Arcasia
Pronunciation: Ar-KAY-zhah (Arcasia)
(Also known historically as “Arcalith” in ancient texts.)
Arcasia is a world shaped by cycles of wonder and calamity, where civilizations rise, shatter, and rise again upon the ruins of ages past. It is a land of two moons, shifting empires, mythical peoples, drowned kingdoms, and magic that ebbs and floods like the tides.
Across its five known continents—each scarred or blessed by past Ages—heroes are forged not by destiny, but by the pressures of a world still healing.
Ancient powers stir beneath the waves. Storms churn with forgotten magic. Nations struggle to define themselves in a time after empire. Every road leads toward mystery, conflict, and choices that matter.
This is Arcasia: a world on the cusp of its next Age.
ARCASIA — PLAYER PRIMER
The World at a Glance
Arcasia is vast and diverse: frozen Auborea in the north, the fertile and politically tangled Eastern Continent (Faenas, Dwellomel, Zareem), and the wild, storm-lashed Western Continent of Westbroon and Tilçanhu. Beneath the waves lies Chelonia, a drowned golden-age continent that rises once every 3,000 years, drawing treasure-seekers and war fleets alike .
The Moons
Two moons rule the sky and the flow of magic:
- Selunvar, the Elder Moon—stable, silver, cyclical, foundation of the 360-day calendar .
- Thalune, the Trickster—fast, luminous, unpredictable, stirring chaos and inspiration.
Their rare alignments shape prophecy, ritual, and supernatural phenomena.
Magic
Magic in Arcasia flows from three Wells:
- Selunvaric (prophecy, healing, tides),
- Thalunic (emotion, illusion, change),
- Pearlescent (deep-ocean power radiating from the Great Pearl of Chelonia).
Together they form a Lunar Web that touches every culture and conflict .
People and Cultures
Arcasia holds many ancestries, each with ancient roots and shifting homelands :
- Humans, Halflings, Katari and other Free Peoples dominate Faenas and Westbroon.
- Dwarves of Dwellomel carve fortress-holds into mountain stone.
- Nomadic tribes of Auborea and Zareem cross ice and desert under starlit skies.
- Tilçanhu hosts jungle kingdoms older than recorded history.
- Clanks, relic constructs of Chelonia, still wander the world seeking purpose .
- Merfolk guard the secrets of the drowned continent and the Pearl that sustains their magic .
- Wolfen, often mistrusted, live across many lands—some tied to the disciplined Kurai of Sukoku, others living as forest clans or wanderers .
The Kurai
Once elite imperial protectors, the Kurai judged the First Empire weak and attempted a coup. Defeated, they were exiled to their island of Sukoku. Now they stand as a disciplined, martial society of oaths, honor, and silence, feared and respected in equal measure .
Religion & Myth
The pantheon is divided into:
- Lunar Gods (Aruven & Caleth),
- The Core Six (storm, harvest, death, war, art, secrets),
- The Cast-Down Three, ancient evils imprisoned after attempting to unmake creation .
Religious orders—such as the Lunar Synod, Tidemother’s Cloister, Verdant Circle, and Order of the Stalwart Star—shape law, culture, oaths, and regional politics .
A World of Ages
Across five great Ages, Arcasia has seen:
- The shaping of the world and awakening of the first peoples.
- The rise and drowning of Chelonia.
- The First Empire’s golden age, its decline, and its fall.
- The exile of the Kurai.
- The current Fifth Age—an era of fractured powers, resurfacing mysteries, and long-forgotten forces stirring once more .
What This Means for Your Characters
You adventure in a world where:
- Magic depends on the moons.
- Ancient ruins and resurfacing continents hold secrets from before history.
- Political alliances are fragile, and old grudges run deep.
- Every culture has expectations, prejudices, and myths your character may challenge—or embody.
This world is full of shifting power, rising threats, and opportunities for heroes bold enough to seize them.
Themes of the World
Arcasia thrives on adventure hooks and dramatic tensions, all perfect for Daggerheart:
- Ancient ruins waiting to be unsealed
- Nations struggling to forge new identities
- Old grudges between wolfen, merfolk, dwarves, and empires
- Magic returning in unpredictable ways
- The drowned secrets of Chelonia rising again
- Explorers, mercenaries, scholars, and wanderers carving their own place in history
The world is vast, dangerous, and brimming with opportunity. Your heroes help decide which Age Arcasia will become.
The Continents of Arcasia
Arcasia’s landmasses echo the scars and triumphs of its history:
Faenas — The Western Continent
A land reborn from the fall of the First Empire. Kingdoms of the Free Peoples now stand beside remnants of imperial glory. The exiled Kurai Shogunate occupies their ancestral island of Sukoku, watching the mainland from across the waves.
The Eastern Continent
A realm of dramatic contrasts:
• Westbroon in the north—plains, swamps, deserts, and frontier kingdoms.
• Tilçanhu in the south—towering jungles, ancient temples, crystal archipelagos, and vibrant living magic.
The Sunken Continent of Chelonia
Once the pinnacle of ancient civilization. Now drowned.
Below the waves survive the Merfolk of Chelonia, guardians of the Great Pearl, a source of arcane power coveted and feared across the world. The Chelonian Atolls rise only once a year, invoking awe—and danger.
Dwellomel
The mountainous domain of the dwarves, tunnel networks older than recorded history, and hidden forges that channel the strength of the earth.
Auborea and the Far North
Land of roaming clans, giant-kin, frozen reaches, and primordial spirits. Zareem’s nomadic tribes wander the shifting golden seas of desert and steppe, shaped by harsh winds and long memory.
Arcasia has 1 Followers
Peoples of Arcasia
Arcasia is home to a vibrant spread of ancestries, each with deep roots and histories:
• Wolfen — Rare, lupine folk, often shunned yet found in all corners of the world.
• Merfolk of Chelonia — Amphibious heirs of a sunken golden age.
• Clanks — Constructed beings whose first designs emerged in Chelonia’s twilight era.
• Dwarves — Stonebound artisans of Dwellomel.
• Giants — Enduring titans of the northern wastes.
• Galapa — Tortoise-folk of the Chelonian Atolls.
• Kurai — Wolfen-descended warrior culture exiled to Sukoku.
• Free Peoples of Faenas — Kingdoms and city-states rising from the ashes of empire.
• Nomads of Zareem & Auborea — Wandering clans shaped by storms, spirits, and shifting sands.
• The Hidden Realms of Tilçanhu — Jungle kingdoms steeped in ancient, living magic.
Campaigns
The Five Ages
Arcasia’s history is marked by five great Ages, each defined by triumph or disaster:
- The Age of Dawn — Creation, the first peoples, and the shaping of the moons.
- The Age of War — A divine conflict that cast down the Evil Gods into the earth and sea.
- The Age of Chelonia — A golden age of invention, ending in hubris and a cataclysmic sinking.
- The Age of Empire — Rise and fall of the First Empire, its coup by the Kurai, and the eventual shattering into Free Peoples.
- The Age of Renewal (Current) — A fractured world rebuilding, rediscovering ancient magics, and confronting dangers long buried.