Forsalon

Not even the gods know from whence the world of Forsalon emerged. In the tales of divinity, it is said only that Ianis - first of the pantheon - emerged from the ether into the world of Forsalon, and chose to populate it with his creations. Unsure of what to do, he took up the arts (or rather, he invented the arts), and eventually created such a masterpiece that his art came to life.   This was the birth of mortals, in the form of a species long since lost to time... now simply called "The Destroyed". These mortals inspired further creations from Ianis... masterpieces who would become his competing divine powers. In the time it took Ianis to create these masterpieces, The Destroyed built a world-spanning civilization that rose to great prominence. But at the height of their power, a chain of apocalyptic events shook the world of Forsalon. It started with a flood that sunk most of the world's lands beneath the waves, and ended with an explosion of such catastrophic power that it scorched what land remained and extinguished Ianis's first creation for good. The only remains of their civilization were scant buildings and records, which is why the modern world still doesn't know their true name.   In the aftermath this mass extinction event - referred to as The Reckoning - the divine powers decided to create new species of mortal beings as well, to allow the world to heal and to gain new worshipers. Ianis - in the meantime - lowered himself to the mortal plane in guilt for his failures, taking one-hundred wives and seeding the world with Ianisent (Forsalon's humans). In those initial years the newly created mortals didn't even know the names of their own gods. It took centuries for them to rebuild, and centuries still to learn the language of the Destroyed species. That language allowed them to reveal the divine pantheon's existence, and their prayers prompted miracles and tragedies which made it impossible to do anything but recognize the gods existence.   One thousand years after The Reckoning, modern civilization has started to come into its own. Discovery of Enum Fuel - a powerful natural resource - has prompted the birth of technology and science. Wars for power and territory have grown a vast multinational political and cultural landscape across the land. Exploration has revealed the existence of the ruins of Destroyed civilization and the powerful secrets within. It's also revealed anomalies that warp reality, and a boundary past which these anomalies exist in such great numbers that traversal is impossible.   Forsalon is a world of many mysteries and wonders, but it's one that stands on the precipice. Though The Destroyed are gone, their deeds and legacy stand to shape the modern world for good and for ill. Mysteries long unsolved stand to endanger every living thing in the world, and the advent of political philosophy - as well as the continuance of ancient persecution against the so-called "Atypical Species" of the world - has created tensions within the land's greatest powers. Tensions which threaten to boil over into war. Secrets long forgotten are on the verge of being discovered, granting those who find them the power to decide the fate of everything. Perhaps even whether or not Forsalon will continue to exist.   It will take heroes to reveal Forsalon's greatest mysteries, to stop its greatest threats and end its longest lasting injustices. Are you one of them, or will you just be another adventurer... lost to conflict, ambition, pride, injustice, or just plain old bad luck? That's a question for you to solve on your journeys.   Welcome to Forsalon.   SOME IMPORTANT NOTES  

This guide to the Forsalon setting is written through the lens of Winter 10th, 1222 AR being the present day... this does not mean campaigns/adventures will not occur in the past, it is simply the date of the start of the first campaign I came up with for this setting (Blood & Iron). This does mean that spoilers may be present for historical events relevant to campaigns set in the past. If you are a player, you will want to avoid metagaming using this knowledge. Once Blood & Iron is run, the date will start advancing and new information will be added... with the actions of the players becoming factual historical record. Campaigns run in the past are the same, but also have some limitations since they must align with established historical fact (unless I decide otherwise).

 

Note that when it comes to the content of this guide, not all of it is necessarily true. Historical elements in particular are only written from the perspective of "based on the best knowledge currently available", and in a lot of cases the "best knowledge" is straight up religious fable or government propaganda. When it comes to Pre-Reckoning events and basically anything written by The Destroyed in particular (such as the documentation on the pantheon of gods), it would be best to not take all of it at face value (and only what is provably true). Some articles may also be colored by the political opinions of certain nation states or organizations within the setting, though this will usually be called out as being the case in the narration. As an example, many people within the Forsalon setting (especially of the Ianisent - the humans of this setting) believe that the Atypical Species were born from animals, but there is absolutely no historical evidence which even suggests this is the case. It is simply the product of racism and prejudice, as in what those with privilege wish to believe is true since it justifies their behavior and belief system. Which is not to say it couldn't be true, only that it probably isn't and the narrative is more a political tool than anything (which should make you question its validity).

 

Noting the buildings and structures displayed on the map, I'd like to clarify that this map only reflects significant locations or are there to fill space/look nice. There are hundreds of locations not currently on the map since they aren't of real interest. There are many, many other villages and towns which aren't displayed since they lack cultural, historical, political, or other significance. There are many others not shown simply because they are folded beneath another location (an example being Natavin's Crater, which is simply considered part of the Corkscrew Bay region) or because they have not been discovered or mapped (such as various Destroyed ruins or other phenomena, natural or otherwise) OR aren't currently part of the story. There are also locations which are mobile, such as the quickly built and disassembled settlements of the nomadic tribes who wander the Forsaken Lands, and thus can't be listed. There are also pieces of terrain that have been exaggerated greatly for artistic reasons (and because I'm not experienced map designer lol), like the mountains. All this is meant to say is that world or even region maps shown in this guide are not necessarily wholly comprehensive, and not everything necessarily accurate. It's more to give you an impression of what things look like than a hard accurate map.