The World

### What's the Vibe?

The location in which we will be playing is known to its inhabitants as "The Realm". This is a place where there are established cities with leadership structures which at time come into conflict with other places. We will find this place at a time where depending on the location there may be things such as bars and restaurants, a postal system, art and artists, theatrical productions, an education system, consumer good, and many other things which parallel our own world. A big factor in this world is the presence of magic and those capable of using magic. Most of the institutions which in some way mirror our own real world are supported by magic. Magic is an everyday part of the lives of the people in this world and heavily influences the way in which people live their lives.

### Magic and who can do it

There are many ways for a person to gain magic, the most common is studying to be a wizard, but not everyone who studies the magical arts will see results. All people in this world have a level of aptitude for magic. Only approximately 1% of people are capable of any sort of magic, of that 1% about 1/2 will only be ever able to cast cantrips, 1/2 of the remaining half will only be able to cast 1st level spells and so on. (So in a population of 100,000 people, 1000 will be able to cast some sort of magic, 500 will only be able to cast cantrips, 250 will be able to cast 1st level spells, 125 will be able to cast 2nd level spells, 62 will be able to cast 3rd level spells, 31 will be able to cast 4th level spells, 15 will be able to cast 5th level spells, 8 will be able to cast 6th level spells, 4 will be able to cast 7th level spells, 2 will be able to cast 8th level spells, and of that 100,000 people 1 person will be able to cast 9th level spells.

### The Races of The World

This game world is the home of many different Races each with different cultures and histories and the way in which they interact impact much of the history and conflicts of this world.

### Locations

Our game takes place in an area known as "The Realm". WIthin the realm there are 8 Regions.

The Heartland

Woodsland

The Coast of Thun

The Great Mountains

The Badlands

The White Sea

The Spirit Forest

The Lake of Wonders

### History of The Realm

##### Age of Dragons

The oldest age recorded by the inhabitants of The Realm, this age encompanies the time in which Dragons ruled over The Realm. Reports differ on how many dragons there were at the time, but they divided up The Realm between them and claimed dominion over the people within their territories. The dragons fought wars between themselves using their humanoid subjects as pawns in their disputes.

It is at some point during this age that the first elves crossed into our world through the World Tree, and despite many attempts by many dragons to conquer the Region it never fell into the hands of Dragons.

In the Age of Dragons, the dragonborn served as the direct servants of the Dragons performing such tasks as entertaining them, preparing their food, serving them, maintaining their lairs, and keeping the other races in line. All other races performed the more dangerous and laborious tasks such as mining the gold for the dragons hoards and building the fortresses the dragons resided. The people of the realm all lived and died at the pleasure of the Dragons and it was known that Dragons would decimate the populations of a rival Dragon's if they felt like doing so. After many centuries of living under Dragon rule, the Dragonborn eventually rose up against their masters and managed to kill all of the Dragons. After this Rebellion most of the Dragonborn migrated to the last remaining Dragon stronghold a fortress on the slopes of The Black Mountain which they renamed Dragonguard. Thus ending the Age of Dragons

##### Age of Orcs

During the rebellion against the dragons mostly all of the little infrastructure that existed for the races of the realm was destroyed. In the following decades the inhabitants of the realm had to fight and struggle just to survive in a hostile world. The Realm is full of powerful creature and monsters, in the Age of Dragons while they were subject to the wrath of their masters the races of the realm could at the very least rest easy knowing that the Dragons would at least keep them safe from other creatures, as a Dragon who cannot defend their own subjects from monsters is not a Dragon who other Dragons will fear enough to respect the borders of their territory, but with the dragons gone the Races of The Realm had to fend for themselves. In this time strength was all that mattered, the strength to protect yourself, the strength to protect your friends and family, the strength to survive in a hostile world.

As the decades went by the races of the world became more adept at dealing with the creatures that they inhabited the world alongside and were able to start rebuilding something resembling a society, as well as start turning their hostilities towards each other. It was also during this time that the first elves began to leave The Spirit Forest and begin participating in the burgeoning society that was developing in the rest of the realm. During these decades clans of Orcs began to exert dominance over the world. Dedicated to producing fierce warriors the orc clans were able to raid and pillage the early settlements of Humans, Dwarves, Halflings, Gnomes, Elves, and weaker Orcs. It was not long until Orcs were by far the most populace and powerful of the Races of The Realm poised to take the place of the Dragons.

As powerful as they may have been the Orcs were no Dragons and the other Races of The Realm began band together and fight back building up their settlements. Dwarves abandoned the hills and mountain sides which they previously settled on and began putting all of their people time and energy into expanding their settlements dug into the mountains, with the gnomes shortly following them underground. Humans and Halflings. began to build walls around their settlements and to train dedicated bands of warriors to fight back against the Orc Clans. After many genrations those walls, once made of fallen trees, started to be raised dozens of feet high and be made of solid stone, and the bands of warriors became armed Knights with steel armor and weapons. The orcs on the other hand relied on the same way of life and tactics that had been giving them success for the past several centuries until the time came when the easy prey was gone and the other races of the realm would not tolerate the attacks of Orc Clans any longer. The Orc Clans succesful raide become fewer and further between and many of them were completely wiped out until all that remained were forced into the Region known as the Badlands.

##### Age of Humans

Following the end of the Age of Orcs humans became the most dominant and populace race in The Realm. The great cities that humans built to protect themselves from the Orcs became hubs of civilization and culture home to not just Humans, but Races from all over The Realm. However things are never quiet for long in The Realm and in these lands controlled by the Humans class structures began to develop a Nobility, and a Peasantry. The Nobility formed themselves into noble houses which controlled various kingdoms. The Noble houses of men squabbled over land and resources forging alliances with other noble houses, declaring war, breaking their alliances, declaring peace. Over the next many many centuries the people The Realm went on like this with the exception of a few specific places such as The Spirit Forest, The Great Mountains, and The Lake of Wonders which remained independent of the political systems of Humans.

The eras of constant struggles for power between kingdoms was seemingly put to an end however when the King of Prayven Harlaus Regas began his conquest. King Harlaus conquered many cities, towns, and villages across the Heartlands until he had become unquestionably the king of the whole of the Heartlands. Following this King Harlaus turned his attention toward The Coast of Thun and the Woodlands conquering the cities, towns, and villages in those regions as well. Following his conquest and now the unquestionable king of 3 Regions King Harlaus declared himself the King Emperor of Realms of Men.

### The world as we'll find it

At the time of our game, the cities and settlements of the world have long been established with culture and personality and history. While there are Regions considered to be the homeland of certain races, and are primarily under the political control of certain races, you would be able to find a member of every race in most general areas with a few specific exceptions.

#### Politics

At the time of our games, The realms of men are ruled by King Emperor Harlan, specific areas and settlements are ruled by members of noble houses which are all engaged in for lack of a better term "a game of thrones" in which they compete with each other for political power, land, and resources. The White Sea remains independent of King Emperor Harlan's rule but still participates in the Nobility system of The Realms of Men. The Lake of Wonders is ruled by a council of the most powerful mages in Spellhaven and is home to most mages and people who would seek to become a mage in The Realm. The Great Mountains are primarily home to Dwarves and Gnomes who live primarily in the mountain city Dorim. Dorim is ruled by the King of The Mountain. The Great Mountains are also home to Dragonguard, the city on the slopes of The Black Mountain and home to the Dragonborn. In Dragonguard outsiders (Non-Dragonborn) are not permitted to enter and the Dragonborn who live there rarely. leave. The Spirit Forest is inhabited by the Wood-Elves who follow now official leadership structure but are united in their common purpose of protecting The World Tree. The clans of Orcs roam the Badlands searching for ways to break into the rest of The Realm and send a band of warriors in to raid a town or village and bring back resources like food, weapons, and clothing.

#### Guilds

Most organized business ventures in this world are performed by guilds.