Mortium

Mortium, also known as the Mortal Plane, is one of the Three Realms. It is notable for being the connection between Celestium and Abyssium. Interplanar travel always passes through Mortium in some fashion.

## Geography

Mortium is a plane of land and sea. The plane consists of one known Continent, surrounded by a Great Ocean. The Continent is divided into two halves, connected by a thin land bridge. The land bridge consists of difficult terrain blocked by the inhospitable Desert of Gillian and the impassable Crescentpeaks mountain range. The only known route through the desert is the Great Gem Road, traveled only by the hardiest caravans. The caravans trade goods from the Western Continent and the other planes in exchange for brilliant gems and precious rare metals found in the Eastern Continent. The Western Continent and its surrounding islands house six sovereign nations that consist the United Mortal Confederation: the human kingdom of Menetar settled in the Menetar Valley and its surrounding areas, the elven and dwarven United Dominion consisting of a large section of the Crescentpeaks mountain range as well as the verdant Forest of Nep, the human kingdom of Lantria found on the Lantian island chain across the Disputed Sea, the halfling and gnomish city-state of Polt on the southern border of the Northlands, the economically driven Commonwealth of Quint Cities which encompasses the Plains of Quint and Zain Island, and the orcish Council of Kurx found on the Kurx Islands. The Eastern Continent remains relatively unexplored by the people of the United Mortal Confederation and the other two planes, though there are rumors of great empires existing beyond the Desert of Gillian: Xiu Fan, Al'Qura and Saraniss.

## History

Mortium's history stretches so far back, none of its native races are sure of their own origins. Mortal civilizations rose and fell throughout the course of time, many long forgotten.

Mortium witnessed constant strife before the contemporary era. The humans of the Lantian Isles and Menetar Valley are the products of an ancient civil war that split a once-united human empire in two. The elves of the Forest of Nep had unknowingly built their kingdom of Neria above the underground dwarven city of Ell, causing high border tensions between the two races. An unlikely friendship between members of their royal families allowed the two societies to accept each other, forming the United Dominion. The three orc tribes of the Kurx Islands have always warred against each other, no one tribe ever gaining a significant advantage over the other two. The gnomes and halflings of the Northlands suffered from the harsh arctic environment of their homeland and constantly fell victim to monsters that inhabit the northern half of their island. Only the independent cities alongside the Great Gem Road saw periods of peace and prosperity from their trade with the Eastern Continent.

### The Great War

Two thousand years ago, the human spellcasters of Menetar’s Arcanist Guild opened the first planar gateways, discovering the two planes of Celestium and Abyssium. Both celestials and abyssals eventually learned the secret to interplanar travel and used the technology to wage war against one another. Since Mortium was the only known bridge between the two planes, the Continent became the collateral battleground of their Great War. A hasty alliance between Menetar, Lantria, the United Dominion, and several cities along the Great Gem Road (most notably Tellemetra) was formed to defend against this threat. After a thousand years of conflict and attempts at diplomacy between the three planes, the mortals successfully mediated peace between them: the Tellemetra Accords. As part of the Accords, Tellemetra established the first planeport, a system of planar gateways solely for the purpose of interplanar trade and cultural exchange. Menetar and the capital cities of the other two planes followed suit, allowing for a period of mutual peace. The military alliance between the mortal nations reformed into a peacetime legislative body called the United Mortal Confederation. The city-state of Polt and two of the orc tribes, the Blackears and Whitehands, of the Kurx Islands joined as members soon after. The third tribe, the Redbacks, was eventually defeated by the combined might of the other two orcish tribes, and its members have reluctantly been assimilated into the new orc nation, the Council of Kurx.

### Current Era

Peace in Mortium has been destabilized. Zain Island has fallen to a powerful necromancer in the last decade and is now a land filled with undead creatures. Large criminal organizations and outlaw groups take advantage of the wealth brought by interplanar trading. The Great Gem Road is becoming increasingly vacant, with multiple caravans mysteriously disappearing in the Gillian Desert. Astrological societies also report that the very sky seems disturbed, with large erratic phenomena occurring in the skies above the United Dominion.

## Races

Mortium has a much greater assortment of sentient races than the other two planes. Mortium's races are also much more varied in qualities - from the long-lived elves of Nep to the frail goblins of the Kurx Islands, and from the numerous humans inhabiting both halves of the Continent to the few goliaths of the Northlands.

### Western Continent

* Humans
	+ Menetari
	+ Lantians
* Elves
	+ Nerian
* Dwarves
* Orcs
	+ Blackears
	+ Whitehands
	+ Redbacks
* Gnomes
* Halflings
* Goblins
	+ Hobgoblins
	+ Bugbears
* Goliaths
* Warforged
* Half-Breeds
	+ Half-Elves
	+ Half-Orcs

### Eastern Continent

* Humans
	+ Xiu Fanese (Kalashtar)
	+ Saranissians (Yuan-ti)
* Elves
	+ Hakkyogen
* Gith
	+ Yanki
	+ Zerai
* Beastmen
	+ Kenku
	+ Loxodons
	+ Minotaurs
	+ Tabaxi
	+ Tortles
	+ Viashino
* Half-Breeds
	+ Half-Elves
	+ Shifters