Thaedia

[Xathan]

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Text in red is under heavy review
[text in brackets is an alternate to the rest of the red text]

Post-Apocalypse

Overview
The Apocalypse happened. Celestials came down from heaven and fiends crawled out of hell to wage war on each other for the souls of humanity. As it has been planned for aeons, so it was, with the two sides waging the final war.

But then came a wrinkle in the plan, something unforeseen.

Humans, who for so long found that only the mightiest of them could touch the Immortals with their magics, discovered something new. Instead of drawing power from the world around them or from those they combated, one mortal discovered a way to draw power from himself. Spreading his method to others, this technique of mind and soul magic, known as psionics, found the one weakness in the Immortals. Even the weakest power could damage the flesh of an Immortal, and greater powers could shear their flesh from their bones, rend them in twain, or leave them a pile of ashes.

Still vulnerable to Immortal magics, humans had not won the war. But now, they were fighting it. While celestials fought to save the souls of a humanity who didnâ,¬,,¢t want it, and fiends fought for ownership of these souls humans fought to keep their souls using the power inherent with them.

The war dragged on. All sides suffered great attrition. New devices of war were invented on all sides and great gouts were rent in the earth with powers beyond comprehension.

Until finally, one hundred and forty-four years after the war began, it ended.

Emissaries from the Primal Realms - Faerie, Shadow, Aether, and Hades - appeared to the leaders of all three sides. They had evidence that the war for the mortal realms was weakening the very fabric of existence, tearing it apart. If it did not end soon, reality as it was known would buckle. Working with the leaders, the emissaries forged a peace treaty. Celestials and fiends had long ago been cut off from permanently returning to their homes, [the celestials and fiends refused to give up some hold on the mortal realm], while the mortals wanted the lands they had once ruled.

The peace treaty granted the celestials the floating isles that hovered above the world like clouds, the fiends deep realms beneath the world away from the sun they so hated, and humanity the realms they had once ruled. The realms not currently settled by humanity could not be settled by any Immortal, though mortal offspring of any faction could settle there.

 That was seventy four years ago. The world has been rebuilt since, though the scars still remain. Tensions between the three factions still run high, and minor wars have broken out, but nothing like the Final War. Celestials and fiends have developed resistance to psionics, though they are still vulnerable, while humans have given up on magic for the power inherent within them. Meanwhile, new creatures have arisen from the war, mutated versions of humanity or the offspring of Immortal and mortal, while the forces of Faerie and Hades have begun to make a play for some power on the mortal world as well.

This is Thaedia.

Magic and Psionics

Factions

Immortals
 
The Planes

Geography
[spoiler]

This is what I have for the geography so far, thanks to the Fractal Mapper website. I will be making the following changes:
1)   Everything will be moved down
2)   The main (upper) continent will be stretched widthwise to give it more landmass
3)   The archipelago in the southeast will be moved somewhat northward
4)   Everything will be smoothed out.[/spoiler]

Realms and Nations

Fauna and Flora

[Xathan]

Races
Races are divided into five categories, depending on their plane of ancestry. Mortals are humans and variants of humans, but without any Immortal blood. Celestial and Fiendish touched are more obvious. The Fae races are Elves, Goblyns, Slyphs, and the Faeborn. The Death Touched category really only includes Ghouls and Vahadim for now, since other creatures touched by Hades are undead and not truly â,¬Ëraces.â,¬,,¢


[spoiler=Humans]

[spoiler=Humans]In some ways, in many ways, humanity is as it has always been. Proud, innovative, adaptive, humanity has in some fundamental ways changed very little.

But in other ways, it has changed so much.

Humanity no longer is the dominant race on Thaedia. Both groups of Immortals pose a serious threat, not to mention the threat from the blooded and Fae races. Even more frightening to human sensibilities are the Twisted, who serve to mock humanity simply by existing. Meanwhile, humanity has lost its empires and religions at the same time, while gaining power they never even dreamt existed. But none of this is as great as the change that was wrought upon humanity by the Treaty.

As a condition of the Treaty that both groups of Immortals would not yield on, every human is born at the same time as two lesser beings, a weak Immortal, one Fiend, one Celestial. These beings, known as Guides in some cultures, are intelligent, free willed, and can exert no direct control over their human. However, they can speak to their human as well as perform small task for them. Every single human as a Guide at birth now now, and it is part of their culture. Humans use their Guides as messengers, spies, and for other tasks. Some humans focus on their guilds, increasing their power and therefore their own.  Others, particularly members of the Order, use psionics to lock away their Guides or even slay them outright. Regardless, Guides are changing human culture and working to influence humanity.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=The Twisted]The Twisted are humans that were accidentally warped by energies of some sort or another. Also called mutants or, as a derogatory term, freaks, the Twisted take perverse pride in their warped heritage.[/spoiler]

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Celestial Touched]Half-breed

[spoiler=Aasimars][note]In this setting, Aasimars use the Lesser variant in Forgotten realms, which changes the type to humanoid and the LA to +0. They are otherwise identical to Aasimars in the Monster Manual.[/note]Aasimars have celestial blood in their veins, dating back to their grandparent or great-grand parent or even somewhat further. They appear like humans, though they usually have one or two very subtle odd features: golden eyes, hair that seems to shimmer even in dim light, a subtle oddness to their voice, but rarely anything more than that: they can pass for human with little to no effort. (+10 racial bonus to disguise checks that are used only to appear human, not for any other purpose.)

Aasimar culture varies. In human cities, the Aasimars adopt the culture they are raised in, though they tend to focus on the best aspects of that society. Aasimars can be evil, and one raised in an evil human culture is more likely to be evil than its fellows, but it is also more likely to transcend its surroundings and become good than the humans it lives with.

Aasimars raised in celestial blooded communities tend to be good hearted and engaging. They usually serve as diplomats to other communities of mortals and blooded, since their appearance is the least celestial, and they also interact with fae communities. Aasimars as a penchant for the martial as well, and make up the bulk of any celestial blooded military force. [/spoiler]
 
[spoiler=Vaemis]Born from unions between Lunaphim celestials and mortals, Vaemis are celestial blooded with strong ties to the moon and its cycles, their powers, appearance, and even gender changing with the moonâ,¬,,¢s phases.

Vaemis usually have silver hair and eyes, with their skin tone being a light shade in blue, darker in some than in others. Their facial features, build (including height and weight), and other features change along a predicable pattern as the moon goes though its cycles, generally becoming more feminine or masculine. [note=Vaemis Sexuality]Surprisingly to most other races, Stable relationships are possible between Vaemis: heterosexual relationships are done with someone who is on the opposite cycle as you, homosexual relations are with someone who is on the same cycle as you. Unsurprisingly to other races Vaemis are very open about sexuality, since for them it is only a matter of time until it changes. Most Vaemis are bisexual. Also, a Vaemis is fertile the entire time it is a female.[/note] At every full and new moon, their gender changes. It depends on what gender the child was born as and when the child was born to determine what gender the Vaemis is during which part of the lunar cycle. Vaemis wishing to enter a relationship with a human or other race with a stable gender have a more difficult path to tread. Either their paramour must be someone who is bisexual themselves, or the Vaemis must undergo a ritual that binds them forever to a particular gender, as well as stripping them as many of their natural abilities.

Vaemis powers are tied to the moon and its cycles, and what abilities it has depends on if they are on the waning cycle (the path from the new moon to the full moon) or the waxing cycle (the path from the full moon to the new moon.) The abilities on the waning cycle are tied to light, life, and protection, while those on the waxing cycle are tied to darkness, death, and damage. A Vaemis will fight differently depending on where in their cycle they are in. Also, Vaemis personalities subtly change with their cycle, beyond just becoming more masculine and feminine: Vaemis on the waxing cycle tend to be more pessimistic, while those waning tend to look on the brighter side of things.

[note]Vaemis power is tied to the dark and light phases of the moon, Dark being when more than a half of the moon is in darkness, light being when more than half of the mooon is in light. If it is exactly a half moon, it is light if it is waxing, dark if it is waning. In the stat block, dark phase powers are referred to as DP, light phase LP[/note]
[ooc]I am trying to tie the dark phase of the moon to powers regarding darkness and deception, and the powers of the light phases to observation and light.[/ooc]

Medium Humanoid (celestial blooded)
Speed 30ft
Vision: DP: Darkvision 60ft, LP: Low Light Vision
SLAs: DP: Darkness 1/day, Faerie Fire 1/day LP: Light 1/day, Glitterdust 1/day
Skills Bonuses: DP: +2 Hide and Bluff, LP: +2 Spot and Sense motive.
Changing Gender: ??
Lycanthropsy Suceptability: Vaemis, due to their ties with the moon, suffer a -2 penalty on saving throws to resis the effects of lycanthropsy
Lycanthrope Hunters: Since they occupy the same times and niches, Vaemis train extensivly to battle evil lycanthropes. Against such creatures, Vaemis gain a +2 bonus to spot, listen, hide, move silently, and survival checks.
Once per day, a Vaemis can channel the power of that phase of the moon to increase her combat ability. This power grants different bonuses depending on the phase of the moon and thus, the Vaemis. During the darkphase the Vemis gains a +2 bonus on damage rolls, DR 1/cold iron, Spell Resistance 5 plus HD, Power Resistance equal to HD,.While during the lightphase the Vaemis gains a +1 deflection bonus to AC, DR 1/silver, Power Resistance 5 plus HD, Spell resistance equal to HD. This ability lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the Vaemis' charisma modifier
Languages: Automatic: Dhaphaen (celestial 1) and Trade (common), Bonus: Seraphaen (celestial 2), Regional languages, Slyvan.
Favored Class: Sorcerer?
LA: +0[/spoiler]

Couriers

[/spoiler]

[spoiler= Fiend Touched]Half-breed

Tieflings

[spoiler=Shadar]Shadar are the result of breeding between mortals and demons with ties to shadows. The most alien in appearance of the blooded, shadar have dusky skin that is constantly hidden in unnatural shadows, partially obscuring their features. Most shadar wear cloaks when out, meaning the hood of their cloaks often appears to be empty. These shadows persist even when faced with direct light, meaning most people inherently distrust the shadar. A daylight spell or stronger light spell reveals their true features, unveiling a rather attractive appearance that is actually improved by red lines that snake across their countenance. They tend to be thin and somewhat emaciated, which gives their hands a slightly skeletal appearance, completing the terrifying image of a shadar.

Shadar culture doesnâ,¬,,¢t exist, officially. Most shadar exist in other fiend blooded communities, or use magic to blend into human lands. However, the shadar run a globe spanning organization that deals in the trade of vices. Drugs, prostitutes, sex slaves, and other pleasures of the flesh can be purchased from the shadar.  While the shadar rarely indulge in these pleasures themselves, they are happy to try and corrupt mortals through their sales. When on official business, a shadar usually goes in its true form, to intimidate the buyer. Despite their appearance, shadar run the gamut of personality types, but they tend to only act cold and ruthless when interacting in their natural forms, the better to maintain their business affairs.[/spoiler]

Shalâ,¬,,¢kin

Inolanil

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Fae]

Elves

[note=why â,¬Ëyâ,¬,,¢?]The y in the spelling of goblyns is hopefully to mentally divorce this race from the goblins of the PHB, to who m they bear almost nothing in common.[/note]
[spoiler=Goblyns]
 The foes of elves, goblyns were among the emissaries send to the fiends as part of the faerie delegation at the end of the war.  Since then, those few goblyns that elected to remain on the Mortal world moved to forested regions that humans have not yet begun to inhabit. A proud, martial people, goblyns have a history of war with elves. Despite their appearance, they were sent to communicate with the fiends due to Fae politics, not due to any innate evil qualities.

Goblyns stand roughly as tall as an elf, with a more muscular build. Their skin is usually a dark shade of green or blue. They have facial structure similar to elven structure, though they tend to have somewhat shorter ears and somewhat longer noses. Also, they have two vestigial antennas poking through their hair, homage to the ancestry they share with elves. [note=Elves and Goblyns]I decided to make Faerie the embodiment of the natural world and life in many way. If Elves are incarnations of magic, then goblyns are incarnations of physical might. Both are near humans in build because they represent two different aspects of humans.[/note]

On Faerie, goblyns rule a vast empire in the southern portion. Known for physical might, goblyns are also tamers of beasts, and use the exotic and fantastic creatures found on faerie to the best of their abilities. On the mortal world, goblyns are forming small communities for protection and hunting. Their rare interactions with the mortal world include trade for goods.[/spoiler]

Faeborn

Slyphs

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Death Touched]

[spoiler=Ghouls]Bred long ago by infusing undead blood in human veins, the ghouls were used extensively to help both humans, celestials, and fiends disperse after the war. To represent Hades presence on the mortal world, the ghouls founded a nation on one of the islands near the secondary continent.

Due to their connection with Hades, ghouls are constantly sliding into it, bit by bit. This gives them an emaciated appearance and a slight stench of decay that constantly surrounds them. Upon death, their bodies decay more rapidly, and their mortal remains are completely shuffled into Hades within ten years.

Ghouls are a hardy people, but distrusted by many of the mortal races for their strong dies to Hades and death. Immortals tend to look on them more favorably, though with the same pitying scorn given to most mortals. Immortals from Hades view them as younger siblings.

Culturally, ghouls are very practical. They know that they will go to Hades and unlive again after death, and that they have a place among the Immortals. This tie is inevitable: a ghoul will go to Hades upon death no matter what. This liberation would turn humans to debauchery, fornication, and fatalism. Instead, ghouls take up long-term intellectual pursuits, such as philosophy, art, magic, or other activities that they can pursue once they arrive in Hades.[/spoiler]

Vahadim

[/spoiler]

[Xathan]

Religion in Thaedia

[ic]
Holy Text, the Book of Void
In the beginning, their was Void. From Void came the cosmos, and Void saw what it had wrought, and it was. From the cosmos came creation, from the cosmos came destruction. Void saw these and manipulated them. Void saw what it had wrought, and it was. From these came life and death. From life and death came intelligence. From intelligence came the question: â,¬Å"Why?â,¬Â Void saw what it had wrought, and it was. This question the cosmos could not answer. So the answers came. One answer is Khabhen, who is Lord of Good. One answer is Nehbahk, who is Lord of Evil. They are the answer. And Void saw what it had wrought, and it was.

Khabhen and Nehbahk reshaped the cosmos for their answer. Khabhen created Heaven, a realm to house the Good. Nehbahk created Hell, a realm to house the Evil. Void saw what they had wrought, and it was.  From the Good and the Evil the Immortals, Celestials of Good and Fiends of Evil. These beings were housed in their realms, where they might reside and influence the minds of intelligent creatures, for to control their minds was to control the answer, and to control the answer would allow Khabhen to eliminate Nehbahk, or Nehbahk to consume Khabhen. And Void saw what they had wrought, and it was.

For eons they will gather their forces. For eons they will prepare for war. For eons they were battle, and once threefold eons have passed, they will fight on the realm of intelligence, the realm of mortals. And Void will see what they will render, and it will be.[/ic]

[ic=Vegrer, Teacher of Theology]In light of recent events, this could be the most accurate rendering of the creation of the cosmos. With both the forces of Heaven and Hell failing to defeat each other on the world of mortals, it must be assumed that the holy texts, and I use the term loosely, that claimed one side to be the victor superior over the other are clearly false. Now, how this relates to Incarnations remains to be seen. It is worth noting that their were no Incarnations during the Final War, and their have been none since. Whatever the Forms of Khabhen and Nehbahk think on the results of the Final War, they are not deigning to tell us mortals or their own forces.[/ic]

[ic=Maerith, Nehmyth Demon]I tell you, the voidtalkers are fools. Even a Celestial can tell you that Khabhen and Nehbahk are not mere â,¬Ëmirrorsâ,¬,,¢ of each other. Of course I know Nehbahk is superior. What do you mean, wordsmith? Of course the celestials disagree: that is the source of their stupidity. You tire me. Leave.
â,¬Â¦.
That was not a request, wordsmith. I grow hungry. You will leave or your will join me for dinner, with a silver seat and an apple forâ,¬Â¦By the thousand eyes of Nehbahk, I didnâ,¬,,¢t know you mortals could run so fast![/ic]

The primary religion of Thaedia is a duology that revolves around two divine entities, Khabhen and Nehbahk. Khabhen is the God of Good, Nehbahk is the God of Evil. Both Celestials and Fiends hold this view, though none claim to have actually communicated directly with Khabhen and Nehbahk: Both exist on a higher realm of existence than the physical, and cannot be directly interacted with, nor can they directly interact with the material world. (in game terms, they donâ,¬,,¢t have stats. I never liked the idea of being able to go do your deities home, knock on his door, and kick or kiss his ass.)

[note=Incarnations]In game terms, an Incarnationâ,¬,,¢s main benefits (Iâ,¬,,¢m working on the lesser ones) can use miracle as a spell-like ability once per day. In game, no one has access to Miracle, Wish, or Reality Revision, or their lesser forms, except for Incarnations. Also, Incarnations will probably have the Paragon template applied.[/note] They can interact indirectly though Incarnations, which are a human representation of an ideal they embody. Most people worship an Incarnation, and clerics of an Incarnation focus on that particular Incarnationâ,¬,,¢s tenets and beliefs.

With the Final War, the beliefs many had in Incarnations were shaken greatly. After all, the Incarnations had always guaranteed that the war would be victorious for whichever deity the Incarnation was. If they were wrong about that, were they right about anything. Meanwhile, both Celestials and Fiends worship Khabhen and Nehbahk individually, with a rare few actually worshiping and Incarnation. Today, religion stands as such:

[spoiler=Incarnation Churches]Rapidly declining in power and worshippers, Incarnation churches still worship a particular Incarnation. They vary greatly from church to church, and their social acceptability is decreasing as well. Some churches, who worshipped the less evangelical and more peaceful, philosophical Incarnations, however, have gained worshippers.

[spoiler=Individual Incarnations] Coming soon![/spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler=Church of Khabhen]The Church of Khabhen worships the God of Good directly. One of the older religions, the Church of Khabhen has received the same problem as the Incarnation churches, and suffers from an overall decrease in membership. Khabhenian worship was never particularly popular prior to the war regardless: Khabhen is too distant to be an effective object of worship. The Church of Khabhen has a strong worship among the celestials and celestial blooded, however.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Church of Nehbahk][ooc]I'm drawing a complete blank here. Suggestions are most welcome: I want something evil and dark, but not horrifying and completely socially unacceptable. The Chuch of Nehbahk was a major political force in Thaedia.[/ooc][/spoiler]

[spoiler=The Order]The most rapidly growing religion on Thaedia, the Order is more of a philosophy than a religion. The Order focuses on the potential within humankind: Psionics. [note][spoiler=psionic classes]The clergy of the Order is almost exclusively ardents, from complete psionic, while divine minds make up their warrior section. Psions, Wilders, Lurks, and PsyWars are all memebers of the Order, but they usually take more of a layperson role. In Datrik, Ardents and Divine Minds draw their power from humanities, and therefor their own embodyment of the various mantles, not from the ideals themselves. (This is subject to being reworded heavily: I'm working on reflavoring the Ardent and Divine Mind quite a bit)[/spoiler][/note] While different branches of the Order revere different aspects of humanity, all of the Order believes that humanity is an end in and of itself, and it is in fact the ultimate end, greater than celestial or demon, fae or nekros. Their proof: The fact that humanity, fighting too vastly powerful forces who had been planning since the beginning of time to war with each other and humanity, was able to gain the upper hand thanks to tapping their own potential. The Order, of all human religions, is the most accepting of the Twisted, who are seen as unlocking much of the physical potential for humanity, though they unfortunately often loose much of the beauty humanity is capable of. Also, the Order is the most hostile towards Immortals and those with Immortal blood.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=The Voidspeakers]A small sect that has begun to grow rapidly, voidspeakers claim to worship the fundamental principal of the universe, void. Holding the creation myth as their canon, they contend that both Nehbahk and Khabhen were created outside the cosmos, and are therefore anathema to it, hence the fae and nekros intervention. Voidspeakers tend to hold the natural world in high regard, and have a great distaste for any Immortal or Immortal-blooded. Fae and nekros get a better reception from voidspeakers. The voidspeakers abhor the Twisted, viewing them as unnatural abominations that must be eradicated.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=The Death Cults]Death Cults believe that through reverance to the Overlord of Hades, they will go to Hades upon their death and reside there in spirit untill their body decomposes, at which point they may rejoin with it and live again amongst the once dead. To further this goal, they strive towards neutrality in the most militant way possible. Death Cults operate independant of one another, and will usually interact peacefully with a community. However, if a Death Cult precieves that either Good, Evil, Law, or Chaos has become the most powerful force in their area, they will strike to ensure the balance is maintained. Death Cults are found among humans, twisted, and ghouls. The blooded and Fae view such militant neutrality as dangerous and illogical to the extreme.[/spoiler]

[Xathan]

The Planes

[ooc]For now, Iâ,¬,,¢m sticking with the cosmetics of the planes â,¬' the inhabitants will come later.[/ooc]

[spoiler=Heaven and Hell][ic=Rodget Bennithal, Planar Scholar of the Order]
From his acclaimed lecture â,¬Å"The Planes Among Us.â,¬Â
â,¬Å"It is now irrefutable. The coming of Immortals to this world had caused Heaven and Hell, in all their horror and glory, to become much closer to ours. I fear the Aeflar were right when they told us that the War was destabilizing reality, and I fear the end was too late to stop it. The evidence shows this â,¬Å"immanentization,â,¬Â as I term it, is slowing down, and should halt completely within the next century, so we should not fear the destruction of reality. However, reality has changed. Where heaven and hell were once distant places no mortal can touch, one can now find himself in hell by climbing beneath the earth, or heaven merely by ascending high enough. This process, I fear, is irreversible.[/ic]

Rodget was right, unfortunately. Heaven and Hell both drifted in the days following the War, and now can be accessed by anyone with the wherewithal to surmount the physical challenges associated with traveling to them. While few mortals attempt this trip, and very few make it without being brought down by the immortals that believe such travel is the height of blasphemy, the mere fact it is possible is troubling enough. The immortals like it even less than we mortals do, because we mortals can now visit heaven and hell, and can now see the truth behind the claims of their denizens.

[spoiler=Hell]
[note]Despite its name, Hell is much more like the Abyss in standard DnD. Iâ,¬,,¢ve eliminated the Law/Chaos conflict in Hell â,¬' for demons and devils, what matters most of all is evil[/note]

It is the cesspit from which evil spawns
It is infinite layers of darkness and entropy
It is the madness that never ends

Once distant, hell can be accessed through a deep enough trek to the underdark. Many travelers donâ,¬,,¢t even realize when the cross the border, when the last tunnel they walked through was actually a portal to hell. All of a sudden, the endless tunnels will open up into a single great cavern, an endless plain with a sky of onyx rock. This plain is known as the Gateways, and it is dotted with massive stone gates etched in dully glowing runes. Each Gateway leads to a different â,¬Å"layerâ,¬Â of hell, though the term layer is misleading: the different layers of hell are not stacked on top of each other. Some layers can only be reached through portals on other layers, not portals from Gateway, which means they are â,¬Å"lower,â,¬Â while others are easily accessed from many portals, and are therefore â,¬Å"higher.â,¬Â

While Gateways can be reached through walking underground, they are not actually on the same plane of existence as the Prime: it is more the fact that the lowest part of the Underdark has become a massive portal to Gateways, and many of the gates open up into the underdark, meaning the fiends have easy access to the Prime.

[ooc]Details on specific layers and archfiends will be added at a later date.[/ooc]
[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Heaven]
[note]The emphasis on heavenâ,¬,,¢s crusading nature is intentional: I want to make celestials as valid foes as fiends for a party, unless of course that party is a party of celestial blooded people working to carry out the mandates of the Celestial Host.[/note]

It is radiant glory above mortals
It is valor, justice, and righteousness
It is the flame to eradicate all evil

REST TO COME LATER[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler=The Primal Realms]

[spoiler=Faerie]COMING SOON![/spoiler]

[spoiler=Hades]COMING SOON![/spoiler]

[spoiler=Shadow]COMING SOON![/spoiler]

[spoiler=Aether]COMING SOON![/spoiler][/spoiler]