The Campaign Builder's Guild

The world of Varerose lies in the headwaters of the Rose River.
Varerose is a single, vaguely diamond shaped continent.  To the north of Varerose is the Rose Heaven.  To the south of Varerose are first the Fey Archipelago, which fade into the Cheyja Mists.  To the east and west of Varerose are the Still Seas and the crystal isles of Crimson (east) and Gold (west).
Varerose floats on the faintly pink, scented waters of the Rose River, anchored to the Stoneworld by 1,000 chains of Dream Ivory.

Cosmology
The Still Seas: A timeless expanse of water, infinitely deep and wide.    It is always night over the Still Seas.  Nothing dwells in the Still Seas, as anything that is submerged in its waters is frozen outside time.
Blanketing the Still Seas is the Cheyja Mists.

The Cheyja Mists: A hellish realm whose influence in other realms is represented by a thick, seething mist.
Inside the Cheyja Mists is a realm of burning ice and demented abominations.  Think the Far Realms or the Void Beyond.

The Rose River: The Rose River is a supernatural current of faintly pink, rose scented water that runs through the Still Seas.  Over the Rose River, the Cheyja Mists are driven back.  The Rose River has its headwaters in the Rose Heaven, and eventually dissipates into the Still Seas.
The Rose River is home to all manner of sea Dragons and Fey.

The Fey Archipelago The Fey Archipelago is a series of small islands south of Varerose.  The Archipelago runs from the very southern most tip of Varerose all the way to the boundary between the Still Seas and the Rose River.
The islands of the Archipelago are vary between burning wastelands dotted by Elf citadels and frozen glaciers with Elf courts cut into the living ice.
The Archipelago is inhabited primarily by Elves, while the waters around the Archipelago are home to Demons.

The Crystal Isle:  Lying at the extreme edge of the Rose River, the Isles of Crimson and the Isles of Gold are forests of crimson and gold crystal spires that jut from the waters of the Rose River and the Still Sea.  The ebbing and flowing of the Rose River means that the Isles shift in and out of the River in a predictable 26 hour cycle.  While the Isles are in the Rose River, they emit a brilliant glow that lights up the world of Varerose.  The Gold Isle produces a golden glow, while the Crimsion Isle produces a crimson glow.  When all the spires of each Isle are in the Rose River, the light they create is comparable to that of the noonday sun.  The light dims and grows as more crystals are in either the Still Seas or the Rose River.
Dreams inhabit the Gold Isles, while Nightmares dwell on the Crimson Isles.

The Stoneworld: The Stoneworld is a massive stone egg with a shell of obsidian and jade.  Within the shell is a realm of packed soil, rock and ore.  Rare natural tunnels and caverns dot this realm, as do the prisons of fallen gods and lost magics.  The upper reaches of the Stoneworld are ruled by the Dirt Kings, while the lower reaches are nearly uninhabited.  The Stoneworld is submerged in the Rose River.  Its eastern and western edges extend into the Still Sea, anchoring it in place.

Varerose: The prime material realm.

The Rose Heaven:  The Rose Heaven lies north of Varerose.  It is a vast, windy desert, girded by massive spires of jagged, broken rock.  At the center of the desert is the Divine Palace, a hundred tiered seven sided ziggurat.  Seven rivers run through the desert, each eventually becoming one of the headwaters of the Rose River.

Races of the Rosewater Kingdoms[/b]

Humans: The dominant race of Varerose.  Divided between the Fated descendants of the Prophet Kingdom and the Unfated descendants of the nomads of the Secented Deserts.

Dwarves: Short, stocky humaniods who rule the Hyjalew mountains.  Masters of arcane magic.

Islekin: A catch all term for a myraid a species who trace their ancestory to the Dreams and Nightmares of the Crystal Isles.

Varerose Termanology
Elf: Devils/Baatezu and Yugoloths.  Live on the Fey Archipelago.
Demon: Demons/Tanar'ri with the aquatic subtype.

Dwarves

Dwarves are the lords of the Hyjalew (Hu-yal-oo) mountains.  They have long been an isolationist power in the world, although during the time of the 2nd Prophet King's reign they bowed to human rule.  Dwarves are a Fated race.

Personality: Dwarves are very aware of their Fated nature, and it colors every aspect of their lives.  Because of this, Dwarves are highly confident, sometimes to the point of being foolhardy.  Most Dwarves are highly extroverted, and a Dwarf that has been on its own for too long will quickly fall into depression and lethargy.
Prophecy never predicts the emergence of a hermaphrodite, instead predicting a male or female gender.  Because of this young hermaphrodites can often be confused and unsure of themselves, as they have had their worldview utterly destroyed.
Older hermaphrodites are often the exact opposite, possessing supreme confidence and zest for life.  A mature hermaphrodite usually pursues spontaneity and creativity.
Male Dwarves are often attracted to arcane magic, female Dwarves to divine magic, and hermaphrodites have an affinity for the powers of the mind.

Physical Description: Male dwarves average around 4' 2'' and weigh around 220 pounds.  Females average 6' 8'' and weigh around 410 pounds.  Both genders tend towards muscular builds.
Most dwarves have bronze or grey skin, and often sport extensive tattoos with a heavy rose and blade motif.  Male Dwarves are completely hairless, while female Dwarves have long, luxuriant black hair.
Within the confines of their cities, Dwarves wear little to nothing.  Outside of their cities, Dwarves favor heavy, grey clothing to ward against the cold of their chosen home.  In warmer lands, they will revert to nudity if given the chance.
One in every six Dwarves is a hermaphrodite.  Hermaphrodite Dwarves take after females in stature and weight, but lack hair.  
Dwarves are born asexual, and only develop gender after their second decade.

Culture: Dwarves embrace their Fated nature.  Prophets are respected above all others.  A Dwarf's future spouse, job, and role in society are all determined before the Dwarf is even born.  
The exception to this are hermaphrodite dwarves, who are Unfated by their very nature.  Since a Dwarf only develops gender in their second decade, most hermaphrodites have already spent a fair amount of time as a Fated being, so the emergence of a hermaphrodite is viewed as a mixed blessing  .On the positive side, hermaphrodites are inspired and the greatest cultural works of the Dwarves were made by these Dwarves.  On the negative side, the emergence of a hermaphrodite throws a wrench into at least two decades of careful planning.
Ultimately, hermaphrodites are encouraged to spend a few decades away from the city of their birth so they can find their place in the world and allow the city to recover from any of the upsets caused by the emergence.

Relations: Dwarves are highly isolationist.  They deal with the eight kingdoms by necessity, but prefer to be left to their own devices.

Alignment: Male and Female Dwarves tend towards order and neutrality.  Most hermaphrodites, with their spontaneous personalities, gravitate towards chaos and good.

Dwarf Lands: The Dwarves rule the Hyjalew mountains.  Dwarf cities are verdant paradises nestled in the icy peaks and vales of the mountains.  A few Dwarf settlements can be found at the warm base of the mountains.

Religion: The Dwarves worship the Thousand Peaks, a pantheon of nature spirits that hold dominion over the mountains.  Often, one of the lesser Thousand Peaks will leave the Rose Heaven to take up residence in a Dwarf city.

Language: Dwarves speak Dwarvish and Aesufel(Dwarvish).  Dwarves from the lowland cities often speak Aesufel(Vordish) as well.

Names: Dwarvish names are assigned before a Dwarf is born.  Hermaphrodite Dwarves usually have a male or female name, but a few invent new names for themselves, often out of a fusion of a male and female name.  Dwarves have a clan name and a family name.  Since marriages are arranged before a Dwarf is born, Dwarves use their family names their whole lives.
Male Dwarf names: Ahujuk, Bujuk, Hajuk, Induk, Tanuk, Wanuk Zaluk
Female Dwarf names: Ashaes, Celaes, Desaes, Durnaes, Valaes, Zinaes
Family Names: Bjorul, Dzainul, Gnavul, Tzunul

Adventurers: Almost all Dwarf adventurers are hermaphrodites, who are encouraged to spend at least a few decades away from the city of their birth before returning.  As such, Dwarven adventurers are usually on journeys of self discovery.

Dwarf Male Racial Traits
-Humanoid (Fated): As humanoids with the Fated subtype, Dwarf Males are subject to spells that affect humanoids.
- Dwarf Male base speed 20 ft.
- Medium Sized: Dwarf Males have no special advantages or disadvantages due to size.
- -2 dex, +2 int, +2 cha: Dwarf males have great intellect and force of personality, however their bodies are not very flexible and they tend to have poor coordination.
- +2 Luck bonus to two skills: Dwarf Males are Fated beings, and as such, their endeavors are bolstered by the threads of Fate.  Furthermore, Dwarves are trained from birth to excel at their prophesized skills.
- +4 racial bonus to saves against poison and disease.  Dwarven males are a hardy folk.
- +2 competence bonus to spellcraft and knowledge(arcana).  These skills are always class skills for a Male Dwarf.
- Stability: Male Dwarves have a +4 racial bonus to bull rush and overrun checks.
- Favored class: wizard or sorcerer.  Male Dwarves have a predisposition to arcane magic.

Dwarf Female Racial Traits
-Humanoid (Fated): As humanoids with the Fated subtype, Dwarf females are subject to spells that affect humanoids.
- Dwarf Female base speed 30 ft.
- Medium Sized: Dwarf Females have no special advantages or disadvantages due to size.
- +2 str, -2 dex, +2 wis: Dwarf females are powerfully built and are attuned to the whisper of prophesy.  However, they are not particularly agile.
- +2 Luck bonus to two skills: Dwarf Female are Fated beings, and as such, their endeavors are bolstered by the threads of Fate.  Furthermore, Dwarves are trained from birth to excel at their prophesized skills.
- +4 racial bonus to saves against mind-affecting effects.  Female Dwarves are difficult to fool or manipulate.
- +2 competence bonus to spellcraft and knowledge(religion).  These skills are always class skills for a Female Dwarf.
- Powerful Build: Female Dwarves are treated as large sized whenever it is advantages for them.
- Favored class: Cleric or Druid.  Female Dwarves have a predisposition towards divine magic.

Dwarf Hermaphrodite Racial Traits
-Humanoid (Unfated) As humanoids with the Unfated subtype, Dwarf hermaphrodites are subject to spells that affect humanoids.
- Dwarf hermaphrodite base speed 30 ft.
- Medium Sized: Dwarf hermaphrodite have no special advantages or disadvantages due to size.
- +2 str, -2 dex, +2 Int: Dwarf hermaphrodites are powerfully built and intelligent.  However, they are not particularly agile.
- +2 competence bonus to one skill: Dwarf hermaphrodites were trained extensively in the skills they were fated to posses before their emergence.
- +2 racial bonus to saves against mind-affecting effects.  Dwarf Hermaphrodites are free spirits to the end.
- +2 competence bonus to perform, psicraft and knowledge(psionics).  These skills are always class skills for a Hermaphrodite Dwarf.
- Powerful Build: Hermaphrodite Dwarves are treated as large sized whenever it is advantages for them.
- Favored class: Psion or Erudite.  Hermaphodite Dwarves have a predisposition towards Psionic power.

Humans

Humans are the dominant people of Varerose.  Fated and Unfated populate the cities of the eight kingdoms in equal number.

Personality: Humans are a diverse people.  Fated humans tend to be self assured and confidant, while Unfated tend more towards being free spirited.

Physical Description: Humans are a varied race.  Each of the eight nations produces its own variant.
One constant exists in human appearances.  Fated humans posses light colored eyes, including blue, bright green and grey.  Unfated humans posses dark eyes, including brown, black and dark green.

Relations: Human relations vary from nation to nation and city to city.

Alignment: Fated humans lean towards law, and Unfated humans lean towards chaos.  Other than that, there are no real trends.

Human Lands: Humans populate most of Varerose, especially in the south.  The Forest of Mandagas is the only place their influence does not spread to.

Religion: Humans follow a variety of faiths, but many pay homage to the Rose.

Language: Humans primarily speak the many dialects of Aesufel and Tribal.

Names: Varied.

Adventurers: Humans are adventuresome by nature.

Fated Human Racial Traits
-Humanoid (Fated): As humanoids with the Fated subtype, Fated Humans are subject to spells that affect humanoids.
- Fated Human base speed 30 ft.
- Medium Sized: Fated Humans have no special advantages or disadvantages due to size.
- +2 Luck bonus to one skill.  As Fated beings, Fate guides Fated Humans in their endeavors.
- Bonus feat at first level.  Humans are adaptable creatures.
- Favored Class: Any

Unfated Human Racial Traits
-Humanoid (Unfated): As humanoids with the Unfated subtype, Unfated Humans are subject to spells that affect humanoids.
- Unfated Human base speed 30 ft.
- Medium Sized: Unfated Humans have no special advantages or disadvantages due to size.
- +4 skill points a 1st level and +1 skill point at each level after that.
- Bonus feat at first level.  Humans are adaptable creatures.
- Favored Class: Any

Islekin

Islekin are the descendants of Dreams and Nightmares from the Crystal Isles.  They are a strange and varied breed, not quite of the world.
All Islekin are Unfated, and their actions have many times upset the threads of prophesy.

Personality: Islekin are strange to a waking mind.  They think with dream logic, seeing signs and portents that are not part of the weave of prophecy.  Islekin often seem to be dreamy and only half awake.  However, one should not believe them to be unawares.  
Children of Nightmare tend to be cruel, delighting in fear above all else.  Children of Dream tend to be passionate and sensual in the extreme.

Physical Description: Islekin tend towards exaggerated humanoid forms.  Some are 7 feet tall and thin as a rail, other child sized, still others exactly like humans only with distorted features.
Children of Nightmare have crimson skin and bestial features, often including fangs and claws.
Children of Dream have golden skin and strangely blurry features which change from viewer to viewer.

Relations: The Islekin have close relations with the eastern nations.  They have little dealings with the nations of the north and the south.  They have almost no contact whatsoever with Dwarves, and some Dwarves and Islekin regard the other race to be a myth.

Alignment: All Islekin tend towards chaos.  Children of Nightmare tend towards evil, while Children of Dream tend towards neutral.

Islekin Lands: The Islekin rule the Forest of Mandagas and much of the Crimson Spine.

Religion: The Islekin practice ancestor worship.  Some worship the Tree Kings, a druidic pantheon from ancient the time of the 2nd Prophet King.

Languages: Islekin speak Dream or Nightmare, as well as most eastern dialects of Aesufel.

Adventurers: Islekin adventure for many reasons.  Some believe it is their destiny, other simply want to see the lowland world.  Some make pilgrimages to the crystal Isle.

Nightmare Child Racial Traits
-Aberration: As aberrations, Nightmare Children are immune to many effects that only affect humanoids.
- Nightmare Child base speed 20 ft.
- Small Sized: Nightmare Children are small creatures, with all the benefits and disadvantages therein.
- -2 str, +2 dex, +2 cha: Nightmare Children are quick and have forceful personalities.  However, their lithe frames are not very strong.
- +2 racial bonus to hide, move silently, listen and spot checks.  Nightmare Children have a preternatural awareness of their surroundings.
- Shadow Might: In areas of shadowy illumination, Nightmare Children are treated as Medium sized whenever beneficial.
- Favored Class: Rogue

Dream Lady Racial Traits
-Aberration: As aberrations, Dream Ladies are immune to many effects that only affect humanoids.
- Dream Lady base speed 30 ft.
- Medium Sized: Dream Ladies have no advantage or disadvantage due to size.
- -2 con, +2 wis, +2 cha: Dream Ladies are wise and have powerful personalities.  They are not, however, very sturdy.
- +2 racial bonus to +2 bluff, diplomacy, perform and sense motives checks.  Dream Ladies are skill at social interaction.
- Shadow Seduction: A Dream Lady' face is always subtly seductive to all who view it.  In areas of shadowy illumination, Dream Ladies gain a +2 bonus to all mind-affecting effects they create.
- Favored Class: Bard

<more to come>

Dirt King

The lords of the upper reaches of the Stoneworld.  They are the masters of digging.  There are no miners like the Dirt Kings.
An aggressively nonmagical people, Dirt Kings are as Unfated a species as can be.

Personality: Dirt Kings are pragmatic, level headed creatures.  While generally quite friendly, they can be quickly angered by the use of magic, especially on them or their tunnels.  Enchanting a Dirt King's works is considered to be highly impolite, and in extreme cases can be considered justification for bloodcurdling violence.
Dirt Kings love digging in all its forms.  Give one a good shovel and tell them to dig a drainage ditch or excavate a root cellar and they will be happy as can be.

Physical Description: Dirt Kings are small humanoids, rarely topping 4' 4'' tall.  They are powerfully built, though, with thick hides.  All in all, they best resemble anthropomorphic wombats.

Relations: Because Dirt Kings live in the Stoneworld and do not willingly use magic, their contact with the peoples of Varerose is limited.
Most Dirt Kings view Dwarves with contempt, and they have a distinct dislike of Fated beings of all kinds.  The peoples of the southern nations have the best relations with the Dirt Kings, primarily due to the presence of the Bridge.

Alignment: An orderly species, most Dirt Kings are lawful by nature.

Dirt King Lands: Dirt Kings are the undisputed rulers of the upper reaches of the Stoneworld.

Religion: Dirt Kings view gods as a nuisance comparable to foot fungus.  The thought of a Dirt King worshiping a god is laughable as the idea of one willingly wielding magic is.

Languages: Dirt Kings speak Earth.  Some Dirt Kings learn some of the southern Aesufel dialects.

Adventurers: Dirt King adventurers are rare.  Most Dirt King adventurers are those that find themselves transported to Varerose by some buried magic of the Stoneworld, and, as such, tend to be a bit irritated with the world around them.

Dirt King Racial Traits
- Humanoid.
- Small Sized: Dirt Kings are small creatures, and have all the advantages and disadvantages therein.
- Base speed 20 ft.  
- Dig speed of 5 ft.  A Dirt King can only tunnel through dirt, not solid rock.  A Dirt King leaves a tunnel large enough for a small creature behind itself.
- +4 str, +2 con, +2 wis.  Dirt Kings are very strong, hardy and level headed.
- +2 natural armor bonus: The thick hide of a Dirt King is resistant to damage.
- Powerful build: wherever advantageous, Dirt Kings are treated as medium-sized.
- Nonmagical: Dirt Kings have SR 10 + character level.  A Dirt King cannot lower this spell resistance.  A Dirt King must always try and save against a spell effect, even if it is harmless.
- +2 racial bonus to saves against magical effects.  Dirt Kings are hard to effect with magic.
- +2 racial bonus to saves against divine magic.  This stacks with their racial bonus to saves against magic in general.  Gods find it especially difficult to affect Dirt Kings.
- +2 racial bonus to saves against mind-affecting effects.  This stacks with a Dirt King's racial bonuses to saves against magic and divine magic.  Dirt Kings are aggressively level headed.
- +4 competence bonus to Profession (Mining) checks.  Dirt Kings are good at mining and tunneling.
- +4 competence bonus to Appraise and Craft checks regarding stone and metal.  Dirt Kings are good at working with metal and stone.
- Favored class: Expert.  Dirt Kings are more often Experts than Commoners.
- LA +1: Dirt Kings are more powerful than other races.

Varerose: Topographical


Varerose: Political


The pink is the Rose River.  
The dark blue is the Still Sea.
The darker areas of water are covered in Cheyja Mists.
Dark Green is rainforest.
Light Green is grasslands
Yellowish is highlands.
Red/Yellow is mountains.
Dark Blue/Green is marshland.

Climate varies based on elevation and distance inland.  The further inland and the higher up, the colder the climate.  Coastal regions are tropical, inland regions are temperate.  Mountainous regions are arctic.  (The Scented Marshes are temperate but pretty cold.  Think Maine.)

Scale: The continent of Varerose is half again the size of South America.  
The Stoneworld runs from southern most tip of Varerose to the southern most tip of the Rose Heaven, and from the Isle of Gold to the Isle of Crimson.

The Kingdom of Vord
Capitol: Miiringaurd
Population: 12,000,000 (Fated 60%, Unfated 38%, Dwarves 1%, Other 1%)
Exports: Beer, Cloth, Grain, Wool
Imports: Cotton, Magic Goods, Silk, Wine
Languages: Aesufel(Vordish), Aesufel(Belfar)
Currency: Mark (2 coppers), Strike (1 silver), Score (1 gold)

The Kingdom of Vord is the northernmost of the Southern Kingdoms.
The Vordish kingdom encompasses the grassy lowlands south of the Scented Marsh and extends into the highlands of the eastern coast.  Most of Vord is grassy farmlands dotted with small evergreen forests.  Close to the coast, land becomes rocky and rugged.
Most of the Vordish population are farmers, raising cattle and sheep and growing various grains.  Vordish wool is prized for its quality.  The Vordish also produce fine alcohol, and Vordish beer can be found throughout Varerose.
The Vordish themselves tend to be a reserved people.  Threatened as they are from the north by the inhabitants of the Scented Marsh and from the west by the inhabitants of the Rose River, they are necessarily suspicious.
Vords tend towards pale complexions and eyes, being primarily descended from the Prophet Kingdoms of Aesufel.  A clear majority of Vordish humans are Fated, and wandering prophets can usually be sure of a warm meal and a roof over their head in a town or at a farmstead.

Important Locations
Miiringaurd (700,000): Miiringaurd is the capitol of the Vordish Kingdom.  Located atop a hill overlooking the southern border of the Scented Marsh, Miiringaurd is a fortress city, the rallying point for the King's Legion.
Despite its military role in keeping the horrors of the marsh at bay, Miiringaurd is a bustling economic center.  People gather there to trade, secure in the knowledge that thieves and cutpurses will have to contend with Legionnaires rooting out all manner of hidden evils from the Marsh.  The ubiquitous Zones of Truth add yet another reason why the people of Vord come here to do business.
Nezaten (36,000): Nezaten is a small city located at the very tip of the southwestern branch of the Hyjalew Mountains, only a dozen miles from the Dwarven city of Ilnavaa.  Here, the Dwarves trade magical goods for coin, grain and beer.  It is, as such, one of the most important cities in the whole of Varerose.  The King's Legion keeps a close eye on the city, to protect against fraud and theft, as much as to protect the city from the denizens of the Scented Marshes.
The Thorn Court: Two days travel south of Miiningaurd lie the ruins of the ancient capitol of the Aesufel Empire.  A myriad of ghosts and other undead haunt the cities' ruined streets.  Illusions of past glory flicker over the towers and manors, occasionally giving the appearance of life to the skeletons and zombies that shamble through the streets recreating the daily life of the ancients.
Fort Nangir (20,000):  Located on the western coast, Fort Nangir ism Vord's first line of defense against the beasts of the Rose River.  The Fort is the home for the Dragonslayers, a force of 5,000 griffin riders armed with lances of thunder and lightning.  It is home to the Coast Legion and the Legion Arcana.
Commanding the fort are the twins, the Prophet General Durna and General Koyan.

Belfar
Capitol: Garhold
Population: 14,000,000 (80% Fated, 19% Unfated, 1% Other)
Exports: Mercinaries, Slaves
Imports: Magic Goods, Slaves, Weapons
Coinage: Common (4 coppers), Lord (2 silvers), King (1 gold)

The Kingdom of Belfar is the southernmost kingdom of Varerose.
In the west, Belfar is dominated by the Shadow Forests, and its northern territories are comprised mainly of highlands.  The southern regions of Varerose are primarily costal plains.
The people of Belfar are a harsh folk.  Although protected by the Rose Seal, they are still in dangerous proximity to the northern reaches of the Fey Archipelago, and Elvish incursions are a constant threat.  Because of this, Belfar produces many quality warriors.
Belfars are mostly Fated, with pale skin and eyes.

Important Locations
Garhold (300,000): Garhold lies in the northern highlands of Belfar.  It is part commercial and part mercenary outpost.
Hanthest (34,000): Hanthest is the home of the Belfar Dueling Academy, one of the premier martial academies in Varerose.  The city is devoted to the arts of war.
The Shadow Forest: Dominating the western quarter of Belfar, the Shadow Forest is a primeval forest of gold leafed, ebon trunked giants.  The forest is riddled with natural portholes to the Black Coast of the Rose Heaven.
The Rose Seal: Just south of the coast of Belar lies the Rose Seal, a line of massive spires of polished marble engraved with roses.  No Elf or Demon may pass the Seal, save by the invitation of an inhabitant of Varerose.
The Bridge (800): Near the middle of Belfar is the cavernous opening to the Bridge.  A massive column of living stone riddled with tunnles and passageways, the Bridge runs through the underwater regions of the Rose River below Varerose, connecting Varerose with the Stoneworld.  A small city of Dirt Kings dwell just beyond the opening of the Bridge.  These Dirt Kings excel at the creation of weapons, which they trade to the people of Belfar.

Airen
Capitol: Valizar
Populations: 4,000,000
Exports: Dain Crystal, Grain, Textiles
Imports: Slaves
Curency: Quarter-Crown (4 coppers), Crown (16 Coppers), Fivecrown (8 gold)

Arien encompasses of the eastern highlands of the south, and abuts the southeastern branch of the Hyjalew Mountains.  It is a rich kingdom, the land fertile, the forests full of game and the hills rich in ore.  More than anyting else, though, it is the only place in Varerose where Dain Crystals can be found.  These blue-black glowing crystals litter the foothills of the Hyjalew Mountains, the remnants of the fallen Dwarf city of Entasharak.
The people of Airen are the most laid back of the southern peoples.  They face minimal threats from the eastern coast, and the combination of the Hyjalew Mountains and the Crimson Spine serve to isolate them from the Crimson Isle.  Airens are mostly farmers, but some of the wonders of Zix have begun to show up in the cities.  Great looms have begun to churn out abundant textiles, which are sold throughout southern, western and northern Varerose.

Important Locations
Valizar (1,000,000): The sprawling city of Valizar is located on the slopes of the Hyjalew, just south of the ruins of Entasharak and just west of the Volnmaz pass.  Containing one fourth of the population of Airen, Valizar is a bustling hive of commerce and industry.  Recently, the city has become home to several Zixian Looms, and the promise of more Zixian artificery hangs in the air.
Mournhall (33,000): Mournhall is an oddity in the rolling landscape of Airen.  Unlike the wood and granite constructions favored by the Airens, Mournhall is built of the kiln baked Niav Stone used by Dwarves.  Instead of the straight lines that characterize Airen buildings, Mournhall is characterized by Dwarven domes and spires, all smooth curves.
Mournhall is the premier magic academy of Airen.  Here, the best mages are trained in the midst of Dwarven ruin.
Entasharak: The ruins of the fallen capitol of the Dwarven empire, Entasharak is wreathed in the flickering shadows of the Day of the Fateless.  The ancient Dwarves, frozen as Dain Crystal statues, litter the broken streets, many themselves broken and shattered.  Powerful ghosts haunt the ancient city, as do shadows and all manner of lesser incorporeal undead.
The Volnmaz Pass: East of Valizar lies the Volnmaz Pass, a great series of bridges and tunnels linking the mysterious kingdom of Zix to the rest of Varerose.  It is owned and guarded by the Volnmaz Trolls, who exact a hefty toll on those seeking passage.

Dashar
Capitol: Vadar
Population: 18,000,000 (48% Fated, 48% Unfated, 2% Dwarf, 2% Other)
Exports: Dasharan Paper, Dreamnectar, Dreamstones, Magical Objects, Silk, Slaves
Imports: Dain Crystal, Lumber, Worked Stone
Currency: Geldling (5 coppers), Geld (1 gold), Urgeld (10 gold)

Dashar is the southernmost of the western nations.  It is the gateway between the north and the south, and as such, is a cultural and economic nexus point
Dashar is made up mostly of lowland plains.  Numerous, regularly flooding rivers create some of the most fertile farmlands in Varerose.  The close proximity of the Isle of Gold makes the liquid Dreamnecater abundant.
Dashar is a highly urban kingdom.  The great cities are supported by the great slave operated farms owned by the wealthy and powerful of the land.  Dashar's citizens enjoys a high standard of living compared to the denizens of the north and the south.
Dashar is known for its unique architecture.  Walls of paper and lacquered wood are common throughout the nation, as are Irzurats, great pyramid palaces made of magically treated paper stretched over frames of lacquered wood.

Important Features
Vadar (1,200,000): Vadar, known as the City of Roads or the Paper City, is the grand nexus of all travel between north and south.  It is a bustling commercial and cultural center.  Almost anything that can be bought or sold can be found here.  Spectacles and public performances are commonplace occurrences, with daily displays of high magic, art and bloodshed.  
Some say that all roads lead to Vadar.
Girnaratana (7,000): The lowland Dwarven city of Girnaratana is one of the only places outside of Vord where the Dwarves have dealings with humans.  Girnaratana lies seven days east of Vadar, on the slopes of the Hyjalew.  Here they trade for Dreamstone and Dasharan Paper.
The Dreamglades: Scattered throughout Dashar are Dreamglades.  These rings of glowing bare stone are where Dreams alight when the Golden Isles fade into the Still Seas, before they begin their travels through Varerose.  They are invisible to mortal eyes except at twilight, when the Dreams fall to them.
They are an excellent source of Dreamnectar, as well as an excellent place for an enterprising Dreamhunter to lie in wait.



Notes: Dashar is a bit of a fusion of Roman and romanticized Japanese culture.

Zifar
Capital: Driniar
Population: 800,000 (80% Unfated, 19% Fated, 1% Other)
Exports: None
Imports: Grain
Currency: Arrow (1 copper), Bow (1 gold), Marksman (100 gold)

Zifar is the poorest of the western kingdoms.  It has little by the way of natural resources.  Its lands are unfertile and mostly wilderness.
Zifar is know by some as the Bandit Kingdom.  Generally worthless territory, its inhabitants often choose to augment any honest earnings they make with less savory pursuits.

Important Features
Driniar (100,000): Driniar is a relection of the nation itself.  It is a dangerous place, but all manner of goods illegal elsewhere are easily aquired here.

Manek
Capital: Fallengrad
Population: 7,000,000 (92% Unfated, 7% Fated, 1% Other)
Exports: Alchemal Components, Lumber
Imports: Dreamcrystals, Slaves
Currency: Dran (5 coppers), Bik (2 silvers), Korun (10 gold)

Manek, the northermost of the western kingdoms, is dominated by the Kingrose Forest.
Most of Manek is either highland or thick, lush, tropical rainforest.  It is almost entirely populated by the descendants of the nomads of the Scented Desert, and is therefor agressivly Unfated.  Prophets are not welcome.
Manek produces hardy people, both by its geography and by its history.  Maneks are often skilled foresters, capable of navigating in both the highland pines and the verdant Kingrose Forest.
Manek exports a great deal of timber and plants with alchemal properties.

Important Features
Fallengrad (600,000): Located just south of the Kingrose Forest, Fallengrad rises into the sky like a majestic spire of white and cream.  The foundations were laid by Dirt Kings, and Dwarves helped in the actual construction of the city.  The lower levels of the city bustle with commerce.  However, in times of danger, the city can close its massive gates, becoming a nearly impregnagble fortress.
Doain (100,000): Doain, also known as the Highland Fort, is Manek's first line of defence against agression from the north and south.  It exists in two places at once, once at Manek's northern border and once at its souther border.  The Highland fort garisons the kingdom's elite troops
The Kingrose Forest: The Kingrose forest is a lush, tropical rainforest, filled with exotic life.  It covers most of Manek, and in many ways defines the country.  There are rumors of a hidden Islekin settlement in the forest, but they have not been substantiated.

Volath
Capital: Dorazgrad
Population: 11,000,000 (78% Unfated, 18% Fated, 4% Other)
Exports: Slaves
Imports: Grain

The northernmost nation of Varerose.
Volath is primarily plains, although the northern reaches of the Kingrose forest extend into it.  Its proximity to the Rose Heaven has a profound effect on its people.
Although most Volaths are Unfated, Prophets are treated as prized interpreters of divine will.  Alone out of the nations of Varerose, Volath is not ruled by a king but by the Theocracy.  This has strained their relations with Manek, Zifar and Dashar, all of which are largly unfated.

Important Features
Dorazgrad (900,000): Dorazgrad is the heart of the Church of Volath, theocratic institution that worships all the gods of the Rose Heaven.  Dorazgrad is dominated by the Grand Cathedral, a seven faced temple that houses shrines to most of the better known dieties.
The Rosewall: The mirror of the Rose Seal in the south, the Rosewall prevents passage of mortals to the Rose Heaven.
The Gap: The foothills of the Hyjalew Mountains allow travel to the eastern half of Varerose.  However, it opens into the Forest of Mandagas, and as such it is little used by any but traveling Islekin.

Zix
Capital: Lanholt
Population: 21,000,000 (78% Unfated, 11% Islekin, 10% Fated, 1% Other)
Exports: None
Imports: Slaves

The Eastern Kingdom of Zix is the only human kingdom east of the Hyjalew Mountains.  It is almost entirely isolated from the rest of the world, connected to the west only by the Volnmaz Pass.
Zix is a rich land.  The soil is fertile and producing enough food to support the nation.  The slopes of the Hyjalew are rich in ore and stone.  The southern edges of the Mandagas provide lumber.  Perhapse the greatest resource of the twilight kingdom are the Nightmare Tears.
Zix, trapped as it is between the Hyjalew and the Crimsion Spine, exists in a state of permanent shadow.  At the brightest parts of the day it is shadowy as twilight, and as night falls it grow darker still.  The roads, towns and cities are illuminated by lanterns of magical and mechanical nature.  Zixians are known for their pale skins and dark eyes, a strange combination in the world of Varerose.
Zixians are the masters of strange artifices.  Their great looms easily supply all the nation's needs.  The iron refineries produce fine steel in mass quantities.  Their creation forges produce a myriad of mechanical devices, from clockwork toys to strange tools and weapons.

Important Sites
Lanholt (2,000,000): The majestic city of Lanholt towers into the twilight sky.  Its Nightmare Furnaces belch out great plumes of crimsion smoke, which glow in the light of the torches that illuminate the city.  Zixian factories and creation forges produce mechanical marvels the likes of which are seen nowhere else in the world.
Immerholt (500,000): Immerholt is the home of the Artificers' Guild.  Here, the Artificers of Zix devise new wonders.  Recently, the a new group calling itself Guild Arcana has come to Immerholt.  Made up of Dwarves and Islekin, the Guild Arcana seeks to produce a marriage of the Artificers' wonders and magic.  So far they have had limited success, but their creation of Nightmare Cages has spurred the interest of the Artificers and the King.
Nightmare Tears: When the Nightmare of the Crimson Isle come to Varerose, their landing creates rings of crimsion obsidian.  When the morning comes, these rings fade from existence.  Any water in the ring when it vanishes is transmuted into a crimsion crystals, called Nightmare Tears.  These crystals are the basis of Zixian Artifice, for when they are burned they release immense power, which is used to power Zixian factories and creation forges.  Powdered Nighmare Tears are used to power Zixian weaponry.
The Shadow Tide: In the gap between the Hyjalew and the Crimsion Spine the Rose River touches Zix.  Here, the waters of the Rose River are tainted by the blood of the Elves who invaded when the Rose Seal failed on the day of the Fateless.  From these tainted waters come a myriad of twisted beasts, which stalk the shadowy realm of Zix.  Zixian patrolls watch the water and try to hunt down the beasts from the Tide.  However, the abomminations of the Shadow Tide are dangerous in the extreme, possesing guile and spite equal to that found in the beasts of the Scented Marsh.


*Note:* Zix has steampunk levels of technology.  That includes firearms, trains, clockwork tanks and the like.

The Dwarven Territories
Capital: Girvekala
Population: 22,000,000 (99% Dwarf, 1% Other)
Exports: Magical Goods
Imports: Grain, Lumber, Textiles

The Dwarves rule the Hyjalew mountain range that divides Varerose roughly down the middle.  In the south it splits into two branches.  The eastern branch extends all the way to the Rose River, the western branch ending halfway to the coast.  Nestled in the fork of the mountains are the Scented Marshes, a fetid, sandy swamp suffused with the scent of roses.
Almost all Dwarves live in their great hidden cities at the peaks of the mountains.  Most Dwarven cities are located in the south western ranges, although two or three can be found in the northern reaches of the mountains.  Once, the eastern ranges were full of Dwarven cities.  However, in the Day of the Fateless, the eastern Dwarven cities were destroyed, along with the Netashik and the ancient capital of the Dwarven empire, Entasharak.
Dwarven cities are beautiful constructions.  Domes and fluted spires are the norm of a Dwarf city.  The bronze colored ceramics used by the Dwarves glow in the light of the Crystal Isle.  Thus, when seen from the east, a Dwarf city appears to glow with a hellish crimson light, and when seen from the west a Dwarf city seems to be crafted from solid gold.
All Dwarf cities are protected from the elements by powerful enchantments.  Other enchantments allow one to travel instantly from one city to another.  Still more enchantments provide the cities with water and waste disposal.

Important Feature
Girvekala (3,000,000): Located on the tallest peak of the western ranges of the Hyjalew, Girvekala is a massive city even by the standard of the Dwarves.  The enchantments wreathing the city are unimaginable in scope.  
Four of the Thousand Peaks dwell in Girvekala.  They are Imbril Ib Shalar the Insurmountable Cliffs (LG female Planatar), Duria Ib Azieziel the Eternal Ridge (LG female Planatar), Intil Ib Azieziel the Grand Crevas (LG female Solar) and Azieziel Ib Raziel the Peak of Peaks (DvR 2 NG hermphrodite Solar).  Rarely, Hyjalew (DvR 16 LG goddess) will send an avatar to oversee a particularly important event.  Also making the city his home is the bound Elf Dovarin of the Second Court of Shamishil (NE male Arcanaloth).
The most skilled mages and priests of Dwarfkind are trained here in the Chapel Arcane, instructed by Intil Ib Aziezel and Dovarian.  The Elf is bound by ancient magics to instruct the students of the Chapel Arcane in the Arcane arts, and his teaching is supervised by Imbril Ib Shalar, to prevent him spreading dark or evil magics.
Hanshanath (1,000,000): Known also as the Artisan City, Hanshanath produces the day to day tools of the Dwarven empire.  Less interested in magical crafts than the other cities, Hanshanath produces most of the items that will be enchanted elsewhere.  It is in Hanshanath that the Naiv Stone that Dwarves favor for construction is produced.  One of the Thousand Peaks makes Hanshanath its home, Cornumak Ib Azieziel (LG female solar).
The Scented Marsh: In ancient times it was the Scented Desert, a grand expanse of rose scented sand.  Then came the Day of the Fateless.  On that day, the enchantments wreathing many Dwarven cities, especially those in the eastern ranges, went mad.  The city of Netashik was utterly destroyed, and rushing from where it stood was a great waterfall.  The waters of Netashik fell upon the sands of the Scented Desert like a tidal wave.  Eventually, the waters settled down, becoming the Scented River.  The desert was permanently changed, however.  Now the marsh is filled with strange and terrible abbominations.

*Note* Most abberations in Varerose are from the Scented Marsh or the Shadow tide.

Islekin Territories
Capital: None
Population: 18,000,000 (99% Islekin, 1% Other)
Exports: None
Imports: None

The Islekin territories encompas the Crimsion Spine and the Forest of Mandagas.
These crimsion twilight regions are fey and wild.  The Islekin generally avoid creating cities, and, in fact, have no government or capital.  They dwell in a state of unconquerable anarchy.
The Forest of Mandagas is a dangerous place.  Many of the darker scions of Nightmare present a direct threat to those that travel, but even the most altruistic scions of Dream can be dangerous.  The unreality of Dreams fills the shadowed woods, as does the horror of Nightmare.
Only a fool travels the slopes of the Crimsion Spine.  It is here that the majority of the Greater Nightmares land as the Isle of Crimsion dims.  Only the most powerful scions of Nightmare dwell here, and they delight in the arts of their ancestors.

Important Features
The Forest of Mandagas: The Mandagas is a thick forest of twisted trees.  The climate here is without rhym or reason, and traveling by a few miles can take you from the sweltering heat of the coast to the freezing chill of the peaks of the Hyjalew.
Islekin call the forest home, and their small settlements can be found throughout it.
The Crimsion Spine: The Crimsion Spine dominates the eastern coast of Varerose.  Towering almost as tall as the Hyjalew, the Crimsion Spine blocks most of the light from the Isle of Crimsion.  In the day, the mountains are lit from behind of the eastern Isle, giving them an eerie crimsion glow.
The Crimsion Spine is the favored landing place of the Greater Nightmares, who alight there before begining their travels throughout Varerose.  As such, it is a dangerous place, and only the darkest of Nightmare spawn dare dwell on its slopes.

Classes[/size]
Barbarian: Barbarians are rare in Varerose.  Most come from Zifar or the Mandagas forest.
Bard: Bards do not exist in Varerose.  See Prophet.
Cleric: Cleric are found throughout Varerose.  The north is home to a greater percentage of clerics than any other region.  Most clerics worship all the gods of the Divine Palace.  Clerics that follows the gods of the Shadow Sands do so in secret.
Dwarven Clerics almost always revear the Thousand Peaks.
Druid: Most Druids are from Belfar, Manek or the Mandagas.
Fighter: Fighters can be found throughout Varerose.  Vord and Zix produce some of the greatest fighers in Varerose.
Monk: Almost all Monks are from Dashar or Volath.  Generally, monks are rare.
Paladin: Most Paladins are from Vord or Volath.  Zix produces some Paladins.
Ranger: Most Rangers hail from Vord, Manek or Zix.  See Zixian Ranger class varient.
Rogue: Rogues are common everywhere in Varerose.
Sorcerer: Almost all Sorcerers are Islekin.
Wizard: Wizards hail from most of the Eight Kingdoms.  Airen and Dashar have an abundance of them, as do the Dwarven Territories.  Wizards have traditionally been rare in Zix, as most individuals with magical talent are recruited into the Rangers.  However, the Guild Arcana has begun to increase the number of Wizards.

Prophet

 The weavings of Fate drift through the world of Varerose, influencing the universe.  Prophets are those that can sense its meanderings and influence them to an extent.  Prophets come from all walks of life, drawn to their calling by the very strands of Fate they weave.  Prophets serve as diplomats, foretellers and manipulators of Fate.
 Depending on the threads of Fate that a Prophet is drawn to a Prophet can be a benevolent force that weaves Fate to aid those in need, or a terrible destroyer who brings misfortune and woe to those that cross them.
 In addition to their ability to manipulate Fate, Prophets exhibit skill in divine magic.
Adventurers: Prophets often travel the land, going from town to town, city to city spreading their influence.  Some Prophets seek to adventure to integrate themselves with the greatest lines of Fate and thus gain greater influence with the world.  Some Prophets are just drawn to adventuring by the threads of Fate.
Characteristics: A Prophet weaves Fate to achieve their goals.  They can cast only a few spells a day, and favor spells that make use of Fate, such as curses and blessings.  
 The unique relation a Prophet has with Fate allows them to utilize a wide variety of skills with medium proficiency.  Prophets can rely on Fate to guide their weapons, and Fate to aid them in their endeavors.
Alignment: Prophets cannot be chaotic.  Otherwise, they can be of any alignment.  The nature of the forces a Prophet regularly works with are inherently opposed to chaos.
Religion: Prophets almost invariably worship the Rose, Uryanaka, Queen Baba Nefuten of the First Court of Nefuten or Viirisha the Spider King.  Those few Prophets who worship other Gods usually do so because they follow a thread of Fate entangled with that god.
Background: Prophets learn everything they need to know about their calling from the threads of Fate.  Rarely, a Prophet will be brought to a mentor who will train them in the finer arts of manipulating the threads of Fate.
Races: Prophets come only from Fated species.  Dwarves and humans from the south are the most likely to be Prophets.
Other Classes: A Prophet generally compliments most other classes well.  Prophets can be a great help to any Fated being.  Clerics often get on with Prophets the best, as gods are closely tied to the threads of Fate.
Role: Prophets generally fill a supporting role in a party.  As a jack of all trades (owing to their ability to manipulate Fate in their favor), a Prophet can fill almost any role they need to with a degree of competence.
Among Fated peoples, Prophets can make excellent diplomats, as they are generally revered among such people.

Game Rule Information
Prophets have the following game statistics.
Abilities: Wisdom and Charisma are the most important stats for a Prophet, as they determine how many spells they can cast per day and influence their ability to perceive and manipulate Fate.
Alignment: Any nonchaotic
Race: Any Fated
Hit Die: d6
BAB: 1/2 HD
Good Saves: Will
Spells Per Day: As Bard
Spells Known: As Bard

Class Skills
The Prophet's class skills (and the key ability for each) are Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Knowledge(Divine) (Int), Knowledge(Fate) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Prophet) (Wis), Sense Motives (Wis), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier


Level
1 Anull Fate, Augury, Fated Blows, Guardian Fate, Weave Fate, Weave Skill +/-1
2
3 Anull Fate 1/day
4
5 Weave Prowess +/-1, Weave Skill +/-2
6 Anull Fate 2/day, Weave Aegis +/-1
7
8
9 Anull Fate 3/day, Weave Skill +/-3, Weave Sorcery +/-1
10 Weave Luck +/-1, Weave Prowess +/-2
11
12 Anull Fate 4/day, Weave Aegis +/-2
13 Weave Skill +/-4
14
15 Anull Fate 5/day, Weave Prowess +/-3
16
17 Weave Skill +/-5
18 Anull Fate 6/day, Weave Aegis +/-3, Weave Sorcery +/-2
19
20 Weave Luck +/-2, Weave Prowess +/-4


Class Features
All the following are class features of a Prophet.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Prophet has peasant proficiency with all Peasant weapons.  A Prophet if proficient with light armor and shields.
Spells: A Prophet casts divine magic based on Wisdom.  A Prophet has the same spells per day and spells known as a Bard of the same level.
Augery: Prophets are capable of sensing the threads of Fate, and from this awareness they are capable of drawing knowledge of the past and future from these threads.  They may make a special Augury check with a bonus equal to their Prophet Level + their Wisdom modifier to see if they can learn anything about a person or event.  Making an Augury regarding a person takes 1 minute per HD of the target.  Auguries regarding events take 10 minutes to complete.
The information granted by an Augury is entirely up to the discretion of the DM.
A Prophet's relationship with the subject of their Augury effects the level of information that can be gathered.  The closer the connection between the Prophet and the subject, the more difficult it is to find information about them.


DC  Type of Knowledge:
15  Lesser information about a creature, such as the name of a person, the gender of an unborn child, the probable future occupation of an unborn child
    Or a likely immediate result of a simple action, such as what will be the immediate result of climbing a wall will likely be, or the immediate result of attacking a dragon will be.
    Generally, this is the most detail a Prophet can glean about someone they are closely connected to, such as fellow party members or close friends.
25  Basic information about a creature, such as the vague details about a person's personality or vague details about a significant detail of a person's future or past life (such as when they are likely to die, if they are likely to marry and who or other life altering events).
35  Greater information, same as basic information but it provides a greater degree of precision and more detail.

DC Modifiers
+20 Subject is Unfated
+15 Subject is closely associated with a Prophet
-5  Subject will have a great impact on the flow of Fate
-5  Subject is a Dwarf
+1  Each year into the future or past the Augury projects.


Fated Blows: A Prophet gains an insight bonus to attack rolls equal to 1/4 their HD, rounded down.
Guardian Fate: A Prophet gains a +2 insight bonus to Reflex saves.  At 3rd level and every two levels after that the bonus increases by 1.
Weave Fate: Prophets are capable of manipulating the threads of Fate to bring about their desires.  With a successful Fate Weaving check with a bonus equal to their Prophet level + their Cha modifier, a Prophet can lay a Fate Weave on a subject.  Using this ability take 3 rounds, and when used the Prophet may weave a number of Fates equal to 1/4 their Prophet level.  These Fates need not be of the same type or target the same subject.
The Prophet must be within 30 ft. of the subject and have a line of sight with the subject.  The DC to affect an Unfated with Weave Fate is increased by 10.
Weave Skill: DC 10+1/2 subject's HD.  The subject gains a +1 Luck bonus or a -1 penalty to one skill chosen by the Prophet.  At 5th level and every 4 levels after that the bonus or penalty increase by 1.  The bonus or penalty granted by this ability lasts for 1 hour.  A Prophet may weave this Fate once per day per two Prophets level they posses.
Weave Prowess: DC 15 + subject's HD.  At 5th level, a Prophet gains the ability to weave a Fate over another beings prowess at arms.  The subject gains a +1 Luck bonus or a -1 penalty to attack rolls.  For ever 5 levels after 5th the Prophet possess, the bonus or penalty increases by 1.  Bonuses and penalties from this Fate last for 5 rounds per level of the Prophet weaving it.  A Prophet may weave this fate once per day per 5 Prophet levels they posses.
Weave Aegis: DC 15 + subject's HD.  At 6th level, a Prophet gains the ability to weave a Fate about a creature's ability to ward off attacks.  The subject gains a +1 Luck bonus or a -1 penalty to Armor Class.  For every 6 Prophet levels after 6th the Prophet posses, the bonus or penalty increases by 1.  The bonuses of this Fate last 5 round per Prophet level.  A Prophet may weave this Fate once per day per 5 Prophet levels they posses.
Weave Sorcery: DC 20 + subject's HD.  At 9th level, a Prophet gains the ability to infuse a creature's spellcasting abilities with Fate.  The subject's caster level gain a +1 Luck bonus or a -1 penalty.  For every 9 Prophet levels after the 9th the Prophet posses the bonus or penalty increases by 1.  The bonus or penalty granted by this Fate lasts 5 round per Prophet level the Prophet posses.  A Prophet may weave this Fate once per day per 5 Prophet levels they posses.
Weave Luck:  DC 20 + subject's HD.  At 10th level, a Prophet gains the ability to weave Fate into the very fabric of a being.  The subject gains a +1 Luck bonus or a -1 penalty to all rolls they make while under the effects of this Fate.  For every 10 Prophet levels the Prophet posses beyond the 10, the bonus or penalty from this ability increases by 1.  The bonus or penalty from this ability lasts for 1 round per Prophet level the Prophet posses.  A Prophet may weave this Fate once per day per 6 Prophet levels they posses.
Anull Fate: At 3rd level, a Prophet learns to suppress the effects of Fate on an individual.  With standard action, a Prophet may choose to anull a creature's Fate.  The subject must be within 30 ft. of the Prophet and the Prophet must have a line of sight with the subject.  The subject may make a Will saving throw (DC 10+1/2 Prophet levels of the Prophet + Prophet's Cha modifier).  If they fail the saving throw, all Luck bonuses they posses are suppressed for 1 hour.
If the subject is under the effect of a Prophet's Weave Fate ability, the anulling Prophet must succeed at an opposed level check against the Prophet that wove the Fate (even if the Prophet that wove the Fate is not present).  If the anulling Prophet succeeds, then any Fates affecting the subject are removed.
A subject may forgo their saving throw if they wish.
A Prophet may use this ability once per day per three Prophet levels they posses.

Of Gods and Elves

In the north lies the Rose Heaven, and at its center is the great Divine Palace, a great zigguret of seven sides and one hundred layers.  Here dwell the gods of Varerose.  These gods are numerous, and many of their names are unknown to the mortals of Varerose.
Each layer of the Divine Palace is inhabited by gods of a certain power and their servants.  The closer to the apex one travels, the fewer and more powerful the gods that dwell there.  The final five tiers are reserved for the Rose and its servants.
The gods of the Divine Palace are the gods of good and neutrality.  Those gods of evil dwell on the coast of the Rose Heaven, in the region known as the Shadow Sands.  Here they dwell in dark palaces, warring with one another for territory.
Most dieties are angels with with a few divine ranks and a few holy followers.  Only a very few dieties, such as Hyjalew, Moordi Actum and, of course, the Rose hold the sort of power normally associated with gods.

Not all gods choose to dwell in the Rose Heaven.  The pantheon known as the Thousand Peaks is notorious for their choice to dwell in Varerose.  Each member of the Thousand Peaks dwells on one of the peaks of one of the mountains of the Hyjalew, or in some notable feature of the Hyjalew.  Most of the Thousand Peaks are nothing more than angels, usually Astral Devas.  A very few of the Thousand Peaks have divine rank, and only the leader of the pantheon, Hyjalew herself, is a full goddess.

In the south dwell the Elves and Demons.  The Elves rule the Fey Archipelago.
The Elves exist in a rigid caste structure of courts and families.  Most of the Elve's efforts go towards destroying the Demons that plauge their seas.  However, if given the chance, an Elf will enter the world of Varerose to spread their evil, in the hopes of advancement.
Each isle of the Archipelago has its own court of elves, led by the local Elf King.  Most Elf Kings are no more than advanced Pit Fiends or Ultroloths.  A very few Elf Kings bear the title of Duke of Fey (Duke of Hell).  Each of these Dukes has dominion over several islands.  Above the Dukes are the Grand Elves (Archdevils), each of whom commands several Dukes.  Ruling the Grand Elves are the High Kings (Lords of the Nine).  The nine High Kings divide the Fey Archipelago among themselves, and their power is great enough to threaten the greatest of the gods.  It is said that the Ninth King, Samal of the First Court of Shaniira, has power comperable to that of the Rose itself.

The waters surrounding the Fey Archipelago are filled with the Demons.  Among the Demons, rank is defined by personal power, and the great Leviathans (Demiurges) rule the deeps.

In the begining there was the Still Sea and the Cheyja Mists and the desert.  And for an eternity it was thus.
Then, in the strangeness that is the Cheyja Mists a being came.  It was alien to the Mists as the Mists are alien to mortals.  It fled the maddness, and came to the desert, where nothing of the Mist dared tread.  In the desert the strange one paused for a time, contemplating the stillness.
The nature of the strange one, however, was not of stillness.  It was of growth and change.  And as it contemplated the desert, the desert was changed.  From the sands rose the first gods.
These being were strange, primal creatures.  They stalked the desert, preying on one another in the predawn of time.
Still the strange one observed and thought, and still the desert changed.  The second gods came from the desert.  More refined than the first gods, the second ones sought to make sense of the desert.  They told stories and made myths to describe the world they had been brought into.  From these stories the first threads of Fate began to form.
Still the strange one contemplated.  The third ones came.  While the first ones were primitive and the second ones simple, the third ones were full of cunning and cruelty.  They took the first ones as pets, using them in their wild hunts.  They hunted all things, be they first one, second one or third one.
The third ones came upon the strange one as it contemplated.  Recognizing it for what it was, they fell upon it, rending it limb from limb and soaking the sands in its blood.  From its blood grew the fourth ones.
It was the fourth ones that established the Threads of Opposites, for they were noble and virtuos.  They battled the third ones, and cast them to the edges of the Still Seas.
The threads of Fate settled about the corpse of the strange one in the desert.  Tugged by the echos of the unrealised future, the began weaving themselves into a strange new form.  Thus came the Rose.

In the first days, the Rose was a great tree, and was the anchor of Fate.  Its roots dug deep into the sand of the desert, drinking in the spilled blood of the strange one and the essences of the fallen gods.
 The Fourth Ones found the Rose, and knew its name.  They errected a great eddifice around it, forged from pure divine might.  The threads of Fate spread quickly through the structure.  Where the Threads converged, springs of rose colored scented water emerged, and flowed into streams.
 In the Shadow Sands, the Third Ones watched in silent rage as their enemies, the Fourth Ones, grew so great.  The cleverest of the Third Ones, Viirisha, known for his seven trained First One Spider Gods and his four Second One attendants watched more closely than his peers.  Instead of focusing only othe Fourth Ones, he watched the Rose, and the threads of Fate that flowed from it.  He understood the power of the Rose, for it had the power of the strange one, and decided he must claim it for his own.  He had his trained Spider Gods make him silk of blackness and deciet, and had his attendants weave it into a cloak, which he named Ashar'kanib Nepth Anaku, the Eternal Shroud of Soulless Night.  Any garbed in this shroud were invisible to the senses of Fourth Ones and Third Ones alike, but not to the sense of Second Ones and First Ones.
 Garbed in his cloak, Viirisha stole into the great temple built around the Rose.  There the threads of Fate sought to snare him, for they percieved his goal.  But Viirisha was the ruler of spiders and knew how to avoid the strands and traps laid before him.  Only a single, tiny thread of Fate caught on him, so small and weak as to have no power against him.
 He came to the base of the Rose and hewed its trunk, drinking the rich sap that flowed from the wound.  A thousand threads of Fate were severed and destroyed.  Again and again he hacked at the Rose, drinking ever deeper of its power, claiming thread after thread for his own power.  For each thread he claimed, a hundred were lost.
At last the great Rose toppled.  It was then that the single thread that had snagged Viirishan was severed.  However, as it was anchored to Viirishan, it could still reach out.  It did so, and found Uryanaka, one of the Rose's attendants.  It revealed Viirishan to her, and she fell upon him with vengance.  She cut him deeply, and tore as many thread from him as she could.  The king of spiders was more powerful than her, and he beat her back.  He fled the temple of the Rose, laughing gleefully at the power he had gained.
 In the temple, Uryanaka retrieved a single flower from the Rose.  To this flower she tied as many threads of Fate as she could, and planted it where the great tree Rose had stood.  Then she tied the threads of Fate she had wrested from Viirishan to herself, declaring herself their keeper.
 The lost threads of Fate fell in a great knot, from which sprung seven great rivers which flowed out to the Still Sea.  Around this river the Fourth One's built the Divine Palace.
 In the Dark Sands, Viirishan was triumphant.  With the power he had claimed, he had conquered many of his peers.  However, he was troubled.  The sap of the  Rose sat heavily in his veins.  He could not be rid of its weight.  Maddened by the sap, he cut himself open and drew out as much blood as he dared.  This blood he poured into a statue of Black Sand.  As soon as the statue tased the blood of Viirisha, rich with the sap of the Rose, itself rich with the blood of gods and the strange one, it spran to life.  Amazed, Viirisha asked what it was, and it responded that it was Nefuten, the Dark Mother, the First Elf.  Nefuten's power of seduction was so great that she bent great Viirisha to her will.  She stole from him his seed and a handful of the threads of Fate he had stolen before fleeing to the Still Sea.  There she made a small island and waited.  In time she gave birth to nine offspring.
Thus were the Elves born.


The Elves were creatures of evil from their genesis.  Nefuten gave birth to nine children, each more evil than the last and all more terrible and powerful than their mother.  As each was born she tied a thread of Fate to them.  And for each she made an island in the Still Sea for them to rule.
 The First Children of Nefuten dallied amongst themselves and with their mother.  And from their dalliances amongst themselve emerged a myriad of offspring.  However, in their cunning and paranioa, the First Children feared that, just as they were more powerful than their mother, so to would their children be greater than they.  So they worked dark magics on their offspring, weakening them and ensuring the dominance of the First Children.  Thus were the First Courts of the First established.
Nefuten, however, was proud, and would not countance herself to bear weak children.  She could not completly eliminate the magics of her First Children, but she did ameliorate them.  The Second Children of Nefuten were almost as mighty as their Father-Brothers and Mother-Sisters.
The dalliances of the Second Children produced the First Courts of the Second.
 From the First Courts came the Second Courts, and from the Second Courts came the Third Courts.  Each court was weaker than its predacessor, as each court sought to maintain what power it had.
 Then Siren emerged from the Rose River and came to Baba* Nefuten.

*Baba is an Elvish honorific that means Mother of Mothers.  In the case of Baba Nefuten, it more is taken to mean Mother of All Mothers.


As the courts of the Elves were established, the waters of the Seven Rivers flowed out into the Still Seas.  As the Blood of the Rose mixed with the Still Sea, the Still Seas were changed.  Thus was the Rose River begun.
As the Still Sea receded, this long frozen in its depths were freed.  Many returned to the Cheyja Mists they had emerged from.  Still more swam down into the depths, to return to the stillness they had enjoyed for timeless aeons.  Others still swam to the East and West and forged isles of crystal, there to sleep.
One awoke in the River that was different.  Not of the Cheyja Mists nor of the Desert, this one was Siren, and none know from whence she came.
Siren was a creature of beauty and evil seduction, and her voice could win any heart.  Her terrible willes were equaled only by those of Baba Nefuten herself.
 After the birth of the Second Children, Siren came to Baba Nefuten, and seduced her.  The withdrew to a dark island of shadows, isolated from the River and the Desert and the Mists.  There they dallied with each other.  In time, they brought forth three children.
The son of Siren was named Shadow, and he was a creature of beauty and seduction to rival his mothers.  However, the twin sons of Baba Nefuten were twisted and terrible.  The greater was Kraken, a beast of corruption and destruction.  The lesser was Bloat, a beast of rage and hate and spite.  They tore from Baba Nefuten's womb, forever marring her beauty.
 Baba Nefuten's wrath at Siren's treachery was immeasurable.  She wove a noose out of three thread of Fate and with it strangled Siren, destroying the voice that had seduced her.  She then tore Siren's face, destroying the beauty that had enticed her.  Finally cursing her, she cast Siren and Kraken and Bloat into the Rose River.
 Shadow she sparred for a moment.  He was the true son she had desired and that Siren had stolen and corrupted with chaos and maddness.  She whispered into his ear that if he could destroy his degenerate brothers, he could rejoin her as her most favored consort.  Then she cast him into the River.
She returned to the islands of her First and Second Children.  There she found that the courts had grown many, and so degenerate were the lowest courts that they were scarce more than ravenous beasts and misshapen blobs of flesh.  She was enraged.  She called her First and Second children to her, and although they were more powerful than her, she forced them to submit by the threads of Fate she had tied to them when they were born.
She decreed that all Elves save her First and Second Children would be made like the lowest court, stripped of their power.  She declared that the shapes they had worn would, however, be remembered.  Any Elf that showed the requisite cunning, intelligence and treachery would be elevated, and made unto a greater court.  Each promotion would bring an Elf closer to the First Courts of the First or the First Courts of the Second in form and power.
Thus were the courts of the Elves reordered.

In the depths of the Rose River, Kraken and Bloat found thier mother, broken and twisted as they were.  They used her, and brought forth a legion of spawn.  However, as they tried to decide who would rule their mother and thier spawn, they came to blows.  As they fought, Shadow came, and stole their mother from them, as well as the most beautiful of their spawn.  With these he bred his own servants.  With his arm of offspring, he fell upon his brothers.
None of the Leviathins, as all the children of Siren were named, could claim advantage.  Each had fathered mighty children on their mother.  However, these children approached their Father-Brothers in power, and would not be ruled.  The fled, breeding thier own slaves, until the waters around the isles of the Elves were teeming with their numbers.  These demons, as the spawn of the Leviathins are called, faught with each other in an ever growing war.  Shadow, Kraken and Bloat found themselves besiged from every side.  They turned from their impossible war with one another, and sought to achieve an advantage by conquering their lesser Brother-Sons and Sister-Daughters.  Each vied to control their mother and their lesser breatheren.
 Then came the Stoneworld to the depths, and for a moment the great war paused.

 The Third Ones are unforgiving of weakness, and when Viirisha's disgrace at the hands of Nefuten became known, his peers fell upon him in all their terrible wrath.  The King of Spiders was besiged from all sides.
 Diminished as he was by Nefuten's treachery, Viirisha was still mighty among his peers.  He wove a web of Fate about his dark palace, its threads hooked and barbed.  Any Third One that passed the threshold was torn and rended by Fate.  Any that survived were set upon by the seven First One Spider Gods that Viirisha commanded.
 But a God cannot be truely slain, be they First, Second, Third or Fourth one, and the drained Third Ones rose from their death to attack once more.  And so a deadlock was forged.  Each Third One that invaded was slain and its corpse thrown from the palace.  Each corpse would rise and attack again, only to be slain again.  The Third Ones could not countenence the continued power of Viirisha, for he had been defeated and diminished.  Viirisha could not surrender to his bretheren, for he was their supperior in power and cleverness.
 In the Divine Palace, Uryanaka sensed the siege of Viirisha and concieved of a plan to destroy him.  She gathered threads of Fate and wove them into a net, with which she would bind him and take back the threads he had stolen.  But as she tried to leave the palace to carry out the destruction of Viirisha's power, she found her way barred by a gossamer web of Fate.
 It was the Rose that denied her passage.  The Rose sees all that anchor the threads of Fate as part of the Rose, and it could no more allow the destruction of one of the anchors at the hands of another than a man could allow the destruction of his left hand by his right.
 Uryanaka was enraged that the Rose should protect Viirisha.  She screamed and cursed it, declaring that Viirisha was evil and unclean, and that he must be destroyed for the purity of Fate to be preserved.  But the Rose knows nothing and cares nothing for good and evil, and it would not be swayed.  Thus was the division of the Rose and Uryanaka.

The seige of Viirisha ended at the hands of Nivaaz the Stone Serpent.  He was cunning and treacherous, and he understood that his power was not great enough to crush Viirisha.  He decided instead to trap the King of Spiders.
He vomited forth an egg of obsidian, and carved sigils of power on its shell, and when it hatched, it hatched forth a tendril of living stone.  This tendril grew and branched, and more issued from the cracked shell.  Quickly the living stone grew, plunging roots deep into the Shadow Sands, and spreading branches into the sky.  Quickly the roots and the branches returned once more to the surface of the sands, where they converged.  A great cage of living stone stood around the palace of Viirisha.  Once joined, the branches and roots let out shoots, joining themselves togethor until a solid shell of living stone encased the palace of Viirisha.  Still it grew, its shell expanding outwards and inwards.
Viirisha fought with all his might to stave off the living stone.  Tapestries of Fate snaked out and sought to deter the growing stone.  But living stone, like the obsidian it hatched from, is resistant to the workings of Fate, and was undetered.
Viirisha then lashed out with magical sigils and spider venom and silken webs to destroy the living stone.  Where the sigils struck, veins of living gems appeared and spread through the living stone.  Where the venom struck, veins of living metals appeard, silver and gold and copper and iron and all other metals.  Where the spider silk struck, jade and obsidian and all manner of lifeless stone began to spread.
Outside of the shell, the Third Ones witnessed the growth of the living stone with fear.  They could see that it would grow forever, and devour them all.  They banded together, and as one they hurrled the living stone into the depths of the Rose River.  Then, as one, they fell upon Nivaaz and rent his body for his foolishness in creating the living stone.  Then they cast him into the Rose River.
Thus was the Stoneworld born.

In the Rose River, the wars of the Demons paused.  To them, the world had consisted of the River's depths and the isles of the Elves.
The Stoneworld was alien to them.
The first demon to set foot in the desert looked out over the endless black sands of the shore.  It gazed on the ebon spires of the Third Ones.  It gazed on the empty silver sands of beyond the shore.
Seeing all this, this ancient, nameless demon shrieked a challenge to the skies and charged headlong into the desert.  It did not manage a hundred steps before it was struck down by a curious Third One.  Its screams echoed over the quiet shores of the Desert.  Its screams echoed into the strange stillness that had gripped the Demons of the Rose River.
As one, the demons, from the great Leviathins to the scuttling Dretches hurled themselves upon the desert.  Some broke against the fortesses of the Third Ones, besieging them lords of the shores.  More simply surged pass, into the middle deserts.  There many fell upon the First Ones and the Second Ones.
For every god, be they First, Second or Third One that fell, over one hundred thousand demons were slain.  But the great tide surged forward in ever greater numbers from the south.  The lords of the shores to the east and west pulled back, abandoning their fortresses for the north.  The gods of the middle deserts fled before the flood of demonkind.
At last, the great hordes came upon the Divine Palace of the Fourth Ones and the Rose.  While the divided Third Ones and the nomadic Second Ones had been easy prey to the demon tide, the concerted might of the Fourth Ones slowed the tide.  But it was plain that even that would not be enough, for the great Leviathins could be seen on the horizions, drawing ever nearer to the walls of the Divine Palace.
In desperation, three among the greatest of the Fourth Ones spilled their hearts' blood over the roots of the Rose.  And from that mixing of divine blood and Fate were born the armies of the Fifth Ones.

The birth cry of the Fifth Ones was a single note of inifinte purity.  The lower orders of demonkind were blasted unto black bile and ash by the sound.  Motes of light flloded from the Rose.  These coalessed into the bodies of the Fifth Ones.  The lowest order of the Fifth Ones, the Motes, were equal to the power of the scuttling Dretch.  The Conciliators the greatest of Fifth One kind, rivaled the great Leviathins in power.  In the blink of an eye, an army of angelic beings had been born.  They poured from the walls of the Divine Palace, and fell upon the Demon Horde.
The Demons, however, were not to be defeated easily.  Fifth One blood and Demon ichor stained the Desert's sands equally.  Conciliators and Leviathins fell among the corpses of their lesser bretheren.  Corpses rained from the skies where the flying Demons and Fifth Ones battled.
 Of the Gods, the First Ones each acted according to its instincts.  The Third Ones holed up in their fortesses, slaughtering any that came to close.  The Fourth Ones hid in the Divine Palace, content to let the Fifth Ones protect them.
It was the Second Ones who suffered the most.  The war between the Fifth Ones and the Demons was spreading outward from the southern path it had taken to reach the Divine Palace, sweaping over Second One towns and settlements.  Every day, more and more Second One refugees poured into the north.
In the hearts of each of these refugees was a spark of anger and resentment.  And as they gathered, these sparks grew into a conflagration of untamed rage.  The Second Ones raged against the Third Ones, who had long enslaved them.  They raged against the Fourth Ones, who had never given them aid against the Third Ones or permitted them entrance to the Divine Palace.  They raged against the Demons and Fifth Ones for their warring that had destroyed so many Second One domains.
As one they fell upon the Third Ones, the Fourth Ones, the Fifth Ones and the Demons.  Seven out of every eight Third One fortresses were torn down and their masters' slaughtered and imprissioned.  The walls of the Divine Palace were breached, and nine out of every ten Fourth Ones were buchered.  The masses of the Demons and the Fifth Ones were slaughtered without mercy.
When finally the rage of the Second Ones was spent, the Desert was awash with blood.  What new order of being would have found its geneisis here, born from the blood of divine war will never be known.  As the power of the slaughter converged for the birth, the Second Ones reached out and took hold of it.  The wrenched it, and twisted it to their will.  The rent the fabric of the Desert, tearing it in two..
Where once there had been the Desert, now there was the Rose Heaven, anchored to the Rose River, and the Infinite Sands, hidden in the Cheyja Mists.

As the Desert was parted, demonkind was flung back into the Rose River.  There, waiting for them they found the Stoneworld, grown massive and powerful.  The ravening demons, enraged by their defeat at the hands of the Second Ones, attacked it.  The waters of the Rose River churned with demon ichor and the black blood of the Stoneworld.
The stoneworld was mighty, and it resisted the hordes that assaulted it.  Three Leviathins lost their lives in the grasp of its stoney tendrils.  Impaled on the rock spines that covered its surface were the corpses of a multitude of fiends.
In the end it was Shadow that saw the path to victory.  The Stoneworld was unassailable from without, its shell too thick and its blades too sharp.  But at its heart was imprisioned Viirisha, the Spirder King, and his venom laced its flesh.
Shadow had inherited the arts of song and seduction from Siren, and had wrested many more secrets from her each time he raped her.  He drifted in the clear waters outside the battle and sang.  His voice reached out to the blood of the Stoneworld, exciting its stoney heart.  As the blood of the Stoneworld rushed through its veins, the poison of Viirisha spread quickly.  The spines that covered the Stoneworld grew brittle and fell away, leaving the smooth skin of the Stoneworld for the demons to assault.  But as they rent it, it became apparent that the Stoneworld was already dying.
Viirisha, sensing the death of his prision, tore himself free, bursting from the shell of the Stoneworld.  The demons fell upon him then, and blood once again filled the waters.
That bloody water poured into the rent shell of the Stoneworld, following the path of Viirisha's escape.  In its wake it brought briefe life to the stone, which sealed itself in its passage.
In the end, only the faintest of trickles reached the heart of the Stoneworld, where it mixed with the dirt and divine essence Viirisha had left behind.
From the mix of the bloody water, the dirt of the Stoneworld and the essence of Viirisha sprung the first Dirtlord, Doron the Levelheaded.

As the demons swarmed around Viirisha, the King of Spiders struggled to reach the surface.  Findaly, his form coated in the blood of the Stoneworld and the ichor of a thousand demons and wreathed in a web of Fate, he burst from the Rose River, screaming his defiance to the skies.  And it was with that cry of exultation that he was frozen in a tomb of living stone.
The struggles of Viirisha against the demons had not gone unnoticed by Baba Nefuten and Uryanaka.  Neither truly believed that Viirisha could be slain by the demons, and each wove secret nets of Fate to catch him when he surfaced, and anchored them on the Crystal Isles and the Rose Heaven and the isles of the Fey Archipelago.
When Viirisha broke free from the Rose River, the nets of Baba Nefuten and Uryanaka closed about him, trapping him in a tangled knot of Fate.  This knot awoke the blood of the Stoneworld.
A great shell of stone grew around Viirisha for the second time, spreading rapidly.  The growing stone followed the threads of Fate that had awoken it, tracing the tangled nets of Uryanaka and Baba Nefuten.  Fear gripped the Anchors of Fate, as they sensed the will of Viirisha guiding the growing stone.  Although imprisoned, Viirisha was still cocooned in a web of Fate, and strands of that web had integrated themselves into the living stone.  Baba Nefuten and Uryanaka cut the threads they had used in their nets and sent forth legions of their allies to slay the growing abomination, and at the same time the demons attacked from below.  Fifth Ones, demons and Elves learned of each others existence as they assaulted the growing bulk of Varerose.
Varerose was like to its kin, the Stoneworld, in its power, and like the Stoneworld in its weakness.  The assembled armies could not defeat it, for with every blow they struck it grew a hundred razor tendrils to strike back.  But at its heart was the poison that is Viirisha, and as the battle wore on, the poison spread.  But when Viirisha tried to break loose, he found that the knot of Fate that had entangled him was too strong for him to break free.  His screams of impotent rage echoed through the dying form of Varerose.
With the death of Varerose, the fighting again paused.  The Fifth Ones, Elves and demons beheld the great corpse, torn and scarred by the battle.  Mixing with the blood oozing from its million wounds was the blood of Fifth One and Elf and Demon.  Each side could sense the great potential, and each fled in fear of would would spring forth from such a union of essence.

On that day of genesis, a profusion of life burst forth from the blood soaked rock of Varerose.  At first all that emerged was green and growing as all manner of plant erupted from the bloody stone.  In some places, where some life still lingered in the corpse of Varerose, it fought back against the all embracing profusion of life.  Great mountain ranges burst from its skin, shearing through the thickening web of greenery that covered it.  Thus were the Hyjalew and the Crimson Spine born.
It was then that the first animals emerged.  The primitive beasts were like unto the First Ones in shape and motive.  They roamed Varerose for a time, and the gods and Elves and demons all watched in silence.
Viirisha was not still in this time, however.  His webs of Fate converged in the peaks of the Hyjalew, and mixed with pools of potent blood.  In the dreams of the blood he woke a form and motivated them to act, seeking to create a race of slaves to free him.  Uryanaka, however, took notice of his actions, and threw out her own net of Fate to disrupt the process.  As Viirisha and Uryanaka struggled against each other for dominance, the blood awoke to the form of the first Dwarves.

The following races are Islekin, and have their descriptions changed to match:
Half-Orcs
Orcs
Gnomes
Halflings
Elves (not the devil elves)
Half-Elves

Magisters

My Fate was mapped before I was born.  My every action foretold and shaped by the will of the 2nd Great Prophet King.  All my life I have lived his will, and preserved the strands of Fate he laid upon the world.
- Orin Danata Kin-Dan, Archmagister of the 2nd Magisters

The Rose is my guide, and the threads of Fate are my care.  So it has been since before I was born, and so has been for all before me and all after.
- Korla Ne, Rose Magister

Uryanaka guide me.  Uryanaka keep me.  May I carry the threads of Uryanaka, and with them preserve the Fate of Varerose.
- Domonic Haarin, Uryanaka Magister

The Spider weaves, and I follow.  The Spider's Threads shape all, the Spider's Threads shape me, I am the anchor of the Web.  May the Spider Lord guide me.  May the Spider Lord shape me.  May the Spider Lord grant me greatness.  There are no Threads but the Spider's.
- Jacob Haarin, Viirisha Magister

Baba Nefuten, Mother of all Mothers, guide me with your weavings.  Baba Nefuten, Mother of all Mothers, shelter me with you weavings.  Baba Nefuten, Mother of all Mothers, by your threads I act.  Baba Nefuten, Mother of all Mother, you child will serve!
- Aanshaal of the Sixth Court of Nefuten, Nefuten Magister.

 Magisters are those individuals who have been caught up in the Threads of Fate commanded by a Prophet King or one of the Fated Gods.  A Magister seeks both to preserve the Threads of their sponsor and to be their sponsor's agent in the world.
 Each Magister is equipped with a near perfect knowledge of the Prophecies of their sponsor.  They are the willing agents of Fate.  A Magister's life was mapped out before them long before they were born, and they know it.
 The only Uncertainty in a Magister's life comes from other Magisters.  The five Weaves of Fate do not coexist peacefully with one another, and in the course of their duties a Magister may be forced out of the shelter of their Fate and into alien Fate.

Wolfeater
Large Magical Beast (Fated)
HD: 7d10+21
Initiative: +1 (Dex)
Speed: 50 ft. (10 squares)
Armor Class: 15 (+1 dex, +5 natural, -1 size), touch 10, flat footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+15
Attack: 2 claws +12 melee (1d6+2 plus poison)
Full Attack: 2 claws +12 melee (1d6+2 plus poison) and bite +14 melee (1d8+4 plus poison)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Dark Pack, Death Curse, Despoil, Poison
Special Qualities: Dirge of Wolves and Crows, Shadow Embrace
Saves: Fort +10, Ref +8, Will +4
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 5, Wis 12, Cha 26
Skills: Suvival +11
Feats: Special Ability Focus (Death Curse), Power Attack, Track
Environment: Southern Highlands
Organization: Solitary, Dark Pack (7 14 HD Wolfeaters)
Challenge Rating: 9
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always Neutral Evil
Advancement: 8-14 HD (Large), 15-21 HD (Huge)

A massive cannine beast emerges from the shadows.  As big at least as a horse, its eyes glow the red of fresh spilled blood.  Its black fur is matted and oily.  The baying of wolves and the raucus screaming of crows fills the air as the beast charges.

Wolfeaters are massive predators that dwell in the southern highlands of Varerose.  Creatures of Fate, a Wolfeaters bring terrible misfortune wherever they go.  They poison the land, devour livestock and murder any they come across.  Normally soliatry, rarely, a gathering of Wolfeaters known as a Dark Pack will appear.  Such Packs are omens of terrible calamity, and signify the comming of Elves.
Wolfeater bear a special hatred of wolves and crows.  When a Wolfeater moves into an area, it will hunt down and devour all wolves and crows before turning its attentions on the other inhabitants of the area.

Combat
Wolfeaters are brutal combatants.  They attack from hiding and try to poison as many enemies as possible before focusing on what they perceive to be the weakest enemy.
Dark Pack (Su): If seven Wolfeaters of at least 14 HD despoil the same area in one day, the area becomes cursed.  All creatures with the Fated subtype in the area must succeed at a Will saving throw (DC 25) or suffer a pemanent -1 penalty to all saving throws.
Three days after the area becomes cursed, 1d2-1 Pit Fiends, 1d4-1 Horned Elves, 1d4-1 Ice Elves, 1d6-1 Barbed Elves, 1d6-1 Bone Elves, 1d6-1 Erinyes, 1d8 Bearded Elves and 2d8 Lemures will be called into Varerose at the center of the cursed area.  These Elves remain for 24 hours before vanishing back to the Fey Archipelago.
Death Curse (Su): Any creature with the Fated subtype that slays a Wolfeater is struck by a terrible curse.  The creature must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw (DC 23) or die.  Those that succeed at the saving throw instead suffer a permanent -3 penalty to all saving throws.  This penalty can be suppressed by a Prophet's Anull Fate or similar effects.  It can only be removed by a carefully worded wish or Miracle.
The save DC for this ability is charisma based.
Despoil (Sp):  If a Wolfeater spends 1 hour drooling their poison on a patch of ground, they can unleash a terrible curse.  Over the next week, all crops within 5 miles of the despoiled spot will die and all farm animals will contract Filth Fever.  All other animals will become neutral evil.  The Wolfeater cannot use its poison for 1 hour after using this ability.
Dirge of Wolves and Crows (Su): Whenever a Wolfeater opens its mouth, the sound of baying Wolves and cawing Crows issues forth.  This has several effects.
When the Wolfeater's mouth is open any creature that can hear the Wolfeater and has a fly speed that wishes to rise over 10 feet off the ground must succeed at a will saving throw (DC 25).  If the saving throw fails, the creature cannot rise any higher.
In addition, so long as its mouth is open, the Wolfeater cannot be flanked or tripped.
So long as a Wolfeater's mouth is open, it suffers a -20 penalty to move silently checks.
When a Wolfeater dies, for every 2 hit dice it possesed, one wolf and one flock of crows (treat as a Bat Swarm without blindsense) burst from its chest cavity and begin to devour it.  These wolves and crows will generally flee after 3 rounds unless attacked, in which case they react normally.
Poison (Ex): The fangs and claws of a Wolfeater carry a potent venom.
Injury, Fortitude DC 16, initial damage 1d6 str, 1d4 dex, 1d4 con, secondary subject gains the Fated subtype for 1 hour.  The save DC is con based.
Shadow Embrace (Su): So long as a Wolfeater remains in an area of shadowy illumination or darker, it gains a +20 luck bonus to Hide and Move Silently checks.

The Secrets of Zix

Zix is the only human kingdom east of the Hyjalew mountains.  Cut off from the rest of the world, and traditionally wary of magic, the people of Zix have produced many strange wonders.

Geography
Zix lies in the lowlands between the Crimsion Spine and the Hyjalew.  Due to this, Zix exists in a state of perpetual darkness.  At the height of the day it barely recives twilight illumination.
Central and eastern Zix is almost entirely flat.  Small forests dot the land, but for the most part Zix is made up of rolling fields and medows.  To the west, Zix is dominated by the ore rich foothills of the Hyjalew.

Natural Resources
Zix is blessed with abundant natural resources.  The plains are fertile, and Zixian farmers generally produce enough food to sustain the nation.  In the east lies the Mandagas, the edges of which the Zixians harvest for timber.  In the west are the foothills of the Hyjalew, which are rich in metal ores and usable stone.
When it comes to mystical resources, abundant deposites of Obsidian can be found along the southern coast, while Nighmare Tears appear each night throughout the countryside.

History
With the fall of Aesufel and the diaspora of the Unfated Tribes of the Scented Desert, most of the tribes traveled north and west, to found the nations of Zifar, Manek and Volath.  However, the tribe of Zix, led by Bessan the Wise, sought to make the perilous treck over the Hyjalew into the shadowy realm between the Crimsion Spine and the Hyjalew.
There the followers of Bessan found that the lands were ruled by Islekin and haunted by Nightmares.  Too weary to make the treck back over the mountains, Bessan searched for a way to preserve his people.  He found it in a most unexpected source.
Wandering in a field of black grass one morning, he came upon a Nightmare and an Elf locked in mortal combat.  The Elf clearly possesed the upper hand, and was mearly toying with the Nightmare, forcing it to remain in Varerose until the passing of dawn, when it would die.  Sensing opportunity, Bessan entered the fray on the side of the Nightmare, driving off the Elf.  In thanks, the Nightmare offered Bessan an opportunity.  If he would allow the Nightmare to inhabit his dreams and the dreams of all of Bessan's descendants every night for the rest of the Nightmare's existence, then it would grant its aid to the followers of Bessan for as long as his line should survive.  Bessan agreed and sure enough, his tribe was soon established in the plains of the east.
Eventually Bessan fathered a son, who he named Dask.
While his father's nights were wracked with horror, Dask was different.  From his first days he viewed the visions the Nightmare brought him in his sleep without fear.  Instead, he was delighted by the strange things the Nightmare showed him, and tried to recreate the things of his dreams with sculpted clay and dolls woven of the black grasses of the east.  And although this horrorfied his father, it delighted the Nightmare, who was a lover of crafts and art.  And so it came that the Nightmare would converse with Dask in his dreams, teaching him all the crafts he knew.  And with this knowledge Dask would fashion toys and tools for himself in his waking hours.
In the fullness of time, Bessan the Wise died and Dask became Dask the Clever, the leader of his tribe.  And under the tutelage of the Nightmare, he brought his people many crafts.
Dask the Clever fathered two sons and one daughter, and each possesed the same delight at the teachings of the Nightmare.  And under the combined tutelage of their father and the Nightmare, each grew to become a master craftsman, surpassing their father in skill and knowledge.
In the fullness of time, it came time for Dask the Clever to die.  However the Nightmare could not bear to lose its first pupil and closest friend, and so it caught up the soul of Dask the Clever and spirited it into the dreams of a young Fifth One god named Istuk.  There the Nightmare planted the soul of Dask the Clever.
By the time of the death of Dask the Clever, the tribe had grown large and prosperous.  And so when it came time for the daughter of Dask to assume leadership of the tribe, she decided that the people must settle down.  She found a promising location, and bade the people build a village there.  Then she bade her brothers each take a number of the people and continue journying, in case they might find a better place to settle.  And each of the brothers found a place, and each founded a town under their own govenance.
The grandchildren of Dask the Clever surpassed their parents just as their parents had surpassed Dask, and the children of the grandchildren of Dask surpassed their parents.  And so it was with each generation.  And each generation taught their craft and knowledge to those that would learn from them.  And the students took the best and the brightest of the people and taught them.  And thus was the Guild of Artifcers begun.
And in this time, the soul of Dask the Clever grew in the mind of Istuk, nourished by the divine essence of its host.  And after three hundred years, he had grown so much and consumed so much of Istuk that Istuk ceased to be, and Dask emerged as a god.  However, he could not return to his people because of the obsidian that laced the lands of the east.  So he called for the Nightmare that had made him a god and asked it to tell him of his descendants fates.  And when he discovered that his people had exceeded even the Nightmare in their skill, he was overjoyed.  Saddly, the joy was to be short lived.
Long had the Shadow Tide festered in the south.  Four hundred years after tribe of Zix came to the east, the Twisted Ones came to the shores of Zix.
The devastation was immense.  Entire cities were reduced to ash.  Others were made into places of horror.  Centuries of learning were lost in the span of a year.  The people of Zix fought back, but they were no match for the horrors of the Shadow Tide.
It was Demmerin, a descendant of Dask that turned the tide.  In the hamlet of Lanholt, he developed the first, primitive Nightmare Engine.  With it he created the first Gear Soldiers.  The design spread to the remaining cities.  Artificers swarmed to Lanholt, setting up more and more Nightmare Engines, which belched forth a legion of Gear Soldiers.  Although primitive and relatively weak, the Gear Soldiers had such great numbers that they overwhelmed the Shadow Tide's lesser abbominations, allowing the Zixians to attack the greater abberations, driving them back to the Shadow Tide.
However, the things of the Sahdow Tide refused to be defeated.  The clockwork soldiers that had proved so useful in quelling outright invasion turned out to be useless against a more subtle attack.  Slipping silently in the lands of Zix, greater abbominations sowed havoc from the shadows.  For a decade it contined thus.  Riots filled the streets of the cities, master Artificers were murdered in their beds.  Heros were driven mad.
It was again Demmerin who stepped forward to save Zix.  Leading an elite team of veterans of the first War of the Shadow Tide, he hunted down the hidden abbominations, destroying them as he found them.
After the death of Demmerin, his allies founded the Hand of Demmerin, an elite core of rangers tasked with protecting Zix from the depredations of the Shadow Tide.
And so it has progressed unto the present day.  The Nightmare Engines have evolved into Nightmare Furnaces and Nightmare Forges.  The Hand of Demmerin has grown and aquired new arms.  The great rail lines were laid, and a myrid form of clockwork warrior have emerged.  But all that is essentially Zixian has remained.

Political Relations
Zix is isolated from the rest of the human kingdoms.  The only nation that Zix has any extensive dealings with are the Islekin territories, with whom the Zixians hold an unstead peace.

Demographics
Most of the population of Zix dwells in the northern and central regions of the nation.  Most southern cities are at least partially military outposts.
Most Zixians are Unfated.  The realetivly small Fated population is a more recent effect of the creation of the Volnaz Pass by the trolls.

Zixian Specials
New Material
Nightmare Steel: This reddish metal is considered to be one of the masterpieces of Zixian artifice.  Both highly strong and highly flexible, Nightmare Steel is used in most of Zixian weapons and armors.
Nightmare Steel has a hardness of 15 and 20 hit points per inch of thickness.
A bar of unworked Nightmare Steel costs 15 gold pieces per pound.
Nightmare Powder: This thick reddish powder is highly explosive.  Its use is restricted to the Artificers.
Older Zixian firearms required the direct use of Nightmare Powder to work.  However, modern Zixian firearms incorperate the powder into the bullet itself.
One ounce of Nightmare Powder costs 10 gold pieces on the black market.  However, possesion of Nightmare Powder without a permit is punishable by six years imprisionment if the quantity is less than 20 ounces, or death if the quantity is 20 ounces or greater.
Nightmare Tear: These small red jewels are the leavings of Nightmares when they return to the Crimsion Isle each morning.
A single ounce of Nightmare Tears, if exposed to open flame or great heat, will burn for 10 hours with the brightness of a torch.
A single ounce of Nightmare Tears is worth 1 gold.  Most Artificer enclaves will buy and sell Nightmare Tears.

Weapons
Zixian Rifle: The Zixian Rifle is a powerful breach loaded rifle used by the military of Zix.  Anyone not a member of the Zixian military found in possesion of a Zixian rifle by Zixian forces is put to death imediatly, regardless as to whether the possesor of the rifle is Zixian or not, or even if the possesor is on Zixian soil or not.
A Zixian rifle can fire once before needing to reload.
A Zixian rifle requiers a standard action to reload.  More skilled users can reload a Zixian rifle with a move equivilant action.
Zixian Rifle, heavy: These larger, more powerful rifles are generally used by Zixian snipers and rangers in the Hand of Demmerin.  Possesion of a Zixian Heavy Rifle by someone not of the Zixian military is punishable by death in the same way the possesion of a Zixian Rifle is.
A Zixian Heavy Rifle can be fired once before needing to be reloaded.
A Zixian heavy rifle requires a move equivilent action to reload.
Zixian Master Rifle: Zixian Master Rifles are massive, three barreled breach loaded rifles awarded to elite members of the Hand of Demmerin.  Illegal possesion of such a rifle is not only punishable by death, but will generally result in a lynch mob forming if the perpetrator is found within Zixian borders.
A Zixian Master Rife can fire three times before needing to be reloaded.
Reloading a Zixian Master Rifle requires a full round action.  More experienced wielders can reload a Zixian Master Rifle as a standard action.
                                   CRIT       REACH/            DAMAGE
                 PRICE   DAMAGE     RANGE      RANGE    WEIGHT   TYPE     SPECIAL
PEASANT WEAPONS  -----   ------     -----      ------   ------   ------   -------
Zixian Pistol    50 gp   1d8              x2   200 ft.  2 lb.    P        --
                         1d8              x2   250 ft.  2 lb.    P        --
                         1d10       19-20/x2   250 ft.  2 lb.    P        --
Zixian Rifle     150 gp  1d8              x3   600 ft.  7 lb.    P        --
                         1d10             x3   600 ft.  7 lb.    P        Reduced Reload
                         1d10       19-20/x3   600 ft.  7 lb.    P        --

MARTIAL WEAPONS  -----   ------     -----      ------   ------   ------   -------
Zixian Rifle,    200 gp  1d10             x3   800 ft.  10 lb.   P        --
Heavy
                         1d12       19-20/x3   900 ft.  10 lb.   P        --

Zixian Rifle,    500 gp  1d10             x3   800 ft.  14 lb.   P        --
Master
                         1d12       19-20/x3   800 ft.  14 lb.   P        reduced reload

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A Closer Look at Elves
False Courts
False Courts came into being after Nefuten's reordering of the Courts of the Elves.  They are outside of the normal heirarchy of the Elves.
Promotion out of a False Court is impossible.  However, Elves of False Courts do not obey the normal heirarchy, as they are seen as representing the will of their creator.
Elves of the False Courts breed true, instead of producing Lemures.

The Princely Courts
Each isle of the Fey Archipelago is ruled by an Elf Prince.  All Elves in service of this Elf Prince are ranked into the Princely courts of that Prince.  Thus, a Bone Elf serving a Lord Elf would have a name like Zaaban of the Fourth Court of Iskdan, while a Erinyes serving an Bone Elf might bear the name Tainis of the First Court of Zanad.

High Courts
The High Courts are populated by the Elf Princes and their masters.  There are sixteen High Courts, one ruled by each of Nefuten's children and one ruled by Nefuten herself.
The rulers of the High Courts meet in Nofatu Kadun, the House of Nefuten, located on the first isle that Nefuten created after she betrayed Viirisha.  The hall has seventeen seats of honor, one filled by each of Nefuten's children/consorts, save the one to the left of Nefuten's own chair, which is reserved for Shadow.

The Glamour
All Elves not of a False Court posses the following supernatural ability:
Glamor (Su): An Elf constantly projects an illusionary appearance into the minds of all that view it.  Generally, this appearance is of a humaniod of great beauty and poise garbed in rich finery.
This is a mind-affecting effect.

The Courts of the First
Lemure
Also known as the Low Court of the First, Lemures are the base form of an elf.  Lemures genearlly lack the imagination to make use of the Glamor, unless directed to by a superior Elf.  When they are so commanded, they generally appear attractive in a generic, nondescript way.

Imp
Imps belong to the False Court of Dominon.  Not truely Elves, most imps are kept as pets by higher courts.
Imps usually use their alternate form ability to appear as comely humaniods with long ears.
Imps were created by the Erinyes Dominon of the Third Court of Haabandal, and as such they carry authority of an Elf of the Seventh Court of the First.
Imps, as Elves of a False Court, lack the Glamor.

Bearded Elf
The Eighth Court of the First.  Also known as Hunter Elves or Barbazu in High Aesufel.  Barbazu make up the majority of the Wild Hunt.  They usually are restricted to hunting Demons and other denizens of the Rose River around the Fey Archipelago, but if given the chance they will gleefully extend their hunt into the mortal realm.
Bearded Elves generally use the Glamor to appear as athletic humaniods with long ears and thick luxuriant beards.

Chained Elf
The False Court of Desfarion the Eighth.  Known as Kytons in High Aesufel.  Chained Elves are specially made as retainers for those elves that serve Desfarion, the Eighth of the First Children of Nefuten.
As Elves of a False Court, Chained Elves do not have the Glamor.

Feycat
The False Court of Biinzaa.  Also known as Bezekira in High Aesufel, Feycats are generally assigned to the Seventh Court of the First to aid in their efforts.
Bezekira were origionally created by the Horned Elf Biinzaa of the First Court of Hamashmal.  However, Biinzaa's death at the hands of his Prince resulted in the Feycats becoming the lowest of the False Courts.  Theoretically, the Feycats are below even the Lemures in terms of authority.
As Elves of a False Court, Feycats doe not ahve the Glamor.

Erinyes
The Seventh Court of the First.  Erinyes have the task of protecting the shores and skies of the Fey Archipelago from Demons.  They are often assisted by Feycats in their task.
Erinyes generally have the least interest in Varerose of any of Elfkind.
Erinyes genearlly use the Glamor to appear as petitie, attractive humaniods with long ears and birdlike eyes.

Bone Elfs
The Sixth Court of the First.  Bone Elves, or Osyluths as they are known in High Aesufel, form the lowest court of the True Courtiers, and, as such, are the lowest rank that can hold the title of Elf Prince, although they only ever hold dominion over the smallest and most insignificant isles.
Usually, Bone Elves form the bulk of the Courtiers at the court a particular Elf Prince.
Bone Elves generally use the Glamor to take the appearance of attractive albino humaniods with long ears and strangely pointed fingers.

Barbed Elf
The Fifth Court of the First.  Known as Hamatulas in High Aesufel.
Barbed Elfs are generally the darlings of a Princely Court.  They often hold hold military positions in addition to their courtly titles.
Most Barbed Devils have an Ice Elf patron for whom they act as agents in return for greater influence with the Prince.
Hamatula princes are genearlly rare, even more so than Osyluth princes.
Hamatulas generally use the Glamor to appear as attractive, powerfully built humaniods with long, serrated ears and needle like teeth.

Ice Elf
The Fourth Court of the First.  Known as Gelugons in High Aesufel.  Ice Elves usually hold positions close to the Elf Prince they serve, if they are not one themselves.  They are the visirs and administrators of any Elf Court.  Usually, an Ice Elf will act as a patron to several Barbed Elves.
Gelugons generarlly use the Glamor to appear as tall, beautiful humaniods with blue tinted skin and compound eyes.

Horned Elf
The Third Court of the First.  Known as Cornugon in High Aesufel.  Cornugons are form the bulk of the Elf Princes, ruling on all but the largest isles.  In the Princely Courts where they are not the Prince, they act as the supreme generals of the Prince's forces.
Cornugons generally use the Glamor to appear as massive, beautiful humaniods with long ears and a pair of saberlike horns.

Lord Elf
The Second Court of the First.  Known as Pit Fiends by some.  Lord Elves are always at least Princes, and most instead rule several isle as a High Prince.
Lord Elves generally forgo the use of the Glamor.

The False Courts of Varerose
Descended from Elves trapped in Varerose on the Day of the Fateless, the False Courts of Varerose are a terrible scourge on the peoples of Varerose.
The False Courts have a presence throughout souther, western and northern Varerose.  They are noticeably absent from Zix and the Mandagas, for the Zixians, Islekin and abominations of the Shadow Tide do not tolerate them.

Dryads
The False Court of Dryad favors deep, ancient forests.  Forests inhabited by Dryads are filled with long shadows and twisted, moss covered trees.  Dryads are also known as Hag Queens, for they are revered by the daughters of Nibinagak, and a forest that is home to a Dryad will often also be home to a coven of Hags.
Nymph
The False Court of Nymph are some of the most terrible of the Courts of Varerose.  They are most commonly found in the highlands of Vord, Airen and Belfar.
In regions terrorized by a Nymph, it is common for men to smear a paste made of rust and mud over and below their eyes, for it is said that this can protect against the terrible beauty of the Nymph.  Still, for all these precautions, stories abound of hunting parties found with their hands around each other necks and of families slaughtered to win the favor of a Nymph.
Nymphs have a special relation with Wolfeaters, and most Nymphs command at least one of these beasts.
Satyr
The False Court of Satyr is most commonly found in the north and middle western lands.  
The Court of Satyr is feared for its violent lust.  Lone travelers, male and female alike, are always at risk.
Satyrs usually travel in small troupes of up to 12 individuals, led by the largest and strongest member.
Sprite
The False Court of Sprite mostly holds sway in the far north.  The weakest of the False Courts of Varerose, the Court of Sprite is still a threat.  They will often infest abandoned churches and temples and plague the surrounding communities.
Sprites have a special affinity to crows and wolves, and are hated by Wolfeaters.

Timeline


Date              Event
-------------------------
Prehistory        The Strange One leaves the Cheyja Mists for the Desert.
                  The First Ones, Second Ones and Third Ones appear.
                  The Strange One is murdered, giving rise tot eh Fourth Ones.
                  The Rose enters existence, the Divine Palace is created.
                  The Rose is destroyed, the Anchors of Fate arise from its ashes.
                  The first courst of the Elves are formed.
                  Nefuten is seduced by Siren, resulting in creation of demons.
                  Nefuten reorders the courts of the Elves
                  The Stoneworld is created
                  The Demons wage war on the Desert.
                  The Second Ones create the Rose Heaven and banish the First, Third and Fourth Ones to it.
                  The Stoneworld is slain by Shadow.
                  The Dirt Lords appear in the corpse of the Stoneworld.
                  Varerose is created by the Anchors of Fate.
                  The First Dwarves appear.
-9000             The first humans appear.
                  The Unfated Tribes are founded.
-7000             Fate is discovered by the Aesufel Tribe.
                  The first prophets appear.
                  The Dwarven city of Entasharak is founded.
                  The first Islekin are born.
-6500             Elves invade Varerose, decimating and enslaving the humaniod races.
-5000             The Elvish empire in Varerose is broken when they try to invade the Rose Heaven.
                  The Rose Seals are created
-2000             Siren breaks free of her captivity and flees to Varerose, slipping through the Rose Seal.
                  The Republic of Aesufel is created.
                  All other tribes are forced into the Scented Desert.
0                  The First Prophet King siezes power from the High Council and becomes the first mortal Anchor of Fate.
200               The 2nd Great Prophet King takes the throne and creates the [i]Book of Tommorrow and Forever[/i].
                  The 2nd Magisters, under the instruction of the King, hunt down and destroy the last councilers of the High Council.  Only Draven Vaalen Aesufel is spared.
                  The Golden Age of Aesufel begins under the dominion of the 2nd Great Prophet King.
1300              The 3rd Great Prophet King takes the throne and places down his own Prophecies, ending the reign of the 2nd Great Prophet Kings.
                  The 2nd Magisters flee before they can be destroyed by the 3rd Magisters.
                  The golden age of Aesufel continues.
1300              The 4th Great Prophet King takes the throne.
                  Due to his insanity, the golden age of Aesufel comes to an end.
1304              The Mindrender comes from the Scented Deserts.
1328              The Day of the Fateless.
1340              The founding of Zix.
1403              The birth of Dask the Clever.
1420              The Rise of Bandan, Komach and Vord
2492              The division of Bandan into Volath and Zifar.
2495              Civil war turns divides Vord into Airen, Belfar and Vord.
3633              The Day of Nightmares.
3864              The Present

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I'm hoping it's ok to post here.

I've barely looked at this and am deeply in love with this setting. It's strange but has a real, interesting character. The name alone sounds very cool, and you've got some very good ideas that are present in it. I look forward to reading much more. :)