The Campaign Builder's Guild

And finally, at long last, I have returned to the CBG.  I joined a long, long time ago, but took some time off to get everything organized and ready for presentation, at least more so than it was way back when.

A special thanks goes out to Xeviat and Raelifin for helping me with this stuff when I needed it.  Thanks a lot, guys!

Just so everyone knows, this setting uses the d20 Modern ruleset.

[spoiler=The World and History]

The World of Idis

   The world which ZS takes place on is known as Idis.  Idis is the second planet from the sun in its solar system, and is hot and arid in nature.  The majority of its surface is covered in desert or mountains, and there are very little forests, and even fewer oceans.  Humanity has spread into a fairly large territory, but because of the nigh-constant struggling among men, very little else of the world has been explored.

   The race of men is incredibly advanced for its current age.  The reason for this is known as zerthene gas.  Zerthene gas is a special material mined in pockets around the world, with the easiest access being in desert climates.  Zerthene gas is a rather strange gas, with a low boiling point and a high freezing temperature.  If it ever becomes solid, it loses all of its useful properties.  In its liquid state, it is completely innert.  In its gasseous state, however, it combusts when it comes in contact with oxygen, making it incredibly dangerous to harvest.  

   The primarty use for zerthene gas, however, is to refine it into vexene gas, which is used to generate power.  In its gasseous state, it it filled with some form of uknown charged particles that, when compressed and charged with small amounts of electricity, exponentially multiply that electrical energy.  After so long of operating like this, however, the vexene gas burns out and becomes toxic and poisonous.  Also, if the charged vexene gas comes in contact with oxygen, it causes a violent explosion.  In its liquid state, vexene is highly acidic.  Not unlike its precursor zerthene, vexene loses its useful properties when it freezes.

   The "modern world" of Idis is ruled over by five primary nations, divided into two regions.  The Mighty West and the Eastern Block.  The Mighy West is made up of Dalnadia, the free-man's democracy, and Golban, which is ruled over by a Grand Magistrate, and Ildan, a republic whose head of office is the High Pope of the Kasidan Church.  The Eastern Block is comprised of Ertana, a monarchy, and Chaadia, a communism lead by the Prime Officer.

   The source of these nations' power is not the people they lead nor the militaries they create, but the companies which backed them in the dark times.  The Konrai Corporation, Vision Industries, Kulaine Enterprises, Robertson-Stone Industries, Darhaus Incorporated, and Trelenfar Industries were the original mega-corporations.  These corprorations hold cross-corporation monopoly on their intrests, and it is nearly impossible for a new corporation to rise to the level of power that these mega-corporations have reached.  Their political sway is such that many assume that the desicions being handed down from their government are really the will of the corporation that acts as their nation's primary sponsor.  They may not be incorrect.

Istaraq

      The first truly powerful nation to rise to power was known as Istaraq.  Little is known about the time before Istaraq, only that it was chaotic and untammed.  The nation itself rose to power thanks to the empress of a powerful empire of tribes that resided in the Grey Crater.  The capitol became known as Istara, named after this empress.

   Following Empress Istara's death, the Grand Tribunal was formed.  This was a group of the religious leaders from each of the tribes, and would rule over the empire.  Istaraq flourished, building great monuments to their faith and power, and expanding into many different territories.  These territories were each given a name.

   The central territory was always referred to as Central Istaraq, or the Middle Kingdom, which was the original land owned by the Empress Istara, the Grey Crater.  The easternmost territory, which bordered the great and forbidden jungles of Velnar was named Velnarius, the territorial capitol being of the same name as the region.  West of Velnarius and bordering the Sea of Gravos was Corvix, ruled over in the city of Gartha.  The land of the Western Waves was known as Lindus, and it stretched very far south, ruled over from the southernmost city in Istaraq, Ron-Rosa.  South of Corvix and creating the border between the Corvix and the Grey Crater is a huge mountain range with an extreme amount of volcanic activity.  This is where it derrived its name from, the Ashen Mountains.  There were no cities built in the Ashen Mountains, only the routes that were the safest and fastest paths through the crags.  South of the Grey Crater was a vast and beautiful desert known as the Southern Sands.  This desert also had no permanent cities, and were populated by nomadic tribes.  These peoples were allowed to govern themselves.

   Another ancient race of peoples known as the Anarii visited the Empress Istara with a prophecy held by their peoples that seemed to relate to the empire that the young empress was forming in her legacy.  This prophecy read: "When the height of the lady's empire reaches its tallest peak, the forbidden door shall be opened, and the empire will fall."

   Cryptic as it was, the prophecy was held in high regard; the Anarii had always proven right with their strange insight.  

   The Anarii were a race of creatures that looked human with the exception of their pointed ears and tall, regal features.  They were stronger, faster, tougher, and smarter than the average human, and were completely ageless and immune to diseases.  Despite all of these superiorities over the race of humans, they made no notion that they were superior in any way; the Anarii had a time of war and sin many, many years before and were now socially above such things.  The Anarii primarily lived in vast, underwater cities that were guarded by far more than merely their location.

   Many years passed, and the empire did nothing but flourish.  They began to develop technology and basic understanding of the sciences on their own, without the Anarii's help.  This, however, lead to dissention among the people.  There were some that wanted to throw off the shawl of religion and work full-force on the sciences, whereas others wished to continue with their way of life and live in peace with nature.

   This dissention eventually lead to the nation of Istaraq being divided into two seperate kingdoms.  The capitol and the immediately surrounding areas became known as the Middle Kingom, and focused on the development and research of science and technology.  The lands beyond the Ashen Mountains, that is, Velnarius, Corvix, Lindus, and the Southern Sands became known as the Outer Kingdom, and were ruled over in Gartha by the Tribunal.  The Middle Kingdom was ruled over in Istara by a Prime Magistrate.

   With the differences put aside, the two kingdoms of Istaraq continued to flourish until a Middle Kingdom excavation team hired by a priest of the Outer Kingdom uncovered something.  A large piece of metal that seemed to be born into the rock that surrounded it deep underground.  It did not take long for this insane priest to open this seal, and those known as the Forbidden Ones swarmed out of the now-open gate to madness.  These creatures seemed to have the basis of life, but had no true form, no real shape.  Monstrous beings with tentacles, horns, spikes, mouths, and the like where there should be none.

   A great war began.  No one is quite sure what happened during this war, but it was the cause of the downfall of Istaraq.  In a great catastrophe, Istaraq fell, and nearly all its people were killed.  Since the cities had been taken, retaken, and taken again before the war's end, they were rebuilt many times.  Thanks to the shifting sands, they were oftentimes built on top of the ruins of the old. The top few floors of an old building would become the bottom of another, several buildings would be connected by the basement of a single building.  All of this culminated in the creation of a large, three-dimensional maze buired deep underground and just beneath the sands.  The only place of Istaraq that is still populated today is Istad, the City of Plagues, and it is impovirshed and destitute.  Istad is a city independant of all other nations but at the same time controlled by them.  Since the land around it is still incredibly fertile, other nations have used Istad as a port and a trading post.  It is an independant city ruled over by the merchant guilds, and is incredibly dangerous to those not savvy on their ways of life.


The Rise and Fall of the Kasidan Empire

      After the fall of Istaraq, the world became much more dangerous place.  Creatures that had been created or set loose by Istaraq now roamed free, and there was little safety from town to town.  But in the north, things were not the same way, and five nations of power arose.  Rejhuta, Keutonia, Gotera, Olors, and Heldonia.  These nations were oftentimes the great safe havens for refugees fleeing from Istad or the lands surrounding Istaraq.

   But in the west, a new power was growing.  In a fertile land known as the Valley of Pellin, a tribal leader named Sebrin Kasidan recieved a vision from a powerful being.  This being told him to journey out into the wastes.  Kasidan, against the best wishes of his people, followed the command given to him by this powerful creature.

   Nearly dead in the wastes, Kasidan was finally rescued by this being.  Introducing himself as Greavon the Creator, and in that aspect, was God.  He told Kasidan to raise the tribes of Pellin together, and while the five nations of the east were warring with one another, to topple them all and create a unified -both in land and religion- empire in the name of God.

   Kasidan did just that, and did so with brutal efficiency.

   Somewhere during the course of the campaign, Kasidan suddenly stopped recieving images from his God.  While the gears of war were already turning to fast to be stopped by that, Kasidan took it as a note to realize his own mortality.  He sought out people that lived in Istad known as the Vampires. These creatures were a forbidden and taboo topic among his people, but he knew that they somehow possessed the ability to live forever young.  Making a deal with them (to not purge their exsistance in return for their service) they made him one of them.  Now posessing an imortal body, Kasidan continued his campaign.

   It did not take Kasidan long to unite all the known world under his banner, and he became known as Emperor Kasidan, or the Emperor Immortal has he was often called by his followers.  He forged the Kasidan Church from the fires of war, and named the city Ildan on a far-off island of the same name as the capitol of religion in his empire.

   Istad was also added into the fold, and while the Emperor had struck a deal with them, now that he had what he wanted, he refused to hold up his end of the bargain with the Vampires.  He attempted to destroy them, but a new leader of the Vampires began to incite the fears and troubles of all of the Empire against the opressive government.  Nothing was done about this for a long while, except that the government began to reinforce its image as to why the people needed it.

   In a land of nigh-infinite beauty known as the Forbidden Fields lived a group of total pacifist Anarii known as the Felille.  The Kasidan called these Felille heretics and hethens, betrayers of God.  The people of the Empire united behind the military, and in one fell swoop, the Forbidden Fields were raped, burned, and pillaged.  The Felille, being creatures of "nature's beauty made real" were captured as sexual slaves, both men and women.  The Forbidden Fields became known as the Unforgiven Lands, and went from being the most beautiful lands on the planet, to a barren, toxic wasteland.  There were Kasidan forts set up at every entrance, and anyone who entered these lands would be forever named an exile, and if they attempted to return, would be shot on sight.

   The Kasidan's people were incredibly oppressed, and the military had basically free reign to do whatever they wished.  Special branches and organizations were formed for different functions, such as the Shapers which controlled the elemental forces of the world, and the Reapers, which were deathly-efficient assassins.  Other organizations included the Orders (which were divided by color- Scarlet, Azure, Verdant, Ivory, and Ebony) that had a specific purpose, the Hitrons which could focus their spiritual energies to the point that they could manifest special weapons with it, and the Inquisitors, the strong-arm of the Kasidan Church.  These special organizations were particularly bad about abusing their power, the Shapers most of all.  Overall, there were few in each of the organizations that did not choose to affluently misuse the authorities given to them by the government.

   It was around this time that the leader of the Vampires restarted his subtle campaign of uprising against the Empire.  This eventually lead to open war with the Rebellion of the Crimson Scarf battling against the armies of the Kasidan.  This army had the Vampires as its leaders, but was comprised primarily out of former Kasidan soldiers, mercenaries, and trained civilians.  The leader of the rebellion, however, was not of the Vampires himself, but a Vam'Daran, a member of an exiled house.  Thanks to the Anarii technology that this leader brought with him, and his brilliant tactical genius, in the end, the Rebellion won out, but quickly disbanded after the Empire was defeated.  

   The armies of the Kasidan, once it became apparent that the Empire was going to fall, began to disband, or fight amongst themselves.  The only organizations that stayed true to the Kasidan were the Shapers and the Inquisitors, both kept alive via the church.  The other organization leaders took this as an opportunity to set themselves up in positions of power in other places of the world.  The Vampires claimed the lands surrounding the Kasidan as their own and left the normal humans to set things up themselves.


The Mega-Corporations

   A dark age then took the world.  The five nations that had been around before the Kasidan Empire had been created reformed themselves with little trouble; they had been territories before and remained basically unchanged.

   But for the rest of the world, the law and order put in place by the Kasidan Empire was invaluable, and once it was gone, total chaos erupted.  The only place that remained untouched by this chaos as Ildan, as its island would make a hard place to assault indeed, and the Church severed ties with the government of the Empire shortly before its fall.  But the High Pope had been sheduled to meet with the Emperor shortly before the capitol of Azfel was taken, but he had already vanished.  Seeing an opportunity, the Church raided the coffers of the Empire before the armies of rebel humans and Forsaken Ones could get to it.  During this new time of chaos, the Church was the wealthiest and most powerful force on the planet.

   Renegade warlord armies clashed and battled one another to the bitter end, but there was no end in sight for this chaos.  In a vain hope to establish some order, a group of young entrepreneurs gathered together and decided to visit the "high races" of the world, the ones that refused to stain their hands in human affairs, to study technology.  These races were the Vam'Darans, Anarii, Greyloth, and Octavians.

   Some of these entrepreneurs died.  Some of them had little to no success.  But a few of them made off incredibly well, and returned to the dark world with knowledge of technology.  With no way to fund their operations, they met with Kasidan Church officials, and pleaded with them for money.  The Church found these new technologies a threat to their rule, however, but decided to grant these technological wizards with the money they required.  They saw a chance for even more power, and they were going to take it, for rather than force the corporations to pay them back, the Kasidan now had the right to dabble in the affairs of these corporations and gained large public sponsors to reinforce the "one true way" of the Kasidan Church.

   Thanks to the founding of the corporations, the dark ages were finished quickly.  The destitute people of the world began to realize that the bandit kings, warlords, and armies that sided with these corporations always won out in the end, and several new nations were formed.  These new nations became the most powerful forces in the world incredibly quickly, and were divided into two groups: the Mighty West and the Eastern Strip.  Since these nations were funded by the corporations, and the corporations were originally funded by the Kasidan Church, the Kasidan Church became the supreme world power.  If they did not like the way that something was going, they would call for an "inquisition" of sorts, and the peoples of the world are so caught up in their faith and fears to oppose the Kasidan.  Witch hunts are still commonplace even today, and the faithful are oftentimes worse than the supposed sinners.

   But there came a time when these undoubtedly powerful technologies would be developed into weapons.  With that said, the time came when a nation would want to use those weapons.  The nation of Pellin, whose armies were large despite the nation's small size, attacked the nation of Chaadia in a fast blitz that caught the communist nation off guard.  Pellin made their way through Chaadia and attacked Ertana, conquering nearly half of the northern nation before their offensive was halted.

   Now given time to recover, Ertana and the refugees from Chaadia formed a counter-offensive aided by the Dalnadian military.  The conflict was long and bloody, but the triumvrate of powerful nations took back all of Ertana and Chaadia.  Ertana and Dalnadia declared the war over, but Chaadia did not agree.  Now that they had their production facilities and factories back, the communism reforged itself an unstoppable army.  Dalnadian officials spoke out against this, but Ertana defended their eastern neighbor, saying that it was their business.  The Chaadic army attacked the small nation of Pellin from all sides and crushed their now-meager defenses, taking the land for their own.

   As a sign of gratitude for their help, Chaadia constructed two massive airships for Ertana, the Dreadnought and the Juggernought.  They gave no thanks to Dalnadia; the two were longtime rivals and Chaadia did not take lightly to Dalnadia's support of Pellin in the communism's revenge.


The Three Wars

   Adorai'Sollin once attempted to expand its bounds into the modern world by adapting an ancient underwater anarii ruin (which, like all anarii structures, had a sea-level access) as the base of a mid-ocean city.  This city was known as Izintil'Selcice, or City of the Waves.  It expanded, and many works of modern technology were produced here.  But as time grew on, communication between Izintil'Selcice and Adorai'Sollin grew less and less prevelant until finally the City in the Waves declared its independance of the isolationist Adorai'Sollin and renamed itself Dusk, the City of Pleasure.  This name was selected as a derrivative of Adorai'Sollin, and the title was chosen because it had become a dive of modern depravity and sin, where slavery, prostitution, and gory gladiatorial games were among the more honorable professions.

   Adorai'Sollin, however, has become increasingly more prevelant in the modern world than they would have originally liked.  They became involved in the Shapers War in the Unforgiven Lands, and it was this act of self-defence that heralded their entrance into the global scale of things.  The Shapers War was a long, drawn-out, and incredibly taxing war between two opposing groups of shapers- the Kasidan Secret Police and the Military Guardians of Orda.  The conflict had, for the most part, been contained in the Unforgiven Lands, but once it spilled over into the Fields of Azfel, the vampires would have no part of it.  They attacked the sortie of shapers fighting in the fields near a plantation and slew them.  Both human nations pulled their troops out before the vampires could make any demands of them.  Adorai'Sollin was perfecty happy with this.

   But the Kasidan saw its chance to get back at the vampires for what they had done to them in the past.  Using the few lives taken by the vampires in that single act of violence as a justifiable reason, the Kasidan used vile lifecrafting magics to create terrible monsters known as Doomsingers.  These creatures wore large, flowing black robes with hoods that completely concealed their faces, and wielded silver and gold weapons decorated in the style of God.  They could emmit a loud screech which could paralyze foes with fear and use strange, garbled telepathy to interfere with an opponent's thought patterns.  They also had four large, black feathered wings.  Their trademark screeching sounds is where they got their name.  Seven more powerful creatures, called Archsingers, were created to control these creatures.

   The Thousand Angels War began in the Fields of Kellen and the Kasidan's forces quickly pushed the vampires back to the Fields of Azfel.  Lord Viktor Taizus Leingod, the man who was the National Head of the vampires and the one who had originally lead the forces against the Kasidan all those years prior, was slain by one of the Archsingers.  In the last defense of their capitol Azfel, the vampires finally won out in the siege over the Kasidan.  Many lives were lost on both sides of the conflict.

   After the war was over, however, things began to take a different pace for the vampires.  With Taizus dead, a new National Head needed to be chosen.  Baron Mars Vella was chosen to lead the nation now.  One of the things that many of the younger vampires had realized during the Thousand Angels War was that the Code of the Old Fathers was outdated and too archaic to ensure survivability in the modern world.  Baron Mars was one of those young vampires.  He decided to expand the vampires' operations to include all sorts of things that would help them progress further into the modern world.

   Some of the more old-fashioned vampires, however, did not appreciate this.  They felt that by doing this, Baron Mars was moving the vampires away from the noble, civilized beings that they had always been, at least in Adorai'Sollin.  Let Dusk and the exiles revel in their sin.  These people, known as the Old Regime, would meet every month in the same locations to discuss how things had progressed and what they felt needed to be done about it.  Lord-Baron Moskov was the leader of the Old Regime.  

   The final conclusion, they decided, was to assassinate Baron Mars.

   Lord-Baron Moskov got in contact with a mercenary company named Shadows, an academy from the northern mountains, about hiring the best assassins that they had.  The two newest, fresh-from-the-mill students that had graduated top in their class were granted the titles Black Rose (for the male) and White Rose (for the female.)  Moskov hired both of them and used them as his secret weaopns in the now underground war.

   Moskov finally gave the order for the Black Rose to assassinate Baron Mars, but Baron Mars had also hired mercenaries to help him, and the Black Rose was defeated by a man named Xane.  The Black Rose was tortured and publicly humiliated before being sent back to Moskov.  It was then that open war began, with Moskov's rebels battling against the royal guard known as the Sect of the Night.

   But as highly trained as the Sect of the Night was, some of them defected and divulged secrets that allowed Moskov's forces to overcome them.  On the eve of the Old Regime's victory, Moskov was assassinated.  The Sect of the Night was ousted, but the Old Regime was in shambles.  The senate kept things under control while they took their time selecting a new National Head.

   During this time, the exiled Sect of the Night sided with the Lycans in order to seek their revenge against the Old Regime.  Open war started again, and lead up to the Batttle of Rone in which an innocent human city was caught in the middle of the war.  There were hardly any survivors of the battle, human, vampire, lyan, or otherwise.

   After this battle, a new faction arose.  This group was known as the Machine Faction and was lead by a mysterious woman in an iron mask calling herself the Industrist.  The Black Rose suddenly and inexplicably turned on the Old Regime and joined with the Machine Faction.  This group also had the backing of the long-forgotten House Leingod and quickly subdued both opposing factions.  After all the skrimishes had stopped and organization was once again achieved, the Industrist left orders that Devin Auro was to become the National Head, and both she and the Black Rose disappeared.


Modern-Day Idis

Nearly fifty years after the First Conquesta (that being the great war fought between Dalnadia, Ertana, Chaadia, and Pellin), the modern world of Idis has advanced greatly in technology, and the lives of those living in the major cities of the world is, overall, very good.  Outside of the cities, however, there is little care or assistance from the respective governments.  This modern age is an age of corruption and iron-fisted tyranny.

   In central Dalnadia, seeming to have spread from a high-mountain village known as Mount Dice, a virus has begun to spread.  This virus creates seemingly dead monsters and beasts out of its living hosts, turning them into mindless, hunger-zombies with a restriction to human flesh.  With a war currently going on between Olors and Rejhuta, and with Dalnadia's military tied up tending to its resources and interests in the region, the government has decided to mostly turn a blind eye to the events unfolding in its own territories.

   Meanwhile, the Kasidan Church has begun a series of inquisitions on non-Kasidan believers, regardless of these "heretics" intentions.  Some of them, like the Cult of the Grass Thrasher, want nothing other than to live out peaceful lives.  Others, like the Church of the Triad, really do mean harm against all the peoples of Idis, and the only reason that the Kasidan is not stopped is because the people of Idis understand that they would rather have a lack of terrorists at the cost of innocent lives than possibly be harmed themselves.
   [/spoiler]

[spoiler=Races of Idis]
Races of Idis

Humans
   Humans are the most prominant race on all of Idis.  They are the most adaptable and easy-learning race on the entire planet.

Anarii
   Stoic and ancient peoples, Anarii have become incredibly reclusive in recent years.  They are ageless after they mature and have an incredibly low birth rate, with one child being born perhaps every one hundred to two hundred years.  Physically, Anarii look much like humans with pointed ears and regal features.  They are not frail by any means, and are quite physically capable as well.  They are in all ways better than the average human being, and are immune to natural diseases of all types.

   Anarii society is matriarchal, with a matriarch leading each house.  Some houses grow so large that they have many smaller houses that serve under them like members of a lower rank in military.  Each house has something that they prefer to focus on, but no house is without the ability to dabble in everything- science, religion, military, trade, etc.  The entire Empire is lead by a Grand Matriarch who is the matriarch of the Greatest House.  She is supported by a special conclave made up of the matriarchs of the second through sixth greatest houses.

   Overall, the Anarii have one religion that has served them well for thousands and thousands of years.  This religion is imprinted in an Anarii child and supported by the civilization so much that the Anarii have no laws.  They believe that they were all created by a mother godess known as Fertility.  She rules over the other three godesses, which are Wisdom, Justice, and Fortune.  They abide by three primary rules; be respectful of life in all ways, be just, honest, and pure, and treat others as you would yourself.  All of this culminates in a belief in that anything bad or good that happens to a person is what they rightfully deserve.  Nothing is lost without gaining something, nothing is gained without losing something.  There are three phrases that the Anarii commonly use to wish others luck, known as the Pledge of the Mothers-
   [ic=The Pledge of the Mothers]"Fortune be with you."
   "Let wisdom guide you."
   "May all treat you justly."[/ic]

   The Anarii race itself is split into three distinct subraces.  None of these subraces are superior in any way to one another, they merely look different.  Anarii-Rya are Anarii tha tlive in the mountains away from the rest of the world.  They practice the traditional relgion, but do not have the more technologically advanced society that the other Anarii have.  Instead, they have given up technology to better enlighten themselves and to promote phsyical activities.  They commonly have lighter hair colors, such as white, blonde, and sandy brown, with the occasional dark chocolate among them, and their eyes are earthtones, such as brown, grey, or green.

   The Anarii-Astara consider themselves the oldest Anarii, and they are certainly older than the Anarii-Rya.  These Anarii live in underwater cities that are nearly impossible to reach because of their location.  They live all around the world, with nothing but simple docks above the surface, and massive bubble-like archidecture floating beaneath the waves, fastened to the ocean floor by cables and support beams.  These Anarii learn all things in all ways, science, religion, and the art of war.  They have a large standing army not only for posterity's sake, but because they do not trust humans.  They have basic knowledge of firearms, but prefer on quasi-magical energy weapons over their blackpowder cousins.  Above all, an Anarii-Astara prefers a good, solid melee weapon.  The Anarii-Astara have brightly colored blue or green hair, and their skin has a slight blue tinge to it.  Any freckles, scars, or birthmarks on their body will be blue.  Their eyes are commonly a shade of blue or green.

   The Anarii-Vam'Dara are a race of Anarii that believe themselves superior to all other races.  They have rebuked the religion-base society of their cousins and focus entirely on the advancement of science.  Vam'Darans hold no bars when it comes to morals pretaining to the advancement of science, but do not tolerate unmoral activities outside of the fields of research at all.  The little religion they do follow is practiced by their warriors, Vam'Rhasha, the scorpion godess and mistress of battle.  This religion, however, is more of a passing tradition than true faith.  They are even more reclusive than either of the other Anarii, killing anybody who is on their land without an invitation.  Those lucky enough to survive an encounter with the Vam'Darans can attest to the advanced level of technology that they have.  The Vam'Darans are all taller and broader than the other Anarii races, and have stark white hair, pale skin, and purple eyes.

   There used to be another race of Anarii known as the Anarri-Felille.  This race was entirely pacifistic and focused completely on their religion.  They would merely turn the other cheek at offenses, saying that the offender would get his in the end, and refused to take or even threaten another life, for doing so went against the godess's teachings.  Because of their religious beliefs and their close proximity to the extremist Kasidan Empire, they were nearly entirely wiped out nearly two millenia ago.  Now there are as few as fifty Felille left in the world, hiding in Velnar Jungle.

Vampires
   The race of vampires dates back to the age of Istaraq when vile mages were seeking a way to continue living through the ages.  They found a process that would bind their bodies with the powers of the darkness and undeath in such a way to achieve that, but they can no longer go into direct sunlight for fear of death.  These vampires are known as Elderblood Vampires.  They are incredibly strong and potent opponents, nearly unkillable.

   When an Elderblood Vampire bites a human being, that human being is transformed into a Pureblood Vampire.  Weaker than their Elder counterparts, these creatures are not undead, but are instead still quite alive.  They share some of their sires weaknesses to sunlight, but do not risk death if they enter into it.  Also unlike their sires, Pureblood Vampires rely on the blood of the living to survive, wheras Elder Vampires merely use it to become stronger.  Purebloods cannot breed with one another, and there is a very small (5%) chance that they can even breed with a member of their original race anymore.

   If a Pureblood Vampire and a member of their original race produce an offspring, it is called a Neo-Blood vampire.  Neo-Bloods breed true with one another and share little of the strengths or weaknesses of their Pureblood Vampire parents.  These are the most common types of Vampires, but are also the weakest.  Neo-Blood Vampires

   All vampires have red eyes, and any vampire can tell which type of vampire another is with a mere look.  The only other eye color that is found among vampires is yellow.  A vampire's eyes only turn yellow when they have fed on the blood of another vampire.  This topic is incredibly taboo in vampire society and those with yellow eyes are viewed as exiles.

   Vampire society is based on houses, the head of house being the strongest, wisest, and most cunning vampire in the entire house that still carries the original founders bloodline.  This may be a man or a woman.  Vampire society has no qualms about gender with the exceptions of certain positions.  The leader of the vampire commonwealth is called the National Head, who is selected by the senate.  The senate is comprised of the House Heads of the thirteen major houses.  The National Head is always also a House Head.  The National Head makes all the important desicions for the vampire nation, but must present them to the Senate first, where each House Head (including the National Head) will vote on the matter.

   The vampire nation of Adorai'Sollin was forged out of the fires that burned the Kasidan.  The capitol city was once the capitol of the Kasidan Empire as well, Azfel, the City of Glory.  After the fall of Istaraq, the Elder Vampires set down a code known as the Code of the Old Fathers.  This code instructed vampires on how they should act and conduct themselves.  That code is as follows:
    [ic=Code of the Old Fathers] "Feed only off of the willing."
   "Despite its baneful agression towards us, respect the sun and all that lives under it."
   "Protect humans.  They are weak and are our lifeblood."
   "Uphold the law above all else."[/ic]

   The vampires of Adorai'Sollin (meaning "Nation of the Sun," a throwback to the second code) upheld this code to the letter.  Adorai'Sollin was split up into the thirteen noble houses: House Leingod, House Moskov, House Byron, House Kell, House Auro, House Zel, House Omh, House Ankhara, House Vella, House Presvo, House Sol, House Beldon, and House Reichtouffen.  The nation has an appointed "Head of Nation," who is selected from one of the house leaders.  The Head of Nation presents his or her ideas to the senate, which is comprised out of all of the house leaders (including the Head of Nation.)  The senate then votes on the matter.  A standstill is not possible, since even though the Head of Nation is the one presenting the ideas, he or she must still vote on the matter as Head of House.

   The vampires, not unlike the Anarii, have a religion based around multiple deities.  The central deity is Myra, godess of blood, family, and bats.  The remaning two are Sil'Jaer, godess of poison, traps, and spiders, and Aruxus, the godess of bloodlust, slaughter, and leeches.  This worship is rarely devout, however, more of a passing reverance than anything else, but there are those that follow these paths as monks and clerics.

   The vampires primarly live in Adorai'Sollin and Dusk, but are also fairly prevelant among human societies in eithe isolation, exile, or small groups called covens.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Souls and the Afterlife]

   Many peoples of Idis believe in something larger than themselves to help ease their minds about the afterlife.  They believe that in performing certain actions or by acting certain ways, they grant themselves some kind of privilage or betterment into the afterlife.

   This is, to put it bluntly, completely false.  In truth, the afterlife is comprised of two seperate planes, Xaman-En and the Afterplane, both of which are described below.

   When a person dies, their soul stays on the prime for a short while before departing to the Gates of Xaman-En.  There, they must find their way through a maze which represents their life.  Because their life crossed that of others, however, so does their maze.  If they manage to find their way to the Afterplane, they successfully reach the only true afterlife.  

   There are, however, exceptions.  Firstly, when a spirit is too attatched to the prime plane, they become a ghost, bound to never reach the Gates of Xaman-En.  This, depending on ghost to ghost, is a torment, a pleasure, a gift, or a curse.  The second exception are demons.  There is a process which normal Saints are trained to do known as Sending.  Sending sends a recently deceased person's spirit directly to the Afterplane, without needing to traverse the maze that is Xaman-En.  The reason that the Sending was created was to prevent demons from coming into exsistance. These creatures come to be when a spirit does not find its way to the Afterplane, and instead finds itself in one of the many traps of Xaman-En, sending it to Garish-Nakkar, where the evil energies of that hellish realm mutate the spirit into a physical manifestation of its own sin.  The only religion which does not posess a Sending ritual is that of the Kasidan Church.  They were taught by Graevon that

    Demons, in the world of Idis, are little more than beasts.  Powerful, innately magical beasts, but rely on instinct to get them by.  The only difference is that they still retain a semblance of true sentience, which makes them dangerous foes indeed.  These demons are stronger or weaker based on the person that was corrupted.  More powerful people become more powerful demons.  Another way that stronger demons come to be happens when multiple spirits form together into a larger demon.  Usually, this demon is only phsycially larger, and therefore, more powerful.  However, at times the size does not change, and that power manifests itself in other ways, such as human or higher-level intelligence or some strange, magical prowess.

   There is, however, another fate that could happen to an unguarded spirit traversing Xaman-En.  The Lost Ones.  No one is quite sure how the first Lost Ones were created, or how the Lost Ones continue to spawn, only that somehow the Lost Ones are capable of seperating the spirit and the consciousness that drives it.  When this sentience is lost, the soul loses its form and becomes one of the hideous, malicious Lost Ones.  These creatures are quite stupid, but very strong, and have a creepy appearance, with featureless bodies, bloated torsos, empty eyes and mouths, and short, spindly legs and long, spindly arms.  They prowl the halls of Xaman-En as the only other creatures to move about that realm other than the spirits of the departed.

   Lastly we have Wraiths.  Wraiths are powerful and deadly creatures that hail from the Realm of Darkness.  When a person's spirit is devoured while they are still alive, a void is left where their soul once rest.  Their consciousness also leaves their body and departs for the transitional plane of Memoria.  This body, now with a powerful void instead of a normal soul, reanimates as a Wraith Zombie.  Wraith Zombies are stronger than the typical zombie, and have glowing yellow eyes.  The void inside them eats away at its physical trappings, and anywhere that the Wraith Zombie's body has rotted away radiates darkness.  

   Once this void has completely eaten away the physical body, a process which takes about one week, a fully-formed Wraith breaks free.  Wraiths have black rubbery skin and featureless bodies.  They share the same glowing eyes as their zombie precursors.  Wraiths meld with the shadows and prey upon the living.  Any creature that they kill, instead of devouring its body, they devour its soul, thusly creating more wraiths.  They have the ability to climb on walls and have razor-sharp claws.  Fast and deadly, wraiths primarily exsist on the Prime, though many reside on the transitional plane of Memoria.  How many reside in the Realm of Darkness is unknown.

   Another oddity of the Wraiths are the Neo-Wraiths.  When a person's soul is devoured, their consciousness ends up in Memoria.  But if a person's willpower is strong enough, they can deny their own death and force their consciousness back into their body.  This prevents the decay and ruin of the physical body and creates what is known as a Neo-Wraith.  Most Neo-Wraiths lose a lot of their sanity and/or sentience when this happens though, because of the strain on the mind and the horror of the entire situation, making them little better than normal Wraiths.  Every once in a while, however, Neo-Wraiths retain all of their sentience.  This, combined with the powers they gain from their transformation, create incredibly dangerous foes.

   Last of all are the Clear Sentience.  A Clear Sentience is a free-form intelligence that resides in Memoria.  Unable to return to their physical bodies or their souls, these creatures are incredibly rare.  Clear Sentience oftentimes connect themselves to an object or a person, but sometimes they manifest themselves not unlike a ghost would.  A Clear Sentience is part of a hive mind of all other Clear Sentience across the Realms.  They have created a collective mind in order to further the only goal they have left: the preservation and documentation of all knowledge.  In the Realm of Memoria, they manifest themselves in a physical form, and operate as information trackers in that realm for the Neo-Wraiths.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=The Realms]

The Prime

The realm that Idis lies on is known by scholars as the Prime, meaning the primary plane on which life resides.  In the most popular view of the realms, the Prime resides in the center with the other three rotating around it on elliptical orbits like planetoids around a star.  These orbits are elliptical because there is documented evidence that, at times, certain realms are harder to access than others.

It is these elliptical orbits that has given rise to the second most popular theory of the realms- that the Prime rotates around all three of the other planes on an elliptical orbit, which is why travel through the planes is sometimes interfered with by the energies of another plane.

In truth, both of these theories are at least in part correct.  The Prime is the center plane, and the other three planes do, indeed, rotate around the Prime on elliptical orbits.  However, the second theory's idea of the reason why planar energies mix from time to time is also correct.  As the planes rotate around the prime, their pathways will sometimes intersect, and the energies have a chance of mixing.

Each plane (other than the prime) has a pathway that leads to it.  This pathway is usually at least somewhat similar to the prime, and are usually inhabited with those that have yet to move beyond the pathway.

The Afterplane

The realm of the dead is known as the Afterplane.  This realm is an incredibly strange place, a steamy jungle covered in age-old buildings.  It has large, craggy cliffs where pools of water collect and flow down into the jungles below.  The sky appears to always be at sunset, though no sun is ever seen.  Instead, the realm is somewhat lit by a large ball of blue-green energy.  Obviously, the spirits of the dead reside here and manifest themselves as Avatars.

The pathway to the Afterplane is known as Xaman-En.  Xaman-En is a shadowy realm that resembles the prime, but is comprised entirely out of a maze.  This maze, at times, becomes harder to navigate, and at others incredibly easy.  In reality, this maze represents a person's life.  The hard times are difficult to navigate, the easier times more simple.  If a person has the ability to push through these challenges, they will arrive in the Afterplane.  If they fail, they end up at the pathway to Garish-Nakkar and are devoured and mutated by their own sins.  That being said, even incredibly sinful, evil people can make it to the Afterplane, they must only be able to find their way through their maze.

The Forsaken Realm

The hellish lands of the Forsaken Realm are nearly entirely unknown, but the Anarii have detailed it rather completely.  It appears as a great chasm inside of a sea of lava.  Great mechanical works go on here, built into the walls for a seemingly unknown purpose, and metal scaffolds, stairs, and ladders lead all over the place across this chasm.  What lies at the bottom is yet unkown, but it is known that there are some kinds of buildings built into the walls of the chasm and up through the rock into the volcanoes above.  The only thing that has ever been found here were the Forsaken Ones, creatures comprised out of chaos and wholly evil.  They appear as formless masses of flesh covered in mouths, eyes, spikes, and tentacles.

The pathway to the Forsaken Realm is Garish-Nakkar.  Garish Nakkar is a duplicate of the Prime with several major differences.  First, the air is always filled with a kind of white smoke.  Secondly, ash is constantly falling from the skies in Garish-Nakkar.  Lastly, the nights of Garish-Nakkar are when it connects itself to the Forsaken Realm.  The white smoke becomes black, and the ash that falls becomes cinders.  Forsaken Ones and demons (mutated spirits from Xaman-En) flood into the land and ravage, slay, and otherwise destroy any that they find in the open.

The odd thing about Garish-Nakkar is the way that it is connected.  Scholars believe that the Forsaken Realm was once completely connected to the Prime.  However, as the Prime became tainted by the chaotic and evil energies of this horrid plane, Garish-Nakkar was formed as a buffer area.  The reason for this theory is that the only places that resemble the Prime in Garish-Nakkar are areas in which the energies of the Forsaken Realm were prominant, and some incredible act of anger, hate, suffering, or despair occurred.  The lands between resemble nothing but ashen fields on Garish-Nakkar.  That is, until nightfall, during which these lands become the open areas in which the Forsaken Realm manifests.

Sometimes, normal people get stranded in Garish-Nakkar when a region becomes part of the buffer zone, or when they have something around their person that was incredibly attatched or involved in the events that caused the region to become part of the pathway.  These people must fend for themselves with little hope of returning home.  One beacon of safety they do have, however, are Sanctuaries.

Sanctuaries are locations within the annexed region where incredible acts of faith, bravery, or sacrifice were made.  It is impossible for any creature of the Forsaken Realm or Garish-Nakkar to enter these regions, even if they could were they on the physical plane.

The Realm of Darkness

The final realm is the Realm of Darkness.  This realm is the most mysterious of any of the realms, and nearly nothing is known about it.  The only thing that scholars are certain of is that the Realm of Darkness is where the knowledge of the Wraiths originated from.

On the pathway to the Realm of Darkness much more is documented.  The pathway is known as Memoria, and is comprised of the memories of those whose souls are devoured.  Their memories have created a buffer zone between the Prime and the Realm of Darkness.  Scholars can only predict that this is because their souls have been devoured.  Where would their consciousness go?  Of course, thsi is only speculation, but it seems to be backed by enough evidence to be considered fact.  Rather than be inhabited only or mostly by wraiths, there are suprisingly very vew normal wraiths to be found here.  Neo-Wraiths, on the other hand, are much more prevelant.  Neo-Wraiths are what happens when a person's soul is stolen and devoured when they are still alive, not harvested after they are already dead, and their willpower is such that they force their consciousness back into their quickly-dying body.  This is incredibly rare, but the product are Neo-Wraiths, which most times are still not much better than normal wraiths, but sometimes possess the same clarity and understanding that they had in life.  

That said, despite this fact, Memoria is still an incredibly dangerous location for normal creatures.

Because it is created out of the memories of those whose souls have been devoured, Memoria is even less complete than Garish-Nakkar.  However, unlike Garish-Nakkar, the lands between the locations on Memoria are inaccessable.  There are solid shadows that prevent any movement or even sight beyond in between the locations.  This means that many of the locations within Memoria do not even posess gateways into the Realm of Darkness.  Scholars agree that there may be even as few as three gateways, because with all the experimentation and exploration made into Memoria, no gateway to the Relam of Darkness has ever been found.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Advanced Classes]
 [ic=Shaper of Fire][class=Shaper of Fire][levels=10][bab=Wizard][fort=poor][ref=average][will=average][special=Special][1]Fireburst[/1][2]Firejet[/2][3]Flaming Weapon[/3][4]Fireward[/4][5]Firebolt[/5][6]Fireball[/6][7]Greater Flaming Weapon[/7][8]Fireblast[/8][9]Burning Grasp[/9][10]Vaporize[/10][/special][special=Defense Bonus][repeat][1]+1[/1][3]+2[/3][5]+3[/5][7]+4[/7][9]+5[/9][/special][/class]
Skills: 4+ at each level.

Fireburst [Su] : As a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity, the Shaper of Fire can manifest a powerful burst of heat energy.  This deals 1d6 fire damage per class level in a 15-foot cone in front of the her.  A successful reflex save (DC 10 + class level + intelligence modifier) halves this damage.
Special: By expending 4 mana while activating this ability, the Shaper can increase the d6 damage die to a d8.

Firejet [Su] : As a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity, the Shaper of Fire can manifest a powerful jet of heat energy.  This deals 1d6 fire damage per class level in a 30-foot line in front of her.  A successful reflex save (DC 10 + class level + intelligence modifier) halves this damage.
Special: By expending 4 mana while activating this ability, the Shaper can increase the d6 damage die to a d8.

Flaming Weapon [Su] : As a move action, the Shaper of Fire can spend 4 mana to gain an additional 1d6 damage on all melee damage rolls with the weapon that they are holding when the ability is activated.  This only works on one weapon, and if the Shaper is holding multiple weapons, the ability must be activated once for each weapon if so desired.  This also deals an additional 1d10 damage on a critical hit and lasts for two rounds per class level.

Fireward [Su] : As a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity, the Shaper of Fire can spend 2 mana each round to manifest a shield of fire.  This shield of fire surrounds the shaper by 5 feet on every side.  Anyone occupying these squares takes 2d6 points of fire damage each round they stay in the space.  This also provides the Shaper with fire and cold resistance equal to her class levels that come from outside the shield, but not from within (such as if the Shaper was standing in lava or was struck by a flaming weapon.)  This ability lasts as long as the Shaper wants to concentrate on it.  Concentrating on this ability is a full-round action.

Bolt of Fire [Su] : As a standard action, a Shaper of Fire can manifest a powerful bolt of energy by expending 8 mana.  This attack is a ranged touch attack that deals 1d4+1 points of fire damage per class level.  It has a range of 60 feet +10 per class level.

Fireball [Su] : As a full-round action, a Shaper of Fire can exspend 12 mana to use their Bolt of Fire at a range equal to its normal range that deals its damage in a 10-foot radius sphere.  A successful reflex save (DC 10 + class level + intelligence bonus) halves this amount.  This ability can be directed to focus on one person, requiring a ranged touch attack.  If the attack misses, the fireball lands somewhere appropriate, as determined by the DM.  If it succeeds, the target gets no save against the effect.

Greater Flaming Weapon [Su] : The damage dealt by the Shaper of Fire's Flaming Weapon now increases to 2d6 and the bonus damage on a critical increases to 2d10.

Fireblast [Su] : As a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity, the Shaper of Fire can expend 24 points of mana to manifest a powerful explosion.  This deals 5d6 points of fire damage plus 1d6 per class level in a 20-foot radius sphere centered on the Shaper.  The Shaper is immune to this damage.  A successful reflex save (DC 15 + class level + intelligence bonus) halves this damage.  All that fail their save must then make a fortitude save (same DC) or catch fire.  This can be negated with move action on the effected creature's next turn.

Burning Grasp [Su] : As a standard action, the Shaper of Fire may expend 24 mana to make a single melee touch attack.  If this touch attack succeeds, the targeted creature must make a fortitude save (DC 15 + class levels + intelligence bonus) or die.  Even if they succeed on their saving throw, they still take 1d6 points of fire damage per class level.

Vaporize [Su] : The Shaper of Fire may now opt to use a more powerful version of Fireblast.  This version deals an additional 5d6 points of damage and any who fail their reflex save must make the fortitude save or be reduced to nothing but ash.  The downside is that the Shaper of Fire is subject to this damage himself.[/ic] [/spoiler]

Thoughts?  Questions?  Comments?  Concerns?  Thanks in advance!

I'd say an interesting start, in part because it departs from the typical high fantasy setting we see.

My suggestion would be limit the number of races.  You probably don't need the full PHB list (assuming you need non-humans at all).

The world feels dark, and a little edgy.  Which is good, both for literature and for player interest.

I might suggest breaking up the post a little more.  Use of bold, ic/occ/note tags, and so forth can really make it easier to read your setting.

You start with a nice detailed history, which I think is usually best.

While I see there are plenty of zombies in the world, do you call it ZS because you expect the players to play a campaign of zombie slaying?  Can you keep that interesting in the long run?

Good luck with the world, and welcome back to the guild.

Giving it bolds was my next step, actually, once I realized that it didn't carry them over from the wordpad that I wrote it in.  Silly me, I should've remembered that.

Other than that, well, ZS is the name of the story which I started writing in the world.  I'm not sure exactly what to call the setting as a whole.  The ZS will be under the Organizations section once I work it out.

As for keeping it interesting, well, I've got some fairly interesting creature designs and concepts that will keep the players challeneged, and holding their interest isn't the job of the zombies, its the job of those that are in charge.  

The way that I worked the ZS setting was one whose action revolved mostly around the slaying of, well, zombies, and whose plots ran deep with conspiracies rather than outright villainy.  That said, interesting non-zombie villains are still plentiful.  There's always counterheroes available, many of which I try to make as flavorful as possible.

As far as races go, I've got a decent number of my own races that populate the world (though none can even come close to touching the monolith that is the human race where sheer numbers are concerned.)

Updated the main section to include the information on the planes of ZS.  I'm working on the races right now, so they should be up fairly soon.

This setting looks really  cool! I like the over all tone of the setting, as well as the "pseudo-modern" feel the mega-corps give the whole thing.
[spoiler=Istaraq]
Istaraq

The first truely powerful nation to rise to power was known as Istaraq. Little is known about the time before Istaraq, only that it was chaotic and untammed. The nation itself rose to power thanks to the empress of a powerful empire of tribes that resided in the Grey Crater. The capitol became known as Istara, named after this empress.
Following Empress Istara's death, the Grand Tribunal was formed. This was a group of the religious leaders from each of the tribes, and would rule over the empire. Istaraq flourished, building great monuments to their faith and power, and expanding into many different territories. These territories were each given a name.
The central territory was always referred to as Central Istaraq, or the Middle Kingdom, which was the original land owned by the Empress Istara, the Grey Crater. The easternmost territory, which bordered the great and forbidden jungles of Velnar was named Velnarius, the territorial capitol being of the same name as the region. West of Velnarius and bordering the Sea of Gravos was Corvix, ruled over in the city of Gartha. The land of the Western Waves was known as Lindus, and it stretched very far south, ruled over from the southernmost city in Istaraq, Ron-Rosa. South of Corvix and creating the border between the Corvix and the Grey Crater is a huge mountain range with an extreme amount of volcanic activity. This is where it derrived its name from, the Ashen Mountains. There were no cities built in the Ashen Mountains, only the routes that were the safest and fastest paths through the crags. South of the Grey Crater was a vast and beautiful desert known as the Southern Sands. This desert also had no permanent cities, and were populated by nomadic tribes. These peoples were allowed to govern themselves.
Another ancient race of peoples known as the Anarri visited the Empress Istara with a prophecy held by their peoples that seemed to relate to the empire that the young empress was forming in her legacy. This prophecy read: "When the height of the lady's empire reaches its tallest peak, the forbidden door shall be opened, and the empire will fall."
Cryptic as it was, the prophecy was held in high regard; the Anarri had always proven right with their technological and mystical might.
Many years passed, and the empire did nothing but flourish. They began to develop technology and basic understanding of the sciences on their own, without the Anarri's help. This, however, lead to dissention among the people. There were some that wanted to throw off the shawl of religion and work full-force on the sciences, whereas others wished to continue with their way of life and live in peace with nature.
This dissention eventually lead to the nation of Istaraq being divided into two seperate kingdoms. The capitol and the immediately surrounding areas became known as the Middle Kingom, and focused on the development and research of science and technology. The lands beyond the Ashen Mountains, that is, Velnarius, Corvix, Lindus, and the Southern Sands became known as the Outer Kingdom, and were ruled over in Gartha by the Tribunal. The Middle Kingdom was ruled over in Istara by a Prime Magistrate.
With the differences put aside, the two kingdoms of Istaraq continued to flourish until a Middle Kingdom excavation team hired by a priest of the Outer Kingdom uncovered something. A large piece of metal that seemed to be born into the rock that surrounded it deep underground. It did not take long for this insane priest to open this seal, and those known as the Forbidden Ones swarmed out of the now-open gate to madness. These creatures seemed to have the basis of life, but had no true form, no real shape. Monstrous beings with tentacles, horns, spikes, mouths, and the like where there should be none.
A great war began. No one is quite sure what happened during this war, but it was the cause of the downfall of Istaraq. In a great catastrophe, Istaraq fell, and nearly all its people were killed. Since the cities had been taken, retaken, and taken again before the war's end, they were rebuilt many times. Thanks to the shifting sands, they were oftentimes built on top of the ruins of the old. The top few floors of an old building would become the bottom of another, several buildings would be connected by the basement of a single building. All of this culminated in the creation of a large, three-dimensional maze buired deep underground and just beneath the sands. The only place of Istaraq that is still populated today is Istad, the City of Plagues, and it is impovirshed and destitute.

I'll handle this as one lump, as the details don't really need to be fleshed out too much. Very well written and well thought out, over all, I only had two problems... 1) What are the Anarri? You say that they're an ancient race, but that doesn't really do anything for me; 2) Which country currently owns Istad?

[/spoiler]

[spoiler= The Rise and Fall of the Kasidan Empire]

After the fall of Istaraq, the world became much more dangerous place. Creatures that had been created or set loose by Istaraq now roamed free, and there was little safety from town to town. But in the north, things were not the same way, and five nations of power arose. Rejhuta, Keutonia, Gotera, Olors, and Heldonia. These nations were oftentimes the great safe havens for refugees fleeing from Istad or the lands surrounding Istaraq.
But in the west, a new power was growing. In a fertile land known as the Valley of Pellin, a tribal leader named Sebrin Kasidan recieved a vision from a powerful being. This being told him to journey out into the wastes. Kasidan, against the best wishes of his people, followed the command given to him by this powerful creature.

Very Judeo-Christian imagery... Do you want this world to have a lot of analogues to Earth? If so, the pump it up; make Kasidan wander for 40 days and forty nights. Anagrams also work great for this! If you don't, then keep it pretty much as is, but have him wander into something a little more intimidating than the waste, also something a little more exotic  would be nice, like a crystal cavern or something.

Nearly dead in the wastes, Kasidan was finally rescued by this being. Introducing himself as Greavon the Creator, and in that aspect, was God. He told Kasidan to raise the tribes of Pellin together, and while the five nations of the east were warring with one another, to topple them all and create a unified -both in land and religion- empire in the name of God.

It seems you're really pushing the Judeo-Christian Imagery even more. See the above comment.

Kasidan did just that, and did so with brutal efficiency.
Somewhere during the course of the campaign, Kasidan suddenly stopped recieving images from his God. While the gears of war were already turning to fast to be stopped by that, Kasidan took it as a note to realize his own mortality. He sought out people that lived in Istad known as the Forsaken Ones. These creatures were a forbidden and taboo topic among his people, but he knew that they somehow possessed the ability to live forever young. Making a deal with them (to not purge their exsistance in return for their service) they made him one of them. Now posessing an imortal body, Kasidan continued his campaign.

Alexander the Great meets Jesus of Nazareth. Interesting.

It did not take Kasidan long to unite all the known world under his banner, and he became known as Emperor Kasidan, or the Emperor Immortal has he was often called by his followers. He forged the Kasidan Church from the fires of war, and named the city Ildan on a far-off island of the same name as the capitol of religion in his empire.
Istad was also added into the fold, and while the Emperor had struck a deal with them, now that he had what he wanted, he refused to hold up his end of the bargain with the Forsaken Ones. He attempted to destroy them, but a new leader of the Forsaken Ones began to incite the fears and troubles of all of the Empire against the opressive government. Nothing was done about this for a long while, except that the government began to reinforce its image as to why the people needed it.

Are the Forsaken Ones Anarri? Again, what are they? They seem to be built to be a perpetual threat to society, almost vampire-like in some senses.

In a land of nigh-infinite beauty known as the Forbidden Fields lived a group of total pacifist Anarri known as the Felille. The Kasidan called these Felille heretics and hethens, betrayers of God. The people of the Empire united behind the military, and in one fell swoop, the Forbidden Fields were raped, burned, and pillaged. The Felille, being creatures of "nature's beauty made real" were captured as sexual slaves, both men and women. The Forbidden Fields became known as the Unforgiven Lands, and went from being the most beautiful lands on the planet, to a barren, toxic wasteland. There were Kasidan forts set up at every entrance, and anyone who entered these lands would be forever named an exile, and if they attempted to return, would be shot on sight.

So, are the Anarri this world's equivalent of the Fey? So much seems to hinge on these Anarri that it makes it difficult to understand precisely what's going on.

The Kasidan's people were incredibly opressed, and the military had basically free reign to do whatever they wished. Special branches and organizations were formed for different functions, such as the Shapers which controlled the elemental forces of the world, and the Reapers, which were deathly-efficient assassins. These special organizations were particularly bad about abusing their power, the Shapers most of all.

This needs more detail because it's so cool. It'd be a shame to leave this aspect untouched. What were some of the other organizations? Was the corruption all but universal or more in line with modern police forces?

It was around this time that the leader of the Forsaken Ones restarted his subtle campaign of uprising against the Empire. This eventually lead to open war with the Rebellion of the Crimson Scarf battling against the armies of the Kasidan. In the end, the Rebellion won out, but quickly disbanded after the Empire was defeated. The Forsaken Ones claimed the lands surrounding the Kasidan as their own and left the normal humans to set things up themselves.

What? Where did the Forsaken Ones get the forces to do that? I was under the impression that there were only a few hundered at any one point, about the size of a village. Also, why did they stop at the periphery? Couldn't hold more or peace brokerage?
[/spoiler]

[spoiler=The Mega-Corporations]

A dark age then took the world. The five nations that had been around before the Kasidan Empire had been created reformed themselves with little trouble; they had been territories before and remained basically unchanged.
But for the rest of the world, the law and order put in place by the Kasidan Empire was invaluable, and once it was gone, total chaos erupted. The only place that remained untouched by this chaos as Ildan, as its island would make a hard place to assault indeed, and the Church severed ties with the government of the Empire shortly before its fall. But the High Pope had been sheduled to meet with the Emperor shortly before the capitol of Asfel was taken, but he had already vanished. Seeing an opportunity, the Church raided the coffers of the Empire before the armies of rebel humans and Forsaken Ones could get to it. During this new time of chaos, the Church was the wealthiest and most powerful force on the planet.

This helps to explain what was going on during the rebellion a little. But still, with all the killer organizations around, I'd imagine that  they could take down the ring-leaders with their magic and tech fairly easily. If you're using the example of Iraq, you should mention something about gross strategic incompetence, otherwise it doesn't make sense.

Renegade warlord armies clashed and battled one another to the bitter end, but there was no end in sight for this chaos. In a vain hope to establish some order, a group of young entrepreneurs gathered together and decided to visit the "high races" of the world, the ones that refused to stain their hands in human affairs, to study technology.

Who are the "high races"? Are they the Anarri?

Some of these entrepreneurs died. Some of them had little to no success. But a few of them made off incredibly well, and returned to the dark world with knowledge of technology. With no way to fund their operations, they met with Kasidan Church officials, and pleaded with them for money. The Church found these knew technologies a threat to their rule, however, but decided to grant these technological wizards with the money they required.

You've a typo: "knew technologies". Why did the church fund something that threatened them?

Thanks to the founding of the corporations, the dark ages were finished quickly. The destitute people of the world began to realize that the bandit kings, warlords, and armies that sided with these corporations always won out in the end, and several new nations were formed. These new nations became the most powerful forces in the world incredibly quickly, and were divided into two groups: the Mighty West and the Eastern Strip.
But there came a time when these undoubtedly powerful technologies would be developed into weapons. With that said, the time came when a nation would want to use those weapons. The nation of Pellin, whose armies were large despite the nation's small size, attacked the nation of Chaadia in a fast blitz that caught the communist nation off guard. Pellin made their way through Chaadia and attacked Ertana, conquering nearly half of the northern nation before their offensive was halted.
Now given time to recover, Ertana and the refugees from Chaadia formed a counter-offensive aided by the Dalnadian military. The conflict was long and bloody, but the triumvrate of powerful nations took back all of Ertana and Chaadia. Ertana and Dalnadia declared the war over, but Chaadia did not agree. Now that they had their production facilities and factories back, the communism reforged itself an unstoppable army. Dalnadian officials spoke out against this, but Ertana defended their eastern neighbor, saying that it was their business. The Chaadic army attacked the small nation of Pellin from all sides and crushed their now-meager defenses, taking the land for their own.
As a sign of gratitude for their help, Chaadia constructed two massive airships for Ertana, the Dreadnought and the Juggernought. They gave no thanks to Dalnadia; the two were longtime rivals and Chaadia did not take lightly to Dalnadia's support of Pellin in the communism's revenge.

This block is very reminiscent of the Cold War. Again, is this campaign setting a real-world analog?
[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Modern-Day Idis]

Nearly fifty years after the first Conquesta, the modern world of Idis has advanced greatly in technology, and the lives of those living in the major cities of the world is, overall, very good. Outside of the cities, however, there is little care or assistance from the respective governments. This modern age is an age of corruption and iron-fisted tyranny.

What was the "First Conquesta"? Is this the Cold-War-esque period?

In central Dalnadia, seeming to have spread from a high-mountain village known as Mount Dice, a virus has begun to spread. This virus creates seemingly dead monsters and beasts out of its living hosts, turning them into mindless, hunger-filled zombies. With a war currently going on between Olors and Rejhuta, and with Dalnadia's military tied up tending to its resources and interests in the region, the government has decided to mostly turn a blind eye to the events unfolding in its own territories.
Meanwhile, the Kasidan Church has begun a series of inquisitions on non-Kasidan believers, regardless of these "heretics" intentions. Some of them, like the Cult of the Grass Thrasher, want nothing other than to live out peaceful lives. Others, like the Church of the Triad, really do mean harm against all the peoples of Idis, and the only reason that the Kasidan is not stopped is because the people of Idis understand that they would rather have a lack of terrorists at the cost of innocent lives than possibly be harmed themselves.

"Hunger-filled zombies" would gorge themselves on fruit stands, farms and other food producing institutions, so I can see how they'd be a nuscence.  I'm sure that you ment for these to be man-eating zombies, but it would be rather refreshing to see zombies attacking fruitstands for the fruits rather than the vendor.
[/spoiler]

Over all, it's a great start! I'll be watching this for more!

On Istaraq and the Anarii- added some information about the Anarii (sorry, I spelled it wrong in my above info, its two "i"s not two "r"s, I fixed that, too) and added information about Istad's current situation.

On an overall note, yes.  This is basically an anagram of Earth.  That said,...

Kasidan wandering for 40 days/nights, eh?  I would like to go with a bit more earth-like influences, but most of the other influences are more subtle.  However, some glaring similarities might not be too bad.  I'll have to think on it.

The Felille/Anarii will make more sense once I get my races section up here, and for the most part I wanted the details on the situation to be somewhat vague.  Once the races thing gets up here, it will make boatloads more sense.

More information on the orders?  My pleasure.

Also, on the extent of the Forsaken Ones and their forces, I shall explain in greater detail with an update.

(I also realized that I absolutely under any circumstances use the phrase Forsaken Ones as those that helped Kasidan.  That term is reserved for far scarrier things.)

Okay, I'm going to update things now.  Voila, thanks for the help a lot, Endless_Helix!

Okay, another update.  I added a totally new section to the World and History part which fits between the Megas and Modern Day.

I also added a race section.  No crunch yet, and it only includes a couple sentences on Humans before going on to explain Anarii and Vampire culture.  Hope you enjoy.

Alrighty, added a quick class under the new section of Advanced Classes.  There's no fluff on that one, only crunch, and its not all finished yet.  (No prerequirements, reputation bonus, or class skills as of yet.)  Not really looking for reviews of the class (though they're certainly helpful on the idea of over/underpowered) just wanted to toss that out there.

This is sort of what Rifts perhaps could have been--it's a lot more focused and intense and yet it is not entirely bleak. I'm interested in seeing what further classes you come up with. What's interesting is that it is entirely an alternate reality and yet one that is recognizeable in a way. Modern day Idis seems like an interesting place to explore and a place of adventurous opportunity.

I'm guessing you're using d20 Modern for the ruleset.  I don't really know what the over all powerlevel in that system, so I can't really help you balance the class. Aside from that, it looks pretty good. If I recall correctly though, the AC bonus move slower than that for the advanced "mage" classes

Okay, sorry for the long reply.

Yes, d20 Modern is the ruleset, but I'm not using most of the stuff in that system in favor for something that has the d20 modern feel but is a bit more mechanically like DnD.  The Shaper presented above (and all other Shapers, really, and there's A LOT of them) is kind of my version of the Warlock, though the primary damage values are going to be changed from 1d6/level to 2d6+1d6/2 levels, so that its weaker overall.  For the record, both the defense and reputation bonuses are equal to that of the Mage AvC from d20 Modern, but I haven't bothered with Rep yet because it annoys me.

Also added a new section, explaining how the afterlife works and the creatures that surround it.  Monsters and creatures should be coming next, hopefully, but that's quite the undertaking.

And, as usual, still not much mechanical.  I'm trying to get everything fluff-wise hammered out before I delve too deeply into the cogs.

*dusts off thread*

Been a while, eh?

Should have more information coming soon, I've been in a bit of a slump lately.