Hallowed Legacy A Web of Worlds with Generations of Adventure

by GM and novelist Ellysium and professional GM J Denley

There are a thousand thousand worlds, each existing in its own realm of space and time. Yet they are all connected in a complex web of cosmic energy and there are rare entities who can travel between them. The very concept of interconnected realms is a difficult one to grasp for most mortals, so the World Tree myth was created to make it easier to comprehend. Even still, only the very learned, the curious, the unlucky, or the insane really understand what these myths mean.  

The Cartographer

I have been known by many names, given many titles. There are those who see me as a hero, a villain, a god, a monster. I have stood beside the greatest beings in the multirealm during their most crucial moments. I was with Kalad when he slew the Platinum King, stood on the blasted plain when the Titan was imprisoned, walked the length of dead branches where beings beyond all mortal comprehension dwell. My true name is lost to the epoch of time and space, so you may simply call me; the Cartographer. And I will be your guide.
 

Navigating the Branches

In the most basic sense, the cosmic web is formed like a tree, with the trunk - or center- consisting of only one realm. The Prime Realm is the source of the true divine. This realm is mysterious, even to the gods that originate there, for when a deity has matured, they are sent out from the Prime Realm to claim or create other worlds, but as they leave their memories are swept away. Prime Gods possess not only the ability to freely travel the branches but have the power to forge souls.   From the Prime Realm, the main branches connect to Core realms. These mortal realms are often home to powerful heroes, chosen souls, and already claimed by powerful gods. Other entities may live in these realms, too, however. Titans or Demons are powerful and mysterious beings who can travel the branches and may fight for control of these realms.   Beyond the Core realms there are further branches, each supporting minor realms. These worlds can be affected by major events that happen in their connecting Core realm and often are less stable, subject to more frequent wild magic and planner anomalies.  
The Cosmic Tree
This ancient, incomplete map is an artistic representation of how the cosmological "World Tree" is organized. Though this is by no means accurate to reality, the reality is far beyond the comprehension of most beings, so this depiction will serve our purposes. There are many branching paths along this tree, and even I have not walked them all. Some branches are shattered, others dying, and some that have "fallen" entirely. These dark ways are populated by demons and other dark, unnatural entities who use paths unknown to reach the varying realms of mortals.
— The Cartographer
 

Worlds upon Worlds

Here follows many of the recorded realms of the Hallowed Legacy.

Why Hallowed Legacy?

This is a setting that has been evolving for decades. In the mid 1970's, when Dungeons & Dragons was just beginning, there was a group of friends who decided to make their own world for the game. They added their stories, their triumphs and failures, to the legacy of that world so every adventure built upon the last. Those friends grew up, and some of them had children. One of them decided to introduce his curious and imaginative nephew to the game at only seven years old.
Time passed, and as people tend to do, the original group moved apart in one way or another. But they handed their notes of a hundred adventures to the young boy who then wrote his own worlds and stories to play with his friends. And the story continued.
This group has been playing campaigns and writing stories within these same realms for over twenty years. And the worlds we inherited ran for twenty more. Every character, every loss, every victory, every romance, war, tavern, and town has become a part of this legacy. They have been recorded in stained and taped-up notebooks, loose scraps of paper, sketchbooks, and random word docs with helpful names like "notes about notes." So that is where this amazing platform comes in. We are aware of the treasure we have with this setting and we want to preserve and present as much of it as we can!
These worlds have brought us so much joy and adventure, and if we can do this right, we can share that adventure with players all over the world. That is our Hallowed Legacy.