The Shattered World---Opinions?Advice?

[WizardofOwls]

I would love to hear your opinions, ideas and advice on a campaign world I am designing. If you read this, please just drop me a line or two and tell me what you think, even if it is just to say "I hate it."

Thanks in advance!
Allen

PS A Note in Advance: Much of the info here would not be common knowledge to players, such as how windriggers are created, and details on navigators and shard-keys.


ORAMIS: THE SHATTERED WORLD
BASIC PREMISE:

Oramis was once a solid world like any other. A millennium ago, a war sprang up between two formidable mages (who also happened to be twin brothers but of differing ethical beliefs). This war raged on for many days, but neither mage could seem to get the upper hand. The final blow of this Wizard War was so potent that neither mage was able to contain it, and as a result the world was shattered like a glass ball into a thousand pieces. Since both mages were far more powerful than the Wizards’ Guild could handle, it was powerless to stop the war. Luckily, however, the Guild (some of whom were diviners) was able to foresee this disaster months before it actually happened and was prepared. Though unable to completely prevent this event - now referred to as the Shattering - they were able at least to save the world from total destruction. After determining how the world would be shattered, the Guild - working feverishly - devised magical devices called shard-keys and placed one of them on each piece of land which would someday become a shard. These devices maintain each shard's gravity, atmosphere, climate, and stability. If a shard-key were ever to be removed from the shard it was designed to protect, that shard would lose all of these things and would pose a hazard to other shards as it spun out of control. All of these shards were suspended inside a large envelope of air and set to floating within it in random, ever-shifting patterns.

Millions of people died in the ensuing chaos which followed the War’s conclusion. Common people, blaming mages for the destruction and death, hunted down and slew many wizards. Much knowledge of magic was lost. Modern mages have yet to duplicate many of the marvels that have been accredited to those ancient wizards - including the magic which created shard-keys! Even today, after one thousand years, mages are still feared, shunned, and - in many places - actively hunted, despite the fact that they were instrumental in saving the world from total destruction. Undaunted they have continued to be of great service to man, their greatest deed being the creation of windriggers, flying ships which provide transportation from shard to shard.

(Selections from) A DICTIONARY OF COMMON ORAMIAN TERMS AND PHRASES:

Ship Builders'Guild: The group which is now responsible for the creation and sale of windriggers. This Guild is rumored to be a branch of RASAMA-TAS. The Guild is completely neutral, and will sell windriggers to most anyone who has enough money to buy one. (See also: RASAMA-TAS; Windrigger.)

Children of the Light: A militant organization composed of extremist Lawful Good members who are fanatically driven to further their own alignment. They use inquisition-like tactics to find and convert those who are not Lawful Good to their own system of beliefs. It is rumored that the radical group called the Witch Hunters is in some way connected to this organization, since the Children condemn mages and all things magical in nature. Based on the shard called Caemlyn. (See The Lexicon of Shards: Caemlyn. See also: Shard; Witch Hunters.)

Compass: A compass is a portable magical device which can be used to locate any given shard from anywhere in the world. They are very expensive. (See also: Shard.)

Darkfall: Oramian term for the brief periods of semi-darkness resulting from one shard passing between another shard and the sun, temporarily casting its shadow on the other shard. Darkfall may also occur when an individual shard’s rotation causes it to briefly turn away from the sun. Darkfall can last anywhere from a few minutes to several days, depending on many factors. At least one shard, the shard called Dark Haven, is known to remain in darkness all of the time because it is somehow linked to another, larger shard, which always blocks it from receiving sunlight. (See Lexicon of Shards: Dark Haven. See also: Shard.)

Dragon: Dragons of the Shattered World are vastly different from those of other worlds. In the Shattered World, dragons are the primary components in the construction of windskiffs and windriggers. Thus dragons are heavily hunted and can bring high profits on the black market.

Dragon females give birth to large clutches of eggs which the mother then abandons. As the young dragons begin to hatch from their eggs, those which are quicker and stronger begin to break the other eggs and eat their siblings. As the survivors grow, they leave the nest and begin to congregate with other immature grays in flocks. Flocks of grays (so-called because their hide has not yet developed a color and appears as a neutral gray) are a common sight. At this point they have no more than animal intelligence. When they reach adulthood, their hide begins to take on its color, intelligence begins to develop, and a breath weapon develops. At the mature adult stage all Oramian dragons gain the ability to polymorph self.

The dragons of Oramis do not follow the same patterns of those of other worlds. Skin color is NOT indicative of alignment or of breath weapon! It is entirely possible to have a chaotic evil gold dragon with a flame breath weapon! Each mature Oramian dragon is unique and such creatures will NEVER be found as a random encounter!

Dragon Lancers: Windrigger crews who actively hunt dragons to sell to the Air Traffic Controllers’ Guild. Rumor has it that living dragons are the major component used in the manufacture of windriggers. (See also: Air Traffic Controllers’ Guild; Dragon; Windrigger.)

Dragoneers: Special windrigger crew members who specialize in protecting ships from dragon attacks. They often use special harpoons and lances especially enchanted for this purpose. Unlike Dragon Lancers, Dragoneers are only concerned with the protection of the windrigger they are currently working on, not with the harvesting of dragons. (See also: Dragon; Dragon Lancers; Windrigger.)

Fragments: There are seven of these shards which are actually almost large enough to be called continents. One of these is even large enough to enclose a large inland sea. (See also: Shard.)

Globe: A puzzle/game popular with Oramian children. A three-dimensional glass ball which, when disassembled, becomes miniature models of all of the shards. Curiously, when the ball is reassembled, it is hollow. Magical versions of this game have been created which can be used as oracular devices. To use one the holder simply drops the solid ball on a semi-hard surface. The pattern the pieces land in is said to be able to predict future events. However, with one thousand pieces, the possible permutations are endless. It is nearly impossible to use an oracular globe without first consulting a Pattern Book. (See also: Pattern Book; Shard.)

Moon: Before the Shattering, Oramis - like many other worlds - had a moon called Selene. It is theorized that when the world “exploded,” the sudden loss of gravity and the force of the explosion hurled it into space, leaving Oramis moonless. If this is true, then it becomes difficult to explain why the priestesses of Selene still revere the moon and - mysteriously - still retain their spell-casting ability and other granted powers! Some sages have theorized that this can be explained in one of two ways. First, perhaps some other power has adopted the moon’s portfolio and has “adopted” the priesthood as its own under the guise of Selene. Second, perhaps the moon was not lost at all, it just isn’t visible now because of the fact that there is no longer a true night. (See also: Oramis; Shattering, The.)

Navigator: Navigators are strange and mysterious beings who are present on all windriggers. No one seems to know exactly who or what they are. It has been rumored that navigators are diviners, using their magic to know exactly where any given shard is located at any given time. Navigators appear as faceless humanoids wearing midnight-blue hooded robes and have never been known to speak. It is forbidden to touch a navigator. (DM'S NOTE: The following information is NOT considered general knowledge, and as such it should not be made available to the players unless and until they discover it on their own. The reason it is forbidden to touch a navigator is because the navigator is not really there at all: it is merely an illusion projected by the ship itself. Unknown to the general public, windriggers are actually living sentient beings - probably dragons - magically shaped by mages to look like ships. Somehow, possibly through a natural homing instinct or a natural magical ability, they are aware at all times of exactly where each shard is at any given moment and whether or not there are any other shards blocking a given route. The "navigator” illusion is used simply so that windrigger captains may have somewhere to direct their orders for destinations.) (See also: Shard; Windrigger.)

Oramis: Setting for the Shattered World campaign. Once a solid world, Oramis was blown apart as the result of a Wizard War fought between twin brothers, both of whom were powerful mages. Due to a great deal of foresight and Foresight by diviners of the Wizards’ Guild, Oramis was saved but forever changed. Today, Oramis is composed of one thousand floating islands (called shards) suspended within an envelope of air which revolves around the Oramian sun in approximately the same position formerly occupied by the pre-Shattering world. True night is now unknown in the shards, though some shards experience brief twilight-like hours of semi-darkness (known as darkfall). Unfortunately, the moon is believed to have been blown from its orbit and is now nothing more than a fondly-remembered legend. (See also: Darkfall; Moon; Shard; Shattering, The; Wizard War; Wizards' Guild.)

Night: A pre-Shattering myth. Supposedly when the world was solid, it would undergo periods of complete darkness, resulting from the world turning away from the sun. Sages say that such a thing is possible, but it is difficult for most Oramians to imagine such a concept.

Seas: The seas of Oramis have changed, as has the rest of the world. When the Shattering occurred, seas and lakes which were not land-bound flooded off the shards into the Wind Ways. Today, the seas (and there are seven of these) resemble large, free-floating, amorphous globs of fluid. There are also several fresh water “lakes.” Some aquatic life still remains in the seas of Oramis, supported at its most basic level by plankton. Seas appear bluish-green from a distance, while lakes are blue. (See also: Oramis; Shattering, The; Wind Ways, The.)

Shard: Any of the one thousand floating remnants of what was once the world of Oramis, resembling free-floating islands. They are composed of three parts: topside, shard-edge, and shard-root. A shard’s stability, atmosphere, climate, and gravity are maintained by magical devices known as shard-keys the existence of which is a closely kept secret. Windriggers must approach a shard at the shardedge. Otherwise, the shard’s gravity could possibly pull them down and result in shipwrecks. Due to the lack of a large, solid world to block the sun’s rays, there is no true night. Most shards will occasionally experience temporary periods of twilight-like darkness (called “darkfall”) as another shard’s path prevents it from receiving the sun’s rays, or, if the shard rotates, it may turn “upside-down” away from the sun. Otherwise, the shard-world is stuck in a perpetual state of never-ending day. Obviously telling time is much more difficult here than on other worlds. Luckily, all of the inhabitants of the world of shards have developed strong internal clocks which lets everyone know when it is time to sleep. How this works is unknown, but it may be a side-effect of the same magic which provides each shard with its gravity and atmosphere.

Magic varies from shard to shard. Some shards have normal magic, some have wild magic areas, and still others have dead magic areas, all of which are residual effects from the unleashing of the powerful magicks which caused the Shattering. (See also: Darkfall; Oramis, Shard-edge; Shard-Key; Shard-Root; Top-Side; Windrigger.)

Shard-Edge: The rim of a shard; the point from which - if one continues walking - one will fall off the shard into the Wind Ways. (See also: Shard; Wind Ways, The.)

Shard-Key: Magical devices which exist on each and every shard. These devices maintain a shard’s gravity, climate, atmosphere, and stability. If a key is ever destroyed or removed from the shard it was designed to maintain, the shard will become unstable and could pose a threat to other shards as it becomes uncontrolled and uncontrollable.

No two shards’ keys are exactly alike, their forms being disguised so that you would not know what you were looking at even if you saw one. On shards which have ruling families, it is usual that this family will have the shard-key under its protection, since the possession of a key would basically give the holder complete control over the shard and its inhabitants. (An old Oramian proverb says, “He who holds the ability to destroy a thing controls a thing.”) In the hands of a tyrant or other person with less than pure motives, the possession of a shard-key would be equivalent to holding the entire shard - and everyone on it - hostage, since simply by breaking it he would be sentencing everyone and everything on the shard to death. Also known as “keystones,” or simply as “Keys.” (DM'S NOTE: The following information is NOT considered general knowledge and as such should not be made available to the players unless and until they discover it on their own. Shard-keys are actually sentient, intelligent artifacts that bond with their owners. They will not bond with anyone of chaotic or evil alignment. If such a person gains possession of a shard-key, the key will attempt to take over the mind of its new owner. If this fails, it will attempt to change the person’s alignment to something more fitting. It is up to the DM to decide what powers each individual key possesses, but each should have powers designed to prevent them from falling into the hands of the wrong person, as well as defensive powers in case they do.) (See also: Shard.)

Shard-Root: The underside of a shard which hangs down much like the root of a tooth. Shard-Roots are popular nesting spots for dragons. (See also: Dragon; Shard.)

Shattering, The: The final, catastrophic blow of the Wizard War which shattered the world of Oramis into one thousand pieces called shards. (See also: Oramis; Shard; Wizard War.)

Shipstone: A shipstone is a smaller, much less powerful version of a shard-key. It is this object which provides a windrigger with gravity. Navigators recognize the holder of a shipstone as captain and will obey only the holder’ commands. Also called “shipkeys.” (See also: Navigator; Shard-Key; Windrigger.)

Topside: The upper portion of a shard. (See also: Shard.)

Wind Ways, The: The space that exists between the shards. A chaotic, wind-filled area dominated by strong air currents and buffeting winds. Sometimes referred to as simply as “the ‘Ways.” There is no gravity in the ‘Ways, so anything which falls into the ‘Ways without some means of self-propulsion will be buffeted haphazardly by the winds. It is nearly impossible to determine time and direction in the ‘Ways unaided. (See also: Shard.)

Windrigger: Magical conveyances which resemble normal ships but have the ability to fly, allowing travel from shard to shard. Most windriggers may also land on water. Windriggers are built from the bones and hides of young skywyrms called Grays. All windriggers have a mysterious figure known simply as the Navigator onboard. Creation and sale of windriggers are controlled and regulated by the Air Traffic Controllers’ Guild. Rumor has it, however, that one of the mages who first learned how to create windriggers has gone rogue, and is helping the Sky Pirates of Gao-Den to create an armada of pirate windriggers. (See also: Air Traffic Controllers’ Guild; Dragon; Navigators; Rogue Mage; Shard; Shipstone; Sky Pirates of Gao-Den; Skywyrm; Wind Ways, The.)

Windsailor: Sailors who are trained in the operation of windriggers. (See also: Windrigger.)

Windskiff: A windskiff is a small flying boat designed to accommodate no more than six people. Unlike windriggers, a windskiff is a man-made vessel. Because of this, it has no navigator, and therefore the pilot is on his own when determining direction, routes, etc. (See also: Navigator; Windrigger.)

Windtamer: Windtamers are a special type of mage which can often be found on Windriggers. They have focused their abilities into harnessing and taming the Wind Ways, making travel therein much easier. (See also: Windrigger; Wind Ways)

Wizard War: The catastrophic war in which the world of Oramis was shattered into myriad shards. (See also: Shard; Oramis.)

 

[Varianor Abroad]

Cool stuff. Is it inspired by Michael Reeve's novel of the same name and the sequel, The Burning Realm?

I think that's a good background summary. It's interesting enough as a player that I'd be interested in playing in such a game. The question there is, "what's available" for player characters in such a setting. Where do you start? What types of adventures do you envision running?

 

[Stratovarius]

It actually sounds very much like one of the four realms from the Death Gate Cycle, by Weis and Hickman.

While the rest of your world looks quite good, I would suggest a new name. "The Shattered Lands" or some variant thereof may be the most common name in fantasy for a realm.

Also, given the quite involved nature of the world, I assume there are mechanical changes to the system as it stands. What would these be, since they hold as much interest for players as the world itself?

 

[WizardofOwls]

Hello guys! Thanks for your comments. I will address them soon. In the meantime, here is some more info on the Shattered World, this time concentrating mostly on mages in the Shards. Hope you enjoy!

(More Selections from) A DICTIONARY OF COMMON ORAMIAN TERMS AND PHRASES:

Cabal, The: A group of rogue wizards who study the art of necromancy. They have banded together for the sole purpose of self-preservation, and are believed to have a covert shard base hidden somewhere. The name of this shard and its location are kept secret by members of the Cabal. They believe that the Restoration is a hopeless goal, a fool's errand, and are more interested in their own studies and goals - primarily the destruction of RASAMA-TAS. (See also: RASAMA-TAS, Restoration, The; Rogue Wizard; Shard.)

Circle, The: A group of rogue wizards (mostly demon conjurers, wild mages, and necromancers) who believe in the goals of RASAMA-TAS, but believe that the solution to the problem of the Restoration lies within the forbidden schools of magic (since the Guild has obviously had no luck using the more widely accepted schools). This group desires a shard-key to study in order to unlock its secrets in the hope of achieving this goal, and will pay HANDSOMELY to get their hands on one. (See also: Demon Conjurer; RASAMA-TAS; Restoration, The; Rogue Wizard; Shard-Key.)

Demon Conjurer: A type of conjurer specialty mage who specializes in the summoning of demons. Demon conjuring is considered a forbidden art, and all such conjurers are considered rogue mages. (See also: Rogue Mage.)

Guild, The: See Wizards’ Guild.

Guild Mages: Because of the Wizard War, which resulted in the Shattering of the world of Oramis, the general public is fearful of mages. As a result, the Wizards’ Guild has had to become an underground organization. Even so, the Wizards’ Guild is a powerful organization.

One of the main purposes of the Guild is to seek out new mages and try to convince them to join the Guild. There are two main reasons for this. First and foremost, it allows the Guild to keep tabs on all Guild mages. If these mages do anything to jeopardize the Guild or any of its members or goals (by the open use of magic, following forbidden schools of magic, etc.), they may be dealt with by the Guild. Second, in return for joining the Guild, a mage gets certain benefits. He has a place to go to get supplies and training if they become needed. He may recruit other mages to help in an adventure or other endeavor. He is welcome to use the Guild’s laboratories and libraries to further his own studies (as long as these do not interfere with the Guild’s objectives).

One of the conditions of joining the Wizards' Guild is that the mage must agree under a binding oath that he will not create any new spells or magic items without the expressed approval of the Guild. Also, any magic items found by the mage must be viewed and approved by the Guild before they may become anyone's personal property (thus the Guild may weed out any items deemed too powerful or dangerous for use). Any mage who refuses to join the Guild is branded a rogue mage, and is actively hunted by Guild mages.

The term “The Wizards’ Guild” is somewhat misleading. It is actually just another name for RASAMA-TAS. (See also: Oramis; RASAMA-TAS; Rogue Wizard; Shattering, The; Wizard War; Wizards’ Guild.)

High Magus: The leader of RASAMA-TAS. The current High Magus is a female human named Salandra Norfressa. (See Who’s Who in the Shattered World: Salandra Norfressa. See also: RASAMA-TAS)

Holy Order of the Skywyrm Riders: An order of paladins who are dedicated to the protection of the mages of RASAMA-TAS. These men and women believe in the possibility of the Restoration and have dedicated their lives to ensuring that the mages have the opportunity to continue work that they believe is vital to the survival of Oramis. Each Skywyrm Rider is chosen at dedication by a dragon and spends all of his or her training time with that wyrm. By the time the Rider is ready to join the Order, the two have developed a telepathic bond. The greatest threats facing RASAMA-TAS today include (but are not limited to): The Cabal, The Children of the Light, The Circle, the Sky-Pirates of Gao-Den, and the Witch-Hunters. (See also: Cabal, The; Children of the Light; Circle, The; DRagon; Oramis; RASAMA-TAS; Restoration, The; Sky-Pirates of Gao-Den; Witch-Hunters.)

Kusaran Alliance: An alliance of four shards: Kusara, Carbuncle, Sheranda, and Tartassos. Guild mages from RASAMA-TAS have found a way to magically tie the four shards together so that they are always near each other. The four shards that make up the alliance are probably the most accepting of mages of all of the shards. (See Lexicon of Shards: Carbuncle, Kusara, Sheranda, Tartassos. See also: Guild Mages; RASAMA-TAS; Shard.)

Library at Tartassos, The: The legendary Library at Tartassos is a mysterious place. It is large beyond belief and so old that it is believed to predate even the Dragon Lords. (See Lexicon of Shards: Tartassos. See also: Dragon Lords.)

Mageslayers: See Witch Hunters.

Mundane: Wizard slang for anyone who is unable to harness the power of magic.

Pirates of Gao-Den: Plague of the Wind Ways, they are known to harry caravans of the Sky Merchants. (See Lexicon of Shards: Gao Den. See also: Sky Merchants’ Guild; Wind Ways, The.)

RASAMA-TAS: An acronym which stands for The Royal Academy for the Study and Advancement of the Mystical Arts and Thaumaturgical Analysis School. This is the formal name of the Wizards’ Guild. The Guild formally and openly receives the endorsement of the shards comprising the Kusaran Alliance, since its main goal is the Restoration of the world to its former solid shape. Branches of RASAMA-TAS, also known less commonly as the Wizards’ Guild, are known (at least to mages) to exist on many shards, however most -except for the University on Tartassos - exist in secret owing to the paranoia most mundanes feel toward mages. (See Lexicon of Shards: Tartassos. See also: Kusaran Alliance; Mundane; Restoration, The; Shard; University on Tartassos; Wizards’ Guild.)

Restoration, The: The name applied by Guild Mages to the major goal of RASAMA-TAS - the restoration of Oramis into a solid whole. (See also: Guild Mages; Oramis; RASAMA-TAS.)

Rogue Wizard: A wizard who has refused to join the Wizards’ Guild. Such mages are hunted by Guild mages. It is rumored that the Wizards’ Guild sometimes sells information concerning known rogue wizards to the radical organization known as the Witch Hunters. (See also: Guild Mages; Witch Hunters; Wizards’ Guild.)

Sky Merchants' Guild: Guild of merchants responsible for most inter-shard commerce. (See also: Shard.)

Sky-Pirates of Gao-Den: Plague of the Wind Ways, they are known to harry caravans of the Sky Merchant’s Guild. It is believed that one of the Guild mages who first learned how to create windriggers has gone rogue, and is now helping the sky-pirates to create an armada of pirate windriggers. (See Lexicon of Shards: Gao-Den. See also: Guild Mages; Rogue Mage; Sky Merchants’ Guild; Wind Ways, The; Windrigger.)

University on Tartassos: Home of RASAMA-TAS. (See Lexicon of Shards: Tartassos. See also: RASAMA-TAS.)

Wind Wraiths: It IS possible to fall off the edge of a shard. Doing this is a terrible way to die. Unless one is rescued by a windrigger or other benevolent inhabitant of the Wind Ways, crash-lands on a shard, is devoured by skywyrms, or meets his demise in some other way, one drifts aimlessly about the ‘Ways with no control over direction or speed. One simply floats about until one dies of thirst or starvation. Many of those who die in this fashion become Wind Wraiths. These horrid undead creatures have no fear of the sun. Being formless entities like ghosts or common wraiths, they are immaterial, and can pass through the walls of an windrigger. They are most often identified by their terrible moaning which is often mistaken for the sound of the wind blowing. Sometimes called “Lost Ones.” (See also: Shard; Skywyrm; Wind Ways, The; Windrigger.)

Witch Hunters: Because of the fear the general public has of wizards, Witch Hunters have become very popular. These men and women seek out and slay known mages, even Guild mages if they can do so without getting caught. Witch Hunters have an innate magic sense which they use to track down and slay wizards. It is known that the Wizards’ Guild often sells information about known rogue wizards to Witch Hunters. It is rumored that the Witch Hunters are a branch of the Children of the Light. Also referred to as Mageslayers. (See also: Children of the Light; Guild Mages; Rogue Wizard; Wizards’ Guild.)

Wizards’ Guild: Unlike the guilds of most worlds, the Wizards’ Guild is a secret organization. Because of the effect the Wizard War had on the world of Oramis, the general public is frightened of wizards. Because of this, all wizards MUST be Guild mages. Those who are not are branded rogues and are hunted down by Guild mages. The primary goal of the Guild is to find a way to reunite the shards back into a solid, whole world again, and thus regain the confidence of the general public (referred to as “the Restoration”). The term “Wizards’ Guild” is misleading. The Wizards’ Guilds are actually local branches of RASAMA-TAS, a magical university based on the shard Tartassos, a member-shard of the Kusaran Alliance. (See also: Guild Mages; Kusaran Alliance; Oramis; RASAMA-TAS; Restoration, The; Rogue Mage; Shard; University on Tartassos; Wizard War.)

 

[Gilladian]

I like it! Your writing is clear and evocative. What sorts of races are available for play? Do you have any major population centers? What are they like?

What would happen if you were drifting in a Wind Way and moved or were pushed over a shard? would you fall smack onto it and be killed? Is there a minimum distance away that is "safe"?

What does the underside of a shard look like? How big and how small do shards get? Kingdom sized? Individual sized? These are some of the questions I've had pop into my head as I skimmed your writings...

 

[Lwaxy]

Very nice

I'd love to play in that world. But another name would probably really be benefitting. Although it's kinda hard when the world *is* shattered

 

[Fiasco]

Very nice work! I have always wanted to run a Shattered Worlds campaign based on Michael Reeves' novel and this looks like an excellent take on it.

 

[WizardofOwls]

Right now, I am planning on using mostly standard races:

Human
Elf/Half-elf
Dwarf/Mul
Gnome
Halfling

with the additions of

Half-dragon
Avariel
Possibly a psionic race of some sort
a shapeshifting race
and possibly one or two others.

Half-orcs are not allowed, since in my world, humanoids (orcs, kobolds, etc.) are not true races... they are player races which have been horribly changed by the evil magis of the enemy. For instance, a kobold is actually a halfling that has been irrevocably altered. Orcs were once dwarves, and so on.

 

[Bryon_Soulweaver]

I like it.

 

[WizardofOwls]

Here is some more info for you.

THE LEXICON OF SHARDS:

Caemlyn: Home shard of the Children of the Light.

Callendula: A wealthy shard. Many of the inhabitants are either supporters or members of the Mageslayers.

Carbuncle: One of the four shards in the Kusaran Alliance. The city of Carbuncle fills the shard completely, from shard-edge to shard-edge, with buildings and streets filling nearly every available space. To anyone approaching Carbuncle by windrigger, it appears so full that the buildings close to the shard-edge look as if they are in danger of falling off into the Wind Ways. In fact, some buildings have actually been built so that they DO hang over the edge. Carbuncle is considered a holy city to almost every deity in the large Oramian pantheon. Thus, Carbuncle’s major economic income is derived from tourism and pilgrimage. Despite the fact that it is considered such a holy city, several deities (mostly those of evil alignment) are denied temples here, though it is rumored that priesthoods of several of these banned gods have underground congregations anyway.

Dark Haven: A mysterious shard about which little is known. Because it is somehow linked to another shard, Dark Haven remains in a perpetual state of darkfall. Observers from windriggers have noted that almost all of the space on the shard is filled by a huge, gothic castle. The name of the creator of this castle - and whether or not he or she still lives there - is not known. The name of Dark Haven is often brought up when possible locations of the Cabal's hidden base are discussed.

Dwarfmoot: Home of the dwarves.

Elvandar: Legendary home-shard of the elves. Its existence is denied by elves.

Gao-Den: Base of operations for the sky-pirates who plague the ‘Ways. It is believed that one of the Guild wizards who first leaned how to create windriggers went rogue, and is now helping the sky-pirates to create an armada of pirate windriggers.

Kusara: The governing shard of the four shards which comprise the Kusaran Alliance and home of the Kusaran King.

Magus: (DM 'S NOTE: The very existence of this shard, much less its purpose, is NOT considered general knowledge and as such should not be made available to the players unless and until they discover it on their own.) One of the best kept secrets of Oramis, this shard is believed to be a “graveyard” for those magic items the Wizards’ Guild has branded too powerful for use. Its location is known only to the High Magus of RASAMA-TAS and his (or her) appointed successors. Magus is one of the most highly guarded and shielded locations in the world. Obviously its very existence is not known to the general public. It is rumored to be a desert shard and an area of “dead” magic. No known spell or magic item will work here. How it retains its gravity and atmosphere are not known, since obviously a shard-key won’t (or at least shouldn’t) work here.

Ostoria: Lost kingdom of the dwarves. Known for its beauty and finery. Dwarves have been searching for it since the Shattering, but it has not yet been recovered.

Sheranda: The only shard of the four which comprise the Kusaran Alliance which was not originally a part of the Kusaran Empire. An agricultural shard with few fighters and little protection, the Sherandans petitioned for entry into the alliance for this purpose. In addition, they now have a ready market for the agricultural products which they produce, which obviously was one of the deciding factors for the alliance in permitting them to join.

Tartassos: Home of RASAMA-TAS (The Royal Academy for the Study and Advancement of the Mystical Arts and Thaumaturgical Analysis School). Tartassos is an ancient site with a mystical and mysterious history. Home of the legendary Library at Tartassos, which was known to exist even before the coming of the Dragon Lords!