Astora

1450 ACR

Created by

hamilcarbarca
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The Laws of Astora

  • Magic exists and is relatively common. Magic obeys its own laws set either by the nature of it or the laws created by the divine powers that control its flow.  
  • The gods are real, evidence of their existence is clear to all, and they attempt to influence the world from afar, though they typically cannot directly interfere of their own volition.  
  • The universe exists as layers of reality stacked upon each other. This world is one of many within space, that space is one of many "material planes", and the material is one of many layers of planes that exist within what is called "realmspace". It is also known to the sages that other realmspaces exist outside of this one.  
  • Most of the laws of physics apply normally, but many are simplified or ignored in the name of more efficient and simple mechanics to facilitate fun gameplay.

Cosmology

This world was created by the primordial powers in eons past before the birth of the gods. They shaped the elemental powers into material planes, and crafted worlds within that space, often seeding them with life, though as often as not living beings were merely a byproduct of their creation and had little meaning to them.

Principal Geography & Features

Astora bears scars from its past, some of which are far more obvious than others. Most notable are the Desolate Waste, theSavage Wilds, and the Maelstrom. All three features came into being around the same time, some 8,000 years ago.  
  • The Desolate Waste is a vast tract of desert spanning the stretch of The Midlands between the Northspire Mountains and Southspire Mountains. Other than the oasis city of Submana, little can survive the harsh desert environment and deadly creatures that roam it.
  • The Savage Wilds is a country-sized jungle wedged betwen the Goldpeak Mountains and the Worldspine Mountains, and is considered to be the domain of Silvanus, the only deity to possess a realm on the Prime Material Plane. It is considered sacred ground and hostile to all outsiders, jelously protected by the many druidic orders surrounding it and the fauna and flora of the land itself.
  • The Maelstrom is a massive, permanent storm off the western coast of Astora. Its presence makes sea travel along the coast a dangerous venture, and creates prevailing winds that dictate the weather for much of the continent.
  Astora also contains a vast series of caves, tunnels, and subterrainian bodies of water deep underground known as the Underdark. It exists almost as a world apart, with its own ecosystems, civilizations, and crises, all of which can affect or be affected by the surface world. There exist hundreds, if not thousands of cave systems that connect the underdark to the surface world, though travel between them is no simple task. Underdark lore tells that the great worms are the architects of their world, carving out endless tunnels in their journey through the earth and connecting the natural caverns scattered throughout.

Initial Active Setting

Astora is the name both of a major landmass and surrounding islands and the world upon which it lies. While scholars may balk at this repetition of naming, most do not care, for as far as they are concerned the land of Astora is the entire world. Rumors and myths exist of far off lands and mystical islands beyond the known world, but little to no proof exist of such things, and so the continent of Astora is, for all intents and purposes, the world of Astora.   The planescape of the realms is known to exist by most, but any details of its layout and contents are typically left to speculation by those who will never see proof of its existence beyond the divine and arcane magics that come from without.
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