Continent of Khanesh

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Notes: The name "Isles of Woe" were taken from the Greyhawk Campaign-Setting. This is because the name seemed to mesh perfectly with the type of world I was creating. Khanesh is roughly divided into four regions:

Broken Lands
Isles of Woe
Forests of Myre
Solemn Lands

Broken Lands: The Broken Lands are the remnants of large theocratic kingdoms and empires which used to be great powers before the Darkening. Chaos and anarchy reigns supreme in nearly every area, with feudal warlords and petty nobles waging
war for control of the region.The wilderness is bleak and the people even more so. Dark clouds cover the Broken Lands in a perpetual gloom, even in spring and summer.

Isles of Woe: These isles in Murkwater are infamous for raiders and privateers.
Such activity is sponsored by the dreaded overlord of the isles, Oviezur the Clawed. The raiders take prisoners from across the shorelines of northern Khanesh and send them to the Isles of Woe for some sinister purpose. The capital of the isles, Anguish,
is known as the "City of Chains" due to the size of the slave-population. The slaves
toil in a huge tower filled with clockworks and mysterious devices.

Forests of Myre: Vast, mostly unexplored forests. Used to be the greatest seat
of elven civilization in Khanesh. The Myrewoods have become a dark and evil place
after the elves commited collective suicide. It's also known as the Forest of Sorrow. Many undead lurk in its depths, and once proud elven cities are now forlorn and desolate, covered with the skeletons of those elves who killed themselves and their families. Circles of druids do their best to vanquish the evil creatures lurking in the woods, and rangers prowl amidst the ancient trees. Some unknown disaster buried deep in elvish history left large areas of scorched and blighted land between the
different woods. The few living elves refuse to part with this piece of lore, perhaps
due to the fact that much of the blame might lie on elven shoulders.

Solemn Lands: The region beyond the Forests of Myre is little known and shrouded
in myth and legend. Adventurers are welcome to explore this unknown area.

 

[Warchild]

yes.......yes.......

I like it, but then i'm drawn to morbid stuff like that!!
The elves committed mass suicide?? niiiice!! I like that in particular

Broken Lands:
I like the perpetual gloom of the Broken Lands, it reminds me of a friend of mine who made up a campaign about a world covered in endless night.


Forests of Myre:
Druids and Rangers stalking the "elven wastes" always wroking to keep the evils within contained...

Isles of Woe:
Again, very nice. I can see the slaves-ships of Anguish cutting through the brackish sea, its prisoners never to be seen again.......

Solemn Lands:
......reply hazy, ask again later.


All i have to say about your post really is......more please! I like it.

 

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Glad you liked it, Warchild. Here is some more information on the Darkening Campaign-Setting:

The Darkening was a cataclysmic event after which the prayers of mortals went unanswered. The gods have grown silent, for reasons unknown. Theocratic kingdoms and empires crumbled as priest-kings lost their ability to cast spells, and thus the sign that they were the favored of the gods. Many lands were plunged into chaos (now known as the Broken Lands). Another effect of the
Darkening was the Imprisonment of Khanesh. It is simply impossible to journey to other planes, and Khanesh itself is closed to the planes. This also made it impossible for souls to complete their journey to the afterlife. They are doomed to roam
Khanesh. A few souls also return to their corpses, and undead of all shapes innhabit Khanesh (every undead is a template, as skeletal rabbits and zombie magpies can be found in the world).
Imprisoned outsiders on Khanesh cause havoc as they desperately try to found some way to flee the forsaken world. The Darkening also left former holy cities and lands cursed with profane energies. Bel-Marduk (simply compared to the Vatican City) is now completely abandoned, save for the undying form of priest-king Szulg IX who spends his days whispering prayers which pass unheard.

Here is a piece of Khanesh's history (B.D. means before Darkening, the campaign is set 60 years after the Darkening):


THE DEMON WARS 256 B.D. - 253 B.D.

Ecliptea had seen prosperous times since Devhorian ascended to the title of Lord Protector in 261 B.D. This zealous priest of Corsentius cleansed the surrounding countryside of monsters and brigands, restoring law and order to the region. The first
great victory came in an attack on the warlord Raus led by Devhorian himself. Raus was slain and his land annexed by Ecliptea. Seven days of festivities and rejoycing followed as Devhorian's popularity grew to unseen heights. Even his commanders, paladins of Corsentius, were blinded by his seeming glory. Devhorian now had full control of both the populace and the military, as long as the steady stream of victories continued.
And it did. In 258 B.D. the armies of Ecliptea marched on Rylverian nomads with news that the barbarians there were amassing an army. Thousands of Rylverian nomads were slaughtered, though no army was discovered. Victory was still claimed, and a cowed populace cheered for Devhorian and his strange mystic. There were evil omens however, as some paladins who fought against the Rylverian nomads fell from grace and lost their paladinhoods. The Lord Protector had these "traitors", lest they spread dissension and strife in the army. By now Devhorian had grown so vain and mad with power that he envisioned a last, great crusade against the forces of evil. He summoned all the high priests of Corsentius at his command and bid them construct a great portal to the Abyss. It would function so that only a chosen group of people could move in and out of the portal. This to make sure the demons of the Abyss not attack Khanesh itself. The work on the portal would last two years and was lead by the enigmatic mystic.
The portal stood ready in 256 B.D., and Devhorian announced his intent to the people of Ecliptea. The crowds cheered the Lord Protector as he proclamed his intent to personally lead thousands of Ecliptean soldiers into the Abyss and strike a great blow against the forces of evil. Madness seemed to be a contagious state of mind as even the paladin commanders looked forward to the crusade. A week of celebration with games and tournaments preceeded the crusade in which the troops were whiped into a frenzy of bloodlust and zealousness. When the time finally came to march into the Abyss, the road leading to the portal was lined with blooming flowers and smiling maidens. The army, led by Devhorian, marched into the Abyss. The army was to return after twenty four hours.
Days came and went, and yet the army did not return. Divination spells revealed nothing, and soon all the priests of Corsentius in Ecliptea simply lost their ability to grant spells (this incident is viewed by many as a warning to the Darkening). The news spread, and soon the populace became afraid and there was even talk of revolting. All the people of Ecliptea grew silent however, as the Devhorian's army returned from the Abyss. The stench of corpses and the buzzing of flies warned of the army's return. But nothing could have prepared the people of Ecliptea, and indeed the people of Khanesh, as to the nature of the return. Devhorian had become a gaunt, skeletal figure. His eyes
burned with hellfire, and the steed he rode upon was equally skeletal and horrible. Behind Devhorian rode his ten commanders, once zealous and righteous paladins, but now clearly fiendish, undying creatures. The entire army soon marched in, and the moaning of a thousand walking dead echoed across Ecliptea. Devhorian marched into the city square, the populace paralyzed with fear. He stopped, as did the army, and he said with a hollow, cruel voice: "Behold, people of Ecliptea, we bring you eternal life". With these words, all the undying creatures simultaneously began striking at the city's innhabitants. The screams of dying men and the moans of dead men was a horrible
unholy symphony, and those who did not die became ravenous lunatics.

 

[Warchild]

yes.......yes.......

i'm liking it so far!
Don't go to Ecliptea....got it!!!

Is it known what Devhorian did with those Traitors? It seemed like that part of the sentence was left out. Did he actually kill them, or just get them out of the way. Might be cool to have them languishing in a prison somwhere (maybe the isles of Woe?). Thats assuming any of them could still be alive (old age wise). It doesn't quite sound like they were the ones who lost their paladinhood to me!

So are clerics banned(or useless!) in your setting? How about the "stock" races? Are all of the elves dead....nah, we couldn't be that lucky!!

My own setting doesn't have clerics (never had gods!!) and doesn't use any of the core races (outside of humans that is), so i find that sort of thing more interesting than most might!

 

[Buttercup]

I'm always looking for a reason to Rule 0 elves. And you've managed to eliminate clerics too. I think I'm in love. Now, if you have also eliminated gnomes, I think we should run away together.

 

[Warchild]

Where'd ya go, Neb!!??

 

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Sorry, I've been busy. Check out my campaign website (still in early development, and be warned: Nothing professional).

http://nebuchadnezzar.freewebsitehosting.com/

As to your questions, Warchild, the traitors at Ecliptea were slain by Devhorian. There no clerics in my campaign, though there are a few elves (very rare though).

 

[Warchild]

I get an error when trying to get into the character creation page. Still working on that?
No clerics. yes. I knew i wasn't the only one!!!

 

[Nebuchadnezzar]

strange...

You should be able to access the character creation page, works just fine for me. I've been doing some work on "Core Classes", and "Feats" within character creation.

What kind of error do you get?

 

[Warchild]

Ah, i can get in now. It was giving a "cannot find page" error. I figured you just hadn't set it up yet. Cool beans.