Dovenar Campaign Setting

The Kingdom of Dovenar is one of the most accessible and traditionally Dungeons and Dragons style parts of the setting: it has ancient ruins full of traps and monsters, it has elves, it has monsters, it has traditional feudal lords ruling over petty fiefs beneath the skeletal remains of ancient glories and atrocities alike. It is not fully the Chaos Wasteland, with its extreme high-magic instability; it is also not a powerful kingdom or political player by any means. It has one of the only two cities in the local vicinity, but is not the home of anything too vast or bustling. In short, this is a nice space where you don't have extremely powerful NPCs or authorities that are certain death to challenge (though attacking the Queen in her court is still a bad idea). And yet, it also isn't totally just small villages and nothingness. There is coin to be made here, there are authorities and threats and people, and it should also not feel completely irrelevant.
The basics of the Stildane Setting Guide are the foundation for this kingdom as well; the Players Handbook Species and Stildane page is also relevant.

Basics of the Kingdom

Dovenar is a feudal kingdom, where the monarch's power in day to day affairs is mostly limited to their own lands. There is a Queen, who rules over Counts, who rules over local knights; all of whom lord over the peasantry. Most of the nobles are related to big noble families in a neighboring kingdom and superpower, called the Kingdom of Hain - the more Hainish someone is, the more sophisticated they are before the nobility. The peasants are considered uncultured, and many cannot even leave their assigned farms for more than a season.
The people are overwhelmingly and exclusively the Uvaran religion and follow their Pantheon. It is a springtime-themed religion whose chief God is Ustav, a god who lives and dies by the seasons as a martyr. Some people join Lunar Cults, which also follow powerful ancient spirits known as Lunar Gods. Being a Lunar Cultist is considered a little weird, but not illegal or exclusive to being Uvaran. Being a total other religion is technically illegal for full residents. Kinda dogmatic and mean, but not a nightmare theocracy exactly. Uvaran Priests play a big role in day-to-day village or town life.
There is one city, Keilbar, where most of the merchants live. There are minor merchants and then there are semi-noble fancy merchants who are particularly rich, called Burghers.
The big divide of Dovenar is between the inner lands, which are wealthy and prosperous, and the frontier, which screens the monsters out of the Chaos Wastes nearby. The Eastern frontier lands, detailed in these articles, are Vlostrov and Yulgern - and mostly the latter. Monsters do occasionally make it through to the interior (particularly stealthy ones), so one can have an adventure in either area.
This is also the land of the Elves, and their ancient ruins litter the landscape alongside other ruins. This land has been destroyed by many ancient apocalypses, and the elves of this setting are essentially a group of survivors from some of the older collapses, grasping at ancient glory with uncertain memory. Elves do not rule here, but they also aren't oppressed; they just have a special relationship with the land and with a few local sites, ruins, and factions.

Aesthetic, Tone, Vibes

Moreso than most of Stildane, Dovenar is a place of ruins. The world is sitting not just in the broken waste of one lost civilization, but several. First, there were the pre-magic inhabitants, who had great cities and abundant towns but were wiped away and warped when the first Ederstone fell. Then there were the people of the Ancient Empire of Andrig, who sought to restore the old world and build their own monuments - wiped away by an ancient apocalyptic war. Then, there were the Elves, survivors of the old empire who were ruled by fey spirits who grew fat feeding on them and puppeting their bodies - and who had to be destroyed, for the land to be able to regrow into something better. Then came a great parade of petty feudal kingdoms, all of whom were eradicated. And now, there is the current kingdom, sitting with all of those layers of bones scattered around them. Nowhere is this more true than the Geinsteinn Wilds, a haunted ruined city surrounded by a haunted wilderness, with traps and undead guardians like a high-fantasy Indiana Jones.

So it isn't just the elves living in the shadow of the past, but everyone. There is a Tolkein-ian yearning for older, better days here. Not just for the ruins, but for missed opportunities - for back when the peasants were rebelling and fighting for their freedom, back when the restart of the world was fresh and full of hope. Hope obviously still remains, but in the small places, in little embers kept in little hearths not yet exposed to kindling. The realm needs heroes, true heroes able to carry hope and inspire new possible futures. The realm is not facing annihilation, but heroes don't just exist to save the world. They can exist to make something better.
The inevitable horror of Stildane may be here the same as ever, but this isn't the chaos wastes - the horrors are not in your flesh, pressing the heroes between the grinding stones of colonization and coping. They are a bit more distant here. Dovenar contains a lot of options for tone, ranging from the bleak survival of a doomed society constantly reminded of its own future failure by the destritus of the past, to a hopeful romp of traditional monster-slaying and forging new pathways ahead.

Designing a Character

Every character race and class works here. Many of the same questions for Stildanian characters in general are good starting points here:

• Are you a local? If not, are you from the subcontinent of Stildane more generally, or further away?
• If you have money, why do you not use it to leave? You need to want to be here to not end the character's career rather early.
• If you are from Stildane but not a local, are you a wastelander or from a settled kingdom?
• Are you of the local religion of Uvara, or do you keep some foreign belief?
• What is your driving goal? Your conflict your character hopes to resolve?

As for what species, it largely doesn't matter here. Be anything! Elf characters may have additional extra hooks into the world, but nothing exceptional if they don't want it.

Regarding Languages

Basic:

• Wakingtongue language is basically Common
• Hainish language is the default secondary language, used alongside Wakingtongue by many people here. Not having this language makes one appear more foreign and less sophisticated in the local culture.
• Elven represents the ancient linguistic tradition of the region, and is used for ruins and ancient inscriptions of the area
• Cat is useful for talking with cats

Advanced:

• Sonrild is useful for talking with aquatic peoples
• Selkie Language is useful for talking with foreign merchants
• Borim is useful for talking with distant sailors
• High Sunekan is useful for academic texts and foreign arcane or knowledgable tomes
• Ancient's Tongue is for deciphering truly ancient pre-magic scripts

Class and Background Hooks

Class Hooks:

• Paladins of freedom (followers of Theia, Goddess of Freedom) have a whole bastion here in a town called Yohenstern. They aren't doing super well in freeing people, but they are more out and open than usual. Paladins of Lore, devoted to Emesh, God of Knowledge, also have a local archive-HQ at the Kokech Reliquary. Paladins of Wimbo, God of Heroes meet regularly at the royal summer palace of Krivsha.
• Druids are here in two druidic circles, both tied into the Uvaran clergy. There are also ancient desecrated druidic ruins in a forest known as the Fangwoods.
• Wizards can find fellow scholars at Tower Alvain in the Keilbar or at the Elfengrove. Both of these aren't quite wizard universities, but can be places for a character to be an apprentice or student at
• Sorcerers can find a special Wild Magic site said to react in special ways to wild magic sorcerers in the Geinsteinn Wilds; this place is called the Alkassan Cauldron. A noble is also trying to make a sorcerous study and mastery circle in their castle in Vlostrov.
• Warlocks of the the Vile Mass have a special place where their patron is most powerful - The Lonely Tower, in the Geinsteinn Wilds, where warlocks can commune with their patron through isolation and spooky magic. There is some persecution of open warlocks along the coast as well. Warlocks can also have an Archfey patron here, in the form of the ancient fey spirits who once ruled here.
• Rangers and Barbarians may find the hilly isolated and mostly-tribally-organized Vlostrov region to be a useful place to be "of the kingdom" and still outside of agrarian feudalism - if they wouldn't rather be a wastelander instead.
• Monks here that are local are mostly part of the local God Cults, so they actually get patron Uvaran Pantheon members more than most members of that religion. The odd monastic order here is the Slevenkine Order, edgy werewolf cop monks.

Background Hooks:

• Criminals can find fellow thiefs, fences, and bandits at Yohenstern and the surrounding villages, where smugglers have set up shop. Other criminals are up at Yulgern, where they have been exiled to the frontier.
• Knights can find a lot of status and friends here. The local Queen Bees of the knights are the Rose Knights, who have bases in Keilbar and Krivsha and are basically knights devoted to extreme chivalry and elite courtesy
• Nobles basically get to be above everyone here. Lesser nobles are knightly families here, while elites are Counts.
• Sages may find archives waiting for them either at the Kokech Reliquary or at the Autumn Court outpost library in Krivsha.
• Acolytes who are Uvaran can find temples in every village.
• Guild Artisans - the 4 big guild families here are spice merchants, potters, bankers, and shipping magnates. Weavers, potters, spice peddlers, drapers, grocers, smiths, fishmongers, and Monstercrafters all are here - mostly concentrated in the big city, Keilbar

You don't need to do any of these, by the way - these are all purely optional. Like, "I'm a knight, who are the big knights here", or "where can I use my criminal background, exactly?" sorta stuff, not mandatory reading.

Designing a Campaign

It is my hope that, just by reading the articles, a potential DM might stumble across dozens of nice hooks to spin into adventures. As for the overall shape of the game, consider whether Dovenar will be a place to defend on the frontier, a base of operations to plunge into the wasteland, or a playground in itself. 

The Geinsteinn Quest

One of the more notable and significant local hooks that could become a small campaign or large arc is the Geinsteinn Wilds. The Wilds are surrounded by settled farmland and are very close to the big city, acting as an anomalous blip in otherwise prosperous territory - the jump between the city and the adventure can be quick here. At the Wild's core, there are the Geinsteinn Ruins, a false city trapped and defended by undead guardians and containing a great deal of cursed treasure. 
While cursed treasure is probably not the party's aim, there is a pre-built quest here: helping the Exorcist's Guild do research on the wilds and ruins. The idea is that they used to have a research base and presence here but a few months ago they were driven out by monsters. So, the adventurers could help reclaim the base and study all the weird stuff in the Wilds as contractors paid to uncover the mystery of the wilds and ruins. 

Other Hooks

There are numerous other, less fleshed out hooks in the area. Here are the more fantastical ones that may make good minor quests, adventure hooks, or small arcs:

• The paladins of freedom in Yohenstern are based in the ruins of an ancient city that was trapped and infested with monsters before they arrived - but the job isn't done. Those paladins would pay good coin to help cleanse the ruins. 
• The frontier castle of Trontleg, in Yulgern, is under siege by monsters and there is a local village in need of reclaiming for the realm
• The frontier outpost of Aldmog, on the furthest fringes of the kingdom in Yulgern, is being slowly destroyed by mysterious magical forces, likely a sinister monster or cult. 
• The village of Tufferdoff, in the Fangwoods, are currently between lords and in crisis, recently burnt and under attack by monsters regularly.
• The desecrated druidic ruins in the Fangwoods seem to make the entire forest more dangerous. Finding a way to cleanse them would bring peace to the local villages. There are two ruins of note here: the Beastblight circle and the Desecrated Stag Hall. 
• The village of Mekibek in Gernzlov has had weird sinkholes to subterranean ruins open up on some farms. People are afraid to go down there and disturb any monsters, but the lord also wants to hire some people to investigate and clear any hazards. 
• The village of Ezelvier, in the Wovenwoods of Gernzlov, are being threatened by a powerful pack of monsters - the local knight is looking for adventurous monster hunters willing to help. 
• The village of Eishnel, in Parstovar, is current isolated and struggling with a displeased patron spirit of the land. They also are being raided by exiles-turned-bandits in the nearby woods. In the Wovenwoods. 
• The vllage of Overont, in Parstovar, is a currently dealing with a monster or anomaly that washed in with a storm and is threatening local fishermen. The smugglers who quietly run that village would pay better money than usual to clear that out in a discrete manner.
• The village of Mermenstock, in Tolinchoff, is currently in an uproar about curses and witchcraft - they feel that something lurks out in the sea nearby, haunting their village and requiring such paranoia. Maybe there is something there, or maybe they just need inspiring heroes to show that their village is protected and safe. 
• The village of Ogglhof, in Keilbarbolk outside the city, is currently low in morale after Exorcists were driven from the nearby haunted forest. Additionally, the local de-facto mayor, Lady Yekterina Kreshen, seems to be a bit haunted by something. It could be mundane, but it might not be.
• The village of Gurnrev, in Keilbarbolk outside the city, has been having livestock vanish. No monsters or bandits have been sighted, so whatever (or whoever) is doing this is particularly good at sneaking or hiding in plain sight.
• At the village of Varinlok, in the frontier region of Vlostrov, some tyrannical knights are waging war on the free people and tribes of the realm, seeking to enserf or displace them. 
• At the wasteland border of Vlostrov is the castle of Drowlish, where elven thralls serve a tyrannical fey spirit with a fondness for spiders, named Queen Melobalath
• The frontier county of Rivenshal is collapsing after the Count was killed and resurrected as a mad Revanant. The knights are divided and disorganized, the villages are burning, and the wasteland is surging in. This is a whole adventure arc, but also one not covered by the maps and the like - it is total creative freedom (but also a little less map-and-name support) for the DM here. 

Maps

Maps are useful tools for exploring a setting. Think of them more as fun tools for providing names and generally guiding the party, and less as rigid cages that must be memorized.

Focused Map

Most of those village names are about a day (or even half a day) relaxed pace walk. Many locations, even the village-level ones, are detailed on one Dovenar page or another.
Here's a list of useful articles:

• Keilbar, the big city
• Keilbarbolk, the areas around the city
• Tolinchoff, the rich conservative county
• Parstovar, the corrupt boggy fringe
• Anderyorn Crownlands, the rich abundant farmlands
• Gernzlov, the elfy rich magic corner with wild and dangerous fringes
• Vlostrov, the hilly isolated fringe

Big Map

This map is much more zoomed out and is a general map of what proper noun is next to what proper noun. Many locations are not detailed, and are more inspiration than pre-made part of the world.

Super Zoomed Political

That's just a review of what the big picture is, if you so desire.

Dovenar Campaign Large

Open full size

A Camaign Map for the Kingdom of Dovenar  and Northern Hain