Battle for OZ

Battle for Oz unfolds in a high-magic, war-scarred Oz where fairy-tale legend has given way to political upheaval and arcane warfare. More than a century after Dorothy Gale’s arrival, Oz has endured defining historical moments that reshaped the realm. Dorothy eventually married in Oz and gave birth to a daughter, Amber Gale, tying Earth and Oz together through blood as well as magic. Decades later, the devastating Nome War ravaged the land, costing countless lives and ultimately claiming Dorothy’s husband, while Dorothy herself vanished into the wild Fae forests, becoming a mystery of legend. In the modern era, a new outsider named Joe Thater arrived from Earth and rose quickly as a gifted wizard, only to fall into forbidden magic and ambition. Reemerging as Ozymandias II, he conquered the Emerald City and subjugated most of Oz with emerald armor and monstrous armies. Now the once-wondrous realm stands divided, its magic weaponized, its iconic heroes scattered, and a resistance movement struggling to reclaim a land transformed by loss, ambition, and war.

Oz lies at the heart of the continent of Nonestica, a land encircled by a nearly impenetrable ring of deadly deserts. Both the continent of Nonestica, and the land of OZ within it, are magically displaced from the rest of Earth into its own separate spatial dimension. The continent can only be reached during cataclysmic events—most commonly through violent storms or temporary tears in reality, sometimes called “holes” in the fabric of space. These openings can appear wherever sufficient energy gathers, but they occur most frequently in places like the Bermuda Triangle and the plains of Kansas. Oz itself is divided into five distinct countries. At its center stands Pastoria, the capital realm and home to the vast Emerald City, a sprawling metropolis built along the shores of Lake Quad. To the north lies Gillikin Country, a rugged land of hills, bogs, and wild terrain, once watched over by the Good Witch of the North. Quadling Country stretches across the south, containing Glinda’s palace, major cities such as Rigamarole, Gambilington, and Bunburry, and dramatic landmarks including the Horner Mountains, the Hammerhead range, the Yoop Plateaus, and the dense Yuma Jungle. Winkie Country occupies the west, a region of forests and mountains that once belonged to the Wicked Witch of the West, with powerful cities like Thi, Dori, and Herku. To the east lies Munchkin Country—often called Munchkinland—a fertile land of rolling green hills, vast grain fields, and deep forests. It contains the cities of Gale, Billington, Muab, and the Sapphire City, along with Mount Munch, the College of Arts and Athletics, the Unicorn Forest, and the towering Mooger Mountains along its northern border. It was here, just west of Gale, that Dorothy Gale’s house first landed. Oz is crisscrossed by numerous rivers, the most prominent being the Orizon and Munchkin Rivers in the east, the Dunwood River in Gillikin Country, the Thi, Dori, and Westfork Rivers in Winkie Country, and the Hammerhead, Trix, and Horner Rivers in Quadling Country. Major lakes include Lake Quad—the largest body of water in Oz—and Lake Orizon, which surrounds the Sapphire City. Beyond the borders of the realm lies the cursed Deadly Desert, whose sands reduce any living being to dust upon contact. Connecting nearly every country is a vast Yellow Brick Road system, enchanted to hasten travel and ward off predators, though Gillikin Country remains largely untouched by it. At the very center of it all rises the Emerald City, a glittering metropolis comparable in scale to New York City, home to millions and the living source of magic throughout Oz

Oz is inhabited by a wide array of ancestries, most descending from tribes that migrated thousands of years ago from across the continent of Nonestica. Collectively known as the Kinfolk, these peoples settled the five Countries of Oz and developed distinct cultures shaped by geography, magic, and history. In central Pastoria dwell the Pastorians, golden-skinned and red-haired, who dominate the Emerald City and Quad Town. Their society is divided among six great Houses, the most powerful historically being House Pastor, from which the royal line of Princess Ozma descends—its leaders now imprisoned. House Spitzer openly backs Ozymandias, House Ardour resists and has fled, while Houses Sunder, Boumir, and Rancour remain divided. After centuries of enchanted comfort, many Pastorians have grown politically obsessed yet complacent, viewing rulership as a game of shifting influence. To the north, the Gillikins are muscular, practical folk with light brown skin tinged faintly purple. Nominally loyal to Ozma in the past, they have always valued autonomy and remain fiercely resistant to Ozymandias’ incursions. Tribal and nomadic, they herd livestock across harsh terrain and maintain no true cities, sharing more cultural similarity with the Fae than with other Kinfolk. In the fertile east live the Munchkins—short, sturdy people with pale to faintly blue complexions and light hair—traditionally peaceful farmers, shepherds, and entertainers. Historically neutral in conflicts, they supplied all sides during the consolidation wars that elevated Pastoria to prominence. The Winkies of the west are dark-haired with yellow to orange-tinted skin and sharp features. Once the most militarily advanced of the Kinfolk, they fielded Oz’s finest soldiers during the wars against the Nome King. Organized and inventive, they are renowned for intricate weaponcraft and disciplined Ranger companies that now form one of the strongest resistance forces against Ozymandias. In the south, the Quadlings—rosy-skinned with dark hair and elaborate tattoos—are master miners and builders. Brutalized during the Nome King’s invasion, their land still bears ruined keeps and ghost towns, though their skill in masonry helped construct much of the Yellow Brick Road system. Beyond the Kinfolk, Oz is home to powerful Fae races. The Evain resemble wood elves, with long ears and forest-toned features, ruling hidden woodland kingdoms and drawing druidic magic from the land itself rather than the Emerald City. The Niave, similar in form but marked by onyx skin and rune-carved bodies, are mountain-dwelling warrior mystics who channel magic through the symbols etched into their flesh. Nome refugees linger uneasily in Oz decades after the war, mistrusted for their former king’s invasion. Sentient constructs—living scarecrows and tin men—walk beside beastfolk, fairies, unicorns, dragons, winged monkeys, goblins, blue-skinned Yoop warriors, living trees, and hammerhead giants. Rarest of all are humans from Dorothy’s world—Kansas—who arrive through storms or magical anomalies, just as Dorothy and the first Wizard once did. Ozymandias himself came to Oz as a survivor of a ship lost in the Bermuda Triangle, rising from outsider to tyrant.

Only a year ago, in 114 ADA, Oz fell beneath the iron rule of Ozymandias II. His forces stormed and sacked the Emerald City in Pastoria and razed Glinda the Good’s palace in the south. He now holds all of Pastoria, all of Winkie Country, and nearly all of Munchkin Country, with the lone exception of Gale—the northernmost capital of Munchkinland. Gale City and all of Gillikin Country have become the heart of the resistance against Ozymandias and his regime, known as the OZ Core. Ozymandias’ legions consist largely of soulless TINMEN automatons and blue-skinned Yoop warriors, led by Dragonmen commanders and dark wizards and witches. He also unleashes undead Pumpkinhead horrors and shadowy scarecrow assassins to carry out his cruelest designs. Possession of the Golden Cap grants him dominion over the Winged Monkeys, just as the Wicked Witch of the West once commanded—save for a small band of stunted outcasts who have escaped his control. To consolidate power, Ozymandias has installed loyal tyrants across the occupied lands: the Highlord Commander in the east, the Dark Wizard Scourgwin Springforth in the west, and Xoichi the Wicked Witch in the south, while he rules Pastoria directly from the Emerald Throne. In the year since the conquest, the battle lines have hardened. Oz exists in a tense stalemate between occupied and free territories. Trade continues and daily life endures, but crossing borders requires stealth, secrecy, or official documents inspected at heavily guarded Yellow Brick Road checkpoints. The resistance is led by Amber Gale, Dorothy’s only daughter, alongside Solomon Straw—the original Scarecrow—the Brave Lion, and the diminished Good Witch of the North, Skywin Springforth. Meanwhile, Princess Ozma and the original Tin Man languish in captivity within the Emerald City. Glinda the Good and Dorothy Gale are missing and presumed dead. Jack Pumpkinhead, once captain of the guard, has descended into madness and now commands a ruthless mercenary band that fights Ozymandias without restraint, often harming the very people it claims to protect.

Magic saturates every corner of Oz, flowing outward from the Emerald City, which serves as both the political heart and arcane wellspring of the realm. While most magical power ultimately traces back to the Emerald Throne, the Evain have long practiced druidic traditions that draw energy directly from the land itself, and their mountain-dwelling cousins, the Niave, channel magic through runes carved into their own flesh. Crystals of many colors can focus and refine arcane energy—emeralds being the rarest and most potent of all. Ozymandias II wields conventional wizardry alongside forbidden necromancy and advanced technomancy. The tremors and minor earthquakes that periodically shake Oz are no natural phenomenon; in secret, Ozymandias is mining fragments of the Emerald City itself, forging them into powerful emerald cores that animate his greatest invention—the TINMEN automatons—armed with rare and devastating ranged weapons in a land where firearms are nearly unknown. The resistance counters him with good witches and wizards, including Amber Gale, though their numbers are far smaller than the forces arrayed against them. The Evain and Niave largely avoid direct involvement, yet a few have quietly joined the struggle. The only true religion in Oz is the Aegis, an ancient order devoted to Lurline the Loved—an Evain druid goddess who shaped the Emerald City from a primordial emerald mountain and cast Nonestica into a separate spatial dimension through the legendary Shield of Time, granting Oz its ageless nature. Today, the Aegis is nearly extinct, hunted down by OZ Corp after the fall of the Emerald City. In secret, Ozymandias fears the surviving priestesses, for he knows that if they were ever to awaken Lurline from her millennia-long slumber, her power would be more than enough to overthrow him.

Oz lies at the center of the continent of Nonestica, existing within its own separate planar dimension, hidden from the awareness of modern Earth. To most of humanity, it survives only as the setting of the classic children’s books written by L. Frank Baum between 1900 and 1918. In truth, however, small fractures have appeared over the years in the ancient Shield of Time spell, allowing certain humans to cross over into Oz—among them Dorothy Gale, the first Wizard of Oz, and Joe Thater, who would later become Ozymandias II. Other Earth-born figures have also carved out lives in this magical realm, including Jimmy Hoffa—now known simply as Jimmi—who operates the Oz black market, and Amelia Earhart, called Amee, who has become a dedicated supporter of the resistance. It is further whispered that parts of the Fae Realm exist slightly out of phase with Oz itself, overlapping another plane of existence—perhaps the reason the Evain and Niave have thus far shielded their forest and mountain kingdoms from Ozymandias’s grasp.

Oz is ancient beyond reckoning, and the greater continent of Nonestica is older still. Long before recorded human history, Nonestica existed in the Atlantic Ocean, its shores visited by prehistoric travelers who crossed forgotten land bridges from North America and sailed its coasts in primitive trading vessels. When the great Shield of Time spell was cast, Nonestica was shifted into its own isolated spatial dimension. On Earth, fragmented memories of that cataclysm survived only as myth—remembered as the sinking of Atlantis. In truth, Atlantis was merely one of many mighty empires that continue to endure within Nonestica’s hidden borders. Oz itself was settled during what later became known as the Emerald Age, when distant Kinfolk tribes fled wars and unrest across Nonestica and journeyed into the continent’s interior. There they discovered a colossal emerald mountain at the land’s center and built their homes around it. Over time, the strongest tribes consolidated into five cultural powers. The Munchkins settled the fertile east, feeding Oz with vast fields of grain. The Quadlings claimed the mountainous south, rich in stone and quarry. The Winkies took the forested west, supplying timber and craftsmanship. The nomadic Gillikins roamed the rugged north, guided in part by the alchemist-witch Locasta. Closest to the Emerald settled the Pastorians, who eventually rose to prominence and established Quad as the capital. Though rivalry and skirmishes persisted, King Pastor of the Pastorians labored to prevent Oz from repeating the violent mistakes of the old Nonestican empires. True unity came only after a miraculous event: overnight, the Great Emerald mountain transformed into a magnificent city complex. Though many claimed credit, the feat was in fact the quiet gift of Lurline the Loved, who shaped the Emerald City as a symbol of peace. The capital moved there, and representatives from every Country gathered within its walls. King Pastor used the moment to usher in the Pax Pastoria—a golden age of prosperity marked by the founding of institutions, the creation of the Yellow Brick Road network, and the strengthening of Oz as a unified kingdom. The casting of the Shield of Time marked the beginning of Oz’s Second Age, during which the tribes flourished—until the rise of Ozymandias the First, a dark wizard whose war claimed thousands of lives. After his defeat, forbidden magics were outlawed and unity restored. In the Third Age, Princess Ozma ascended the throne alongside Skywin Springforth and Glinda the Good, and Oz enjoyed centuries of relative peace. That peace fractured when a coven of four wicked witches divided the land, kidnapping Ozma and ruling their territories through fear. It was during this turmoil that a human balloonist—later known as the Wizard of Oz—arrived and maintained control of the Emerald City through illusion and clever deception. Only with the accidental arrival of young Dorothy Gale did the coven fall, leading to Ozma’s restoration and the beginning of the Gale Era. Dorothy would later return as an adult, marry, and give birth to a daughter, Amber Gale. The Nome War during this era brought tragedy, including the death of Dorothy’s husband and her mysterious disappearance. Amber remained in Oz, and decades later, in 114 ADA, the Fourth and current Age began when Ozymandias II conquered three-quarters of the realm and seized the Emerald City, plunging Oz once more into darkness and war.

Despite being scarred by war, occupied by hostile forces, and haunted by dark creations, Oz endures. Trade and commerce still flow along the enchanted Yellow Brick Road network and through the many rivers fed by Lake Quad and Lake Orizon. The banks of Oz remain operational even under occupation, while the Black Market has flourished—thriving on smuggling, contraband, and the illegal arms trade. In Gale and throughout Gillikin Country, the resistance operates independently and sustains itself without outside aid. For now, Ozymandias tolerates their existence, dismissing them as a minor nuisance unworthy of his full attention and no true threat to his dominion.

Ozymandias governs the occupied territories of Oz with relentless severity. In Pastoria and the Emerald City, his rule is absolute, maintained by a vast network of spies who scour the populace for any sign of resistance sympathizers. In the outer Countries under his control, enforcement is more uneven—his appointed witches, wizards, governors, mayors, and constables uphold his authority while advancing their own agendas. Punishments are brutal: major crimes are met with execution, while lesser offenses often result in forced conscription into the army, labor battalions, or outright slavery. In the free regions of Oz, military law prevails out of necessity, but it is tempered by fairness and formal trials. Amber Gale serves as the de facto Commander of the Free Armies of Oz, supported by a structured chain of command—generals, captains, lieutenants, and sergeants overseeing organized units. The civilians of Gillikin Country and Gale stand firmly behind the resistance, supplying and sustaining its forces. Meanwhile, OZ Corp tightly controls the borders of the occupied territories, working diligently to prevent defections and restrict movement into the free lands.

Oz has never been without peril—any realm steeped in powerful magic carries inherent danger—but since the rise of the new dark wizard, the land itself has grown more treacherous. The ruler of the Emerald City has always shaped the spirit of Oz, their character reflected in the world around them. King Pastor’s wisdom and justice brought prosperity, yet his far-reaching ambitions created the conditions that allowed the first Ozymandias to seek power. Princess Ozma’s compassion and fairness nurtured harmony, and when she was abducted and removed from the throne, the wicked Coven rose in her absence. Now, under Ozymandias II, ruthless ambition and cruelty have cast a long shadow across the realm. In answer to his corrupting influence, darker forces have stirred. Monstrous beings such as spider-folk, soulcatcher crows, undead pumpkinheads, hammerhead giants, and claw-biters prowl the forests and mountains. Goblin tribes grow bolder, sinister faeries creep from hidden places, and even the merfolk of Oz’s rivers and lakes have turned increasingly selfish and hostile. The very magic that sustains Oz seems twisted, echoing the darkness seated upon the Emerald Throne.