Vicar In A Tutu
Explorer
My campaign world is called Hexen (named both after the german meaning and an old fantasy version of Doom, a computer game). The most important country is Nebelmark, a cross between The Empire from Warhammer Fantasy and Nazi-Germany. The fanatical clergy preach that humanity is a superior race. The elves are addicted to Blue lotus and the nebelese emperor buys it in abundance and gives it for free to the elven people, thus making drug-addicts of an entire nation. The dwarves are bribed and the other races subjugated by different means. The last campaign I ran in 4E took places in Thule, which in Hexen is a large prison-island, essentially a giant consentration camp for nonhumans and political dissidents. Despite the fanatical racial hatred, Nebelmark is a divided country. The nobility is plotting against each other and against the emperor, the church is plotting against the nobility and trying to control the emperor, The Zauberhall (mage's guild) is plotting against the church, etc. Nonhumans are tolerated as long as they are the property of humans, which is the opening for player characters to be of other races.
There are still followers of the Old Gods, the deities that were worshipped before Overmennesket (I don't have a good english word for this, the correct german word would be ubermensch), a chieftain that united the nebelese tribes long ago and created Nebelmark. Followers of the Old Gods are basically generic fantasy priests following gods of Might, Fertility, the Sun and the Moon, etc. They have no hatred for nonhumans. There is a clandestine war between followers of the Old Gods, who are outlawed, and The Church.
There are three great campaign secrets in Hexen. My players, having adventured in this world many years through a couple campaigns, know one: The ancient chieftain that united the nebelese tribes, the ubermensch, was in fact half-elven. The second is that this chieftain didn't conquer the other tribes of his own will, but rather he followed the commands of a spear he found when adventuring. This spear, an incredibly powerful artifact, was sentient and created by the devils to fight the demons in the Blood War. The spear was in fact the champion of the devils on Hexen.
The spear recognized the awesome potential of the chieftain and sought to create an empire, Nebelmark, which the devils could secretly control and use against the demons. In the next centuries, after the Five Genocides had laid waste to the nonhuman population of Nebelmark and made slaves of the survivors, the Abyss recognized the influence of the devils in Nebelmark and made plans to infiltrate The Church. Thus the Blood War has always raged within The Church, in secret. Very few priests in The Church know where their spells actually comes from, some are given spells by demon lords, some by devil princes. The vast majority believe their divine magic stems from the Hero-God, the ancient chieftain, but his soul is long extinct.
The third campaign secret is The Dark Veil. This artifact, created by a select few priests of The Church with the assistance of Yugoloths, makes it very difficult for good-aligned extraplanar creatures to enter Hexen and easier for evil-aligned creatures to enter. This artifact is the greatest prize of Hexen, devils and demons constantly vie for it, a century the devils will control it, manipulating the magic to make it easier for devils to enter and more difficult for demons, the next century demons will control it.
There are still followers of the Old Gods, the deities that were worshipped before Overmennesket (I don't have a good english word for this, the correct german word would be ubermensch), a chieftain that united the nebelese tribes long ago and created Nebelmark. Followers of the Old Gods are basically generic fantasy priests following gods of Might, Fertility, the Sun and the Moon, etc. They have no hatred for nonhumans. There is a clandestine war between followers of the Old Gods, who are outlawed, and The Church.
There are three great campaign secrets in Hexen. My players, having adventured in this world many years through a couple campaigns, know one: The ancient chieftain that united the nebelese tribes, the ubermensch, was in fact half-elven. The second is that this chieftain didn't conquer the other tribes of his own will, but rather he followed the commands of a spear he found when adventuring. This spear, an incredibly powerful artifact, was sentient and created by the devils to fight the demons in the Blood War. The spear was in fact the champion of the devils on Hexen.
The spear recognized the awesome potential of the chieftain and sought to create an empire, Nebelmark, which the devils could secretly control and use against the demons. In the next centuries, after the Five Genocides had laid waste to the nonhuman population of Nebelmark and made slaves of the survivors, the Abyss recognized the influence of the devils in Nebelmark and made plans to infiltrate The Church. Thus the Blood War has always raged within The Church, in secret. Very few priests in The Church know where their spells actually comes from, some are given spells by demon lords, some by devil princes. The vast majority believe their divine magic stems from the Hero-God, the ancient chieftain, but his soul is long extinct.
The third campaign secret is The Dark Veil. This artifact, created by a select few priests of The Church with the assistance of Yugoloths, makes it very difficult for good-aligned extraplanar creatures to enter Hexen and easier for evil-aligned creatures to enter. This artifact is the greatest prize of Hexen, devils and demons constantly vie for it, a century the devils will control it, manipulating the magic to make it easier for devils to enter and more difficult for demons, the next century demons will control it.