Midlands

## The Continent

The continent of the Midlands is about 2,100 miles from its easternmost point to its westernmost point, and about 1,308 miles from its northernmost to southernmost point.  For the most part, the Midlands is a temperate continent.  Along the southern plains, temperatures rarely go below forty degrees, even in the dead of winter, and it tends to be even warmer along the southwestern plains and in the Shatterpoint Isles.  Summers here are dry and hot, frequently cooled by sea breezes.  As one goes north

   along the western plains, it becomes cooler, with snow coming much more frequently in the fall and winter, and it can be much colder here the winter, paired with pleasant, temperate summers.  To the east and far north lie the forbidding peaks of the Cragfangs and the Wyrmspine mountains, and beyond them, hundreds of miles of tundra known as Jraxbalaes.  Here it rains rarely, and mostly during the short summer growing season.  The rest of the year, it is a freezing, windswept wasteland, populated only by what hardy, tenacious plants and animals can dwell there.  Savannah grasslands, areas that are relatively flat or have low, rolling hills and regular, sparse tree cover, dominate most of the territory south of the mountains and foothills.  Savannahs are generally dry during the summer and wet in the wintertime, with southwesterly sea winds blowing weather systems across the savannahs and into the Wyrmspine mountain chain, where they build and spread westward, depositing most of their precipitation by the time they are blown

   west back out to sea.  The southern forests, Oakvale and Deadwood, contain both deciduous and evergreen trees such as oak, walnut, beech, maple, yew, fir and cypress.  Dun’y’lyth contains this same mixture of trees, but redwood, cedar, and pine trees are also present in abundance.  In cold forests such as Frostleaf and Blightstone, deciduous trees are much less common and pine and coniferous trees dominate.  In the savannahs, the trees present include juniper and olive trees, as well as cork trees and other oak and walnut trees.  Shrubs like sage, tree heath, myrtle, and blackberry are common throughout the forest and savannah regions of the Midlands.

## Races of the Midlands

### Dwarves

Dwarves claim the honor of having the oldest and most stable government in the Midlands.  Their oldest clan records stretch back nearly 10,000 years, and they have excavated, explored and claimed vast swaths of the territory underneath the Midlands, building grand cities and mining great wealth from the depths of the earth.  Their government consists of close-knit clan families, each its own economic and political body. These interact with each other via the Moot, councils in which representatives from each clan debate and legislate and negotiate on all the matters that concern dwarves as a species.  Dwarven politics and culture is dictated by a central philosophy of honor and respect, whether it be for oneself, one’s clan, or one’s friends.  Despite this, or perhaps because of it, dwarven politics, particularly concerning the Moot, can be bloodthirsty, conniving and underhanded, with some clans bickering and fighting amongst themselves in private struggles for power or to avenge dishonor.  Dwarves work closely with their cousin race, the gnomes, and it is not uncommon for several gnome families to be attached to a dwarven clan, or even for them to form their own clans that participate in the Moot.  Most dwarves live underground in the dwarven network of cities and roads known as the Kragul Ram, or the Under Passes.  Dwarves skirmish constantly with underground nations and tribes of orcs and goblins, though full-scale wars in which the entire dwarven race mobilizes are rare, with the last incidence occurring in EY (Exaldien Year) 1427.

Dwarves have had a secure alliance with the human kingdom of Exaldien since the Schism of the Black Tower in EY 103, when dwarven battalions helped to stop the march of Dead armies led by rebel necromancers.  Since then, the dwarves have come the aid of the humans, and the humans to the aid of the dwarves, numerous times, and their alliance has only become stronger, bound together with important trade agreements and military pacts.  The combination of human ambition backed by dwarven military prowess and support makes for an intimidating union indeed, but many dwarves still think of their surface friends as yet untested, and are wary of the continuing extension of dwarf-human diplomacy.

### Elves

Millennia ago, the elves could have told you the history of the Midlands extending back nearly 30,000 years.  They were the unquestioned masters of the surface world, fighting wars with orcs and dwarves and always asserting or re-asserting their dominion.  But that was before, long before the arrival of the humans, and the complete unraveling of everything the elven empire had built and ruled.  Completely unprepared for the rapid reproduction and unparalleled adaptability of humans, the elves quickly found that they were losing combatants faster than they could replenish them, and consequently were forced to slowly abandon territory to the humans, who only became stronger and more numerous with each year, with each mile they conquered.  Nearly two centuries of frequent warfare passed, and with each passing decade the elves became more desperate, as each tactic and trump card failed in the face of human numbers and tenacity.  Finally, the elves withdrew to Dun’y’lyth, the ancestral home of all elves, where natural magic and the Fae inhabitants favored elves above all others.  Here at last, the human push was stymied; despite several concentrated efforts, the human invaders could not penetrate a forest whose very essence was hostile to them.  So it has remained for over two thousand years, with the humans now the rulers of the Midlands, and the elves confined to the Great Forest, safe but unable to retake what was once theirs.

The destruction of the ancient elven empire led also to a cultural implosion; once a great nation of grand courts, mighty emperors and wizard-magistrates, elven society is now primarily tribal and intertwined with their seasonal religion.  The total number of remaining elves is unknown, and there are few large settlements in Dun’y’lyth and few indications of a united society.  The elves are supremely xenophobic, justifiably so, considering their history, and yet they are still sometimes seen outside of the Great Forest.  Conspiracy theories abound as to their purpose; spies to appraise the strength of the humans, assassins or witches attempting to undermine the kingdom.  In reality, most of these wandering elves are criminals cast out from elven society, a punishment considered in their culture to be worse than death.

### Eolach

The appearance of the Eolach is a mystery, though it is well documented; in EY -1211, strange creatures began to emerge from uncharted underground passages, wandering into the Kragul Ram, where the dwarves detained them.  Ultimately, some 5,000 individuals were apprehended, while it was estimated that 600-700 more slipped past the guard patrols.  These people were not hostile, but they could not remember where they had come from, nor if there were more of them there.  Indeed, it seemed as though they had no memory of their people at all.  They bore captivity placidly, and eventually they were released, though not before their dwarven guards had given them a nickname; Eolach, after mythical spirits that dwelled in magic-heavy areas.  The creatures took the name eagerly, as though they craved the common identity it provided.

Since then, the Eolach have multiplied and spread to all corners of the Midlands, integrating themselves wherever they can.  Eolach seem to simply adapt themselves into whatever culture they find themselves in.  While large populations in cities tend to live close to one another, they have no real unifying philosophy, culture or history around which to gather.  They are a strange bunch to most, and may even provoke panic or violence in people not used to seeing them, but the Eolach don’t seem to mind.  Many Eolach seem content to simply live their lives, only occasionally finding some calling, which they latch onto with almost fanatic passion.  A cleric of Sabine, Regine Pilny, described the Eolach as, “an entire race in stasis, waiting indefinitely for some undefined event or order.”  To some, this appraisal is foreboding.  But for the moment, the Eolach as a people are content to drift.

### Gnolls

For a long time, the gnolls were little better than cunning animals; their survival in the cold forests and tundra of the Jraxbalaes depended on raiding and stealing from anyone they could; humans, dwarves, elves and orcs.  Each tribe had little reason to interact with another beyond warfare, and warfare was extremely common between the gnolls.  In EY 103, necromancers from Nalt, leading a vast army of Dead, marched on Exaldien, reaching the southern portion of the continent through the Cloven Crest, a narrow pass through the Wyrmspine Mountains.  This meant that first, this army of death had to go through Blightstone forest, where the gnoll tribes moved against them with their typical ferocity, unaware of the scale of their foe.  The necromancers brushed these attackers aside with incredible brutality, wiping out the majority of gnoll tribes and driving the few survivors out onto the tundra.  After the necromancers were defeated in EY 105, the gnolls slowly returned to Blightstone, realizing they lacked the numbers to return to their old ways.  So the gnolls gathered into a single large community, and though it was difficult to put aside their territorialism, and difficult to return to hunting and gathering habits instead of raiding, the gnoll population slowly recovered.  But when Kara-Kul brought another Dead army down upon the Midlands, his treatment of the gnolls was just as dismissively vicious as before; the gnolls’ homes were destroyed, the majority of their population slaughtered, and the survivors driven out of Blightstone once more.  This time, however, when the gnolls regathered in the aftermath, they knew that an entirely new direction was required.

Since then, the gnolls have reclaimed their territory in Blightstone.  They have also moved into the foothills of the Wyrmspines, cultivating food crops and herd animals.  Gnoll clans have even settled the shores of Lake Tenebrius.  They have infrequent trade relations with mountain orcs, mine metals from the mountainsides, and maintain a healthy and well-united population through a cultural set of rules and customs.  The gnolls have left their savage past behind, but they have not forgotten the horror brought upon them by the Dead.  All gnolls despise undead, all gnoll clans attack undead with extreme prejudice wherever these abominations are found lurking.  The gnolls care little for the world south of the Wyrmspines, but they have no intention of ceding their lands to anyone or anything, ever again.

### Gnomes

Gnomish history is dwarven history; no one can recall a time these two races did not share their underground territories, living side-by-side in the most congenial example of interspecies relations ever known.  Many people, and many of them gnomes, claim that the two races were probably derived of the same ancestor at one point in the ancient past.  While they are allowed and often found occupying any position in this joint society, a gnome’s natural inquisitiveness means that they are much more likely to be scholars, scientists, alchemists and wizards, inventors and adventurers, advancing their society and that of others through exploration, experimentation and discovery.  Gnomes are also more likely than dwarves to be found on the surface world. The invention of steel is credited to a gnome, as are several other important metallurgical and alchemical discoveries.  Gnome alchemists recently invented an explosive, nonmagical substance they’ve dubbed black powder, whose alchemical composition has only just been refined over the past sixty years.

### Halflings

If anyone has been researching the Halfling presence in the Midlands, they either haven’t had much success, or no one has paid attention, and the Halflings themselves aren’t saying anything. The first record of a Halfling presence in the Midlands is from EY 10, though the gnomes swear they’d been on the continent at least fifty years before that. Halflings have their own culture, and while it’s not overtly hostile, it can be difficult for outsiders to get inside Halfling society.  Many Halflings are nomadic, with entire families or communities traveling in wagon trains from place to place, earning a living with carnival-like attractions, through the performance of menial labor or sometimes by theft.  Other Halfling groups grow crops of barley, vegetables, and grapes in the southeastern part of the continent, living in large, extended farm communities.  Though there are plenty of individuals and even families that integrate themselves into Exaldien culture, and Halflings generally recognize the sovereignty of the kingdom, the species as a whole doesn’t seem to really care about the happenings of the larger world, preferring to remain highly family- and home-oriented.

### Humans

Humans are not originally from the Midlands; where they first came from has been lost to history, but when they arrived 3,000 years ago, the elves ruled the surface world.  When they came to the Midlands, their population was small; the elves, never having known humans before, did not perceive them as a threat to their empire, merely a piteous, short-lived, and backward species.  They did not anticipate human adaptability, nor their comparatively rapid reproductive rate, and by the time they realized their mistake it was far too late.  The humans fought fiercely in the ensuing war, and gradually, over decades of intermittent warfare, pushed the elven empire back.  Finally, the elves were forced to withdraw to their final stronghold; Dun’y’lyth, the ancestral elven home.  Here, the humans were at such a disadvantage that their numbers didn’t help them anymore, and they could push the elves no further.

Since conquering the grand, ancient cities of the Midlands, the humans have flourished.  Once divided into numerous fractured countries, the legendary Arthaeus Narcolm united them into the kingdom of Exaldien 1,648 years ago.  Since then, there have been six wars with the orcs, two wars with necromantic death cults, multiple plagues and regicides, one dissolution and one civil war, and yet the kingdom of Exaldien survives.  Humans are currently the most powerful and diverse race in the Midlands.  Aside from the subjects of Exaldien, there are also numerous nomadic human groups that do not recognize the sovereignty of Exaldien.  These groups have their own history and culture, and while the kingdom ignores most, tribes that are known to raid settlements are sometimes hunted down and exterminated.

### Jaariz

The Jaariz, or lizardfolk as the other races of the Midlands have named them, have inhabited the continent for at least 15,000 years, but have only begun leaving their homeland in the Shatterpoint Isles for the last 70 years.  The Jaariz don’t have any explanation for their suddenly migratory behavior, but then again, many people have trouble understanding the way these lizard people think and process.  The most common theory is that life in Shatterpoint is becoming increasingly overcrowded, but investigation has turned up no evidence in support of this hypothesis, and the Jaariz tribes seem too fractured and divided to be gearing up for a large-scale invasion.  Currently, most of the Jaariz who appear in Exaldien seem curious about their mammalian neighbors, their customs and their habits, and harbor no ill will beyond the typical Jaariz ultimate concern for self-and-familial-preservation.  Exaldien agents keep a close eye on the lizardfolk who travel through Blackthorn on their way to the broader Midlands, and while Jaariz may not be moral as understood by most, their primary concern is survival, not power.

The Jaariz have no government as such, just closely tied tribes that are semi-nomadic, following resources where they are available.  This appears to be the primary source of conflict between tribes, who fight over resources, even outside of the Shatterpoint Isles.  As the numbers of Jaariz in Exaldien grow, it seems likely that their lack of concern for the customs and laws of the other species will lead to greater trouble.

### Orcs

Orcs have existed in the Midlands for at least as long as the dwarves, but we only know this because records of dwarves fighting orcs stretch back as long as dwarves have records.  For the longest time, orcs could be found underground, and aboveground only on the rare occasions when they banded together to assault the surface of the Midlands.  About two thousand years ago, however, small tribes of orcs began to appear on the surface world, living primarily in the mountains and, for the most part, leaving everyone else alone.  The differences in these orcs seemed to run deeper than temperament, to the point that people began identifying them as ‘mountain orcs’.  These orcs seemed to have nothing to do with their subterranean neighbors, and did not take part in the numerous wars that have marked orcish relations with the rest of the Midlands.

Today, life for the underground orcs continues much as it always has; they exist in the unlit places, the most dangerous areas where the other races do not tread, constantly battling with the gnomes and the dwarves for resources and territory, though the massive, conquering tribes of the Orc Wars are mostly in the past.  The mountain orcs, on the other hand, seem to have carved a living out of the mountains, hunting and gathering, raising their odd giant goats, and trading their well-forged steel with gnolls for food and other goods.  They still fight with other mountain orc tribes for territory, and still raid outlying human settlements for goods and slave labor, but their violence is nowhere near that of their estranged underground cousins.  Some now wonder if these surface orcs are undergoing the same type of cultural renaissance as the gnolls have.

## History

### **Timeline (In Exaldien Years)**

**-9945=** Oldest
known written records.  These are Dwarven
clan lineages (few still extant), a few badly damaged maps of the underground
realm, and some merchant trade documentation.

**-3000=** The
smelting and refinement of iron is perfected.
This discovery leads the cultures of the Midlands to slowly abandon the
use of bronze tools and weapons.

**-1400=** Humans
appear in the Midlands from across the Blood Sea.  The elves dismiss these intruders as unworthy
of concern, even after they establish a small settlement on the southern coast.

**-1388=** The humans
begin to expand aggressively across the Skyhook peninsula, prompting the elves
to wage war on them.

**-1211=** Eolach
appear, filtering up from the depths of the earth and into the dwarven
realm.  Those that are found are detained
for nearly a year before being released to go their own way.

**-1200=** After
nearly two centuries of warfare, the elven empire is pushed back into
Dun’y’lyth.  Despite several attempts,
the human armies are unable to penetrate the Fae-laden forest, and an uneasy
impasse is reached.

**-1103=** A gnomish
alchemist, Jabkil Wootz, invents and refines the process of smelting steel from
iron.  This technology is quickly
disseminated throughout the Midlands.

**-463=** Mountain
orcs are first sighted by dwarven scouts in the Cragfang Mountains.  These orcs are also seen fighting with orcs
from the underground, indicating some kind of violent departure.

**0=** unification of
the city-states under King Narcolm and the creation of the kingdom of Exaldien.

**10=** The first
human record of Halflings in the Midlands; a merchant traded several farm
implements in exchange for a few bushels of wheat, carrots, and one ‘extremely
valuable’ set of glass bead necklaces.
Farmers in the area are certain they’d seen Halflings in the area
before, but seem unable to say when or where precisely.

**103-105=** First
Dead War, the Schism of the Black Tower.
Necromancers of the Black Tower rebel against Exaldien, mustering a
massive army of Dead and marching on the kingdom.  The cities of Gate, Alta, and Mundt are
conquered and butchered, along with countless smaller communities.  An allied force of humans and dwarves finally
stopped the advance of the Dead army, pushing them back and finally routing
them at the Battle of the Cloven Crest.

**105=** Nalt
abandoned and the Black Tower is burned. The Edict of the Wizard’s Council is
announced, condemning necromancy.

**342=** First Orc
war.  A massive tribe of orcs attacked
the city of Mundt, resulting in a siege that lasted three months before
Exaldien finally mustered enough legions to expel the orcs and drive them back
underground.

**498-503=** Second
Dead War, the Rise of Kara-kul.  An
undead tiefling lich, Kara-kul gathered necromancers and other evil powers to
the decayed, abandoned city of Nalt, created an army of undead, and marched on
Exaldien.  Gate, Alta, Mundt, Glimhelm,
and Tanuri all fell under the seemingly unending tide brought by the Demon
Lich.  His unstoppable advance very
nearly brought ruin to all of Exaldien when he began his advance toward
Skyhook.  It took everything the humans
and their allies had remaining, the single largest army ever assembled, to
finally meet Kara-kul’s army on its victory march toward Skyhook.  In the incredible battle that ensued, the
Demon Lich was finally slain by Saint Alyssa, and without him, the army he had
constructed dissolved into chaos.  Where
this battle was fought, dubbed the Battle of Exaldien, Deadwood grew, a forest
haunted and cursed.

**633=** The second
orc war.  Another conglomeration of orcs
marched down from the mountains and this time successfully captured and sacked
Mundt.  Their victory was short-lived,
however, as a human army marching from Glimhelm dislodged and routed them three
weeks later.

**745-893=** The
third, fourth and fifth orc wars.  These
were much smaller orc incursions, and none of them managed to accomplish much
more than the raiding and burning of a few larger communities.

**924=** the sixth
orc war, in which the orc armies assault Gate instead, overwhelming it in a few
days and turning toward Mundt, nearly taking it before being pushed back by
reinforcements from Skyhook and Glimhelm.
After this invasion, a campaign was launched to destroy the orcs,
pushing them back, up into the Cragfang Mountains.  This was the last orc war recorded.

**1045-1076=** The
coming of Philos, the God of Change.
Worship of this new deity sweeps across the kingdom, foreboding a time
of great cataclysm yet to come.

**1077=**
Assassination of King Harod.  Without an
heir to the throne, Exaldien is plunged into the chaos of the Dark Age.  The city-states assume full control of their
counties again.

**1095=**
Reunification of Exaldien under Queen Kathias.

**1095-1395=** the
Golden Age of Man.  Many advancements
were made in this time in technology, art, and magic; humanity flourished
across the Midlands.  This is the first
time campaigns were launched to expand the territory of the kingdom.

**1427-1432=** the
Goblin War.  Goblins invade the dwarven
territories, and the dwarves and gnomes ask for Exaldien’s help to repel them.

**1493-1504=** An
unknown plague sweeps across the kingdom, exterminating a third of the
population within ten years.  Even King
Gendel perishes by this mysterious disease.
The events of this decade plant the seeds of rebellion in the Western
cities.

**1509-1513=** the
Civil War.  The Western cities (Belle,
Racs, Jakston, Blackwood, and Tanuri) declare themselves and their counties
autonomous from Exaldien, under the rule of Count Regis Palturson.  King Gurroix launches a campaign against the
rebelling cities and ultimately emerges victorious.  Count Palturson is summarily executed.

**1578=** the first
recorded jaariz, or lizardfolk, appear in the kingdom of Exaldien.  More continue to filter in for the next seventy
years, individually or in large tribal groups.

**1580=** Gnome
alchemists discover black powder.  The
creation and refinement of this substance reaches Exaldien within a few years.

**1648=** Present
day.

### **Timeline of Royalty**

**0-90=** Reign of
King Narcolm (90)

**90-120=** Reign of
King Ovidle (30)

**120-154=** Reign of
Queen Narrida (34)

**154-165=** Reign of
King Golith (11) (assassinated)

**165-211=** Reign of
King Jarvad (46)

**211-252=** Reign of
Queen Faedeen (41)

**252-290=** Reign of
Queen Latien (38)

**290-343=** Reign of
Queen Holstern (53)

**343-377=** Reign of
King Pithlias (34)

**377-437=** Reign of
King Markus (60)

**437-473=** Reign of
King Dominas (36)

**473-496=** Reign of
King Sathian (23) (assassinated)

**496-544=** Reign of
King Quintus (48)

**544-595=** Reign of
Queen Tyrus (51)

**595-631=** Reign of
King Ichabod (36)

**631-692=** Reign of
Queen Olivia (61)

**692-738=** Reign of
King Benyen (46)

**738-768=** Reign of
King Niven (30)

**768-810=** Reign of
King Baraden (42)

**810-848=** Reign of
King Laefen (38)

**848-863=** Reign of
Queen Julien (15) (assassinated)

**863-869=** Reign of
King William (6) (assassinated)

**869-922=** Reign of
Queen Juliette (53)

**922-966=** Reign of
King Wulfdar (44)

**966-1003=** Reign
of King Naratet (37)

**1003-1050=** Reign
of King Kulgias (47)

**1050-1077=** Reign
of King Harod (27) (assassinated)

**1095-1147=** Reign
of Queen Kathias (52)

**1147-1196=** Reign
of King Laxus (49)

**1196-1252=** Reign
of King Nerunval (56)

**1252-1304=** Reign
of King Harkon (52)

**1304-1354=** Reign
of Queen Kassifen (50)

**1354-1407=** Reign
of Queen Devina (53)

**1407-1445=** Reign
of King Redgar (38)

**1445-1486=** Reign
of King Logan (41)

**1486-1500=** Reign
of King Gendel (14) (plague victim)

**1500-1522=** Reign
of King Gurroix (22)

**1522-1563=** Reign
of King Ereden (41)

**1563-1600=** Reign
of King Gregor (37)

**1600-present=**
Reign of King Karaflax (48)

Percentage of queens: 11/40 or 27%

Percentage of kings: 29/40 or 72%

5 assassinations

Average ruling time 40 years, 9 months, and 273 days

## Religion

### Human Pantheon

#### **Aren**

Aren, the god of battle and wisdom, is chaotic good.  His titles are the Steel Soldier and the Supreme Strategist.  The chaos of the battlefield and the specter of war are his domain, and he is the guardian of soldiers fighting for righteous causes.  Aren’s followers are warriors and mercenaries, and his clerics are often battlepriests and military leaders.  His temples sometimes offer food and lodging to soldiers passing through on the road to war, comfort to the wounded, and final rites for the dying.  Worshipping the Steel Soldier is to know the necessity of war and training to be as proficient at it as possible.  Aren’s domains are Courage, Protection, Strength, and War.  His favored weapon is the bastard sword.

#### **Forden**

Forden, the god of travel, is chaotic good. He is also known as the Crossed Roads and the Wanderer.  The Midlands is a place of long roads, and Forden is lord over them all.  His followers include gypsies and merchants, anyone who walks winding roads.  His clerics rarely have actual homes, preferring instead to wander from place to place, and his roadside shrines are scattered wide.  Worshipping the Crossed Roads means having little regard for material things, and having more interest in the journey, rather than the destination.  Forden’s domains are Travel, Trickery, Luck, and Endurance.  His favored weapon is the dagger.

#### **Heliosorn**

Heliosorn, the god of the sun, is lawful good.  He is known as the Dawn Lord and the Healing Sun.  He is associated with the growing season and the warmth of summer, and credited with the creation of many good things.  He charges his followers to help those in need and oppose injustice and evil.  He opposes the practice of necromancy and often his clerics are dedicated to the destruction of undead. The most commonly worshipped deity in the Midlands, his clerics enjoy warm welcomes wherever they go, and his churches and monasteries are common.  To worship the Dawn Lord is to worship the sun and all the good it can bring.  Heliosorn’s domains are Good, Healing, Strength, and Sun.  His favored weapon is the longsword.

#### **Izimidias**

Izimidias, the god of magic, is neutral good.  He is the Godly Archmage, and the Lord of Magic.  His jurisdiction is the study and practice of magic in all its forms, but more particularly he advocates the use of magic to make the lives of people better.  Izimidias encourages his followers, mostly wizards and other magic users, to further their understanding of magic, and commands his clerics to use the powers he grants them to help those in need.  His temples are simple affairs, more library than temple, and offer magical advice and information freely.  To worship the Lord of Magic is to deeply understand the secrets of magic and use those secrets to help others.  His domains are Knowledge, Magic, Force, and Trickery.  His favored weapon is the quarterstaff.

#### **Julia**

Julia, the goddess of life and renewal, is lawful good.  She is called the Lady of Life and the Bright Goddess.  Julia is associated with the spring, birth and rebirth, beauty, and growth.  Her followers are often healers, doctors and midwives, but can be anyone who believes in the value of life and infinite possibility of renewal.  Her clerics are in opposition to those of Nekras, a part of their long-standing competition for control.  Her temples are large, beautiful places that celebrate all life, and where healing can be obtained free of charge.  To worship the Bright Goddess is to know the potential of life and protect it wherever you can.  Julia’s domains are Endurance, Good, Healing, and Protection.  Her favored weapon is the longsword.

#### **Kel-Thros**

Kel-Thros, god of nature, is chaotic neutral.  His titles are the Green Deity and the Forest Shepherd.  Kel-Thros is the deity of all components of nature, from its bounty of food, resources and shelter to its primal, undirected and destructive fury.  His followers are those more attuned to the natural order than the common man, and his clerics are often forest hermits, living alone within nature.  He has few temples, as forest shrines devoted to him are more common.  To worship the Forest Shepherd is to accept nature’s power, unpredictability, and ultimate aloofness.  Kel-Thros’ domains are Air, Animal, Earth, Fire, Plant, Water, and Weather.  His favored weapon is the greatclub.

#### **Lozarn**

Lozarn, the goddess of justice, is lawful neutral.  She is known as Lady Justice and the Adjudicator.  Her followers include judges and constables, and her clerics are charged with upholding law and order, and punishing those who violate the law or work to engender chaos in the Midlands. Lozarn’s temples are unadorned and serious if not outright somber, and commonly used as courtrooms in which disputes are judged.  Because evil creatures are more likely to violate the law than good creatures, Lozarn tends to favor good over evil, though she herself is neutral.  Therefore, clerics of Lozarn cannot be evil.  To worship Lozarn is to value order and law above all, and work to preserve both.  The Adjudicator’s domains are Law, Destruction, Protection and Strength.  Her favored weapon is the warhammer.

#### **Narcolm**

Narcolm, god of power, is lawful neutral.  He is known as Narcolm the God-King and the Crowned One.  His followers are politicians, nobles, and all those who seek power and glory.  Rare are the mortals that have risen to the status of deity, but Narcolm is one of these.  He was once an ancient king that united the kingdom of Exaldien under one banner and ruled for many years, a shrewd and powerful leader.  His temples are statements of his power, often expensively decorated, but kept in good taste, for the Crowned One despises pomp and frivolity.  Worshipping the God-King means one holds an unequaled ambition and thirst for power.  Narcolm’s domains are Law, Knowledge, Trickery, and Luck.  His favored weapon is the mace.

#### **Nekras**

Nekras, the god of death and decay, is lawful neutral.  His titles are the Lord of Decay and the Grim Soul.  Nekras is associated with winter and autumn, the inevitability of death, and the slow decay of all things.  Those who follow Nekras are frequently near graveyards or old battlefields, contemplating death, and also grant last rites to victims of violent crime, plague, and violent accidents.  Clerics who worship Nekras do not do so out of ghoulishness; they believe not only in the inevitability of death and decay, but also in its importance in maintaining the balance of the world. His temples are secret places, filled with stale air and the scent of death.  The Grim Soul’s agenda opposes that of his sister, Julia, who plays a cosmic strategy game with him, each trying to empower their own domains over the other’s, a battle that is responsible for the balance between life and death in the world. To worship the Lord of Decay is to understand your own mortality and encourage acceptance of death throughout the world.  Nekras’ domains are Corruption, Death, Destruction, and Law.  His favored weapon is the scythe.

#### **Olatias**

Olatias, the goddess of good fortune and wealth, is lawful neutral.  She is known as the Heavenly Merchant and the Golden One.  Her followers include merchants and tradesmen, but anyone may pray to her in hopes of receiving a blessing.  Her clerics can often be found helping the poor or the unfortunate improve their lot in life, or the less scrupulous of them could be focused on improving their own lot in life.  Her temples are richly and brightly decorated, reflecting both the goddess’ domain and her personality.  To worship Olatias is to court Lady Luck herself, and reap the rewards of chance.  The Heavenly Merchant’s domains are Luck, Knowledge, and Protection.  Her favored weapon is the short sword.

#### **Philos**

Philos, god of change, is chaotic neutral.  He is called the Blind One and the Clashing Entropy.  He is the manifestation of the chaos in an everchanging multiverse, and encompasses all that comes with that chaos; change, madness and destruction.  Those that follow the Blind One are those who have witnessed this chaos firsthand and come back sane (or not), and those who recognize the inevitability of change and its value in the renewal of a system.  His clerics are commanded to encourage change, be it for good or ill.  His temples vary from elaborate churches lead by nobles or simple leantos overseen by a single babbling madman.  Devotion to the Lord of Entropy means knowing that the only constant is change, and that the only immutable truth in the multiverse is that there are no immutable truths.  Philos’ domains are Chaos, Madness, Trickery, and Destruction.  His favored weapon is the flail.

#### **Sabine and Demode**

Sabine and Demode are the twin gods of the moons, and are neutral.  They are commonly called the Twinned Deities, the Scholars of Madness, and the Tranquil Glass and Bloody Stone.  They are associated with the mystery of the cosmos, and the hidden depths of knowledge, and the madness that such forbidden knowledge can bring.  The followers of Sabine, the Tranquil Glass, are devoted to the study of ancient, hard to find, or forbidden lore, bent on the pursuit of knowledge encouraged by their goddess.  The followers of Demode are instead dedicated to protecting this knowledge from those who are not ready for it or those who would wish to expunge it from memory.  Temples to the Scholars of Madness are without variation packed with tomes and scrolls, some of which may contain information that is very rare or which may even threaten the reader’s sanity.  To worship Sabine and Demode is to value the pursuit of knowledge above all other things.  The domains under the Twinned Deities are Knowledge, Madness, Mind and Protection.  Sabine’s favored weapon is the dagger, while Demode’s favored weapon is the rapier.

### Evil Powers

While the pantheon of the Midlands includes both good and evil gods, only very rarely do these entities effect great and far-reaching change over mortals.  There are, however, a host of other deities that wish all harms and ills on all mortals, whatever their race.  These gods actively work, through their followers and clerics, to corrupt, befoul, and destroy the mortal world, for their own evil purposes.

#### **Aerphemus**

Aerphemus, the god of Unbridled Passion, is chaotic evil.  He is also known as the Beast and Inferno. He is connected with the uncontrolled expression of emotion, and particularly with rage.  His followers are encouraged to do whatever they want, whenever they want; however the mood strikes them.  His cult is smaller than the others’, due not only to his followers’ tendency towards destructive behavior but the attention authorities tend to pay to this unstable and dangerous cult.  His shrines are varied in form, according the whims of the presiding priest.  When you worship Inferno, you let go of your mind and let your inner animal guide you.  Aerphemus’ domains are Bestial, Strength, Pain, Fury, and Destruction.  His favored weapon is the greatsword.

#### **Disoptae**

Disoptae, the god of Stubborn Pride, is lawful evil.  He is known as the Tyrant and the Arrogant Lord. He is associated with arrogance, foolish self-satisfaction, and jealousy of others. Despite being one of the more acceptable of the evil deities, the worship of this god is mostly clandestine, due either to a sense of secrecy or merely a sense of entitlement on the part of his worshippers.  His shrines are often decorated lavishly and expensively, to illustrate the wealth and importance of his worshippers more often than not.  To worship the Tyrant is to know beyond doubt that you are superior to other mortals, and to work for everything that you deserve.  Disoptae’s domains are Diabolical, Spite, Trickery, and Evil.  His favored weapon is the glaive.

#### **Selaslee**

Selaslee, the goddess of Rampant Desire, is neutral evil. She is also known as the Queen of Sin and the Temptress.  Associated with the uncontrolled, selfish fulfillment of desire, Selaslee exists to tempt mortals to do as they please, even, and sometimes especially, at the expense of others.  Her following is mostly secretive, but quite far-reaching, consisting of the greedy, the lustful and the gluttonous.  Her shrines reflect this, and are places where people can indulge in their most secret and sinful wishes.  To worship the Temptress, one must be deeply dedicated to pursuing one’s own motives and pleasures.  Her domains are Evil, Temptation, Pleasure, Corruption, and Greed.  Her favored weapon is the whip.

### Dwarven Religion

Dwarves and Gnomes worship the earth and stone itself as a deity with multiple aspects, each with their own domains.  A cleric focuses on the worship of only one of these aspects.

#### **Guurm**

The aspect of nourishment and caring, Guurm is Lawful Good.  She is the aspect that sees to the wellbeing of her people, the Dwarves and Gnomes.  She is concerned with their health and protection, and she is credited as having a hand in lucky breaks and the passing of illness among her followers.  Her domains are Healing, Protection, Luck, and Good.  Her favored weapon is the battleaxe.

#### **Moch-Ra**

The aspect of great wealth and power, Moch-Ra is Chaotic Neutral.  She is responsible for all the mineral wealth in the world, and the power that such wealth can bring.  She is fickle, though, and her favor is hard to come by, but she tends to favor risk-takers.  Her domains are Nobility, Greed, Knowledge and Magic.  Moch-Ra’s favored weapon is the light flail.

#### **Chac**

Chac is the aspect of the stubborn and stoic permanence of stone and earth, and is Lawful Neutral.  He is responsible for the strength that goes to the very roots of the earth, the ancient and quiet endurance of stone through the ages, and by extension he commands the same qualities in his followers.  His domains are Earth, Strength, Endurance and Law.  His favored weapon is the warhammer.

#### **Tio**

The aspect of treachery, poison and darkness, Tio is Chaotic Evil.  Tio commands all the dangers of the world; normal people do not worship Tio out of reverence so much as fear.  If bad things happen to you, it is because Tio is displeased.  Its domains are Trickery, Pestilence, Darkness and Destruction.  Its favored weapon is the spear.

### Elven Religion

Elves worship the seasons themselves as natural spirits, and each has their own domains.  Clerics of this religion typically chose one season to worship in particular.

#### **Lyleth**

The Winged Hind, Lyleth is associated with Spring, and controls desire and birth.  Its alignment is Neutral Good, and its domains are Earth, Pleasure, Healing and Plant.

#### **Dreth'shee**

Dreth’shee is the Flaming Tree, and is associated with Summer, as well as unbridled passion and celebration.  It is Chaotic Good, and its domains are Fire, Fury, Animal and Sun.

#### **Ulli**

Ulli is the Horned Bird, associated with Fall and the spirit of fear and trickery.  Its alignment is Chaotic Neutral, and its domains are Air, Trickery, Luck and Weather.

#### **Black Queen**

Associated with Winter, death, despair and wisdom, the Black Queen is Lawful Neutral.  Her domains are Death, Knowledge, Magic and Water.

### Gnoll Animism

In the Gnoll belief system, spirits inhabit every aspect of the natural world.  They live in the animals, plants, geographic features such as mountains and rivers, and embody more abstract concepts like thunder, rain and waves.  Clerics of Gnoll animism have access to the domains of Water, Fire, Earth, Air, Plant, Animal, Weather, and Endurance.  Each cleric may choose one weapon to be their favored weapon, so long as it is a simple weapon.

### Hafling Veneration of the Dead

Many Halflings believe that their familial ancestors have a continued existence after death, and that it is their filial obligation to pay honor and respect to these ancestor spirits, in order to see to their welfare in the afterlife.  While this practice is primarily a family affair, these spirits may be consulted for guidance and assistance using a cleric (known as Fortunetellers in the Halfling religion).  These Fortunetellers have access to the Luck, Protection, Travel and Oracle.  The favored weapon of this religion is the dagger.

### Orc Spiritualism/Orc Monotheism

Subterranean orcs worship spirits of the earth, but not the spirits of the dwarven religion.  They worship forces of darkness, poison and death, using their shamans as foci to direct the power of these spirits, hoping that they will aid them against their enemies.  The domains available to shamans and clerics of these spirits are Darkness, Death, Corruption and Pestilence.

Mountain orcs revere but a single deity known as the Mountain King.  The primary concern of this deity is that his followers live with honor and fight with courage against their enemies (of which the orcs have many). Those who die with honor and courage, usually in battle, are whisked away to be at the Mountain King’s side in a heavenly paradise, where the souls of the honored dead gather to train for the Mountain King’s entrance to the Material Plane.  The Mountain King is Chaotic Neutral, and his domains are War, Protection, Earth, and Strength.