The World of Refuge Wiki

## Welcome to Refuge

*A pilgrim pulls a muddy cloak about himself as he trudges along the Ancient Tradeway – far in the distance, half-hidden by mist and rain, a colossal, long-silent war machine slowly falls apart, rust and time doing what armies and mages never could.*

*At the foot of a steep stair, cut deep into the mountain, a large horned figure raises her lantern and signals for her companions to follow. Their destination: the empty dwarven city of Dahgdurahl and the Halls of the Golden King, where the treasures of an Empire are said to rest, guarded only by the spirits of those left behind.*

*With a whisper and a wave of his hand, a young magus raises a ball of fire into being, and sends it crashing into his foes, a horde of beastfolk marauders. Before the survivors have time to recover, the magus’ ally, an Atilan Legionnaire, whirls into their midst, dealing out death with spear and shield alike.*

*With a strange shudder, the ground lifts from beneath the feet of a pale An Dro death speaker, warping from the malign influence of the Thorn which towers in the distance. A spray of earth and loud chittering signal the arrival of a venomancer, a mutated arachnid of many legs and deep malice. She grits her teeth and begins a chant to break the beast.*

## A Brief History of Things

Welcome to the World of Refuge! It is a place of immense danger and adventure - with treasure and relics enough for even the most greedy treasure hunter. A thousand years ago, the Seal, a magical barrier, was wrought between this world and the Beyond. As a result of the Seal, the Heavens, the Hells, and anywhere in between have little (but not no) influence over the world. Magic (a weaving of void) still responds to those with sufficient Intellect and Will, and great mages (or Raisers as they are sometimes known) dominate the history of the world, for good and for ill.

Ten generations ago, another event changed Refuge forever; the Fall. Spires of living stone fell from the heavens, and pierced into the world. These "Thorns" warped the world around them, turning entire regions into shattered alien landscapes. From within, beings of great power emerged, waging war on the survivors of the catastrophe. Defeated, and in some cases wiped out, many of these invaders retreated back within their Thorns, watching and biding their time.

The Thornwastes which formed around the spires are each as different as the spires themselves. Creatures living in the Wastes shift and change, and new things have come to be from the warping. Magic itself behaves differently around these Thorns, some of which buried themselves deep beneath the earth and others of which lie half buried, towering hundreds of feet into the air; a handful stopped before impact and these few float high in the sky above Refuge, visible for miles.

## The Bone March

The region in which you will play, the Bone March, is a frontier of the Rosarran Empire, one of the "Thousand Kingdoms" of men. It was the heartland of the old world, but the Fall broke that world forever. At a glance, the region is bounded by high, snow-capped mountains, with deep river valleys that turn to marshes in their lowest points. Towards the east, the land flattens out into rough and burned out badlands. The old tradeway runs the length of the March, connecting Rosarra with the lands beyond. Great battles were fought after the Fall here, with War Machines of Hylar being deployed against those that arrived; many of those battlefields are still visible, the scars left clearly on the world. Many of the broken and abandoned machina remain, some still mobile, their huge hulks lumbering slowly across the shattered battlefields.

You all have arrived in this part of the Empire, for one reason or another. Perhaps you are a more-than-usually-inquisitive pilgrim, desperate to find a particular lost and holy Libram from the ruined City of the Throne which lies in the march. Perhaps you're a treasure seeker, looking for a way into the Halls of the Golden King, the lost dwarven city of Dahgdurahl, silent since the Fall. Perhaps you're an alienist, hoping to gain access to the Thorns which still stand at the center of their own Wastes which dot the landscape of the March, and the strange and wondrous artifacts the invaders brought with them. Or perhaps you're simply an opportunist, looking for whatever comes along when it comes along. The point is, there is plenty to see and do in the Bone March...just watch your back.

See the sections below for more details. Welcome again!

## Campaign Info

**Check here first** - Home Rules and Changes

Races - These are the races playable in this campaign.

Classes - This is where particular changes to certain classes are noted, as well as what sources you can use in character creation.

Languages and Calendar - The campaign specific languages and the Calendar used in Refuge.

## Testimonials

*“Refuge…an ironic name if there ever was one. A thousand years ago the Seal went up – kept things out, sure. The Warp was kept out…mostly. The gods went quiet too. New gods rose. Lesser ones. Glorified heroes is what they is. That’s what the Mandate says. I’m not so sure though…*

*"A thousand years ago…and since then, we’ve been at each other’s throats. Tall, squat, four-finger, five-finger – doesn’t matter. We killed each other and ruled over each other for a thousand years. Then the Thorns fell. Before my great-great-great-grandad’s age. One at a time, from the furthest skies they came. Pierced the world. And from inside came nothing but bones. Dead men from another world. 'Cept these ones fought. We beat them. Or so some say. Some say it's the end times.*

*"Course, I’ll bet they thought that when the Pact was ravaging through the land, claiming every first born. I’ll bet they thought that it was the end when the ice melted and the seas rose and drowned ol' Kharkos. I’ll bet they said it when the Atilann killed their gods and came crusading over the world to kill the rest. I’ll bet they’ll be saying it again in a thousand years, when the next disaster hits the world. That’s it…I need a drink.” -* Lester Halvin, Fisherman and Folk Hero

*“At the Dawn, this world was brought into being whole, and entire. In the first moment of creation, the gods opened their eyes in the Court of Heaven, and knew that they were. Dazzled by the light of existence, they for a time only marveled at themselves. Then their eyes turned to the Court itself, and they saw it was wondrous, made in everything orderly and perfect. Finally, they looked to the Throne, to see the Ruler, the One who had called them forth from Chaos. But when they did see the Throne, Behold! it was empty. Empty was the Throne, and no King was seen. Then did the gods clamor amongst themselves, and thus the Order of Heaven was broken by their clamor.” –* The Mandate, Ch. 1, 1-8

*“The Faithful, in their desperation, enacted the Seal and saved us from the Faithless that were about to devour them. Only a handful remained within, to guide and teach. Thus, the Four guide us to this day.”   -* Benamine of Anshan, Ninth Hierarch of the Mandate

*“The Thorns came from the farthest reaches of the heavens, traveling the vast voids of space and time, until they arrived at Refuge. Their arrival signals the end; the time of change. The world warps and reels under their influence, but have no fear! Soon the gods will return and set all to right.”                                                                                 –* Lucian the Good, Thirty-Second Hierarch of the Mandate

*“The Thorns? They’re nothing spiritual, I assure you. Simply dying remnants of a dead world sent out into the cold of space, which happened to collide with our little planet. The changes they are making…now that is something. Matter, spirit, even Void itself seems to warp under their influence. More research is needed.”               –* Raiser Athos, shortly before his disappearance into a Thornwaste