Setting Summary

## Quick Overview

The Game will mainly take place in what called The Stolen Lands, a Strip on Land between the River Kingdoms and Brevoy. You are tasked by a noble in Brevoy to settle a part of the Stolen Lands. Brevoy, the River Kingdoms are part of a region of the world called Vasloria.

## Overarching Information

### History

The most recent era of stability was during the reign of the Caelian Empire. Their rule lasted centuries and saw the know world conquered. Their fall led to the current Age of Chaos, the lands splintered, civilization retreating.

The impact of their rule is still felt, centuries after its fall. Their ruins dot the landscape, remining men of what came before. In an effort to make everyone Caelian first, and their ethnicity second, they instituted a wide-spread program of forced relocation, moving around people so that almost every ethnicity can be found anywhere in the world. The common language across Vasloria is Caelian, something they enforced their their dominance.

### Vasloria

The continent of Vasloria circles its central lake, Lake Encarthan. Lake Encarthan is the connective heart of the continent, the many navigable rivers that flow in and out of it making up a vast network of highways. It is thanks to these waterways that despite vast distances of wilderness, the continent remains somewhat interconnected, at least around the lake.

Vasloria is mostly made up of temperate forests and rolling hills. The landscape tends to get more rugged in the north, forests becoming deciduous. The north is generally unsuited for agriculture, it inhabitants focusing more on fishing, hunting and herding

#### Religion

The human Gods of Vasloria have an important role in the culture of Vasloria. The beliefs and maxims of the gods have shaped the deep-seated culture of Vasloria. Adun's belief in hard work and honesty has developed into a distrust of people who don't do physical labor. Malor's belief in keeping knowledge among a select few has created a guild like system throughout Vasloria washout actually having guilds.

## The World as the Campaign Starts

### The World at Large

There is one name on the lip of every ruler, **Ajax the Invincible**, Ajax the Iron Saint, Ajax who came out from a conquered Phaedros in the east, who triumphed over King Omund in Aendrim. Binding even the **Elves of the Orchid Court** and the **Dwarfs of the Granite Wall Mountains** to servitude in exchange for self-rule, Ajax is more like a raging storm than a man. Seemingly taking the same route as the Caelians did in forging their empire, its only a question of time before he sets his sights east, to conquer the rest of Vasloria. However, the re-awakening of the **Whispering Tyrant** and the formation of the Gravelands, have the plans changed?

`The most recent, troubling news is that Ajax and the Whispering Tyrant seems to have reached an uneasy alliance, content to partition Varisia between themselves. The Archlich going to the North of Lake Encarthan, The Invincible Overlord going to the south.

### Brevoy and the River Kingdoms

Brevoy is on the precipice of civil war, and everybody knows it. After the entire ruling family simply vanished into thin air, House Surtova has taken over as regent. With no sign of them coming back even 7 years later, rumor has it that Noleski Surtova will declare himself King of Brevoy. They have legitimacy through the marriage of Choral the Conqueror to a Surtovan Princess, but everyone is aware that the Aldori seek independence, the only ones they submitted to being House Rogarvia. The other Great Houses also chafe at the though of ending up under someone who was their peer, though keep their loyalties close to their chest.

(DM NOTE: I will flesh out the Great Houses of Brevoy out more later, which might result in more obvious alliances and/or allegiances between houses, we'll see. I'll keep you informed.)

## Brevoy

Brevoy is on the verge of tearing itself apart. Formed after the conquest of two warring nation, with the conquerors now gone, little is stopping it from being split in two once more.

Brevoy as a country came into the existence when Choral the Conqueror conquered the rival neighboring countries of Issia in the north and Rostland in the south, combining them in the newly christened Brevoy with him as its ruler. The Ruling House of Rogarvia was established and ruled over Brevoy for 220 more years until the event known as "the Vanishing" occurred. All members of House Rogarvia simply disappeared leaving no trace. House Surtova, former rulers of Issia currently rules as Regents, waiting for any signs of House Rogarvia returning.

One of the nations claiming the Stole lands for themselves, Brevoy borders it to the north-east.

## The Stolen Lands

The stolen lands are made up of the hilly plains of Dunward in the east, the great Dolmenwood in its center, and the marshes of the Hooktongue Slough to the West. The stolen lands is an uncivilized and dangerous place. Though a few stubborn villages and homesteads eke out a living in this unforgiving wilderness, far from the light of civilization.

Claimed by three nations, yet controlled by none. The site of many failed settlements, kingdoms and empires. Most recently the region has been claimed by a bandit king, calling himself the Stag Lord. Having united the bandits that hide out in its wilderness, he has gained of control of the eastern part of the Dolmenwood.

### Dolmenwood

Dolmenwood is the name of the great forest at the center of the Stolen Lands, that takes up much of its area. Said to the the battleground between one of the Eldest and the humans in centuries past, today it is a wild place, not part of any human or fey domain. The Cold Prince still feature heavily on the stories parents tell their children, and early snowfall is till seen as a bad omen. TO DO MORE.

In ancient texts from the Caelian Empire mentions of a Duchy of Dolmenwood can be found. Periods of control of the area never seem to last though.

Amongst the Geomantic Wizards of the Vasloria the Dolmenwood is a dream come true. It is the site of natural convergence of 3 powerful leylines, unheard of anywhere else. Despite this, many are hesitant to visit, as many know of wizards who've made the pilgrim and was never heard of again. Despite this, many still delude themselves into thinking they'll become the next Ygraine Mordlin.

## Surrounding Area

To the east of Brevoy and the Stolen Lands runs the World's Edge Mountains. A near impenetrable mountain range, it marks the easterly edge of the know world. Fantastical tales from supposed explorers are common, each as different as they are wild.

To its south lies the Great Thorn Wode, home to the last great Elven Kingdom.

### The River Kingdoms

To its south-west west lay the River Kingdoms. A chaotic conglomerate of petty kingdoms and city states united by a vast river system, collectively known as the river Sellen. The river Sellen flows out into Lake Encarthan, which itself flows out into the sea, passing through Absalom. The trade the flows up and down the Sellen is the lifeblood of the region.

There is no central government in the River Kingdoms, save a loose affiliation of city-states called the Outlaw Council which meets annually in Daggermark. The amount of different kingdoms that form this council is in constant flux as kingdoms are often destroyed, conquered or new kingdoms formed.

The two closest kingdoms to the stolen lands are Pitax to the west and Mivon to the south.

#### Pitax

Pitax' origins lie with brigands from their neighbor to the north, Brevoy, who sought sanctuary amid the forests of the River Kingdoms. A band of vicious thieves made a hideout in a riverside hamlet known as Pitax. As they visited there year after year, their ill-gotten gold slowly transformed Pitax into something considerably larger than a simple, sleepy fishing village. Eventually, the bandits settled in Pitax permanently, building walls around the village, hiring sellswords to help defend against their enemies, and crowning themselves kings of a newfound realm. With this, Pitax became a permanent fixture of the River Kingdoms, able to survive and thrive for nearly four centuries while others around it withered and decayed.

Has an on-going trade feud with Mivon that has spilled over into small-scale border skirmishes.

##### Mivon

It was to Mivon that many of the Aldori Swords fled after Choral the Conqueror overthrew the nation of Rostland and united it to form Brevoy. They brought with them their experience and knowledge as Swordlords, making the city state like a second Restov.

### Numeria

To the north-east lies Numeria. Numeria is a barren, harsh land inhabited by tribes of savage barbarians and ruled over by the Black Sovereign. Its land corrupted by the strange energies emitted by skymetals and other alien relics, most inhabitants survive as raiders, slavers or traders of the rare precious metals known as skymetals. Numeria has the highest concentration of skymetals anywhere, a fact that has made the Black Sovereign and the Technic League handsomely rich.

## Races

### Humans

Man, the most common and widespread races in Orden. Found in all of the corners on the world, there is very little cohesion amongst yourselves. Humans are uncontestably the rulers of the world, and have been as such for as long as human memory stretches back. In the past humanity had empires spanning the world but now the world is splintered once more.

Humans have a natural sense that lets them smell the presence of magic, and sense nearby undead. Why humans are capable of this is unknown.

Humans worship a large pantheon of gods, these gods being different among different cultures. Human gods are worshipped through their saints, each saint representing some aspects of the god they serve.

#### Version of humans

* The Gol - The Gol call themselves the first humans, and there is proof that back their claim up. They are a hunter-gatherer culture with a chaotic view of civilization, more similar to that of the Elves. Viewed as barbarians by the rest of humanity, they still persist, long after mighty empires have risen and collapsed.
* Vaslorians - Average medieval humans, your culture will depend on where you are from.

### Elves

The elves, the creation of the Celestials who left the world so long ago. Created as servants to the True Elves, you were given the stewardship of the Wodes when they left for Arcadia with Val. The Wodes you inhabit once spanned all of Orden, but now the are small and separated, cut through by roads and "tamed" lands.

The Wode elves (wood elf) are the hereditary enemies of the farming humans. But they are not the hereditary enemies of the barbarian humans, ie the Gol. Your home is a Wode, a elf-haunted forest. Wodes remember the years before the Dwarfs came and imposed the Law of Time on Orden. Within Wodes elves are ageless and eternal.

They worship Val, God of the Elves. In the Age of Creation Val created the Celestials who created themselves created you.

#### Versions of Elves

* Wode Elf (wood elf) - You are a member of the Thorn Court, the Last Great Court. Not the only court remaining, but the last court that still maintains the size, stature and influence of the great elven empire of the past. The wodes elves favor chaos, the chaos of nature, of green things growing wild. To the elves the chaos that twists and corrupts and is unnatural, they call discord."
* Eladrin (high elf) - High Elves, or as they would call themselves the Eladrin, lorekeeper or librarian in their language. They also live in the Wode. The live in and around the ruins of the fallen city, Erranis. Literally fallen, Erranis was one of the Sun Elves floating cities.

### Dwarfs

The Dwarfs, one of the Elder races. Created by Ord, Ord who created the world. Famed miners, craftsmen and fighters the Dwarfs have occupied the mountains and the stone beneath them for millennia. Like Humans and unlike Elves, you are a lawful race, order and law is to be followed.

Dwarfs once lived entirely underground never having seen sky. Created from the hard bedrock by Ord himself, for hundreds of years the Dwarfs lived there until they received a command from Ord, seek the sky above. Unsure exactly what a sky was, the Dwarfs dutifully obeyed and begun their great journey. This started what is known in Dwarf history as the Quest for Sky. The Dwarfs left what would one day become the Underdark and headed to the surface, where they began to build their holds in the mountains.

Dwarfs are very similar to the stones they resemble, stubborn, resilient and unmoving. Dwarf culture is highly conservative, with any progress in thinking taking hundreds of years. Dwarven culture and thinking has changed remarkably little in the millennia's.

They worship Ord, God of the Dwarfs, God and Maker (in Dawi God and Maker is the same word) of Stone and Earth.

### Gnomes

Originally created by the Eldest in the Feywild. For reasons lost to time the Gnomes went on mass exodus, leaving the Feywild for the Mundane World.

The Gnomes adapted well to the Mundane World at first. As the wonder and spectacle of the new plane lessened, many gnomes started to suffer from physical decolorization and unnatural aging. Called "The Bleaching", its a condition experience by gnomes who suffer from a lack of exposure to new and exciting experiences. This leaching of color is accompanied by a psychological decline and loss of charisma: first into depression and apathy, and eventually into madness and death. Gnomish efforts to fend off the Bleaching only serve to fuel their racial curiosity and whimsy, giving it somewhat of a manic edge

### Halfling

Polders are more commonly referred to as Halfling. Long ago the race was created by the Beastlords of Kham as slaves and servants. By then the Beastlords were arrogant and decadent, sure of their superiority over the beings they could create. They were proven wrong as they rebelled and threw off their chains. Now free they integrated seamlessly into Human society, adopting many of their customs, as well as their gods. Today its not entirely uncommon that even a small backwater village might have Halflings living in it.

### Orcs

Orcs are not considered an ancestor race, but they are first mentioned in the primordial era of Orden, around the same time as the War of the Gods. It is not know what created the warlike and savage race, but the orc has spread across Orden. Living in warbands or tribes, the orcs inevitably con into conflict with their neighbors, even if they are other orcs, especially if they are other orcs. Some are nomadic, others are settled.

Orcs and other goblinoids thrive in conflict, and contests and fights are big parts of their culture. The leadership of the group is always in contention, with anyone being able to challenge§ the leader for the right to lead.

Seemingly made for war, the orcs are the progenitors to the entire families of goblinoids, which include Goblins and Hobgoblins. All of them reproduce asexually, being birthed from the ground by spores generated by thriving goblinoids.

Orcs worship their own God GorkaMorka. Known not to be present at the dawn of time or during the War between the Gods, it is unknown when this god appeared. Despite its latter appearance it is still capable of granting its follows powers, confusing many scholars of history and the divine.

#### Goblins

Goblins are an offshoot from the orcs they descend from. The Scholarly consensus is that the first goblins were orcs corrupted by the twisting light of the Bad Moon. Goblins and scrawny, diminutive versions of orcs. Where the orc is loud, fearless and strong, the goblin in sneaky, cowardly and weak. But what the goblins lack in terms of strength compared to their cousins, they make up in with numbers, and sinister cunning.

The goblins lifecycle is much faster than the hobgoblins and orcs, a needed adaptation considering how often their numbers are thinned by their maniac tendencies.

Goblins often venerate the Bad Moon as their god, but plenty of other groups have been observed worshipping other idols. It seems in their nature to worship whatever is stronger than them, seemingly as a way of survival.

#### Hobgoblins

Hobgoblins were created at some point in the past, through foul arcane means, to serve as the perfect soldiers. By combining the savagery and reproduction of a goblin with the discipline and thinking of a human, the Hobgoblins became feared adversaries. Whatever created them has been lost to time, but the Hobgoblin Legions remain. Spreading and forming their own band, they are mercenaries for anyone with the coin to pay. Like goblins the reproduce asexually and have no gender, though they do so slower than the goblins.

Many attempts have been made at harnessing the traits that make goblinoids such a  good fighting force. The results of this journey is called Hobgoblins, but Hobgoblins of different spawnings often look and behave differently. Made with different methods, containing differing amounts of Goblins, Human and sometimes even Orc in their mix

Hobgoblins don't have a patron god, though some bands have taken to worship of gods, often the human ones from the region they are in.

## Non-playable Races

### Half-anything

There are no half-half races in the world other than single instances in history. Different races can not have children with each other biologically, so for them to have children together they must turn to the gods. If the gods approve, the child will have to chose which race it will grow up to become at an early age.

## Magic

Magic is fairly uncommon among the population, yet knowledge of its existence is non-controversial. The average layman will know very little about the actual realities of magic, knowing most about it from stories. In larger settlements that has churches, a villager might have seen its priest perform a minor miracle. Priest are regarded with respect for their connection to the gods showcase through their magic.

Mages are seen and awe and fear. Many have heard the stories of what happens when you cross a mage. Witches, druids and their ilk are regarded similarly.

Rulers are likely to employ a mage of some sort mage, both for their magical expertise and their council on matters of magic and the arcane. Other than that, rulers tend to be suspicious of spellcasters because the more powerful they become. the more they tend to see themselves as above the mundane authorities.

Magic is taught and passed down Master to apprentice. A master tends to take on multiple apprentices, who serve under them until they reach a high enough level of skill and experience to leave and continue studying on their own.

Widespread use of magic is uncommon anywhere but the most metropolitan cities, such as Absalom or Capital. Common people do not expect magic to solve their problems, and should it happen, it would be a once in a lifetime experience. This is not a universal experience, there are plenty of places that are steeped in magic, but they are generally out in the wilderness, unknown to the rest of the world.