The Campaign Builder's Guild

Map
[spoiler=Map!] [/spoiler]

Brief Historical Recap

Thousands of Years ago
-Humans, Elves, Gogs and Magogs all live across the lands.
-Gogs and Magogs create several sub-species.
-Gogs and Magogs have the largest empire the world has seen.
-Due to various reasons the Gog empire falls.
-Gogs and Magogs are hunted to extinction by the Elves and the Tower of Flame

History: from roughly a few thousand years ago to just over a hundred years ago
-More magic schools are founded, at its peak nearly four score competing schools
-War of Seven swords begin, Elven houses decimated
-Magic schools enter the Kin War
-Magic schools begin in-fighting, formally starting the Lilac War.
-Number of magic schools reduced to one score and three

-Demonology discovered by Deucalion Ghostfang.
-Half a dozen new magic schools are founded.
-Institute of Demonic Communication becomes most powerful magic school.
-First Oni escapes control, destroys original Tower of Flame.
-Order of Blasted Tower formed to hunt Oni

-Elven population slowly recovering
-Zin Torslip, first Half-Elf to become a monarch, ascends the throne of Kell

-Order of Paladin founded.
-Several knightly orders merged with the Order of Paladins.

The Last Hundred or so Years
-Magnus the Gray, greatest sorcerer to ever live born to human parents.
-Found his own magic school, gathers three apprentices.
-First contact with the Plane of Sound
-Magnus conquers several kingdoms with aid from creatures from the Plane of Sound.
-Magnus defeats a dozen different armies over the course of three years.
-The remaining free kingdoms, magic schools and the Grand Order of Paladins form the Spicewind Coalition.

-The half-dragon brothers Grimm appear offering aid to the Spicewind.
-Bargain struck with the creatures from the Dragon Dimensions, brothers Grimm acting as intermediaries
-Lizardmen and Naga armies march against Magnus, set up several colonies.
-The Spicewind, Lizardmen, Naga and Elven armies join forces and march on Kristin's Crater.

Battle of Kristing's Crater:
-Magnus and his two oldest apprentice disappear near the start of the battle.
-The third apprentice is captured and entomed in Seafoam Citadel (formerly Castle Ghostfang).
-Coalition wins a decisive victory at great cost, Ammoloch the Great Wyvern is slain.

Present time
-Seafoam Citadel is under siege by Elven and Naga forces, several Leviathans been used to repel attacks from the Grayshell Navy.
-Lizardmen have attacked several cities, using Destrachan siege-beasts.
-Several half-elven assassins led by a mysterious red haired elf attack a Paladin monastary, failing to steal any relics, they manage to slain several high ranking knights, the abbot and release several imprisoned Oni.
-Beings from the Plane of Sound have been sighted all across the coast.

[ooc]This is a setting that's been brewing in my mind for a while, it has bits of the first setting I ever made (some... 7-8 years ago) and then recently I've fleshed out a bunch of history[/ooc]

Races
Humans are the most common races, they vary a great deal across the land. Current eldest human is Grand Auroch Sebastian Abeldeen, leader of Sygil's Grove at 147 years of age.

Elves have the speed, strength, stamina and agility of twenty humans. Half elves vary greatly from several times as physically capable as humans to near elven capability.

Lizardmen have formed over three score colonies in the 99 years since Kristing's Crater. Have a hierarchal caste system based on scale color and tribe. Ruled by a six Half-Dragons. [note]Half-Dragon here does not mean half-human/half-dragon. That is impossible, it means half-Lizardman/half-Dragon or half-Naga/half-Dragon[/note]

Naga have colonized the ocean floor, unknown numbers.

Factions

Tower of Flame

One of the Original schools of magic, it focuses on elemental fire magic. The original Tower was destroyed by a rogue Oni killing many learned mages and destroying half of the schools written knowledge of magic. This led to the creation of the Order of the Blasted Tower, magus-knights who's mission is to slay or capture all Oni and Summoners.

The current Tower of Flame is the most active school of magic in world politics. They argued fiercly the creation of the Spicewind Coalition, then to accept aid from the brothers Grimm. Nearly every human kingdom has a Flame magus advisor, even some Lizardmen tribes do.

Notable Alumni
-Roth Rothberg, master cartogropher.
-Hafstein Battlesworn, Grandmaster of the Order of the Blasted Tower. Known to have personally slain over a hundred Oni in combat.
-Lilliana Fontescue, eldest apprentice of Magnus the Gray.

Bathsea
Coastal Elven city. Neighbhors the kingdom of Kell. Home to Saltwind Tower and the Saltwind Navy.

Saltwind Tower
One of the Original schools of magic, has a focus on weather, water and shipbuilding magic. Leaders in naval architecture. Fierce competition between them and Grayshell Tower.

In recent times a partnership with the Institue of Demonic Communication has led to the creation of ships that can travel beneath the sea. While a great magical discovery this has gathered the ire of the Naga.

Notable Alumni
-Grace Sembliss, Admiral of the Saltwind Navy
-Horus the Blue, Imperial Advisor to the Corcadian Empire.

Lizardmen

Lizardmen are creatures that come from the Dragon Dimension. They were granted colonization rights in return for help in the war with Magnus the Gray. They brought with them several new species of beasts, such as velociraptors and wyverns. They are said to be cousins to the Naga who also traveled with them from the Dragon Dimension.

Physically Lizardmen resemble large bipedal humanoid lizards. Typically bulky with muscle they have long tails, double eyelids and small scales. Physical characteristics however do vary a great from tribe to tribe.

Lizardmen culture is strictly hierarchal with tribes divided into castes. Most castes can easily be identified by their distinct physical markings such as scale color and other major and minor physiological traits. It has been shown that Dragons are able to have offspring with Lizardmen, these Half-Dragons are the exception to the caste rule and tend to take a position of ruler when they have any association with the Lizardmen tribes.

Firemaw Tribe

Firemaw Lizardmen have large thick scales of black and stand up to 8 feet tall. Older individuals develop the ability to breath gouts of fire. The Firemaw tribe are part of one of the more elite warrior castes, of similar rank to minor nobles in human society. A group of Firemaw members are often found at the head of smaller lizardmen forces.

One noticable trait of the Firemaw is that they have a particularly high coincidence of lizardmen born with wings.

What do the elves look like? Do they have weaknesses, or are they just superpowered humans?

Quote from: SurvivormanWhat do the elves look like? Do they have weaknesses, or are they just superpowered humans?

Physically elves are broader in the shoulder then humans, taller as well. However their waists are roughly the same size, giving them a more pronounced "wedge" shaped torso. They do not grown facial hair, but their hair on their heads comes in very thick and grows down their necks as well giving them a very shaggy almost mane-like look.

Hair color is universally dark russet or rust colored. Eyes have round pupils on a reflective iris that ranges from yellow to red-brown similar to elven hair color. Ears are slightly tapered and lack earlobes.

Elves live to about 180 years of age. They reach physical maturity at around 30 and only start to decline in physical health in the last few years of their lives.

Culturally, Elves respect the arts of war, magic and the hunt. They tend to dwell mainly in sparesly habited areas to be able to have a wider range of game to hunt. Forests, islands, foothills are the most common place to find Elves.

Magic users and the geo-political landscape

Throughout recorded history (roughly 4000 years) users of magic and their institutions have played a disproportionate role in shaping the world. This first began with the original Tower of Flame aiding the Elves, the kings of Reveld and Syntos and the Skylords hunt the Gog and Magog to extinction, nearly 11 0000 years ago.

This overt influence continued and came to a head roughly 4000 years ago during the Kin and Lilac wars where the magic schools decimated each other, destroying most and leaving the survivers tattered remnants of their former glory.

After the conclusion of the Lilac war, the schools of magic retreated from the public image and began to wield their influence much more subtly. Once again things changed with the discovery of Oni summoning, and the founding of new magic schools. While initially though of as revolutionary magic, the eventual escape of an Oni Daimyo that destroyed the first Tower of Flame deeply changed the opinion of this new type of magic, the prevading opinion now being that it was foolishly dangerous and volatile.

Two hundred years ago the influence of the Magic schools hit another peak, this was swiftly brought to a new low due to the conquests of Magnus the Gray. Current opinion on the magic schools is divided roughly into three main categories, those of think that they're saviours for defeating Magnus, thos who think all magic users should be controlled, and a rough middle ground.

Another major point of contention is how the Magic schools allowed the deal with the brothers Grimm to be finalized, giving colonization rights to the Lizardmen and Naga. Many who dwell near Lizardmen encampments dislike the mages for allowing their land to be taken, though most of the rulers and people of power know that te deal was needed for them to succeed.

Updated map into the top of first post. It's pretty rough.

Lizardmen

Out of the over three score Lizardmen colonies only a third of them are on Corcadia itself. The majority are on New Lombard.

Kardaot Lizardmen

The Kardaot are one of the more common Lizardmen around. They are of six to six and a half feet in height, scales a bright green that shades to darker green along their spines. Kardaot saliva is poisonous to both Elves and Humans, as well as red scaled Lizardmen. A powerful anti-coagulent it causes those bitten to bleed to death from even minor wounds.

Resplendent Lizardmen

The Resplendent Lizardmen have leaner and more wiry then any other group of Lizardmen. Traditionally they are the caretakers of the beasts that were brought from the Dragon Dimension. These included pteradons, velociraptors, even larger dinosaurs, wyverns (even though wyverns are sentient) as well as the rare beasts.

In the wars Resplendent cavalry was a force to be reckoned with, riding powerful bi-ped dinosaurs they had fast vicious mounts capable of frightening bursts of speed and great mobility.

Seafoam Citadel

Seafoam Citadel, formerly Castle Ghostfang, sits on the tip of a high cliff on the seas edge. While originally the bastion of the Ghostfang family, after the battle of Kristing's Crater it was refurbished into the most secure magical prison ever created.

Constructed 1600 years ago by Aeolus Ghostfang, a descendent of Deucalion Ghostfang, it has withstood several attacks and sieges over the years. The first was an attack by the Order of the Blasted Tower near the end of its construction, even with the castle unfinished, the attack was easily thrown back.

The Castle has been under siege twice, first by the Grand Order of Paladin a scant 458 years ago. The then Lord Captain of the Grand Order, one Admetus Anartymos, was a long foe of Lady Pandora Ghostfang IV, mistress of the castle. The siege lasted near 8 months and was eventually broken when three Oni assassins, summoned by Lady Pandora herself, killed Admetus and his generals.

The latest siege was by Magnus the Gray, it lasted only nine weeks. Ionas Ghostfang agreed to play no part in the war and Magnus lifted the siege. While scholars wonder why Magnus didn't simply destroy Castle Ghostfang, for it was surely within his power, it is said that the imprisonment of several powerful Oni stayed his hand.

Currently it is manned by 256 Knights from the Grand Order, 16 ordained Paladins and has representatives from a dozen Magic Schools, including Sygil's Grove, the Tower of Flame, Grayshell and Saltwind Navy mages, the Skylords, Bantsimmons Gentry, Guild of Spicers, Kant's Legion and Ravd Tower.

Magic

Magic has existed for as long as people have remembered. Archeological evidence has been unearth that show that the ancient Gog and Magog civilizations most likely also had magic. Magic as it is now has several different schools of thought, and while each school of thought has been proven valid, no theory has yet been devised on how they can be reconsiled with each other.

Arcturian magic
Arcturian magic is the oldest, at least as known to human and elves, form of magic. Discovered by a great magus known only Arcturus in archeological records.

It is elemental magic, giving the magus the power to manipulate the four basic elements if fire, water, earth and air. Various sub-elemental magics can be preformed by combining the the elements in different ratios, some of these are metal (fire/earth), storm(water/air) and many others.
 [note=On titles]Arcturian magic users are traditionally referred to as magus, Decualic magic uses as summoners or sometimes warlocks and Rigellian magic uses are often called wizards or sorcerers.[/note]

Most magus focus on a single element or sub-element with some minor abilities in other areas. This is due to the phenomenom of elemental attunement, what this means is that the more a a magus uses an element (or sub-element), the easier it is to use that element (or sub-element) and it becomes more difficult to use other elements (and sub-elements). The more powerful magics cannot be preformed unattuned.

A magic can handle one main attunement and somewhere between zero and four minor attunements. No one is really sure what helps a magus handle more minor attunements but fractional sub-element theory and bloodlines are the main contenders. Fractional sub-element theory holds that if a magus is attuned to an element (or sub-element) that the closer another element (or sub-element) is to his or her attunement, the larger the chance of also becoming attuned to that particular element (or sub-element) is.

Notable Arcturian Macic Schools
-Tower of Flame
-Order of the Blasted Tower
-Grayshell Navy

Deucalic Magic

Discovered by Deucalion Ghostfang, deucalic magic is the newest school of magic. The school deals in summoning and controlling Oni. This school of magic also has something of a bad reputation in some areas. This is all due to the escape of an Oni daimyo that destroyed the original Tower of Flame, and the Order of the Blasted Tower.

The process is akin to ritual, varying geometries are used to bind and influence Oni. Depending on the geometries used, an Oni can be bound into a metal object, asked questions or imprisoned in a bottle. Oni cannot manifest bodies without a supply of flesh, so animals are often used. Cadavers and living sentients have found there way into the less ethical rituals of some warlocks.

Notable Deucalic summoners
-Ghostfang family
-Griselda Grapequeen, elf-queen
-Anixamander and Pumapriel, Twin Stars of Kell
-The Choroctorate


Rigellian Magic

Rigellian magic is said to be the most potentially powerful magic on earth. Discovered by the Skylord Rigel II at the time a odd occurance, being a non-magical son born to the hereditary magus Skylords. At its core Rigellian magic allows a sorcerer or wizard to manipulate the world around him by tapping the magic inherent in the five "classical senses".

Rigellian magic has five distinct categories. Each category is fueled by a different sense. Sight, hearing, taste, touche and scent. The classical image for a Rigellian wizard is that of the Spice Wizard, covered with small vials of varying spices and liquids, ready to ingest and fuel his magic by their varied flavours. This archtype was popularized by various stories for children about Sassafras Spicewind, defender of the weak.

Notable Rigellion Wizards/Sorcerers
-Sassifras Spicewind (was once an actual person)
-Guild of Spicers
-Magnus the Gray

I like how the magic is associated with people/inventors, rather than merely identified by descriptors.

While potentially confusing for tabletop- it is genius for worldbuilding and putting the player into the world.

As promised llum here is the map. Once you're ready we can see about sticking place names and labels on it.

Architecture

Kierkigaard Century

The Kierkigaard Century was a period of time, actually more then a century, about a hundred and fourty years where it was in vogue for the rich and powerfull to own and live in expansive coastal keeps and castles. During these fourteen decades over three hundred and seventy castles and keeps where built on waterfront properties. Gravelbane Tower, a magus tower specializing in earth magic, and Silk Cistern, a deucalic school of magic, both made huge fortunes during this time, being able to create these huge castles in considerably small time spans. The first five decades of this time, it was a gothic style of castle and keep that dominated, after a more organic look with multiple domes and curving walls came to dominate.

Near the end two new styles emerged, the New Lombardian style, named for where it originated, of multiple tall towers connected by gantries. The most famous example of this is the famed Skylords North Aerie. The second style that emerged is often referred to as the Torslip -Grapequeen style. These keeps and castles were layed out in a large star shaped pattern, the name is from the first castle of this style made, a massive chateau on the mouth of the River Nyx, built to celebrate the union of the heirs to House Torslip and House Grapequeen, sadly the happy couple was assassinated a meer two months later.

 [ooc]Also, Nomadics lovely rendition of my map has been edited into the first post[/ooc]

Hey, if possible, I'd like to know more about Rigellian Magic :) sounds very interesting.

The archItecture section was an interesting read.

How did all these 140 castles fit on the shores? It would seem to be somewhat cramped?

*(mere)