Here's my revised version, adding in info from the MM.
[sblock] • Deities. The PHB (pg.20) lists the commonly worshipped gods.
• Languages. The PHB (pg.25) lists the commonly spoken languages.
• Eladrin come from the Feywild, and their settlements can be found both here and there.
• Halflings favor river travel.
• Humans were created by an unknown god. Humans are the most common race. Humans were the dominant force in the Empire of Nerath. Nerath has since shattered into dozens of smaller territories and humans are no longer unified.
• Tieflings descended from human nobles who had made deals with devils. Their empire (Bael Turath) subjugated half the world. War with the dragonborn empire of Arkhosia destroyed both empires. (Nerath rose from the ashes?)
• Wayside shrines built on trade rodes are dedicated to the worship of Avandra, Melora and Sehanine
• A temple in the D&D world doesn’t hold scheduled worship services. Rather, the temple is always open and constantly busy. Priests perform the daily rites the gods require, each at a separate altar. Worshipers bring children, ailing family members, and livestock in for the priests’ blessings, and they bring their own prayers and sacrifices to ask the gods’ favor. Worshipers and petitioners stand or kneel in large open spaces. On holy days, crowds press in to fill every available space, sometimes for the entire length of the day. These are as much social events as religious ones, and the words of the rites can be drowned out in the hubbub of conversation.
• Other organizations have a religious foundation, too. Knightly orders dedicated to Bahamut or Bane, colleges devoted to Ioun, civic organizations that honor Erathis, travelers’ aid societies dedicated to Avandra, and craft guilds that invoke Moradin’s name all wield influence in the cities and larger towns of the world.
• Every large city has some sort of “mages guild”.
• Knightly orders are formed with noble patronage and are often charged to travel the land.
• The world is sometimes called “The First Work”.
• The Feywild is a wild, untamed, reflection of “the world”.
• The Shadowfell is a dark, sinister, reflection of “the world”.
• Asmodeus killed another god.
• Corellon blinded on of Gruumsh’s eyes.
• The Nentir Vale is a northern region. It exists on the remains of the empire of Nerath. Fallcrest and Winterhaven both reside within the Vale.
• Ruled by Asmodeus, devils come from the Nine Hells and work to collect souls. They often serve evil gods.
• Dwarves are native to fortress cities in the mountains.
• Eladrin are sometimes reffered to as High elves, sun elves, moon elves or star elves.
• Gnomes live in homes burrowed beneath the roots of trees.
• Goblins, especially hobgoblins, worship Bane.
Known to characters trained in the Religion skill only:
• Primordials were the god-like masters of the chaotic elements that existed at the dawn of time. They forged the world from “Elemental Chaos”
• The gods sought to control the primordial’s creation, and there was a war. The gods won and the primordials were killed or banished to the Astral Sea.
• Exarchs are the messengers of the gods.
• The Temple of the Celestial Mountain is dedicated to the worship of Bahamut, Moridan, and Kord.
• The Temple of the Bright City is dedicated to the worship of Pelor, Erathis and Ioun.
• The Temple of the Fates is dedicated to the worship of Avandra, Ioun, and the Raven Queen.
• Eladrin temples (and some elven ones) feature altars to Corellon and Sehanine—and a few have bare altars where no sacrifice is offered, saving a place for Lolth when she is ultimately reconciled to the other gods of her family.
• Elves and eladrin were the same race until Llolth and the drow split them apart and somehow made the Feywild harder to access.
• Abominations are living weapons created during the war between the gods and primordials.
• Angels are manifestations of astral energy that serve the gods, both good and evil.
• The Abyss was formed when an unknown god tried to use a shard of pure evil to take over the entire universe. It drove him mad and he planted the shard in the depths of the Elemental Chaos. There it grew into the Abyss. (MM pg. 51)
• Baphomet (aka, the Horned King), Demogorgon, and Orcus were primordials corrupted by the Abyss.
• The mad god was defeated by the other gods and imprisoned him in a secret place. He became known as the Chained God or the Elder Elemental Eye.
• The Nine Hells exist within the Astral Sea as a blasted fiery world choked by black smoke. The different layers of hell can be reached by delving deeper into the world. (MM pg. 61)
• Bahamut and Tiamat were formed when the dragon god, Io, was split in half by Erek-Hus, King of Terror. The two halves of Io became Bahamut and Tiamat and killed the King.
• Giants were created by the primordials.
• Gnolls worship the demon lord, Yeenoghu (aka, the Beast of Butchery or Ruler of Ruin), and often work with demons.
• Bane has two exarchs named Maglubiyet, the Battle Lord, and Hruggek, the Master of Ambush, both of which are goblins.
• Yuan-ti worship Zehir, and have human followers.
• Kyuss is an elder evil being, but nothing else is known.
• Archons were created to serve the elemental Primordials as a military.
• Cambions are half human/ half devil.
• Shadar-Kai inhabit the Shadowfell and worship the Raven Queen.
Known to characters trained in History only:
• Dragonborn are the descendants of an ancient empire called Arkhosia.
• Razortear: one of the last stands of the dragonborn, with more than ½ million tieflings laying siege to the dragonborn for more than 10 years. The tieflings dug a huge tunnel to win the battle.
• Elves and eladrin were the same race until Llolth and the drow split them apart and somehow made the Feywild harder to access.
• Hobgoblins once had an empire in which bugbears and goblins were their servants. This empire fell to internal strife and interference from otherworldly forces—perhaps the fey, whom many goblins hate.
• Vumerion was a legendary necromancer that had a tower called the Black Tower of Vumerion. This was the origins of the first Skull Lords.
Known to characters trained in Arcana only:
• The Spiral Tower is a wizard order devoted to Corellon.
• Major cities are sometimes linked with Teleportation circles.
• The Order of the Golden Wyvern is a loose association of spellcasters who use their talents in military pursuits.
• Teleportation Circles link major cities and are set up in libraries, mage guilds, temples and the like.
• The existence of the Far Realm is speculated at, but not proven.
• Connections to the Far Realm may be found deep beneath the earth.
• Demons are born of the Abyss and care only for destruction.
• Baphomet (aka, the Horned King), Demogorgon, and Orcus were primordials corrupted by the Abyss.
• Mind Flayers came to the world from the Far Realm.
• According to some legends, rakshasas were spawned by demons that fled the Abyss and came to the natural world long ago.
• Shadar-Kai inhabit the Shadowfell and worship the Raven Queen.
Eladrin only:
• Eladrin cities include: Shinaelestra (shifts into the world at midnight, until dawn, in a glade in the howling forest), Jenn-Tourach (on a mountain-top, one day a year), the Towers of Avaellor (on isle, stays there all summer long)
• Eladrin empires include The Anauli Empire, the Realm of the Twin Queens & the Cendriane
Halflings only:
• Misty Isle (isle for halfling pirates always shrouded in mist)
Dragonborn only:
• Serpentus Rift: dragonborn city built in a rift, and on the sides, destroyed during the war against bael turath by a earthquake dragon
Dwarves only:
• Early dwarves were slaves to titans and giants. Those that did not escape became Azers. [/sblock]
I'm not sure in what category the following information should go - at the moment I'm listing it as DM only, as I don't have a full list of the PC skills to hand. If anyone can find a useful skill to group some of this under I'd be very grateful.
Glad you like it.
