The Skyrealm

Welcome back to Artheria.

Today we cover the Skyrealm, and the political/geographical hazards that occur there. I have been trying to learn how to make all my maps with computer programs, since I'm not a very good artist, and thought that would be the way to go. Alas, in the year 2014 there is still not an easy to use program that can make a wide variety of map types and make them well. So from here on out, I'm most likely going to be drawing most maps.

(If any of my players/readers know of a good program to use... let me know please. I've tried Campaign Cartographer and Dundjinni, with very limited success.)

Let us start with some basics, as I'm not a very good artist, my maps are not drawn to scale, or colored exceptionally well, but the idea should come across alright.

As far as the science goes, humans on earth can't live over 30,000 feet in the air. The pressure isn't right, the sun burns you while you're really cold, and your body's lungs can't pull enough oxygen out of the air to keep your body going. That isn't an issue on Artheria. Thanks to the reckoning, several portals to all sorts of places have opened up all over the place, and portals to the elemental plane of air have saturated the upper atmosphere with cleaner air than is found on the surface, and the general lack of cloud cover, since most islands are above or just in the clouds, allows plant life to flourish, which in turn supports animal and humanoid life of all kinds. Fresh drinking water can be hard to come by, while there are portals to the plane of water that continually dump water into the realm, there are often powerful creatures that live near such sources of pure water, keeping it under their own control. (Dragons or Storm Giants are relatively common owners of such portals.)

Overall, it is almost easier to live above the clouds of Artheria than the surface... and any monster that can fly has discovered that over the last 1000 years, and many have migrated up to this realm for that very reason.

(The Skyrealm, clicking it should make it bigger.)

Let us start with the middle, the little black spot and swirly bits are actually a perpetual cyclone/hurricane weather event over the Maelstrom, in the center of the planet. (See this post for the surface map of Artheria.) The winds around this point are constantly over 100 miles per hour, lightning, rain, hail, sleet, all of it exists in this zone, and the weather doesn't just go down towards the surface, it is not uncommon for gravity distortions, wind, or portals in this area to cause the weather to occur in very different ways. The most intense weather on the planet is in the few hundred miles around the center of the Maelstrom. This extreme weather functions in the massive planet long 'strip' that is the anti-magic zone, which brings us to the next obvious hazard...

The Anti-Magic Zone is a 1000 miles wide and 3 miles 'thick' zone where magic can not function. This zone appeared after the reckoning, starting at the center of the maelstrom and slowly spreading to the massive planet wide zone that is currently is. In the center of the maelstrom, the zone goes all the way down to the surface, 45,000 feet down to the bottom of the ocean floor, making it, at that point, 1000 miles wide by 10 miles high. The highest peaks of Entrar and the Frozen Wastes breach into this anti-magic zone on the upper right and bottom left of the map. Traveling in this zone is incredibly hazardous, as airships and planes will at some point fail, 75% failing as soon as they cross the 'line' into the zone. The safest travel is on a flying mount, like a gryphon or hippogriph.

Moving back to the center of the map, directly above the center of the Maelstrom is Zain's Island.

Zain is an incredibly powerful goblin lich necromancer, and is one of the most powerful creatures on the planet. (Zain was a level 1 goblin necromancer that was part of a monstrous humanoid party I sent against my players that all this is based on when they were level 1-2 in the very first dungeon of this game, the 3 were not meant to live, it was Zain the goblin, Griff the ogre, and a hobgoblin that died... they managed to escape my players wrath though and altered the story line forever as my players never got the upper hand on them. Ever.)

Zain's island is probably the most menacing island fortress on Artheria, and no one, not even demi-gods, have succeeded in removing Zain from his throne in the last 1000 years. His island, which exists within the anti-magic zone and the insane weather of the Maelstrom, is very near two other menacing places, Zain's Tower, which is a 9 mile high tower made from earth, coral, and the severed arm of the Adamantine Colossus, the massive construct that brought about the reckoning 1000 years ago. The other menacing landmark right by zain's tower and his island is the Adamantine Colossus itself, which has been sitting in the middle of the Maelstrom for the last 1000 years, flashing colored lights out into space through the perpetual 'eye of the hurricane' that exists there. The sea, on the surface, is always in a cyclone in that area, making approach by ship or by flying stead nearly impossible, and magical means of traveling there simply do not function, as the anti-magic zone is at its strongest there.

(The adamantine colossus is a creature of unknown origin, with powers that have never been beaten.)

All forces fear this area, and only the very bravest ever attempt an assault. Zain's power is unrivaled, for he possesses 3 incredibly powerful artifacts. The first is an orb of negative energy, which appears much like a dark colored crystal ball. Zain gained this artifact by besting my players at the time in an ancient gnome ruin, it amplified his powers enormously and took Zain from a fledgling wizard to a major player on the global stage.

(Zain's Orb of Negative energy.)

Next he turned his long time bodyguard and companion, Griff the Ogre, (Ogre Fighter/Rogue/Assassin/Blackguard) into a curst undead creature, granting the ogre an immortal life and even greater power... and traveled the planes, and stole an immensely powerful blade, the Soul Reaver, from Vecna, the god of secrets, magic, and undeath. With these two artifacts, Zain was able to wrest the 3rd, and final artifact, the enormous Crystal of Negative energy, an over 40 foot tall crystal that seems to help control the nature of the planes themselves, from several competitors. With this artifact under Zain's control, his power became unrivaled. None on Artheria have breached the inner sanctum of Zain in nearly 1000 years, the last to do so were the heroes of the last campaign, that all this is based on, and two out of the 3 paid for it with their lives, Rolltun, the 'avatar' of Gruumsh/Lytana, who lives in the Bastion of Light a little over 1000 miles away, is the only living creature to have entered Zain's island. 

Many attempts have been made to reclaim the negative energy crystal, all have failed. Just getting to Zain's Island is an incredibly difficult task. Airships and planes can't make it because of the anti-magic zone, and only the mightiest flying creatures can brave the extreme weather of the Maelstrom, the average gryphon, hippogriph, and even adult dragon  stands no chance against the hurricane force winds. For now, Zain's Island remains impervious... and his power continues to grow.

Now that we have spoken of Zain and the Negative Energy crystal, let us move on to Rolltun and the Positive Energy crystal. Rolltun is the last surviving player of the old game, and he is the hero of the elves, he holds the memories of Gruumsh before he became the god of the orcs, (He was an elf who fell from grace.) and is one of the mightiest beings on Artheria. He resides in The Bastion of Light, which hovers high above the Elf Lands, and houses the Positive Energy Crystal, which the elves have had control of on Artheria for eons. (This is the reason elves in my world live for thousands of years and all have the timeless body trait.)

Rolltun tends to stay in this area, protecting the preserved bodies of his friends, hoping to free their souls from Zain, and guarding the Positive Energy crystal. This general area, where Rolltun and the elves live, (Called the Noldrin Lihand on the map, or Floating Country in the common tongue.) is one of the most safest areas in the skyrealm. 

(The Bastion of Light, and some of the Noldrin Lihand.)

This area is made up of dozens of floating islands, several with permanent portals to various planes, some relatively safe, like the elemental plane of water, and others not at all, like Pandemonium. The elves, lyntanan orcs, and pegasus centaur that live in this area are constantly sending help to the surface, which is in much worse shape.

As far as the economy of the Noldrin Lihand, it is in large part based on exporting the freshest water in the sky realm, (the floating island with the twin waterfalls on the right side of the map.) and very well made goods of Elven and Orcish make. Getting to the 'Floating Country' is a bit more difficult, as it is mostly cut off from the rest of the world by the anti-magic zone, going around it is a very long process requiring you to fly around Grendar and the goblin government.

Which will move us on to Grendar. This land was once a gnome town called Gnomeweizen, (Like a Hefeweizen but Gnomish.) and was the starting point of the original campaign. The players failed horribly in protecting it from the goblins, and goblin army (Led by Darren Flamehair and Zain) conquered the town, and took control of the extensive underground ruins underneath. During the reckoning, the land started to shake, and Zain used his immense magical power to partially control the gravitational fluctuations to pull an absolutely massive hunk out of the ground, this continent was a full 40% of the old country of Mangderithon, (Where Contrador is located currently) from the earth, complete with many sets of ancient ruins and several smaller towns. This gave the goblins an enormous, isolated area to develop over time, and from here, Goblins developed their own magi-tek from the gnomish ruins, and built their massive 'trade fleet.' Which is the strongest air force on Artheria. Grendar is the largest, and most populated floating continent, housing over 700,000 creatures, the vast majority of that population goblin.  

While the main continent itself is generally off limits to non-goblins, (merchants are the one exception to this rule, though there are many taxes levied specifically against outsiders, making it difficult to make a living trading with them.) connected by a massive bridge to the main continent is a smaller island that houses the Golden Mushroom Resort and Casino. (Yes, I'm pretty much ripping off Final Fantasy VII, I'll admit that.)

(Come! Spend your money!)

The Golden Mushroom Resort and Casino is truly neutral ground. It is partially owned by Zain, and he and Griff are occasionally seen here socializing and gambling. The massive magi-tek resort has all sorts of attractions, traditional gambling, (slot machines and cards) gladitorial arenas, race tracks for all manner of racing, from dogs and horses to planes and airships, cuisine from every corner of the planes, bars, roller coasters, strip clubs, prostitution, (I hope you like goblins...) all manner of recreational drugs, you name it, it is here on this absolutely massive golden colored oddly shaped building. All are welcome here, as long as you have money.

Which brings us to the primary competition of the goblins, the Darithian Federation. This is the 2nd largest floating continent, and it was once the 2nd largest city in all of Mangderithon, and it was called Darith's Bay. It was torn from Mangderithon just like the goblin home was, though unlike Grendar, it didn't have an incredibly powerful wizard assisting anything. Half the city was destroyed in the reckoning, falling into the underdark as this half floated into the sky. The survivors, finding themselves now floating 40,000 feet above the ground, had to get inventive in order to survive. Luckily for them, 20% of the towns over 500,000 people are gnomes, and the technology and innovation of the gnomish magi-tek engineers have kept the people here thriving and successful for the last 1000 years. (The population is roughly 100,000 gnomes, 200,000 halflings, and 200,000 humans) Over the years, the need for more room as forced the townsfolk to chain in two nearby floating islands. One island just so happened to be incredibly mountainous, and had many natural caverns, this island is the source of the Federation's wealth, as they mine all kinds of precious metals and gems from the floating mountains. While Grendar and the Darithian Federation aren't officially at war, skirmishes and piracy abound between the two forces, any official military ships never fire on each other, but unmarked vessels are fair game.

(The Darithian Federation is a bustling floating city.)

This brings us to the last two entries, the Sindarin Crag, and the Floating Glaciers. The Sindarin Crag is the highest floating island on the planet, the highest peaks actually exit the atmosphere and exist in the vacuum of space. There are a few castles and keeps that dot the mountains, no one knows who or what lives there, very few creatures can make it to this island, as it exists in the anti-magic zone.

The floating glaciers are exact;y as they sound... glaciers that float in the sky. There are more of them forming over time. Sometimes a glacier just rips out of the frozen wastes, sometimes snow and ice just coalesce into solid orbs and float in the sky. White dragons, frost elves, frost giants, ice elementals, and all manner of other life attempts to scratch out a living in the cold harsh environment. While there are some small settlements that trade, most creatures hunt, pillage, and grow exceptionally hardy plants in ice caves though for survival.

That concludes the general situation in the skyrealm. I look forward to airship navies battling it out.



“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”

― Friedrich Nietzsche

Welcome to Artheria. (I like swords.) Welcome to Artheria. (I like swords.) Welcome to Artheria. (I like swords.)

(If you don't get the title, spend some time at 8-bit theater, a truly wonderful old nerdy tale.)

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.)

(The surface world of Entrar)

1000 years ago, the make up of this world was nothing like this. The Reckoning changed the landscape in many ways. (World of Ruin inspiration, Final Fantasy 6 again. I played that game a lot as a child.) The world is now effectively split into 7 areas.

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.

(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.

(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.

(Darkenxithantilous, defender of the desert.)

   And thus concludes our brief tour of the surface of Artheria. My current primary game takes place on Mangderithon, mostly in and around Contrador. I will continue adding more info as I have the time. Thanks for reading!

"Still around the corner there may wait, a new road or secret gate." J.R.R. Tolkien.

Artheria at a glance...

Welcome to Artheria, land of darkness, mystery, and epic powers.

Artheria is a world I made about 8 years ago, and have ran 2 separate campaigns in it. It has well established characters, continents, kingdoms, and a rich history that has developed over a long period of time. (My former players are now epic level NPCs, who ideally will stop in every now and then.) This game takes place 1000 years after my last campaign. That game, the players went from level 1 to 14-15 before I moved away from San Diego, and I had a story line set up to take them into the 22-24 range. This game takes place under the story assumption that the players failed in stopping an epic cataclysm, called The Reckoning. 

The reckoning was an event in which an adamantine colossus rose from the desert sands of the continent of Entrar, a huge, 40 foot crystal flying into the sky behind the colossus. The creature was unstoppable, and systematically marched around the globe, activating 5 other crystals, fire, earth, water, negative, and positive energy. The creature destroyed many civilizations that stood in its path, the immortal elves suffering the most. 

After all 6 crystals were activated, the adamantine colossus marched to the center of the ocean, in an area called the maelstrom, and stood, a pattern of lights emitting from its form. The center became a perpetual cyclone... clouds began to spread over the globe, lightning storms abounded... continents were torn from the ocean floor and slammed into each other. large chunks of earths, from the bottom of the sea to the middle of cities, began floating into the sky. Parts of the world began having altered gravity, planar travel became both easier to perform but unstable, the underdark flooded with an onslaught of ocean... and from underneath the deserts of Entrar, an unknown power corrupted the Minotaur race, who had their largest labyrinth under those sands, and turned the race into a hugely more powerful, corrupt, cunning magical monstrosity. The minotaurs began to capture and twist the surrounding races, becoming a blight upon the underdark. The nearby fire giant tribes were captured, and bonded with a cursed, mind controlling, power enhancing armor. From there, the minotaurs influence spread to the surface...

Meanwhile, from beyond the stars, strange creatures began to arrive on Artheria. Creatures of paragon and psuedonatural origin arrived on the planet... crashing down encased in mysterious powerful ores. At the same time, planar rifts began to open around the planet, causing sometimes permanent connections between any number of planes, both inner and outer. 

Even more fearsome, throughout the entire star system, even on the sun itself, ancient seals, made by gods both known and unknown, were broken... and abominations, cast off god creations, were freed. 

All these epic powers began to battle for control of the 6 enormous crystals... 

1000 years later, every major race has had to adapt to survive... and not much of humanity is left. Every race is stronger than the standard versions, and almost all classes have been powered up as well. 

At a glance...

Humans are very adaptive, skillful individuals, who, while more often of mixed heritage than other worlds, are very similar to you and me. They gain more feats and skills than any other race, and they gain more traits at character creation, which shall be discussed later. Half-elves and half-orcs are a trait that can be rolled, and are not options at character creation.

Elves are natural hunters, and are offensive powerhouses. On Artheria, they are similar to Tolkien, living for thousands of years, having innate arcane power and ranger skills. All elves have favored enemy bonuses, track skills, and weapon skills of rangers, and elven rangers are exceptionally skillful. Elves can always cast in light armor, regardless of class. 

Dwarves are the toughest race on Artheria, having massive hit point bonuses and natural damage reduction (DR). Dwarven paladins and barbarians are exceptionally hardy. Dwarves are also fans of advanced engineering and black powder weapons, they even have their own magi-tek. (More on that later)

Halflings are the bravest race on Artheria. The innate fearlessness of the halfling folk has grown to new heights. Halflings are the number 1 caravan running race, facing the darkness of the land where no other races will. This has granted them resistance to the darkness, and a celebrity no other races have, especially among the non-corrupted monstrous humanoids.

Gnomes are the most eccentric, odd race on Artheria. The Reckoning has caused a great change in the gnome people, a good amount of them are genuinely insane or 'mad scientist' gnomes. They're tough, have stronger than normal arcane power, and the most unique trait tree of any race. 

Overall changes to general assumptions from standard DnD mythology:

All monstrous humanoids come in two varieties, corrupted and not corrupted. The corrupted varieties all have spell like abilities, and are significantly stronger and deadlier than standard variants. The non corrupt varieties are now more neutrally aligned, and alliances between human or halfling towns with goblins or orcs or goatfolk is not unheard of. 

In the underdark, the Drow are now more neutrally aligned as well, as they suffered very heavily the last 1000 years, and have now allied themselves with the dwarves for mutual survival. Duegar have succumbed to the darkness entirely, and are feared as invisible stalkers, striking from nowhere and hauling off their victims for horrible ritual. 

Races with planar blood or monstrous humanoid mingling are much more common than standard, this is a side product of the reckoning and the constant planar traffic of the last 1000 years. A full 20% of humanity is of some altered bloodline by this point.

All lycanthrobes, (except elven Lythari) are universally evil. No matter what the alignment listed in the monster manual, it is automatically changed to some evil. They are also stronger than listed in the book. 

The elf and orc pantheon has also been more intertwined, orcs being directly descended from elves. In my world, Gruumsh was once an elven god named Lytana, who was cast out for falling in love with a mortal. (This story was central to the game I mentioned above from several years ago) The birth of the orc race was on this planar world, and from here they branched out too the multi-verse. 

Artheria is a unique world, full of epic dangers, powerful, colorful characters, and surprises around every corner. I will go much more into detail on specifics at a later time, thanks for reading!

“Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring