A campaign world, available free of charge, in easy-to-download pdfs and D&DI rules supplements; this campaign is, of course, the Shattered Lands setting I was pitching in the Pitch a Campaign World thread.
It is far from complete, but aims to make use of the 4th edition rules to the full.
EDIT: Of course, in my haste I forgot to mention the best parts! Free adventures and free campaign resources will be the norm. However, I would like to extend the opportunity for the community to include their input to the setting resources (which does not mean that I will not review and blindly add any community suggestion, hoho). In addition, community artwork and the like could be added to the manuals. Lastly, I would like (I'm not sure how feasible this one is) to allow community wide play sessions to affect the world in the manner of a living setting.
EDIT: and a gleemax blog.
Shattered Lands Website
Very nice! I intend on doing something like that with the campaign setting I'm designing once I have more spare time. Anyway, I haven't read it yet, but I'll get into it as soon as I can, then I can give you some feedback! ;)
P.S.: Amazing... productive threads don't get half the attention the "4e=WoW", "$e" and general trolling threads, simply amazing.
That having been said, I can easily post some of the pre-release (very VERY early) notes that I've been working on along with my co-creator.
Anyway, I wouldn't mind reading through rough sketches, though it's up to you. Whenever you have something juicy I'll be waiting for the update!
And if you're interested, I even have some .pdf I made about my upcoming campaign that may be useful for you, you should feel free to use anything you find useful for your world. ;)
Multiverse Model
Re-named the Feywild Jandana; similar in every aspect, except less… faerie. EDIT: Clarification on my notes. Jandana means "far away" in its sanskrit root. This Jandana is more exotic than celtic Faerie, and harder to reach.
Re-named the Shadowfell to Duat; similar, but eerier and less goth. EDIT: Another one. The Duat is bearing more and more resemblance to a pastiche of the Egyptian and Greek Underworlds.
The Elemental Chaos is connected to the Medjhaz through Duat.
The Astral Plane is connected to Medjhaz through Jandana.
Astral ←→ Jandana ←→Medjhaz (Tamal)←→Duat←→Elemental Chaos
Timeline
Time of the Serpents: The civilizations of the dragons and the dragon-kin were born in this period. Draconic myth holds that the dragons burned away the darkness covering the world and revealed it to the light. While the dwarves alone knew metallurgy, the dragon-kin were still fearsome foes. It was only the dwarven mastery of steel that kept their strongholds from being overwhelmed.
Gigantine Era; coeval with the Eddic Era. The following Giant civilizations flourished during this time:
Flint Giants, Fire Giants, Wood Giants, Cyclops, The Aegir, The Nybilim
The Aegir built a vast empire in the south-east of Talam. The history of the gigantine period is comprised mostly of the battles between the giants and their enemies (whether it be other giants, as in the case of the Cyclops and the Nybilim, or whether it be the dark things that still inhabited the world at that time).
The Eddic Era, the legendary time in dwarven history, occurred at roughly the same time as the historic gigantine era. A hold of dwarves in the north traded the secret of smelting with the giants in exchange for protection from the dragons and their kin who were wildly prolific during this period. Many tales of dwarf and giant against dragon originated during this time. The end of the Eddic Period (nearly two full centuries before the end of the gigantine era) was signaled by the loot and destruction of the Vault of the Grey Dwarves by an army of men and dragon-kin.
Regarding the Giants and the Dwarves
Of all the giants, the Flint and the Nybilim were closest with this diminutive people. The Cyclomachy was fought using magical tools that the dwarves had crafted. They adopted many dwarven words and called this race by the word they called themselves - the wys, or the People. In this way the dwarves spread far to the south to inhabit the realms of the Nybil-kings.
What about the men, the elves, the dragon-kin? Where are they?
The elves of this period were divided in loyalties to many chiefs, each of whom bore a Cloak of Whispering Leaves; these chiefs were often druids as well as time tested battle-leaders. Nothing like an organized religion existed in the elvish tribes. Rather, each tribe had one or more priests who had inherited their shaman-like position from their predecessors. It was not until the founding of the Stone Circle that the elves had anything resembling a religious consensus. The core of elvish religious observance was, of course, the Mysteries which were only accessible to priests and a select chosen few. They were close to the Wood Giants of the coast, as the two races inhabited the same areas.
The Dragon-kin and their masters ruled over an empire of men in the far south; the rest of the men lived as isolated tribes throughout Talam.
Ok, so how about halflings? The tieflings?
The haflings in this period were native inhabitants of the Cyclopean isles. They were pressed into service during the gigantine expansion, and many of them served beneath the Cyclopean kingdom of Ker-yis. They were eventually freed by the eladrin and resumed their rootless wanderlust, now having learned of the greater world abroad.
The tieflings are descended from the tribes of men that were called by the Dark Ones during the first years of the Confluence.
The Wasting
The Thousand Streams were blocked up, ending the gigantine era, nearly a century after the kingdom of the Graewys was destroyed. The effect of the altering river course condemned the lands in which the Aegir had built their empire to a slow desolation. The draconic empire of Abzu and the realm of the Nybilim were also affected by the stoppage of the river, and many devastating wars arose from the lack of resources during the wasting years.
Some gigantine sources (often deemed apocryphal by the remaining giant elders and priests) blame the death of the Aegir’s empire on Bale One-Eye, the long estranged and near-mythical figure granted with the honor of having both founded the gigantine era (and the world, in the giant myth-cycles) and brought it to a horrible end. Strangely, Bale supposedly survived this treachery, retreating into Jandana.
TOTAL TIME:
Time of the Serpents: 2 millennia
Gigantine Era: 6 centuries
Eddic Era: ~4-5 centuries
Thus placing the Invasion Era at 2.6-2.8 millennia. Invasions last 400 years(ish) dating us at approx 3.2mil
The Invasion Era
The period following the Wasting was a catastrophic one in which the policy of Cyclomachy (Cyclops-war) disintegrated under mounting pressure. The Nybilim were confronted with food shortages on an epic scale as well as with war against their brothers the Aegir AND the draconic empire of Abzu. The Aegir for their part were struggling against a mad tyrant (semi-mythical Bale One-Eye) undermining their chances of survival and against the Nybilim and Abzu themselves. This left the Cyclops unchecked to wreak havoc on the other gigantine races, shattering their defenses.
In the years after Bale’s disappearance, new troubles arrived to plague the world. Both were a result of the vast Confluence that occurred, breaking down the barriers between the middle world and the other realms. The first was the crawling Lords of the Duat, a group of 13 Dark Ones that had not been killed but rather imprisoned deep in the bowels of the Underworld. They called many men to them, slithering up near the surface realm. These men were given great power in exchange for their service, which the Dark Ones needed to bring them to the middle realm. Though the tiefling armies were never successful, they often pursued their own horrible goals. The second was the abrupt and un-forseen invasion of the Eladrin who began migrating from Jandana in great numbers. Their continuous influx from the other-realm characterized the invasion period as these colonists struggled to carve a place for themselves out of the power vacuum from so many devastated empires. The Three Domes were built during the Invasion Era by the Eladrin to secure the land and project their power.
The invasions lasted approximately four hundred years, with periods of greater or lesser migration interwoven throughout this time. The greatest and most lasting achievement of the Eladrin was the enserfment of the Wood Giants. Both parties benefit from this arrangement, and it has continued down into present day.
The ethereal conjunction that allowed unrestricted access to the realm of Jandana to those with the secrets to getting there ended and caused the Invasion era to come to an end; no new reinforcements arrived from the Jandanese Eladrin lands, and their kingdom was forced to fend for itself.
Renewed Cyclomachy under the Western Eladrin
The islands of the Cyclops threatened the westernmost duchies of the eladrin, thus renewing the process of the Cyclomachy. However, unlike the giants the eladrin were not content to bide their time waiting and containing the Cyclopian threat. The eladrin invaded the Cyclopian isles and even caused the ancient city of Ker-yis to be sunk beneath the waves.
Northern Dwarves
Northern dwarves are related to the Graewys or Grey Dwarves. They build fortified temples and town-centers on hilltops, surrounded by fields and a far flung outwall. Most northern settlements include hidden underground vaults and tunnels crisscrossing the terrain. Foreigners are restricted to the town outskirts as violating the city center is a taboo. Each town or city is independent and relies on its religious and clan structure to determine courses of action. Elder statesmen are generally lawyers, well versed in dwarven law. These laws also help determine the interaction between dwarven states.
Southern Dwarves
In the south the dwarves are mostly related to the Issek dwarves. These southern dwarves interacted heavily with the Nybilim and Aegir empires as well as Abuz. Most of these interactions were less than positive. The Issek culture developed in radically different directions from that of their Graewys neighbors. They have a social order based strongly on self-denial and abrogation of material goods. A singular movement that gained ground during the Eddic era would later be responsible for the core concepts of the Issek lands. This movement was known as the Askein and its practicers were asketikos. During the long years of raiding from the Abuz and Aegir, the asketikos convinced the Issek communities to adopt a stringent moral code that involved the renunciation of worldly possessions. After the wasting claimed the southern lands, many Issek towns were swallowed and became hermitages. The asketikos are today known as Anchorites and the southern Issek settlements are devoted entirely to the Anchoretic principles of survival in the harsh wastes.
Dwarf-metals
Orichalcum
Hepatizon
Adamant
Meteoric iron
Graewys Ballad
Hearing I ask,
where went the light?
The three good towers
are now rings of stone.
Of old was the age
when the grey-stone was cut.
Young were the people
who cut it, alone.
The three good towers
stood on the hill
and the treasure-vaults full
were delved into the deep.
Our crafts and our lore
Our knowledge and art
were stored in those vaults
forever to keep.
Yet the souls of men
love iron and gold
and the books and the vaults
could not secret remain.
So they came to our lands
and they bristled when told
that the treasures were ours
to part never were fain.
Now they came to the fields
were tyme once grew
and they took in their hands
both fire and steel.
Now they came to the towers
that no longer were new
and the wounds they inflicted
shall now never heal.
For they took in their eyes
both steel and flames
For they stole from the vaults
all the secrets we’d kept.
For they slew our fair people
and burned our fair crops
and those who remained
they wept.
Keryan gold (from the lost Cyclops city of Ker-yis)
Western Elves
Most of the western elf-tribes originated somewhere in the east where they lived during the Gigantine era. Throughout the Gigantine period these lands were fertile and well fed by rivers and streams. However, after Bale blocked the Thousand Streams, the elven lands began to suffer from the same fate as the fertile Aegir valleys. The elves, fearful for their lives, soon began mass migrations through the dying Aegerian empire, passing through its borders and bringing further instability to the once great Gigantine nations. While some elves were captured by draconic raiders and brought to serve as slave in Abuz, most of the Abuzian elves were actually enslaved centuries before and are thus not included in this category.
Matriarchal clans, Drowned Ones
Craftsmen, scribes
Sober, sedate, castes, matrilineal, Duat — gods of the Shallow Sea
Sargoth - the city of Ivory
Religion: The Temple of the Ebon Flame
The Sargothine Empire fell long ago, leaving only this lonely city of evil and intrigue on the plateau of the Wastes.
Floresan - a lost Northern kingdom of great moral merit
Parahain - lost eastern empire that ruled many lands (Chinese a little?)
The North Kingdoms
Seen as backwaters
The Mid-lands
Mostly ruled by the College
The South Kingdoms (The Southern Jewels)
Ancient and proud
Floresan Religion
Proto deities
Mallearn - Saturn-like devourer
Tygán - Mother goddess, Gaialike
Nyx - Tygán’s sister, night
Major Deities:
Lady Pallea
It is unclear whether Pallea was a commonly worshiped Fleurisian deity before the Fleurans moved to the north. We know for a fact (as evinced by what the Brotherhood of the Book calls the Midland Stele) that there were Fleurisian priests who worshiped Pallea as far back as the migrations period. It is the opinion of this scholar that the Fleurans own Pallea merged with the local war-goddess of the native northerners, thus absorbing the devotions of both.
The Fleurisian worship was typified by devotion of the knightly class. Even after the fall of Floresan the military classes have continued to show their loyalty to the Dusk Lady. As the most well-known and widely praised Goddess in the north, Pallea has a status that is unequaled throughout the Midlands. A heaping mound of attributes have been granted her - she is the guardian of the Well of Immortality (from which chosen milites may drink after death), she is the patroness of medicine as well as battles and strategy. She oversees the writing of poetry (through her servant, Solon Thrice-blessed) and the composition of music.
While her temples are forbidden to all but those initiated in her mysteries, her festivals are frequently held in the outdoors (preferably in a natural Cypress or Oak grove where she, Minos, and Cyprissar can be praised at once) and are welcome to all comers. Speculation on my part (with some reliable evidence) indicates that these events were first started by the Kings of Floresan as a means of providing much-needed relief to the population in times of war or famine. Whatever their origin, they continue to this day.
Lady Pallea is known for extolling three great Virtues, which are often the subject of her priests moralizing -- Loyalty, Wisdom, and Forthrightness. It is interesting to notice that Forthrightness does not mean honesty, as cunning in war is equally valued.
On any occasion in which you find yourself in a Northern town or a Midlands city with a temple devoted to Pallea, I advise that you stop for a moment at the noontide to listen to the great ringing bells. Each temple has, consecrated to it, a huge bell that is often named after one of the ancient defenders of the Pallean faith. It is said that these patrons listen to the prayers of those who utter their observances before the temple gate while the bell rings.
Temples devoted to Pallea:
There are several major Pallean temples in the North. While most claim descent from the original Pallean Cult of Floresan, the fracturing of the political situation into many smaller kingdoms has allowed schisms to creep in. While Floresan was whole disagreements and doctrinal differences could be easily resolved by local adjudication; In the period of the Late Fall, the Flamen Cantor at Regenthill was assassinated and a great controversy arose over his replacement. Each Fleurisian temple fought over what god should represent the now dying empire. The Pallean Cult tore itself apart supporting five different Pallean candidates.
The current divisions amongst the Pallean faith are as follows:
The Orthodox Temple of Pallea -- the closest to true descent from the Cult, the Orthodox Temple never moved its center of gravity from Regenthill. The Orthodox Temple believes strongly in the Three Virtues, but have also developed a doctrine of Immortality which rewards the most devoted and faithful of the clergy as well as the military mendicants with drinking from Pallea's Well.
The Shield of Floresan -- A knightly organization that panders to the aristocracy, the Shield was founded by a group of rival clerics who wanted to re-situate the Pallean center of gravity in the profane reach of northern Lavaas. Their beliefs are extremely martial and they often serve with the noble patrons of Lavaas when that country goes to war.
The Order of the Setting Sun -- A highly mystical organization, they allied themselves early with the fragmentary kingdom of Weland, as it was Weland that contained the one-time capital of Floresan. They are closely linked with the fertility cult of the Black Temple of Cyprissar and move in Weland political circles.
The Poor Confraternity of Pallea -- Stationed in the kingdom of Arbellor, the Confraternity concentrates on the Pallean aspects of Healer and Renewer. Brothers and Sisters of the Confraternity are expected to master the healing arts and carry them into the homes of the very wounded themselves.
I write this because I have been commissioned to by an itinerant scholar named Galen and he has paid me well. I have traveled farther than most of my peers into the once-great ruins of Rhwd-Parcham.
The land of the Rust Flag, as the words mean in Telwahn, was settled during the first of the great migrations from Jandana. The eladrin of Rhwd-Parcham were amongst those who supported Esfandar during the Incarna wars. It occurs to me that those who will read this work (men, I presume) may know little of the Incarnate Kings or their struggles.
The Incarnate King of the Silver City, in those times the brilliant leader Rahkshan, ruled many provinces far and wide throughout Jandana. The troubles came to the Silver City at the same time that the Confluence began. It is said that a giant-king and his retainers passed into our kingdom from the Middle World, wreaking havoc as they went. Rahkshan led the armies of the City out into the plains to meet them and, after a long campaign, found his forces depleted and his supply lines cut. Before the Kamdin Presbyter could declare an heir, Rahkshan's forces were surrounded and killed.
As the Incarnate King Rahkshan lay dying on the battlefields of the east province, the Five Families began to bicker over who should choose the heir; both Kamdin and Incarnate King were dead, and the Silver City was bereft. Three Incarna declared themselves King in the space of as many months, and bloodshed was common. Esfandar was the most clever and cunning and it is said that his eyes truly shone with the light of the Incarna. It was he who should have been king.
He was murdered by the Incarna Vahid in his bid for power, and his supporters fled through the gateways of the Confluence to nurse their wounds. Through those long years the followers of Esfandar conquered the peoples they found and built Rhwd-Parcham in the north of the Middle World. There are those who said they abandoned the Silver City, but it had become a place of corruption. Rhwd-Parcham chose an Icarnate King, rival to he who sat in Jandana. Rumors came always from the old land that wars and plagues beset the Jandanese and that the giants (now calling themselves Fomori) raped the Silver City.
After the Confluence ended, Rhwd-Parcham stood amongst its brethren nations of eladrin; There were those built up by heretics of the Faith, those from other rival Incarna, and those who were simply fleeing the wrath of the Fomori. Each came for their own reason. Rhwd-Parcham was the noblest of them all.
When the Confluence came to a close the real struggle began. Cut off from their families and resources in Jandana, Rhwd-Parcham no longer had an endless supply of food, magic, and recruits. Life was hard and harsh. In that time my people had yet to learn to marshal their goods carefully and they expended themselves on many foolish wars. The last of these was a war of extermination. The land that Rhwd-Parcham had rightfully claimed from the giants of the Middle World ached for expansion. Those that had retreated to the mountains were hunted down until at last the angry and bereaved peoples of the Flint Giants struck back.
The details of the war are lost; Rhwd-Parcham and the Flint Giants clashed again and again throughout the north. The city of Argwn was ripped to pieces. The Valley of Silver was detonated by great spells worked by Parcham magi. The whole of the kingdom was ruptured by the war - and when it was over and the Giants retreated, there were hardly a handful of eladrin left.
They came all to the last place they were safe in the north. Madan, protected by magics worked in the time of the Confluence, and shielded by the woods. Unlike our cousins on the coast, we had no gigantine allies - only foes. Since the fall of Rhwd-Parcham we have stayed on our land, kept to our borders, and simply survived.
It is the same with all eladrin nations. There are no more colonists to come and give us hope. There is only the Middle World. To extend ourselves overfar is to die.
The Eladrin arrived in their current home some time over twelve centuries ago (by Eladrin count) and settled lush basin that would become known as Dinas Ayah, the Silver City. The records of the eladrin’s long journey and final arrival, the foundation of their glorious Silver Empire (Annwnayah) and their extensive history were kept by the cyfar, story-tellers who were hired by wealthy patrons. Eventually five great families arose as the most powerful patrons in the new-founded city. After a brief period of intense inter-family warfare the other kinship groups were subdued and began to gravitate towards one of the great Five. By this method of appropriation all historical heroes and distinguished personages became attached to one of the Five Families. By the time of the Incarnate King Hesam, the Five Families had codified each of their great stories into huge tomes bound with leather and gold that were kept in shrine-like conditions at the seat of each Families’ power.
These books are known collectively as the Five Branches, referring to the Eldarin view of the forking path of history. Each moment, the Eladrin theologists claim, contains in itself its own opposite. Therefore, any recorded history is but a “branch” or a cutting from a larger garden of complex interwoven truths. None of the Five Branches are without bias, and most have become so layered since their creation that the original tales have been obfuscated entirely.
The people of Annwnayah are ruled by an Eladrin known as the Incarnate King. The great priests (most notably Araxa) in times long past have determined that the Incarna manifests himself (or herself as the case may be) by certain signs that only the Kamdin Presbyter can hope to recognize. Candidates for the Incarna must be chosen from one of the great Five Families, as it is only through their noble bloodline that the divine can manifest. The Incarnate Ruler is a personage with mighty divine implications. The “garden” of history is believed, in the Incarnate, to be fully represented. All contradictory truths find unity in this figure and thus the Incarnate is truly Divine. Lesser Incarna (those who show the potential for being Incarnate Rulers) are less fully divine due to the presence of the Incarnate Ruler and his theological significance. No Incarna can be the culmination of the divine opposites if the Incarnate Ruler is serving that function.
The Five Families are forbidden by strict custom from intermarrying in order to preserve the pool of Incarna and make certain that the numbers of potential candidates to the Rulership do not dwindle. Eladrin chosen as potential Incarna are sequestered from childhood with other Incarna and are all brought up in the art of ruling the Empire. It is frequently the case that the current Incarnate Ruler choses his own successor from the potential Incarna. However, there have been several notable cases in which the Kamdin Presbyter acted against his Ruler’s choice and elevated a different Eladrin.
One of the most important events in the history of Annwnayah was known as the War of the Incarna. Following the death of King Rahkshan and his Presbyter, several of the Incarna children manifested the signs of the Ruler. Without waiting for a new heir to be chosen, the Incarna Esfander crowned himself the Incarnate King of Dinas Ayah. Because he was crowned by a mere thearch and not the Kamdin Presbyter (who had yet to be replaced), his rulership was open to accusations of illegitimacy. Though it was Esfander who eventually drove the marauding Fomori armies from Annwnayah, as soon as the war of defense had ended militias sprang up the Empire over in order to defend their candidate. Esfander was eventually murdered by the Incarna Vahid, and many of Esfander’s followers fled to the Middle World during the time of the Confluence. Secretly encouraging these political purges, Vahid convinced many of those supporting losing or dead candidates to flee Jandana. When many of their numbers had been depleted he himself had the Kamdin Presbyter crown him.
Vahid later died in the Black Horror which slew many of the deathless Eladrin. After this plague had ravaged the Empire for nearly a century, the Incarna Rayhaneh was made Queen.
but for the sake of keeping the steam going, here is some cultural information (and social analysis) of Annwnayah.
Society in Annwnayah
The largest population center and producer of all culture in Annwnayah is the capitol, Dinas Ayah. This is not because it is situated in a particularly favorable location or because the apparatus of government all operate from this point. Rather, it has been built up through myth and legend over the centuries to have a cultural gravitas and weight that no other city in Annwnayah can match.
The lifespan of Eladrin (being nearly eternal) lends to a different societal structure than one that mortals are used to. Some Eladrin consider themselves first and foremost a warrior, waiting only for a war which requires him or her to leave their daily drudgery of maintaining the Empire. Even artisanal and farming classes believe in the necessity for constant warfare in order to keep Annwnayah from being overwhelmed by hostile foes—and they are not wrong, for Jandana is a dangerous place. Of course, there also exist many tracts (the most famous being Social Responsibility by Araxa) that decry this attitude as dangerous and foolish, not to mention heretical. The very fact that these writings exist, however, and their general popularity indicate that there is at least some group of Eladrin who behave this way.
The great majority of Eladrin in Annwn are either share-farmers or artisans located in one of the great cities. Dinas Keshvar and Dinas Kuhha are both major trading and crafting cities in Annwn. The gnomish wanderers of the southern regions frequently make stopovers in Dinas Kuhha to trade with the Eladrin there; as gnomes are known to bring bits and pieces of every culture they come into contact with, Dinas Kuhha has a reputation for being somewhat of a cosmopolitan nexus—while Dinas Ayah represents the long traditions of Annwn, Dinas Kuhha is often associated with forward-thinking Eladrin and politically dissident ones. Many supporters of the Incarna Esfander, for example, hailed from Dinas Kuhha.
Marriage and childbirth in Annwn society has developed in a particularly stultified fashion. Perhaps as a reaction to the extremely long lifespan and fairly high childbirth ratio of the Eladrin, both of these events are major milestones in the life of Eladrin and are not undertaken lightly. The Annwn thearchy forbids remarriage and punishes extramarital childbirth (though not sex, as long as proper precautions are taken) with extreme harshness. Annwn Eladrin tend to marry only after they have matured fully and spent at least one hundred or two hundred additional years as bachelors. Women tend to control the marriage organization, and it is societally impolite for a man to approach a woman with a proposition.
The subject of the Rulership has long been discussed by scholars and priests in Annwn, and while there are a number of divergent opinions, nearly all support the divinity of the Ruler. This is not because of a system of oversight but rather because of the very powerful manifestations of the Divinity of various Rulers throughout history. The “monolithic” viewpoint on the Divinity is that of the priesthood—that the Incarnate Ruler incorporates all the disparate elements of truth and is in fact a unison not only of the Five Families (which are bound to support him) but also of all the metaphysical conundra of the world. The first Incarnate Ruler was supposedly the leader of the Eladrin when the crossed the seas and settled in the country of Annwn.
Other news...
Minos, the Far-seer - sky, knowledge, the future, magic
The worship of Minos crept up from the plains during the final decades of Floresan’s health as a viable kingdom. Plainlanders placed Minos at the head of their pantheon and, though the Flamen Cantors of Regenthill accepted other religions, they shunted the Minoan clergy out of most political situations. Minos himself is a plainlander god that is closely related to Cyprissar in temperament. During the long decades of the fall of Floresan, many older Fleurisian cults lost their followers and their influence. One of these was the cult of Sybillus the Wailing One, the Fleurisian goddess of oracular vision and knowledge. Minos is frequently represented as being the guardian of an Oracle named Sybill from whom prophecies are said to flow. Many scholars recognize this figure as that of forgotten Sybillus, here deprived of her right as a divinity but maintained as an element of Minos’ power.
Like other gods in other places, Minos’ inner temples are forbidden to the unclean. However, since he is known to grant knowledge and oracular prophecies to laypeople it is possible to reach these hidden shrines. The experience is rarely pleasant for the person involved, and it requires a large donation and a long period of fasting and cleansing before the Oracles’ chambers can be reached. When they are finally broached, an opportunity to speak with the Oracle and hence the god is rarely missed.
Current temples amongst the Minoan faith are as follows:
The Minoan Eye — The Minoan Eye represents the majority of the faith in the North. They have a central treasury, though most Minoan ministry is local. This means local coffers, local interpretations of the faith, and local Oracles that may conflict with the temple at large. The Minoan Eye relies heavily on the Prophecies of the Black Night and the Collection of Minoan Wisdom for their theological arguments.
The Seers of Sybil — An almost completely female organization, the Seers reject both holy books of the Eye. They rely on the Sybilline Prophecies for their guidance, and regard Minos as a latecomer; rather than Sybil being Minos’ servant, they see things as the other way around. The Seers have a strong mutual dislike of the Minoan Eye and all factions of the Eye agree in their dislike of the Seers. Things rarely come to blows, but theological arguments have been known to erupt into physical arguments between strong mendicants of either faith from time to time.
This is The Green Man, a converted Fleurisian villa turned waystation on the long merchants road from Rutland to Deepmine. It will be featured in the Shattered Lands playtest one-shot, The Lost Valley.
The Green Man was once a rambling country estate, maintained by a powerful Fleurisian lord. It fell to disuse but, being well fortified by its high outer wall and supplied with enough room to store stock to last a siege (the current owner keeps a henhouse, some goats, and a few hardy cows penned up in the gardens. The cows are grazed during the day in the nearby pasture lands) it is a perfect waystop along the lonely winding Lavaasin trading route that heads down the Iceflow towards Deepmine.
For further reference: The Fluerisian language family represents what is commonly spoken in the North; Northmanu is reserved for the roof-of-the-world kingdoms like Rutland, Lavaas, and Deepmine... and most people STILL speak Vulgar Fluerisian.
Plainlander is the common tongue of the Midlands, and South Speak of the Glittering South. Old Urgu/Urgrui are both elvish tongue and Gracwæ∂ is dwarvish (as is Issek, which is spoken by southern dwarves).
Ker'yen is the language of the Cyclops of Ker'yis and Ar'yen is the halfling tongue that evolved from it. LASTLY, Emerian is the language of Sargoth, the city of Ivory, and the Farwah-Telwahni chain represents the Jandanese and following twin dialects of the Middle World Eladrin.
This is the story of how we lost that paradise; no matter what some may say about Ker’yis, I still think it occupies that role in our myths. The giants have their lost empires, the Dragons their ruined theocracies. We had farms on the idyll islands that have earned the name Cyclopean these days. I don’t know how long we had or what kind of social structure we followed or any of that. That’s all fancy scholar-speak that Alain, that’s the Waystrider again, taught me. Well, one day the Cyclops came. They rounded up a whole lot of us and brought us to their city in the middle of the islands. It was called Ker’yis, but no one remembers what that word means. We never knew if the Cyclops built it, or if we built it and were conquered, or if it was there before all of us. I don’t know if even the Cyclops knew.
They needed labor to do lots of things. Most of their people were fighting. The few who remained behind were the great wizards and thinkers. Magicians and priests, mostly. The rest sailed up and down the coast and fought their brothers, the other giants, all the time. Our place was either to sell food to Ker’yis, working for a Cyclops overseer in the islands, or to live in the city itself. We made things work. Some of us were scribes to the Magi, and others were simply domestic servants. There were those of us who made things for them; both things of beauty and things they needed. There were also those of us who had to make sure the dams were in good repair and to help figure out ways to pump out the water that was always seeping into the city somehow. Ker’yis was an impossible city, you see. It was built on a low-lying floodplain that had been dredged up from the seabed, and it was protected by dams and levees and underground canals that funneled water away to underground cisterns. When it reached those cisterns, it was purified and pumped off for irrigation, or it came back out in one of Ker’yis’ fabled fountains.
They say that all the roofs were plated with gold and that seeing it come into view over the horizon was like seeing the sun rise. All that time we were allowed by our masters to keep our old religion and there were pried who doubled as artisans and priestsess’ or engineers and priests, and things of that nature. It wasn’t a bad life, the books say. Supposedly we were treated well. Then came the Drowning…
The Cyclops and their gigantine brothers had fought to a standstill for centuries. It was called a great deadlocked struggle in which either side would gain some ground and the other would lose for a while until a reversal gave a little breathing room. And so on, forever. Until the giant kingdoms fell apart, that is. They started to get weaker and weaker, less and less able to repel the Cyclopian attacks. They brought more and more booty back to Ker’yis and thought they were masters of the world. When the Eladrin came, it surprised everyone. I’m sure they had been fighting on the mainland off and on for years, but the books speak of the Eladrin for the first time with the Drowning.
The Eladrin weren’t content to fight the Cyclops to a standstill like the other giants. They wanted to obliterate them. I don’t really understand how or why, but they were so much more reckless in those days. Some Eladrin king or other launched a huge assault on Ker’yis; the books say “The skies clouded with magical fire as bolts of lightening shattered the dams and chunks of scolding stone rained down into The City.”
They came, and in their wake, the Cyclops died. And we would’ve died too, had we not managed to get to escape craft or been carried to safety by Cyclops masters. From there we sailed and sailed until we reached the mainland. Where we landed we founded Demat, but there were so many of us untried; to govern ourselves was a task I imagine we were hardly suited for. So some of us kept sailing, further and further down rivers and streams. That’s how you see nations like Stêr, so far east, and the other halfling lands.
And because we had all this knowledge about the waters and the canals, we can afford to build things that seem to dazzle you humans. Some people in the south, those old and ancient cities, they know what we know, or they hired some of us to go work for them at some time in the past, because they have some of the same marvels. But its all the doing of our engineer caste.
Oh, the castes. Yes, you see, we had been divided into… levels I suppose for so long that we simply adopted them. So if your mother was a priestess, you’re a priestess, like me. If your mother was a carpenter, you’re a carpenter. You get the idea. Its a bit better for men—castes flow matrilineally, so if you marry up, you can change your station. Harder for women though. Still, who would want to be a man in Demat?
The lifespan of Eladrin (being nearly eternal) lends to a different societal structure than one that mortals are used to. Some Eladrin consider themselves first and foremost a warrior, waiting only for a war which requires him or her to leave their daily drudgery of maintaining the Empire. Even artisanal and farming classes believe in the necessity for constant warfare in order to keep Annwnayah from being overwhelmed by hostile foes—and they are not wrong, for Jandana is a dangerous place. Of course, there also exist many tracts (the most famous being Social Responsibility by Araxa) that decry this attitude as dangerous and foolish, not to mention heretical. The very fact that these writings exist, however, and their general popularity indicate that there is at least some group of Eladrin who behave this way.
The great majority of Eladrin in Annwn are either share-farmers or artisans located in one of the great cities. Dinas Keshvar and Dinas Kuhha are both major trading and crafting cities in Annwn. The gnomish wanderers of the southern regions frequently make stopovers in Dinas Kuhha to trade with the Eladrin there; as gnomes are known to bring bits and pieces of every culture they come into contact with, Dinas Kuhha has a reputation for being somewhat of a cosmopolitan nexus—while Dinas Ayah represents the long traditions of Annwn, Dinas Kuhha is often associated with forward-thinking Eladrin and politically dissident ones. Many supporters of the Incarna Esfander, for example, hailed from Dinas Kuhha.
Marriage and childbirth in Annwn society has developed in a particularly stultified fashion. Perhaps as a reaction to the extremely long lifespan and fairly high childbirth ratio of their race, both of these events are major milestones in the life of Eladrin and are not undertaken lightly. The Annwn thearchy forbids remarriage and punishes extramarital childbirth (though not sex, as long as proper precautions are taken) with extreme harshness. Annwn Eladrin tend to marry only after they have matured fully and spent at least one hundred or two hundred additional years as bachelors. Women tend to control the marriage organization, and it is societally impolite for a man to approach a woman with a proposition.
The subject of the Rulership has long been discussed by scholars and priests in Annwn, and while there are a number of divergent opinions, nearly all support the divinity of the Ruler. This is not because of a system of oversight but rather because of the very powerful manifestations of the Divinity of various Rulers throughout history. The “monolithic” viewpoint on the Divinity is that of the priesthood—that the Incarnate Ruler incorporates all the disparate elements of truth and is in fact a unison not only of the Five Families (which are bound to support him) but also of all the metaphysical conundra of the world. The first Incarnate Ruler was supposedly the leader of the Eladrin when the crossed the seas and settled in the country of Annwn.
The thearchy of Annwnayah is fraught with many contradictions. While the Ruler is nominally the end-all on theological debates, it often falls (and is the custom to fall) to the elder scholars of the Empire to decide on theological matters. This is usually solved by the riddle-synod in which high ranking theologians gather together to ask questions in a rapid paced round-circle ritual. Scribes are always present to record these sessions in a special ecclesiastical shorthand.
The Kamdin Presbyter is at the top of the hierarchy, but rarely engages in synods. Rather, he is responsible for appointing the heads of the fourteen great theological schools that dot the fourteen provinces of Annwnayah. These fourteen men (or women) are known as the Masters, and they usually compose the entirety of a riddle-synod.
A separate arm of the thearchy is the Candescent Order, charged with hunting down heresy and expelling it. If the fourteen schools are the philosophers of the Annwn thearchy, the members of the Order are the fanatics. While tensions between certain devotions of thought amongst the fourteen schools are common, all scholarly theologians find something to fear in the Order. The White Seekers, as they are called, even cross the borders of Jandana to hunt down and exterminate exceptionally deadly heresies in the middle kingdom.
Interestingly, the notion of heresy is quite an alien one in a religion in which all truths are part of an intricate web. The theologians who founded the Candescent Order did so to prevent unnecessarily recursive arguments, infinite regressions, or things which the synods have declared theological dead ends. It is the purpose of the Annwnayah schools of theological thought to examine and meditate all possible paths of truth. Long treatises are often written just for this purpose; however when a certain line of thought is deemed unconstructive (recursive, defeatist, or otherwise suggesting that the Incarnate Ruler is not the perfect synthesis of the divine) the scholar who published the work is expected to turn his mind to more useful tasks. If he does not, the Candescent Order sends out one of its White Seekers to convince the unrepentant heretic to do so.
Their legends say that they crossed the Wasting long after the other tribes. I have spent many years of my life trying to determine whether their oral history had any basis in fact. Marian and I have ranged the entire northern scrubs in the waste, looking for the landmarks that the Eikwood elves claimed to have seen. We were captured by a Sargothian patrol and charged with trespassing on lands belonging to the Sargothine empire, but that is a story in and of itself. Before we were taken to Sargoth to be judged, we found one of the most famous Eikwood icons—the Spiral Tree.
Eikwood myth holds that after the earlier migrations out of the dying lands of the east, the Eikwood elves were left with enough land to move from season to season, exhausting the resources that were there and then moving on. Yet there came a time when even this would not do to keep the elves alive. They decided to follow their fellows across the ever-growing Wastes and into the west. One of the things that we hypothesize is that the Orcish kingdoms of the east began to pressure the remaining elves, as they were seeking to expand their farmlands. Since the elves could make no use of the dying earth (they have no tradition of irrigation) they abandoned it to the more settled orcs.
As they journeyed across the Wastes, the elves who would eventually settled in Eikwood encountered many others of their kind. Those who had been left behind or had stayed intentionally during one of the race’s long migrations to the west greeted them and pointed them on. At some point they also had contact with the one-time elven slaves of the dragons of Abuz. Some of the draconic imagery is still present in their artwork. Indeed, the villain of several Eikwood folk-tales is none other than a northernized image of the southern Dragons.
Anyhow, just before they left the Wastes behind they passed into the shadow of Sargoth. Not that they were anywhere near that shadow-haunted city, but the lands they traveled through payed tribute to the Temple of the Ebon Flame. You have to understand that this was in the old days, long before any of us were born. Before our great grandparents were born. Centuries ago. This was a time when Sargoth wasn’t just a nasty dying city where evil men think evil thoughts. It was a great empire, spread out across the wastes. When the elves entered the lands of Sargoth, they were confronted by Sargothine armies that wanted to impress them into the orbit of that ivory city. They were forcibly settled in the northern provinces of Sargothia. They lived there for nearly one hundred years. As the power of the Empire declined, the elves fought for their freedom. Their legends claim that they were led to freedom by a powerful earth-spirit. This, they say, was the Spiral-tree.
The tree that we found was alone in the desert, atop a rocky summit where sparse patches of knife-grass grew. It was an ancient thing, but it bore upon its bark the spiral-sign that the Eikwood elves still carve upon their own trees. I have spoken to an aged ent of the woods who assures me that the spiral-tree truly lived.
The elves of Eikwood live in several scattered communities, the most northerly of which is Blackdale. Since the Eikwood is hardly a pleasant place, each of these towns is surrounded by a thick stone wall. While it is often said that the entire north is built from someone else’s ruins, the elven towns of Eikwood actually quarried there rock fresh from the earth. They claim that the stone itself has memories, and sometimes those memories are bad ones.
The towns of the Eikwood are ruled by hedge-mage cheifmen, though the entire forest considers itself to be under a loose federation. These overarching rules and decisions are made not by the various cheifmen but by a council of elder druids and graybeards. The Eikwood is divided into three realms, each of which is represented by a different elf-maiden. These three maidens (the Eikwood Maidens) each represent a different powerful force in the world. For example, northern Eikwood’s protector is the Ivy Maiden who is drawn upon trees and rocks everywhere in that region. Her representative is chosen once in a lifetime; when a Maiden dies, another is found the following spring. How this happens is an elven mystery, not privy to outsiders like myself, no matter how intimate I might get with their headmen. The potential maidens gather in Oakburn and there they convene with the elders and the great ents; when they emerge, a new Maiden as been chosen.
I must here note that Maiden is a lose translation. These women are neither virgin, nor innocent, nor must they somehow remain innocent. Rather, any woman may be chosen as one of the maidens and will thereby be honored throughout the Eikwood from that day forth.
Then I too left and crossed the Waste and I saw a people that might be my kin. But they were an angry people who had been held by Abuz (Ed: The author seems to use the term Abuz to refer to generic Dragons in general. Perhaps a confusion or conflation with the draconic empire of Abuz?), so I approached them not.
Then at last I found the edge of that barren desert where foul men pray to the darkness. I hid my shape and moved on.
The Nemed I met, and the Parthol, and the Senion too, but each had shattered to make many many peoples. So I stopped to rest at the place where the sons of Mile built their pillar, and here I stay. Here I stay.
The Palace overlooks the whole city. From there one can see the scurrying of the market-ward and even the glimmering waves on the vast glass sea. From there one can see the temples and their spires, lesser though they may be than the Great Temple, they are still beautiful. One thousand cults have their homes here; one thousand territories call this place their sovereign. The great grain fields that surround the bay are worked not by toiling Khepran citizens, but by men stolen in raids on the city of Smoke or the borderlands of the Wastes.
Who can challenge the might of Khepri? There is not a man or woman in all the provinces who would dare stand up and say "I deny the power of almighty Atmun!" Even the dwarves of the scrublands give Khepri the honor of straying not too near her borders. They do not buy slaves, but food they buy, and in exchange the Great Kings of Khepri have had the finest metals, the finest weapons, the finest work of any kind in all the south.
When a Great King passes, his body is paraded through the city in its lidded case, for they must know the man they have lost has become a God and rejoined Atmun. Each Great King is as the last Great King, for each is a sliver of the Divinity incarnate, each is the son of the mighty Atmun who makes the sun shine harshly and the waves to cool the spirit. The Funerary Barge sailed down the wide canals of Khepri and out into the bay of Sunsets. I was with that barge, one of the many devoted who will accompany my lord and King into the Realm Below.
Even now I must return to my work, for we acolytes must build up a great fire. As the fires consume the Barge, it shall sink into the depths where Atmun will claim it. I too shall accompany my lord the Great King, to serve him in the halls of the City-that-Was, even as his descendants and the descendants of Atmun rule over the City-that-Is.
And now the smoke grows cloying and I hear the fires' roar. There is no more for me in this tepid middle world. The halls of Atmun await me.
I have composed this letter for your use exclusively when traveling in lands claimed by my people. I know that your trade has not often taken you to such places but, as I promised I shall teach you how to make the best deals with the dwarves and to recieve from them the finest gold you'll ever work.
A brief history lesson
I believe that if you take the time to read over this first portion of my letters you will come to a greater understanding of my people. This is but the first of many things I will do to repay your great kindnesses to me.
Our written records descend back into antiquity. Each settlement of the Graewys contains a treasure trove of history. As each settlment is autonomous in these dark days of this world, each also bears its own history back to the decline of the great kingdom of my people in times that have long since vanished.
The earliest records we have speak of the Dragons. Those great semi-mythical creatures were common in those days. This is even before the giants came up from the lower lands, and we were friendly with the giants. No, no, these records speak of the limitless empire of Abzu and its northern sattelites. We did not wish to fall beneath the dragonic yoke like so many others had. Unlike the other peoples who were captured and brought to heel, we had a great advantage -- our elders, even in those vanished days, knew the secrets of working metal. The dragons and their priests, the dragon-kin, did not. They came at us from the sky and on the earth, but metal learned them their place.
The giants came to take the world from Dranonic talons. The imperial aspirations of Abzu subsided into the florid jungles of the deep south, and the few remaining outposts in the north dwindled and faded away. That was our era of peace and prosperity. There were those, truth be told, who went south in that time. They are now known as the Issek; these dark-skinned desert-dwellers are our cousins and kin, though their customs are strange to us.
The graewys who stayed gathered together; though some remained in their isolated homesteads, most came to the call of the great kings and we built ourselves a kingdom. Its precise location is lost to us now, perhaps somewhere far north in the Riggsland; I cannot say. But we built it and there we collected all our knowledge in a great vault, and as the song goes, three good towers were builded there.
That time came to an end with the Draconic invasions. The lingering strongholds of dragon-thralled men made the ancient land of my people a target for their incessant wars, their greed for the secrets of metal-crafting driving them. They burned our towers and they stole our secrets. From that day forth, our people were disperesed in a diaspora across the north.
A typical settlement
Now then, Master Oren, I shall describe to you the archetypical settlement of the Graewys. Understanding the taboos and the strictures which keep our society together will also assist you in your dealings with my people.
All the homes of the graewys begin with a temple and a town center. These are nearly always built upon hilltops to ensure a good command of the countryside. The temples are conescrated to the Earthfather, Eri. The rest of the town center is dedicated to the elders and the master metal-crafters. This place is kept hidden from the prying eyes of outsiders, for beneath the temple lies the vault in which the histories, secrets, and methods of that settlement are stored. The graewys do not much like outsiders prying about business they have no reason to know. We are a secretive people; we are still the only people in the middle world who can forge orichalcum and adamantium. No others know this because we have kept it close and secret. If there is one overarching thing I can tell you, Oren, it is that you should not ever pry into the secret affairs of the graewys. Doing so would do more harm to your reputation and more to quash any notion of buying ore or tools from my people than you can imagine.
From the top of the hill the town-center commands a good tactical view of the countryside. Even some graewys cannot penetrate to the heart of that sacred compound, to the vault. Beyond the town-center are the fields, several miles of them. Most artisans live just outside the sanctified heart of the community, and it is there that you will find the best markets. Further out are the farmers, who cultivate the earth in a radius of several miles. Beyond that is the great graewys outwall, which you will encounter first in your travels.
The only way into the settlement will be through a heavily defended orichalcum door, usually stronger than the wall itself. Entrance through this gate is normally unrestricted in times of peace, and a smaller door-within-the-door often stands open. This miniature portal is closed at sunset, however, to keep wanderers and bandits out.
When you go to speak at the markets my people will likely put you up with one of the farmers or artisans. Oftentimes, they will try to find you lodgings with someone who is of the same craft that you are. You may spend several days haggling with the merchants. While you are there you may notice your host moves with relative ease amongst the houses of others -- almost supernatural ease. This is because the entire settlement has likely been undermined with tunnels. These are dug for two reasons. The first: the outwall could easily be mined out from beneath but, since there are tunnels there already, the graewys could easily fight back miners. The second is tied to our history with the dragons; in times of war, they would swoop down upon our people, no matter our defenses. The tunnels allow us to fight back against enemies who can control the very skies themselves.
Foriegn Merchants
My people find use for many old and crumbling things. To acquire such ancient materials, we have recourse to speaking with many otherwise unwholesome peoples. Cheif amongst these are the goblins, the ruin-rats who scour the wreckage of fallen kingdoms and empires for goods to sell. You may, upon arriving in the marketplace of a graewys community, discover a gaggle of goblins selling various knicknacks and gizmos. My advice is to steer clear of them.
The graewys have been dealing with goblins for centuries, but men have always seemed hestitant to do so. While my people know their secrets, yours have never taken the time. While you may not get a price that is as low from my people, they will not cheat you like the goblins might.
A final word for you
I cannot thank you enough, Master Oren. If it is true, as your people seem to believe, that the graewys have some power to bless or to curse, then let your goldsmithy be the finest in all of Cantorhill. In all the north!
I hope to see you again, but even if I never do, at least this letter will have been of some use to you.
Your friend Eitri Konig penned this.
Most people've got what it takes -- if they apply themselves. Slouching never got a man anywhere. If ye're inclined to slouching ye'd best be finding one of those Waystriders to take you in. I'll not have any of't.
That's not to say ye'll be leadin a hard life. Why, right off the bat ye get to wear a fine pair of embroidered bracers and, when ye become a master a nice velvet hood too. Oh, but don't get to mistaking my meaning. We're not like the other guilds you see around. Sure as ligthening follows thunder we respect each other, but the Brotherhood doesn't have a home nor very many bylaws. In fact, its a rare day when two Brothers of the Book even see one another.
Still, you'll be working yer way to crafting a Masterwork to share with the Brothers. When ye can do that, well, on that day ye'll be a master of the guild yerself. Now, that doesn't sound so bad, does it? I mean, you'll be able to summon up all manner of power so don't think you'll ever be at another man's mercy ever again.
I see that got ye interested enough! Hey, stand still and I'll show ye what I like to call Tomas' Unnatural Fire!
The Moon Trolls can be alternately cruel or kind. Some of them love nothing more than cracking open the bones of men and drawing out the marrow, while others invite the other races into their homes to trade. Their society is a strange and almost impenetrable knot of loyalties, but I hope with this writing to help decode it in some manner. Many Moon Trolls worship Uhmuna; that is their word for the moon, which has come down preserved through Northmanu and made its way into our speech as moon. Wise Moon Troll sorcerers have learned to change their shape, like their mother the Moon does.
Moon Trolls are weaker by daylight, as the bright lights hurt their eyes. The perpetual semi-darkness of the northern Riggsland means in those parts they are accustomed to moving about at any time, but further south they must sleep during the daylight hours, or stay indoors on days when the sun is particularly bright.
The Moon Trolls know some of the secret arts that the Graewys know; they have been seen with lanterns of adamant and swords of meteoric iron. The Graewys say that the Moon Trolls learned these secrets from the Giants, with whom they had shared it long ago in exchange for protection from the dark things in the world. Since Moon Trolls and Flint Giants bear some relation, it is not out of the question, though in my mind it is far more likely that they plundered a gigantine ruin and discovered the secrets still written somewhere.
Moon Troll males are normally dominant, the females being left behind during raids to study magical arts or to tend captives or livestock. However, it is rumored that female Moon Trolls have great mystic strength and the greatest of female Troll-wizards are said to be better than the male Troll-wizards. An encounter with either male or female wizard of the Moon Trolls is likely to end in tragedy, as they I have often heard from the tribes of Riggsland that they have no respect for any life save their own and often indulge in dark magical experimentation.
Nothing has baffled me or any man that I know more than the ruins of Abuz. I've devoted much time to understanding them, and what I have found I have compiled here before you so that you and the other Brothers of the Book may know it. The College is too close-minded to understand this kind of information, and my kind in Ornus find no use for it.
Abuz is old enough that it predates the Sworn. I have manged to build a rudimentary understanding of the Abuzian language and have spent the last several years amongst the ruins closest to Ornus, examining them.
Perhaps I should tell you a bit about the buildings; They are massive. As large at least as giant-build, and of a strong durable clay. Mostly they are pyramids built in the step-style and they tower over the jungle cover. Rude cities of cracked clay still molder in the undergrowth around these majestic structures.
At one time the Dragonborn lived here, and their draconic masters as well. I have found evidence of the Dragonborn high priests. Men lived here too, and elves; but they were kept in different quarters. Slave quarters is my guess, if the legends tell true. But stranger still, the Dragonborn and the Dragons didn't just dissapear. There is evidence that fighting between Dragonborn occured in these cities -- possibly even cannabalism.
I have yet to find the bones of a dragon, but I am certain such an amazing discovery is only a few days away. The dragons lived high atop the pyramids or within their hollow centers. It is my theory that the dragons believed the pyramids were some sort of artificial womb. Once I can crack open those secret chambers, I'm positive I will find the places where the Dragon tyrants died.
They were once slaves to the Cyclops, that much is commonly known. They lived on the Cyclopian Isles before the great city of Ker'yis was drowned; some still do. Their religion has been carried with them from those days, and they speak to their gods through intermediaries known as the Drowned Ones--their ancestors who did not escape the Drowning. Halfling worship is divided up into two camps or "courts". Some nations primarily worship the Sunwarden and her allies, who are a warlike tribe of gods that live on an island and some primarily worship the Reed Queen and her followers, who live in the Reedland. Both courts dwell in the Duat, receiving prayers and granting them from time to time. Collectively, these deities are known as the Masters of Salt and Wave.
The largest halfling nation this close to the coast is Demat, settled when they first landed after the Drowning. Its hero and founder was called Ysabell Calla Deathcaller and it was under her leadership that the nation was founded. Demat, like the other nearby halfling nation of Stêr, is a forest of tiered stone buildings and vast canals. The halflings know the secrets of drawing water from a low place to a high one, and of using it to open heavy doors and even to raise slabs of stone.
The halfling castes are divided into three general categories in Demat: The High Castes, which include priests and the sages, the House Castes which include the high artisans and engineers, and the Minor Castes which are the workers and lesser artisans. Farmers have a category of their own, considered socially equal to the House Castes for a family-head (matriarch) but all others are within the Minor Castes.
Halflings from any nation name themselves as a personal and then family name (which is inherited through the matriarch) followed lastly by their caste-title. Some important Caste Titles from Demat include...
Religious Castes:
Mistcaller; the highest religious caste, the Mistcaller is a High Priestess, usually someone on the Priesthood Council.
Lorekeeper; a slightly lesser religious caste, Lorekeepers are religious historians, and may also be on the Priesthood Council.
Sunkeeper or Reedward; the clerics who oversee temples or religious ceremonies of importance, usually tasked with teaching apprentice clerics.
Deathspeaker; a cleric with no standing who has passed her Trials.
Acolyte; a novice cleric who has not yet passed her Trials.
Scholarly Castes:
Seaholder; engineers trained in working with water.
Wordmason; scribes and other professional writers.
Willworker; wizards and other arcane spellcasters.
Most of the House and Minor castes are named after their professions; ie, "Highmason" and "Mason" for master and minor masons.
The political structure of Demat, the closest halfling nation, is based upon the Priesthood Council, established by Ysabell Calla Mistcaller. The Council is composed of twenty seven clerics who are voted to serve for life by the High and House castes. The Council debates all courses of legislation whereas a specific caste of Wordmasons, the Truthseekers, run the court systems. Council debates require a majority vote for most normal actions.
The court systems of Demat are complex and sometimes convoluted. Truthseekers oversee them and make inquiries into the allegations (which may be brought forth by any caste, though Minor castes must have patronage from a House or High cast halfling before they may accuse High caste members) while each side is given the council of Lawknowers (whose caste-profession is dedicated to contemplating the laws of Demat).
The elves who came into the west are really the only ones that we know of. There are myths of other elven tribes that did not make the journey from their original home, but we have no knowledge of what happened to them. Crossing the Wastes and getting there would be a trek, and I myself do not know of anyone who has made it. From elf folk-stories we know of four general tribes of elves who crossed the Waste and a fifth, who had been captives in the jungles of Abuz. The Nemed (called the sons of Agnoman) who settled in Eldon Forest, the Parthol (called the sons of Sera), who settled in the Dorwood, the Senion (called the sons of Stariath), who settled in the Eikwood, and the sons of Mile.
The elves have something in common though. Amongst each group I have never heard of a devotion to any sorts of gods. Instead they honor their ancestors and the spirits of nature. It is rumored that the Nemed even brought with them the ancient speaking trees that guided them in their old home. This rumor I can confirm, for I myself have seen the ents in Eldon and they are as old as the legends claim.
The Senion were once forcibly settled by the Sargothine empire, many centuries ago, but they were aided to their freedom by a legendary land-spirit that they call the Spiral Tree. Additionally, all elven tribes have a strong sense of ancestral worship and story telling. It is a custom amongst the elves of all nations to record upon the tombs of their beloved heroes not the truth of their deaths and lives, but how they feel they should have been. This sacred form of writing is thought to reflect the "perfect world", which exists alongside our own tripartite universe and to mimic it in many ways, save being the world in which things happen "the way they should have."
Either because of this sacred tomb language or in spite of it, elves are also very mistrustful of the written word. Only druids, headmen, and wizards know how to write in elven societies.
They prefer wooded locations to settle in, as these spots are thick with the land-spirits that they worship. Most elves dress in the same style, preferring shorter tunics and long loose cotton leggings wrapped with leather. Their elders and druids grow long beards, though headmen tend to keep themselves more well-kempt.
The piece on the Senion in the Eikwood also located in this manuscript will help illuminate the reader on elven society.
IMO one of the most important things if you want to create a good 4e campaign world, is make a check list, which things are necessary to be invented by yourself, because there is no info in the books and which have offical info. (Eg. I would avoid introducing own names for gods or races. The offical names are good enough)
Lavaas has always been somewhat backwards. Crushed between the river on one side, Eikwood on the other, and the southern ridges of Riggsland on its third, it has never had a real chance to expand. During the Empire of Floresan it was considered a remote province; something of a penalty for governors who did not perform well (see: The Letters of Noble Acquin) and a backwater. Some Fleurisian sensibility did filter its way in, however. Larger Lavaasin towns have fine Floran ruins that they have mined from.
Some Floran habits also entered Lavaas. Once upon a time that country chose its nobility based on wealth as judged in horses. With the Empire's spread, however, it became eminently clear that the Floran nobility was based on the amount of land controlled. Almost overnight a shift occurred in Lavaasin social structure as new nobility emerged.
The countryside still bears the scars of fallen Floresan, and the people of Lavaas think of themselves not as Northmen but as civilized Florans. Nobles who own steads or settlements are still called governors or maiors, after the old Floran style.
The ruins of Floresan still dot the countryside, as do those of the ruined Flint Giant and Eladrin kingdoms that predated it. Frequent Moon-Troll raids plague the northern border to the point were a stronghold was built there to serve as a chokehold back in the Floran times; it is called Northwatch.
All in all, there are few more rural landscapes in the North, but the Lavaasi are a hardy people who have shown a tenacity in the face of the short summers and long winters of the north that bely their Northmanu roots.
The single most defining aspect of Puimur is the land that its built on. While the spurs of rocky Riggsland granite stretch fairly far south, Puimur was built in a valley near several underground springs. The valley is gentle enough that its invisible to those on foot or horse, but its floor is composed of a soft loam. The governor's city was built of heavy stone and over the last half-millennium it has been all but swallowed by the earth.
Puimur is two cities: Newheight and the Oldtown. Newheight is above ground, its foundations being built on the buildings of the past. Oldtown resides beneath the floors of Newheight, inhabiting the sunken ruins of Puimur of old.
The city owes much of its success to King Bard the First. He gave a huge grant of royal land to each noble house who would build a manor in the city. This land is known as King Bard's Downs; most of the great houses have fields just outside the city on the King's Downs.
The Golden Circle
The center of Puimur is known as the Golden Circle. It is protected by a high outwall and stands directly over the old governors palace. The curtain walls of the circle protect the palace of the Kings of Lavaas and the manors of the great houses. To the northwest of the Golden Circle, over the wall, stands the fields of King's Downs.
Farmers Quarter
To the northeast of the Golden Circle is the Farmers Quarter. This section of the city is used by butchers, bakers, tanners, and other services that make use of the goods that come in from the farms. The free farmers of Lavaas come from the kingdom over to sell their wares in the Quarter. Exotic spices sometimes make their way up from Ornus to be sold on the markets.
The Silver-oak Field
The Silver Oak is known throughout the north. The tree marks the scene of a famous battle where Duke Jon Teralson stood against the armies of Cantorhill and repelled them. The legend goes that the Cantorhill scouts rode so near old Puimur that the Duke could feather them from his window. When the battle was joined, Teralson fell at the oak, mortally wounded. His loyal friends and retainers, the Cohorts, defended the spot where he fell until nightfall. When the generals from Cantorhill realized that they couldn't take the oak they split their front lines to maneuver around it. The Cohorts lifted the body of their fallen commander and lay into their side. The confusion caused the horses to route and soon the entire army was in full retreat.
The Silver Oak still stands today, its distinctive silver bark visible from nearly a half-mile away. Silver oak field remains unsettled, a preserve of the royal family. Festivals and Carnivals of all kinds are held on the field, both religious and secular.
Entertainer's District
Southwest of the Golden Circle is the Entertainers District. Several Thyrsian temples stand nearby the Silver-oak field and many artists and story-tellers live here. They are frequently employed in the Golden Circle to work for noble patrons. This district is particularly narrow and the streets particularly winding. At one time it was a smaller town called Southroad and this name is often applied to it today. A great ruined Fleurisian gate stands on the road to the Golden Cirlce, overshadowing most of the neighborhood.
Dwarf Quarter
Unlike most of the rest of the city, the Dwarf Quarter is not built of reclaimed Fleurisian stonework. This land was granted to the dwarves by King Alan nearly two centuries ago. They've mined their own stone from the quarry south of Vegrin and brought it up to build in Puimur. The district's heart is a forbidden compound which is surrounded by extremely thick walls and where the city-dwarves worship. However, most of the dwarves in the Quarter are not residents but rather merchants who come north from Vegrin to stay a while in the city and trade with the men there.
((more to come!))