Introduction

Welcome to the world where chaos dreams, an original fantasy setting by Jonas Kaine, with rules for play in the Pathfinder tabletop roleplaying game by Paizo. Written primarily for adventures on the Prime Material in the year ~125 of Man, the world is caught in a political standstill. The four major nations are in a silent cold war, each looking to increase their own power but kept in check by the threat of the others. An uneasy peace exists in the space between this stalemate, with each nation providing the pretense of peace, trading and interacting amicably as elements in the shadows search for advantages against the others.
The first major nation is the Holy Xilosian Imperium, often simply called the Imperium. Three kingdoms are united under the rule of an incarnate aspect of the ancient god Hadeus, the Lord of Blood, Heroes, Sex, and Song. Awakened from a long slumber after being Betrayed, Hadeus has gone about reshaping the world that the helped create, being disgusted with its state in his absence. With a god at their back, the Xilosians have swept across the Prime by exercising magical supremacy, spreading their theocratic government onto almost half the world. Despite its unified front, there is much internal strife within the Imperium, with each of its kingdoms and various sub-factions each vying for power within its own borders. While the technical ruler of the Imperium is its Imperator, most of the day-to-day governance is handled by the Imperium's nobility, each falling under one of the Great House kingdoms—Xilos, the theocratic house ruled by Therasia Xilos Rex; Corvus, the warrior house ruled by Tyrannus Corvus Rex; and Grandius, the merchant house ruled by Albus Grandius Rex.
To the east of the Imperium's territory are the Free Wastes, a vast badlands populated with refugees from the Imperium's conquest. Lacking the magical backing and strict organization of the Imperials, the Freemen have relied on technological innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, forming a loose coalition of city-states known as the Federal Republic of the Free Wastes. While a legitimate force on its own, the informed know that the Republic is largely a puppet government controlled as a proxy of the Orville Trading Company and its shadowy Board. Still, there are those in the federal government who resent their corporate masters, and rumors of a power shift in the Free Wastes have put the coalition in an uneasy place.
In the far west, on the scarred continent of Nied, is the Stahl Republic. Once a prosperous kingdom toppled by the necroartificer Baron Vincent, Nied has been a near-uninhabitable wasteland for Ages, plagued by an interminable plague of Undeath. The Stahl Republic represents the only successful organized resistance against this now-ancient disease, utilizing advanced technology and psionic power to eke out an ever-threatened existence in the middle of a still-thriving teeming horde of the dead. Traditional hangups combined with somewhat justified propaganda have driven the Niedisch people to an extreme anti-magic stance, going so far as to oppress even non-spellcasting members of magical races. The Stahl are an unpredictable factor in world politics, as their considerable military force and prowess are kept in check by the Reclamation of their homeland, the rest of the Prime waits anxiously to see where the Republic and its chancellor, Sebastian Stahl will set their sights once they are no longer so-occupied.
Finally, scattered in the seas and skies between the other nations, hiding in island havens, secret coves, and forest hideouts are the Marauder Court; a loose agreement between pirates, thieves, and gangsters the world over to prevent excessive in-fighting, and to strike back at anyone who threatens their way of life. While no nation will publicly recognize them as a true political power, neither will they neglect to consider the Court's interests and demands when making their next moves; for the wrong choice could suddenly see a great army raised against them. The Court answers to their Pirate King, Drake Flynn, to the extent that such a motley bunch can be said to answer to anyone.
This tenuous peace can only last so long. At some point, the conflicts between freedom and faith; tradition and innovation; magic and technology; or the simple turning of the world will bring change in the form of war yet again. And in-between these great conflicts, billions of people live their lives beset by the trials and tribulations of this world of magic, psionics, and high technology. Nations and citizens alike often enlist the help of extraordinary individuals—adventurers. Those with superhuman skill and destiny, who carve their names into the annals of history. Whether it be political intrigue, supernatural threat, or technological change, there are innumerable stories to be told in the world where Chaos Dreams.