World of Dirt - Birth of New Gods Era

[Captain Dwur]

For your consideration:

The World of Dirt
Birth of New Gods Era

Premise:
New gods are being born.  The energies from their birth are reforming the fabric of the world.  Sometimes this has disastrous results.


Places:
Durchim: Royal City.  Guardian City.  King Idmar rules here.  Known for court, martial prowess, metalwork (arms), and musicians.
Arden: Durchim's Sister City.  Eyes of the East.  Lady Rhodimir, Archduchess of Arden, rules here.  Known for artists, smiths, fine metalwork (mechanics) and glasswork.
Riglind: Lord Barton, Earl of Riglind rules here.  Known for woodworking and shipcraft.  
Subberg: Gnomes and Humans live together in this foothill town.  Ruled by the trades council, with representatives from all the trades working in the town. Known for fine silver and gold work, gem work, and unique magical items.  Trading town for humans, elves, dwarves and the horsefolk from the plains.  Trades council pays taxes to the King by the Sea for military protection.
Vinkirk: Populated by a mixture of Humans, Halflings and Gnomes.  Archpriestess Talus is the de facto ruler of this small hamlet.  Farming, mining and quiet religious study are common here.
Stonehome: Home city/state of all dwarves.  Those who do not live in Stonehome proper live in outposts, camps and small settlements scattered throughout the mountains.  Population: 25,000.  Known for stone and metalwork of all kinds.  Brorsolir IX, the King in the Mountains, claims dominion over all the mountains from the Great Cliffs in the north to the headwaters of the River Andrews.  Regular patrols keep the best mountain passes clear of trolls and giants.  During the winter, construction projects are undertaken in the undercity and mines.  Mushrooms are a staple of the diet.

Sunken Cities/Old Cities: Lie at the base of the Sunken Mountains.  The sunken mountains are all overgrown, and most people refuse to go near them.  Strange sounds can be seen some nights, and sailors report hearing weird noises as well.  They are ruins from a prior (dwarven?) civilization.  Lore and relics are occasionally recovered.

High Plains: Nomadic horse-riding tribes of all species.  Occasionally large coalitions of tribes will form for some common purpose, and sometimes they will swear fealty to the either the Elf-lords, the King in the Mountains or the King by the Sea for short periods of time.  Many tribes are territorial and hostile, but few are aggressive.

Low Plains:  Men hunt here during late summer and fall.  Herds of bison roam here.  Occasional wildfires.  Few permanent settlements, mostly small farming freeholds.  No government.  Warlords and bandits.  Quite inhospitable in winter.  It is said that wise seers can use certain plains-grasses to read the future.

Deep Forest: It is dangerous for non-elves to wander here uninvited.  Stay to the East of the river.

Swamp: Few dare set foot in the swamp save brigands and smugglers for it is teeming with serpents, and their ilk.  Ancient powers still reside there and the beasts do not approve of encroaching civilization.

Pantheon:
Vosnip: -benevolent joker, trickster, middle child, ingenuity- favored by humans
   Magic, Trickery, Knowledge, Luck NG
Erimond: Oldest child, martial prowess, order of all things favored by warriors and many rulers    Strength, Law, Good, Protection, Healing, War LG
All-Mother/Ancient One:  Birther of world, and all other gods.  Left world to other gods, no longer meddles in mortal affairs.  Elves still revere her, and many druids do as well.  
   All domains, all alignments.
Waxpik: -second child, explorer, wanderer- favored by some humans
   Travel, Sun, Water, Air TN
Mason: all craft and skill, beloved by dwarves
   Earth, Healing, Knowledge LN
Devranon: lover of all wilderness
   Animal, Plant, Air, Earth, Fire, Water NG
Lormir: jealous defiler and ruiner, hates other gods and living creatures
   death, evil, trickery, destruction, war, undead, chaos CE

People (sorted by location):
In Riglind
Lord Barton, Earl of Riglind '" Male human aristocrat 12.  Smart, cultured, loves ships.  
Magon '" male human Wiz 10.  lives in a lonely tower atop a hill near to Riglind proper.  Chief advisor to Lord Barton.  middle-aged, clean-cut, well-kempt, good memory... basically the opposite of every stereotypical wizard.  He is secretive and protective of his spell-lore.  
Sir Danby '" Male human Ftr 4.  Son of Lord Barton.  Loves horsecraft, ambitious.  He has several local men-at-arms who are loyal to him.  He hopes to assemble an army and invade the deep forest for access to larger trees for ship-building and to open a road for easy trade to the horsemen in the High Plains.  Does not seek to kill all elves, just wants a part of the forest.  Average intelligence, somewhat rude, certainly selfish at times.  Always dresses in military garb, spends a lot of time hunting with his men.
Roger Stadtler '" Male human Ftr 2 Danby's right hand man.  Son of a wealthy merchant, but not noble.  Hopes to be granted a noble title by Danby as he gains status.
Lorimba '" female half-elf cleric of Waxpik 7.  Broken leg, doesn't travel anymore, but blesses new ships at the shipyard and oversees the preparation of masts and sails.


Brainstorm/Cosmology:
Magic energy from the Ancient One still infuse some places.  Items from those places are prized by wizards, but those areas are universally wild and chaotic.

Rift Zones - places where the new divine energies are re-ordering the universe.  Causing unexpected and unusual occurences, new creatures, mutating old creature.  EX: in dead of winter, area bereft of snow, like a rainforest inhabited by fire-plants )some mix of intelligent plants and fire elementals.

Death and life '" souls are borrowed from the essence of the world for the duration of your life.  They return to the world at death.  Unresolved issues at death can lead to improper re-integration (spontaneous generation of mostly incorporeal undead).  Souls can be forced into other vessels at the time of death (creation of most corporeal undead).  Among all people, regardless of god, there is a great deal of superstition that encourages land, and ancestor worship/appeasance.

Questions/Comments/Concerns?
thanks for reading

[samwise7]

I think these Rift Zones would be very interesting from a player's perspective.  I would make sure there are a lot of Rifts.  :)

[Captain Dwur]

Rift Zone (w/ a clue):  A very small village has a wooden carving of the town heroes in the main square.  They were famous for defending the village against marauding bandits in the early days of the settlement.  People often touch the statue for luck and protection when undertaking trips.  A rift has awakened these carvings.  They have come to life and now are 'protecting' the village by keeping out all strangers and preventing any villagers from leaving their carefully guarded homes.  The carved heroes all now have a glowing rune on their foreheads.  The mark is the same as the new constellation that appeared in the sky at about the time the rifts began.

[Tybalt]

Are there particular priests or spellcasters that exploit the rifts? Also am I right in thinking this is a fairly small world? What is commerce/diplomacy/war like between the countries/states/regions mentioned above?

[Captain Dwur]

So far, I have only mapped and detailed an area of the world about the size of New England.  I know there is another land across the sea, but have not detailed it at all.

The elves and the human Kingdom by the Sea are at an uneasy truce, with occasional border skirmishes.  The dwarves generally keep to themselves, but are almost constantly in some kind of conflict with mountain-dwelling monsters.  The warlords of the Low Plains are not strong enough to oppose either the dwarves or the Kingdom by the Sea, but they jockey for power and territory with each other.  Sometimes the warlords will pay tribute to a noble for assistance against another warlord, but these relationships are short-lived.  The nomadic people of the High Plains have moderately friendly relationships with the Kingdom by the Sea, and will trade horses with them for manufactured goods.  The dwarves pay them little mind, and the elves dislike them.  The trade route from the High Plains to the Kingdom by the Sea runs through a corner of Elven territory.

The Rifts are new enough (one or two weeks) that there are not yet many people who understand what they are, but as time goes on more people will seek to understand and exploit them.

I'm toying with the idea of the Rifts inspiring some kind of upstart religious sect.  They may believe that the Rifts are the sign of coming doom, or they may recognize it as the beginning of a new era of creation.  Or there may be one sect of each and they can fight.

[Captain Dwur]

My inspiration for the pantheon's feel and function is the Greek pantheon.  People are religious, in that they believe in the gods, and know which god to pray to about which mortal dilemma, but they do not believe that the gods are infallible.

[blockquote Deity Spotlight: Erimond]Erimond, first son of the All-Mother, is a powerful and dedicated warrior.  He is credited with bringing order and justice to the young gods in the early days of Creation.  Most warriors pay at least some heed to his priests, and often make donations at his temples before battles for good luck.  

The priests of Erimond (the Erimin) are the most organized and prominent church in Human lands.  Their temples can be found in any major city.  They fight alongside soldiers in the army and act as healers and advisers in times of war.  They are very orderly and support strong rulers, as long as they are just and fair.  They also work to topple unjust rulers, because they believe tyranny goes against the order of nature.

Many petty warlords claim a right to rule by Erimond's example, but only the most superficial priests support those tyrants.  King Idmar is strongly supported by the priests of Erimond, because he is just and fair.  His great success at uniting the people and the nobles is largely due to Erimin support.[/blockquote]