The Sundered Realms

A high magic world with heavy integration of magic with daily life in the largest cities around the globe, but whose far corners are still relatively untouched by such innovations and remain more basic. Technology level resembles medieval or later european style invention in places with magic with as magic makes multiple impossible things possible such as taking photographs or creating flying machines far before such things were possible with technology. Other kingdoms have closer to industrial revolution technology due to a history involving less magic. It’s a vast and grand world, with many races calling it home yet not often coming upon another in everyday life due to living extreme distances away from one another. Knowledge of the full extent of the world fails to be achieved, despite access to powerful magic. There exist certain places across the globe where magical energy is said to be at its very peak.

Major Kingdoms and cities vary by geography and by race that calls the vast planet home. On the Continent of Laurencia, home to Humans and Elves, There exist four major kingdoms. the Crimsonpeak Mountain in the North marks the Kingdom of Erythia, an old kingdom of primarily elves who have used their long life spans for centuries to subtly control not only their kingdom, but the happenings of the continent on the whole. while humans can be found in the continent, they are typically treated like a secondary class and as less valuable than the much-longer-lived elves. To the West lie the kingdom of Leucilla, an intellectual juggernaut on the continent whose libraries match and surpass those even of the stubborn elves of Erythia. Castlehaven in particular is an entire town dedicated to study, and features the largest scriptorium on the continent. The people of Leucilla are a combination of elf and human, with half-elves welcome in open society and the two races being on equal footing in a mutual partnership. To the East lie Melanos, a gothic kingdom known across the continent for its prolific seedy underground. it’s a kingdom where a ministry run by humans uses the occult arts of blood magic to cure its citizens, at a cost yet unknown to their citizens. Not all partake in the church’s teachings or offerings, but the church is ubiquitous in everyday life. As staunch believers in the specialty of humanity, they dislike elves and will cast them out of town if they see them. In fact, the average person is not receptive to any and all who stand out or look different. It’s a frightening place, and it’s hard to gain trust even among humans. it is home to one of the largest natural bays on the continent, which humans have used since the beginning of time to launch themselves into the ocean in search of something besides this continent. Millions have perished over time this way. To the south lie the final of the Major Kingdoms, named Icteris. They are an industrial people, whose cities resemble steampunk or revolutionary era imaginations. They were a kingdom originally built by humans without access to magic, and so magic is the least widespread and commonplace within this kingdom of the four. Many prefer to go their lives without using it, with some believing it’s for the better if humans do not. Elves are welcome within society. Though there are still ignorant subsections of the human population who might discriminate, elves are legally equal to humans in Icteris. The one caveat is that Icteris does not believe in human and elf marriage, taking the stance that the child will grow up without a world to truly belong to and thus it should be prohibited to bring them into the world. Many debate this law, and such marriages still exist in secret. Icteris is home to a second great natural bay, one which has an established harbor longer than any one can remember. It’s hypothesized that another race perhaps built the port at Icteris at a time before humans were even present. The presence of the bay was credited with the kingdom’s growth in past times, but has seen a decrease in usefulness as trade with Melanos decreased over the years and terrestrial trade became increasingly important. From the very top of the Crimsonpeak, on the farest western side of the continent, with the use of the greatest scope available, one can spot an island. It is named the Elderwood, and houses secrets unknown to nearly all who have ever called Laurencia home.

Many Races inhabit the world, with their distribution being typically limited to a continent of origin. On the Continent of Laurencia, home of the Elves and Humans, the two races split the continent. At the northern end, where the continent connects to an even larger land mass, exists an enormous mountain range with a singular summit known as the Crimson Peak. It is the tallest known location on the continent, and the kingdom around is ruled by Elves and has been for countless centuries. To the East is a territory of exclusively humans, who are hostile to elves due to an ignorance in understanding and who believe strongly in a church government who will save them from this world despite being capable of no such thing. The humans here seem somewhat lost in their purposes, but trudge on regardless. To the South lie an industrial kingdom and another primarily human territory, where humans seemingly originated and where they had for many years built a society largely irrespective of magic. The people here are tolerant of elves and accept them in daily society, but there exist bigots with preconceived beliefs. Notably, the races are prohibited from marrying and coupling, though it still happens. In the West lie the final major territory on the continent, Home to Elves and Humans in near equal measure and which is the only territory where coupling between the races is welcomed with open arms. On the island of the Elderwood, things one wouldn’t believe exist. Monsters and races from one’s wildest dreams including but not limited to intelligent dwarves, gnomes, halflings, dragonborn, as well as hostile goblins, hobgoblins, orcs, trolls and more have stumbled onto the Elderwood over time. The creatures of the Elderwood do their best to survive irrespective of whom they encounter.

There exists political tension between the Elf-supreme kingdom of Erythia and the primarily Human-derived kingdoms of Melanos and especially Icteris. Erythia keeps tabs on the goings-on of the humans they feel pose the most threat. Not only that, but the Elves maintain the only mountain pass past the crimsonpeak and are the only population on the continent who knows what lies beyond the north of the continent. They also keep tabs on Leucilla, anxious about the kingdom’s focus on academics and it’s unacceptable tolerance of race intermingling. The continent is riddled with mystery and brimming in every corner with the story of a bygone era, ruins of many types scattered just beneath the ground that signal at something catastrophic having happened sometime long, long ago. Rumors whisper of something big, and races have been long trying to do what they can to find some world beyond the continent. Whispers of the Elderwood exist on the continent, if one knows where to look.

Magic is a weave which can be tapped into by living beings and which can be manipulated to cast spells. An organism’s attunement to magic is a natural function of that organisms prior exposure to magic, with humans and elves both having a natural baseline. Elves have magical births, and begin with reserves far higher than any regular human. However, humans and elves acquire magic at about the same rate while living on the continent. It should be noted that rates of magic accumulation seem to actually differ on the continent, with the kingdom of Leucilla seeing the greatest and fastest acquisition of magical prowess among its people. Due to their longer lives, Elves are for the most part capable of a greater level of magic than humans, but there exist many humans who are talented spellcasters in Leucilla in spite of the limitations of their biology. Deities don’t much influence the world, but perhaps did at one point. Records in Melanos crypts will point to a race of Old Gods who left the World to rot ages long past, but whether this is simply human religion or truth is unknown. The fact of the matter is that magic exists, but no deities answer any calls anywhere on the continent with any degree of certainty.

Other planes interact with the vast world in a few different hotspot locations around the globe, most of which are far far far away from the continent of Laurencia. However, the sole exception is the Elderwood. It is an island located directly on a fissure in the space time continuum, where a magical realm bleeds into the material world and creates a magical anomaly the likes of which would leave earthly scholars confounded. The study of Planar intersection with the material world is high level subject matter that the average person would not concern themselves with, but that the educated scholar might be deeply fascinated with the idea of, even if they’ve never heard of the elderwood. It’s hypothesized such places exist.

on the island of Laurencia, it seems clear there was atleast one major era of civilization which came before. many Ruins lie just several feet below the ground in all four kingdoms, and the port in Icteris is known to be older than the kingdom itself. The construct atop the crimson peak, like a reflector which enhances the color of the peak, is also older than anyone knows. The people of the old days seemed then to have some connection to the sea, and put some importance on the peak of the mountain.

Humans use coins of various metals, usually copper, metal, silver or gold and trade them amongst each other for various goods and services a human would need. Icteris and Melanos, the two human kingdoms, have most commonly traded with one another through boat but which have in more recent years begun to do more terrestrial trade as part of a larger trade route across the continent of human goods. Both kingdoms trade with Leucilla, though Melanos trades only with human Leucillans and have regulations when doing so. Erythia on the other hand trades only with Elves of Leucilla, and likewise have regulations in place when doing so. Elves use rupees, a type of magic byproduct resembling a gemstone that is abundant in certain locations on the continent.

Justice is administered in different ways across the kingdoms, but most have a democratic form of governance. Icteris is a nation run by the people, who elect a civil leader every four years. Melanos is a nation in governmental disarray, whose justice system is clearly lacking and whose people, in many ways, fend for themselves. In Erythia, the Elves have a one-party state which sees the world pretty simply—Elves are supreme, and the only race on the continent worth caring for. Justice between elves is solved fairly, “justice” is more of a dream for a human in an Erythian court. The Elf Emperor King as he calls himself is a position which has been held for hundreds of years, and he is by far the longest serving ruler on the continent. In Leucilla, the ruler is a benevolent king whom abdicates the throne every eight years. The races take turns, with a Human king replacing an Elven Queen, and perhaps being himself replaced by a Half-Elf Princess. The societies view adventurers a bit differently. Erythia is hostile to human adventurers, seeing them as vagabonds and criminals unwelcome in their nation. Melanos laughs at adventurers, wondering why one might deign to travel there of all places, at this time in their history. Icteris welcomes adventurers, with many kids fascinated about stories of the happenings of the other parts of the continent and the world on which they reside. Likewise, Leucilla is open and receptive to adventurers, and many of the greatest scholars would call themselves adventurers.

No creature or cult known to the people of Laurencia has the power to threaten the whole world, but there is perhaps something ancient and dangerously powerful which is perhaps brewing beneath the Earth.