Ylos

### Satellites

Cortanas, the Common MoonLotune, the Dark Moon (also called Rhiotor)Elyria, the Broken Moon

### Population

Humans Humanoids Other

**Ylos** (pronounced: /EE/Low-ss) was the was the world on which the events of Generic Fantasy Setting #17735 occur.

Most of the history of Ylos is mired in mystery, as the world has undergone several cataclysmic events, including the death of their original deific pantheon.

## Geography

Ylos was a large world roughly the size of 1.5 Earths that consisted of various continents, including Talusia, Argini, Emrys, and Apesh. Tulusia and Argini, two continents connected by a southern land chain, are the largest combined land mass known.

## Continents

There are at least nine continents on Ylos:

* **Talusia:** Home of the Talusian Allied States (TAS), a federation of city states under the moderate rule of the capital city of old Talusia. Contains Thes Terrell, a part of the continent sheered off in a battle between Arkaris and Grenn against the titan Iomungr.
* **Argini**: A continent connected to Talusia through a southern causeway. Made up of a dozen countries constantly on the verge of war with each other and held together by sparse treaties. The location of the elven city of Azersebek. Contains Fandelia. Originally the home of halflings on Ylos.
* **Apesh:** A continent to the west that was originally a massive continental atoll and island chain, which was transformed into a desert land for thousands of years by dark magic. It was returned to its natural island terrain by the adventuring party Nothing Ventured prior to the Return.
* **Dione**: Located in the southern hemisphere, this land mass is home to the city of Port Echidna and was first settled by the pirate fleet of Dio Diamond.
* **Emrys**: A continent to the south of Talusia and Argini that is home to the Emrysian Empire, a bastion of human dominated rule and technology.
* **Okoka**: A lush, crescent shaped continent to the east of Argini. One of the original homes of humanity on Ylos. Home of the Okokan League, a political rival to Emrys. Originally home of the Tabaxi.
* **The Draconian Archipelago**: Not a continent, but a series of volcanic island in the northwest seas settled by dragonborn after the fall of the Elder Dragons. Contains Urbs Draconis, the City of Dragons.
* **Dros Vorr**: The northernmost continent of Ylos, perpetually encased in ice. The original home of the dwarves.
* **Rannai (name being confirmed):** A continent to the southwest of Talusia and Emrys containing the countries of Xafun, Awari, Tianyeong, and Malek.

#### Other Locations of Note:

* **Thes Terrell**: A large island off the southwest coast of Talusia that was sheered off during the Blinding of Iomungr. Legend says that the resulting Earthscar, still contains the remnants of the sword that Arkaris used to blind the titan.
* **The Chain of the Gods/The Broken Lands:** A massive island and swamp network between north Talusia and Argini. Scholars believe this may have once been a second connection point between the continents before it was shattered by a forgotten event. Now it is a dangerous land of raiders, acidic swamps, and violent weather.
* **Arkos**: An island chain between Talusia, Argini, and Emrys, set among the Sea of Drowned Kings. Incredibly dangerous to traverse.
* **Vale (also known as Valamar)**: A relic of the Age of Wonders. Vale is a large island (and smaller satellite islands) held aloft by ancient magics. It floats across the world in an unpredictable pattern.
* **Ushar**: A large volcanic island southeast of Argini. Formerly the Land of the Orcs prior to their enslavement by the elves during the Age of Wonders.
* **Istarii**
* **Caerbana**

## Astrology

Ylos was once part of a rare binary planet orbit. It and its sibling world, Elyria, orbited their system's sun in tandem. At some point in their shared history Elyria was destroyed in a planetary catastrophe. What remains of Elyria now exists as a rough asteroid belt that will one day form a ring around Ylos.

Ylos has two moons.

* Cortanas, the "common moon", is an above average moon (roughly 1.7 times the size of Earth's moon). It has a yellow and blue hue (similar to Europa) and is visible year-round in its various phases.
* Lotune, the "dark moon", is a small, dense moon (roughly 1/3 the size of Cortanas). Lotune's title derives from the fact that due to its orbit and dark, iron-gray color, it is only visible a few days each month. It is also called Rhiotor by the dragons, in honor of the the legendary copper dragon that hides it most nights of the month.

## History

The history of Ylos spans at least 13,000 years, extending back to the time of the Old Gods and their extinction at the hands of the Elder Dragons.

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: To allow for some narrative flexibility, the history of Ylos will presently be reflected in vague Ages rather than set years]

### The Age of War / The Age of Betrayal

* Led by the Great Wyrm, the dragons of Ylos rebel against their gods for unknown reasons.
* The gods are killed en masse with only a single greater god surviving: the unnamed child of Tylon and another deity.

### The Age of Horrors

* With no gods or dragons to protect civilization, most of the world becomes overrun by monsters, aberrations, and godlike creatures known as Titans. who reign down destruction across the world.
* Bolstered by the unconscious power of the childlike Nameless God, warriors of all races become imbued by the power of the divine, creating the first paladin orders. However, due to the young god's inability to control his power, these nascent orders form around a diverse set of ideals rather than a unified code, which allows both good and evil warriors to wield this divine might.
* The dwarves descended from their icy nation of Dros Vorr in search of plunder and murder in the south. Led by the Coldheart King, these dwarves led a campaign deep into the heart of southern territory through secret tunnels dug deep through Ylos's heart.
* According to legend, it was a sip of halfling beer that melted the heart of the first Coldheart dwarves. Soon, dissent spread like wildfire and the invading hoards turned on the Coldheart King. These dwarves would seal away the deep roads to prevent their brethren from inflicting their icy wrath on the peaceful people of the south.
* Elves arrive on Ylos and and are welcomed. These newcomers quickly gain military and political power due to their superior magic and weaponry, finding only resistance in areas inhabited by dwarves.
* The two nations engage in several centuries of skirmishing, but due to their long lives and low birthrates, do not engage in all out war against each other. This leads to a hostility between the two races that endures to this day.
* The struggles between elves and dwarves has the advantage of preventing either from seizing control. Later, humans would arrive en masse and fill the void between the sides before either could act quickly enough to prevent it.

### The Age of The New Gods

* The sibling gods tribes of the Aeryi and Shasha arrive on Ylos and quickly set about establishing order to a chaotic world.
* A tremendous influx of humans arrives on Ylos and soon they become the numerically dominant species.
* Other gods soon arrive from realms beyond Ylos and fill the void left by the previous pantheon.
* The Earthscar is created when the avatar of rage, Iomungr, is defeated by Grenhardt and Arkaris at great personal cost.

### The Age of Wonders

* Using the remnants of technology from the human arrival, a golden age of wonders begins.
* The Kladdessian Empire rises to prominence during this period.
* The elvish nations establish the tetrarchy and tame the relic known as the Thorn of Arcadia.
* The Coldheart Dwarves, having seized human technology and made dark dealings to bolster their numbers, attempts another invasion of the south. Their primary goal is not only to seize the south, but to eradicate their traitorous kin.
* In desperation, a few dwarven crafters create the help they need in the form of the Warforged, sentient beings forged from Aretenium, an incredibly rare living metal. This creation, along with alliances with the other races of Ylos, succeeds in driving the Coldheart dwarves back.
* The Warforged are viewed as an abomination by dwarf society and a secret shame that almost leads to civil war within the dwarven nations.
	+ [Heretical] In order to save their creators, the surviving Warforged leaders agreed to be sealed away for all time.
* The orcish homeland **Ushar** is discovered on by elvish explorers. The elves enslave the orcs to rebuild their civilization and the rest of Ylos that was destroyed by the Coldheart Dwarves.
* The capital city of the Kladdessian Empire vanishes in a flash of light. The remainder of the vast empire is bathed in magical radiation that signals the empire's death knell.

### **The Lost Age**

* Sometime between the fall of the Kladdessian Empire and rise of Talusia, most human technology and knowledge of its secrets vanishes from the world. That which remains is buried and would later be discovered, most notably, by the Emrysian Empire. However, without the knowledge to correctly use this ancient technology, the advantage provided is not overwhelming.

### The Age of Woe

* New monsters and aberrations sweep out from the fallen Kladdessian empire.
* The Chobari tribe unites the other barbarian tribes of what will become northern Talusia into a society governed by law and order.
* A new race of beings known as gnomes appear across Ylos, and are assumed to be refugees from the Fey Wild.
* A boy named Thurn Talos is born to a Chobari tribeswoman named Wolga and an elven knight named Iohannis Wildwing. This boy grows up to be a powerful warrior and hero.
* An adventuring party called **The** **Gold Standard** is formed. It features such noteworthy heroes of the age as:
	+ Thurn Talos (male half-wild elf Champion fighter/ Path of the Wolf Totem Warrior barbarian)
	+ Gallia Camorstanzii (female high elf bard of the College of Eloquence)
	+ Kressius Etrix (male human warlock of the Pact of the Fiend)
	+ Zanuki Hornbreaker Matillis (female goliath druid of the Circle the Moon)
	+ Harude Paix (gender fluid human cleric of Kazan)
	+ Sagris Thormhold (male copper dragonborn Drake Warden ranger)
	+ Beera Marlow-Ironhold (female mountain dwarf cavalier)
	+ Gilby Gurenthenbuckler (unknown gnomish arcane trickster rogue)
* Thurn Talos and the Chobari create the Adventurer's Guild, which brings legitimacy to the practice, as well as temple services and healthcare.
* The city of Tylongrad is renamed Talos after being saved from an invasion from the Abyss by Thurn Talos and party.
* The kingdom of Talusia is founded under the reign of King Talos I, who unites the the continent of Talusia under a federation of allied city states under the central rule of Talus.
* The Gold Standard is shattered when Kressius kills King Talos to achieve immortality. He retreats to his home country of Sargassio and begins to build his empire of death. Due to Kressius exploiting a technical loophole in a contract between the party, no act of retribution can be taken against him.
* Queen Dangven Talos I ascends to her father's throne, a move which balks Arginian gender traditions and further isolates Talusia. Dangven ends up marrying Joe Jotan, a human cook and amateur wrestler. Their prolific love and long lives due to Dangven's elven heritage and Joe's clean living and workout regiment secure the kingdom's future through the birth of an astounding twenty-three heirs.
* The enslaved orcs, led by an half-orc named either Shegar or Ulot, successfully throw off the shackles of elven control. Some return to their homeland, which has become incredibly dangerous due to their absence for hundreds of years. Others stay and survive as they can, with many abandoning their pacifistic natures to become marauding bands of raiders.
* Attempts to open an Adventurers Guild franchise in Sargassio are blocked for the next 200 years out of spite.

### The Age of Heroes

* Kressius the Undying successfully argues his case to the Chobari Circle of Law, claiming new requirements for adventurers to be be alive, breathing, or "in possession of skin of their own creation" are prejudice against the undead, and also exploitable in rather disgusting ways. The first Adventurer's Guild opens in the capital city of Nefos.
* A human named Eddie Gonzalez arrives arrives in Ylos due to a series of strange events. He is quickly branded as Eddigone the Wise, due to a translation error with the elven honorific *Zal'es*, which translates as wise, or "of highest reknown". He doesn't fight it.
* Eddigone meets a traveling gnome named Scillion, and the two become fast friends. Then rivals. Then friends. The cycle repeats for decades.
* Eddigone forms a party called Nothing Ventured. Scillion, though not a fully fledged member due to the protest of Eddigone the Wise, joins their roster as a sometimes member.
* The first iteration of Nothing Ventured seals away Nyrn, the goddess of darkness into three relics called the Eyes of Nyrn. One eye is sealed in an ancient tomb in the middle of nowhere on the island of Thes Terrell. Another is sealed inside the Tomb of Okanen the Magnificent in the desert lands of Apesh.
* Wyvernball becomes the dominant sport of the southern hemisphere and begins to make its way north.
* Scillion the Brave vanishes with the final Eye of Nyrn, never to be seen again. His hometown is renamed in his honor as Scillytown.
* Eddigone moves his completed tower to Scilly Town.
* Several orc tribes discover that they are uniquely suited to survive in a magically irradiated zone in what was once the eastern Kladdessian Empire. Slowly, new tribes trickle in and begin to bring together their peaceful past with the realised trauma that has led them to violent lives. This new land becomes known as Orkesh.
* A magical cure capable of treating any disease or ailment is discovered in the Arginian country of Exalar. To prevent its spread, Zonos, god of plague and prophecy, seals the country away in a cloud of deadly miasma.

### The Current Age

* The discovery of precious gems leads to the founding of the village of Mogh, directly above where Pit Merrin sealed away the first Eye of Nyrn.
* An adventuring party called Wanderlust is hired by an unknown party to retrieve hidden treasure from near Mogh.
* The leader of Wanderlust, Nona, convinces a young girl named Mars to lead them to the old caves.
* The seal on Nyrn is disrupted by Mars, which results in her transformation into a tiefling.
* A drunken sailor falls overboard and seemingly drowns in the Sea of Arkos. Later, in the midst of a violent storm, the sailor's ship and crew are saved by a divine being calling himself Demses.
* Mars travels to find the legendary Eddigone the Wise in order to become human again. Along the way she means what will become the second iteration of Nothing Ventured: Malia Sunsworn, Teah Armstrong, and Zeno Rightwing. Others would temporarily join their party as well.
* Earthquakes caused by the weakening of Nyrn's seal awaken a number of slumbering Elder Dragons from their slumber beneath Ylos.
* A hoard of gnolls are led by an infernal general against Dogrun Bridge for an unknown reason, and are rebuffed by the heroes of Thes Terrell, which are gifted the adventuring license for the party Nothing Ventured.
* The first Eye of Nyrn is retrieved from the Tomb of Okanen the Magnificent, with the resulting magical outpouring returning the desert lands of Apesh to their former existence as a lush archipelago.
* The war known as the Rage of Dragons begins.
* The Sundering occurs.
* The Black Star Plague is reintroduced to the world through an ancient gateway belonging to the forgotten god Lys.

Historical records hint that this timeline may be flawed.