The World of Aedeva
NOTE: if you have any questions at all or need clarification, don't hesitate to ask :)
Aedeva is a High Magic setting, with gods that walk physically upon the earth, if you believe the stories. Ruins of ancient empires are scattered throughout the land, housing long-forgotten magics and objects of power. Political intrigue is as complex and nuanced as the people embroiled in it. And magic is highly regulated in most lands.
If you think of Pathfinder or D&D, but a bit more grounded and a stronger attempt at verisimilitude, with heavy influence from Wheel of Time and Stormlight Archives, you will be pretty close.
Places
Cirethian Empire (Cireth): mostly humans. Composed of 7 duchies whose dukes and duchesses are divinely appointed by the sun god, Cir, who rules from the centran duchy. The dukes/duchesses are also high priests of Cir himself. Basically, each duke/duchess is a pope and their god lives in the center of the empire.
Lelalen: where the campaign is centered so far. The northern most duchy, ruled by Duchess Laila "The Hammer" Boulderdown. The northern end is like jungle vikings, with forests of centaurs and similar creatures constantly revolting.
Melavik: where Cir lives. Extreme law enforcement by magic and sword, and a high presence of Lawbringers, brutal monk-paladins of Cir who lean toward overkill. Melavik is eternally desert due to proximity to Cir.
Erholthrond: essentially the outer border of Melavik, it is mostly desert and ruled by the elf Elurir the White. Constantly skirmishing the other adjacent duchies trying to expand borders.
Softor: the western most duchy, ruled by Duke Gregory Drake the Beautiful. This duchy is basically the wild west, with scattered, isolated, rough-and-tumble towns used to fighting off monsters.
Mosskland: the eastern costal region, mostly swamps, ruled by. Mosskland is basically the everglades with a bunch of hillbillies and some surprisingly peaceful towns.
Bosme: a tiny peninsula-duchy dedicated to the Holy Library of Cireth, a collection of sacred and secret tomes that the Cirethian clergy keep safe. Nobody knows who rules Bosme, but they rule from within the library.
Nenesvi: the southern costal region of Cireth, predominantly a super-desert. Think Sahara Desert on steroids. It is ruled from the capital, which is built within a massive, divinely created oasis, by Corin Brassmind.
Vebedevia: an independent nation devoted to freedom of knowledge and magic, it is ruled indirectly by the godess Anglea, godess of magic and knowledge through her Librarians and the Merchant Council.
Smellyevets: the birthplace of the gnomes, Smellyevets is a massive swampland with mountains that slowly swim among the bogs, surrounded by whirlpools. Gnomes live in the mountains, from which they supposedly were spawned.
Chedonc: once home to a sprawling empire, the empire fell when overrun by goblins under command of the Goblin King. Now, it is a goblin infested land home to isolated, scattered communities fighting for survival.
Graffenbach Wastes: think Mad Max + Orks from Warhammer 40k. Mostly orcs, gnolls, and similar humanoid monsters live here, but orcs are technically Mortal (more on that below).
Agruk: the dwarven homeland. They build fortresses in the mountains, surviving on alcohol and bouts of mad-brilliance.
The Union: wild-west themed city-land-bridge founded when two crime families signed a peace treaty. It is the home of the International Aquisitions Guild, colloquially called Snatchers, who travel the world kidnapping people for the elven slave trade.
Union Isles: islands vaguely ruled by the Union, they are a hard people, constantly caught in the crossfire of the war between the elves and the orcs.
Union Protectorate: more islands vaguely ruled by the union. This is basically the one-piece setting. Pirates and strange waters about. Every night, the tides go so far out that you can walk from island to island, if you're fast enough.
Alastia: home of the "low elves", who use slave labor to mine precious metals and gems and perform other labor. Slaves are mind controlled into submissiveness, a "necessary measure" when working with goblins, orcs, and other violent species in this manner. Think industrial England but also mass-producing slaves. Not all elves participate in the slave trade, and there are many abolitionists.
Alaria: home of the "high elves". Where the low elves use slaves for mass production, the high elves seek out exotic slaves as status symbols. If Alastia is the factories of industrial England, Alaria is the king's court in the middle ages. Courtly intrigue abounds, as do house-politics. Here, most slaves are thoroughly mind controlled into perfect servants. There are powerful houses who object, and even outright resist the slave trade.
The White Forest: home of the mysterious halflings, who rarely leave their forest. Halflings have a fearsome reputation for ferocity in battle due to their ability to channel their god's power into a battle trance that turns their eyes stark white. Usually, one halfling is enough to deter bandits from attacking a caravan.
Magic
Magic is pervasive in Aedeva, but it is more of an art than a science. Mages who live long enough to have grey hair are highly respected by the wise.
To learn magic in Aedeva, it is recommended to join an organization that teaches it. Such organizations are not fond of mages who aren't in an organization, in much the same way the US government isn't fond of people who collect nuclear material without their permission.
There are four main genres of magic:
Divine: magic gifted by the gods in exchange for devotion to their precepts. The most reliable kind of magic, extremely powerful within the deity's niche of power. As long as you don't make them mad...
Arcane: learned through intense study, arcane magic is extremely difficult, but is the most versatile and nearly the most powerful form of magic in existence. Nearly anything is possible with arcane magic, if you don't blow yourself up in the process...
Primal: the magic of altering and protecting nature's balance, primal magic is relatively easy to use, but is extremely niche and must be carefully balanced against itself. It functions in dichotomies that, if left unbalanced, could cause natural disasters.
Psionic: the inner power of your mind and soul, psionic magic is exceedingly rare. It is extremely niche, as it mirrors the essence of the person performing it, but it is uniquely effective at affecting the minds and hearts of people, if you don't burn yourself out in the process.
Occult: a catch-all term for magic that mimics one of the above by means of a pact with a powerful entity. Occult magic requires almost no study, but your patron must be appeased. Fail to appease them, and you might start missing time, waking up in strange locations in the midst of strange rituals. Or worse... Occult magic is dark, often evil, and is frowned upon in most societies.
Religion
The main religion of Aedeva is the Council of Stars, led by Cir. Nearly everyone on the continent at least pays homage to one or more of the Council.
Council of Stars: 9 deities, each of which is one of the constellations in the sky.
Cir: the Sun. He rules the Cirethian Empire from his great temple in Melavik. He hates lawbreakers and arcane magic, and is served by a host of fervent, zealous clergy who burn heretics and shine violent light on darkness.
Tiln: the Watcher of Ways. Tiln's current location is unknown. She watches over travelers and is served by a smattering of wandering priests who tend to roads, and assist travelers on their journeys. They also tend to be amazing craftsmen.
Bolgarung: the Great Bear and Father of Halflings. It is said that Bolgarung lives in the White Forest, where his children, the halflings, live their mysterious lives.
Anglea: the Secret Mind. Anglea lives in Vebedevia at her Great Library, and is said to have founded it originally as a research institute. Instead of a priesthood she has Librarians.
Octag: the Eternal Assault. Octag is the god of the orcs. He hates anything that restricts freedom, especially elves, and loves the ocean and violence. The closest thing he has to priests are the pairs of shamans and chieftans of the orc tribes of the coast. It's said he rides the kraken.
Mekshtiss: the Emerald Brand. Mekshtiss loves outcasts, thieves, and mystery. Her temples are labyrinthine magical mazes, and her priests deal in intrigue and mystery.
Gwynn-Morrow: the Ever Changing Stream. Gwynn-Morrow values change and the seasons and hates stagnation. The priesthood is very focused on promoting growth in their local community, and taking care of flowing water.
Ilgradnis: the Fell. The Weaver of Fates, Ilgradness hates tyranny and loves underdogs and forests. Her priesthood manages secret groves deep in lost forests, but has little in the way of organization. Periodically, she raises champions to overturn tyrannies.
Brumil and Makil: the Emberhearth. The Twins are jointly god of the dwarves. Brumil loves hearths, community, and safety; Makil loves hammers, madness, and craftsmanship. Two sides of the same coin. Their priesthood is deeply entwined in dwarven culture.
Some other minor religions include:
Elgvorn: god of tea and polite society.
Hall of the Ancestors: the religion of The Clan. Instead of serving gods, they live excitings so they can share their stories in the great feast hall of their ancestors. Those with the best stories get the best seats.
Making Your Character
Mortals
Mortals are sentient creatures imbued with free will, that is, the ability to act against their nature. This is called Humanity. Non-mortals are not playable without a significant reason, as they don't have enough free will to be anything but an NPC.
Humans: the children of Aedeva, humans were once the only Mortal species. They are the true natives of Aedeva, though nobody knows exactly how they originated. Their wills are notoriously difficult to control, even with magic, and they are immune to magical summons and calls.
Cultural Impact: some folks see them as invasive or lesser species, but everybody is used to humans being around.
Elves: in ages long past, when the dragons ruled the world, they took on certain fae as assistants who would live long enough to be of use. Over time, Humanity leeched into these fae from Aedeva, making them into what they are now. Elves are immortal proportionally to their proximity to their homeland, but always live at least a couple centuries.
Cultural Impact: most other species are either suspicious or downright hateful toward elves due to the well-known elven slave trade. In the best of scenarios, their long lives make them outcasts among other mortals, setting them apart by default.
Dwarves: one of the younger mortal species, dwarves were formed when a particularly stubborn boulder tried to crush a particularly stubborn human within an underground lake of alcohol. The result was a short, stocky man of stone. The first dwarf. To this day, dwarves' skin has the texture and strength of stone. It is said that the original dwarves reproduced by carving each other from the raw stone, but these days they use the normal methods.
Cultural Impact: dwarves are not quite so common as humans, but it is common for them to integrate into other cultures. They often become a core member of those communities due to their obsessively high skill level in their chosen craft. Unfortunately, non-dwarves are not as understanding about the dwarven bouts of madness.
Halflings: it is thought that halflings were formed by the god Bolgarung from the body of a young man and the soul of a bear. They have a tribal society based around mounted warfare. Their mounts are exotic animals from within their home, the White Forest, and each tribe channels the ferocity of their mount's totem via a battle trance granted to them by Bolgarung.
Cultural Impact: halflings are exceedingly rare outside the White Forest, but they are reknowned for their battle prowess. Bandits almost never attack a caravan with even one halfling, and folk tales about halfling ferocity in combat abound in all societies. This leads to a mixture of reverence and mistrust from many.
Gnomes: the first gnomes were faeries who dug so far down that they got lost. They wandered for centuries trying to find their way home until eventually they came out into the caves of Smellyevets' mountains. By then, the Mortality of Aedeva had rubbed off on them. Now their search for their homeland has faded into The Itch: a compulsion to explore, innovate, and discover that, if neglected for too long, drains their color, and eventually their life.
Cultural Impact: gnomes are odd in every culture. There are very few of them, and The Itch tends to make them odd even to each other. Most communities will welcome a gnome, but not without superstition.
Orcs: seen by most mortals as brutal savages, most orcs would agree. For them, savagery is just the way of the world. Native to the Graffenbach Wastes, they were granted Mortality by Octag so he could make an army to begin The Eternal Assault on the elven homeland.
Cultural Impact: most mortals' interactions with orcs are limited to being raided. Some orcs do manage to integrate into other societies, but they have trouble finding work outside warfare and other brutish professions due to their reputation as brutal warriors, and very few common folk will trust an orc. Their fearsome appearance doesn't help.
Goblins: goblins are not technically Mortals, but monsters. However, when the the godess Tiln saw the way that the elves were farming goblins to use them in mass-produced manual labor, she pittied them. Goblins whose ferocity is tamed out of them by elven mind control, and who are subsequently freed from that mind control, gain Mortality until they enter the cocooning phase of their life. During this time, they are fully Mortal, but their love of fire and hate of written words remains.
Cultural Impact: most cultures loathe goblins, as goblins love causing pain and suffering. The few goblins who manage to integrate into other mortal societies suffer great prejudice due to their kindred's actions, so most become mercenaries or other warriors. Most Mortal goblins congregate in their own communities, however, building a unique culture in the eastern half of Chedonc.
Qat'rii: the youngest of Mortal kind, the Qat'rii were originally the result of a wizard's experiment to grant sentience to his cats. He succeeded in granting sentience, but not Humanity. The result was that his former pet killed him and began infusing more cats with this sentience. Eventually, the Council of Stars intervened and granted them Humanity, making them Mortals. Some refused, becoming what are now known as sphynxes. The rest became the Qat'rii.
Cultural Impact: qat'rii are seen by most societies in a similar light to humans. However, their mischevious nature and predatorial instincts make them tend toward lives of crime and skullduggery. Their god, Mekshtiss, does not help with this image.
Varaan: mischevious tricksters of the northern forests of Lelalen, the Varaan were semi-sentient animals who were blessed with Mortality by the godess Ilgradnis. There are three branches of Varaan, whose ancestors impressed Ilgradins in different ways. The monkey (Matookan) by slaying a tyrant as a prank on her champion; the fox (Foleran) by helping her to find the champion; and the elephant (Masgan) by learning to comprehend her search for a champion.
Cultural Impact: much like the qat'rii, the Varaan are seen by most cultures as humans with strange, sometimes distasteful, quirks. Varaan are guaranteed to draw attention wherever they go, but most learn to blend into their local culture, or use the fact that they stand out to their advantage.
Class
Each class has the following:
Primary Weapon Group
Backup Weapon Group
Training Regimen
3 Class Abilities
2 Starting Proficiencies
As you level up, you gain Abilities that let you become more versatile or a particular craft.
Class summaries are below. Decide which ones intrigue you and your GM will give you more details (because I haven't written them all out yet). NOTE: you will notice that there are no "caster" classes. Spellcasting is not part of a class. If you want to cast spells, you will need to join an in-game organization. If this interests you, ask your GM for details.
Barbarian: have Supertough points that give bonuses to brute strength. Activate Fury to gain even more Supertough, but be careful not to lose control...
Swashbuckler: gain Panache by doing fancy maneuvers in combat, then use it to finish targets off or do even fancier maneuvers.
Martial Artist: put Combo Points on enemies, then spend it to activate special moves.
Wilder: channel Breaths of the Wild to enter stances that let you channel the power of nature. Just be careful to keep Predator and Prey breaths balanced...
Paladin: channel divine Radiance to smite enemies and heal and protect allies. Just don't channel too much, lest it burn you away.
Warrior: unmatched prowess with weapons. Gain a repertoire of Signature Moves you use to destroy your opponents.
Rogue: take advantage of your opponent's weaknesses. Also cause them. Also be sneaky probably.
Alchemist: haphazardly throw chemicals together to make bombs or totally-safe potions.
