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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Laurefindel" data-source="post: 7518232" data-attributes="member: 67296">The World of EurigaEuriga is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy  roleplaying game. It is set in a world where spellcasters have been  reimagined to fill slightly different roles, and where numbers of human  cultures replace the traditional fantasy races of D&D. It is a world  inhabited by spirits, some wild, some dark, and where their interaction  with humans takes a central role in the narrative of the setting. It is  a land where modernity is emerging from traditions, where the new has  triumphed over the old. Euriga is dawning on a new age; will you stand  valiantly against the tides of time, or will you move boldly forward  into dawn?[sblock]This campaign setting takes its name from the continent of Euriga; the  land from which your character originates and progresses as adventurer.  Euriga is not the only continent of this world, but this setting is  described and is to be experienced from the perspective of its  inhabitants.Dawn of a New AgeEuriga has recently emerged from a dark era and has begun its transition  into an age of renaissance. Technological advances in agriculture and  civil engineering allowed cities to grow rapidly and support large  populations. The houses of Eurigeans are warm and clean, and are  equipped with proper sanitary installations, safe indoors kitchens,  coal-burning furnaces, and easy access to clean water. While poverty  still endures in the cities and countryside, the inhabitants of Euriga  are more prosperous now than they ever been. All but its poorest  citizens received an elementary education, but many also completed  advanced studies in the diverse universities, colleges, seminaries and  academies around the continent. Off all the sciences and philosophiae  that are taught, arcane magic is among the most prestigious, and its  principles are applied just as extensively as those of arithmetic,  geometry and chemistry in everyday life. As a matter of fact, modern  spellcasting derives from these disciplines just as much as esoteric  principles.Of Spirits and Men Euriga is a land where spirits walk among humans, halfway between the  world of shadows and that of mortals. Some appear to be benevolent and  some are clearly hostile, but the majority seem indifferent to the fate  of humankind. No one knows what prompts them to occupy the mortal’s  world, but the fate of the Euriga and that of the spirit lands appear to  be somehow intertwined.Whether they serve as allies or antagonists to the player characters,  the presence of spirits cannot be ignored and is likely to take a  central role in the campaign. The term “spirit” is used in a very broad  sense on Euriga, and includes virtually any creature of supernatural  origin – with the exception of fiends and celestials – such as  elemental, fey, plant and undead creatures. Not all spirits are  ghost-like and incorporeal, most are in fact quite tangible. Spirits  often take a “shape” as they enter the material world, giving a solid  and physical form to their nothingness. Whether this is a deliberate  choice on their part or a consequence of their presence in the mortal’s  world remains unknown. The spirits themselves do not seem to have (or  even care for) an explanation for it.The Promise of a Better AfterlifeAs the world entered a new age of reason, the open worship of these  spirits is no longer practiced by everyone, and is even discouraged by  some. A new pantheon of gentler deities has replaced the old wild and  often cruel gods and spirit lords. As the world moves into modernity,  the people of Euriga have come to prefer the promise of a blessed  afterlife earned by one’s virtues, rather than a place of choice in the  realms of the dead for those who performed great deeds, be they  self-sacrificing or thoroughly evil. Many spirits are resentful of this  change and thought they do not feel spite and hatred the way humans do,  their mysterious duties must be performed, regardless whether humans  cooperate or not.While this new religion is just as important here as it is in other  campaign settings, the gods of Euriga do not grant spells to mortal  clerics, nor do they empower their worshippers with the ability to  channel their divinity and perform miracles on their behalf. This  doesn’t prevent the inhabitants of Euriga from practicing their religion  and believing in their gods’ power however – that after all, is the  true definition of faith. The gods of Euriga, or so it seems, wish to be  worshipped without the absolute proof of their existence.This new religion is not completely incompatible with many of the old  practices however, and as a matter of fact, most of the old holidays are  still celebrated today. The spirits are still appeased and thanked with  daily rituals, and the witches who communicate with spirits are still  consulted and heeded by citizens and countryfolks alike. Once, these  witches lived a hermit-like life in the wild where they could easily  commune with spirits but nowadays, some even own fancy boutiques where  they sell spells and potions to the citizens of the great cities of  Euriga.On the Appearance of SpiritsThe spirits of Euriga can take various forms but in their “natural”,  incorporeal states, they look like indistinct humanoid shapes of  impenetrable darkness. Sometimes, their lower body resemble the body of a  snake, the tail of a fish, or even the tentacles of a squid, rather  than the legs of a human but regardless of their appearance, the shape  of spirits always dissipate into nothingness before touching the ground.  Only their glowing eyes appear on their face, as if no other trait  could emerge past the blackness of their shape.Incorporeal spirits wear a mask when manifesting in front of mortals,  and many wear clothes and jewelry to give shape to their nothingness.  This mask is often white with gold ornamentation or dark grey with  silver motifs, but some are brightly coloured and take after the traits  of an animal instead of those of a human visage. Strangely, the eyeholes  of these masks change continually to match the current spirit’s  expressions and emotional state. The mouth on the other hand never  moves, even when the spirit is speaking.When a spirit is killed or banished, its mask and clothes fall to the  ground and vanish within a few seconds. Ancient spells allow a  necromancer to preserve a defeated spirit’s mask, allowing the mortal  who possesses it to summon and bind the spirit to its will.Many spirits also “clad” themselves with a physical form when entering  the mortal’s world, taking the shape of an animal, of a fantastic  creature, or even of an animated lump of rock and soil, but they seem  incapable of taking the shape of a human being. Whenever they do, their  otherworldly origin is always betrayed by inhuman features; some are  fair (like a dryad spirit), others are grotesque (like a green hag  spirit), or truly repulsive (like a ghast spirit). Ancient necromancers  also learned how bind lesser spirits to the corpse of the deceased and  raised hordes of animated skeletons and zombies.Spirits as CreaturesIn the world of Euriga, every creature of the elemental, fey, plant, and  undead type is considered a spirit, and the DM should feel free to  change the appearance of the creature to match its vision of the spirits  when necessary. Ghosts, shadows, specters, wraiths, and other  incorporeal creatures readily serve as “unclad” spirits, as described  above, while corporeal and tangible creatures can be interpreted as one  of their physical incarnation (like a salamander, a treant, or a dryad),  as an object possessed or animated by a spirit (like an earth  elemental, a shambling mound, or a skeleton), or as one of their most  ancient and noble leaders on Euriga (like a djinni or a mommy lord).  Some like an azer or a green hag could be imagined as spirits that were  banished or sentenced to live on this world in their forms indefinitely  and that have now made their way into local folklore.[/sblock]</blockquote>

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