The world is going to be an original one, homebrewed, that I don't plan on fleshing out as fully as I have in the past because I've found that tends to just be wasted time and effort on my part. I'm toning down Divination magic and making it so that in order to communicate across distances you basically have to actually traverse the distance, which means these PoLs aren't going to be keeping up with what's going on in the other ones very well and in fact may even be unaware of each other's existence.
The history of the world is basically that before the rise of the humanoid races, (the ones players can pick from) the world was ruled over by the Dragons and inhabited by monsters throughout, with next to no civilization anywhere. Then came the Elves, though no one's quite sure from where, and the few that existed gathered together and started to create myths, and to worship them. This created the first of the gods: the noble warrior prince Corellon Larethian, God of the Elves. With the help of the newly created Divine source of magic, the Elves threw back the darkness and created the first civilization, a bright, shining beacon to all of the world that We Are Here, and that there was a place for civilization and learning and all that rot. Of course, what they neglected to think of is that they were outnumbered by the darkness approximately a zillion to one. The Dragons led the charge against the Elves, and their monstrous followers quickly beat back and nearly destroyed the Fair Folk.
Corellon, desperate to save his people as they were forced to retreat higher and higher into the mountaintops that were their home, at last discovered a way out: the Feywild, or Faerie. Faerie had never been seen before by any inhabitants of this world, indeed, the concept of other planes of existence was unthinkable, but he had discovered it, and as he was the sole one with the knowledge of how to enter it, it seemed a safe haven.
Alas, for some elves, they would rather continue the fight with the devil they knew than admit defeat and retreat into the unknown. And thus the Elven race was split in twain, with one part following Corellon into the Feywild, retreating forever from this world, one part remaining behind and becoming nomads, surviving on the run, their gifts of magic having departed them, forcing them to fend for themselves with bow and sword, armour and shield, and with rumours whispering of a third part that dealt with Dragons and other creatures too foul to mention, that were twisted, and driven underground, blackened and made to hate the sun that they once basked in.
And so the Dragons regained their control of the world, and the monsters repopulated it, finding sport in their occasional chance happening upon of the Wood Elves, as they were now known. But they had been dealt a mighty blow, and they felt it in their bones: the monsters were less numerous, the Dragons less confident. The Dragons no longer roamed the countryside at will but retreated into their lairs, venturing forth only on rare occasions, that over time grew all the rarer. It is said that they must sleep for eleven parts out of a twelvemonth now, or even longer, and that it would take something truly astonishing to rouse them from their slumber for good.
But not everything can last forever, no, not even the banishing of the Eladrin and the sealing of the Feywild. For within Faerie the Eladrin discovered that they were not alone, and monsters and horrors awaited them almost as numerous as the ones in the home which they had fled. And other things too, less monstrous and more fair, that they would deal with and mingle, becoming less like their Wood Elf cousins with each passing generation, and taking on the name Eladrin: for this was what those they met there called the fair folk. And as it stood, while the Dragons had little interest in following them to Faerie, wishing merely to hold onto their own world, some of the Eladrin had a desire to return to their ancestral home and once more take up the battle with the horrors they remembered in song and legend. And so, a few did: opening once more the portal to their ancestral mountaintop homelands they were astounded to discover a race of short, industrious folk working above and within the mountaintops, hiding their presence from the monsters that still roamed free. The Eladrin quickly learned that many new races had arisen in their absence that seemed to carry on the fight without them, indeed, without even knowledge of them: the Dwarves, or so the short anvil-sounders called themselves, had had dealings with a race of tall men that the dwarves described as "like you lot, but less floaty and froofy. Almost as practical as we dwarves be, but given to silly things like the taming of beasts to ride on and hunt with." They learned too of the Dragonborn, the last creation of the Dragons that they had had to fight, and how some seemed to have taken away a smattering of civilization from their encounters with the Elves, and of a little folk that never seemed to appear in great numbers but that could be found in any place where another race gathered, and most surprisingly of all, that there were permanent settlements in place that had succeeded in routing any monsters that came for them. What's more, they had rediscovered the art of Divine magic, and nearly all of these city-states has a patron Deity that they worship. Most seem to be merely different names for the same archetype, a traveller from one town may worship the Morninglord, Bringer of the Day, and another may worship the Great Star, Light of Morn, but neither would bat an eye at the other. Others are more unique, no one would mistake Belladonna the Halfling Goddess of Plenty for the Scythereaper, God of Resisting Starvation. These new gods also seem weaker than Corellon (who has now retreated to a shifting castle in Faerie that few can ever find, and never in the same place two nights): they never manifest themselves and indeed were it not for the fact that they grant their followers divine spells there would seem to be no evidence that they exist.
Still, the towns are safe, at least, some of the time; a good many fell beneath Dragonborn blade or Giant's maul. Yet it seemed that the majority of the truly terrible creatures that the Elves had once feared were now in hiding, or perhaps biding their time: the dreaded Eye Tyrants, the terrible perversions of the Undead, and most of all the Dragons, all seemed to have retreated from the waking world.
But not for long.
The overarching metaplot that they'll slowly uncover is that the heads of the major races, the Stonelord of the Dwarves, Queen Mab of the Eladrin, the Chieftain of the Wood Elves, and the King of the largest of the Human city-states (with his Halfling advisor) are joining together to create an alliance to route the monsters that plague their land once and for all. At the meantime, the Dragons are awaking once more, and seeing what has happened in their absence while they recovered from their last battle with the Elves, and they do not like it. They are gathering together with their trusted minions from the past (particularly the Eye Tyrants) and reforging their old alliance. What's more, while the Eladrin think themselves safe in their fortresses in Faerie, the Dragons have found a new realm of their own, and one much more to their liking: the Elemental Chaos, home to the Elementals, perpetually waging against one another, and more importantly, the Demons and Devils, who are all too eager to find a new world to conquer, and find an easy ally in the ancient Dragons. Unbeknownst to all of these, though, are the schemes of the Undead: how the Lich Lords of old, dissatisfied with their share of the spoils as given them by the Dragons, have taken their Mummy, Wraith, and Vampire lieutenants underground, where a dark race greeted them and spider-covered walls seemed a natural home. They too have plans of their own, that may work out to the detriment of all the living races, Dragon and Elf-kin alike.
All these groups are as yet laying their plans, though, and even the soonest are still many a moon from fruition. At the beginning, all the players know is that a wanderlust has gripped them and they feel an urge to go out of the relative safety of their native towns and confront the darkness, whether it be in the barely-worn roads connecting the small Points of Light or the darkest, dankest lairs that are rumoured to exist at the bases of the mountains.
So, tell me what you think?
The history of the world is basically that before the rise of the humanoid races, (the ones players can pick from) the world was ruled over by the Dragons and inhabited by monsters throughout, with next to no civilization anywhere. Then came the Elves, though no one's quite sure from where, and the few that existed gathered together and started to create myths, and to worship them. This created the first of the gods: the noble warrior prince Corellon Larethian, God of the Elves. With the help of the newly created Divine source of magic, the Elves threw back the darkness and created the first civilization, a bright, shining beacon to all of the world that We Are Here, and that there was a place for civilization and learning and all that rot. Of course, what they neglected to think of is that they were outnumbered by the darkness approximately a zillion to one. The Dragons led the charge against the Elves, and their monstrous followers quickly beat back and nearly destroyed the Fair Folk.
Corellon, desperate to save his people as they were forced to retreat higher and higher into the mountaintops that were their home, at last discovered a way out: the Feywild, or Faerie. Faerie had never been seen before by any inhabitants of this world, indeed, the concept of other planes of existence was unthinkable, but he had discovered it, and as he was the sole one with the knowledge of how to enter it, it seemed a safe haven.
Alas, for some elves, they would rather continue the fight with the devil they knew than admit defeat and retreat into the unknown. And thus the Elven race was split in twain, with one part following Corellon into the Feywild, retreating forever from this world, one part remaining behind and becoming nomads, surviving on the run, their gifts of magic having departed them, forcing them to fend for themselves with bow and sword, armour and shield, and with rumours whispering of a third part that dealt with Dragons and other creatures too foul to mention, that were twisted, and driven underground, blackened and made to hate the sun that they once basked in.
And so the Dragons regained their control of the world, and the monsters repopulated it, finding sport in their occasional chance happening upon of the Wood Elves, as they were now known. But they had been dealt a mighty blow, and they felt it in their bones: the monsters were less numerous, the Dragons less confident. The Dragons no longer roamed the countryside at will but retreated into their lairs, venturing forth only on rare occasions, that over time grew all the rarer. It is said that they must sleep for eleven parts out of a twelvemonth now, or even longer, and that it would take something truly astonishing to rouse them from their slumber for good.
But not everything can last forever, no, not even the banishing of the Eladrin and the sealing of the Feywild. For within Faerie the Eladrin discovered that they were not alone, and monsters and horrors awaited them almost as numerous as the ones in the home which they had fled. And other things too, less monstrous and more fair, that they would deal with and mingle, becoming less like their Wood Elf cousins with each passing generation, and taking on the name Eladrin: for this was what those they met there called the fair folk. And as it stood, while the Dragons had little interest in following them to Faerie, wishing merely to hold onto their own world, some of the Eladrin had a desire to return to their ancestral home and once more take up the battle with the horrors they remembered in song and legend. And so, a few did: opening once more the portal to their ancestral mountaintop homelands they were astounded to discover a race of short, industrious folk working above and within the mountaintops, hiding their presence from the monsters that still roamed free. The Eladrin quickly learned that many new races had arisen in their absence that seemed to carry on the fight without them, indeed, without even knowledge of them: the Dwarves, or so the short anvil-sounders called themselves, had had dealings with a race of tall men that the dwarves described as "like you lot, but less floaty and froofy. Almost as practical as we dwarves be, but given to silly things like the taming of beasts to ride on and hunt with." They learned too of the Dragonborn, the last creation of the Dragons that they had had to fight, and how some seemed to have taken away a smattering of civilization from their encounters with the Elves, and of a little folk that never seemed to appear in great numbers but that could be found in any place where another race gathered, and most surprisingly of all, that there were permanent settlements in place that had succeeded in routing any monsters that came for them. What's more, they had rediscovered the art of Divine magic, and nearly all of these city-states has a patron Deity that they worship. Most seem to be merely different names for the same archetype, a traveller from one town may worship the Morninglord, Bringer of the Day, and another may worship the Great Star, Light of Morn, but neither would bat an eye at the other. Others are more unique, no one would mistake Belladonna the Halfling Goddess of Plenty for the Scythereaper, God of Resisting Starvation. These new gods also seem weaker than Corellon (who has now retreated to a shifting castle in Faerie that few can ever find, and never in the same place two nights): they never manifest themselves and indeed were it not for the fact that they grant their followers divine spells there would seem to be no evidence that they exist.
Still, the towns are safe, at least, some of the time; a good many fell beneath Dragonborn blade or Giant's maul. Yet it seemed that the majority of the truly terrible creatures that the Elves had once feared were now in hiding, or perhaps biding their time: the dreaded Eye Tyrants, the terrible perversions of the Undead, and most of all the Dragons, all seemed to have retreated from the waking world.
But not for long.
The overarching metaplot that they'll slowly uncover is that the heads of the major races, the Stonelord of the Dwarves, Queen Mab of the Eladrin, the Chieftain of the Wood Elves, and the King of the largest of the Human city-states (with his Halfling advisor) are joining together to create an alliance to route the monsters that plague their land once and for all. At the meantime, the Dragons are awaking once more, and seeing what has happened in their absence while they recovered from their last battle with the Elves, and they do not like it. They are gathering together with their trusted minions from the past (particularly the Eye Tyrants) and reforging their old alliance. What's more, while the Eladrin think themselves safe in their fortresses in Faerie, the Dragons have found a new realm of their own, and one much more to their liking: the Elemental Chaos, home to the Elementals, perpetually waging against one another, and more importantly, the Demons and Devils, who are all too eager to find a new world to conquer, and find an easy ally in the ancient Dragons. Unbeknownst to all of these, though, are the schemes of the Undead: how the Lich Lords of old, dissatisfied with their share of the spoils as given them by the Dragons, have taken their Mummy, Wraith, and Vampire lieutenants underground, where a dark race greeted them and spider-covered walls seemed a natural home. They too have plans of their own, that may work out to the detriment of all the living races, Dragon and Elf-kin alike.
All these groups are as yet laying their plans, though, and even the soonest are still many a moon from fruition. At the beginning, all the players know is that a wanderlust has gripped them and they feel an urge to go out of the relative safety of their native towns and confront the darkness, whether it be in the barely-worn roads connecting the small Points of Light or the darkest, dankest lairs that are rumoured to exist at the bases of the mountains.
So, tell me what you think?
