Introduction to Eorin ([yoh-rin])
Eorin is a custom world I have created and then adapted so it can be used as a setting for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. While you will recognise much of the world's names and base information from the lore written for various official Dungeons & Dragons settings, such as races and gods, most if not all of it has been heavily modified and remade for this world.
The world of Eorin came about as the response to a question I kept asking myself: what would happen to a mundane world if it suddenly gained magic? This question grew out of problems I had with most fantasy worlds I came across, namely how magic existed throughout their entire history and universe and yet they managed to develop medieval-esque societies almost indistinguishable from our own. Somehow they had the same technology, societal structures, military tactics, architecture, morality, religious practices, etc. It was as if magic, which had threatened and saved all of the existence numerous times, hadn't had any effect on the details of the world at all. This just didn't make any sense to me.
So I built a world. A mundane world. A world without any great all-mighty beings. Without civilisations hundreds of thousands of years old yet still exactly the same as when they first formed. Without a race of nearly immortal tree-dwelling demi-gods. Without magic (mostly). I built a completely normal world, with races that all evolved from a common ancestor and a history that was quick and chaotic. And then I threw a fireball at it and watched what happened.
Inspiration
In creating Eorin I drew inspiration from many periods and regions, but with a focus on Europe from the 8th to 15th century. I want to balance the familiarity of this period with my own original material while trying to avoid popular misconceptions. Much of the world comes from taking parts of history and classic fantasy and remoulding it into something new.
Technology
Although it differs depending on culture, race, and area, the current technology level of Eorin is generally on par with Europe in the late 14th to early 15th century. Due to the introduction of magic to the world, and the destruction it wrought, technological progression stagnated for the two centuries leading up to the current date, though it is now starting to progress once again.
Genre (5e)
Eorin is at its core is a Medieval Historical Fantasy world at the point of transitioning from Low- to High-Magic, with different parts leaning towards either side. This version of the world uses magic and gods based on D&D 5e, but could be easily adapted for other systems if needed. It also has varying aspects of Sword & Sorcery, Post-Apocalyptic, and Grand Fantasy.
The Nightfall
The Nightfall is the signature event of this world, the figurative and literal fireball that I threw at it. It is because of the Nightfall that magic and monsters exist in the world and it has directly or indirectly affected every part of life and society. The cause of the Nightfall and the true nature of it is unknown, but something happened to the Veil, that sits between the planes and holds them apart, that weakened it and resulted in the formation of rifts. These rifts are temporary tears in the Veil through which raw magical energy, beings, and creatures from other planes can pass through into this mundane world. The magical energy that comes through these rifts acts like radiation in its raw form, burning what it directly touches and mutating living things over time and exposure, but can be harnessed and channeled by those who know how.
The Nightfall started over one day in the middle of winter, quickly growing until it seemed as though the sky itself was being torn asunder. The rifts spewed forth burning rocks, tongues of flames and heat, and untold monsters and horrors. This continued for several hours before subsiding over the following days, months, and years. In the current date, while the monsters and spark-like smaller rifts are still relatively commonplace, the large rifts of those first days are much rarer.
The Subcontinent of Eorin
Eorin itself is not the whole world, but a single subcontinent around two thousand miles across. A peninsula of fertile fields, hills, and woods jutting out from the vast Continent, the region is known by many names. Humans know it as Eorin, meaning 'of man' in old Tarleshe; the Fel call it Felarnakut, 'home of all folk'; to the Cerdaien it is Eislor, the 'new world'. It is seperated from the rest of the Continent - enclosed by the Gildur Mountains and Nuelvarn Desert to the west, the Arau Mountains to the north, and the Iolas Ocean to the east and south. Most of the stories and worldbuilding on this site take place within only Eorin itself. While other lands and civilisations exist outside of Eorin and do influence and interact with it, I decided very early on that rather than building an entire globe and then trying to fill all of it with all sorts of varied and different things, I would instead limit myself to just this region. The rest of the world it is just a rough outline and small details of what's going on across the oceans. By focusing on just Eorin I am hoping that I can build the world deeper rather than wider.
Magic
The world of Eorin was created first and then adapted for Dungeons & Dragons meaning that while it uses the standard magic system of Dungeons & Dragons, where magic is the manipulation of the Weave, it comes with a slightly different aesthetic. The Weave (or the Veil) is the barrier between the planes which, due to it being weakened during the Nightfall, mages can connect to and shape to perform magic. Magic is split into two types: divine magic, which is bestowed on the wielder by the gods and other magical beings or spirits; and arcane magic, which is achieved through the study of the Veil and how to connect with it. Divine magic is as old as time itself, though it was far weaker and rarer before the Nightfall with users only appearing once every few generations, while arcane magic is a fledgling art that is only possible due to the weakened condition of the Veil.
Races
While they take inspiration and origins from the races of classical fantasy, the races of this world do not share much more than a few general physical traits with their original versions. No longer will you find magical elves living to be centuries old, dwarves carved from stone and brought to life by their god, or barbaric and simple-minded orcs devoid of compassion. Instead, all the known humanoid races have evolved from the same ancient ancestor and adapted to the environments they found themselves in, and as such you will find more similarities between them than differences. This also means that all of the races can procreate with each other, though most of mixed heritage are found to be infertile.
Though the Dwarves and Halflings are the only ones truly native to the sub-continent of Eorin, you will find all of the races there. Eorin is caught at the border of both elven and human territory and their histories and conflicts have brought in folk from far and wide, many of which now call Eorin home. Beyond the mundane races, there are three more known in the world: Tieflings, also known as the Dirala or the Blighted - those mutated before birth by the raw magic that leaks out of the rifts and have a natural connection to the Veil; Dragonborn, - a race created through magical experimentation on unborn dragon eggs and now trying to find their place in the world; Aarakocra - a race of bird people who came through the rifts only to find themselves unable to return to their home plane.
The World
Eorin exists on a planet slightly smaller than ours, with similar geographic makeup and biome distribution. It orbits around a main sequence star just as Earth does, and is itself orbited by two moons - Pren, the dark moon, and Sela, the light moon. Six other planets are visible in the night sky with the naked eye. There are six main continents, though the sub-continent of Eorin often being counted as a seventh, with a myriad of large and small islands around them. Most of the world's civilisations are found around the Iolas Ocean, which sits in the middle of all the continents and links them. Due to it's size and the wind directions most routes directly across the ocean are near impossible with the current naval technology. The world experiences a longer year than Earth at five-hundred and fifty-days, which is divided into sixteen months that follow the lunar-cycle of Sela. The seasons follow a similar cycle as ours, though with variations in different locations. The planets slightly elliptical orbit around its sun causes the world to experience a century-long period of cooling once every six-hundred years.
The Planes
The Material Plane is one of many planes - different astral realms that occupy the same physical space but are held apart by the Veil. Helmdiel itself follows our normal laws of physics and has practically no raw magical energy, but this is not true for all planes. Due to the lack of structure and rules between the planes, any of the various planes and worlds from official and non-official Dungeons & Dragons settings can be said to exist and added.
The Gods
The gods are ethereal beings, many as old as the plane itself, who are as unpredictable and diverse as those who worship them. Throughout history they have tended to not interfere with matters of mortals, only rarely influencing events through their chosen, the aasimar. This has changed recently as the Nightfall has increased their powers tenfold, leading to the gods interfering with events much more.
the night fall explanation is interesting, it adds meat on the lore. as for the moons, are their positioning affecting things like sea levels, or magical rifts. Maybe cultists gather wthen both moons align. A nice read!