Epicentre

Epicenter was once known by another name, although that name is lost to the annals of time. Some ten hundred years ago, something happened at the fulcrum of Epicenter that sent out shockwaves across the entire world. Civilisations fell as people forgot their natures, their skills... their very names. Across the entire world, not a single person remembered anything. Recorded knowledge was unaffected, but the skills to read such texts were lost along with the rest of the peoples' memories.

On the continent that came to be known as Epicenter, the effects were far greater. For fifteen hundred miles out from the centre of the continent, all that remained was a giant crater that came to be known as the Desolation.

The Desolation is rife with pockets of leftover magical energy, and creatures that wander within find themselves lost, confused and changed. Sometimes it affects their minds, sometimes their bodies, but nobody who enters the dusty bowl inside the kilometre-tall ring that is the Guardian Mountain range leaves quite the same. The mountains and outermost reaches of the Desolation are patrolled by the nomadic Speaker tribes, a mix of humanics and halflings who seek to protect people from that ancient ruin. Every so often a plucky group of pioneers will attempt to claim the land in the shadow of the Guardian Mountains. Most fail, leaving empty ghost-towns in their wake, although some - such as Riflken in the southwest and the Guardian Archive to the south - survive and even thrive.

Across the rest of Epicentre, the hundred or so miles between the mountains and the sea are mostly given over to forest. The habitable band is divided into four geographical sections - north-east, south-east, south-west and north-west. Each quarter is protected by five forts, called Wardens, which maintain a standing army of mercenaries sponsored by the nearby settlements. There are a handful of major towns, mostly along the coast, but most people live small villages and farming communities clustered around the towns and garrisons. Population centres are self-governed, mostly by mayors elected from the priesthood of Andreal Vas, and rarely come into opposition. Each village controls an area around it roughly equivalent to a single day's travel, with each family controlling a segment of that space equal to what they can farm, meaning that there are hamlets every few miles and usually served by a farrier. Roughly one in three villages has its own blacksmith and church, with the clergy taking on much of the parish administrative duties - correspondingly, most priests are Vassian. In addition to its fields, each village is responsible for maintaining the roads within its area of influence. This results in roughly one hamlet every five miles or so within the inhabited clusters, with larger villages interspersed amongst them, although sometimes areas fall into disrepair as a result of monster attacks of catastrophes. These areas are patrolled by the Warden garrisons, who also take on responsibility for maintaining the roads - it is as important for their fighting forces to be able to move quickly as it is for the traders.

Because Epicentre doesn't have a centralised government, there is no central police force or courts system, and most people can't afford to take the time away from farming to take their grievances to the garrisons. Instead, justice is overseen by travelling magistrates. The magistrates are trained at and owe allegiance to the Bard's College near Orkand, and make judgements based on past precedent, fair resolution and their personal sense of justice. Sentences are usually carried out immediately, or given over to the village leader to enforce if a long-term punishment is the only solution.

The main source of Epicentran wealth is a healthy trade in arcanima - the salvaged remnants of pre-Shockwave society. Those Epicentrans not involved in farming, trading or war tend to be scholars and archaeologists who scour the ancient ruins that dot the landscape. The exception is those who live in or near the three Academies.

The Academies - South Warden, Makara and Lexica - were founded by elves desiring a more permanent home rather than the nomadic lifestyle most of them had adopted. In exchange for land to build upon, they agreed to take humanic and other students and teach them the secrets of arcane magic. Villages grew up around them, and now they are three of the largest cities in the world, let alone Epicentre.