Sefonia has never been a peaceful place.

It was first tamed by the immortal dragons, who brought order to its wild and shapeless forests and turned vast mountains into unimaginable cities of basalt and granite, populated by their elven servants. None alive know the history of that splendid and terrible time.

The races of men arrived later, following their masters the giants, whom came from the north to conquer the endless riches of the dragons.

The giants came in great quantity, and possessed artifacts and magic ripped from all corners of their northern continent. The terrible war that followed ripped the southern supercontinent apart.

At some point, centuries ago, the war came to an end.

The rumor is that the gods themselves finally got directly involved, that things then escalated very quickly, and that then... the war ended.

The giants that remained retreated into forests, ruins, and mountains. Dragons have not been seen in generations. The vast legions of men found themselves able to overpower what few giants remained in the cities, and in months Sefonia had become a frantic bloodbath as the slaves slew their captors, then took up their arms against one another.

Little has changed in the generations since.

Ruins dot the world, products of an age of ancient magic and prosperity, but the men that vie to control them are savage brutes and killers. Strength is the currency of the era, followed by self-interest, pride, and audacity. Fathers expect their sons and daughters to conquer.

Sefonia is divided between dozens of warring kingdoms and clandoms.

Politics are personal and immediate: no great dynasties have yet risen, and ambitious men are free to cut themselves paths to greatness. The ruins of the elder races are lethally trapped and populated by all manner of aberrant creation.

Behind them all meet secretive congregations of wizards and sorcerers. They are warped men and women, who seek to decipher ten thousand years of secrecy, to rebuild the knowledge of life and death that once was charted, to obtain even a fraction of the deep arcana that once flowed from the emerald towers now lifelessly gleaming over the lands.

None of this is done politely. Kings and warlords build castles and armies. Goblinkind, once slaves of the giants, now offer entire communities as mercenaries. Like anyone else, they turn to raiding and banditry whenever it seems profitable.

There are monsters and armies, there is treasure, and there are powers undreamed of sleeping in remote vaults and dread temples.

This particular story begins in the realm of Cogari, a small, relatively stable domain ruled by (unsurprisingly) Lord Cogari. Gray-haired yet exceptionally strong, he seized control of the local tribes and settlements decades ago. Despite a few minor raids, his rule has been peaceful-- a rarity in Sefonia. The old warrior seems happy to bask in his palace, surrounded by luxury.

He has turned his attention to the draconic ruins scattered across his domain-- in particular, the one which lies within view of his palace. For years, adventurers have been deterred by the wards and guardians, but each season those grow weaker. At last, Cogari has decided a serious effort to seize the ruin might now be appropriate. And so, he began to assemble his team...


Kocari's Palace: Located almost exactly in the center of his realm, Kocari's palace was once a Giant war-fortress. Many of the vast columns and slabs have been raised through mass muscle once more, though those split and damaged by time have not been repaired. It is a largely open palace, populated by hundreds of retainers, footmen, and craftsmen. Dozens of bright tents and pavilions fill the vast halls.

Lord Cogari feasts every night, and by day generally hunts monsters in the nearby fields and woods, surrounded by his warriors. To the extent he manages his realm at all, the work is done by his eighteen-year-old daughter, Saga. She is found always in the company of her Companions--bodyguards who have pledged their lives to hers. Their loyalty, like their ability, is beyond question.

Travelers come to offer services to Cogari, but otherwise it is not a major settlement: life at the palace wholly revolves around the lord.


Windward Crags: These mountains form the eastern border of Cogari's lands. Attacked by Giants, the battle wrought the stone of the mountains themselves into unrecognizable, twisted columns. Arcane energies still linger here, and sorcerous hermits frequently take up residence in the countless caves peppering the Crags.

The name is not poetic: the winds howl piercingly through the bizarre, tortuous heights. Tribes of goblinkin and men build elaborate rope bridges connecting the spires, carving out precarious lives in the space between stone and air. Bone idols dot the landscape, serving as warnings, signposts, offerings, and more.

The monsters that inhabit the crags are particularly fierce, and yet their remains are also particularly valuable. Many tribes exist purely for the hunt; trading bones and skins for food and steel.


Black River Canyon: The Black River runs from the north to the south of Cogari. It is slow, wide, and deep. Numerous tributaries drain into it from across the realm, making the river a shared 'pathway' across Cogari.

The water is both dark and icy cold. Though perfectly safe to drink, the river itself is perilous. Aquatic beasts are known to lurk below the surface, and children are never allowed to be by the water's edge unattended.

In the north, the river flows through relatively open plains, but, slowly, the river cuts deep into the earth, forming the Canyon. This is a place of beauty, and also strange power, as if something powerful waits just below the water's edge. Travelers often go missing here, but remains are rarely found.

At the southernmost end of the Canyon sits The Black Pool. Here the canyon completely closes overhead, forming a vast, circular lake shrouded always in gloom. Druids consider it a sacred place, beyond good and evil: even the giants and dragons seemed content to let the Pool remain unmolested. Many who have slept near it recall disturbing dreams of endless, lightless, airless tunnels stretching away from them in all directions.


Snakebite: The largest actual settlement in Cogari, located on an arm of the Black River a few hours west of Cogari's palace. It is a city built by men, but using the detritus of a bygone age. Buildings are cut of sandstone blocks with wicker window ledges. Crowds pulse through the narrow and filthy streets; beggars fill doorways and alleys. Hakwers lay out blankets of pottery and jewelry; more talented smiths rent workshops from which they trade weapons and armor.

Most settlements in Sefonia are little more than peasant villages, concerned with daily survival. Yet anyone who is free finds their way to Snakebite, where there is always work, violence, and action.

Gladiators can earn fame and fortune, and while most die horribly to the sounds of fanatical crowds, a select few have become masters of the city themselves.

Despite the poverty, Snakebite's population is massive. This owes credit to the Tower Atla, a dragon tower rising from the city center. Within the gem-encrusted surface the constant whir of gears can be heard, and twice a year the great tower trembles from top to bottom; none of the hundreds of sages and witches who have studied it can say why. There is no entrance to the tower nor hint to its purpose, but all who live near it seem to resist age and disease: Indeed, this effect seems to permeate the whole of Cogari. Death is frequent, but disease is rare.

There is no single ruler or entity governing the city, but the most powerful individual is the crime-lord Gorlok, thought to be half-troll, known for his cunning.


Wetwood: The southeast of Cogari is flooded most of the year, as it has no drainage to the Black River. This is the Wetwood-- damp and cold. The swamp tribes here feed on fish, eel, and moss; it is said that they accumulate so much poison in their bones that not even grass grows in their graveyards.

The ruins in the swamp are uniquely well-preserved, and many occultists have occupied the old towers and fortresses slowly sinking into the marsh. Given the difficulty of even traveling the region at all, few efforts have been made to dislodge them.

Free elves live in the deepest reaches of the Wood. They are not hostile to outsiders, but want little to do with them. Some do leave to adventure the world, but most are content within their groves, where they are rebuilding some sense of the civilization the world has lost.


The College: The College of Cogari sits on a high bluff in the southwest, within view of the Crags. It is a remote fortress, once built by elves for their dragon masters. It accepts no unsolicited visitors and has no formal relationship with any outsider groups. Technically, it is an arm of the University: a shady circle of magi that spans Sefonia. These colleges are the only places that train new Wizards, and they are the keepers of the ancient spellbooks. Wizards are enormously distrusted: the College is tolerated mostly because it would be impossible to raid, intimidate, or otherwise challenge.



The Hinterlands: The north-eastern third of Cogari is a broad, grassy plain, fed by gentle rivers and sprinkled with softwood trees. It is prime grazing land, and thus all manner of peoples have come to live there. Large-scale conflict is uncommon, but raids and cattle theft are frequent. There is no clear border between Cogari's claim and the vast, lawless prairie beyond. A vast tribe of goblinkin has come to power at the edge of the hinterlands, and while they so far seem happy to merely rob travelers passing too near, some worry that the future may hold actual raids on their neighbors.