Xearic Campaign Setting

[Drizztrocks]

DO NOT POST IN THIS THREAD, USE DISCUSSION THREAD ON CAMPAIGN ELEMENTS AND DESIGN. Comments and critisism are wanted and encouraged, please post anything you think of as I will respond to all of it. Heres the link:  http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?55446.last And may I just say that when reveiwing this thread, keep in mind that this setting is not particularly for originality and new exciting material, but is simply something I'm creating to run a campaign in. If you like different, evocative settings check out Tersnia, my other setting.



XEARIC

Xearic is a continent on a huge world, covered in mountain ranges, oceans, dense jungles and vast deserts. Magic exists in Xearic, woven into the universe like threads in a quilt, allowing those who have a method of it to harness the power of magic and use ti to their own will. Although magic users are common all throughout Xearic, people still fear and are somewhat superstitious about magic in normal human settlements, where magic and monsters seem far away, when in fact they are everywhere. Abominations and Undead, both creatures of artificial life, are stains on Xearic. Many exotic races live in Xearic, the humans, of course, but also elven hunters lurking in the forest; dwarves mining in halls of stone; strange elementaly based humanoids living spread out, mixed into other races cultures; short and agile halflings, masters of stealth; orc-kin, the scum of all the races, dull and crude yet great warriors; and of course the dragons, great beings of majesty and power, who live in mountains and swamps and create great hordes of treasure.

Great divine figures hold sway over all the matter of the universe, all having a certain part of it that they take care of. These are referred to as Gods, goddesses, and Demi-gods. Although the many races of the world may worship these divine figures and make them appear in pictures as one of their own race, they are truly great masses of unthinkable energy and consience, holding sway over everything in the universe. The Gods may make an avatar of themselves, however. They may be born into a mortal's family, and then be a figure of divine influence in that races culture, but never can the actual god's energy all be manifested in one mortal body.

      [note]This is one idea I decided would be good to use for this setting, because i always hated the idea that gods could fight and die, and they are close to mortal form. My setting leads to the idea that gods are just immortal, extremely powerful superbeings that are just part of existence-they cannot be killed, and they cannot take humanoid form. They are basically a huge, living, extremely powerful {extremely extremely extremely} consious.[/note]

Monsters ravage the face of Xearic also, demons and devils from an evil and horrible Underworld, or undead, created by evil wizards and witches all across Xearic, and then set free to kill at will. These monsters are less common then stories may say, however, and usually the greatest threats are warring with other races or econamical criseses. The orc kind, the orc and goblin scum, are one of the most hated races, and one of the least powerful. their great kingdom long destroyed in The War of the Woodlands {read up on it in the War section}, and then their great fortress destroyed by a human knight and his army, they are split up into small tribes living as Barbarians and nomads in the wilderness, trading with frontiersmen for furs and equipment. They are great survivors and very tough, but thanks to many generations of inbreeding to keep the race from extinction, the orcs are now dull and crude, and always hungering for a fight. This leads them to pillage and attack many villages of common folk all across Xearic, so they are often thought of as enemies of the common people.


The terrain of Xearic is all depending on the climates. In the north, mountain ranges and great expanses of open plains are very common, dotted with small forests. The middle regions of Xearic are full of mountains and great pine and oak forests. The farther south you go, the warmer it gets, and more and more plains come into it turns into shrublands and eventually a great desert. The south is also full of great, untouched jungles full of ancient ruins and horrible creatures. A great inner sea splits down the middle of Xearic, bringing warm currents up to even the far north, letting small tropical forests grow around the water. The continent of Xearic is shaped like a giant, rough oval, with deep, dark and mysterious oceans on either side of it. No one has ever made it across the merciless and freezing tundra on top of Xearic, or across the vast dune sea on the bottom of Xearic. Many huge, open patches of wilderness still stand out in Xearic, but large countries with sprawling empires and political imbalance still exist close by, squabbling over rescources and small, petty things while their neighbors are crushed under a demon invasion. Oh, well, a little less trade and a little more rescources for my country.


Most Human settlements are in the middle regions of Xearic, in the great plains, although there is a human country far up north and a huge, sprawling human empire down to the south in the desert. Dwarves live in the great mountain ranges, building their great cities in valleys between mountains, using the very mountains as defense. The Elves are spread out into three different cultures-the High Elves, the Wood Elves, and the Dark Elves. The High Elves live on their home continent far off in the sea, the Wood Elves in the great forests all over Xearic, and the Dark Elves are dark outcasts, many evil and exiled from society, fleeing to the very ends of the earth.



               

[Drizztrocks]

GEOGRAPHY
   Xearic is the only continent on the world of Corile, and it is huge. The great archipelagos and island chains covering the oceans don't even come close to the greatness of Xearic. It alone takes up nearly half the world, and is a very rough oval shape, going from the north pole to the south. Hundreds of millions of years ago a great seizmic quake split a giant crevice in the center of Xearic, going from nearly the top to a little past the equator. Soon emptied into this great crevese, and after millions of years it went from a crack to a sea.  [note]Alot of my Geography writing is based off of parts of the Great Inner Sea. This is one of the most prominet features of Xearic, so it does make sense to base some parts of Geography off of it. This allows me to describe the different sections of Xearic with an easy thing to base it off of.[/note]  

          Central Northern Xearic
    This details the central part of northernmost Xearic. There are few civilizations up in the far north, but the ones that are up there have to be rescourcful and have intelligent leaders to survive.

                       Triscan
   Triscan in a large country that is centered around the top of the Great Inner Sea. It mainly consists of great, rolling plains, although once you go extremely far north the plains give way to mountains, and then farther on the tundra. Triscan's towns and cities are a mixture of port/fishing towns and farming communities. Some small tropical forests, amazingly {as tropical forests do not usually occur near the top of the world} exist around the northernmost edges of the Great Inner Sea. These forests are able to survive because of the extremely warm southern currents flowing up into the Northern Inner Sea.
   Buffalo  Buffalo is the capital of Triscan. A wealthy center of trade and commerce, it may not have a strong militiary but it is the center of politics and trade in Triscan. The main political leaders of Triscan are here, dealing with all the troubles in the great northern country. Many of its citizens on the edges are farmers, trading their crops in the legendary market of Buffalo. This market is a huge feild, a full mile around, in the center of the rest of the city. Tents and carts and wagons full of goods and trade crowd the huge feild, and there is hardly ever a day when the market neglects to be crowded. There are no streets here-only tents and carts everywhere, and merchants and barters screaming out deals and trades. The rest of Buffalo is mostly stone and clay buildings, most one story, surounding the market. It is well known the kindness of the people of Buffalo. They lack the harshness and brutality of other northeners mostly because of how safe and secure they feeled nestled behind the city walls. Most of its residents are humans, although Wood Elves and Dwarves are known to live there.
 Ironfist Ironfist is the militiary center of the Triscan, and the rest of the northland. It holds an amazing, well trained army, and a wonderful militiary academy. It is the farthest north of all Triscan cities, and is the best defended. It has to be, as great Frost Dragons and armies of Marauding Orc-kin don't make for such a safe place to live. Unlike the other Triscan cities, Ironfist is right below the mountains, in a place that most founders would find undesirable. But an ambitious young human desided to try to conquer the frontier north of Buffalo and founded Ironfist. Some renegades are known to hide here-after all, it is the great frontier, where no one is likely to find them. All buildings in Ironfist are mostly made of stone, but wooden frames, rafters and floors are also in place. Ironfist is a Human and Dwarven community.  [note]Ironfist makes for a great character 'base camp', as it is well defended and armed, houses many weapons and armor shops where in other places they would be hard to find, and the mountains, feilds and forests surounding it are filled with orcs, gnolls, and more dangerous enemies...[/note]
 Sea Port Sea Port is a fishing port town on the northern most tip of the Great Inner Sea. It is a sprawling Sea Port, the most famous far around. Although it is famous, it doesn't mean it is friendly. Although there is a wealthy section of the town, alot of it is poor ramshakle neighborhoods where thugs and theives guilds rule the streets. By day, however, it is beautiful, and since most of the houses are only one story you can see far out into the sea from a high point. Huge marinas is what gives the town its name, and they are all over the place, housing ships of all kinds. Most of the town's economy ia based on fishing and whyat comes from it, so fishing boats are very popular in the arenas.
 Telsnip A small town on the plains next to a river running out to the great inner sea.
  Beltruce, Town of Lost Hope Trade no longer comes to this pitiful town. No one does. Long ago, spider vampires had made their nests in it, preying on the residents and creating their lais beneath the town. Spiders are everywhere here. The community still tries to be normal, trying to act normally to no avail. The community is pitiful and still declining, as trade hasn't come to the town for a decade. Beltruce is going to fall to a reign of evil spider vampires....
 Burpdil Burpdil's a fishing village on the eastern coast of the northern Inner Sea. it lies in a small tropical forest.
 Tribin A small farming village out far on the plains, with a strait trading route to Tiskmi. The two towns trade crops and fish back and forth, creating middle class succesful communities.
 Tiskmi Tiskmi, a small fishing port on the western side of the great inner sea. It is a smaller, less succesful twin to Sea Port, but it has less gangsters and thugs roaming the streets at night, and more good folk with good intentions. It trades back and forth with Tribin.
 Durgrrim Ruins Long ago Durgrrim was the great capital of a sprawling orc nation, spreading across miles of land. Now it is an overgrown ruin, with great orc temples and houses crowding the ruins streets. Vines and trees grow everywhere, and this once great {although corrupt} city has been lost to time. Now wild animals and small roving bands of orc-kin {goblin and orcs} lurk all in and outside the ruins. The ruins are huge, stretching for miles all around. Orcs many times think of this of their greatest acheivement. But one brave human knight had led an invading human army throught eh walls of Durgrrim, and they had nearly completely destroyed the place. Many of the houses walls and ceilings have collapsed over time, but the great temples and other great buildings remain standing.
 [note]Durgrrim is supposed to be an adventure site if it sounded like one. Although some players might just want to loot the place and kill all the wild creatures there, there is much history and storyline to the place, and it all ends in a great treasure....[/note]

[Drizztrocks]

OTHER WORLDS

      Xearic is the only continent on the world of Corile {sur-EEL}, and the rest of the land on Corile is many archipelago's and islands all over the great oceans and seas. Corile is a mid-sized planet, two planets away from the sun. It has one moon named Adeber, and the moon is completely lifeless and frozen solid, and it is actually just a small astroid covered in miles of ice and snow. It has no oxygen or gravity either.

    One planet closer to the sun is Feywild, a larger planet connected to Corile in many places, and many portals exsist between the two planets. Long ago, the two worlds were joined together, and then a great impact split them apart, so they are extremely close in the matter of plant life and animal life, with one exception. Feywild is completely covered in wilderness, and even though some mysterious races live on Feywild, they are extremely spread out and live at one with nature. There are no oceans on Feywild, but there are many large lakes and rivers all over the place. Feywild is almost completely enexplored, but what is known of it is that it is one great semi-tropical to tropical forest. It is always hot, and the coldest it ever gets in the winter is 60 degrees. The plants resemble those of Corile, except they are larger and grow everywhere. There is not one part of Feywild that isn't at least partially covered in plants. The wildlife is very similiar, but alot of the animals are larger and more dangerous. And there are as many sentient,hunting and walking plants. The Shambling Mounds are plant creatures that reproduce and hunt, for example. They resemble giant piles of vines and leaves, except they are all connected through many tendrils and small vines going through the mound, nourishing it with bloodlike fluids and water. It has a large mouth lined with small teeth, and can sense vibrations through the ground. They lie in wait in swamps and marshes, waiting until an animal comes by, and then jump out, attacking and eating the creature. The Eladrin, a wild, some say insane, race of sorcerers and warlocks that lurks in the Feywild, protecting the forest crazily, with mad eyes and crazy stares. True gnomes originally came from many burrows and tunnels in the Feywild, but only a few primitive, wild gnome colonies still reside in Feywild, and they are hardly civilized at all, fighting eachother for food and attacking any non gnome that comes near them. But the "gnomes" that live in Xearic today are mostly just a sub-race of Halflings that named themselves after the Gnomes after a little less then half of the halflings population ran away into the great plains of Xearic. It is hard now to tell the difference between true gnomes and the 'gnomes,'.  [note]There is no space travel in this campaign setting, and space is still a great mystical boundry, far off and unreachable. The only way to reach the Feywild and the Shadowfell, two seperate planets, are in fey druid circles or dark magic portals.[/note]

            The Shadowfell was created by a long lost and forgotten evil god. It is the small, black planet behind Corile. It was originally just a plain arid rock, like all the other non oxygen planets, but this long forgotten evil god used all his dark power to make it into a replica of Corile, except it is three different large island continents, all lying in dark, black seas. Shadowfell is inhabited by dark, evil things that are the things of nightmares and horror stories in Corile. It is home to ghosts, ghouls, skeletons, living shadows, huge black bats and other more horrible things lurking in the eternal darkness. Plants are rare and nearly extinct on Shadowfell, and a strange black stone makes up most of the landscape. The terrain mostly features huge mountains and deep chasms, and occasionly rolling stone plains. The planet is wreathed in eternal darkness, covered by strange black clouds. Evil people supposedly go here when they die. The people of Corile rarely visit this horrible, cursed place, a place of misery, horror and ultimetadly death. The Shadar-kai live here, a race that was created by the long forgotten god, and resemble humans, except for the ugly black tatoos covering their bodies, and how pale their skin is and how white their hair is. They are an alien race, having only small amounts of love and kindness in their hearts, replaced by great evils and horrors. There are also a race of short people that live in great dark caves on Shadowfell, called Shadowrunners. They have pale white skin, stark white hair, red eyes and are weak, but extremely malicious and cruel. These races still are uncommon compared to the large numbers of undead and shadow creatures that stalk this eternal land of death.

[Drizztrocks]

The Underworld and the Abyss

    The Underworld is another plane of existence. The Underworld is a huge flat universe, with huge chains of volcanos and thousand mile planes with nothing but rivers of lava flowing across them. Huge, horrible city states run by Archdevils rule over the Underworld. The Underworld is inhabited by devils, along with the more rare demons. In the center of the Underworld is a huge tear in the earth, thousands of miles wide and millions deep, and no one has ever found the end of either side. Countless lava waterfalls pour into this great Abyss. In the walls of the Abyss of huge tunnel systems, spanning underneath the entire Underworld. Some of these tunnels are completely filled with acid or lava, and most of the ground is black or red rock. At the bottom of the Abyss, a utterly dark place where no light is ever able to penetrate, there lies a great river of fire, where Balors and worse things live. The Abyss is infested with wild, unlawfuly utterly demented demons. Demons are mad, fiery abominations that live to destroy. They are beings of utter choas and destructing. The landscape of the many tunnels of the Abyss features huge rivers of acid and lava, entire caverns and tunnels littered with bones, streams of blood, and other horrific things. Only the utterly insane dare to enter the tunnels and great rift that is the Abyss, a huge festering wound in reality, the horrible mistake of the gods.

          If the Abyss is a great festering horrible wound in reality, the great Devils city states are a growing, horrible disease in reality. The Archdevils rule over the city states, buildings constructed of metal and stone, and made into horrible, sharp shapes that are unpleasant to even look at. They house huge, undefeatable armies and house the most powerful devils in existence. Torture is one of the devils most common arts, and they have entire castles dedicated to just that. Devils are horrible, backstabbing creatures. They all know their own place, but their all trying to kill the ones ahead of them to rank higher. The many cities are always having bloody wars, and to devils, killing is simply a fun part of life. Unlike the demons of the Abyss that embrace the horrible fiery hell that their world is, the devils try to tame it and then make it worse. They are beings of pure evil, creating cities that are pure evil.

             The landscape of the Underworld is as horrible as the inhabitants. Volcanos going miles into the sky, seas of lava and acid, and clouds of acid or pure C2O, this is the seemingly most uninhabitable place ever. Huge fires pop up in random places often, and some great rocky plains are entirely covered in feilds of fire or geysers spewing acid. The most common materials are Black Rock and Bloodstone. Bloodstone is a redish rock that a redish mist tends to swirl around. An area of Bloodstone  feels evil. Black Rock is the most common material in the Underworld. It is simply completely black rock, almost unbreakable. When these two rocks are combined using black magic it creates a black, nearly unbreakable metal. When chipped, Black Rock becomes extremely sharp, and anyone cut by Black Rock is poisened. Black Rock is the favored material to make weapons with for the devils.

          The Underworld can be reached through many different ways. The most common is when a cult of Demon or Devil worshipers gather in a place of Bloodstone in Corile {Bloodstone is also found on Corile, but it is only found in places of great slaughter or in places where Demons or Devils have left their foul dark magic tough} and create portals to the Underworld. Another method is to jump into a volcano. 1 out of 50 times the person who leaps in is transported to the Underworld. Sometimes breaks in the universe, appearing as big red cracks in the air, open up. By going through them, people from each side can access the opposite world. This is extremely dangerous, however, as sometimes they can close as suddenly as they opened.

                     [note]The Nine Hells was getting old for me, and I always thought that even with the new edition, demons and devils seemed to similiar. This gave me a chance to create a whole realm of chaos, evil and treachary, a place where evil runs wild. This is a place where people do NOT want to be, but the bottom of the Abyss or the Archdevil running one of the great city states would make a good adventure goal. And tears opening up in time and space might lead to invading devil armies, or might lead to a deeper connection between the two realms. [/note]

[Drizztrocks]

The Sinyou Desert

           This huge expanse of bleak, bone dry desert is in the center of a great savanna. Where the scrublands and savanna end this great sea of sand of rock begins. To outsiders the desert all looks mostly the same, but to the ones who live in the desert, it couldn't look more different. There are the Dune Seas-huge expanses of sand dunes, like desert mountain chains. They are uninhabitable by anyone who lives above the sand, because huge skin ripping sandstorms blow through almost everyday. And some dunes collapse in on themselves, killing all on top. Usually the only things that live in the Dune Seas are Lizards, Snakes, Beetles and Sandworms. Sandworms are huge, twenty foot long armor plated worms with a maw filled with many layers of huge teeth. They swim under the sand, waiting for large prey to walk onto the sand, and then they strike, shooting up out of the sand and ripping the prey to shreds. They can go a year without food, and have evolved this way because of how larger prey does not come often onto the Dune Sea.  [note]Sandworms, although you may think Dune at first, were actually completely inspired by Tremors, an old western film about a small town being attacked by giant worms. I homebrewed them in 3.5 and it scared the crap out of my PCs. How do you fight something that you can't see until its mouth is around you?[/note]
       Another obvious terrain feature of the Sinyou is the rock plains. They are completely flat places, with a few dead or dying shrubs spread out every three hundred or so feet, and there are rocks of every shape and size strewn about everywhere. Where there aren't rocks there is either hard sand or gravel. Tribes of Hobgoblins, Desert Nomads, and Sandkind live in small villages here, seeking shelter from the harsh desert winds and searing tempetures in the natural caves formed by many boulders stacking over time and leaving large spaces inbetween.
     The Desert Mountains are huge rocky crags, with sharp ravines, huge vertical cliffs, and other terrain dismaying to even the bravest adventurer. This place is almost uninhabitable-until you go underground. This place used to be the stronghold of a extremely powerful Nercromancer, and now thousands of useless undead mill about under these crags, fighting themselves and killing anything they see.
 [note]Sandkind are a dying race of tall, strong crude creatures. They have four fingered hands and two large toes for feet, two small stubby ears, two small slits for a nose, two large brown eyes, and rubbery wrinkly skin with a tanish color. Sandkind live in small tribes, and are very primitive and superstitious. They use spears and clubs as weapons, and they think humans are demons, and kill them normally. When they are outnumbered they run and hide,only fighting if forced to. Although inspired by Star Wars sandpeople, they work well in a fantasy setting.[/note]

                      DESERT RACES
   HUMANS: It is no surprise that the extremely adaptable humans have inhabited this place. They have a caramel like skin color, with dark hair and eyes. They are often traders, merchants, theives and nomads. There is a great human empire in the center of the Sinyou Desert, but it is not composed of Desert Humans, but rather Northerners who have come down and inhabited this place. They enslave Desert Humans, using them for labor and forcing them to build weapons and armor for their grand armies. The differences between Desert Humans and Northerners are obvious: the northerners have lighter skin, lighter hair and are generally taller, and Northerners who live in the Desert live in great stone buildings and other solid structures. The true Desert Humans live in tent homes, as they are easily movable and easy to erect, and entire villages sometimes move when horrible sandstorms or tribes of Hobgoblins move into the area. Desert Humans often wear wraps around their mouths or hair, trying to keep the sand out. More rich people have these wraps made of silk or yarn.
HOBGOBLINS: The Hobgoblins are native to the desert, and are taller Goblins with orangish skin, red eyes, brownish hair, no fangs and are usually more intelligent. They usually live in the rock plains, making their homes in the openings and crevices in the giant boulder stacks. They are not as primitive as other Goblins, creating laws, order and are skilled at making armor and weapons. They are a peaceful race, wishing to live with the Desert Humans in harmony, but being related to the more choatic, wicked goblins, are not generally excepted very well. They have invented a type of sand armor that sheilds from heat and blows.

     Sand, Basic       +1 AC       +2 on saves against heat      20gp Special: Can only be found in hobgoblin settlements
     Sand, Plate       +3 AC       +2 on saves against heat      50gp Special: Can only buy at hobgoblin settlements
     Sand, Superior    +5 AC       +4 on saves against heat      200gp Special: Can only be bought at hobgoblin settlements

         Celtrickdim Celtrickdim is the large metropilis Capital of the Human Empire of Seltric, an empire of northerners that has done great in conquering the center of the Sinyou. This, at first glance, appears to be the gleaming metropilis that it is rumored to be. And it is for a visitor. Great towers and castles decorated with artwork and great sculptures and statues, and the well dressed royal guard parade down the street, trumpets blaring, all while the Royal Mages at sunrise and sundown cast ice spells on a certain pipe system that runs through the sewers, pumping cool air into the city, sheilding it from the harsh desert heat. With many shops nestled in the cozy streets, where everyone seems friendly. But under the city, right below the sewers, lies a dark secret. Slaves, thousands of Desert Humans and Hobgoblins who supposedly "took up evil rebellions against the good" work in horrible conditions, making armor and crossbows for the militiary of Celtrickdim. The army of Celtrickdim is also somewhat corrupt, and the soldiers are taught how to be merciless and to kill a man from birth. Like most modern soldiers, they use crossbows, and hold swords as a backup weapon.
 Other Villages Many other villages that are part of the empire surround Celtrickdim, all of them having great stone walls and a good militiary. Desert Humans are farther out in the desert, and although their people are enslaved by the Northerners, there are still more of them, and they are ruling the sides of the desert, their armies keeping the Northerners from advancing.

                 Snakefang Skimitar         +2 vs AC     4d12 +2                100gp
                 Scorpion Skimitar          +10 vs AC    2d10 +2                100gp
 
                 Turtleback Sheild       +3 to AC                               20gp
                 Turtleback, Plate       +5 to AC        -2 Speed               30gp
                 
                 Acrok Chain Mail        +7 to AC        +2 Speed               300gp
                 

                                    MOUNTS:
                  Acrok, Riding             125gp
                  Acrok, Draft              95gp
                  Acrok, War                200gp
                  Acrok, Tame              50gp

                  Camel, Draft              8gp
                  Camel, Riding             12gp

      SKIMITARS: These two skimitars are both very powerful, but both focus on different fighting styles. The Snakefang is extremely offensive, and although it won't hit very much, when it does hit it does ALOT of damage. Elite Desert Humans raiders use these. Scorpions are focusing on hitting most of the time, but not doing a very extreme amount of damage.
      TURTLE ARMOR: The large, roaming herds of giant turtles can be hunted and their huge shells used for good armor. Although it slows you down, it is useful.
      ACROK: Acroks are giant lizards that live wild in the desert, but can be tamed and ridden, and are used for both war, travel and transport. The ones used for war are deadly combatants, jumping on their oppenents and ripping them to shreds with their teeth and claws. A tame Acrok is just that-it was trained not to eat people or be rude, but hasn't been taught anything else yet.
     CAMELS: Camels are horses that are extremely differently evolved, having brownish, shaggy fur and two humps. They smell and are much slower then Acroks, but are much cheaper.

[Drizztrocks]

The Savannaland
  The Savannaland is a huge expanse of rolling plains and high grass, filled with patches of scrubland and lagoons in which animals swarm around. Civilized by the Feildmen, a mixture of Humans and Halflings who do not tame, but live in harmony with, this wild frontier. Large animals, such as Elaphants, Rhinos, Buffalo and Zebras roam freely in this vast expanse of wilderness.  [note]The Savannaland is very much based on African Savannas, except for the roaming wyverns, marauding goblins, and other such non-real world stuff.[/note]  

        The Savannaland is home to many wyverns, who roam about the skys and plains, hunting elephants and zebra herds across the rolling savannas. Crocidiles and Pythons live in and around the river, making swimming, cleaning and getting water dangerous. Deadly diseases spread across the Savannaland, often spread by Mosquitos and Biting Flies. Deadly snakes and spiders make foraging and even walking around barefoot extremely dangerous, especially when some of the snakes are venomous enough to kill a hundred full grown men, and the spiders grow as big as a man's waist.

                          RACES OF THE SAVANNALAND
    HUMANS AND HALFLINGS: Humans and Halflings live together in tribes close to rivers or watering holes. They look the same except for the size difference. They have dark brown, getting close to black skin, dark hair, and dark eyes. This has developed because of them constantly being outside. They are fit and strong, and most are hunters, craftsmen, teachers and storytellers. They live in hut tribes, all of them living equal, and the Shaman leading the tribe peacefully. They refuse to take up the far off and exotic {to them} ways of other races, and stick to older methods, and wear hides and hunt with spears. They do not farm, but hunt and forage, as they see this as more pure. The Shaman is always either a Cleric or any Arcane class other then Warlock. They are wonderful craftsmen and builders, but do not see the need to create more space in their homes other then that for storage, for shelter against the elements and to sleep, and therefore they usually live in mud and fur huts with doors made of beads. They trade with other races, taking stronger metals for spears and some exotic materials to make pottery and other arts with. These people are known as the Feildmen.

          Spear, Feildmen    +3 vs AC       1d10            10gp
          Dagger, Bone       +1 vs AC       2d4             5gp
          Flute, Feildmen    High Quality                   12gp
          Statue, Feildmen   High Quality                   25gp
          Poetry, Feildmen                                  5cp
          Flute, Feildmen    Low Quality                    10cp
          Statue, Feildmen   Low Quality                    13cp
          Crocidile Sculpture                               20sp
          Zebra Sculpture                                   5sp
          Sculpture of the Hunt                             35sp
          Elephant Sculpture                                30sp
          Wyvern Sculpture                                  40sp

        SCULPTURES: Beautifully sculpted out of clay and mud, these are must haves for any exotic collector or art collector.
        POETRY: Exotic Feildmen poetry.
        FLUTE: Unhear of in other lands, the Feildmen Flute is craved for by Bards.
        STATUE: A Statue of bronze, it can be modeled into anything.
        SPEAR: This feildmen spear is more specially crafted and deadly then the average spear.
        BONE DAGGER: This exotic dagger is made of hard as rock, razor sharp bone, curvign wickedly. The curve allows the wielder to slice another's insides out, proving a deadly weapon, some even prefere it over the spear or sword.

        GOBLINS: This subrace of goblins is very warlike. They live in hut tribes out on the Savannaland also, but are anything but peaceful. The leader of their tribe is the strongest and the most cunning. They have brown skin, the color of tree bark, and normally paint their faces with black mud, with lines and war stripes, showing rank and position. They are enemies of the Feildmen, raiding and plundering their villages. They have brown hair which they usually let grow long and wild, a symbol of their primitive nature. Although not intelligent, they are wise and cunning, as tough foes to face. [note]Here's a classic example of how evolution works in my setting. It doesn't make sense for the goblins living on a Savanna to be the same as the ones living in the mountains of the north, so they have behaviorial and physical differences based on their enviroment. Same goes for humans and halflings.[/note]

[Drizztrocks]

SELTORIA
   Seltoria is a huge peninsula jutting out of the Hellspire Mountain's into this thinner stretch of the inner sea. It curves slowly up. This land is the homeland of the Halflings, and most of the bottom half of the peninsula is marshland. Seltoria is mostly halflings, with a large population of dwarves and some small patches of humans in the farming villages. This land is peaceful, and although the Halfling warbands are quite abundant in this land, they are all normal people trained not to kill but to defend.

                      HALFLING MARSH VILLAGES
    Halfling villages that lie in marshes float on top of the water, which is mostly long boardwalks held up by floating barrels. The houses and shops are houseboats, small and large, docked and tied to the floating streets. In the middle of the floating villages, there is a place where the houses are real, solid houses but they are held high above the water on stilts, and have ladders to access the doors. These in place houses are the militiary schools, learning schools and mayor's house.

                       HALFLING FARMING VILLAGES
   Halfling farming villages are usually in hills or on great grassy plains, with some rescource of wood nearby so they can build their cottage like homes. Halfling farmers keep less animals then they do crops. Most Halfling farmers only farm chickens, sometimes not even. Halflings in this area live in small cottages, made out of wood and mud bricks. Although Halflings of the farmlands are peaceloving and family people, in times of war they feircely defend their land. And in this area of Seltoria, wild parties often rage in the local taverns, Halflings enjoying themselves, drinking, partying and gambling. Halflings are lucky, gambling tricksters who live on the wild side, but in order to keep a community going they can only show this side of them when partying or other times when their off duty. Many Halfling farming villages have resident mages, sometimes very powerful.



                       HALFLING MILITIARY
       Halflings, although peaceful, become grim and harsh in times of war, and take up arms quickly. The seaside villages have large fleets, and armies of well trained Halfling crossbowmen. The marsh villages have whole squads of knife fighters who move an Marsh Warboats. The Farming Villages have large groups of elite guards, trained perfectly with the sword, sheild and armor, and also have many resident mages.


    Sunsea Marshes  The Sunsea marshes are the marshes covering the entire lower half of the Seltorian Peninsula. They are brackish near the very bottom, but completely fresh water everywhere else. The swamps are filled with crocidiles, birds, muskrats, beavers and tons of fish and other aquatic creatures. Renegades and criminals from Halfling marsh villages also hide in these marshes, seeking refuge. Other then that, and a small settlement of goblins in the center, there are no monstrous creatures in the swamp.

            [note]the Sunsea marshes are put on here so you can use them, so don't think that the fact that no monstrous creatures live in the swamp means you can't use it. That could mean the villages let their guard down while the numbers of goblins exploded, or some other evil threat is lurking under the dark water of the swamp....[/note]

                       MOUNTS
              Pony, riding             15gp
              Pony, war                35gp
              Pony, pack               13gp

              Crocidile, Riding        25gp
              Crocidile, War           50gp
  PONIES: Ponies are miniture horses that are native to Seltoria. They are used the same as horses for Halflings in farming communities.
  CROCIDILES: In marsh villages, the second most common form of movement in the marshlands next to boats is trained crocidiles, who can be wonderful mounts wants trained to be less agressive and not submerge. When trained for war they can be deadly combatants.

[Drizztrocks]

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[Drizztrocks]

RACES

              Humans Humans, or men, are a race of independant people who are unusally curious and always wondering, always questioning. This led to some great, amazing discoveries, found not through passion but through curiosity. Humans are also extremely adaptable, but this can also be a weakness. Humans tend to be strongly influenced ovfer the generations by the places they live. Although Humans are always settling in new places, all the major human places are in the North, in the land of Triscan, the Sinyou desert, the Great Plains in Central Xearic, The Savannaland and tribes of Barbaric Humans are found in the jungles of the south and the tundras of the north. These, of course, are just thye places where humans are a main race. Humans can be found nearly anywhere on Xearic mixed in with other races.

    Culture
 Human culture varies greatly with their enviroment. The farmers and merchants living in the Great Human kingdom of Triscan is much different then the hunting, gathering primal tribes of Feildmen in the Savannaland {although the Feildmen are an ethnic group made of both Humans and Halflings. The only truly cruel human culture is that of the Sinyou desert, and even there it is mainly the political leaders and soldiers who are the evil ones, not the residents.0

     Allies and Enemies
  Human allies depend on the ehtnic group. The humans of North and Central Xearic fight mainly with the more tribal orc-kin plauging their lands, along with spread out tribes of kobolds and barbarians. The humans of the Savannalands fight mainly the groups of militiary obssessed goblins, and in the Sinyou humans battle eachother for possession of the Sinyou desert itself.

              Wood Elves The large tree cities of the Wood Elves are found through the forests in Xearic. Any place where there are great forests Wood Elves are usually found in atleast small villages. They live mostly alone as hunters and gatherers, their community ran by Fighters and Rangers, protecting them. They are not mysterious like their High Elven kin, however, and are only extremely protective about their family and their forest homes. They are well paid as hunters and forest guides in other communities, and can be hired as guards of local forests. Many colonies of wood elves are found in the human kingdoms of the North.

        Culture
 The culture of the wood elves is peaceful and fun loving, as even the main leaders love parties and friendly contests, along with fairs. Wood Elves hold holidays many times a month, just to get together and have contests including who can climb the tree the fastest, and other such physical tests. Wood Elves are people of well felt passions, and they dedicate much of their lives to nature and the world around them.

          Allies and Enemies
  Wood Elves are reluctant allies with the High Elves, many Human communities, the Dwarves and the Halflings, and even though they will not violently confront orcs, they are not fond of them at all, and most hate their kind for destroying half the number of forests on Xearic. They are peaceful, however, and only openly wage war with those who attack them or their forests. And in times of war wood elves show a grim side, a side of deadly swordsmen and precise archers....

       High Elves Skilled wizards and persausive diplomats, the High Elves live on the great elven island continent named Xendrameliarian, a continent of beautiful forests, ancient mountains and great white cities of the High Elves. High Elves sometimes seem arogant and rude, but this derives from a long line of thinking that they are superior to other races. This idea has been dying quickly in the new generations of High Elves. High Elves practice the arts of swashbuckling, and magic most of all, being the leaders in magical discoveries.

       Culture
 High Elves are very musical and artistic people, and often have plays or duels with the special, slender yet extremely strong swords of the High Elves. They enjoy shows of skill and music, and are always excited about new magical discoveries.

         Allies and Enemies
 High Elves are still in a reluctant alliance with the Wood Elves, although they are experiencing some trouble cooperating. And although the High Elves have tension with many other races, none of the goodly races hate or despise the High Elves, and vice versa.

           Dwarves
  A race of miners, craftsmen and warriors, the Dwarves main kingdom is found in the Hellspire Mountains. Here they build great stone castles and kingdoms in the valleys. Their armies are constructed of huge forces of soldiers weilding battleaxes. The Dwarves are great scribes, and are great warriors. Although short, they are extremely strong and tough, and have great skill with weapons.

            Culture
   Dwarves sometimes appear rude to the other races, when they belch and lick their fingers at dinner. This is, however, part of their culture. It is considered polite to belch softly and lick your fingers at meals. It is considered rude to pour somebodies glass of ale or wine for them, as it is a sign of disrespect. Dwarves do not understand why the other races wipe the food they had just eaten off their fingers after they eat. Its the same thing, why waste it?

              Allies and Enemies
    Dwarves have had battles with the Orcs in years past and recent years, but long ago they fought a war with the halflings. Now, however, Dwarves and Halflings are great allies. Dwarves are also allies with the Humans. Although they are polite and non-hostile to the Elves, they would not be considered allies.

              Halflings
   A race of three to four foot tall people, looking like humans except more agile and skinnier. Although their homeland is very cut-off from most of the outside world, they are very widespread, Halflings living among almost all cultures. Most halflings heroes are rogues, scoundrels and theives, but a great halfling warrior or mage is of course possible.

                Culture
  To party and enjoy life while maintaining happiness in those around you is the main halfling philosiphy. As long as you're not hurting other people and their property, or being to openly rude, halflings encourage each other to fulfill their dreams and do what they wish. This has lead to many halfling inventions and halflings being found in far off places.

                  Allies and Enemies
    Halflings are allies with any except those who don't agree with their main morale values or attack them or their friends. They mainly call Dwarves and Humans their friends.

[Drizztrocks]

Orc Kind  
       Orcs were once great, noble and strong warrior-nomads who lived across the great plains in large moving bands, trading with the elves and living peacefuly by hunting and foraging, constantly moving across the few, yet large, plains of the north. They were, along with the wood elves, one of the most common races on Xearic at the time. At this time there was only about four hundred square miles of plains.  This was the homeland of the orcs back in 714 BGC, known as Kazahd Zudim.

              [note]I will often use the references BGC and AGC, and it stands for Before Great Council{BGC} {the great council being a world spanning order that incorparates all the races in one great empire} and After Great Council {AGC}[/note]

                        Kazahd Zudim
   Kazahd Zudim was an area of great plains ruled by many tribes of orcs. Kazahd Zudim was more or less of a Kingdom, more of a large collection of roving tribes of orcs. Kazahd Zudim lasted from 714 BGC to 404 BGC. Although it was a relatively short amount of time, the orcs of Kazahd Zudim thrived during this age, as they traveled in nomadic tribes across the plains, trading with the Wood Elves of the forests near to them. The Orcs rode across the plains on boars the size of horses at this time. They would capture the baby hogs and train them to bear a rider and not attack orcs. The orcs, however, were cunning from the start, and although they were allies and good friends with the elves, their leaders expected a war from the beginning, and did not train the boars to not attack elves. The orcs lived on the plains with only one enemy-the Giants roaming across the plains in bands of a dozen or more, destroying their villages and doing open battle with them. In Kazahd Zudim there was only one permanent orc settlement, and this was named  Bazzistarazz, a great city with residents mixed between Orcs and Wood Elves, coexisting peacefully in the metropilis. The Wood Elves and Orcs shared with eachother great discoveries. The Wood Elves could tell of their homeland, the place they had deserted for Xearic. The great high elven continent had the most advanced technology at the time, and the Wood Elves would share their secrets in exchange for the wild Orcs to teach them how to hunt and live off the land. The Wood Elves were new to the land, and in their homeland they grew crops and farmed the strange big cats that lived there, so the Wood Elves weren't suited to this new land that they did not understand. Kazahd Zudim, in 510 BGC, was united under one banner. It appeared on the flag as the black form of a spear crossed with a deer's antlers, with a blue back-color. After 510 BGC it was a Kingdom ruled by King Tuckrizzdar, a ruler with his mind on trade and the economy. The Tuckrizzdar Orc family ruled Kazahd Zudim until 545 BGC, when the family died out, except for one of the daughters, who married a young, strong orc named Duzzdrim Thistlethorns. He became King in that year, and was much different then the former king. In five years of ruling he had created a huge army, to the suspicions of the Wood Elves, but they were assured that it was only being created to fight the giants. King Thistlethorns was, however, planning to overun the elves. The Kingdom of Kazahd Zudim would follow him if he called the Wood Elves evil traders, he knew, but he also understood that once the orc armies charged into the forests they would be obliterated by huge volleys of elven arrows, and that they would only be able to do minimum damage to the elves. While keeping his goals secret he formed a great underground fortress beneath Bazzistarazz. Here he trained great armies of orcs and created huge seige machines. But he wanted it done right, with no mistakes. He needed allies. King Thistlethorns, in 550 BGC, seeked out an alliance with the huge, fourteen foot tall giants of the plains. And the dim-witted brutes were easily fooled by his charismatic charm, and the giant bands united under the new banner of King Thistlethorns, a flag with a blood red backround and the completely black symbol of a spear crossed with a sheild, marking war. The Wood Elves' suspicions could not be held back much longer, and they had no problem with sending in elven spies to the city of Bazzistarazz. They managed to eavesdrop on a meeting King Thistlethorns was having with the Captains of his army, and discovered the alliance with the Giants. After this was revealed tension grew and grew, as did King Thistlethorn's bloodlust. The abrupt tension laster until 404 BGC, when the  War of the Woodlands officially started.
 [note][/note]  [note][/note]

               
               War of the Woodlands
  One of the greatest wars of all time in Xearic, this took place between the Wood Elves and the Orcs in 404 BGC, and marked the end of the success of the Orcs and the end of the great forests of the North.
       It started a few years after elven spies reported back to the Wood Elves that the Orcs had made a truce and an alliance with the giants, so the elves began to be harsh and throw words of "trader" and "scum" at the orcs. What the Wood Elves did not understand was that cruel and conspiring King Thistlethorns had planned for this all along. He knew that the Wood Elves' natural curiosity would lead to them eventully finding out, and that they would rightly get harsh about it. Of course, the general Orc public knew nothing of the grand conspiracy against the Wood Elves, and see the Elves, who were once their allies, hurtling insults at them. Of couurse, this made the orcs think that the elves were the traders, and huge mobs of Orcs and Wood Elves rose in Bazzastarazz, the main Wood Elven and Orc city. More of a huge, deadly riot then a battle, it went on for days, endless fights of mobs within the city. Trying to stop the choas insuing on the city, King Thistlethorns revealed his army, hundreds of thousands of orcs, all with black armor marked with the three bright red stripes symbolizing King Thistlethorns. The orcs killed all the Wood Elves trapped in the city mercilessly, and so the war began. The orc army swelled in size as recruits from orc tribes poured in. The huge, marauding giants joined in, spread out in the ranks and and asset to the army, as every giant could kill atleast thirty elves before it was taken down. Great war machines, such as catapults and giant crossbows were created. The Elves had chances to prepare, and almost all of the men who had come of age fled their homes to come to the front lines in the forest. The orcs had numbers and power on their side, while the elves had the advantages of high perches and huge groups of experienced archers waiting in the trees for the orcs.

       The orcs began the first battle by lining up all the catapults in front of the forest and firing, destroying many acres of forest and lighting them aflame. Certain flaming pitches and huge boulders were aimed at Stilkilmisi, a Wood Elven militiary village, and like the rest of the Wood Elven villages, it was built high up off the ground in the trees. The terrifying story of a survivor recounts the horrors:

     "I was just coming back from hunting when I heard the whistling sound in the air, and I came to Stilkilmisi, and saw flying through the air a huge flaming boulder strait towards the village. I ran towards it, but then stopped, realizing the helplessness of it all. The huge flaming boulder crashed into the village built in the trees, and an explosion ensued. Wood and flames went flying everywhere, and I leaped into a small trench to keep from getting burned alive. When I glanced back up I watched as the village burned, survivors running as the entire village collapsed out of the tree's canopy, some many of our Women and Children still in the obliterated village as it was bombarded by exploding pitches and quickly collapsed on itself, burning to the ground. Many survivors, and myself, I remember, stood around the wreckage with faces grim. We wanted revenge. And we heard the orc army marching through the trees, the forests burning and dying, our lives dying with them, we were infuriated. The orcs came on in a mad, screaming rush, throwing rocks and chopping with sword and axe, killing the survivors. But me and the twenty or so people around me charged strait towards them, full of rage and hatrid. They killed everyone except for me, who escaped and ran, and I am now writing this in a feild near the wreckage. Oh, the horror. They are burning the forests, all of them, and taking my people as slaves if not outright killing them. The brutish giants are heading towards the next elvish village. I fear this is not a war, but an extermination.

          The Wood Elves were completely crushed in the initial assault, but despite the losses it was a small village and only a few acres of forest was burned to the ground. The Orcs created a militiary base atop the wreckage, and were still training more soldiers back in what was left of Bazzastarazz.

        The Elves were quick thinking, however, and realized the mistake the orcs had made in creating a base in the burned out section of forest, and were eager to avenge those who had been betrayed and killed without mercy. The Wood Elven leader, King Estral, had a plan. He put together four squads of twenty archers, and had them all move out to surround the new orc base. A large group of elven skirmishers also moved out, but they instead marched strait into the middle of a large opening that connected the burned out section of forest to Kazahd Zudim. They stood there, and sure enough, the orcs charged, with the angry giants at the lead. The Skirmisher's held their place, and the Wood Elf archers slowly surrounded the huge orc force, unleashing hundreds of volleys of flaming arrows into the orc ranks. Many orcs and giants fell, but so did many elves, the giants killing many with the sweeps of their huge clubs. But the Elves won the day, and it gave them ground in the war.

       In the next few years many battles were fought, and the war slowly died out as the attacks became more and more half hearted on eachother. But an earth-shattering change came when King Thistlethorn's son, Brassknuckles Thistlethorns, became King. King Thistlethorns had married a powerful ogre woman, and their son had grown into a Half-ogre, extremely powerful by himself, but full of greed, evil and hatrid that went past even his father. He would not let the war die: he led the charge of the next battle, as half the army charged strait into the forest, burning it as they went.

        The Elves fought back, letting flys volleys of arrows from the hidden branches of trees as the orcs rushed past, doing a small amount of damage to the orc army. The Elves had a problem: their most effective soldiers were archers, and they were most effective when the orcs were still. And it was then that the elf king, King Estral, a powerful Nature Adept, who could control the raw forces of nature, brought to life all the trees around the orcs. The terrififed orcs were trampled and ripped apart by the enraged trees themselves, pushing the orc army back to Kazahd Zudim, and giving the elves a great victory, but this did mark the beginning of greater, more important battles.

       And so the greater battles did come, with many orc and elven invasions on each others land. But the two final battles were the most important in the war, next to the amazing feat on King Estral's part of bringing the trees to life.

    The Orcs had a plan: they were going to gather all their forces and war machines out on the feild, and then launch as many exploding pitches as they could into the forest, burning huge parts of it and leaving the elves exposed, and then charging in and slaughtering them. So they gathered their entire army out in a huge camp on the feild, split up into squads, each squad equiped with its own catapult and giant beserker. They built huge palaside walls around, and had armored giants guard the perimeter. Nothing would stop the orcs in their moments of conquest, nothing was as strong as them. And that was just the thing. An uprising happened in their ranks, when there was a squabble over food. A catapult was fired, destroying a large part of the palaside wall, and killing a giant. This caused the orcs to think they were under attack, so they went into a frenzy, and in the darkness of night, attacked many of their own ranks. A group of elven spies had snuck into the camp earlier, and had sewn the chaos in by planting doughts in the orcs minds.
         The Elves, amidst the chaos, lit the catapults aflame. They understood that with the catapults still there, they would most certainly be utterly destroyed, along with the forests and everything in them. But order came to the great camp, and the elven spies were captured and killed. But this was the one event that kept the orcs from destroying the Wood Elves in one quick sweep, and was the turning point of the War of the Woodlands.

           It was here that the orcs erred, as with time they could have constructed new seige weapons and destroyed the forests and the elves just as easily. But King Brassknuckles Thistlethorns, the ruthless, hateful leader would not wait. He led the charge into the forest the next day, and although the orcs burned the forest as they went, it didn't make up for the catapults. But the Wood Elves were still not in a great place, trapped in their cities with a huge force of orcs charging strait towards them. The Wood Elves tried to send out enough archers to hold them off, and many Nature Adepts destroyed entire units of orcs by lighting fire and creating ice storms in the orc ranks. The final battle didn't start in full until King Thistlethorns gave the command, and he charged towards the city. The giants destroyed the city, but that turned out to be a mistake. The elves realized that the dim witted brutes were the source of their power, and opened all fire on them. This harmed the giants, but more importantly in sent them into a frenzy, killing everything they saw. And they were in the ranks of the orcs, so the giants were now unwittingly destroying their own side.
             That final battle went on for many days, and the orcs were beginning to lose. It was not so much that the Wood Elves were doing great in fighting them as much as it was how disheartened the orc soldiers were. Many ran away, and entire squads even ran off into the forests seeking to run away and do as they wished. The Elf parties hunted them down and killed them one by one, reducing the orc army considerably, and then all the elf foot-soldiers charged them in a circular formation, and after the great clash of blades and fists, although many of the forests of the North were destroyed and the Wood Elves numbers were greatly reduced, the Elves had won, and the remaining thousand or so orcs grouped back together and fled to the far north. The war was won by the elves. [note]Goblins, in Xearic, are a different type of Orckin. Goblins, in the time of the War of the Woodlands, although they were not seen much, were constantly part of the war. They are shorter, skinnier and quicker then the Orcs, so the Orcs used them as spies at certain times, but mostly goblins worked as slaves. The goblins were the poor peasants living off the street in the orc cities, neglected and starved. They developed a cruel, almost evil streak from that, and were somewhat diabolical. They were ensalved to build large seige weapons for the orcs. Surprisingly, they did not rebel against the orcs, but rather started to kill the elves before the war. Goblins, in this time, although not mentioned much, were a major part of the war starting and the construction of the seige machines. [/note]


                 Durggrim
   After the orcs lost the  War of the Woodlands, they gathered in forces and retreated north, with Thistlethorns still at their lead. During their journey north they were attacked by small bands of Wood Elves, and some of the small Dwarf settlements. This greatly decreased their numbers over time, and they were forced to inbreed some. This caused some slight problems with intelligence, but nothing major. [note]I never really understood why orcs were dim-witted brutes in other core settings. Why? How does a race start out...dumb? Well, in Xearic, I keep them as dim-witted brutes, as they fill their role in, but I give reasons for this through history. As their numbers slowly decrease they will slowly give into inbreeding....[/note]
   Brassknuckles understood that they would have to make some kind of settlement to hold off their enemies for some amount of time. So he brought all the Goblins and Orcs, and had them raid and plunder nearby Dwarf settlements. The Dwarves at this time were primitive, as lived in mud huts and teepees outside their mines. The Orcs took the Dwarves as slaves and mined in the quarries, bringing back huge amounts of ore and stone. With this, the Dwarf and Goblin slaves constructed a city, a huge one, and created great walls around it. This was a huge fortress of huge, black stone towers and houses, and giant walls covered in orcs armed with bows. They used the ores to create more armor and weapons. By 435 BGC, the city-fortress was finished, known now as Durggrim. This city was nestled between two mountains, with a huge snowy, never ending mountain chain to its north, and the great plains to its south. The Orcs made a living by mining, woodcutting and farming.

     Any Orcs that weren't soldiers lived somewhat peacefully, despite the political squables. Normal, middle class orcs lived in wood houses outside Durggrim, farming or woodcutting. This, although a time of great evil for King Thistlethorns, was one of the most peaceful times of the general orc public.

     At this time, Goblins were rising in rank. Many were political advisors, due to their wit and skill with words. There were also many Goblin spies and sabatoers in the militiary. Brassknuckles was growing old, but his bloodlust wasn't. Most leaders would see the sign of no enemies to use to focus mainly on economy and the community. But Thistlethorns, he was full of rage and bloodlust, and continued to grow his army. He also recruited many Giants from the mountains, and was building a great many seige weapons. He wanted to create the kingdom of the Thistlethorns. He wanted to be unstoppable. He wanted to control Xearic.


              At this time humans lived in small tribes in the north, scattered horse riding hunters and gatherers living in teepees and longhouses. At the time they were split up into different tribes, with many different religious beleifs and cultures. Some of the tribes fought in squabbles over rescources and land, but never full out wars. They all respected the land and the 'spirit of nature' as they called it.

        When the orcs of Durggrim started expanding their horizons, they at first had tiny conflicts with the small human tribes. They tribes were crushed and burnt to the ground, all either killed or taken as slaves. The humans of the north quickly realized that they would have to do more then fight alone in individual tribes over a time. They would have to unite.
                   

[Drizztrocks]

Finally got my map picture in  :D

       

[Drizztrocks]

The History of Magic and the Universe
         The universe is a great quilt. Everything is tied together by strands, and these strands of matter vary greatly. Most are dull and lifeless, creating objects of an extreme amount of different colors and shapes. But then, from some divine interferance, as the gods are not limited by these strands of matter, the strands of life were created. These also vary greatly, but they are normally split up into two groups:  Tetri and  Berbeli. Tetri are more commonly called animals and Berbeli plants. These creatures and plants all vary greatly, in countless different life forms. Strands of life do not last forever-eventually the life from them dies out. Dark magic and divine influence can create these strands immortal, but it is extremely rare. All things have a large ammount of  Der, or dead strands, in them. Most things are completely composed of Der. But Tetri and Berbeli both have life strands woven into them, allowing them the ability to have a mind and move at will. Berbeli have extremely slower minds, processing a thought an hour. This is okay, however, as most Berbeli strands are tough, resilient and live for many centuries. Tetri move at a much faster speed, processing hundreds of thoughts a second, and with the capability of more. Some Tetri have evolved to do greater things, like communicate, have complicated consiousnesses, and other great things. These are rare, but the Tetri that do have these capabilities multiply and gain control of the land quickly.

      Soon after the Tetri and Berbeli strands were created and added to the universe, there became a mutation in it. This mutation was very dangerous and unpredictable at first. It allowed the more advanced Tetri strands, now called Tetrian, to take control of the energy inside of their life strands, and harness and use the pure energy of it to create effects. They were effectively using the energy inside of their body and releasing it upon the world. At first this was extremelly rare, perhaps three per generation, but it quickly grew as the gene was passed down through generations. It quickly became to prevalent, and quickly became a plague. There was perhaps four of these energy using Tetrians in every family. And hardly any of them understood this force or even new what it was, and it infected and plagued the people around them, mutating their bodies or just killing them off completely.

        This is when the terms "Magii" and "Witch" were created. Tetrians, now split up into very primitive races living in mud hut tribes, such as early Orcs, Dwarves and Elves, all living in hut villages, having fire as their greatest tool, and weilding stone clubs and spears. The great Witch hunts happened, entire villages of these Magii users were burned to the ground. Anybody who was even so much as suspected to be a Magii user would be destroyed. Eventually the numbers decreased and this mutant strain became not mutant, but just another part of life. The leaders of tribes were usually Magii users, renamed Shamans. These Shamans slowly learned to harness their powers and release them. Even then it was messy. When they harnessed a small bit of energy and tried to create a spark, it could perhaps create a fireball that would destroy the tribe. But Shamans were very careful only to use their powers in sparse events. If they used to much of them often, it could suck all the life energy out of their bodies and kill them.

       In the much nearer past of Xearic, revalutions in both magic and technology happened. Things like stone buildings, bladed weapons and politics were some of the first. After that followed watermills, bows, carpenting, armor, and many advances in magic and science came next. The Elves were the first to create Wizardry. This art is simply a normal person, or Tetrian, except he has, through great study and practice, given himself the ability to alter and bend the threads of the universe around him. Some people, willing to give the sacrifices, had the ability to bend the matter around them and manipulate it in the ways that they want.

       This later gave into break throughs that allowed Wizards to, instead of just bending and controlling matter such as making rocks float and throwing gusts of air at their enemies, they could create matter out of nothing. Now Wizards could create bolts of lighting and pools of water simply out of nothing. Next came the realization that bodies are only the holders of our life forces, and that, with the right energy mix, our life forces can be switched with any other animal or plants possessing life strands. This allowed Wizards to turn into animals and plants, yet another amazing thing. Magic was next experimented with, and Wizards started to try to force energy into items like swords or more household items. At first this ended in disaster, but over time, Wizards discovered that instead of replacing the item for magic, you must merge the item and the magic. And therefore, the next breakthrough in magic is magic weapons.

      Wizards being the big shots of magic and being so powerful also came with a price: it takes many, many years to study to be able to do the simplest arts of magic. Although it is in many children's hearts to grow up to be mighty Wizards, it just doesn't work out that way.

    Mages, on the other hand, have the oppisite of hard work, study and contemplation. Also called Sorcerers, Mages are the people who are born with the strand mutation that allows them to shape their own life energy into effects in the world around them. Most are choatic, drifting and living on impulse, not subject to laws and not holding any restraints. Sometimes a Mage shines through and comes to valor, a Diplomat or Guard. But most of the time, the Mage is the happy-go-lucky trickster or the rebel leader freeing the slaves, or the mysterious robed man stealing from the rich and giving the money to the poor. A Mage's energy was at first thought to be channeled by their choatic impulses, and it was beleived that this was the thing causing their powers. Recent studies have shown, however, that Mages and Sorcerer's energy is in fact causing their impulsivness, the energy somehow altering their mind, causing a need for freedom.

 

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  The South-Central Lands

     In the Southern area of the Great Inner Sea exists a land of exotic people and places. A million smells drift from the open air markets of this area. A trader walking through the area might have a cart filled with spices from the jungle to the far south, mushroom cookies from the underdark, and a buffalo skin from the far north, all in the same bag and being sold by the same person. The sea here is ruled by pirate lords, and not in a hostile relationship with the Kings of the cities. Pirate Lords are much more reasonable here, and more contained. They keep a tentative relationship with the rulers of the cities around them, understanding not to raid royal yaughts or the queen's cruiseship. The pirates raid and destroy smaller fishing boats and steal attack and raid the boats of more middle class people, and the citizens understand that their Kings do nothing about this.

 Iklandor
 A man is only worth as much as his boat is just one saying that is passed around by the people of the towns and villages of Iklandor. The more peaceful, laid back side to the South-Central lands, Iklandor is a country that lives on the islands around the very base of the Great Inner Sea. Many people live in anchored down boats, and all the others live along the shore of the islands in well built storm proof houses up on stilts. The people of Iklandor are tall and sturdy, with tan skin and light hair and light eyes. All houses, from poor to rich, have a dock in front of them, with one or more personal boats tied to it. The folk of Iklandor are fishermen and sea gatherers. A typical Iklandish meal consists of lobsters, fish or crabs with a side of sea lettuce or sea cucumbers, with coral powder sprinkled on top.
    The militia of these towns are specially made ships with sides sheilded with iron, and lined with crossbow turrets. The crew of these ships are usually young fishermen that have been trained how to operate turrets and shoot crossbow, and rarely battle hardened warriors, but what they lack in experience they make up for in spirit and vision of duty.

  Iklandor is ruled by a council of ten