BRIEF HISTORY
The First World was one of that of Dragons and Giants, but they could not live in harmony. At its end a great war erupted between the two race of titans. At its end Tiamat was bound to the Nine Hells for her part in shattering the First World, Bahumat was cast to the void, and the Kingdom of Giants was scattered and broken, with Annam exiling himself from the infighting of his children.
The Second World, created from the ashes of the First Dragon Sarior, was the one of the Faded Gods. From the war between Dragons and Giants were spawned many lesser races, yet still powerful among their own right. Twelve of these beings rose to become the most powerful, legendary figures among mythic beings. While the Second World was not as glorious as the First, it begot many wonders of its own and became mired in contests between the Twelve until it too was shattered by the arrival of the fallen star Ar'Alaghagh. Kingdoms were rent and thrown into chaos and as the Twelve lost their seats of power, they became the Faded.
From these ashes now arises the Third World. It is a world of beings who stand at the feet of the greater ones before them, trying to eek out a living on a world far less colorful and accommodating than the worlds before. At its heart spins the favor of Ar'Alaghagh in the forces of Weal and Woe, and the Balance between them.
THE YOUNG KINGDOMS
The young kingdoms are a mix of truly young kingdoms and the fading remnants of older kingdoms, some even extending back to the Second World. These young kingdoms are like the spokes of a wheel around the central melting pot kingdom built in the crater made by Ar'Alaghagh.
The Tribes of Jaeradoon: Starting in the Northwest, the raised steppes and tundra lands are the homes of giants and their close kin, goliaths. Ancient and abandoned Giant ruined cities are scattered throughout the land, supplanted in places by isolated halls and towers where Giants now dwell. Between these lie the semi-permanent settlements of the Goliath tribes. They range from timber towns culled from the twisted and poor forests of its southern border to cities of fur tents that migrate the northern reaches and live off the monsters that spawn from frozen caverns believed to have existed as far back as the Second World. While there is no single ruler over the various Giants and Goliaths, in times of trouble, need or before the winter the various tribes congregate at the ancient, rebuilt city of Jaeradoon to trade and decide on matters of import. This realm is also the foundation and home of the original Druids (many who are Goliath), who revere the primal Balance between Weal and Woe.
The Great Alliance: Filling most of the central North, between the deserts of the south and northmost tundras exists the Great Alliance. Headed by Orcs and its ranks filled the races cast out of the Feywild (Goblins, Hobgoblins, Bugbears and the like), initially these races were banished to these lands after their capricious actions centuries ago. At the dawn of the Third World, the Orcs were hunters and gatherers - children of the Brave One Faded God. They lived in relative peace until those cast out from the Feywild invaded their lands, raiding and ruining the Orcish communities. In retaliation, the surviving Orcs became raiders and reavers themselves, terrifying their neighbors and casting off their faith in the Brave One to begin drawing on the power of Woe to battle their foes. As their power grew, the Orcs stole the secrets of the other realms, building powerful stone fortresses and heavily defended cities of steel and misery. Only in the last few generations have things changed; with the rise of the Union of Weal many Orcs have turned from the old ways to return to their simpler lives at the dawn of the Second World or abandon the misery of Woe to embrace the benefits of Weal.
The Clans of Khalahad: Nestled in the Northeast, the walled world of the Dwarven and Gnome Clans are marked by towering mountains spanned with massive walls to keep all the other races (especially those of the Orcs) out. Gnomish inventions found nowhere else on the continent arm the powerful Dwarven armies that defend the realm, and many are thankful that the powers of Khalahad have no desire to expand their realm beyond its current walls. Khalahad, the great city of the dwarves that is fashioned from a mountain itself lies at the heart of the realm, and all the lesser Clanlords bow to the authority of it's King. Khalahad has never been breached, both as its numerous levels reach deep into underground fastness as well as the city is protected by two towering statues of the ForgeLord who abut the great city and can be animated in times of need to defend the city - or the kingdom if need be. Most of the dwarves reject the new ways of Weal and Woe and cling to their devotion of the ForgeLord to guide and protect them.
The SkarLands: Stretching to the utter East is the land claimed by the Dragonborn. They held a great kingdom in the Second Age, but the Lord of Spears dragged his mighty weapon across their realm, scouring a great gash in the land and sending the capital city plunging into the depths of the newly made canyon. Over time, the dragonborn have rebuilt, creating lavish vertical cities in the maze of canyons that stretches from the center of the continent to just short of the Eastern shores. The Great River that runs the length of the canyon is a corridor for trade, dumping into the Vast Swamp at its eastern end before the river's waters flow into the sea. This is a realm that thrives on trade of fine goods and luxuries, always eager to buy and acquire. However, it is a dangerous realm, for in the deep caverns that reach below even the Skar's Great River is the realm of the Ilyathin and the Illithid. The Illithid are greatly feared and kept only at bay by the Ilyathin - former Dragonborn who ages ago were transmorgified by Illithid ceremorphisis but rejected the cruelty of those who made them. It is unknown how the ancient Ilyathin continue to generate new members, but there is strong suspicion that secret cults - The White Tentacle, The Red Claw and the Cerulean Maw, if the legends are to be believed - transform willing Dragonborn into more Ilyathin to fight the ever-present threat of the Illithid and their minion races.
Haerholme: The fabled land of the Elves fills most of the Southeast into the Southern reaches of the continent. Dominated by a great forest the Elves migrated here by merging their home within the Feywild with this land in the early Third World. Initially arrogant and prideful, the Elves sampled all that the realm offered - both benign and ill. Amid growing corruption of some of its members, Haerholme cast out the goblins and other "corrupted" races to purify their realm, but it was too late. It was a a terrible act of a great goblin wizard who drew on the Woe in the hopes of creating his own realm rather than be cast to the barren northlands, but instead he corrupted the connection between this world and the Feywild. His blunder created the Shadowfell, and since its creation the Feywild has been drifting farther and farther apart from Haerholme, now only tethered by a handful of magical gates scattered across the realm.
The Confederation: The plains and hills of the South are home to a variety of minor human and scattered halfling communities. The youngest of all the realms, there are many self-proclaimed Kings throughout the patchwork of communities that dwell here. Alliances drift and shift with each generation, as does the size and existance of the various minor kingdoms. Many a robber-baron has risen to Kingship in the realm, and nearly as many Kings have fallen to betrayal, war or merging among the kingdoms. This realm is dynamic, and it is here that the Order of Weal devotes much attention, attempting to unite the fractious realms under the banner of good deeds and the bonds of community.
The Realm of Rings: This once-mountainous realm has largely been transformed by its major inhabitants, the Aasimar. The offspring of daliances with the celestials of the Second World who left behind the lands of the Legion, this realm is scattered with floating arcane cities that glide above the natural world below. Though these cities patrol and protect the land-born areas beneath them, they cannot be everywhere and dark creatures of the Second World incurse from the South on a regular basis. Likewise, many areas sport abandoned ancient cities of the Second World, many of them once being surface or underground bastions of the otherworldly Celestials and Fiends of that time. Those not lucky enough to dwell in the floating cities often seek these ruins out to plumb their depths and find wealth, power or simply a better life that they have been born into.
The Legion of Nine: The great West is a blasted realm of fire, ash and glowing otherworldly rock - though there are isolated pockets created by those Celestials that left this realm that are bastions of beauty and glory. From its polluted wastes rise gleaming cities populated by Tieflings and their cousin Fiends - many of the latter who rule these isolated bastions. Despite the powerful presence of these cities of dark desires, there are numerous smaller communities who eek out a living - some even under the watchful eye of a guardian Celestial. Warbands from the great cities are commonly stalking the land, looking for fodder to work the Fiendish engines of the great cities or to cater to the whims of those city's well-to-do. Luckily for the rest of the continent, the political machinations of the cities keeps the Legion from fully uniting to spead across the rest of the realm.
The Dragon Isles: Off the Eastern coast of the continent is a vast archipelico inhabited by various dragons, usually clustered by draconic color. Each of the major lineages boasts a monarch of great power who demands obesience from its lesser "children" and plot to spread their influence over other islands. Only the most daring or foolish mortals tread these islands, filled with strange dragonspawn and treasures discarded, abandoned or lost amid the chaotic confrontrations between dragons.
The Pirate Isles: Off the West and towards the North of the continent lies a great island with sides that tower hundreds of feet into the sky. There is only a single access from its lower shores to the jungletop above, and it has become a port catered and controlled by pirates who ply the Western Sea - with legends of nearby portal through which pirates and those ships in the know can pass into the Eastern Sea. Though the city has been sacked by the League at least once in ancient times, the most recent iteration of the city has stood for over seventy years - partly believed due to secret patronage by some League cities. In addition, its survival is in part due to the expeditions to the mysterious jungle top, where exotic creatures, spices and portals to worlds that can be reached by no other means exist.
The Great Kingdom (The Realm of Ar'Alaghagh): Nestled in the vast crater the arrival of Ar'Alaghagh created on its arrival, the Great Kingdom is a melting pot of races who have taken up the teachings of Ar'Alaghagh, creating communities who practice the teachings of Weal in a bid to unite all the varied species of the world. Ar'Alaghagh is not directly worshipped nor rules, with the great Caliph of Ar'Alaghagh being the mouthpiece for the interpretation of Weal. The greatest order devoted to Ar'Alaghagh's teachings - consisting of a mix of Paladins and Monks primarily, is the Order of Weal, who crusade across the various lands to right wrongs and improve the lives of all they meet. Also of note are the centaurs, hybsil and other centauric species originating here - transformed from their original species by the Weal into these magical creatures and custodians of the Great Kingdom.
The latter requires a CON save, but only when you are next to one.
