World Primer

On this site you will find all the lore and information regarding the continent of AUXIS and the surrounding worlds, planes, beings and gods which reside in this homebrew universe. All information which your characters know and will know through prior knowledge, research and discovery is on this site and will be made available over time. This page is a refresher and a stone to which I will set the basic, unchangeable information of this homebrew world, for you to reference and expand your searches in and out of game. All information here is the knowledge which all individuals, regardless of race, ethnicity, location or education level is aware of, at least tangentially, in the world. All lore relates to the following campaign(s):

• The Cursed Crown of the Blackened Spire (1643AT - )

Space, Time and the Calendar

The primary world of this campaign is the most habitable planet of the The Prime Material Plane - Toril. Toril is an earth-like planet, third from the system's star, following an orbit of three hundred and sixty-five days, each day lasting approximately twenty-four hours. Toril experiences four seasons - spring, summer, autumn and winter, each lasting three months of its twelve month calendar year. Toril has exactly one moon, named Selûne, which follows an elliptical orbit around the planet, affecting the tides and waters at the surface.
Mythology surrounding the twelve months of the year arises from the old traditions of common - the language spoken by all surface-dwelling civilised beings of Toril. They are each named after specific gods discovered in the first age, and carry connotations of worship in different cultures.
Calender

1. Lathen, named after Lathander, the God of dawn, Renewal and Life.
2. Shillalias, named after Shiallia, the Goddess of Wild Fertility and Conception
3. Shaunis, named after Shaundakul, the God of Exploration and Discovery
4. Charis, named after Chauntea, the Goddess of Growth and Birth
5. Lliiralis, named after Lliira , the Goddess of Joy
6. Astilabus, named after Astilabor, the God of Wealth
7. Labelas, named after Labelas Enoreth, the God of Time
8. Amaun, named after Amaunator, the God of Light
9. Helm, named after Helm, the God of Watchfulness and Protection
10. Mielik, named after Mielikki, the Goddess of Autumn
11. Sehanin, named after Sehanine Moonbow, the Goddess of Night and Dreams
12. Hyrs, named after Hyrsam, the God of Celebration and Revelry

The yearly calendar follows a standard numerical pattern, rising linearly from the beginning of each age, consisting of decades, centuries and millennia. The oldest record of civilisation dates back to just over twelve and a half millennia, or eleven millennia from the beginning of the third age. There are, to date, exactly three ages of the world
The Prime Material Plane is the central Sphere in the in the world spheres - the series of layers which make up the structure of the universe. The central sphere is known as the The Crystal Sphere, the divine structure which inhabits all mortal life. Beyond that lies The Ethereal, Elemental and Astral planes which contain spectral, elemental and astral life. More information and the history of the world spheres can be found here:

Three Ages and a History

The academic histories of Auxis are divided into roughly three Aeons, or ages, which mark particular eras of life and geo-politics on the super-continent. As shorthand, the three ages are referred to as Aeon Alpha (AA), Aeon Deios (AD), and Aeon Treia (AT). The individual ages themselves have particular defining periods, though the cutoff points are often regarded to be the beginning and end of the Astral War. Below are the details of the three ages, as well as their defining periods.

Aeon Alpha - The Age of Life

This age lasted for roughly ten thousand years, with its beginning defined by the oldest known record of mortal activity on the super-continent. This age saw the growth in civilisation and the spread of the three primary races of the world - Humans, Dwarves and Elves - across the continent. The age saw the rise and fall of hundreds of nations and kingdoms, many wars fought for land, power and resources, and by the end of the age the rise of what came to be modern magic. During the second age, many relics and academic works on this beginning of civilisation were lost, so many of the details lie in mystery and legend.
Eon of Dawn

The first period of the first age is known as the Eon of Dawn, where the first civilisations and foundings date back to. The oldest known society is thought to be the Kingdom of Ostoria, a long abandoned and ruined city buried deep beneath millennia of erosion and decay. Modern theology ascribes the last sight of divine activity before the convergence to this city, and credits the birth of the three initial races which seeded civilisation on Auxis to three legendary demi-mortals said to be the children of is ruler - Anum.

Eon of Growth

The thousands of years which followed the dawn the three native peoples of Auxis - the elves, the dwarves and the humans spread across the land, inhabiting and laying claim to much of the land they could reach. They created shelter, tribes, cities and nations, forming depths of culture and art. The peoples of Auxis mostly kept isolated, trading between neighbours and focusing on their own survival. The humans focused on expression - magnificent cities and beautiful architecture, literature, language and art arising from these Eons. The Dwarves focused on material - crafting cities of stone and function, delving deep into the cores of the world and uncovering the riches and strongest materials which were laid for them. The Elves focused on the Astral, resigning themselves to the highest towers of the deepest woods, studying the stars, the moon, and the arcane structure of the world. They developed the magics and over their long lifetimes perfected their arts.

Eon of War

In the third Eon, the peaceful divisions between the three peoples, and the harmony between them, began to falter. Men of the human kingdoms began to crave the power that the Elves had, the Dwarves desired the power and reach which the humans had claimed, and the Elves wished to discover the secrets of the deep which the Dwarves claimed hold to. The world descended into mighty wars, power and land changed hands and many lives were felled by the forces of mortal greed. As battles were waged and the growth the world had experienced began to become under threat, something was discovered which changed the course of mortal history forever.

Eon of Numinus

In the final millennia of the first age, evidence of worlds beyond Auxis began to appear. Beings of no mortal nature, beyond the physical realm, were all but certain as more unpredictable divine magic was discovered. The human kingdoms came across relics of the past and were gifted with messages from the divine realms, many of good, some of sinister intent. It is unclear exactly how the transition from the first to the second age took place, but the humans, blinded by the newfound power, wrote into the scriptures that they, above all other races, were the ones gifted with the connection to the divine. Legend speaks of eight sorcerer kings, rulers who had claimed the most territory over the Eon of War, who developed the divine and arcane arts into one, raising a generation of spellcasters who drew upon other worlds to fuel their magic. In this time, the first Aurabice Crystals were forged in conjunction with divine nature magic, sparking the event known as the convergence.

Aeon Deios - The Astral War

The second age of Auxis was marked by a thousand years of war and conflict of a magnitude not seen on the face of the world in recorded history. The interference of the divine and creatures from beyond the prime material plane saw a decided shift in the political and geographical landscape of the continent. There were three primary events of the war which marked distinct paradigm shifts in the world's politics, geography and magic, over which the world saw an influx of creatures and races from other realms which built their way onto the plane. Through conquest, divine magic and newfound alliances, the war waged for centuries between invading forces of fiends and dark magic against a united front of Humans, Dwarves, Elves and beings from the upper planes. Exact battles, events or dates are unknown and left only to the memories of the many who lived through the harsh and deadly times. Only those written about - and survived the destruction - remain in any form of knowledge.
The Convergence

The war was kick-started by an event called the convergence, and a series of events which followed directly from its impact. Experiments in magic produced gateways between the prime material plane and the outer worlds, causing a collapse in the barriers between realms. Creatures from the underworlds began to invade, building nests and driving out civilisation from the less hospitable areas of the world. The southern coast of the continent became uninhabitable, as creatures from the southern land and sea began to take hold and move northwards.

The Gods

As the prime material plane was opened up to the outer realms, divine beings of malicious intent began to see an opportunity to seize land of the physical realm. Using individuals like puppets who worshipped lower realm gods, evil deities granted boons and power to those who helped them onto the land. Over many years, conscious beings of magical origin began to enter the world through gates crafted by humans, giving them direct access to the war. Unable to hold them back, the good-aligned civilisations called on their deities to assist. The first recorded divine interventions on Auxis happened within the space of a year, and saw a remarkable shift in worship and divine understanding on the continent

The Schism

In the final centuries of the war, when every inch of the land was touched by conflict among mortals and immortals, races of the prime material and outer planes, efforts were made to end the war and cleanse the realm of gateways to the beyond. The details are unknown, but one event - the schism, is the event which is most ingrained into the history tomes of all civilisations. In an effort to destroy the aurabice and rid the realm of portals to the outer planes, Amaunator, the god of light and he who's divine power fuelled the convergence destroyed the crystals, sending a shock of energy throughout the continent. The very crust tore in two and over the course of two days an earthquake more powerful than ever thought possible was felt as the continent was ripped apart, sending half northwards and half southwards. The schism created the modern landmass of Auxis, and saw the gates to other planes shut forevermore. The war continued for just under two centuries, before the final armies of evil were slain and the world began to heal

Aeon Treia - The New World

Following the Schism and the end of the Astral War the world was thrown into geopolitical chaos, and the factions and unities which once held together the bonds of mortals under the banners of war dissolved into anarchy. The loss of homes, families, livelihoods and nations in the short span of a few years plunged millions of people into the ocean of forging a new world. The absence of the gods further enshrined the chaos, causing people to have to band together under mortal leadership, forging their own identities and finding those among the world they could trust. Soon, factions began to reforge, old alliances re-tethered and new battle lines drawn. On both Xedaris and Edea, political communities began to grow, taking in weaker settlements and locating the most hospitable new lands to forge new empires.
In Edea, the remainder of the Elves which had not fled to the Feywilds had set up home in the tropical island of Yx'ala . The Dwarves had fled to beneath the ground to explore the new worlds beneath the Wintercrest Peaks. The humans spread across the southern coast, the mightiest kingdom arising in the east around the new lake of Bordask, which later spread across the continent to become the Kingdom of Edea.
In Xedaris, the most stable strongholds from the war closed their walls in Ataria and Ynmar, as the rest of the continent grew bloody and wild. The wildlands to the south and the east spread into conflict, the dangerous wilderness and growing powers fighting for the fresh land and a chance for prolonged peace. The militant empire Ald Ruma grew into a large power in the north taking over much of Syngalal and Erisdun, while the wild forests and jungles of the coasts stayed in the hands of many of the new peoples which had grown powerful during the war.
Over the two millennia of the third age, the powers of the world have settled, weary alliances and fragile peaces formed out of the chaos and uncertainty. Most live in relative safety, but the magic and danger of the wilderness is nonetheless new, religion is scattered and the landscape is scarred. The world is ripe for adventurers.

The Geography of Auxis

Modern Auxis is split in two primary continents - Edea and Xedaris. An archipelago connects the two continents in the eastern seas, and a large body of water separates the two landmasses. Both contain large mountain ranges and hundreds, if not thousands of settlements, tribes and peoples. Common is the primary language on both lands, with a minor tongue known as Xedarian spoken on the lower continent. The climate of the world is diverse and expansive, spanning from hot tropics near the equator all the way to frozen ice caps near the northern pole. The landmasses are often prone to small to medium sized earth quakes due to the natural and artificial tectonic activity, and the warmer regions are often prone to monsoons and hurricanes. Full details on Auxis and the geographic breakdown of the continents, see below:

Races of Auxis

The World Beyond

Politics

People

Auxis is made up of various kingdoms, empires and dynasties which have control over regions of both Edea and Xedaris. Edea has a series of large political powers which exist in a stable co-operation, providing protection to many smaller bodies of power and polities at the local level. Xedaris has a range of smaller powers which frequently vie for power and land on the continent, as well as many powerful city states which control trade routes and resources.

There are many races and lineages on Auxis, from the mixing of the native humans, human-adjacent races, dwarves and elves in the first age, as well as the introduction of various other peoples in the second and third age, such as the Genasi, Drow and Firbolg. Within and between the lineages are many ethnicities across both landmasses, with specific languages, cultures and societal structures being found across the continent originating each with unique histories.

Edea

Xedaris

Ethnic groups

 

The Gods

Following the schism, the gods have played a watchful but hands-off approach to mortals upon the prime material plane. The power they possess following the convergence and the many scourges of magical presence which has scarred much of their old world has left Auxis divinely isolated, the palms of the gods kept far from their followers. Of course, however, religion is important and a powerful force in the modern world. Clerics, Paladins and Warlocks exist across the continents, spreading the gospel of their pantheons and domains, bargaining lesser immortals for power in exchange for service in the physical realm.
In the Eon of the Numinus, the gods were free, rare and worshipped for their might and legacy. Now, they are isolated and plentiful, taking devout worshippers as exarchs into their ranks, building strong pantheons and crafting their domains in other-worlds, and worshipped for what they can do for the mortals who follow them. Few true religious orders remain that do not seek glory and power, and those that stay true to their doctrines are often found in the furthest reaches of civilisation where they fail to be corrupted by politics and greed.

There are various kinds of deities worshipped on Auxis, each of which exist in the various outer planes of the universe. There are sixteen primary planes, seventeen worshipped pantheons across different cultures and societies, twelve domains of power to which the gods represent, and nine alignments to which the gods are bound.
Some deities are wholly astral, never seen nor heard, communicating only through magic and dreams in cryptic fashion. These lie the furthest from the prime material plane and are often the most powerful. Most lower plane beings fall into this category, as they resist sharing their power amongst weaker beings and are bound into their highly volatile planes. Some gods are wholly physical, walking the planes and amassing followers through charisma and miracle. These are often exarchs or demi-gods, beings who were once mortal or physical and were granted godlike power. Most lie between these extremes, manifesting as mortals or as powerful beings in time of great need, but reserve their power and impact over the world.

The World Spheres

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