Blind Tower Campaign Setting

The Svartfyr War tore apart the old Dwarven and Elven Empires. The Elves were left cursed, barren and dying, the Dwarves were denied the ability to use magic for five hundred years. The Allies of the Dwarves- the Orcs, were driven into the far north in exile. The Elves' allies- the Humans, stepped into the void left by the broken or fleeing races. They gathered up the surviving Elves and protected them and used the elve's vast arcane knowledge to forge a new empire- The Ilmarin Empire conquering vast stretches of Dwarven and Orcish Territory. Eventually the Ilmarin Empire reached the Great Plains of the Goblinfolk and the bloody Black River War boiled between them for many years before a peace agreement was reached. It has been shaky ever since. Now the Dwarves have made great advances in something they call science, the Orcs have begun raiding Imperial outposts in the North, and the acts of sabotage and banditry along the Human Goblin border are increasing. The Southern Empire, the Lizard Folk run remnants of the Great Dragon Empire have begun to force Ilmarin armies back out of their land. The Elves desperately seek a cure for the curse that is slwoly claiming their entire species, and the a weak Emperor sits on the Ilmarin throne with a powerful High Priest standing closely behind him. May you live in interesting times.

Blind Tower the RPG
This takes place on a fantasy world -called Earth (what do you think people would call their own planet when they don't have the technology to realize that there is more than one?). The Technology level is highly varied. Dwarves have just reached early renaissance. Goblins are in an advanced Tribal system similar to Native Americans. The Illmarin Empire has technology equal to Imperial Rome. The Orcs are roughly equal to Europe in the Dark Ages, with touches of Norse and Mongoloian technology. The Southern Empire has culture and technology analagous to the Bronze Age. The World of the Blind Tower is vast and this shows only the Continent of Akoshia. Blind Tower is a game of colonial expansion vs indigenous resistance. Blind Tower is a game of religous faith vs scientific skepticism. Blind Tower is a game of civilisation vs wilderness. The History behind the continent of Akoshia is long and divided into four ages. The Major Cultures of Akoshia are as follows: The Major Races of Akoshia are as follows: Key Geographic Locations of Akoshia are as follows:
 * 1) The Age of Mist
 * 2) The Age of Dragons
 * 3) The Age of Magic
 * 4) The Age of Blindness
 * The Ilmarin Empire
 * The Ronari
 * The Harzom Kingdom
 * The Mavonut Dynasty
 * The Great Alliance
 * The Southern Empire
 * The Western Guilds
 * The Winterclaw Warren
 * The Tribes of the Lost Islands
 * The Wildfolk of Deepwood
 * Human
 * Dwarf
 * Orc
 * Goblin
 * Tengu
 * Lizard Folk
 * Kobold
 * Treefolk
 * Hobgoblin
 * Elf (not a playable race)
 * The Great Bay
 * The Black River
 * The Northern Wastes
 * The Backbone Mountain Range
 * The Lost Islands
 * The Shadarii Desert
 * The Deepwoods
 * The Western Islands

The Western Guilds
Synopsis:

The Western Guilds is the collective term used to describe the diverse and loosely affiliated peoples of the Western Islands. The Western Guilds are made up of roughly equal numbers of humans and tengu amounting to roughly 95% of the population, with the remaining population being treefolk or orcs from the Deepwoods.

The Name Confusion

The Term Western Guilds and Western Islands are an extreme misnomer to most non-westerners, since the Western Islands sit on the very eastern edge of the Akoshian continent. The westerners explain that they are the western most islands in an ancient alliance called the Guild Island Council, composed of a string of islands that stretched out deep into the Great Eastern Sea. Around one thousand years something happened, and all contact was lost with the Eastern Islands and all ships that went out in search of answers vanished. Nonetheless, the westerners still think of themselves as living on the Western Islands in the Guild Island Council and most are certain that contact will be re-established one day. This belief has taken on messianic salvationist overtones with the growing expansion of the Ilmarin Empire.

Guild and Guild Law

There is no central government in the Western Islands. Instead of a centralized government, the westerners rely upon an overlapping and interlocking set of guilds and associations for law and for support. Technically there is no law in the Western Islands, but each guild and association has a code of conduct that members must follow to remain members. These Guilds and Associations also have rules for how to deal with non-members who transgress against members. Most Westerners belong to a Guild and multiple Associations, as Guilds generally equire that members join no other Guilds while associations do not. Guilds are a lot like a combination of day-job, profession, and service in military. Associations can range from anything to a hobby club to a brotherhood or sisterhood of warriors, to reading group or think tank, to a medical insurance provider. This means that formal duels, blood fueds, guild wars, and assassinations are not uncommon in the Western Islands, and all westerners are tremendously polite at all times as a result. Most Westerners tend to assume that a foreigner's Guild is their nationality. This can lead to a great deal of trouble and most visitors to the Western Islands are recommended to imitate the their hosts' legendary manners, lest they anger the wrong people.

Paper Money

The Western Islands have been using paper money for hundreds of years. The paper money is not standardized because there is no central government, instead guilds and asociations print vouchers and options and IOUs all of which are tallied and traded based on Guild's reputation and the Value of the Offer. The Ryo and the Mon The Ryo is roughly the amount of grain required to feed a single human or Kenku for a month. A mon is roughly the amount of grain required to feed a human or Kenku for a day. These two measures are the primary ways that westerners measure value. A Ryo is worth roughly 30 mon. Reputation Every person, every Guild and every association has a reputation. In fact most people, guilds and associations have several reputations each one calculated by a different organisation based on their own intelligence. In the Western Islands, a reputation is not a vague abstract thing, but a concrete number. To calculate a person or organisation's reputation simply add up the value (in ryo and mon) of the contracts completed and honored, and then minus that from total value of the contracts failed and dishonored. Then add up the total value of contracts held by the individual and subtract the total value of the outstanding contracts held against the individual. For instance a poor farmer who grows wheat for a guild and then sells the surplus might look like this:

Honored Contracts Five years of guild membership dues honored: 60 ryo Five years of successful grain selling: 120 ryo Three years Coverage fee from Healer's Association: 6 ryo Dishonored Contracts Dispute with neighbour over proper repayment of loan for grain seed five years ago: 30 ryo Unpaid Marriage fee to in-laws who died mysteriosly: 60 ryo 186 ryo minus 90 ryo equals a positive 96 ryo. Outstanding Contracts Contract for one case Retribution Services from Silent Blade Association (bought but not used): 50 ryo Outstanding Contracts Against Outstanding Shipping charge for transportation of grain to the Great Island Market: 15 ryo 50 ryo minus 15 ryo equals 35 ryo

This gives our Farmer a reputation of 96/35. it tells us immediately that he is poor, but productive with what he has (both numbers are positive), and that he is not an influential person (the second number is below 50). Westerners can use this number to get an immediate sense of a person.

The Ilmarin Empire
Synopsis:

The Illmarin Empire formed after the Svartfyr war. The Illmarin Empire was created when the decimated Elven population was forced to seek assistance from the humans. In particular the Illmarin Nation which brought them in and granted them the Tower of Blindness (although, ironically they granted the tower in a neighbouring state that they conquered). The name of the tower was chosen by the Elves themselves. They have never explained the title, but most people assume that it is a bitter comment on their inability to find and solve the problem of their infertility. The boost to magic and education that the elves gave Illmaria was enough to begin conquering its neigbours. Over the course of several centuries, the Illmarin people (now commanding the Illmarin Empire) have managed to conquer the human nations on the continent. The Seventeen States Culture in the Empire
 * Oriens (State of the Current Emperor)
 * Lyconia
 * Galatia
 * Isauria
 * Achaeya
 * Pravalitana
 * Byzakina
 * Liguria (Location of the Blind Tower)
 * Raetia
 * Illmaria (Founding State)
 * Baetica
 * Narbonnensis
 * Aquitania
 * Bythinia
 * Cyrenicus
 * Moesia
 * Numidius

Languages Languages of the Ilmarin Empire. There are two common languages the Illmarin Empire- Illmarin and Elven. Illmarin is based upon anglo-saxon. Elven is based upon Latin. All noblemen take Elven names and tend to speak elven in court, while most non-aristocracy use Illmarin names and speak Illmarin. Illmarin is really just an old human tongue that was renamed to reflect the fact that the Illmarian State had conquered humanity. Before it was called Illmarin, the language was called human. Slaves The Illarmin Empire has legal slavery. A person becomes a slave when they have committed a wrong against somebody. A violent person who assaults or murders somebody becomes a slave of the state and must work on public works projects. Murder is a life sentence as a slave, whereas assault runs between five and fifteen years. If a person defaults upon a debt, they become a person slave of the person to whom they owe money- the courts decide for how long this will last. The owner of the slave may return a slave to the state, but may not free the slave. thieves face a sentence of slavery to the state ranging from 1 year to 15 years. Illmarian's don't generally put people in prison- if somebody is too dangerous to work as a slave, they are executed.

Politics and the Empire

The Emperor is decided by election from the council of princes upon the death of the previous Emperor. Any Prince can be nominated (another prince must nominate them and have the nomination seconded). Those nominees are then excluded from voting and the remaining princes vote on who will be Emperor. There are seventeen states. The Church of Eight controls one of them entirely. Ironically this is not the one where the Tower of Blindness lies. The High Magus is the prince of that State. This makes the other states cautious. Only the state containing the Tower of Blindness tends to stand up to them. This has led to a split with weaker states either backing the church state or the elf state. The right to vote at the council of Princes in the Human Empire is determined by land ownership. This means that one does not have to be a prince to vote at the council of princes. If one has sworn allegiance to a lord, then their votes are passed upwards to that lord. In practice this means that ninety percent of all votes go to the princes. However, no free man is required to swear allegiance to any local lord and as a result most states have a small Yeoman guild that pools its votes in order to have a small swing votes status on the council. This is possible because the human church will excommunicate any prince who attempts to violate this rule- although the church will only defend pious (church attending and preferably good tithing) people in this faction. As one cannot be prince or emperor, or indeed hold any public office in the empire if one is excommunicated this is a powerful deterrent. However the Church, though powerful cannot act with impunity and must be careful not to arouse the anger of the princes. In practice the yeoman's guilds, the princes and the church act as checks and balances for each other.

Notable Figures in the Empire

His Grace Emperor Gaius Valerius Galleo Illmarin Prince of the State of Oriens Gaius Valerius was never supposed to be Emperor. He was the fifth son of the previous Emperor and quite happy with this. He knew that being emperor was probably beyond his ability. He means well, but relies heavily on his advisers. Gaius was well loved by the people when he was not emperor and is tolerated now. He came to power in a bizarre twist of fate. Decimius Equitius carefully exposed the vices those princes who had the best chance of succeeding Gaius' father. This left the other princes unwilling to vote for the discredited princes. A strange series of accidents left Gaius' brothers all dead or disinherited, and suddenly Gaius was next in line to be prince of his father's state. When his father passed away and Gaius rose to power, Decimus was able to convince enough other princes that it is better to have an emperor that can be manipulated than a strong emperor. Gaius saw no way out, he couldn't desert the people of his state by abdicating- and not knowing enough about imperial law, he didn't know how to refuse the throne without giving up his role as prince as well. And so he sits- a puppet on the throne and he knows it. Gaius is a moderately talented Wizard, whose real love is falconry. High Magus on Earth Decimus Equitius Mergus Prince of the State of Liguria Decimus Equitius is a quiet and patient man, but an unbending and unforgiving man- he has sentenced people to death with a slight nod of his head. Decimus is a man who lives by the letter of the rule and intends to decide what the rules are in the first place. Decimus is the real power behind the throne- he is ninety-five and carefully working to extend his life further.

Resistance within the Empire

Ronari Dissent The current names of the Illmarin States are Elven names assigned arbitrarily by the Leadership of the Empire. Over the years they have instituted laws of culture and pressed a new and foreign religion upon the other states. The longer a state has been a part of the empire and the larger the cities it has, the more romanesque it looks as the empire has taken great pains to 'modernize' as much of its territory as possible. Before the elven influence, the humans were in a kind of feudal dark ages period. Now although the Illmarin Empire and its elven influence have raised the standard of living. Many people would rather kill the Ilmarins than bow to them. This belief exists despite the fact that the Emperor has not been Illmarin for four generations, it is also more prevalent in the outlying areas. Ronari is an Elven word that means `unwinnowed grain`, This is the official word for a dissenter in the Illmarin Empire. The Ronari includes anybody who prefers the old ways, worships the old gods or tries to actively fight the Empire. There is an underground rebel movement that is actively working to overthrow the government. Religious in Nature. The old human culture and technology is still fairly common, especially in the smaller towns and cities. Think of it as a little like the old west, people know about places like New York and Boston, but that stuff doesn't fly out in the sticks. The Batu Forest Raiders The Batu Forest Raiders are a group of Orcs who did not or could not flee in the Illmarin expansion that drove the Orcs into the Wastes. They live in the Coastal Forests on the Western edge of the Illmarin Empire sheltered by the old growth forests and the mountains there. They make a point of killing any non-Batu who approach the area. There have been three concerted attempts to conquer and pacify the Orcs by the Illmarin Empire and all have been defeated by a combination of Ukko's magic and guerilla warfare. The Empire currently pretends that the area is simply uninhabited.

The Great Alliance
The Goblin Alliance Structure

The Golbin nation is an oxymoron. Called the Great Alliance, the goblins have no actual nation, but are a group of tribes that have all agreed to band together in times of trouble. This includes the Black River War. They have discovered that unless they present a unified front to the humans, the humans will attack each tribe separately and never deal honestly with them as a whole. The goblins dislike using a war alliance as an ongoing method of government, and use it very little besides when dealing with humans. The Black River Council Since the end of the Black River War, all territorial disputes between The Illmarin Empire and the Great Alliance are to be resolved diplomatically at the Black River Council held each year at the border city of Black River- the site of the final battle before the peace treaty was signed and the current borders were drawn up.

The Alliance System

Tribes and Clans

Goblins are divided into two major groups, clans and tribes. Tribes operate within geographic areas. Goblins tribes occupy large areas and those areas frequently overlap, because most goblins are hunter gatherers or herders. As long as the overlapping tribes don't get on each other's nerves, everything is fine. Clans are generally smaller, they are family groups that lay claim to no area, and instead move where land is available. Most clans are 100 goblins or less, although some clans- such as the Poisonclaw clan- number as high as 300 hundred and are basically standing armies. Clans distrust tribes and tribes distrust clans.

The Scribes of the Alliance

Major Tribes and Clans

Other Points of Interest in Goblin Territory

Goblin Naming Goblins are named for the first notable thing they do after their adult initiation. Until then they are referred to as 'boy' 'girl' 'child' 'brat' etc... Common names Wolfrunner Goblins frequently will run in wolf packs as a rite of passage. Wolves are more tolerant of goblins than humans, but the practice is still dangerous. Ravenstone, Crowstone, Eaglestone, Hawkstone, Vulturestone etc... Goblins wear a headdress called a war braid. It is a leather thong decorated with beads and feathers and tassels and other things of that sort. This is then used to tie the goblin's hair back during daily life and battle. Goblins typically attempt to get their first feather by using a hand thrown rock or a sling thrown rock to kill the bird- preferably in a single strike. Nightminder Most goblin tribes have a traditional vision quest area. Most also have an area deemed unclean. Golbins who are brave enough to spend the night in the unclean area will earn the highly respected name Nightminder. In some tribes this name carries more weight than others, depending upon the actual contents of the unclean land (in some tribes, no goblin has ever survived a night in the unclean land). Ember Goblins love firewalking. It is a major part of their religious ceremonies. A Goblin who fire walks well or for an impressive distance or does so at a very young age or often is frequently named Ember. Lifetaker Not a name to be taken lightly. This is given to goblins whose first act of adulthood it to kill an intelligent being. Some goblins gain this name illegally through murder and are promptly executed by the tribe. Others do so defending the village. But to bear the name Lifetaker means to be considered dangerous and possibly cold and cruel. Use these themes are guides and structure the names in similar ways. Do not use full sentences for names. No elder would name a goblin 'Jumps off cliffs like a maniac'.

Goblin Religion

Notable Figures in the Alliance

Dragonhex Dragonhex earned his name by aiding a silver dragon in a battle against a black dragon while Dragonhex was still a child. This so impressed the tribe (and the dragon) that the child was ruled an adult and given his current name. The fact that he did little more than distract the dragon is irrelevant- it was his bravado and bravery that won him the name. Because of this, when he was named chieftain of the Scar Bluff Tribe, most felt he would be easy to anger and quick to leap to conclusions. However the opposite is true. While Dragonhex acts quickly this is because he spends a great deal of time thinking about plans and consequences and eventualities. This means that when a situation arises, Dragonhex is likely to have seen it coming and already have a plan ready. Dragonhex is in his forties and was part of the group that forged the current peace with the humans. The Dragon has remained friends with Dragonhex and the Goblin chieftan has ridden the dragon into battle on occasion, much to the horror of his opponents. Manslayer Manslayer is relic, left over from the Blackriver war. Manslayer leads the Blackriver tribe. He has been fighting human incursions all of his life and he is violently racist against humans. He still hungers for war and hates chiefs like Dragonhex, who he feels will allow the humans to destroy their culture piece by piece. Manslayer is missing his left arm. A human swordsman cut it cleanly from his should near the end of the Blackriver war. The fact that Manslayer is able to maintain his position as chief despite this large handicap speaks to his skill as both a chief and a warrior. Swampghost Swampghost is the perfect example of the reformed rascal. His name derives from the fact that he scared the local tribe's druid half to death one night in the swamp and had the poor druid screaming through the villlage ranting about ghosts in the swamp. The druid eventually took Swampghost under her wing in an effort to reform the rascal. The result is that Swampghost is now the chief of the Bladegrass tribe. Swampghost is rather neutral about other humans, mostly because the Bladegrass tribe has been surrounded by enemy goblin tribes for centuries and Swampghost doesn't see that the humans can make thing worse for his beleguered tribe. Swampghost is mostly an isolationist, and feels a heavy weight of responsibility as he tries to keep his small tribe from being swallowed whole by the larger surrounding tribes. He is well known for the guerrilla tactics that he used to great effect against the humans near the end of the Blackriver War. Deathtaker Deathtaker's name comes from a variation of the Lifetaker name- Deathtaker killed a ghoul as his first adult act. Deathtaker is a brutal killer and he enjoys it. He is cold and callous and rules his clan- The Poisonclaw clan like a mercenary army. He was instrumental in the Blackriver War and sides with Manslayer on the idea that no quarter can be given to the humans. His clan currently resides in the Blackriver Tribe's territory and 'watches' the human border. Spiderclaw Spiderclaw is the leader of the smallest clan in all of the Great Alliance. The Spidersilk Clan contains only 32 people currently all of them closely related to Spiderclaw in some way. The leadership of the Spidersilk clan is passed to the eldest child of the chieftain. The last two leaders have been female. Spiderclaw's mother fell in love with a fiend who disguised himself as a goblin fighter- and Spiderclaw was born half-goblin half-fiend. Spiderclaw herself is jet black with pure black eyes and chitinous claws. Spiderclaw also owns a cloak of Arachnida that her mother forged that, in addition to the usual powers allows the user to cast feather fall three times per day. The Spidersilk clan lives in the mountains that border the territories of the Dwarves and the Goblins. They are only nominally members of the great alliance, and Spiderclaw is something of a feared figure amongst most other tribes, because they distrust outsiders.

The Harzom Federation
The Dwarves of this world are a unified nation, with a representational democracy. They call their nation the Harzom Mountain Kingdom or the Harzom Federation. Major cities in Harzom are The Harzom Kingdom is actually the remainder of a vast Dwarven empire that was sundered in the war of Svartfyr (A Border city that was the flash point in this war.). The Dwarves who survived (and there were very few in relation to how many there were before) swore off empire building and became the recluses that they are today. After the Svartfyr war, the Elves led themselves and their human allies into a golden age that resulted in a huge bloom of magical ability- something that the dwarves missed out on do to their isolation. The loss of territory and magic was also due to concessions that they signed when they lost the Svartfyr war to the Elves. Dwarves do still travel in the outside world, but they are something of a rarity. Dwarves these days are known for their restraint and patient natures. Only the elves still distrust them, as most were still alive during the Svartfyr War 1000 years ago. Technology The dwarves are in their renaissance. The Dwarves used to be a heavy magic using culture. After the Svartfyr War, they isolated themselves from the world. The dwarves had been heavily reliant on magic, but over the years of isolation something happened in dwarven culture. What happened was the equivalent of the enlightenment and the industrial revolution. Some dwarves made a couple of small scientific breakthroughs. As on earth, it was the invention of a moveable type printing press that really got things moving. The invention of the printing press spurred all other thinking by allowing it to be spread quickly and mass produced. Results of this explosion of information led to a number of interesting ideas. Dwarves had always considered arcane magic to be divinely inspired by their gods- just as humans still do. However investigation into this claim led to its invalidation. There was no evidence of a conscious force involved in magic besides the will of the magic user. Gods could not be disproved, but that left the gods impotent if they did exist. If the gods existed, but had no hand in mortal affairs whatsoever, then they were gods that the dwarves did not need to worry about. As a result, dwarves a predominantly atheists- and consider humans and goblins tremendously backwater for their religious beliefs. The further fallout of this discovery is that arcane magic got a bad reputation amongst dwarves in the centuries to follow and its use was largely abandoned for centuries. In this time dwarves developed steam power to a limited extent, they began to formulate a formal scientific method, improved their engineering skills and became legendary clock makers, and nearly got conquered several times by the humans. Dwarves and Magic After the Svartfyr War, the Elven Empire forbade the Dwarves from using magic, as they believed that it was the dwarves who rendered them infertile and also led to mysterious die offs amongst the elves. The Dwarves attempted to continue using magic while outwardly turning their attention to technology- the enlightment that occured made the switch from magic to technology genuine. Elves do not believe that the Dwarves honored their agreement. After the Svartfyr War After the Svarfyr War the Dwarves were forced back in a series of controlled retreats as the Human/Elven Empire expanded into former Dwarven territories until only the Dwarven homeland was unconquered. During these invasions (called the lowlander incursions in dwarven history and called the Harzom sieges in human historical texts), the dwarves began to experiment. They were already very good mountain fighters, but with the development of the cannon and gunpowder, they became very deadly indeed. These new technologies were demanded by the human empire, and spurred further incursions. As a result the dwarves began to experiment with reducing the size of cannons to discover if a hand held cannon was possible. Eventually a working firearm was produced and has now become one of the staple weapons of the Harzom Nation. This also precipitated a change in armour and melee combat. A gun rendered plate mail next to useless, and so most dwarves started wearing less armour, although not too much less because humans still used weapons that a chain shirt or breast plate could stop. They also changed weapons. The average dwarf wields a rapier rather than an axe. Thus the Dwarves here wear chain mail, carry rapiers and bucklers and generally have several flintlocks strapped to their backs. Dwarves also have done a great deal to preserve their history and knowledge and make ample use of the printing press for that purpose. They are punctual people (having the most accurate clocks available), the have a nation wide railroad driven by coal powered trained, and most homes have hot water and coal burning furnace or stove. Dwarves live both in and on the mountain. Dwarven homes are in the mountain, but not deep underground. The mines reach deep underground, but few dwarves actually live down their. Above ground is the commercial district.
 * Dwarrow (the capital),
 * Krasnoludek
 * Tomteh
 * Krasnal
 * Vetter

The Mavonut Dynasty
The Independent House System

The Orcish people have been unified under the Mavonut and his successors into 10 Houses: There is also the unallied military force known as the Vurinan-surmahja: Literally the bloody killers. They are led by the mysterious warrior Navallr (which means corpse skin) who is rumored to be over four hundred years old and undead. Other rumors maintain that he no longer exists, but that the leader of the army takes the name and accoutrements of Navallr each generation to scare the pants off any force that might attack them.
 * Mavonut
 * Valkesarri
 * Tenharra
 * Omatsi
 * Nejarvi
 * Kirjanni
 * Punainen
 * Khadeksan
 * Ydeksan
 * Kymmanen.

Notable Figures in the Mavonut Dynasty

Koira Hammas of Mavonut The current leader of the house of Mavonut, descended from Mavonut's youngest son- the other lines have died off. Navallr The Unkillable Orcish Warlord

Religions and the Gods
There are no confirmed gods in this world. There a several beings who claim to be gods, but all are very much in doubt. The Church of Shax is believed by many non-members to a pantheon of Demon Princes or similar. The Church of the Sky is believed to by the same or, and perhaps more likely, a group of powerful super intelligent elemental beings. The Lizard men worship ancient dragons that they believe have become gods through virtue of their achievements in life. All of these beings are able to grant magical power, but it is unknown whether any of them are actual gods. Certainly their worshipers think so, but the evidence is not conclusive as it would be in other campaign worlds

Religions

The Church of the Sky (Old Dwarven/ Orcish)

The Church of Eight (Elven/ Ilmarin human)

The Church of Brandhursh (Old Human)

The Way of Death and Sunset (Goblin)

The Church of Shax (Old Goblin ?- splinter sect)

The Church of Baraptoros (Coastal Lizard Men)

The Church of the Sky

The Church of the Sky is the old religion of the Dwarves, which the Orcs adopted during the period before the Svartfyr war when they were inseperable allies. The Pantheon of the Sky includes: Orcs still worship the old dwarven gods. Dwarves no longer believe in these gods. The dwarves are not quite certain who is granting the Orc's divine magic- demons or devils are popular theories. Elementals are another popular theory. The Orcs simply point out that their gods have not deserted them.
 * Ukko: the Sky God
 * Perkunas: the Thunder God
 * Louhi: Goddess of death and Queen of the Underworld
 * Tursas: the God of War
 * Perkele: Perkunas brother and Bringer of Storms and god of Deception and Michief
 * Lempo: the goddess of Fire and Fertility

The Church of Eight

As Illmarin State Religion

The Illmarin state church was based around the religion of the Elves. The Elves worship a council of eight gods each of whom represent an elven virtue. Historically they were not named, but merely given titles. The Eight are as follows: Each member of the council was equal. When the elves lost the ability to reproduce and began to withdraw from the world to protect their remaining numbers (the loss of fertility happened in the Svartfyr war and many people at the time blamed Dwarven magic, although nothing was ever proven), humans became the bearers of this religion and slowly adapted it to their uses. A large bureaucracy sprang up around the religion where as before this was handled by the elves- who were now content to let humans deal with it as they liked- and the clergy began to create structures to control the populace. Demons and devils do indeed exist, and the clergy added them to the mix, introducing them as tempters trying to sway people from their path and drag impious people down to hell when they died. Tithing was adopted to prove piety and the church became very rich. They also introduced a father figure to the mythology, the High God. Further, the duties that the eight had placed upon every member of the community, were now transfered to the clergy- provider, liberator, educator, etc... This was all the duty of the church now- so as to provide more centralized control. Church goers are expected to tithe 10% of what they own to the church. There is a list of books (mostly dwarven) that are considered to be inspired by demons or devils in order to lead men to hell and thus must be burned. Reading such books is a sin punishable by any number of things including death or torture. Atheism is the greatest crime imaginable (the goblins ancestor worship is seen as atheism as well). Despite all of this intolerance, most clergy members are very tolerant people, who honestly want to save the souls of the heretics in the world- that doesn't mean that they aren't irritating. Adventuring wizards from the human empire are generally better able to keep a lid on their beliefs and only introduce them when they think they have a chance of converting somebody. The Head of the Church is the high Council, Led by the 'High Magus on Earth' with eight wizards as an advisory council. All clergy are wizards. In general the church can be thought to promote a good- though highly intolerant- religious philosophy,
 * The Provider: The First amongst equals is one who gives to the community
 * The Liberator: The Second amongst equals knows that slaves have no community
 * The Educator: The Third amongst equals is one who passes knowledge to the next generation
 * The Learner: The Fourth amongst equals is one who understands that the quest for secrets never stops
 * The Judge: The Fifth amongst equals is one who stand for the community and holds all to the law
 * The Defender: The Sixth amongst equals is one who stands against invaders for the sake of the community
 * The Historian: The Seventh amongst equals is one who records the deeds of the community to protect them against time
 * The Magus: The Eighth amongst equals is one who holds fire in right hand and black night in the left hand

The Church in Human Politics

There are seventeen states in the Human empire. The Church of Eight controls one of them entirely. Ironically this is not the one where the Tower of Blindness lies. The High Magus is the prince of that State. This makes the other states cautious. Only the state containing the Tower of Blindness tends to stand up to them. This has led to a split with weaker states either backing the church state or the elf state.

The Church view on World History

How old the world is remains unknown. The human Church puts the age world at 10,000 years old, based upon the five generations of elves that they have information about. Dwarves suspect that it may be much much older than that, but are currently not certain enough of the evidence. The Dwarven view, and indeed the dwarven attempt to find another age for the world, is considered heresy at its worst by the church.

The Church of Shax

The Church of Shax is a splinter religion that emerged amongst the Golbins roughly 800 years ago. It contends that the God Shax and his pantheon are responsible for guiding the dead to their proper resting place and that without proper offerings, Shax will allow the spirits of dead goblins to wallow in pain in the bone swamps of the afterlife. Roughly 14% of the overall Goblin population worship the Church of Shax. They are mostly focused near the Black River area and tend to be either in the majority or at least a significant minority. The church recommends pooling of resources, so the worshippers of Shax tend to move around until they are able to establish a strong presence in the location they live in.

Shax

Shax is described as appearing as a slim goblin with the head of a River Crane. He is said to be the God of the Afterlife who guards the souls of the departed and keeps them within the fields of hope in the afterlife. Shax only protects a Goblins ancestors as long as the Goblins descendents are loyal to him, however, and followers of the Church of Shax believe that any goblin who does not worship Shax is causing his ancestors to be left in the Bone Swamps until all of that goblin's descendents once again pay homage and worship Shax.

Amdusias

Amdusias is described as being a large muscular goblin (some have argued that Amdusias is a hobgoblin) with the head of a horse, with wolves teeth, and black wings of a raven. Amdusias is Shax's younger brother. Amdusias is Shax's right hand man and the god of War. Adherents to this Sect hold that Amdusias grants favor in battle to those who worship him, and send those goblins who do not worship him into the hands of those goblins who do. Amdusias believes in slavery and in rule by pure brute strength. While Shax rules the afterlife, Amdusias rules over this life by virtue of sheer strength of arm.

Orabas

Orabas is Amdusias' son and looks similar to his a father: a large goblin with the head of a horse- although instead of raven's wings, Orabas has the wings of large bat. Orabas is the god of luck, and gives good luck to his worshippers at the expense of the unfaithful. Most goblins require that any games of chance begin with all players cursing Orabas to be certain that none of the players is secretly a worshipper.

Ose

Ose is the goddess of knowledge and prophecy. She is said to be able to see the future and grant this ability to his favored priests. Ose is described as appearing as fat goblin with the head of a wild dog with dragon's horns. Ose is the wife of Shax, but sits low on the Church Hierarchy, beneath Amdusias and Orabas (most say Orabas was lucky to be placed ahead of the powerful Ose- but that's the point isn't it?).

Purson

Purson is the daughter of Shax and Ose (they have no sons), and is described as having the head of a she-lion and the tail of a large serpent. She is the patron of hunters and cannibals. According to church lore, she happily stalks the Bone Swamps and repeatedly eats the spirits of goblins whose descendents have stopped worshipping Shax over and over again. Acoording to her priests, to fail to gain her favor is to become prey for those who have that favour. Purson is also the wife of Amdusias, and is the father of Orabas.

Zagan

Zagan is Ose's father, and the last survivor of the old pantheon that supposedly existed before Shax took over. According to Church lore, Ose Prophecized that Shax would become leader of the Pantheon. The leader of the time had her and Shax imprisoned as a result. Zagan was the god who, seeing the truth in his daughter's words, released them and helped them overthrow the old gods. Zagan appears as a huge goblin (larger than Amdusias) with the head of a buffalo with dragon's horns. Zagan is the god of magic and agriculture.

Marchosias

Marchosias is, according to the priests of Shax, the god of wolves. He is the child of Amdusias, and the younger brother of Orabas. He appears as a wolf with human hands and feet (but the limbs of a wolf) and the wings of a bat. Wolves play a large role in Goblin society, and Marchosias grants his priests the ability to talk to wolves.

Malphas

Malphas is also Amdusias' son. It irks Shax no end that his little brother had three sons and he had only one daughter. Malphas appears as a goblin with the head and wings of a raven. Malphas is the god of victory and the spoils of war- decay, carrion, and so forth. It is said that he can give his followers what they want rather than what they have earned.

The God Controversy

Dwarven scholars have pointed out that none of these so-called gods have goblin names. They do not even have name that all come from the same language. Some of the names have an old elven flavour and others an old human or dwarven tone. The Dwarven scholars have suggested that these 'gods' are nothing more than demons. After the Black Water Battle, most goblins have a pathological hatred of demons and the Dwarves' suggestion has put everyone in both sides of goblin religion on edge.

Races
Elves- Elves are not a playable race. There are maybe 300 elves left in the world and almost all of them are powerful spellcasters. Elves are dying out, slowly, they have lost the ability to breed- nobody knows how. It happened thousands of years ago- elves live for thousands of years in this world, so the effects are starting to become apparent. The Elves no longer have a nation- with roughly 300 elves living together in a single citadel within the human empire they are more of a conclave. The Elven citadel is referred to as the Tower of Blindness. It resides in the Capital city of one of the main states in the empire. The elves culture is virtually unknown, but they do not act without total consensus as far as anyone can tell. Elves are Lawful neutral and lawful evil. Long ago they were generally good, but they are currently incredibly powerful, but completely unable to prevent their own demise. They have mostly withdrawn from the world interacting only occasionally. The local prince uses them like a nuclear weapon is used in modern times- as a threat that everybody hopes will never be used. The elves let him do this, though why they do is unknown. Dwarves- Dwarves are playable, but rare. They have an isolated mountain nation- much like Switzerland, with low magic and renaissance level technology. The Dwarves of this world are a unified nation, with a representational democracy. They call their nation the Harzom Mountain Kingdom. The Harzom Kingdom is actually the remainder of a vast Dwarven empire that was sundered in the war of Svartfyr (A Border city that was the flash point in this war.). The Dwarves who survived (and there were very few in relation to how many there were before) swore off empire building and became the recluses that they are today. After the Svartfyr war, the Elves led themselves and their human allies into a golden age that resulted in a huge bloom of magical ability- something that the dwarves missed out on do to their isolation. The loss of territory and magic was also due to concessions that they signed when they lost the Svartfyr war to the Elves. Dwarves do still travel in the outside world, but they are rare. Dwarves these days are known for their restraint and patient natures. Only the elves still distrust them, as most were still alive during the Svartfyr War 1000 years ago. Goblins- Tribal semi-nomadic peoples with a hunter culture. They are a mass of many tribes that are allied under a common alliance. The Golbin nation is an oxymoron. Called the Great Alliance, the goblins have no actual nation, but are a group of tribes that have all agreed to band together in times of trouble. This includes the Black River War. They have discovered that unless they present a unified front to the humans, the humans will attack each tribe separately and never deal honestly with them as a whole. The goblins dislike using a war alliance as an ongoing method of government, and use it very little besides when dealing with humans. Orcs- Are a Raiding Culture, Kind of like Vikings on the plains- but with a little bit of conquerer in them. They work like locusts, they decimate an area and then leave it behind for a while before rading it again, they don't generally leave survivors. In their mythology those who do not fight will die. The weak will be purged by combat- they are darwinian in the extreme. They use blood bonds and similar to improve their chances. They also have no problems sacrificing enemies- although they do not torture (at least not as a general rule). Clerics and Blood Sorcerers tend to be women and men tend to be warriors. The Orcs are uncertain how to deal with their former allies, the Dwarves. Orcish tribes do not raid Dwarves, but the transformation from Magic wielding religous empire to humanistic athiestic technologists has startled the Orcs. The Orcs record their histories on tapestries to line their homes. When two tribes war with each other, both take care to protect the tapestries. As a result the Orcs have an amazing sense of tradition and history and remember the Svartfyr War. The Orcs are the only people who live in the wastes. They were driven there during the Svartfyr War and have never been strong enough to push out until recently. They were allied with the Dwarves in that war, and have lost much of their technology since then, but are still equal to about dark ages vikings. There is no governing body of the Orcs, they raid and pillage as they like. Each village tends to be ruled by a war chief and a village matron, they are equals whose authority do not overlap much. Also remember that they are not predominantly evil. They are chaotic, but not evil. Orcs do not generally backstab, and generally true to their word, and although they are fond of surprise attacks- prefer that the fight be in the open, using surprise only at the outset of combat. Orcs are matriarchal, with lineage being reckoned based on the mother. Men have no lineage- they earn their lineage in battle. Women handle the home and defense and the hearth, the men battle and raid. The two arenas to not overlap. If a home or village is attacked, the males bow to females. In turn the females lean heavily on male advisers during such events. The reason that females lead defensive battles on orcs lands is because the females built the defenses and know the home terrain, well the males are normally out raiding. Despite this heavy segregation, males and females are generally content in their roles. Hobgoblins and Bugbears- Are the savage cousins of goblins and are the outcasts of the Goblin nation. They raid for food, but are generally isolationists living in their own small tribes. The Kobolds- I have decided to make the kobolds the halfings/gully dwarves of the game. I think we need at least one disgusting pathetic race that looks as evil and dumb as it is. Lizard men- There are two races of Lizard Men. The Coastal Lizard Men which are weaker than the monster manual says and are a bas race, and the Island Lizard Men with a more primitive but stronger- ie exactly what the monster manual says. The Lizard men live on the coast and settle along rivers that flood regularly,their culture is similar to Egyptian or Babylonian. They are learned people, who are wise scholars, but they still view all other races as potential food. Their treaties often show respect to other nations by adding the clause "And as long as this treaty stands your people shall never become food for us." Humans- are an organized empire made up of several states that jockey for power. The Emperor is decided by election from the council of princes upon the death of the previous Emperor. Any Prince can be nominated (another prince must nominate them and have the nomination seconded). Those nominees are then excluded from voting and the remaining princes vote on who will be Emperor. There are seventeen states. Kenku- Are a humanoid avian species that lives primarily on the western islands. They have a mysterious guild based government and are mercenary by nature and judge worth by financial status and contracts honored. Kenku used to be caste based. Kenku is the name of the former ruling caste- the warrior caste and the only group to bear wings- although they only permit gliding. Tengu are the former merchant caste and currently run most city guilds. Kankuro are the former farmer caste and have taken control of owning and tolling the road and canal system of the western islands. Treefolk- Intelligent trees who live in the deepest forests. The eat by photosynthesis and have minimal technology, relying on magic and the ability to influence plant growth to make their 'cities' and culture.

Languages
Goblin Language

Based upon Gaelic, and Lakota as wella s various other Native American Languages. The current Goblin language is derived from a large number of local languages. The Goblins have been isolated from the rest of the world's politics for the last ten thousand years until the start of the Black River War and the early human incursions before that. As a result a lot of unique languages sprang up. Over the years, and especially in the last two hundred years, the languages have merged together and the current language- much like modern English- is a mix of many mismatched languages. Common Words Oh!- Hello Spoken with a rising tone, this is the standrad goblin greeting. Hohka!- Hello Stranger This word is used to indicate that you must prove your good intentions. It is similar to the phrase "Sir, would you please step out of the vehicle." It is a demand for validation, not a greeting or a question. It is also spoken with a rising tone. Goblins have a unique feature to their language called attitudinals- suffixes that can be added to a word to describe how the speaker feels about the word and how the listener should feel. Such things are normally handled by tone in other languages- such as sarcasm tainting the phrase "that's wonderful." Goblin history is recorded in epic poems that always use the same rhyme scheme and form. A Goblin history poem is ten syllables long per line, and has the rhyme scheme: A A B B A B C C D D C D ...and so on. The attitudinals allow goblin historian poets to modify the way a word rhymes to fit it to the very rigid form of goblin poetry (which exists to improve memorisation).

Orcish language

Based upon Finn and Norwegian with a little Russian for flavor. The Orcish people are one part Mongol horsemen and one part Viking Raider, and all part badass warriors of the frozen north- hence Finn, Norwegian and Russian.

Old Human Language

Based upon Anglo Saxon with a little modern fantays cause I'm lazy. I liked the idea of using a pre medieval British Language for the earlier human period. It made intuitive sense to me.

Elven/New Human

based upon latin- cause that made sense for the elves. They are civilised and philosophical, but also out of touch with the rest of the world. Latin lends that feel well. They are also the most condescending- again latin works.

Dwarven

The Dwarven language is the lagnuage that the Orcish language is based on. And if you know one you can get by in the other. Dwarven is much closer to pure Finn. Common Phrases

Westspeak

Spoken by the Kenku and the humans of the Western Islands and the Orcs and Treefolk of (which are located on the Eastern Coast of the Continent...?). Westspeak sounds similar to Japanese, Korean, and Tagalog. The Syntax is similar to how Yoda speaks: Verb first, then subject, then object, then any qualifiers. All words are non gender specific and there is no conjugation. Directly translated Westspeak would look like this:

Run yesterday I- along the old forest trail

Meaning: I went for a run yesterday along the old forest trail.

or

saw this morning I, a human male who run at that time

Meaning: This morning I saw a man running.

The words and flow of Westspeak actually makes this language fast and precise, but many West Islanders have trouble adjusting their syntax when using other languages. Although Common has a similar syntax- lacking conjugation and using tense in the same way, most other languages are very different. As a result West Islanders sound very foreign in other languages, but generally understand languages better than they speak them- and frequently use this to their advantage.

Lizard Man

The Lizard Men speak a language drawn from African tribal languages and egyptian. Again this is due to the fact that they are the oldest nation, and because I based their culture on Egyptian culture.

Kobold

Kobolds have two languages. The first is based upon Lizard Man with scraps of elven and dwarven, and then stewed until it has hardened into an ugly sounding series of barks and grunts that just barely resemble the original words that were used to make them. The second language is also based upon Lizard Man, but has a strange arabic twist. The second language is spoken by the Kobolds of the Waste- The Winterscale Warren and by no other Kobolds. The Titanclaw Kobolds speak Dwarven.

Common

Also called the trade language. it sounds an awful lot like Chinese and no living species speaks it as their first language, but it has been the second language of virtually every species for as long as anyone can remember. Nobody seems to know where it came from or how it became the Trade language. It sounds a little like Westspeak, but not a lot.

Ancient History
Evolutionary Theory

Most of the humanoid species evolved from radically different genetic ancestors. Humans and dwarves both evolved from early great apes, but the proto-humans branched off from ancestors that would eventually evolve into things such as the chimpanzee, whereas the Dwarves branched off from ancestors that would eventually become orangutans. This does not mean that humans evolved from chimps or that dwarves evolved from orangutans, it simply means that these two humanoid species diverged from these parts of the evolutionary tree at these distinct points. Kobolds evolved from an early ancestor of the cat and the dog. They are actually one of the oldest humanoid species still extant. There is little to explain their lack of civilisation or history. Goblins evolved from a similar genetic area of the evolutionary tree. The Goblin family evolved from the same family that gave us the wolf, splitting off from the main family soon after the species became differentiated into cat and dog/wolf. Orcs descended from the same genetic stock as wild boars, but split genetically before the feet fused into hooves and instead developed useful hands. Lizard Men are highly evolved dinosaurs. In this world dinosaurs coexist with humanoids, but the Lizard Men branched off from the genetic tree millions of years ago- becoming upright and civilised long before even the kobolds. Lizard Man civilisation has risen and fallen several times. With the climate cooler than it has been in 30 thousand years, the Lizard Men are trapped on the tropical coasts. The temperature flucuations have kept them from retaining much of their empire and thus much of their technology between warm periods. Elves have always been elves. There has been no change or evolution that any dwarven scientist or magical researcher could detect. Some dwarven historians feel that the elves created the other races by manipulating natural selection through selective breeding and through magic to produce the other races. This is seen as a reasonable explanation for the large number of parallel paths of evolution required to make so many similar species from so many different original animals. The Elves do not speak with the Dwarves anymore, and neither confirm nor deny this to anyone else.

The First Kingdom of the Dragon Kings

The Lizard Men records say that the dragons brought the Lizard Men out of the brutish primitive state that the Island Lizard Men still maintain and raised up this first great empire. They ruled the entire continent and claim thatnearly theentire land was warm enough for them and that there were no other races save the Kobolds who were advanced at this point. The Kobolds were slaves in the first empire, but they had a vast and intricate slave society and things were peaceful and everything ran well. They mostly lived in the wastes, the only part of the continent that the Lizard Men found too cold. Some dwarves maintain that this proves some one has been speeding up evolution.

The Northern Rebellion and the Clan of Winterscale

A young dragon named Winterscale is said to have commited the blasphemy. History records that he transformed into a kobold and fathered children with as many of the kobold slaves as he could without revealing who he was. Then in secret he appeared as a dragon and he taught them a false history, with he as the heir to the Throne of the High God (the head of the Dragon Pantheon) who had been overthrown by a corrupt enemy and had then been banished and eslaved along with his chosen people the kobolds. He maintained that many children born to his faithful servants would be great warriors, stronger than other kobolds as a reward for the faith of their parents. When his children were born as half-dragons it seemed to prove his point and he lead a rebellion and managed to hold the wastes as a Separate kingdom. The Dragon Council let him keep the wastes in exchange for his cooperation. Winterscale hatched a deal with the council and told his followers that peace had been restored and that he had managed to forgive his betrayers as they had seen the error of their ways. The damage was done however, and other dragons led half-dragon armies to break apart the empire.

The Second Kingdom of the Dragon Kings

The Three Year Winter and the War of Ice

The Southern and Northern Kingdoms of the Dragon Kings

The Disappearance of the Northern Kingdom

The Last King of Tihmahtti and the Falling of the Southern Empire

History of the Modern Age
(5000 years to 3000 years prior to the Blinding) During the time before the Svartfyr War, history is sketchy, but records from Elven and Dwarven sources both speak of the two species having to free themselves from a vast Lizard man Empire and drive them back into the south

The Svartfyr War

(200 Years prior to the Blinding)

The Svartfyr War was a war between the ancient Dwarven and Elven Empires. it was in this war that the Magic-wielding Dwarven empire was sundered and forced to give up the use of magic for 500 years (three generations). In the Svartfyr War the Elves lost the ability to procreate and began to suffer from the Blinding- a strange condition where the elf afflicted simply loses interest in continued living and wastes away. Also in this war, the Orcs were pushed out of their traditional lands by the Elven Empire and into the Wastes. These lands were later claimed by the Illmarin Empire.

The Situation One Thousand years Ago

One thousand years ago the contintent of Agathos was dominated by two powerful magic-using empires. The Harzom Empire was a dwarven Empire that controlled much of the western lands of the continent. This weas mostly in the mountains, but also in the northern plains throught their Orcish allies. In the southern and eastern lands, the elven empire of Patronus held dominion over the Coastal Lizard Men and their Nation of Ptotemah and the various scattered human Prinicpalities that lived throughout the southern famlands.

The Source of the Conflict

The Start of the War- The Lemmos Incicident

The Waves of Blood- The Early Heavy Strikes

The Scarfront- The Front lines on a war of Attrition

The Ocean Front- A Orcish invasion by sea

The Collapse of the Scarfront

The Treaty of Lemmos: Conditions and Reparations

The Orcish Retreat

The Blinding

The Blinding

(0 Year after the Blinding)

The Blinding is what the elves call the straneg wasting disease that has afflicted them since the Svartfyr War. The Blinding began with the sudden loss of fertility of all elves. Elves live for roughly one thousand to twelve hundred years, so they are on their last legs now. The Elves are certain to this day that this was a final parting shot fired by the Dwarven Empire near the end of the Svartfyr War. It was the belief that this was a Dwarven spell that caused the Elves to write the treaty they did, and force the Dwarves to give up magic for the next five hundred years. As a result even now the Dwarves are the least magically inclined race on the planet. There has never been any solid evidence found linking the Dwarves to the Blinding, and all Dwarves alive during the war are long dead. The Elves restarted their calender to coincide with the date of the Blinding in order to keep track of how much time they had.

The First Effects of the Blinding

The Later Effects of the Blinding

Life Extension Magic and the Blinding

Perceived Dwarven Involvement

The Effect of the Blinding upon Elven Population

The Fall of the Patronus Empire

The Blind Tower

The Prophecy of Sorin and the Council of Sorinesti

The Dwarves Retreat

(10 years to 200 years after the Blinding) With the loss of their magic, the Dwarven Empire lost ground in a series of border skirmishes with the Humans, secetly aided by the Elves. This eventually led to the Dwarves retreating all the way back to their Mountain Stronghold- which they have held ever since.

The Illmarin Conquests

(200 years to 500 after the Blinding) As the Elves began to wane, dying off do to the lack of interest is eating or sleep caused by the Blinding, the Elven Empire began to crumble. In a desperate bid to save their race- those elves least afflicted gathered the elves they could and presented themselves to the Human Nation of Illmaria. They would teach the humans their vast mystical knowledge in exchange for help maintaining their numbers. The Illmarin nobles had a tower built to house to remaining elves and granted them keepers who helped remind them to eat and sleep and helped keep them interested in the world around them, while the less afflicted elves taught the humans and worked madly to find a cure.

The Dwarven Enlightenment

(300 years after the Blinding until Present Day) In their flight back to Harzom, their original mountain nation, the Dwarves were forced to improvise. Over the course of several border wars the Dwarves began to develop better technology. Since magic would have brought the elves down on their heads, the Dwarves became obsessive about technological improvement. During this time, the attitude of the Dwarves changed and they began to develop a different mind set from other races- one similar to the mind set of the age of enlightment combined with the attitude of the industrial revolution. Scientific Method was developed. Atheism began to become a common feature in Dwarven life. the idea of nobility was replaced with the idea of merit and equality of opportunity. In short the Dwarves modernised. They had to, the choice was modernise or be consumed by the various human nations.

The Visions of Ukko (Orish War of Succession)

(332 years after the Blinding to the Present Day) The Orcs had been staunch allies of the Dwarves during the Svartfyr war, and thus found themselves mercilessly attacked by the humans when the Svartfyr War ended. With their numbers depleted and no Dwarven magic to aid them, the Orcs fled into the Northern Wastes to lick their wounds. In the Wastes many Orcs died as they adapted to the climate and the human incursions. Whereas before Orcs had been a settle people, living in Motte and Bailey Castles with towns surrounding them, now they had to stay on the move to avoid human extermination forces. The Orcs slowly transformed a feudal system into a nomadic tribal society. It was during the early days of their exile in the Waste that an Orc named Mavonut claimed to have received a vision from Ukko the Sky God. He had been gifted with a vision of how to reclaim their former glory. Mavonut set about drawing together the Orish peoples and creating a system that he knew would not be ready until long after he was dead. Mavonut's goal was to reclaim their homeland by hiding in the Waste and training the suriviving Orcs into an unbeatable army. To this end, Mavonut led a coup on the leader of his House and took command. He then led a bloody campaign of unification against his people until everyone who opposed him was either broken or dead. He then set about to implementing the changes into Orcish society that he felt were needed. Mavonut's changes were effective and so complete that they actually survived, not only his death, but nearly 700 hundred years. To this day the Orcs are still training. They are raiding the humans and slowly getting ready for the day that they will reclaim their homelands. There are more than twice as many Orcs as most other nations believe there are- this is not an accident. When war comes, the Orcs intend to have all the advantages that they can.

The Black River War

(923 yearsto 954 years after the Blinding) The Illmarin Nation, with the magic taught to them by the elves, were easily able to conquer and unite the human nations. After this, they turned to the west, to the vast untouched plains where the Goblins lived. Seeing them as savages who did not properly own the land and who were not even aware of the true gods, the Illmarin Empire set about to colonising the plains with no regard for the Goblins. The Goblins tried to negotiate or reason with the humans, but they received false promises or demands to convert to the human religion. Eventually at the settlement of Black River, the Goblins decided that that they had had enough and destroyed the town. They left only the children alive, claiming that even the unarmed settlers were invaders who were wagin war by destroying the land that the goblins lived on. The humans responded with total war. The Goblins banded together into the Great Alliance, and the war lasted for years with no actual battle front. The Goblins stopped the technologically and magically superior human forces by refusing to fight traditional battles and by considering settlers to be warriors. They attacked supply caravans rather than armies. Raided army camps and stole only weapons and burned scrolls and spell books. In short they refused to fight the way the humans were used to fighting. The Humans responded by killing any Goblins they found. Period. Woman or child or invalid. The Goblins responded by abandoning villages and becomes entirely nomadic.

The Silver Scale Treaty

(954 years after the Blinding) Eventually after several years with no clear winner a peace treay was declared. It is widely believed that the humans offered the treaty because the Goblins method of war was more expensive to deal with than traditional war and the Illmarin Empire still had the Orcish raiders to contend with in the North.

Magic (by Culture)
Elven Magic Human Magic Dwarven Magic Orcish Magic Goblin Magic Treefolk Magic
 * The Rites of One: A Law based, mathematical magic
 * The Rites of Two: A Law based, mathematical magic
 * The Rites of Three: A Law based, mathematical magic
 * The Rites of Four: A Law based, mathematical magic
 * The Rites of Five: A Law based, mathematical magic
 * The Rites of Six: A Law based, mathematical magic
 * The Rites of Seven: A Law based, mathematical magic
 * The Rites of Eight: A Law based, mathematical magic
 * The School of Secrets: A little known school of elven war strategy magic
 * The Skin of Dragons: An older almost forgotten school of Magic
 * The Rites of One: A Law based, mathematical magic
 * The Rites of Two: A Law based, mathematical magic
 * The Rites of Three: A Law based, mathematical magic
 * The Rites of Four: A Law based, mathematical magic
 * The Rites of Five: A Law based, mathematical magic
 * The Rites of Six: A Law based, mathematical magic
 * The Rites of Seven: A Law based, mathematical magic
 * The Rites of Eight: A Law based, mathematical magic
 * Eska's Song: An old Ronari song based magic- primarily war and defense
 * Talesi's Song: An old Ronari song based magic-used for healing and recording history
 * The Rites of Stone and Steel: The Older Dwarven Magic- elemental based focusing on earth and stone and metal
 * The Rites of Ukko: The Old Dwarven holy magic- sky based primarily
 * Metaphysics: Modern Dwarven magic, based on Scientific Method
 * The Skin of Dragons: An older almost forgotten school of Magic
 * The Rites of Ukko: The Old Dwarven holy magic- sky based primarily
 * The Blood Bonds of Mavonut: Modern blood based magic brought in by the recent dynasty of the Orcs
 * Ice Whispers: A winter based magic that the Orcs acquired in the wastes
 * Foretelling: The Art of asking the elders of tomorrow for guidance
 * Dreamwalking: The Art of Sharing one's body with ancestors for added power
 * Fire Sculpting: Fire Elemental Magic
 * Beast Walking: The Art of Shapeshifting
 * The Way of Shax: A curse based, combat heavy magic style granted by the Church of Shax
 * Wood Talking: A nature based magic form
 * Weather Talking: An air elemental magic form

Magic Items

It will be possible to make magical items, but extremely difficult and then they will be weak magical items. Great items are created by actions. Actions of legend, things that people will talk about for years- these actions can transform a non-magical item into a magical one. It doesn't happen in one fell swoop, but over the course of time- as a story grows with each telling.