Adranon
Welcome to Adranon, an ever-evolving world where time honored traditions exist simultaneously alongside technological and magical marvels. We are in the Renaissance Era, where peasants, knights, robbers, lords, ladies, wizards, and clerics alike are found in great numbers. Though much of the population of the world remains illiterate peasants, knowledge is starting to become respected instead of feared as a threat, as it has been for centuries. Writings and other forms of media not tied to the church have begun to spread and many different kinds of viewpoints are starting to emerge. Though learning and religion still clash, people now often debate theology and philosophy, something that would have been unprecedented a century ago. Not all are pleased at this turn of events, and some secretly think that perhaps things were better back when people led simpler lives and questioned less.
Diverse Lands
Adranon’s surface world is made up of continents surrounded by a great sea. It's teeming with life and hosts such places as the peaks and valleys of Carandor, the eternal forests of Ehn Thalas, the warm sands of Alhambra, and the flat plains of Eocer. There are also many strange and harsh places like the cold northern lands of Scau Symae, the great jungles of Jassiron, the swamplands of Kurath, the dead country of Rustanica, and the mysterious and defoliated Onyx Isles to the far South-East where not a single leaf grows. Stygia is a volcanic island of extreme temperatures, and the impassable Kelplands poke out from the sea West of Carandor. West of the Kelplands, the misty Shroud hides all that might lie beneath. None know what lies inside. All the world sits atop a vast network of subterranean caverns known as the Underworld. Finally, clearly visible in the night sky is the forbidden Star Citadels of the Dwarves, built in forgotten times under the mental compulsion of the lost tentacled race the Nualdir.
Though most of the world consists of humans and near-human races, Adranon is home to a staggering variety of societies, ways, and walks of life. There aremercantilist and sportsmanlike Carandorians, decadent slaving Sultans of Alhambra and the peoples under their thrall, the ferociously free tribes of the Orcs, the shamanic lizard-folk of Kurath, the isolationist elves of Ehn Thalas living in glorious stagnation, the strange insecto-communist Scau Symaeans, the theocratic Onyx Isles, the ancestor-worshiping dwarves of Nerneruhm who call themselves the Star Folk, the raiding gray dwarves the Duergar, and the Drow who are the feared rulers of the Underworld. There also are rumors that the Hidden Masters, the Nualdir, persist to this day, even though their empire was destroyed over a thousand years ago. Some believe there are many more exotic species and societies walking among us, right under our very noses.
Magical Dabbles
Of the mortals of Adranon, most of those who have distinguished themselves identify with one of the three leading powers: Martial, Arcane, or Divine. While Psychic practitioners exist, they remain alien, unrecognized, and often misunderstood.The overwhelming majority of people in the world are little more than novices but know of at least someone capable of casting a few cantrips or perhaps even low-level spells. Magic is thus an acknowledged presence in the world, even if its workings remain largely mysterious.
Religion in Adranon
The world’s dominant religion is the Pantheon, a collection of twelve gods and goddesses who sit together at the summit of heaven in the Senate of the Gods. Both Good, Neutral, and Evil gods alike sit around the same table, discussing divine issues. Most of the countries of the world follow them. Though the teachings of individual members of the Pantheon are wildly incompatible with each other, they never waver from the Mandate of Heaven, the Pantheon’s founding principle of non-interference.The Mandate of Heaven states that mortals must decide for themselves how to live their lives and which god’s teachings to follow. Gods should not impose themselves on the world but should instead offer their path for mortals to take up and let mortals themselves decide who gains followers and who doesn’t. Should good come about the world, or evil darken the hearts of men, should nature run rampant over the planes, or the resources of the world be consumed beyond repair, the mortals must be the ones to bring such times to pass. It is strictly forbidden for any God to manifest on the mortal plane and personally involve themselves in mortal matters.
Ancient Evil
Adranon has a grim past, the remnants of which still mark the land. Thousands of years ago, it was a dark time in the history of Adranon. A terrifying race of tentacled humanoids with psychic powers, the Nualdir, presided over a vast empire which enslaved the mortal races. The Empire of Naldirath was the most technologically advanced civilization in Adranon’s history, well and above that of Golgatha’s current era. The Nualdir were alien creatures wielding unimaginable devices who were responsible for wonders and horrors alike. They reigned for thousands of years but fell in a matter of decades when Dietmar Zohr, a simple farmer at the time, raiseda rebellion against them. How exactly a farmer managed to defeat the greatest empire that had ever existed has long since been forgotten. His story yet lives on, however, as a mythical tale of divine ascension. Zohr’s relationship with the gods of the Pantheon has only ever been turbulent since, as he has been banished from the Pantheon, cast out for failing to abide by their most basic rules of non-interference. More than a thousand years have passed since Naldirath, but the long shadow of that era looms overhead in the sky above, floating dormant in the Sky Citadels, never having fully been erased.
Points of interest
Carandor, Ehn Thalas, Alhambra, Eocer, Scau Symae, Jassiron, Kurath, Rustanica, Onyx Isles, Stygia, Kelplands, The Misty Shroud, Star Citadels of the Dwarves, Nerneruhm, the Underworld
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