Ayndrinor
2nd Age, 1485
Scene
The Laws of Ayndrinor
As a high-magic setting, the arcane is present in most people's daily lives. Illusionists on the street, healers at dangerous workplaces, and arcane researchers are just a few examples of magic users the typical citizen might interact with on a daily basis. Shops and grocers in larger cities and towns use small types of magic to keep certain items cold or to showcase valuable goods.
The gods do not inhabit the world, but their influence can be felt more directly than perhaps other worlds allow. Rumor and myth tell of a time when each god - from all over the alignment spectrum - had a sacred place on Ayndrinor and were able to grant boons to many of their followers. Much of this type of power was lost when society became too advanced and too dangerous, and today only a handful of such sites remain - each dedicated to a specific deity and able to impart great power to the deity's followers or petitioners. A few ancient sites remain in the remote places of the world where the work of the Dark Pantheon and other evil forces are hard at work to corrupt and overtake the good.
There are two moons that orbit the world and are used for both practical and spiritual means by people all over the world. The primary moon orbits every 64 days - just four phases per year. This larger moon helps people tell the seasons and impacts the tides, making it almost sacred for many. The secondary moon orbits the world every 16 days, making four orbits every season. This smaller moon is used in many spiritual practices to foretell coming events or assess various aspects of a person or their character (similar to horoscopes and astrology). The people of Ayndrinor can see two full moons in the sky roughly three or four days every season, always in the first half of each season when the primary moon is in its full phase.
Cosmology
The world as most Ayndrinorians know it was carved out of a larger world by The Four, founding deities of the universe and children of Primus himself. The oceans surrounding Ayndrinor and its peripheral islands are uncharted, and none who have sailed into them have ever returned. Many believe there are other lands out there past the "world's end" but no proof of this has ever surfaced or been found.
The Four did indeed create the world and speak it into existence, forming and shaping not only the land but the magic and natural processes with their offspring. All gods of both pantheons fought and strove against one another to assert their will and affect the world as they saw fit. Eventually, as Ayndrinor seemed on the eve of all-out warfare among the deities, they came to an accord that saw them leave the world and all vow never to return to it again, using parts of their individual divine powers to seal the contract. As they departed, they left behind the creatures and peoples they had created or that had evolved over time. And thus, in the absence of the gods, the reign of humanoids began and has persevered ever since.
Principal Geography & Features
The mountain ranges of the world are almost entirely inhospitable. Lower elevations can sometimes support cities or villages, depending on other factors, but the proper mountain highlands are barren and rocky with no vegetation to support small animals or larger game. Though a few older and shorter mountain ranges exist, the majority are snow-capped year-round and almost impassable to all travelers and explorers.
Some geographical areas that should be able to support large popluation centers have relatively small towns and villages, due to an event that wiped out larger, more advanced cities almost 1500 years ago. The newer settlements in those areas are reaping the benefits of their geographical placement, and most have growth rates that far outpace the more established and longer-lived cities.