You live on the temperate continent of ADATH. Thirty years ago, there was a great war, now called THE SHATTERING, that inflicted a great wound on the Western Coast.
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The Sun Elves of AURULAN became prideful, considering themselves above all other races, even other elves, because they had won the favor of a new god they referred to only as RADIANCE. Home to three major gods, worshipping Radiance was considered blasphemous, and it became clear that the Radiance had malevolent intentions for the rest of the continent. Unifying for the first time in the history of the continent, all of Adath contributed to a device called the CATACLYST and detonated it, destroying the Radiance and an enormous portion of the West Coast. Though the remnants of Aurulan, now called The Shattered Isles, have been mapped from a ship, none who have attempted to explore them have returned. The surrounding lands are poisoned and cursed, and anything left living has nothing but hate left inside it.
THE SHATTERING affected the peoples of Westwall and Lumilran the most, with Westwall losing many soldiers and Lumilran losing a majority of their land to the Southern Sorrow, the lingering effect of the Cataclyst. Least affected are the people of Eastgate, which is rumored among some to have only lent aid as soon as it became clear the Radiance wanted nothing to do with them. Eastgate of course denies this, citing that as the city furthest away from the conflict, there was no easy way for them to transport troops, which is technically true. The politics of the matter remains shrouded in secrecy.
As a resident of Adath, you know there are three main gods who watch over the lands, though each race has their own personal gods as well.
- WORMGRUM: A dark god of chaos and entropy. Wormgrum is often worshipped by nihilists and those who reject authority. Wormgrum rarely responds to prayers, but those who are dedicated worshippers often offer it live sacrifices. There are no formal places of worship. Wormgrum is represented most commonly by a coiled white worm on a black background.
- GLOAM: A subtle god of neutrality and stability, Gloam is often associated with healing and the natural world. Gloam responds to those who live lives devoted to maintaining balance in the world, and has temples in all major cities. Even small villages often have a small shrine to Gloam, who prefers practical, productive deeds to physical offerings. Gloam is represented most often as a white line on a grey background.
- TERRUNDI: A powerful goddess of order and magic. Terrundi values those who seek to control power and mold it to their will. Those who worship Terrundi appreciate the law and are never satisfied, always seeking betterment of not only themselves, but the world around them. Offerings to Terrundi are often those of wealth or valuable magical artifacts. Most major cities have a temple for Terrundi, though they are often exclusive and require paid membership. Terrundi is most commonly represented by a black circle on a stark white background.
Having lived on Adath your whole life, you’re familiar with most of the landmarks and major cities.
THE SHATTERED ISLES, nestled in the SHATTERED STRAIT are the grey, smoldering remains of Aurulan. There was once a vast, beautiful (the Sun elves once bragged that it was the MOST beautiful, and they weren’t wrong to think so) forest dominating the western coast, and now there is nothing but ash and sorrow.
Dominating the West Coast is the NORTHERN SORROW and SOUTHERN SORROW, as well as the COLOSSAL DESERT which has been partially consumed by the NORTHERN SORROW. In between them both is an area called THE WOUND, the land just as poisoned as the SORROW’s but stained a strange red that is still being studied. The Cataclyst was detonated in the area of the Wound that is now under water.
Shielding much of the continent from the violent effect of the Cataclyst are the BARRIER MOUNTAINS, which house both the currently collapsed Nighthold Gate, a passage to the Underdark, and the human city of WESTWALL, which did most of the legwork in the war. Westwall is populated predominantly by humans, dwarves and gnomes, and its population took an enormous hit during the war since they were the closest to the conflict with the Sun Elves. Westwall is ruled by the human King IVAN COVENANT, who lost all but his youngest daughter to the war.
South of the Barrier Mountains is the Moon Elf city of LUNILRAN, named after their great tree city. Lunilran is nestled in an area of deciduous forest and has a port. It once held claim to a much larger area of land, but over half of it was consumed by the Cataclyst. They are the ones who named the Sorrows, as they as a people feel a great sorrow for all that they lost. It has been difficult for them to rebuild, and they bear some ill-will toward Westwall for using the Cataclyst, which they vehemently opposed even though they had no other solution. The Moon Elf Queen of Lunilran is TARATHIEL GALYDRUUTH.
In the forests directly East of the Barrier Mountains is SILVARAN, the name of the Wood Elf tree city. Their lands are nestled in a coniferous forest that extends in BLACKWOOD FOREST on the other side of the BLACK RIVER, but does not entirely encompass it. Such land is considered sacred and wild, belonging to no one but the Fey, who are rumored to guard over the ORACLE POOLS. The Wood Elves have strained relations with everyone around them, having become reclusive after the war, and often require non-elf travellers to go around their lands. They have escalating tension with THREE RIVERS and SOUTHPORT, who both frequently require use of the Black River for shipping goods. The Wood Elf King of Silvaran is KHIRRAL OLYGWN. The current human ruler of Southport is QUEEN DOLOR MAAB.
THREE RIVERS is the only free city in Adath, so called because there is no king who rules it, only an elected Mayor. The city, unlike the others, was not founded by any particular group but formed up out of frequent encampments and riverboats making stops on the natural island positioned at the meeting of all three major rivers. Aristocracy, royalty and rank mean very little in Three Rivers - if you have the money, you can access pretty much anything. Not that there isn’t an upper crust, but you can become a member of it with the right amount of coin, no birthright required. The current Mayor of Three Rivers is a human named SAUL GOODMAN.
Up to the North, near the source of the STONE RIVER, are the massive gates to DWARFHOLME, a sprawling settlement that is both above and below ground. The dwarves were a vital part of building the Cataclyst as they were the ones with access to the special ore that powered it called HEARTORE, a reddish mineral that seeps strange, invisible poison into the air, land, and water around it. The current dwarven King is KURZON WINDHOWL.
East of Dwarfholme is HEARTFORGE, a city built in cooperation between the Dwarves and Gnomes, the latter of which make up the majority of the population. Built over a massive vein of Heartore, the Gnomes have devised a way to mine it and work with it without it being deadly to the workers. After being more or less ignored by everyone for being a city of reckless tinkerers, Heartforge has become a boom town as suddenly everyone is interested in just what else they can come up with after the Cataclyst. There are rumors they are devising the first weapons made of Heartore, but only the very wealthy can even hope to see one, nevermind purchase one. The gnomish King of Heartforge, a young man who has only recently taken the throne, is WARRYN RAULNOR.
Surrounding Heartforge are the NORTHERN and SOUTHERN PLAINS. Most Halflings live in the Southern Plains, while the Northern Plains are home to many unruly orcs, goblins and other beastial humanoids and their villages. Halflings have no formal leaders, though they have strong alliances with gnomes and do extremely well in Three Rivers.
At the end of the GOLDBROOK RIVER sits the gleaming white marble city of EASTGATE. Nestled between bountiful farmland and on a warm ocean, the massive walls of Eastgate are legendary even overseas, as is are the glistening white and gold pillars of the palace, which houses the DAWNSTAR family, headed by KING PRAETORIAN. Eastgate is the largest city on the continent as well as the wealthiest, the most well-connected, and the only one untouched by war. Ironic, since they pride themselves on having the largest and most heavily armed standing army! Though they did eventually participate in the war, it is seen by many as too little and too late, but they’re a difficult group of people to argue with given how obscenely rich and powerful they are. Eastgate is home to many embassies, a massive black tower that serves as a hub for the Mage’s Guild, a sprawling port as well as a fleet to guard it and a highly militarised guard force to keep it all safe and tidy. Eastgate is so often focused on politics on other continents, it seems to sometimes forget that it’s still very much on Adath. The largest concentration of Dragonborn live here, as Eastgate goes out of its way to find and recruit them into their military and guard forces.
South of Adath is the tropical continent of SH’GORAT, the most accessible port being OBSIDIAN WATCH.
You have all travelled to THE ANGRY PORCUPINE, a travellers Inn along the Goldbrook River, somewhere between Three Rivers and Eastgate. In among many advertisements, bills and other requests for assistance nailed to posts, signs and wagons, you found one particular request intriguing: A request to help a village on the south side of the river, practically in the Black Forest, a place considered dangerous and off limits to all but the most brave. It instructs respondents to meet behind the stables of The Angry Porcupine, but gives no other details. Given the location of the alleged problem and the lack of details, most have ignored it. But not you! You have your reasons. And it turns out, you’re not the only one interested.