The Campaign Builder's Guild

World of Olam started pretty humbly, namely as a place where I could set stories and campaign set in something "looking vaguely like ancient Greece", together with the Hellenic cosmology and gods. In the original version, it was essentially our world, only if Greek myths were true. But then my heroes went out to the world, and saw all the other places. While originally I tried to make the other gods and myths merely another names for the Olympian pantheon (as Greek historians seemed to think), I ended up thinking I'm making other mythologies a great disservice. So the world I was leading that campaign in became a world where ALL myths are true. I mean, literally all of them. As you might imagine, it made the world pretty incosistent, and alot of the times, I had to rule out which version of myth of view on metaphysics was real. When another campaign was cooking, the world finally became its own world.

It never had a name until literally a couple of minutes ago, because the natives kept calling it just "the world" or "earth" (not "our planet Earth", but after the stuff they were walking on - like we did name it IRL). After trying to make it with just calling it world in Greek (Kosmos), I decided it sounded too familliar, and here you are, this is Olam (meaning "world" in Hebrew this time, but sounds way less common).

Olam is a world that was made with purpose of making it a "genuinely better" world in mind. The "darker and edgier" worlds are nowadays all over the place, and me being the unstable mixture of hippy and a geek that I am, I was sick of this trend. I seeked a world that's genuinely good to live in for the common folk. So I thought, how do the myths call the world that was better? Supposedly, the antediluvian world, from before the biblical Deluge, was young and innocent - world before men made war upon each other for petty reasons. So this is Olam: young and fairly friendly world, even if still somewhat unstable, wild and uncivilised. First known civilisations are just taking shape, either tearing land out of nature, or trying to live in peace with it, and avoiding conflicts with anyone. Prophets speak of the coming age of strife and greed and extinction of the Nephilim, but how will this world really shape, is yours to decide, adventurer.
From next paragraph on should be the description of the cosmology and cosmogony, from an in-universe point of view. This is so far the longest firmly established piece of description, but more are coming: detailed description of races' cultures and beliefs and details of Olam's geography.

[spoiler=In the beginning, there was chaos]
As far as the original scholars of Olam were concerned, the Eternal Chaos '" sometimes associated with the Far Realm or the Astral Sea nowadays '" was the beginning of all things. For reasons unknown to men, from this chaos sprung up the shell of modern world, which coalesced into three basic forms that gave birth to three parts of the world: the sky, the underworld and the earth, the last being a veil dividing the two 'outer' parts of the world. It is said that in that archaic age, the sky still wasn't a dome hovering over the earth, but they were all completely equal and coexistent. As all matter holds a spirit, and powerful spirit brings forth mind, those three ancient 'surfaces' or 'planes' became self-aware and as such, became the three beings known now as the Sky Father, the Earth Mother and the Deep Lord. In this old day and age, they peacefully coexisted, living together while still contemplating their origin, and wondering whether they are alone in the cloudy masses of the Eternal Chaos.

It is said that all three deeply differed in personalities. The Sky Father was wise, contemplative and distant. The Earth Mother was a pleasant, warm, motherly person. The Deep Lord, however, was very emotional and quick to anger, believing in his own judgment more than anybody else's. The Earth Mother grew closer to the Sky Father with time and it is believed that in time, their relationship flourished as they became romantically involved. The Deep Lord, becoming essentially completely alone among the mists of time, withdrew from their presence and wandering somewhere in the chaos, fell to his own sorrow. But it was not the end of him.

Out of the love of the Earth Mother and the Sky Father were born three children '" the beautiful and swift Air Lady, wise and bright Day Prince and radiant and inspiring Sun Queen. Nobody knows how long did their love last, but it was long and passionate, fully encompassing both friendship and lust, in a combination only few mortals would ever dare to dream about. However, it wasn't meant to last forever, as nothing is perfect in this world.

The Deep Lord, hiding in deepest recesses of the Eternal Chaos, submitting to his depression and madness, hatched a plan to separate the perfect lover. When the Earth Mother was hidden from the light of Day and Sky, the Deep Lord surprised her from behind, taking her away from her love, and in his hatred, casting a curse that forced the Sky Father to be forever separate from the Earth '" the Sky was cast away from Earth, held over it as a glistening, crystal dome, kept away by a magical tree, growing from the body of the Earth, taking root in the dark abyss of the Underworld, and reaching with its crown the Sky itself.

Having separated his new prize, and successfully avenging his loneliness in the Nether, the Deep Lord forced himself upon the Earth from his position, forcing the Earth to bring forth three dark beings cursed with the sadness and despair brought by their father. And thus were born, the vile and hateful Fire Lord, the reclusive and enigmatic Night Baroness, and the gloomy, brooding Moon King. The Earth Mother did not bear Deep Lord's rudeness for long, casting him away on first occasion. In revenge from her forceful separation from her lover, she cast a curse as well upon her rapist: the roots of the World Tree will keep him from her as far below as the Sky Father is above. The three Primordials, thus separated from each other, began their long loneliness, only observing the deeds of their children and how they found their own fate on the new world that shaped on the remains of their material bodies.

In times unknown, all three of them created minor sprits and nymphs to keep their company '" the Sky Father saw the light of thousand beautiful Stars, the Earth Mother brought forth uncountable water spirits and nymphs, and the Deep Lord carved a host of malevolent Stones. As those shaped the body of the world we now know, the history started.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=The foundation of the world]
The early spirits wandered the young world, shaping it and looking for souls that would understand their plight and help in this troubling time. To the greatest of ironies, the spirits that found each other were of the opposite breeds. The Air Lady fell into arms of the Fire Lord, bringing forth into the world a race of genies, whose only purpose in this world is to misguide mortal souls and trick them into acts of malice. The Sun Queen gave her heart to the Moon King, bringing forth the dusk and twilight spirits, ones devoted to guiding mortal souls to greatness. The most unusual offspring came from a union of Day and Night, as from them were born first beings that one could regard as gods, beginning in the Time Lord, the father of the Thunderer.

The love of Day and Night was short and passionate, and while the primordial beings still sometimes remember those times well, at the time they left with curses on their mouths. Despite that, the still brought into world six powerful children who, once they grew up, took into possession the world below them. Those children became the first gods of the mortal world, before any mortals appeared on its surface. As nobody knows whether they had any names of their own, they are remembered only as Time, the oldest son, Love, the oldest daughter, Mind, Soul, Fauna and Flora. Those three sons and three daughters each took upon him an aspect that bears his name to this day, and began their rule over the young, wild and primeval world.

As Time lorded over the world, the unlikeliest of unions happened between the antagonists. Some say they were a Genie and an Angel, while some claim those were a foul Demon and a beautiful Archon. What everybody agrees on, both were inhumanly beautiful, and unlikely for their own origin. The Genie, a succubus known as Lilith, met on the surface of the world a beautiful Angel whose name is remembered as Shemhaz. Although her task was to seduce the Angel and steal him from goodness, during their time together, she fell madly in love with him and defied her evil origins to embrace his love. When Shemhaz presented her atonement to his superiors and asked for permission to marry the formerly evil spirit, the Heavens disagreed and threatened to cast him away, shall he try to deny them. As love is always the strongest emotion of man, the Angel decided nobody will forevermore dictate him what should he do or not do: Shemhaz banished himself from the High Heavens, just like Lilith abandoned the Deepest Hells. Defying their ancestry, the spirits took residence near the centre of the world and promised to be masters of their own fate. From their love were born the first mortals, Shadam and Hava, the ancestors of the Nephilim race. Even though in modern times nobody can find Shemhaz or Lilith in any of their purported places of eternal rest, the Nephilim race still claims the land in the centre of their capital, near the very World Tree, rising from the very core of the world, as their Holy Land, and place of their origin.

The Nephilim, descendants of both Heaven and Hell, lord over most of the civilised world to this day, bearing striking resemblance to both of their parents: to evil in their shape, and to good in their cast and glow. Just as their bodies, so are their spirits and minds bound to both worlds: capable of both the most foul of evil and most exalted of good, they promise to be forever independent, and never worship any gods other than they themselves. For as the Nephilim say, 'We are our own gods, and shall never worship an alien being who dictates us what to do'. Every Nephilim strives for perfection, achieved by his own power, without anybody's influence, be it mortal or supernatural. Some say their hubris will bring their downfall, and yet someone see in them the purest of perfection achievable by mortal beings.

As the Nephilim spread over the young world and founded kingdoms and empires, the other gods, who had their own divine offspring since, were jealous of their numbers and influence. In order to have their own mortal beings, who'd give them the respect they deserve as more than mere mortals, Time ordered the god of artisans and artists, the crafty Vulcan, to forge the human out of the noblest of metals. The original being was a dwarf, short, stocky and powerful, but in the eyes of the gods, too small '" and cast away as being imperfect. Next creation was tall, fast and slim, but cast away as well, for being too weak '" and thus elves were born. In their third creation, human was finally formed. While human was perfectly in the middle between dwarf and elf in all of his aspects, he was deemed unworthy as too cowardly and unreliable. After the third try, the gods gave up, and took their respect from the mortals who were already born. The three main humanoid races took their residence in the far north, in the wild plains and in the warm islands respectively, forging their new civilisations.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Titanomachy]
The original gods, most remembered collectively as the Titans, were cruel masters and parents '" they accepted no defiance and abstinence of worship, punishing any mortals who dared to disagree severely, seeing no compromises. However, having no power to oppose the cruel rulers, the small men, dwarves and elves toiled away in silence. Then finally, the Time's and Love's own children defied them, supporting the mortals who did what they could to appease the gods. Time tried to imprison his own first-born son, Thunderer, for this defiance, but the son opposed the father and threw him off his throne atop the peak of mount Erberus. Children of Time and Love took the position of gods in possession and promised the mortals a fair and good life, but Time was not done with.

With support of Mind and Soul and their children, the Titans took to shape their own mortal races, which would challenge the power of humans, elves and dwarves. Races which would be ugly, stupid, and obedient. While in long term they failed at this task, three new prime races were born this way out of the clay and mud: the orcs, the hobgoblins and the giants. The armies of three newborn races were hastily formed, and marched upon the lands of the firstborn. A war unlike any other was waged. Whole cities and civilisations, barely of age, were razed to the ground, and primordial cataclysms shook the young world. After uncounted years, war was equally devastating to everyone, and seemingly without an end.

The Nephilim avoided the battlegrounds for as long as they could, seeing as it wasn't their war. However, as the original war was devastating the world more and more, both families of gods saw the Nephilim as an opportunity, an asset that could turn the tide of war in their advantage. While the Titans demanded obedience from the Nephilim, under threats of curses and cataclysms, the Gods asked for their support. Shening, the greatest of the few known Nephilim emperors, saw this as a clear sign '" only the Gods had the courtesy to ask for their support, and thus will the Nephilim join them in war, but still never worship them. With the sudden support of the sleeping beast of the Nephilim Empire, the armies of the newborn races have fallen, and Thunderer cast away his father and uncles and aunts into the deepest darkness of the Underworld. The Original War, also known as Titanomachy, was finished, and all the races could live together in peace, in spite of their origin or appearance.

Flora and Fauna joined the war themselves, and were cast away in the end, but their children and creations defied them. The animal gods and animal races decided to forge their own destinies, away from the devastating war. To this day, the animal races live all around the world, and spread, worshipping their own gods, and avoiding conflicts of the firstborn and the newborn.

Since that day, many more races were born from the original ones. Halflings and gnomes populate the world, as well as goblins, trolls or kenkus and kobolds. Since the original war, the world is still scarred, and torn by constant elemental upheavals, but it remains in an uneasy peace between the races, all of which think of the other ones either as ugly, sinful barbarians, or men like them.
[/spoiler]

Short description of important races:

Nephilim, the dominant race of Olam, are descended from angels and demons, and as born of opposites, they are people of the extreme. As strong individualists, their main credo is "we are our own Gods".*
Humans, the youngest of the firstborn, are most widespread and adapting. Not only do they quickly breed (all year long, unlike most races), they can live almost anywhere and quickly assimilate into local cultures. Some say they are destined for future greatness, some see them as just vermin.*
Dwarves, unlike your typical Dwarves, are not strongly lawful. They're usually rather barbaric, loving huge amounts of liquor and fighting. The southern Dwarves, living nearby human-dominant Hellade, are more settled and "urbane", but are still wild spirits.*
Elves are withdrawn and secretive, hiding in large cities and fortresses among the forests of Gaelega. While generally nice to outsiders, they keep them away from their civilisation, out of fear that the devastation of the Original War will repeat itself.*
Hobgoblins were made by the Titans as brutish thugs, and as such are complete failure: lands of Khitai (and surrounding nations) are a blooming, expanding civilisation. While still not fairly pleasant to deal with (usually being rather cynical and foul-mouthed), Hobgoblins are one of the most civilised races of the world.*
Orcs are said to be the newborn equivalent of dwarves: short, strong and barbaric, they also love to drink and fight, but they're far more shamanistic and concentrated on honor.*
Goliaths are descendants of the Giants that were originally formed by the Titans. While the Giants have largely removed themselves from the spotlight (living as almost hermits in inacessible places), their much smaller descendants spread across the world. They seem to worship only the universe itself, as the greatest spirit of all, concentrating their civilisations around this religion.*
Remites are the most advanced of the animal races. Those falcon-headed sages and paladins are main drive behind the country of Kemet, centered around the river Hap.*
Anubites are sometimes called another "vermin" race - those dog-headed humanoids spread and breed quickly, but prefer to live in the shadows, unlike ever present humans.*
Sutekhs easily blend with the rest of Kemet, but a good deal of them harbor a dark secret - hidden cults of the Titans and their deified prophet Seth (a chaotic evil son of Fauna) seek to unmake the order of the Erberian gods.*
Most of the core D&D playable races are there, just not as important as the above, and will be detailed later.*
[/list]

The world is still in the making, as I never before had the chance (or drive) to compile the bigger picture of it, but I like where's it going, with its "lighter" theme and mix of Biblical and Greek themes - avoiding completely the staple "medieval fantasy with polytheism".
I'm open for any suggestions and opinions (well, if you tell me just that 'I suck' I'm not gonna change much...). I will especially welcome questions, as those usually help me clarify my ideas best - so you will help in creating this world this way!

Hmmm.  You are on your way.  Tell me about civilisaation as the players would perceive it.

In general? There are already some countries and cultural centres developing - like Nephilim Kenaani, Human Hellade, Remite Kemet or Hobgoblin Khitai, but those are rather archaic.

Unlike Earth's early civilisation, which developed largely in isolation, there is a quite significant communication between the cultural centres - due to Nephilim fleets, nomadic humans or crazy gnomish contraptions allowing almost instant communication between continents (if you don't mind your hair just slightly burnt). As such, some cultural elements easily and quickly expand over the world.

If you mean in specific, I can give some general description of main cultural centres' themes, when compared to our world:
Nephilim civilisation of Kenaani is a big mix of different elements. Their name is from Bible, their geographical and cultural position from Atlantis, while aesthestics are somewhat mix of Chinese and Mesopotamian.
The Chinese element came to be in a weirdest way - I made a sketch of a Nephilim, spending some time on detailing his ornate robe. The result, despite having some Hebrew characters inscribed on it, looked quite Chinese to me, and his face ended up looking rather Mongolian. I liked it, and decided to use the far-eastern element. (Might upload that sketch some time)
Humans and their Hellade are pretty much archaic Greece (i.e. Mycaenean rather than classic). I'm thinking of adding some elements borrowed from other parts of the world, but as it was the place from which I extrapolated Olam, I think I'm liking it how it is.
Kemet, consisting mainly of the animal races, is supposed to be equivalent to ancient Egypt of our world, but Egypt before the pharaohs and before Seth's usurpation of divine throne. Some Arabic elements will probably be there, but I leave most of them for the neighboring Jomoria (largely undeveloped).
Khitai is somewhat turko-mongolian. It's the hobgoblin civilisation which ended up rather close to Hellade (due to how I misshapen the continents, the "China" is right next to it on the other side). Hobgoblins are rather rough and unpleasant people, but civilised - how you could usually see in fiction the semi-nomadic turkic peoples of the Great Steppes.

There are more civilisations and cultures I'm working on (multiracial Vineland, shifters of Lakotta, vaguely celtic elves of Gaelega, gnomes of Benian etc.), but more on it in a detailed update dedicated to it.

And knowing me, that's probably not at all what you meant.

Okay, so I thought to post a short paragraph that I'd imagine would go into the introductory parts of the campaign setting book, were it an official D&D setting. Namely, one that would explain how is this world "genuinely better" than most settings.

Unlike most campaign settings, Olam is not teeming with hostile sapient life forms. That is not to say there is little diversity on this world - there is a plenty of races evolving on the world which are still searching for their place. The difference is, most of them do not have 'kill everything that is not us on sight' modus operandi. Calling Kobolds or Orcs monsters is considered a racial slur, as they're not any more monstrous than, say, Humans or Dwarves - apart from just looking differently. Most races avoid open military conflicts, because the Original War happened only a few generations ago (and some longer lived races may still hold aged individuals who remember it personally), and as such, most humanoids try to settle their place in the world, with as little bloodshed as possible. In short, if you're attacked on sight by a sapient creature, you're most likely either trespassing on their land, or destroyed something holy for them.

However, you might say, the same does not have to hold for outsiders and other kinds of creatures. Here's how those differ on Olam:

There are no demons and devils of classical D&D description. The world is still very young and fairly isolated in regards to the planes, so it's unheard of on Olam to meet a devil or a demon. Granted, the role of "cunning supernatural evil" is fulfilled by Olam's native Genies, but they're very much unlike demonic hordes.*
Elementals are usually neutral or friendly, seeking no harm to random adventurers, unless they're openly killing elemental creatures and defiling nature. Elementals keep to their own, and sometimes engage in artistic activities, shaping young and unformed land and sea into works of art.*
Aberrant creatures should logically appear commonly, due to the speculated position of Olam as nested inside Far Realm, but their intrusions are very rare, as the crystal sphere holding this world is still very strong and firm - very strong magic is needed to break the barriers down even for a moment.*
There are no known big undead threats as due to the world's age, there has been no fallen civilisation that could lead to ruined kingdoms filled with wraiths, or decrepit mages had little time to develop magical theories and rituals needed to become masters of the dead.
[/list]
You might think, if this world is so peaceful, it would be terribly boring to play in. However, it is not, due to different approach Olam needs from players. It is not a world designed for a dungeon crawl and slaying Kobolds in thousands, and looting magical items off their bodies. Despite several categories of creatures - mainly non-sapient - remaining viable as openly hostile enemies, the main focus is to encourage players to play their characters as parts of society, mingling with all the various and colorful humanoid races and exploring the wonders of the pristine world, establishing their new outposts of civilisation - or protecting that virginal wilderness from the encroaching urbanised future.
So who is your enemies, apart from "stupid" animals and an occasional chimaera? Answer to this question is easy: anyone can be your enemy. The face of evil in this world is very human(oid), and while evil men may still employ magic, they may come in any shape or form. Of course, you might wish to break any of the aforementioned rules, e.g. explaining it as the first time this happens, but a special approach for Olam is recommended.

Quote from: KalontasIn general? There are already some countries and cultural centres developing - like Nephilim Kenaani, Human Hellade, Remite Kemet or Hobgoblin Khitai, but those are rather archaic.

Unlike Earth's early civilisation, which developed largely in isolation, there is a quite significant communication between the cultural centres - due to Nephilim fleets, nomadic humans or crazy gnomish contraptions allowing almost instant communication between continents (if you don't mind your hair just slightly burnt). As such, some cultural elements easily and quickly expand over the world.

If you mean in specific, I can give some general description of main cultural centres' themes, when compared to our world:
Nephilim civilisation of Kenaani is a big mix of different elements. Their name is from Bible, their geographical and cultural position from Atlantis, while aesthestics are somewhat mix of Chinese and Mesopotamian.
The Chinese element came to be in a weirdest way - I made a sketch of a Nephilim, spending some time on detailing his ornate robe. The result, despite having some Hebrew characters inscribed on it, looked quite Chinese to me, and his face ended up looking rather Mongolian. I liked it, and decided to use the far-eastern element. (Might upload that sketch some time)
Humans and their Hellade are pretty much archaic Greece (i.e. Mycaenean rather than classic). I'm thinking of adding some elements borrowed from other parts of the world, but as it was the place from which I extrapolated Olam, I think I'm liking it how it is.
Kemet, consisting mainly of the animal races, is supposed to be equivalent to ancient Egypt of our world, but Egypt before the pharaohs and before Seth's usurpation of divine throne. Some Arabic elements will probably be there, but I leave most of them for the neighboring Jomoria (largely undeveloped).
Khitai is somewhat turko-mongolian. It's the hobgoblin civilisation which ended up rather close to Hellade (due to how I misshapen the continents, the "China" is right next to it on the other side). Hobgoblins are rather rough and unpleasant people, but civilised - how you could usually see in fiction the semi-nomadic turkic peoples of the Great Steppes.

There are more civilisations and cultures I'm working on (multiracial Vineland, shifters of Lakotta, vaguely celtic elves of Gaelega, gnomes of Benian etc.), but more on it in a detailed update dedicated to it.

And knowing me, that's probably not at all what you meant.

I like Kemet.
I don't like typical 'crazy gnomish gadgets'

I think hellade is an intersting starting point...but I am forced to ask why these countries are xenophobic and race-specific.  There are reasons it can happen, but it does not always make sense.  SO I am curious about that.  Vineland catches my eye becasu4e of this.

Quote from: LordVreeg I like Kemet.
I don't like typical 'crazy gnomish gadgets'

I think hellade is an intersting starting point...but I am forced to ask why these countries are xenophobic and race-specific.  There are reasons it can happen, but it does not always make sense.  SO I am curious about that.  Vineland catches my eye becasu4e of this.

They're not really xenophobic. They're rather open, but you have to keep in mind civilisation only had a short time to develop, so cultures, cities and countries are largely based on large-scale blood relations (by races or groups of races (like goblinoids) etc.). In the future of this world I'm seeing right now, the races and cultures would mix up.

And partially I base countries around races because of influence of your typical fantasy. Might be a bad influence in this case - but because the world is young in both in-universe and out-of-universe meaning, I may change it.

As for gnomes and their contraptions, well, there is no accountation for tastes. I like my gnomes crazy.

So I thought about expanding on another point which is making Olam different from other campaign settings (don't worry, hypothetical reader, the culture descriptions will come, soon(tm)). Namely, a unique plane that is in essence, a complete inversion of the Shadowfell (regular Shadowfell is still there, and is called Hades).

Elysium, or the Blessed Lands
Elysium, also known as Land of the Blessed or the Fortunate Glades, is a plane permeated with happiness and good fortune. While sharing with the Feywild an element of "bright beauty", the two planes differ mostly on the basis of Feywild being "land of the extremes" and Elysium being land of happiness. Native inhabitants of Elysium (mostly originating from spirits of blessed dead) come from any mortal, sapient races and live together in perfect harmony, regardless of their former shape, color or creed. Cities of the blessed dot the landscape, with bright, shining palaces taking place of every home, parks full of verdant trees and rivers and ponds full of pristinely clean water. Even in the wilderness, the animals are non-hostile and never attack and eat each other. Indeed, one does not need to eat while in Elysium - it is speculated the radiant energies of the plane provide sustenance to the inhabitants. The bright happiness of those lands is as mind-warping as the malady of the Shadowfell - it feels to be such a nice place, most inhabitants of the Prime Material will quickly abandon their former lives and missions, not thinking of the price they would have to pay.

Cities of Elysium, and the whole plane, are overseen by radiant, humanoid creatures with featureless faces and bald heads. Those genderless guardians of Elysium, sometimes nicknamed by the visitors "Quasars" for their bright radiance, rarely maintain contact with other beings, prefering to observe everyone from a distance. Quasars are mostly said to be a planar "police" which maintains peace and happiness on Elysium - they can't allow anyone to disturb the blessed dead. There is something odd about them however - they are not angels, and are far from it. As a police force, they will swiftly dispatch any troublemakers, whether they be outsiders or disturbed natives. Due to the Quasars' guidance, people of Elysium are happy, but completely equivocal, having no tastes or preferences of their own, all sharing single standards in art and other parts of life. Anyone who stands out will either magically change his mind due to the influence of the plane, or will be quickly removed by the Quasars. Elysium makes one message clear to the inhabitants of Olam who have seen it: the price for Utopia is your individuality.
Quasars however are not evil, psychic vampires or malevolent in any way. They merely do what they believe is best for the blessed spirits, and do not enjoy doing anyone harm. Their origins however still remain a mystery, as they rarely speak to anyone apart from demanding uniformity.

Blessed Dark
Like every other plane, Elysium has its own Underdark, but due to the plane's nature, it's not "more evil" version of the plane. Deep beneath the surface of Elysium rest those who did not conform to Elysium's standards, while still pursuing their happiness. The chaotic and quirky individuals who never conform to society's norms, but are still good beings, often end up there. Quasars do not have the heart to truly kill good beings, so they isolate them in the Blessed Dark, where the unending bacchanalia of those blessed spirits can continue without disturbing the peace of the surface. Most of those people are perfectly content with their position, since even the Blessed Dark maintains enough sunlight to have as much light as stormy morning on Prime Material; and here, as they believe, they are free of the opression of the Quasars. Little do they know, ever here they are quietly observed by them, to never break out of the line or influence the surface.

Other planes
As mentioned above, Shadowfell is called Hades and is largely unchanged from the basic setup.
The Feywild is called "the Primordial Jungle" as its filled with life completely alien to most of Olam, life hard to tame or comprehend to the mortal races. Essentially, plane-wide Isle of Dread. Elves, Eladrin, Fomorians etc. all dwell on the Prime Material.

Human cultures, or, ancient Greece and fantasy Nazis!

Major races: Human
Minor races: Satyr, Centaur, Dwarf
Magic sources: Divine, Arcane
Government alignment: mainly, unaligned (lawful neutral), differs from city to city, but rarely delves into evil
Aesthetical inspirations: archaic Greece
Cultural inspirations: ancient Greece
Geography: Hellade consists of a peninsula on the south-eastern tip of Planitia, and an archipelago of mostly small islands, stretching to the Khitan coast. Peninsula is very mountainous and as an origin of Hellade's people, it was the main factor in developing of highly decentralised culture, centred around small city-states '" some as small as the valleys the cities are nested in. While rather short on forests, and thus wood, area of Helladian peninsula is otherwise very rich in minerals, their exploitation and trade being main source of income of the city-states. Lack of woods and farming grounds led people of Hellade outwards, and onto exploring the scattered islands of the Minoan Sea. While still rocky and short on plains, the islands are rich in cedar trees, still abundant in minerals, and a good place to plant fruit trees, which are the main source of food for the Helladians (discounting mostly imported grains and meats).

Politics and society: As mentioned above, Hellade does not have a united government. The three most powerful city-states are the mercantile island state of Veneto (named after goddess of wisdom, Veneta), militaristic state of Laconia (stretching across several big valleys on the peninsula) and religious and secretive Theodos. While Hellade does have a governing body, with five representatives chosen in a first-past-the-post system, this body's (called the Gerusion, or the 'Council of Elders') permissions are rather limited, making it mostly a legislative figurehead, used to adjudicate disputes between the states.

Society is mostly concentrated on loyalty and dedication to patriarchal, nuclear family, called the base unit of society, which then expands to loyalty to the city, then to the state '" if there is one beyond the city '" then to the Helladian civilisation as a whole, and only then to the gods. For the Helladians, the smaller units come first in importance, leaving gods as the distant lords which must be only periodically silenced with timely offerings. However, a ruling of the higher unit can always overrule the smaller unit's decisions, causing sometimes friction between e.g. person avenging a family member by killing a royal senator. In this example, loyalty to the family comes first, justifying the killer's actions, but his crime against the state can be fined. However, most of the time, such unique cases do not come up, even if they should, with Helladians preferring to keep family matters between the families, and not involving the state.

Hellade is mostly a human culture, but other races are not unheard of. Particularly populous are the Satyrs, who dwell inside hidden forest shrines, or are drawn towards the loud cities, pumping with life '" enjoying which is the sole raison d'être of a Satyr. Unlike humans of Hellade, Satyrs do not remain in big nuclear families, preferring either solitary life, or feasting with big amounts of people until they lose consciousness. This chaotic and wild nature of Satyrs can sometimes alienate them from the humans, but many of them like their companionship, because of the aura of good entertainment that follows them.
Other minor races are Centaurs, who remain mostly in their own communities high in the mountains (preferring those environments to the already crowded human valleys), and the Dwarves who integrate into human society, mostly as smiths, artisans and warriors, due to their usually superior strength. Other races, like cyclopean giants, are not unheard of, but their numbers are usually negligible.

History: Hellade originated from the city-state of Elis, at the foot of mount Erberus, and located in a natural bay. The place where Elis now stands was the place where the gods first created humans and the place from which humans spread around the region and world. Originally, Elis was the centre of government for all of Hellade (being the source of the culture's name), and kings of that city had authority '" if limited '" over the newly founded island cities, including the not-yet-named Veneto. During the Original War, a Hobgoblin fleet landed near Elis and despite valiant defence, razed the city to the ground, killing most of its inhabitants. This heavy blow to the civilisation of Hellade became the reason the city-states so quickly splintered just after the war. While Elis has been since rebuilt, and to this day houses the Council of Elders, its importance has largely diminished, losing its central authority completely.

During the time of Elis' nonexistence, Veneto took the position of the informal head of operations for the humans. Its diverse and politically apt elites proved to be great leaders, being able to find and hire greatest military minds on the continent. After the war and reconstruction of Elis, Veneto lost its position as the informal leader of Hellade, but its monetary and political influence is still heavily felt around the region, and usually two out of five Elders come from Veneto (the third usually coming from a nearby, allied island of Delos, giving Veneto voting majority in the council). The recent years saw quick rise of a militaristic state of Laconia, which used its own defence as a casus belli, to expand among the neighbouring valleys. Not often interested in politics, Laconians are said to be the greatest threat to the current Venetian dominance of Hellade. Veneto still disregards them as unimportant, but they will maintain this stance as long as Laconia does not issue an imposing fleet, which is not an impossible feat.

The island of Theodos is a largely isolated island located near the Khitan coast, not bothering itself with politics of the rest of the region. The state is centred around the cult of the Sun Queen, and is regulated by a religious law which was supposedly given to the founder of the city, legendary Theodes, by the goddess herself. This religion doesn't clash with the Erberian religion of the rest of Hellade (because the Sun Queen did not take sides in the Original War), but because they're different, Theodosians often think of themselves as better than the rest of humans. Its fairly strict isolation has also caused it to be somewhat of an asylum for political dissidents of other city-states, but as long as immigrants live by the rules of the Sun Queen, Theodosians do not oppose this movement.

Major races: Human
Minor races: very limited elven presence
Magic sources: Shadow, Arcane
Government alignment: evil (lawful evil)
Aesthetical inspirations: medieval Europe, ancient Norse
Cultural inspirations: Nazis, Vasharans of D&D 3.5 BoVD
Geography: Vashar is a nominal empire located on the north-east of the Planitian mainland. The core of the country lies in an inaccessible plateau to the north of the great river of Histler, and empire's influence is stretching to most of the lower reaches of the river. The riverlands are mostly a great farming ground and once a location of a small independent elven state that has been since destroyed by the expanding Vasharans. The elves have either been exterminated or turned into slave labour, which works all day to harvest crops that would mostly be send to the Vasharan Plateau. Being the granary of the empire, there is not much more to see on the riverlands. The Plateau however, is an isolated and cold, harsh place which requires a good deal of effort to maintain together. The Plateau does not have any notable resources, either because it's been stripped bare by the Vasharans themselves, or because there never were any. This situation forces the Vasharans into constant expansion and raids upon surrounding territories, and is speculated to be the reason for highly xenophobic and aggressive mindset among the Vasharans themselves.

Vasharan Empire borders elven confederacy of Eridan, a small, dwarven mountain kingdom of Steelforge, and some outlying Gaellegan colonies. All those countries are highly uneasy for having to borders this aggressive cilivisation, but prefer to not provoke them '" knowing the brutality they are able to inflict and how fierce they are in combat.

Politics and society: First and foremost, it's very easy to tell a Vasharan apart from a Helladian. Sometimes called a subrace, they are in fact closely related, with the only differences being phenotypic. While people of Hellade have usually deep tan skin and curly, dark hair, Vasharans pride themselves on pale complexions, bright blonde hair colour and strikingly blue, green or red eyes. The conditions they live in also enforce at least some level of physical fitness, leading to a mindset which tells a Vasharan he is somehow member of a perfect, 'master' race.

Vasharans are ruled by a single emperor, sometimes titled just 'Leader' in their own language, which they developed to be contrastingly different from that of Helladians, preferring more harsh and guttural sounds. Their Leader has an absolute authority over all matters and while he does use a body of governors to relieve himself of massive duties, he can, and often does, overrule any of their decisions. The Leaders of Vasharans come from the same dynasty that founded the empire in the aftermath of the Original War.

Vasharans are expected to have an utter and total loyalty to the state and the Leader, regardless of anything else. In strike contrast to Helladians, if a family member commits a crime against the empire, a Vasharan is expected to, and often does, to inform the authorities of the transgression as soon as possible. Very uniform and disciplined Vasharan troops are said to be a danger to any state they dare to challenge.

Other races are very rare in the Vasharan empire, due to their politics. Both nearby Dwarves and Elves avoid them like wildfire, and Helladians pretend to not know anything about them, or to be unrelated to them. The only gods that Vasharans sometimes worship, are any gods of cruelty, brutality and war, if they think they can gain anything from such prayers, but often, they do not care for piousness, but cold, brutal effectiveness.

History: The Vasharan Empire was founded by an exile from Theodos, expelled for war crimes in the aftermath of the Original War. This brutal general had no qualms about slaughtering innocents of the newborn races, claiming they, as creations of the Titans, deserved only to die. Not accepting his loss, he invoked his family's power on Theodos and from inside the prison (where he was awaiting death sentence) caused biggest riots in history of the city. Rebels springed the evil general out of prison and together escaped the city to the lands '" then '" unknown. Theodos did not pursue them, believing the problem to be out of their heads.

General Smarck landed near the mouth of river Histler where he tried to bargain with the local elven population. As he was denied access to their lands (all races hated the general for his infamous brutality, even his allies), Smarck ordered to burn any elven farms they could find, and marshalled his troops on a way to the Vasharan Plateau. His evil magicians slaughtered or mind controlled beasts and monsters that protected passes leading to the top, as he lead his family and compatriots to the unclaimed land. Little did he know how harsh and unwelcoming will be the conditions atop of it, but as he vowed to never look back in his life, he didn't. Naming themselves after their new home, Vasharans started to exploit whatever resources were in place, and planning revenge, or conquest of anyone who will stand on their way to domination of the known world.

Modern Vasharans all descend from those few people, and hold them, as well as Leader Smarck himself, in highest possible regard, claiming his 'virtues' and martial prowess as an ideal any Vashar aspires to.

I'm considering addition of another "main" playable race, besides Nephilim and elevating most monster races to playable status. The idea was brewing in my head since some time, but I couldn't find a proper outlet for it so far. Perhaps this is the way? All hail the lightning rod people!

Stormshieldren
Stormshieldren are elemental people who, for most inhabitants of Olam, resemble a lightning cloud encased in an armor shell. The Stormshieldren are an alien race who have no discernible local origins (or hide them really well). No supernatural or natural beings are willing to claim responsibility for creating the Stormshieldren and they themselves claim to be not of this world. Of what world they are, they refuse to explain, saying only that "it's complicated". Some use this as a proof that Olam is located in the Elemental Chaos, and Stormshieldren "leaked" through the crystal sphere inside. However, the typical Stormshieldren mindset is vastly different from that of most elementals.

Stormshieldren are alien, aloof and withdrawn. They rarely communicate with non-stormshieldren, and even between themselves, they appear to have some sort of telepatic link, which they use instead of speaking. However, psionics users could not read any of those thoughts, leading to speculation the Stormshieldren minds are unreadible to local psions because of how alien they are, or their communication is not telepathic at all, but rather a form of electrical discharge. Stormshieldren walk among the cities and people, and sometimes even wilderness, rarely taking part in events, preferring to observe from afar. Sometimes they appear to mumble something to themselves, but such mumblings are incompehensible to any non-stormshieldren. When they do take action, they often simply come in to adventuring parties and offer their help and natural talents. Stormshieldren are very rarely aggressive towards anyone, but if attacked can prove to be very fierce and unusually cruel towards their enemies, rarely taking into account anyone's emotions.

While alien and distant, they appear to have gathered a significant knowledge of Olam's inhabitants and their psychology, or at least of beings of flesh. They tend to easily understand complex humanoid emotions and relations, quickly asserting the situation in a cold, clinical manner. They are not beyond acting out emotions in order to achieve their enigmatic goals, but are usually socially awkward, despite this vast theoretical knowledge.

Stormshieldren appeared on Olam very recently and do not have any communities of their own.

The true nature and goals of the Stormshieldren are completely unknown to inhabitants of Olam, and the DM may decide by himself which of the common theories about them are true (if any):
1) Stormshieldren are scouts for a future elemental invasion, and appear so distant and observant because that's exactly what they are doing - they observe the world around them and its defenses, noting all weak and strong points of the inhabitants, so their mysterious masters can easily exploit those.
2) Stormshieldren are curious explorers from a distant world torn by wild elements. They are almost incapable of humanoid-like emotions, but are able to understand them and their motivations, because they see all actions as thoroughly logical and foreseeable processes. The curiosity of flesh-based life, one so alien to them, leads to life of exploration.
3) Stormshieldren are in fact aberrant creatures and merely emenations of a dream of a Great Old One - which would explain their unknown communication methods. This aberrant creatures treats flesh life as just another phantasm and most likely won't abstain from just "waking them off".
4) Stormshieldren are but another natural emanation of the world around the flesh beings, and claim to be alien only because they are different than them.

I'm awaiting any opinions on that idea in particular. (also, this thread will probably soon need an index)

So I was thinking, I'll detail the cultures in my semi-private place and leave this place for more interesting to an average reader pieces (a piece on a very interesting - IMHO - god incoming possibly today late or tomorrow). To know what and how much I have to detail, I decided to make a list of cultures there should be around the world.

QuoteKenaan
Kenaani: Nephilim/Human/Kenku//Aasimar/Tiefling/Eladrin
Zynnas: Tiefling/Nephilim//Minotaur, Owlkin
Azerum: Nephilim/Azer//Dwarf, Goliath
Vineland: Nephilim/Human/Anubite/Goblin//many others
Planitia
Ibir: Orc/Gnoll
Hellade: Human//Dwarf, Satyr, Centaur
Vashar: Human
Naplia: Human/Elf/Dwarf/Orc//Mul/Half-elf/Half-orc/Guchuss (orc-elf)
Gaellega: Eladrin/Elf/Merfolk//Verbeeg/Goliath/Satyr
Eridanus: Elf/Satyr/Halfling//Dwarf/Minotaur/Tusker
Nidvalir: Dwarf/Goliath/Mul//Giant/Azer
Citra
Khitai: Hobgoblin/Goblin/Bugbear//Oxtrorki/Scalovian/Kenku
Jomoria: Genasi/Aarakocra/Apkallu//Oxtrorki/Scalovian
Shang: Minotaur/Orc//Utang
Tang: Dragonborn/Kobold
Qin: Dragonborn/Kobold/Tortolian
Han: Qirinal/Kobold
Jinto: Kitsunare/Ogre/Oni/Kappa
Saraswata: Vannara/Naga/Shivaita//Deva/Rakshasa
Begawan: Troll/Giant/Bullywug
Moorland
Kemet: Remite/Anubite/Sutekh//Suchan/Bastid/Rakshasa/Dwarf
M'buktan: Lizardfolk//Vegepygmies
Benian: Wilden/Volodni//Vegepygmies
Axium: Vannara/Grommamm/Hadozee/Utang
Bornu: Giff/Loxo/Cerian
Songei: Myrmidon
Luangia: Gnome//Vegepygmies
Kangan: Volodni/Vegepygmies/Wilden
Katangan: Vespene
Qitara: Pandan/Ursine
Suhilian: Hobgoblin/Orc//Ogre/Oni/Ettin
Xhosiria: Drow/Shardmind
Ustr
Lakotta: Shifter/Goliath
Mohi-Rocee: Goliath
Navachia: Minotaur
Ultramar: Deva/Aasimar
Teotlan: Human/Lizardfolk//Lichborn/Aarakocra/Kenku
Taino: Pteronts/Harpies/Aarakocra
Sudermania
Intiron: Behemothics
Xingua: Gorgon/Lizardfolk/Warforged
Mapukia: Chaut (bulettes)/Tusker
Remote parts of the world
Chukachun: Insectare/Kenku/Gnoll
Auriga: Sahuagin//multinational pirates
Veissan: Vryloka
(Underdark: Drow, Kenku, Ettercap, Desmodu, Fomorian, Grimlock, Aboleth, Shardmind)
(Seas: Sahuagin/Kuo-Toa/Merfolk/Cecaelia/Catulian (Cthulhu)/Algers (seaweed))

Ahem... that's a bit of a job to do. What do you think a good time to start would be? Possibly "right f-ng now"?

yes.  Though where do you think the PCs would start?

Quote from: LordVreeg yes.  Though where do you think the PCs would start?

Most possibly Kenaani (Nephilim place) or Hellade, because those two places are most developed right now, with Kemet close third. The "featured adventure" for this world starts in Hellade, with an intrigue of a Nephilim noble.

So I thought about sharing with you the information about the god I mentioned before. I think he's a fairly original and potentially great addition.

Pompus, God of the Lost
Good (neutral good)
Pompus is a spirit worshipped in all of Olam, even if sometimes under slightly changed names (e.g. Ponpe in Jinto). Most people called him a god due to his role and religious nature, but most people say that he neither has the power level equal to this of the Erberians, nor is related to them. Nevertheless, this spirit is still worshipped as a god, and one with a very wide domain at that. It's said his worship started as a simple guide to people who got lost in the wilderness, but as the knowledge of his existence and his benevolence spread, more and more people claimed to be "lost", in very different ways. Today, Pompus is said to be the patron of the lost, regardless of how were they lost. As such, several different groups claim to be under his guidance:

As it was his original domain, people physically lost in the wilderness, or in unknown countries, asking Pompus to lead them to safety*
People who lost their way in life, and don't know what should they do, or what difficult choices to make ask Pompus to lead them to right choices*
People who fell to bad companionships are said to be lost to society - and so their former friends - or those people themselves, in rare occurences, ask Pompus to lead them out and back to the society*
People who lost faith in power and benevolence of the gods ask Pompus to lead them back to piety

Or, in other words, if one feels in any way lost, without hope or an idea of getting out of the problem, asks Pompus for guidance - and he in his infinite wisdom and benevolence is said to always know the way out.

Pompus is said to have originally been born as one the Hemeras, the day spirits. While all Hemeras have within them a divine spark and are usually benevolent, none has been known at such a scale as Pompus, despite him having no position of power among them. He is often even said to be an exile - cursed to forever wander the wilderness, without a purpose or home, for sins unknown. But, as Pompus's worshippers say, he found his purpose during his wanders - the purpose being to find and guide lost mortal souls, no matter in what matter they are lost. Since then, he never ceased his efforts and is said to always come to those truly in need.

Pompus knows no lords over him and accepts none, even shunning psalms directed at him, claiming to be just a modest guide, not worthy of being given a divine status. This modest being's true physical form is unknown, as he is often depicted as an old, haggard man of whatever race drew or scuplted him. Depicted as clothed in rags, and leaning on a gnarled, wooden staff, he is said to avoid fame and aknowledgement, merely resorting to speaking words to truth to those who truly need them.
Pompus's creed:

Nothing and nobody is truly lost, not ever*
There is always hope for the better day, which might be just around the corner*
Find hope and solace in what you have, and don't spite those who have more

Just wanted to say,

Quote from: KalontasSo the world I was leading that campaign in became a world where ALL myths are true. I mean, literally all of them.

this[/i] is awesome. I love it. I love myths and ancient cultures especially Greece and Rome. The world looks great so far. Its detailed enough to suck you in, but not so foreign and alien as to make one give up trying to understand whats going on. I suppose the real world myth base helps. Keep it up!

In case anyone was wondering, I am not dead, nor is this project. Even though it was halted for a time by a real world stuff, the development was still going on, even if only in my head. I have recently started coming back to some concept arts for the more unique races, including the Qirinal.

The Qirinal are barely mentioned above so far, but they're Qirin people that head one of the "Chinese" countries up above, namely Han, which is the one stylised mostly after the Imperial China, with Cantonese and Taiping elements. So, I made some basic physiology sketch for the Qirinal... and it ended up looking like an elderly furry hippie (short, plump, hairy dude with antlers and muzzle). Just thought someone might want to know that. :D

In short, the work is still going on.