Exandria

**Exandria** was the name of the world on which Vox Machina originate was formed in the year 42,421,953 A.o.C. It has two moons, although one of them is small enough that it generally goes unnoticed. Exandria has tight connections to the other planes of existence, such as the portals to the elemental planes guarded by the Ashari.

Within the world of Exandria different cultures developed their own creation myths, but none of the inhabitants know the definitive story. The world is relatively far behind the rest of the universe as it is a fairly new creation and certain events set them back in technological events.

## Continents

* **Gwessar:** A northern continent. The kingdom of Tal'Dorei spaned part of this continent, and although humans informally refer to the whole continent as "Tal'Dorei"
* **Issylra:** A continent northwest of Gwessar that features the region of Othanzia, which includes Vasselheim and Pyrah.
* **Marquet:** A southern continent of mountains and approximately 70% desert, there are few bastions of civilization to be found aside from Ank'Harel.
* **Wildemount:** Located to the North of Gwessar, this continent is largely isolated and, outside of Draconia, has little contact and next to no trade with the outside world.

## ​Elders

### ​The Prime Loyalists

* The Archeart
* The Allhammer
* The Changebringer
* The Dawnfather
* The Everlight
* The Knowing Mistress
* The Lawbearer
* The Matron of Ravens
* The Moonweaver
* The Platinum Dragon
* The Stormlord
* The Wildmother

### ​The Betrayers

* The Chained Oblivion
* The Cloaked Serpant
* The Crawling King
* The Hell Lord
* The Ruiner
* The Spider Queen
* The Strife Emperor
* The Scaled Emperor

## History

The Gods created Exandria with the rest of the planets of Aevilon, since then three distinct ages of the world have gone by: the Founding, the Age of Arcanum, and the Calamity. After these three ages came the forth age, in which the chronicles of Vox Machina, the fifth age and then the present day in the sixth age.

### **The Founding**

The Founding was the first age of Exandria. The Gods had finished the creation of the worlds and the races many thousands of years previous and the Elders had been sent to watch over the land in the Gods name. The Founding began when the Elders of Exandria blessed the world with some of the races of beings. First came the Archfey and their Elves, Gnomes and Feywild. Next the Dwarves and last Humans along with other races to follow.

However, the world had been cursed by the Fallen during the Last War of the Gods and so the world was still a dangerous place, ruled by feral elementals, giant Primordial Titans. War began between these Titans and the Elders of Exandria, but the Elders took two different approaches splitting their ideologies into the Prime Spirits; who wanted to stay and conquer, and the Betrayer Elders; who gave up and wanted to leave the world to death. The carnage of the war invited the attention of demons of Diabolus, who came to feast on the remains of the many dead beings and in retaliation the Elders brought Dragons to help. The metallic dragons helped and civilisation began to flourish and mortals first offered worship to the Elders.

The Prime Spirits, granted power to mortals who they deemed champions and with these they were able to destroy the Primordial and banished the Betrayer Elders from the universe. This peace gave way for civilisation and took root as a city that became known as Vasselheim, the "Dawn City" and the "Cradle of Creation." The Elders also saw it fit to bless the world with the gift of Hamael, Magic, but they could not create Magici and so instead blessed the world with knowledge of Arcane magic as an alternative to the already existing Divine magic

### **The Age of Arcanum**

After the Founding came the Age of Arcanum the second age of Exandria. Beings tested the limits of the blessing arcane magic becoming increasingly powerful, building entire castles in a day and even learning to create life forms of their own. Driven by the quest for immortality, Elna Goodbrook challenged and defeated the Elder of Death himself, ascending to spirithood to take his place. Following Elna's example Archmage Vespin Chloras, sought to harness the power of the Betrayer Elder breaking open their prison and mistaking releasing them into Exandria once again

Driven by an urge for domination and angered by their exile, the Betrayer Elders came forth from their broken prisons, enthralled the mage and founded a kingdom of their own on the far end of the world named Ghor Dranas. From Ghor Dranas, the Betrayer Elders spread their influence and eventually made an assault on the bastion of Vasselheim. The battle lasted twenty days and nights but, with the divine aid of the Prime Deities, Vasselheim and its inhabitants stood triumphant, if battered, at the end.

This assault left both mortals and gods alike shaken. Mortals turned their arcane powers to the forging of heroic weapons, and the gods prepared for war.

### **The Calamity**

The third age of Exandria was The Calamity. Following the assault on Vasselheim, conflict against the Betrayer Elders reignited, most cities that had founded during the Age of Arcanum were reduced to ash, leaving Vasselheim once again the sole bastion of civilisation. Devastation swept Exandria once again killing over a third of the inhabitants and shifting the geography of the world itself.

During a battle the Knowing Mistress withstood a near fatal blow for the Chained Oblivion, but was still able to enact the Rites of Prime Banishment on Exandria and thus defeated the Betrayer Elders and vanquishing Ghor Dranas.

Hoping to seal away the Betrayer Elders for good, the Prime Spirits retreated from Exandria. Behind themselves and their defeated brethren, they erected a barrier known as the Divine Gate, which would prevent any entity from physically crossing over into physical world. The departure of the Elders from Exandria, and the diminishment of their influence, was an event that has since come to be known as "The Divergence."

### **Post-Divergence**

The fourth age of Exandria is known as The Post-Divergence, it is the time period where The Chronicles of Vox Machina took place and the years are labelled with "P.D" or "Post Divergence". Though unable to physically cross over into Exandria, both the Prime Spirits and the Betrayer Elders still granted boons from afar to their mortal followers.

The limits of arcane magic were once again pressed when the arch lich, Vecna, attained the power of a spirit. While seeking to gather worshippers so he could expand the power he had, the Prime Spirits sought to defeat him, but the Divine Gate now stood as a barrier between them and the newly ascended Vecna. Selecting mortal champions and gifting them power, was all the Prime Spirits could do in their efforts to banish Vecna. Vox Machina, guided by blessings from Ioun, Pelor, Sarenrae, and the Raven Queen, took it upon themselves to confront and seal away Vecna. Atop his tower in the moving city of Entropis, as Vecna led yet another assault against Vasselheim, they confronted the new spirit. By enacting the same rites of banishment that were used to seal away the Chained Oblivion, they successfully exiled him from Exandria. As a young spirit who was yet to fully realize his power before being banished, it is difficult to judge how much influence he has had on Exandria since.

## Calendar

### Dates

An Exandrian years lasts 328 days over the course of 11 months. Each day is 24 hours in length and the days of the week are named Miresen, Grissen, Whelsen, Conthsen, Folsen, Yulisen, and Da'leysen. This particular calendar has elvish roots and is the one used throughout the continent of Tal'Dorei and most other civilized areas in the world.

### Season

* Spring begins early in the month of Dualahei, officially starting on the 13th with the Renewal Festival.
* Summer begins in the middle of Unndilar, officially starting on the 26th day known as the Zenith.
* Autumn begins early in Fessuran, marked by the Harvest's Close on the 3rd day.
* Winter begins on the 2nd day of Duscar, the Barren Eve, which is a night-time celebration and remembrance of those who fell in battle.

### Holidays

* **New Dawn**: The first day of the new year is also the holy day of the Changebringer, as the old year gives way to a new path. Emon celebrates New Dawn with a grand midnight feast, which commonly features a short play celebrating the changes witnessed in the past year.

* **Day of Challenging:** The holy day of the Stormlord is one of the most raucous holidays in Emon. Thousands of spectators attend the annual Godsbrawl, which is held in the fighting ring within the Temple of the Stormlord. The people root for their deity's favored champion, and there is a fierce (yet friendly) rivalry between the Champion of the Stormlord and the Champion of the Platinum Dragon. The winner earns the title of "Supreme Champion" for an entire year.

* **Wild's Grandeur:** Though the Archeart is the god of spring, the peak of the spring season is the holy day of the Wildmother. The people in the southern wilds of Tal'Dorei celebrate the Wildmother's strength by journeying to a place of great natural beauty. This could be the top of a mountainous waterfall, the center of a desert, or even an old and peaceful city park (such as Azalea Street Park in Emon). Though Emon rarely celebrates Wild's Grandeur, the few who do will plant trees in observance of the holiday.

* **Deep Solace:** The holy day of the Allhammer is celebrated by especially devout followers in isolation. They meditate on the meaning of family and how they may be better mothers, fathers, siblings, and children. Dwarven communities, such as Kraghammer, celebrate with a full day of feasting and drinking.

* **Elvendawn (also known as "Midsummer"):** The holy day of the Archeart celebrates the first emergence of the Elves into Exandria from the Feywild. In Syngorn, the Elves open small doorways into the Feywild and celebrate alongside the wild fey with uncharacteristic vigor.

* **Highsummer:** The holy day of the Dawnfather is the peak of the summer season. Emon celebrates with an entire week of gift-giving and feasting, ending at midnight on the 21st of Sydenstar (the anniversary of the Battle of the Umbra Hills, where Zan Tal'Dorei dethroned Trist Drassig). Whitestone (where the Dawnfather is the city's patron god) celebrates with gift-giving and a festival of lights around the Sun Tree. Due to the Briarwood occupation, money is thin, so most Whitestone folk choose to recount the small things they are thankful for, rather than buy gifts.

* **Civilization's Dawn:** The holy day of the Lawbearer is the peak of the autumn season. Emon celebrates with a great bonfire in the square of each neighborhood, around which each community dances and gives gifts.

* **Night of Ascension:** Though the actual date of her rise to divinity is unclear, the holy day of the Matron of Ravens is nonetheless celebrated as the day of her apotheosis. Though most in Emon see this celebration of the dead as unnerving and macabre, the followers of the Matron of Ravens believe that the honored dead would prefer to be venerated with cheer, not misery.

* **Embertide:** The holy day of the Platinum Dragon is a day of remembrance. Solemnity and respect are shown to those who have fallen in the defense of others.

* **Winter's Crest:** This day celebrates the freedom of Tal'Dorei from Errevon the Rimelord. It is the peak of the winter season, so devout followers of the Matron of Ravens (as the goddess of winter) consider it to be one of her holy days. However, in most of the land, people see Winter's Crest as a secular holiday, often celebrated with omnipresent music in public areas, lavish gift-giving to relatives and loved ones, and the cutting and decorating of trees placed indoors. The Sun Tree in Whitestone is often decorated with lights and other baubles for Winter's Crest. Winter's Crest is also when the barrier between planes is at its thinnest, as seen when Raishan was able to tear open the rift to the Elemental Plane of Fire and allow Thordak back into Exandria.

## Bodies of Water

* Lucidian Ocean
* Ozmit Sea
* Marrowglade Loch