Geograpy

The Elsir Vale is a thinly populated human frontier. The vale stretches almost 250 miles east to west and averages about 70 miles north to south. Several small mountain ranges and dense forests form the vale’s borders. Elsir Vale lies in the subtropical latitudes. Summers are hot and dry (although punctuated by the occasional intense thunderstorm), and winters are warm and rainy. Large stretches of the area are quite arid, and the vale is flanked by the vast savannahs stretching for mile after dusty mile. The forests that stretch across most of the vale’s northern reaches are stifling and sweltering hot in the summertime, with not a breath of wind to relieve the oppressive heat.

It is currently mid-summer in the vale. Days are hot (25° to 42° C) and nights warm (15° to 25° C). This is the dry season, so rainfall is infrequent – but when it comes down, it really comes down. Thunderstorms and tornadoes are common.

Though the borders of the vale are mostly hills, mountains and forests, the heart of the vale is grassy plains for the most part. Every town in the vale is surrounded by numerous farms. Beyond the civilized areas are vast rolling plains with infrequent hillocks and copses of trees.



History of the Vale

The scattered human towns and villages of the area grew up along the Dawn Way, an important east-west trade road linking the heavily settled lands that lie northwest across the Endless Plains with the exotic kingdoms and goods of the coastal lands lying to the southeast. Much of the Dawn Way was built by an ancient dwarven kingdom that spanned the Wyrmsmoke and Giantshield Mountains more than a thousand years ago. While the dwarven kingdom is long gone, their roads, bridges, and cisterns remain in use to this day. After the kingdom passed, the presence of various monsters and raiders kept traffic along the Dawn Way light for many years; few caravans dared the long and dangerous trek. Few humans lived in Elsir Vale during those years – only scattered settlements of druidic folk who left behind little more than grassy barrows and stone circles on the hilltops.

About five hundred years ago, the nearby city of Rhest came to control the vale and a large swath of land north of the Giantshields as well. Soldiers from Rhest secured the roads all the way to Dennovar and beyond, creating a safe passage for trade. More and more traders traveled the Dawn Way, and the kingdom of Rhestilor grew wealthy on the tariffs exacted from the passing merchants. Under the kingdom’s shield, the towns along the Dawn Way – Brindol, Talar, Terrelton, and the rest – grew up from tiny hamlets or lonely soldiers’ posts to flourishing human settlements.

The kingdom of Rhestilor eventually collapsed under civil strife, monstrous incursions, and magical blights. Almost two hundred years ago, the city of Rhest was burned by savage horde out of the Wyrmsmoke Mountains. Although the warriors of Rhestilor killed many of the goblins and their kind, the city was abandoned and the already weakened kingdom broken. The locks and canals surrounding Rhest fell into disrepair, and the Blackfens (swamp) swallowed the ruined city.

In the years after the kingdom’s fall, the towns of Elsir Vale came to look after themselves. Most of the local lords still held titles derived from the old kingdom of Rhestilor. While everyone knew that the kings of Rhestilor were long dead, no new realm arose in the vale.


This message was last edited by the GM at 20:27, Sun 19 July 2020.

People of the Realms

Humans are far and away the most common race found in the Elsir Vale. Most can trace their lineage back to the kingdom of Rhestilor, though others from farther afield have blown into the vale over the intervening years since that realm vanished. Additionally, many settlers can also trace some, or perhaps even all, of their heritage back to the indigenous druidic people that settled here before more ambitious conquerors arrived.

Elves may be found in the vale as well, the vast majority of which are xenophobic Wild Elves, dwelling in either the Blackfens or the Westdeep. A small number of these wild elves have abandoned their ancient ways and slowly assimilated into human society, though upon doing so their ties to their ancestral people are generally severed, as they are considered outsiders. Elves from distant lands are not entirely unknown in the Elsir Vale, having come to the region for a variety of reasons. Half-elves may also be found in the towns and cities throughout the region, though their numbers are quite small.

Dwarves are primarily found in the Hammerfist Holds, a group of a half-dozen clanholds that sometimes trade with the humans of the vale. Additionally, dwarves are not uncommon in many of the human towns and villages of the vale, taking up various occupations and generally trying to fit in as best they can.

Halflings can be found in most towns and villages in the vale, though their numbers are quite small with the vast majority dwelling in a loose collection of family burrows dug into the rolling hills south of The Dawn Way, with the greastest concentration of these small folk clustered in and about the Brown Hills. Halflings often serve as intermediaries between human and dwarf merchants.

Gnomes live beneath the foothills of the Giantshield Mountains and occasionally trade their wares with Brindol, carved Gnomish gold items being the most widely sought after. Additionally, sizable Gnomish enclaves can be found in the cities of Brindol and Dennovar.

Half-Orcs are not an uncommon sight across the region, their people the shameful legacy of a period of bloody conquest and subjugation by The Gouged Eye, an orc clan that swept out of the Giantshield Mountains in the years preceding the arrival of men from the Kingdom of Rhestilor. Most half-orcs live on the fringes of civilized society, though some half-orcs are begrudgingly accepted and may be found in the towns and villages across the vale. The largest concentration of half-orcs is found in Red Rock.

Other Notable Civilized Population Groups

Lizardfolk can be found in the ruins of Rhest, but ther numbers are largely kept in check by the Tiri Kitor, the Wild Elves that call the Blackfens home.

Goblinoids of all forms call the Wyrmsmoke Mountains home and travelers trekking across the Dwarfroad Pass are almost assured to be harassed by these predatory marauders. For this reason, one is well advised to travel by day, with numbers, through this region to dissuade or defend against possible attacks.

Orcs clans are found throughout the Giantshield Mountains, though it has been several years since any have made a concerted effort to raid too deeply into Elsir Vale.

Gnoll packs rove throughout the Thornwaste and occasionally drift into the Elsir Vale in search of easy prey.

Kobolds are known to infest the Giantshield and Wyvernwatch Mountains, but Dwarves and Gnomes, respectively, keep their numbers largely in check.


This message was last edited by the GM at 15:47, Sun 23 May 2021.

A multitude of pantheons and deities are worshipped across the Known World and any attempt to list them all would prove difficult for even the wisest of sages. In general, the people of Elsir Vale primarily pay homage to several of the deities listed below and/or the Old Ones, ancestral spirits of the indigenous druidic people of the Elsir Vale. Many people hold one deity as their patron, while still paying homage to other gods and goddesses, as befitting the occasion.

Some of the major deities include:

Lawful and Neutral Deities

Avandra
The god of change, Avandra delights in freedom, trade, travel, adventure, and the frontier. Her temples are few in civilized lands, but her wayside shrines appear throughout the world. Halflings, merchants, and all types of adventurers are drawn to her worship, and many people raise a glass in her honor, viewing her as the god of luck. Her commandments are few:
✦ Luck favors the bold. Take your fate into your own hands, and Avandra smiles upon you.
✦ Strike back against those who would rob you of your freedom and urge others to fight for their own liberty.
✦ Change is inevitable, but it takes the work of the faithful to ensure that change is for the better.

Bahamut
Called the Platinum Dragon, Bahamut is the god of justice, protection, nobility, and honor. Lawful knights, paladins and crusaders often revere him, and metallic dragons worship him as the first of their kind. Monarchs are crowned in his name. He commands his followers thus:
✦ Uphold the highest ideals of honor and justice.
✦ Be constantly vigilant against evil and oppose it on all fronts.
✦ Protect the weak, liberate the oppressed, and defend just order.

Corellon
The god of spring, beauty, and the arts, Corellon is the patron of arcane magic and the fey. He seeded the world with arcane magic and planted the most ancient forests. Artists and musicians worship him, as do those who view their spellcasting as an art, and his shrines can be found throughout the Feywild. He despises Lolth and her priestesses for leading the drow astray. He urges his followers thus:
✦ Cultivate beauty in all that you do, whether you’re casting a spell, composing a saga, strumming a lute, or practicing the arts of war.
✦ Seek out lost magic items, forgotten rituals, and ancient works of art. Corellon might have inspired them in the world’s first days.
✦ Thwart the followers of Lolth at every opportunity.

Erathis
Erathis is the god of civilization. She is the muse of great invention, founder of cities, and author of laws. Rulers, judges, pioneers, and devoted citizens revere her, and her temples hold prominent places in most of the world’s major cities. Her laws are many, but their purpose is straightforward:
✦ Work with others to achieve your goals. Community and order are always stronger than the disjointed efforts of lone individuals.
✦ Tame the wilderness to make it fit for habitation, and defend the light of civilization against the encroaching darkness.
✦ Seek out new ideas, new inventions, new lands to inhabit, new wilderness to conquer. Build machines, build cities, build empires.

Ioun
Ioun is the god of knowledge, skill, and prophecy. Sages, seers, and tacticians revere her, as do all who live by their knowledge and mental power. Corellon is the patron of arcane magic, but Ioun is the patron of its study. Libraries and wizard academies are built in her name. Her commands are also teachings:
✦ Seek the perfection of your mind by bringing reason, perception, and emotion into balance with one another.
✦ Accumulate, preserve, and distribute knowledge in all forms. Pursue education, build libraries, and seek out lost and ancient lore.
✦ Be watchful at all times for the followers of Vecna, who seek to control knowledge and keep secrets. Oppose their schemes, unmask their secrets, and blind them with the light of truth and reason.

Kord
Kord is the storm god and the lord of battle. He revels in strength, battlefield prowess, and thunder. Fighters and athletes revere him. He is a mercurial god, unbridled and wild, who summons storms over land and sea; those who hope for better weather appease him with prayers and spirited toasts. He gives few commands:
✦ Be strong, but do not use your strength for wanton destruction.
✦ Be brave and scorn cowardice in any form.
✦ Prove your might in battle to win glory and renown.

Melora
Melora is the god of the wilderness and the sea. She is both the wild beast and the peaceful forest, the raging whirlpool and the quiet desert. Rangers, hunters, and elves revere her, and sailors make offerings to her before beginning their voyages. Her strictures are these:
✦ Protect the wild places of the world from destruction and overuse. Oppose the rampant spread of cities and empires.
✦ Hunt aberrant monsters and other abominations of nature.
✦ Do not fear or condemn the savagery of nature. Live in harmony with the wild.

Moradin
Moradin is the god of creation and patron of artisans, especially miners and smiths. He carved the mountains from primordial earth and is the guardian and protector of the hearth and the family. Dwarves from all walks of life follow him. He demands these behaviors of his followers:
✦ Meet adversity with stoicism and tenacity.
✦ Demonstrate loyalty to your family, your clan, your leaders, and your people.
✦ Strive to make a mark on the world, a lasting legacy. To make something that lasts is the highest good, whether you are a smith working at a forge or a ruler building a dynasty.

Pelor
God of the sun and summer, Pelor is the keeper of time. He supports those in need and opposes all that is evil. As the lord of agriculture and the bountiful harvest, he is the deity most commonly worshiped by ordinary humans, and his priests are well received wherever they go. Paladins and rangers are found among his worshipers. He directs his followers thus:
✦ Alleviate suffering wherever you find it.
✦ Bring Pelor’s light into places of darkness, showing kindness, mercy, and compassion.
✦ Be watchful against evil.

The Raven Queen
The name of the god of death is long forgotten, but she is called the Raven Queen. She is the spinner of fate and the patron of winter. She marks the end of each mortal life, and mourners call upon her during funeral rites, in the hope that she will guard the departed from the curse of undeath. She expects her followers to abide by these commandments:
✦ Hold no pity for those who suffer and die, for death is the natural end of life.
✦ Bring down the proud who try to cast off the chains of fate. As the instrument of the Raven Queen, you must punish hubris where you find it.
✦ Watch for the cults of Orcus and stamp them out whenever they arise. The Demon Prince of the Undead seeks to claim the Raven Queen’s throne.

Sehanine
God of the moon and autumn, Sehanine is the patron of trickery and illusions. She has close ties to Corellon and Melora and is a favorite deity among elves and halflings. She is also the god of love, who sends shadows to cloak lovers’ trysts. Scouts and thieves ask for her blessing on their work. Her teachings are simple:
✦ Follow your goals and seek your own destiny.
✦ Keep to the shadows, avoiding the blazing light of zealous good and the utter darkness of evil.
✦ Seek new horizons and new experiences, and let nothing tie you down.

Chaotic Deities
Your character can worship a Chaotic deity without being of the same alignment, but that’s walking a fine line. The commandments of these deities exhort their followers to pursue evil ends or commit destructive deeds.

Asmodeus
Asmodeus is the god of tyranny and domination. He rules the Nine Hells with an iron fist and a silver tongue. Aside from devils, evil creatures such as rakshasas pay him homage, and evil tieflings and warlocks are drawn to his dark cults. His rules are strict and his punishments harsh:
✦ Seek power over others, that you might rule with strength as the Lord of Hell does.
✦ Repay evil with evil. If others are kind to you, exploit their weakness for your own gain.
✦ Show neither pity nor mercy to those who are caught underfoot as you climb your way to power. The weak do not deserve compassion.

Bane
Bane is the god of war and conquest. Militaristic nations of humans and goblins serve him and conquer in his name. Evil fighters and knights serve him. He commands his worshipers to:
✦ Never allow your fear to gain mastery over you, but drive it into the hearts of your foes.
✦ Punish insubordination and disorder.
✦ Hone your combat skills to perfection, whether you are a mighty general or a lone mercenary.

Gruumsh
Gruumsh is the god of destruction, lord of marauding barbarian hordes. Where Bane commands conquest, Gruumsh exhorts his followers to slaughter and pillage. Orcs are his fervent followers, and they bear a particular hatred for elves and eladrin because Corellon put out one of Gruumsh’s eyes. The One-Eyed God gives simple orders to his followers:
✦ Conquer and destroy.
✦ Let your strength crush the weak.
✦ Do as you will, and let no one stop you.

Lolth
Lolth is the god of shadow, lies, and spiders. Scheming and treachery are her commands, and her priests are a constant force of disruption in the otherwise stable society of the evil drow. Though she is properly a god and not a demon, she is called Demon Queen of Spiders. She demands that her followers:
✦ Do whatever it takes to gain and hold power.
✦ Rely on stealth and slander in preference to outright confrontation.
✦ Seek the death of elves and eladrin at every opportunity.

Tiamat
Tiamat is the god of wealth, greed, and envy. She is the patron of chromatic dragons and those whose lust for wealth overrides any other goal or concern. She commands her followers to:
✦ Hoard wealth, acquiring much and spending little. Wealth is its own reward.
✦ Forgive no slight and leave no wrong unpunished.
✦ Take what you desire from others. Those who lack the strength to defend their possessions are not worthy to own them.

Torog
Torog is the god of the Underdark, patron of jailers and torturers. Common superstition holds that if his name is spoken, the King that Crawls burrows up from below and drags the hapless speaker underground to an eternity of imprisonment and torture. Jailers and torturers pray to him in deep caves and cellars, and creatures of the Underdark revere him as well. He teaches his worshipers to:
✦ Seek out and revere the deep places beneath the earth.
✦ Delight in the giving of pain, and consider pain you receive as homage to Torog.
✦ Bind tightly what is in your charge, and restrain those who wander free.

Vecna
Vecna is the god of undead, necromancy, and secrets. He rules that which is not meant to be known and that which people wish to keep secret. Evil spellcasters and conspirators pay him homage. He commands them to:
✦ Never reveal all you know.
✦ Find the seed of darkness in your heart and nourish it; find it in others and exploit it to your advantage.
✦ Oppose the followers of all other deities so that Vecna alone can rule the world.

Zehir
Zehir is the god of darkness, poison, and assassins. Snakes are his favored creation, and the yuan-ti revere him above all other gods, offering sacrifice to him in pits full of writhing serpents. He urges his followers to:
✦ Hide under the cloak of night, that your deeds might be kept in secret.
✦ Kill in Zehir’s name and offer each murder as a sacrifice.
✦ Delight in poison, and surround yourself with snakes.


This message was last edited by the GM at 03:31, Fri 21 May 2021.

Settlements of the Vale

Assardoth: A dusty speck of a village on the fringe of Elsir Vale's extreme western edge, its people a hardy, independent folk capable of dealing with threats that range out of The Thornwaste and Westdeep.

Brindol: One of the largest settlements in the vale, Brindol is a prosperous farming community and caravan stopover located along the Dawn Way on the south bank of the Elsir River. Orchards of apple and pear trees follow the river’s winding shores, while broad grain fields and farmlands surround the town for miles in all directions. Brindol is the home of Lord Kerden Jarmaath, and his small keep and the city walls are the only fortifications of note this side of Dennovar.


Dauth: A sleepy little hamlet about halfway between the Hammerfist Holds and Brindol, Dauth is home to about two hundred people. It is noted for the Tired Giant, an inn and taphouse under the proprietorship of Galadan Ryethresher. The Rhestorilan nobles who once ruled here died out two generations ago, and Dauth Keep—their ancestral home—is only a burned-out shell overlooking the settlement. A council of elders now governs the village.

Dennovar: A trade-city located on the shores of Lake Ern, Dennovar is the largest community of Elsir Vale. It’s the eastern gateway to the Vale, the first bit of civilization a weary traveller encounters after crossing the Golden Plains. Lady Yisel Bristeir is the titular ruler here, but in practice the city is governed by the Merchants Council—powerful oligarchs primarily concerned with keeping the city a good place to do business. Dennovar is also noteworthy for the dozens of temples, both minor and major, that dot its streets. The activities of these places are overseen by the Temple Council, made up of the highest-ranking clerics devoted to each of the deities the temples serve.

Drellin’s Ferry: This small town of 1,000 or sould is THE river crossing for the Dawn Way (main east-west highway in the region). There was a stone, dwarven bridge here hundreds of years ago, but it was destroyed. The stone pillars are still visible in the river, but little remains of the bridge. A hundred feet downstream is the ferry crossing. A large barge floats here, attached to ropes and pulleys on both sides of the river. The river is 30 feet deep here, and the ferry is the only way to get wagons, livestock and such across. Drellin's Ferry boast two inns and a taphouse to support travelers: the Old Bridge, the Green Apple and Gausler's Brewhouse. There is also temple of Pelor here, in addition to numerous small shrines to other deities. The town is governed by Town Speaker Wiston, a wealthy landowner and businessman.

Elsircross: A small town at the ford of the Elsir River, Elsircross is known for woodcutting and papermaking.


Hammerfist Holds: In the high foothills of the Wyvernwatch Mountains lies the Hammerfist Holds, a half-dozen dwarven clanholds that sometimes trade with the humans of the vale. Each of the holds is a hamlet or village, home to a hundred or more dwarves. This is the area’s only source of raw stone and metal ore. This community houses about 2,900, most of whom are dwarves.

Hillwatch: A dusty flyspeck of a hamlet located in the northern part of the Brown Hills, Hillwatch is primarily populated by shepherds and cattleherds. The town has no inn or tavern; travellers often stay at the home of Jerossil Indo, a well-off rancher who takes a few coins to board strangers for a night or two.



Marthton: Located in the shadow of Marth Forest, this small town thrives on woodcutting and catering to traders on the Dawn Way. In the hills nearby lie a number of ancient barrows and stone circles of the long-vanished druidic folk who once dwelled in these lands.

Nimon Gap: A tiny hamlet located at the place where the Dawn Way descends out of the Nimon Hills, Nimon Gap grew up around a large walled inn known as the Cross-Eyed Beholder. The folk of Nimon Gap grow apples, pears, and chestnuts in orchards sheltered below the hills, while shepherds and goatherds keep their livestock in the heights.

Prosser: A village located about halfway between Brindol and Hillwatch, Prosser is a quiet little place where the adventuring band known as the Six Blades retired some years ago. The former adventurers cleared a number of troublesome monsters from the woods to the west and brought a new prosperity to the town. The wizard Sardith is recognized as the leader of the band, but he usually leaves most affairs to in the hands of Deillyr Starcloak. Deillyr run’s the town’s taphouse and serves as the chief constable, judge, and troubleshooter.

Red Rock: Rich copper veins in the high foothills of the Giantshield Mountains eventually gave rise to the rough-and-tumble mining town of Red Rock. In addition to the copper mines, Red Rock also serves as a trading post for trappers, hunters, and prospectors who wander all over the southern flank of the mountains. A number of dwarves and half-orcs live here, with no small amount of bad blood between them.



Talar: A small town west of Brindol, Talar is governed by Lady Celiira Nestern, a high-spirited woman who has recently returned from travels abroad to take up her late father’s title. Her impulsive ideas are often tempered by an old and conservative town council, whose members grew accustomed to running things during the old lord’s long decline.

Terrelton: The western end of Elsir Vale is drier and more sparsely settled than the eastern end. Terrelton is a dusty town that gets by on the livestock and leather trades; several large, foul-smelling tanneries sit in the hills east of the town. The town is governed by a Merchants Council.

Witchcross: A large village located at the ford of the Witchstream, Witchcross is ostensibly governed by a council of elders. However, the elders make no decisions without consulting a circle of Witchwood druids known as the Keepers of Eth.



Places of Interest

The Blackfens: Lake Rhestin’s eastern shore is hard to define, because the lake gradually gives way to a vast wetland known as the Blackfens. The Blackfens tend to be marsh, rather than swamp—that is, most of the landscape is a treeless maze of open water, reeds, and wet, grassy flats that shelter countless waterfowl. Isolated hummocks or islets in the marsh are covered with dense brush or forest. In the days of Rhestilor the marsh was much smaller, its spread controlled through locks and canals, but it has grown steadily since the kingdom’s dissolution. Half-drowned farmhouses, dilapidated barns and sheds, and sinking fieldstone fences tell the tale of settled lands slowly inundated and abandoned.

The Dwarfroad: About 20 miles north of Skull Gorge, the Dawn Way splits into the Old North Road, which leads up along the western shores of Lake Rhestin to the Endless Plains and the cities to the north, and the Dwarfroad, which climbs through the Wyrmsmoke Mountains to the dwarven lands of the Stonehome Mountains and beyond. Travel can sometime be perilous along it, due to occasional attacks by goblins, bandits, and worse, usually near the Wyrmsmoke Mountains.

Elsir River: The major river of the region is the Elsir, a broad but slow-moving stream fed by a number of tributaries. For most of its length, the Elsir averages 200 to 400 yards in width, reaching depths of 20 to 40 feet in the middle of its channel. The small town of Elsircross, about 150 miles upstream of Brindol, is the first place where it can be forded, although a wooden bridge spans the river at Brindol and ferries cross it at Talar and Drellin’s Ferry.

Endless Plains: North of the mountains at the edge of Elsir Vale lies a great windblown sea of dry grass, stretching for hundreds of miles east, north, and west. The planes aren’t truly featureless; the land has a fair amount of rise and fall, and low-lying creek beds choked with undergrowth and briars cut deep gullies through the grassland. Lonely stands of tall, hardy trees dot the savannah-land. Nomadic human barbarians, tribes of gnolls, and bands of wild centaurs roam the Endless Plains.

Giantshield Mountains: Sheltering Elsir Vale from the harsh weather of the Endless Plains, the Giantshield Mountains are a low range of arid, well-weathered peaks. The northern slopes are barren, dry, and rocky, home to a variety of dangerous monsters. The southern slopes are a little more hospitable, covered in light pine forest and cut by the gorges of many small seasonal streams. A smattering of isolated farms and steadings hidden throughout the southwest portion of the range represent the last remnants of the druidic folk who once lived throughout the vale.

Golden Plains: East of Elsir Vale lies a vast, arid steppeland that quickly gives way to rocky desert. In the vicinity of Dennovar the Golden Plains are dry, flat grassland, but within a few dozen miles the grass gives way to a rock-littered badland of flats and mesas—a waterless and inhospitable wilderness posing a formidable trial for the trade caravans following the Dawn Way.

Lake Rhestin: This shallow, marshy lake stretches almost 100 miles from north to south. Once its shores were dotted with the villages and manors of Rhestilor, but in the centuries since the kingdom’s fall, humans have largely abandoned the old heartland of the realm.

Marth Forest: Climbing the southern foothills of the Giantshield Mountains, Marth Forest is a rugged, wild woodland rarely trodden by human feet except in the southwestern fringes. In its lower reaches, the forest is dotted with the old barrows and stone circles of the ancient druidic folk who once dominated the vale. The higher parts are home to barbarian tribes--disorganized clutches of feral berserkers rarely encountered outside the woods.

Rhest: Once a prosperous city and centre of the kingdom of Rhestilor, Rhest is now a half-drowned ruin slowly sinking into the Blackfens. At it’s peak, the surrounding lands were well tended fields with levies, irrigation systems, and were clear for miles. Centuries of erosion and lack of attention have turned the farmlands into swamp. Rice and soybean fields are now overgrown with twisted trees, poisonous vines, and are crawling with snakes, crocodiles, and worse. Civilized people abandoned the place long ago. The only intelligent beings there now are lizard folk, if you consider them intelligent.

The Thornwaste: South of the Wyrmsmoke Mountains lies a vast barren land known as the Thornwaste. A maze of broken hills, briar-choked ravines, and dry, dusty scrubland, these badlands give way to larger and larger stretches of true desert as one goes farther south and west. The Thronwaste has long been the haunt of lions, hieracosphinxes, and other hungry monsters. The ruins of a lost serpent-empire thousands of years old still lie hidden in this wasteland.

Vraath Keep: Formerly a fortress held and manned by a powerful family of soldiers known as the Vraaths, this keep survived the fall of Rhestilor but later succumbed to a senseless fued with local forest giants. For many years the keep has stood in ruins. It is rumored to contain riches beneath the keep, but it is also said to be haunted by the spirits of the dead.

The Westdeep: Several xenophobic tribes of wild elves dwell in the depths of this dense forest, avoiding contact with most other folk. The elves of the Blackfens once counted themselves among those folk, but centuries ago they broke ties with the Westdeep elves and struck out to the east, eventually settling in the Blackfens.

The Witchwood: Generally held to be haunted by the restless spirits of the ancient human druidic folk who once dwelled here, the Witchwood is a lush, wet woodland interspersed with swampy stretches in the vicinity of the larger rivers.

Wyrmsmoke Mountains: Several volcanic peaks gave this rugged range of hills and low mountains its name; travelers who observed the plumes of ash and smoke that sometimes arose from the inner hills believed that a great red dragon was responsible for the fuming hills. The Wyrmsmokes are home to a number of goblin, hobgoblin, and bugbear tribes.

Wyvernwatch Mountains: South of Elsir Vale lie the Wyvernwatch Mountains, a forbidding range of high, steep mountains with a few passes leading to the other side. The Wyvernwatches divide Elsir Vale from the more densely populated and civilized realms of the southern coast. Only the most determined trekkers cross the range; most go hundreds of miles out of their way by circling east or west around the mountains before turning north.


This message was last edited by the GM at 17:32, Sun 23 May 2021.

Creation Myth
In the beginning, the Age of Dragons, two mighty dragons were locked in eternal struggle, the heavens their battlefield. Their bleeding wounds spawned worlds uncountable and in these worlds, new deities sprung forth. Thus began the Age of Myth. These deities held domain over various portfolios and soon spawned mortal champions, thus began the Age of Legend. These champions established vast empires that rose and fell like the breaking tides. From the ruins of these ancient civilizations, new empires emerged. These empires harnessed the power of the Gods to accomplish great deeds, of both weal and woe. They warred against one another and caused great strife across the world, but in this time, the mortal races began to emerge to rise up against the rule of the Empires of Legend. The fate of the world hung in the balance and the Gods decreed a new age, the Age of Heroes. The gods and demi-gods retreated to their domains in the celestial heavens, content to watch the mortals' progress with great interest, the forces of Law, Neutrality and Chaos locked in their own eternal struggle. Thus began the Age of Heroes.

Time Reckoning
Many different manners of time reckoning exist across the Realms, though most have adopted the Platinum Standard, named after the Gods of the Realms. Some realms still use the names of the month devised by the Gregorian Empire, though their name origins are lost by all but the wisest of sages. Still, both are commonly used throughout most of the lands.

There are 360 days of the year, divided into 30-day months. Eleven are named for the Gods of Law and Neutrality and one for the progenitor of chaos, Tiamat. The names of the months are as follows:

Bahameth  (January)
Raveneth  (February)
Meloreth  (March)
Corelleth (April)
Eratheth  (May)
Avandreth (June)
Peloreth  (July)
Kordeth   (August)
Sehaneth  (September)
Iouneth   (October)
Moradeth  (Novemeber)
Tiameth   (December)

Each day is 24 hours long. The days of the week are named as follows:

Sehanines-day     (Monday)
Bahamuts-day      (Tuesday)
Corellons-day     (Wednesday)
Kords-day         (Thursday)
Erathis-day       (Friday)
Meloras-day       (Saturday)
Pelors-day        (Sunday)
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:34, Sun 19 July 2020.