World Overview
Sanctum is a smallish world of some tens-of-millions of people scattered in settlements across the face of the land. These peoples are composed of all the varied races you find in D&D 5E, though they cannot be found in equal numbers. Humankind is far and away the most populous race (isn't that always the case), with elves, dwarves, and orcs making up the other large groups of people. Some of the other groups (notably gnomes and halflings) live in small towns or in close-knit communities as part of larger multi-race settlements. The more "exotic" species (dragonborn, tieflings, etc) tend to be more uncommon, traveling in small groups or alone much of the time, though on occasion even they can be found gathered into larger settlements or even small kingdoms.
An unknown number of generations ago (thousands of years at least) the world befell a great calamity, known to the denizens of Sanctum as the Desolation. Beginning with the Desolation, humanity (henceforth meaning all sentient races) entered a time of madness. Very little is known of this time, referred to as the Age of Chaos, other than that man became a violent, frenzied shell of his former glory. Humanity devolved into a bestial nature. Higher-thought, science, religion, culture, all of the things that separated man from animals was torn away as society collapsed into itself. There no longer existed even a basic family structure, much less any semblance of regional or political organization. The majority of the world's population, many hundreds of millions, were killed off during this time.
It's unclear how humanity survived that dark era. But at some point the madness began to fade, culminating in an event known as the Awakening. During this event, the madness fled entirely and humanity became again self-aware. More than that, all those alive at the time gained an unexplained, ...almost instinctual shared memory of certain things. This knowledge served to jump-start humanity so that it did not have to begin from scratch as it strove to rebuild what was lost.
Specific and detailed knowledge was missing. Things like how to forge metal, what the common alphabet characters looked like, how to farm and raise livestock remained lost. But the concepts, these were known innately. The idea that language could be written down, that food could be grown, or metal forged and shaped was there. Man just needed to rediscover how. This allowed for quick progression from naked beasts hunting with rocks to the current medieval-like lifestyle in a matter of centuries.
The Elder generation maintained memories of what they were like before the Awakening. It is from them that humanity has any idea of what occurred during the Age of Chaos. Of the time before the Desolation almost nothing is known. All that survives is an origin story, a tale of genesis that dates back to before the Awakening which cannot be attributed to any one person or group. This is the Origin Myth that is told often around campfires, at festivals and many other ceremonies.
Society truly is scattered at this point. Maps are hard to come by, and almost all will have large "unknown" swathes through sections of them. Most large centers of culture are many leagues apart, and even villages often have great distances between them and the next civilized land. Most people have very limited knowledge of what the world is like beyond what could be found in a few days walking distance.
Some roads have begun to be built, a few trading routes have been charted along the waterways, and small kingdoms are starting to grow in the more populated regions. While larger settlements are in some cases aware of each other, there is so much untamed wilderness to conquer that most of civilization is content to focus on its immediate area. Luckily, this has resulted in limited armed conflict between groups. At least for now.
Ruins of old civilizations are occasionally found as settlements expand, or as intrepid adventurers seek to explore their mysterious world. Without exception, these places have shown themselves to be areas of great danger and are almost universally avoided.
Magic has been rediscovered. Though not truly rare, it is still by no means commonplace. Larger settlements will sometimes have a school or academy for training in either arcane or divine arts. Places of worship have begun to crop up as well, though these are more likely to be devoted to an ideal or a way of life rather than a deity of some kind.
An unknown number of generations ago (thousands of years at least) the world befell a great calamity, known to the denizens of Sanctum as the Desolation. Beginning with the Desolation, humanity (henceforth meaning all sentient races) entered a time of madness. Very little is known of this time, referred to as the Age of Chaos, other than that man became a violent, frenzied shell of his former glory. Humanity devolved into a bestial nature. Higher-thought, science, religion, culture, all of the things that separated man from animals was torn away as society collapsed into itself. There no longer existed even a basic family structure, much less any semblance of regional or political organization. The majority of the world's population, many hundreds of millions, were killed off during this time.
It's unclear how humanity survived that dark era. But at some point the madness began to fade, culminating in an event known as the Awakening. During this event, the madness fled entirely and humanity became again self-aware. More than that, all those alive at the time gained an unexplained, ...almost instinctual shared memory of certain things. This knowledge served to jump-start humanity so that it did not have to begin from scratch as it strove to rebuild what was lost.
Specific and detailed knowledge was missing. Things like how to forge metal, what the common alphabet characters looked like, how to farm and raise livestock remained lost. But the concepts, these were known innately. The idea that language could be written down, that food could be grown, or metal forged and shaped was there. Man just needed to rediscover how. This allowed for quick progression from naked beasts hunting with rocks to the current medieval-like lifestyle in a matter of centuries.
The Elder generation maintained memories of what they were like before the Awakening. It is from them that humanity has any idea of what occurred during the Age of Chaos. Of the time before the Desolation almost nothing is known. All that survives is an origin story, a tale of genesis that dates back to before the Awakening which cannot be attributed to any one person or group. This is the Origin Myth that is told often around campfires, at festivals and many other ceremonies.
Society truly is scattered at this point. Maps are hard to come by, and almost all will have large "unknown" swathes through sections of them. Most large centers of culture are many leagues apart, and even villages often have great distances between them and the next civilized land. Most people have very limited knowledge of what the world is like beyond what could be found in a few days walking distance.
Some roads have begun to be built, a few trading routes have been charted along the waterways, and small kingdoms are starting to grow in the more populated regions. While larger settlements are in some cases aware of each other, there is so much untamed wilderness to conquer that most of civilization is content to focus on its immediate area. Luckily, this has resulted in limited armed conflict between groups. At least for now.
Ruins of old civilizations are occasionally found as settlements expand, or as intrepid adventurers seek to explore their mysterious world. Without exception, these places have shown themselves to be areas of great danger and are almost universally avoided.
Magic has been rediscovered. Though not truly rare, it is still by no means commonplace. Larger settlements will sometimes have a school or academy for training in either arcane or divine arts. Places of worship have begun to crop up as well, though these are more likely to be devoted to an ideal or a way of life rather than a deity of some kind.
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