Chir

Chir is a land constantly changing. The physical forces of this world have grown manifest, in what most call simply the Source. From its fertile streams dozens of creatures have sprung from their simpler life forms to something higher. Man, Myconid, Gnoll, Goblin, Dwarf, Elf, Sylph, Spirit and so on. There are those more finely tuned to the Source. Those for whom the control of the streams of magic come naturally, and from these Source-Blessed would rise the first ascendants: those who would carve themselves a place in a newly found and ever-changing pantheon, with little regard for those they crushed underfoot.   Many tyrants rose among these Ascended, those who would use their gifts to conquer and amass. With the necessity created by their wars however, came Ascended who would serve a purpose, who would fill a need the ever-damaged plane would need fulfilled. Aspects of Death and Life, of War and Peace, rose above the ranks of their fellow Ascended. It was one of the first Gods who created the Conduit. The first Ascended to be forged, the Conduit was a path to the Source anyone with the inclination and determination could tap into. It brought magic to the common man, and balance to the plane. No longer could the Ascended freely wage their wars without fearing reprisal from the millions who would answer.   As time went on the Pantheon settled, and with it the landscape was shaped. No longer were entire swathes of continent burned up and hostile, and soon the people of the plane began to draw their own lines. It wasn't long before their own tyrants sprung up. The Gods are mostly impartial to the goings-on of mortals, with few exceptions. Since the forming of the initial pantheon, only a handful of others have Ascended, all of them after a visit from an extra-dimensional being known as the Outsider. Some scholars call them Successors, while others call them Usurpers. Whatever their purpose, they represent a drastic shift in what was a delicate balance of powers, and it leaves the future of Chir very uncertain.