were born to wipe out Elves and inherit the world. When they launched their great war, and eventually lost, Sul became consumed by passion, and love for his race, and entered the world, disconnecting himself from the power of universe (or most of it). Upon doing so Illyia, still connected to the power simply slew him. But that which is so power:     "That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die." So the few Raejin survivors fled to the least hospitable place in the world, and atop a mountain founded a city. There they have plotted and schemed, and are now preparing for their return, hoping to resurrect their god, and remake the world. They have many adventurers, who are envoys, spies in the global conspiracy. Some though, are curious youths, interested in exploring the world, or even disaffected outsiders who think the dream of Sul is dead, and hopeless. They are shorter than elves and could pass for humans, with fair hair and radiant, frighteningly blue magic eyes. They are not immortal, and live to be a few hundred years old.

Dwarves
Dwarves dig in mountains, and their society reached its heyday several hundred years ago, when the nations of men were just reemerging. Many dwarves have abandoned the miner, mountain king life and have integrated with society. Tyrus' Iron Empire of almost global tyranny had many Dwarves rise to high rank. Today Dwarves adventure in the world for many of the same reasons humans do: fun, wealth, experience.

Hallowed Elves
Long ago, a philosophy among Elves appeared which advocated a mass forsaking of their Immortality. Eternal life was viewed as a curse. And, eventually, the new gods granted it to them. They are wild wood elves of classic high fantasy settings.

Half Dwaves
An arbitrary and jealous god cursed a society of dwarves long ago for associating with Humans too much, and made them neither human nor dwarf. They stand taller than a dwarf and are incapable of growing the traditional beard. Instead they grow handsome sideburns. Also they have lost their affinity for stone working, and instead have adopted a keenness for metal working. Also, since they consider themselves a bastard race, they wield bastard arms, half axe-half shields and other such martial monstrosities. There is no nation of half-dwarves, and they have become social pariahs over the centuries, drifters, thieves, spies, pimps and pushers.

Orcs
Orcs were created by Sull as his last gift to the Raejin people, as a grand slave race. They were the foot soldiers of the great war of the second age. After the Raejin defeat, millions of Orcs remained with no dark god to unify them, and no master race to lead them. The orcs fought amongst themselves and formed great clans, which survived until today in the great northern wildernesse. Recently, the clans have been united, and are marching, millions strong, south into Alk. Who knows where their target is, and why they have united?

Hobgoblins
A mercenary race. Professional soldiers to a man. "Troupes" are wandering tribes of Hobgoblins who offer their loyal services to kings and warlords. Members of their race often solo adventure, or find their way into urban areas as bodyguards. Most of humanity looks upon them with suspicion, as they are a symbol of war.


Continents
Cerugala
Devoid of any remaining human presence, Cerugala is the home of the Elves and Raejins. There are some Orc tribes who have minor cities, and great ruins of Elves cities, long ago abandoned.

Eermehtal
Home of the old Alkan Hegemony, and dominated by the Alkan culture, this subcontinent is the most draconian. They also are a rising power and looking for an opportunity to assert themselves on the world stage.

Arnloir
Home of the Viobardi. Not all is peaceful here, but it has been the center of learning and high civilization since Atreal founded his global Empire.

Giangreco
A vast, never conquered expanse of terrible terrain, tribes, and unrecorded empires who have come and gone. Giant swamps, savannas, massive deserts, grasslands and mountains. Today, several small kingdoms are struggling to establish themselves, and hopefully begin a colonization of this vast, wealthy continent.

Thon
A continet nation-empire. There are many cultures on Thon, but mostly Viobardi. They command great natural resources, and fancy themselves more sophisticated and superior to their old cousins in Arnloir. Now they are looking for a war to vindicate this claim.

Wildernesse
Unsettled northern super mass of forests, mountains and plains. Orc clans dominate this area, along with Ogre fiefdoms, goblins villages, and other wandering monsters. Humans have rarely tried to settle this area, so it is without many sites or ruins.

Arkatos
The vast antarctic continent covered in ice. The lonely nation of Marsaul has made its home here, and other than that little stirs. Buried deep inside a glacial is the cursed, transported and sleeping demon city.




A picture of the world map below.
 [spoiler][/spoiler]

It is 5am, and I am getting very tired. I have been working on this setting for a few years and if there is any interest in it, I will post more about it. I shall try to post about the nations when I wake up. If there are any questions, please feel free to ask.

I like the map, especially the mountains. I'm curious what program you used to create it.

QuoteRaejins
Created out of jealous of the Elves affection for Illyia, Raejins are inherently a magical race who were born to wipe out Elves and inherit the world. When they launched their great war, and eventually lost, Sul became consumed by passion, and love for his race, and entered the world, disconnecting himself from the power of universe (or most of it). Upon doing so Illyia, still connected to the power simply slew him. But that which is so power: "That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die." So the few Raejin survivors fled to the least hospitable place in the world, and atop a mountain founded a city. There they have plotted and schemed, and are now preparing for their return, hoping to resurrect their god, and remake the world. They have many adventurers, who are envoys, spies in the global conspiracy. Some though, are curious youths, interested in exploring the world, or even disaffected outsiders who think the dream of Sul is dead, and hopeless. They are shorter than elves and could pass for humans, with fair hair and radiant, frighteningly blue magic eyes. They are not immortal, and live to be a few hundred years old.

I bet Raelifin would be pleased about an entire elf-killing race. Named "Raejins" no less.

If you use spoiler tags (and shrink the logo a bit) you can avoid causing the width of the screen to expand (forcing everyone to use the side-scroll bar, which is kind of annoying when trying to read anything long).

Uber review incoming! Do a barrel roll!

Quote from: PhoenixI like the map, especially the mountains. I'm curious what program you used to create it.

I copy and pasted various mountain formations from a very hi res, hand drawn map of middle earth. I used photoshop. I have dozens of these maps, all made from one 300 dpi, layered image. I can post more if you're interested. Highway maps, countries, historical maps, geographic terrains etc. Thank you for taking the time to look at my stuff. I appreciate it.

Okay, forgive me. I like what you've written, I really do. I think your level of thought, detail and artistic ability are excellent. I don't understand the world though, and that's one of the worst things that can happen to a reader.

So here is my rough train of thought:

[quote Slade]Dwarf (I'm guessing): "...Apparently after the grand burning, the world was forsaken in an abyssal darkness..."[/quote]grand burning[/b].

[quote Slade]Almost all aspects of traditional D&D exist somewhere in Aedaeion.[/quote]http://www.thecbg.org/e107_files/public/1164939939_9_FT22019_sick.png[/img]

[quote Slade]The first age was that of the Elves alone, when they knew and walked with the old Gods, and saw the corruption of the Titans.[/quote]corruption of the titans[/b]

[quote Slade]With coming of the new gods, and the young races: men, dwarves and the enemy, the Raejins, came the second age.[/quote]new gods[/b]. Three new races too.

[quote Slade]When the Raejins launched their war against all the other races, and one of the two aspects of creation was slain, so passed the second age.[/quote]Raejins[/b] must be badass to attack the humans, dwarves and elves all at once, not to mention the titans and the gods which I assume are fairly active in the world. What is an "aspect of creation"? Oh well, one aspect slain.

[quote Slade]The third age began with a thousand year darkness, from which men arose and conquered the world. After almost 5,000 years of prosperity and relative peace, the world Empire crumbled and collapsed to a barbarian horde that vanished from history as soon as it came.[/quote]Over the bones of this was fought the War of the Remnant, and this began the fourth age, when the White-Terror, Tyrus founded his Iron Empire and enslaved much of the civilized world for two hundred years.[/quote]Tyrus founds Iron Empire for the 4th age.[/b] How does he live so long?

[quote Slade]After his mysterious disappearance the Empire crumbled and many nations arose. Over a thousand years later, those nations have long since rebuilt themselves and about to launch a cataclysmic war that will encompass all of creation.[/quote]A bit about the Cosmology: In the beginning there was a infinite twilight sea. Wholeness and emptiness, everything and nothing, light, dark. Spontaneously, a leaf appeared in center of this ocean, and it agitated a ripple, which became waves and then a great tumult. All of the sea spun around the leaf until the light and the darkness separated, and whirled away into the sun rotating the leaf through the heavenly darkness: the void.[/quote]Two consciences awakened: Illyia, the light and Chaos and creation, and Sull, darkness and order and entropy. Around this leaf grew a tree, in whose roots dirt formed and made the world. Together the two forces created four Titans who sculpted the world, and shaped it. Then together they made a race, Elves. And thus Elves are the perfect harmony of existence. All following races were made by Sull or Illyia, never again combined.[/quote]"All following races were made by" them.[/u]

[quote Slade]The Titans were tricked by an Elf who was jilted by a lover, and turned Evil. He made the Titans resent the two supreme gods, and encouraged to claim the world for their own. Illyia and Sul promptly took the titans and put them to sleep, burying their massive bodies deep in the earth. The corrupted divine energy that exudes their sleeping bodies is power that fuels all arcane magic.[/quote]titans get the smackdown[/b], that's why they don't smack the Raijins later. Why do titans radiate arcane magic? Sounds like an excuse to have arcane magic to me.

[quote Slade]The freest, most common, and most powerful race in Aedaeion. Almost every single nation in the world is Human ruled, and certainly the past 9,000 years and two ages has been dominated by mankind. Adept, resourceful, Humans are very our of the PHB. There are three primary cultures in humanity (with several other minor cultures):[/quote]<snip the blah-blah about human cultures which I'm not interested in> Also they hate magic the most, as they were the primary victim of Tyrus' wrath and oppression.[/quote]The oldest race, since they defeated the Raejins at the end of the second age, they withdrew from the popular world. In the following several thousand years, the Elves have battled the Raejins in a global shadow war, uncovering plots, attacking scouts and honestly trying to just annihilate the race.[/quote]Not all Elves are of noble heart, but they can remember beyond the sundering of Sul, humans and dwarves, so they know the true story of creation which makes most Elves loyal adherents to Illyia.[/quote]Knowing the truth removes the uncertainty of 'faith' that allows for relativist philosophies and doubt. Many Elves still adventure, and even hope that one day they will again fully integrate with the popular modern world. They are tall, handsome, graceful and immortal.[/quote]intentionally[/u] give up society? How does elven memory work? I'm of the belief that immortal humans would eventually forget various aspects of their old skills, and thus never get beyond a particular mastery of skills, but I guess I'm just wondering how powerful elves really are. Are elves magic users? If so, are they hunted by humans? That seems fairly important.

[quote Slade]Created out of jealous of the Elves affection for Illyia, Raejins are inherently a magical race who were born to wipe out Elves and inherit the world.[/quote]Raejins don't use arcane magic.[/b] Interesting. If they were born to wipe out the elves, why did they attack the humans and dwarves?

[quote Slade]When they launched their great war, and eventually lost, Sul became consumed by passion, and love for his race, and entered the world, disconnecting himself from the power of universe (or most of it). Upon doing so Illyia, still connected to the power simply slew him.[/quote]But that which is so power: "That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die." So the few Raejin survivors fled to the least hospitable place in the world, and atop a mountain founded a city.[/quote]http://www.thecbg.org/e107_files/public/1164939939_9_FT22019_thinking.png[/img]??? Okay, so the secret elf/Raejin war has been going on around/in this city, I'd guess.

[quote Slade]There they have plotted and schemed, and are now preparing for their return, hoping to resurrect their god, and remake the world. They have many adventurers, who are envoys, spies in the global conspiracy.[/quote] world[/i].

[quote Slade]They are shorter than elves and could pass for humans, with fair hair and radiant, frighteningly blue magic eyes. They are not immortal, and live to be a few hundred years old.[/quote]Dwarves dig in mountains, and their society reached its heyday several hundred years ago, when the nations of men were just reemerging.[/quote]Many dwarves have abandoned the miner, mountain king life and have integrated with society. Tyrus' Iron Empire of almost global tyranny had many Dwarves rise to high rank.[/quote]Today Dwarves adventure in the world for many of the same reasons humans do: fun, wealth, experience.[/quote]"Aedaeion was to made to be wholly consistent and researched, in the style and spirit of a certain Oxford English professor, as opposed to the more high fantasy, ad hoc settings of TSR." [/i] I thought you meant it. Adventuring in gritty, low-fantasy is life-threatening and often miserable. Most adventurers shouldn't make much money unless they act like brigands, which is fairly wretched for the soul/conscience. Experience is also a cruddy reason to "adventure" and is instead a much better reason to "travel" which is generally done by the wealthy and involves much less getting stabbed.

[quote Slade]An arbitrary and jealous god cursed a society of dwarves long ago for associating with Humans too much, and made them neither human nor dwarf.[/quote]WHERE ARE THE NEW GODS?
WHERE DO THEY COME FROM? [/b]
And for that matter... WHY ARE THERE HUMANS AND DWARVES IF ELVES ARE PERFECT?

Okay, I think I'll end on that note. (I did read everything though) I hope you aren't offended by my critical thinking. Please argue with my criticisms.

- Raelifin (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_files/public/1164939939_9_FT22019_happy.png)

P.S. Your map rocks. Please elaborate as much as possible. :)
P.P.S. What is the grand burning? You never mention it after the very beginning.

First of all I would like to say how much I appreciate your feedback on this. I work on it mostly for myself as a relaxing creative exercise, and for my players in my D&D campaign. So the extent I've had to "sell" the setting on a page or less has been minimal. Your questions were all excellent and warrant a proper reply. I will try my best to answer them, and I acknowledge that if I can't properly explain it, maybe the idea is broken. Peer review is great, and I happily welcome it, to make this setting better. Thank you again for your time.

Before I address your questions individually, I should add sort of a primer on the cosmology. Something I have always found interesting, is that in almost
all established settings, the story of creation and the cosmology is understood by everyone; there are no 'wrong' ideas. So, I wanted to add some wrong conceptions about the world and how it works. The true story, is that told by the Elves. The Human Cultures, who mostly rule the nations of the world, each have their own. And the most popular idea is that the world was born out of a fire. Like a farmer would burn his crops to replenish the soil. This is the most common idea, but it is wrong. The way this is supposed to play out in campagins, is that the players learn a history/cosmology... and like the discovery of Cthulhu, they find that their system and worldview is shortsighted and only half the story. Then they battle under the 'looming doom'.

I will add something of a wholly accurate chronology. I hate trying to explain a setting by running a chronology, because thats a boring and poor presentation.

[ooc]1st Age:
- World tree is formed, world grows around it.
- Illyia and Sul create four titans who shape and create the terrain and features of Aedaeion.
- Illyia and Sul, in harmony, create Elves, who walk the world.
- A Elf jilted lover, who is jealous, (jealousy as a cause for inhumanity is a common theme in Aedaeion lore) convinces the Titans to imbue him with the power of magic, and corrupts the Titans with clever words.
- The Titans declare Aedaeion for themselves and try to fight Illyia and Sul.
- Evil elf is cursed and disappears, Titans are put to sleep in the ground. Think of them as Divine Rank 19.
- The Elves, though they know Illyia and Sul, make many offerings to Illyia, because his is the light, and by the light all things grow. So food, forests, and life all are because of him. Sul becomes jealous of this, for he loved the Elves, and they care for him less.
- The two gods quit co-mingling and separate further, blaming each other for the corruption of the titans and the first flaw in a perfect world.
- The last act they preform in unison is the creation of a new host of gods, each tasked with management of a portfolio. So now we have some 50 odd gods, each very weak compared to a Titan. The new gods.

2nd Age   [spoiler] (http://www.tiecorps.org/aedaeion/images/2/23/Worldmap_2ndage_start.jpg) [/spoiler]
- Illyia considers making a new Race, men... who will be born without the intrinsic knowledge of creation, and the cosmos. They will have to have faith in the concept of balance, and work towards goodness, harmony and justice.
- Sul views this as a greedy Illyia trying to make a new Race to worship him, so Sul fashions the Raejins. Raejins are almost conduits on Aedaeion to the power of the gods and absurdly powerful divine casters. But because they were not made with both Sul and Illyia, they lack immortality and the physical prowess of Elves.
-Raejins and Men appear on the world. The Elves help both the fledgling races and their nations begin to grow.
- Sul walks among the Raejins, and teaches them of the universe. He tells them the destiny of their race is to exterminate men and elves, for they were born to own the world. They begin preparations for a global war.
- The races flourish and much of the world becomes populated by many mighty kingdoms of men. All the while, Raejins have amassed giant fleets of Air Ships and trained thousands of battle casters. Here is a picture of the end of the second Age:   [spoiler]
(http://www.tiecorps.org/aedaeion/images/1/15/Worldmap_2ndage_height.jpg) [/spoiler]
- The new host of gods, create some other races, Goblins, Dwarves, (half dwarves), Kobolds, etc etc.
- Orcs are granted to the Raejins as Sul's last gift.
- The Raejins launch their war, and for 20 years, the world is in conflict. Eventually, the Raejins are turned back by the combined forces of Men and Elves.
- In what would be the final battle, the Raejins are faced with annihilation, and Sul, driven by passion and a love for his race, enters the world. He is killed by Illyia (as described in the note) in mountain surrounded basin above Arnloir. Where his blood was spilt, and covered this giant swath of the world, everything dried up and died, forming the wasteland.
- His body was hauled by the gods, back to Raejia. Confining his body to a temple, Raejia was sunk into the sea. So ends the second age.

[/ooc]

I hope this clears up some of those questions a bit. Or at least gives a better understanding of the accurate and true history of the world. Now to tackle some of these excellent questions individually.

Quote from: Raelifin[quote Slade]Dwarf (I'm guessing): "...Apparently after the grand burning, the world was forsaken in an abyssal darkness..."

grand burning[/b].[/quote]

The abyssal Darkness refers to the chaos and long darkness that followed the death of Sul. After the 20 year conflict that ended second age, every major city was ruined by war, and most of the world's population had been killed off. There was no home to go back to after defeating the Raejins. Also, when one half of all creation is rendered slain, the balance of the universe is thrown out of whack. The result of this, is Sul's body spewed power to the umptienth degree, casting the world into a darkness for years. Years and years. The world tree, and the dualistic nature of the two gods, is sort of a heavy handed, inartistic way to describe 'balance'. So Illyia, to preserve balance, he pretty much abandons the world after this. There is no greater deity at the wheel. So with a world ravaged by war, and the aftermath of the greatest cataclysmic disaster, Humanity goes back to the caves. And eventually, reemerge. This is what modern humanity considers to be the birth of the world. The grand burning is the series of natural disasters and supernatural havocs that follow Sul's fall.


[quote Slade]Almost all aspects of traditional D&D exist somewhere in Aedaeion.[/quote]

Sorry. If it matters, I have no idea regarding the concept of dragons. They exist, but I have no idea why. And there are no good dragons. There are no Gnomes, and halflings are very rare. Other than that, I tried to be inclusionary. Do you have any suggestions or more thoughts about this? I'd like very much to hear them.


[quote Slade]The first age was that of the Elves alone, when they knew and walked with the old Gods, and saw the corruption of the Titans.[/quote]corruption of the titans[/b]

Yes, the first Age was Titans and Elves. It serves as a myth for why there is Arcane magic, how creation became flawed, and a source for adventures. The forces of Samaeyl, the 'unnamed Lich-God' are trying to recover these corpses of the Titans, and use that vast power as a 'creation regent' to cast a spell that would kill all mortal creatures, and raise them as undead.


[quote Slade]When the Raejins launched their war against all the other races, and one of the two aspects of creation was slain, so passed the second age.[/quote]Raejins[/b] must be badass to attack the humans, dwarves and elves all at once, not to mention the titans and the gods which I assume are fairly active in the world. What is an "aspect of creation"? Oh well, one aspect slain.

Aspect of Creation, a 4:30 am sleepy term for "Half of the essence of the universe".


[quote Slade]The third age began with a thousand year darkness, from which men arose and conquered the world. After almost 5,000 years of prosperity and relative peace, the world Empire crumbled and collapsed to a barbarian horde that vanished from history as soon as it came.[/quote]

Yes, this is humanity's real golden age. It serves to exist as a 'rome', by which all latter society's compare themselves to.


[quote Slade]Over the bones of this was fought the War of the Remnant, and this began the fourth age, when the White-Terror, Tyrus founded his Iron Empire and enslaved much of the civilized world for two hundred years.[/quote]Tyrus founds Iron Empire for the 4th age.[/b] How does he live so long?
(http://www.tiecorps.org/aedaeion/images/0/07/Tyrus3.jpg)
A young Tyrus.
(http://www.tiecorps.org/aedaeion/images/3/37/Tyrus1.jpg)
Tyrus the World Lord

He lives so long, because he is a devil consorting, soul selling, baby-blood drinking adventurer. Tyrus is a dark shadow. The idea is that Atreal, in the 3rd age, is the human-supreme. He conquers the world, and establishes a government that lasts thousands of years. His goal was to own the world, and free humanity from, what he perceived to be, slavery to the gods. Tyrus sees himself as this, but has much less scrupulous ways about go about doing it. So they are meant to be two main characters in separate novels, that contrast each other.

Tyrus discovers something like a well of eternity in the Wasteland, that has a pool of Sul's blood, and if a special ritual is cast, you can create a potion of eternal life out of it. But that is another story. Which I would be happy to go into if you're interested.


[quote Slade]After his mysterious disappearance the Empire crumbled and many nations arose. Over a thousand years later, those nations have long since rebuilt themselves and about to launch a cataclysmic war that will encompass all of creation.[/quote]

This addresses multiple issues. Although the world is old, little has had as much lasting impact as Atreal's Empire, or Tyrus. Atreal gave a golden age of Humanity, which united most of the cultures in relative peace. World peace. Tyrus on the other hand, conquers the world, and executes massive pogroms, entire cultures are destroyed, new human races are bred into existence, Demons openly rule fiefdoms. It has a lasting, traumatic effect on the world. What follows him, is a series of civil wars that disintegrates his Empire/confederation. Never again will the world see such a powerful force in Aedaeion. Its the Ghenghis Khan, the Nazis the long shadow of evil which frightens children for years and years.

And not all Elves live that long. There are a few who do. Many end themselves before hand, out of depression, or having considered living a fulfilled life. Many Elves have died in battle.

I see your point though, and perhaps I should reconsider shortening the distance of his empire and the modern era.


[quote Slade]The Titans were tricked by an Elf who was jilted by a lover, and turned Evil. He made the Titans resent the two supreme gods, and encouraged to claim the world for their own. Illyia and Sul promptly took the titans and put them to sleep, burying their massive bodies deep in the earth. The corrupted divine energy that exudes their sleeping bodies is power that fuels all arcane magic.[/quote]titans get the smackdown[/b], that's why they don't smack the Raijins later.

Like I said above, Jealousy is a reoccurring theme in Aedaeion. Maybe I'm a little to heavy on that though? It serves as a Caine & Abel story. Why evil exists: because people cannot be happy with what they have.



Why do titans radiate arcane magic? Sounds like an excuse to have arcane magic to me.

It is. I wish it were a little less naked. Above I try to point out a little more. I like the concept of ley-lines and ancient power to be obtained. I think this neatly does both. If a person were to recover the bodies, they could possible reawaken them, or even take/drain their power.



[quote Slade]The freest, most common, and most powerful race in Aedaeion. Almost every single nation in the world is Human ruled, and certainly the past 9,000 years and two ages has been dominated by mankind. Adept, resourceful, Humans are very our of the PHB. There are three primary cultures in humanity (with several other minor cultures):[/quote]

Dwarves get beaten very badly because their creator god gave them little, and they gained many enemies. Orcs in the North, Undead/Drau underground, Humans who lust for their treasures, and Dwarves fought with each other. The most powerful Dwarven societies in the modern era have joined with the Human Empires. Especially Thon, who the dwarves built their capitol: Stonewall.  [spoiler](http://www.tiecorps.org/aedaeion/images/2/2b/Stonewall.jpg)[/spoiler]

Humans are meant to be the generic race. Adaptable, innovative etc. Out of the PHB: they get a bonus feat and extra skill points. I detail the Humans, and distinguish between them by Culture, for added benefits and flaws.



[quote Slade]<snip the blah-blah about human cultures which I'm not interested in> Also they hate magic the most, as they were the primary victim of Tyrus' wrath and oppression.[/quote]

They care very much about Tyrus. And Paladin's are not wholly trusted among the Viobardi. They do not hold office, or run cities. They have state protected order called the "Empyrean Order", which act mostly as ambassadors, but also do adventuring (to keep the world's evil at bay). The Empyrean Order's primary objective, is to prevent Sul from returning. They maintain their headquarters in a city state on the unpassable ocean, where Raejia used to be. Here they hold a vigil, guarding against his possible return. Thon is a little less strict in their anti-magic fervor. What most of Viobardi and civilized cultures do not like, is sorcerer's or wizards. Students of magic who advocate its study and practice.


[quote Slade]The oldest race, since they defeated the Raejins at the end of the second age, they withdrew from the popular world. In the following several thousand years, the Elves have battled the Raejins in a global shadow war, uncovering plots, attacking scouts and honestly trying to just annihilate the race.[/quote]

The Raejins are a pain to the Elves because, they are super magical divine casters, who concentrate all of their race into one mountain top in the world. That makes them, almost invulnerable... but destroys their 'force projection'. Something I didn't get into, was the Valere: Raejin demi-gods, birthed from the occasional resurgence of the death-dreaming Sul. There are only five of these immortal warriors. They are sort of super stewards of the Race, and their leader is Lutronus, who was born the moment Sul was struck. And with Sul's last strength, he imbued this babe with near god powers. And 9,000 years of combat training will make you a badass. He leads what are called the 'Vaghari'  [spoiler](http://www.tiecorps.org/aedaeion/images/5/5d/Vaghari1.jpg)[/spoiler] , a Raejin caste of warrior-agents who infiltrate the world, and do what they can to prepare for the return of their lord.

What are they waiting for you ask?

As I said, Sul occasionally has a burst of dreaming power every few centuries. This has created five Valere. In the modern era, the last was born. This last Valere, was created to be the new body of Sul, who will destroy the world tree (and end the cosmic force of balance) and raise the continent of Raejia. After doing that, Sul's power transfer to this last Valere, and effectively their god will be reborn. Well, thats the prophesy any ways, and thats what the Raejins are trying to prepare the world for, in shadow. And that is what the Elves are trying to disrupt.



[quote Slade]Not all Elves are of noble heart, but they can remember beyond the sundering of Sul, humans and dwarves, so they know the true story of creation which makes most Elves loyal adherents to Illyia.[/quote]

What I refer to here, is a concept in my personal philosophy. If I knew god existed, and that he had a plan, why would I act in opposition to it? It seems that evil comes into the world, because of the doubt, and lack of certainty in this issue. So the Elves know there is a supreme god figure, they know his plan. Unlike Humans and Dwarves, who came afterwards, and are 'blessed' with Faith, who through justice, and balance, will find for themselves the will of god.  I hope that answers your question.



[quote Slade]Knowing the truth removes the uncertainty of 'faith' that allows for relativist philosophies and doubt. Many Elves still adventure, and even hope that one day they will again fully integrate with the popular modern world. They are tall, handsome, graceful and immortal.[/quote]intentionally[/u] give up society? How does elven memory work? I'm of the belief that immortal humans would eventually forget various aspects of their old skills, and thus never get beyond a particular mastery of skills, but I guess I'm just wondering how powerful elves really are. Are elves magic users? If so, are they hunted by humans? That seems fairly important.

What the Elves gave up, was an active role in world politics. They consider themselves to be stewards of Creation on a more fundamental level than 'who is king in Alk.' When the machinations of men threaten Aedaeion, of course the get involved. Elves played a large role in the banishment of Tyrus, and the crumbling of his empire that resulted. They like humans, by and large, and envy their mortality, and 'faith' in creation. To be shown all the cards, takes the game out of a game, no? Yes they are magic users, but not "favored class wizards". Elves have innate divine ranger like spell abilities, that would make them a +2 ECL race.




[quote Slade]Created out of jealous of the Elves affection for Illyia, Raejins are inherently a magical race who were born to wipe out Elves and inherit the world.[/quote]Raejins don't use arcane magic.[/b] Interesting. If they were born to wipe out the elves, why did they attack the humans and dwarves?

Raejins use Divine and Arcane magic. They use Divine for most stuff, but study and use Arcane if... they're running low on mana or the like. That sounds terribly meta-game, but they are truly masters of magic. They consider reliance on scrolls, books and regents... the work of amateurs at best.

As far as their attempt at global conquest goes, they were fine with enslaving the Humans and other races. Ideally, they wanted to wipe out all creations of Illyia, and eventually Illyia himself, then entirely remake the world. But thats another long story, which I think is outside the scope of your question. Unless of course you'd like me to elaborate. ;)




[quote Slade]When they launched their great war, and eventually lost, Sul became consumed by passion, and love for his race, and entered the world, disconnecting himself from the power of universe (or most of it). Upon doing so Illyia, still connected to the power simply slew him.[/quote]

I guess I typed this up wrong. Sorry, again I was very tired, and filled to the brim with passion and excitement to just get it out there for you to read. As I have stated previously, Illyia and Sul made Elves, Raejins, Men and Orcs. All other races were made by lessor gods of the second host.




[quote Slade]But that which is so power: "That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die." So the few Raejin survivors fled to the least hospitable place in the world, and atop a mountain founded a city.[/quote]http://www.thecbg.org/e107_files/public/1164939939_9_FT22019_thinking.png[/img]??? Okay, so the secret elf/Raejin war has been going on around/in this city, I'd guess.

The shadow war takes place across the world. The Raejins are trying to prepare the world for when the last Valere is born, and they must launch their second attempt. To prepare the world, Raejins have infiltrated the courts princes and kings, organizations, churches, guilds etc. Their goal, will be destabilization, to throw all systems and institutions into chaos, so when they attack, civilization will be unable to mount an organized resistance. That is the goal. Elves uncover these plots, and try to out the Raejins. Also, militarily, they fight throughout the world, to jockey for position. Raejins may support one side of a civil war, so they can control the throne, and actively engage in battle. Elves will do whatever they can to stop them from getting involved.




[quote Slade]There they have plotted and schemed, and are now preparing for their return, hoping to resurrect their god, and remake the world. They have many adventurers, who are envoys, spies in the global conspiracy.[/quote] world.

The city is... thousands of miles across orc infested Wildernesse, and cyclopean mountain ranges. It is theorized that Atreal's last campaign was set out with the goal of finding the Raejins and killing them all, we shall never know.

For their Return plans, I described above the birth of the last Valere, and their secret spy army of Vaghari. Aside from a reconstituted hidden fleet of Airships (which are not unique in the world, but extremely rare), the Raejins have mustered their old army: they reunited the Orc clans. And that is a story in and of itself, the world is currently on the brink of a global war (which will destabilize it greatly) and no one is paying attention to the fact that the Orcs no longer quarrel, and look to be on the move. So they millions of Orc foot soldiers, fleets of airships, and best trained_most_potent_expert_spell_casters in the world, along with a half dozen demigods is how the Raejins plan to return with vengeance. It's a gamble, but its their destiny.

And along with that, I have quite a bit written about the Raejin opposition. First, after their defeat and the death of Sul, half of the Raejin survivors left and became humans.. now the Marsaulans. The other half founded Dias, the Raejin city. Well.. thousands of years of no-show on the god return has made many Raejins disenchanted with the idea of worldwar. So about a quarter of Raejins are advocating the opening of Dias to the world, and giving up the dream. If you have any more questions about this, please feel free, I'd love to talk more about it.

As far as, how do they remain a secret? Well, I've always loved the concept of the World of Darkness, that 'other' world going on. And in this setting, that 'other world', is the conflict between Raejins and Elves. Scholarly humans, and Paladin Orders etc know about them. But they aren't out publishing posters saying 'LET US MARCH AGAINST THE SECRET EVIL RACE WE CAN'T SEEM TO FIND."

As far as their spies, the Vaghari being called Adventurers, I see your point. I just ran a campaign once of a Vaghari 'clutch'. So be default the players were adventurers. But your point is well made.


[quote Slade]They are shorter than elves and could pass for humans, with fair hair and radiant, frighteningly blue magic eyes. They are not immortal, and live to be a few hundred years old.[/quote]

They are radiant in the sense that they are bright. If one examines very very closely, you could see raw blue energy in their iris, but... for this race, shape change, or change self is barely a cantrip. But, they are noticed. Elves, and those who help the Elves can detect them, and when they do, a common city marketplace may turn into a wild brawl.



[quote Slade]Dwarves dig in mountains, and their society reached its heyday several hundred years ago, when the nations of men were just reemerging.[/quote]

I tried to address the Dwarf issue above. Multiple enemies, lack of a goal beyond the accumulation of wealth, poor ability to adapt, internal rivalries, along with sharing many front lines with the forces of darkness, lead to an eventual decline in the dwarven population and the potency of their societies. Plenty of Dwarves still dream of going back and reoccupying the halls of Khurzurad.



[quote Slade]Today Dwarves adventure in the world for many of the same reasons humans do: fun, wealth, experience.[/quote]"Aedaeion was to made to be wholly consistent and researched, in the style and spirit of a certain Oxford English professor, as opposed to the more high fantasy, ad hoc settings of TSR." I thought you meant it. Adventuring in gritty, low-fantasy is life-threatening and often miserable. Most adventurers shouldn't make much money unless they act like brigands, which is fairly wretched for the soul/conscience. Experience is also a cruddy reason to "adventure" and is instead a much better reason to "travel" which is generally done by the wealthy and involves much less getting stabbed.

I guess your question here is about Dwarves, and their reason for setting out? You are right, those are cruddy reasons, and probably need to be reassessed.  My concept of dwarves are a secondary race who have goals, (rebuilding their kingdoms) but are not prime movers and shakers. Color.



[quote Slade]An arbitrary and jealous god cursed a society of dwarves long ago for associating with Humans too much, and made them neither human nor dwarf.[/quote]WHERE ARE THE NEW GODS?
WHERE DO THEY COME FROM? [/b]
And for that matter... WHY ARE THERE HUMANS AND DWARVES IF ELVES ARE PERFECT?

I think I answered these above. I hope so anyhow!




Okay, I think I'll end on that note. (I did read everything though) I hope you aren't offended by my critical thinking. Please argue with my criticisms.


I greatly appreciate your reply. It has made me reconsider a good deal, about not only the delivery, but the arch-themes and their presentation, and even dwarves. I thank you very much for the time you've taken to read over this in detail. I hope to post something more concrete about the Deities soon, also the countries, and organizations. As it is, this reply has taken me about two hours.



P.S. Your map rocks. Please elaborate as much as possible. :)


Here are some more Maps.

Geographic Map -  [spoiler](http://www.tiecorps.org/aedaeion/images/9/98/Worldmap_geographic.jpg)[/spoiler]
Provinces - [spoiler](http://www.tiecorps.org/aedaeion/images/b/bd/Worldmap_provinces.jpg)[/spoiler]
Cities and Roads - [spoiler](http://www.tiecorps.org/aedaeion/images/9/97/Worldmap_cities_highways_oc.jpg)[/spoiler]

Haha, well said. I still have a critique or two up my sleeve, but I'll hold them back for the time being. Your sense of depth is amazing, really. With a strong voice (fewer typoes) and a clearer presentation this could become one of my favorite worlds (and I've read a lot).

In terms of the map, I was talking about elaboration on the process, though those maps are cool too.

Do you have a website? If not and you're planning on posting the setting up here, take some time to do outlining and think about what will be easiest for a newbie to grasp.

Welcome to the CBG. (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_files/public/1164939939_9_FT22019_happy.png)

(http://www.tiecorps.org/jamie/aedaeion/atreal_color.jpg)
I had a few minutes before work today, so I thought I'd post a map of the Atrelean Empire, and its founder, Atreal.

Map  [spoiler](http://www.tiecorps.org/jamie/aedaeion/worldmap_atreal_empire.jpg) [/spoiler]

Quote from: RaelifinHaha, well said. I still have a critique or two up my sleeve, but I'll hold them back for the time being. Your sense of depth is amazing, really. With a strong voice (fewer typoes) and a clearer presentation this could become one of my favorite worlds (and I've read a lot).

In terms of the map, I was talking about elaboration on the process, though those maps are cool too.

Do you have a website? If not and you're planning on posting the setting up here, take some time to do outlining and think about what will be easiest for a newbie to grasp.

Welcome to the CBG. (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_files/public/1164939939_9_FT22019_happy.png)

I appreciate the Welcome. I do have a site, but its a private wiki. I use it for myself, just to organize thoughts. I take to heart the idea of better organizing, and I was hoping to find some sort of template, or good example on the CBG to follow. So far, I'm having good luck, because there is so much excellent work here.

Hopefully tonight I can add some stuff on the human cultures, nations, magic use, cosmology, or religion.

Thank you again for your time looking over this stuff.

A few thoughts.

1. Cool picture of Tyrus, the World Lord--very arresting and startling. It doesn't really look like the typical anthropomorphic stuff you see, so you can clearly see that this is a powerful being that is not really human.

2. I love your Manichaean concept of world creation. You have a very simple and straightforward creation myth that makes perfect sense and which enabled me to go "ah, I get it" and move on which is exactly what I believe a DM wants with a creation myth.

3. I like the idea that allegiances stem ultimately from this creation dichotomy.

4. Altogether the magical stuff in your campaign world has an epic mythological feel to it which I really like. There doesn't seem to be anything casual about it; when you refer to strange occurences they sound bizarre like the Black Dream Plague.

5. Others have posted questions that you seem to have answered well enough, so I will simply add my welcome to the boards and say that I'll keep an eye out for the new posts.