Welcome to Artheria, (I like swords.)
Today, we discuss the world on the surface of Artheria. There are three distinct layers of civilization on Artheria, each with its own dangers and unique traits. There is the surface world, and the underdark, like in traditional forbidden realms, but there is also a third layer, above the clouds. Floating islands and kingdoms fill the land above the clouds.
We start with the surface, a land shattered by the reckoning. The entire realm (except the elf lands and a few select places) is covered in perpetual storm clouds, fog, and overall gothic gloominess. The sun is a rare thing here, and most races are despondent, trying anything to stay alive in a world where zombies erupt from the earth at any point, corrupt humanoids kidnap townsfolk in their sleep, sacrificing them to their dark gods or turning them into something else entirely. Goblins and humans will ally, dwarves with kobolds, elves with orcs, anything is considered now a days, as most races are at 10 to 30% of what they once were. (See the 'Races of Artheria' post for more information.)
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| (The surface world of Entrar) |
The first, and most obvious, is The Maelstrom. This is a perpetual whirlpool, thunderstorm, cyclone, stormy weather event that affects the seas around the entire world. The Maelstrom has always been on Artheria, it has just intensified since The Reckoning. In the center of the Maelstrom, from hundreds of miles around, can be seen strange glowing lights. They have been there for 1000 years now. To the north of the center of The Maelstrom, stands a great tower, that stretches from ocean floor into the clouds. It appears made from some sort of mixture of earth, coral, bone, and adamantine, becoming darker and more solidly metal as it goes towards the sky.
Below the Maelstrom is the Frozen Wastes, which is the remnants of what was once a vibrant continent of mainly large animals, dinosaurs, sylvan folk, and dragons. When the reckoning happened, the bulk of the continent was lifted up into the clouds, causing the ocean to flood into the underdark below. What was left drifted south, and as the weather patterns of the world shifted, the ice continued to build, and now a continually progressing glacier is encroaching on the land... it can even be seen from the elf lands now.
The Elf Lands are also a shattered land. Once called Elthfedaritheil, it was a massive continent, with a large population, and many beautiful, incredibly engineered cities. Nature, magic, spirit, all was in perfect balance. The Reckoning tore the land asunder, lifting huge hunks into the sky, and then planar rifts to all manner of lower planes opened up, and demons, devils, and yugoloths came to the shattered land. The elves have been in a fight for survival ever since, one that has not been kind to the immortal, very slowly reproducing race. While there are some scattered towns, the bulk of the elves live on lower floating islands, and in the remains of the capital. Seven of the ten elf subraces live in this area, drow, sea, and frost elves being the only exceptions. The elves have the protection of a great hero, an epic-level half-elf/half-orc, (a former player) who is the embodiment of Lytana, who is an elven god that became Gruumsh. (This was a central story line to previous campaigns.) There is also an orc subrace called Lytanan orcs that live here, who are more neutrally and good aligned, and exceptional Lytanan orcs have spellcasting ability that rivals their elven companions/competitors.
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| (Elves live in extravagant, beautful cities.) |
Across the sea is The Lost Lands, this was a mostly wild continent that was connected to Oniboros to the north. The residents of the place were mostly humans, halflings, people fleeing the regimented societies of Oniboros, and many different types of monstrous humanoids. The effects of the reckoning are mostly unknown, but those that travel from the few safe ports bring word of powerful yuan ti and gnoll forces, seemingly allied, and not corrupted. There are a few famous halfling caravan companies based out of the few large towns on the coast, Rhoda's Runners and the Black Sail Trading Co. being the most well known.
To the north are their clients, directly north is the continent of Oniboros, an oriental kingdom of orcs, humans, and other humanoids. (Gnomes, halflings, and centaurs being the next largest minorities) The vast bulk of the non-corrupted population lives in two cities, the orc fortified city of Onidikae, and the human port city of Todeosaka. The two forces had fought for thousands of years, 500 years ago, both sides were in danger of being destroyed, fighting a war on multiple fronts against each other and the corruption. Lady Alistrae Silverhair, Paladin Queen of the West, intervened and forged an alliance between the two kingdoms. She then commissioned a great magi-tek train to connect the two empires, and there has been direct trade ever since.
To the east is the smaller kindgom of Mangderithon. This once mighty continent with a huge dwarf and gnome empire was mostly ripped to the sky by the Reckoning. The once incredibly populated continent now houses the remnants of the dwarf empire of Cromyr, and the massive human city of Contrador, a city with a population of 1.5 million led by the elf maiden Lady Alistrae Silverhair. All manner of people live in the city, refuges from all lands are welcome, and it is one of the only 'safe' cities in all of Artheria. In the mountains 40 miles from Contrador is the Monastery of the Frozen Flame. About 60 miles to the west is Talara, a wizard school that is magically protected from the blight, and has magically controlled perfect weather. Overall, Mangderithon is the most densely populated area on the surface. The eastern border of Mangtheridon is a huge mountain range, that separates it from its direct neighbor.
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| (Talara, the school of all things wizardry.) |
The kingdom of Entrar is a desert kingdom. (modeled after the old Dark Sun MS-Dos game, which can easily found at any number of abandonware sites.) It effectively has two sides. The religious empire of Entrar, which is a vast, incredibly powerful empire ruled by a mighty death giant cleric. (Sourcebook MM III) Slavery, forced gladiatorial competition, sacrifice, and forced military service are all practiced by the death giants. Refugee nomads make up the other side, who are typically former slaves, gladiators, and native races, such as thri-keen. They are fortunate to have the protection of a very ancient blue dragon, by the name of Darkenxithantilous. (Darken for short.) This dragon began a change in heart a little over 1000 years ago, his alignment changing from lawful evil to lawful neutral. Today, the dragon genuinely cares for his nomads, and his ancient might is the only thing that keeps parts of the desert free. While the Reckoning didn't cause as much physical damage to this continent, the corruption is deadlier in the desert than almost anywhere. All manner of corrupted underdark beasts are powerful enough to dig through the desert sands... mindflayers, minotaurs, and duegar attack completely without warning, bursting forth from the sand dunes. Only the very best and brightest survive the desert wasteland.
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| (Darkenxithantilous, defender of the desert.) |
"Still around the corner there may wait, a new road or secret gate." J.R.R. Tolkien.
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