Tevier

1347

The ancient world of Tevier has been witness to countless wars and atrocities, and the realm of Campagne has often seen the worst of it all. Arriving about four millennia ago in a strange land that was fractured and bloodied by the initial Elder Wars, the first humans of Campagne and their descendants have known oppression intimately. Since the time of their first enslavement by the High Elves of Llynoedd, the peoples of man have been yoked, exploited, and persecuted by the Elder Races, by fellow men, and by powers who are whispered of only in nearly forgotten legends. Humanity, however, always finds a way, and has grown from a marginalized group into the dominant power in the known world -- a major player, alongside the Elder Races, among the Enlightened Peoples. Tracing their lineages back to their most beloved God and Her first disciples, the rulers and nobles of human Campagne play a dangerous game of espionage, intrigue, and court politics while unholy and unseen forces capitalize on the instability and move in their midst.   The Corpic Church of Ava-Ravena serves as the only real common ground for the various human nations of Campagne. Though each country has its own gods, as does each city and village, all who wish to show their face in the light of day kneel in Her temples, worshiping Ave-Ravena above all others. The demon worshiping Blood Cultists who ruled the first true empire of men -- the ancient Sangua Imperium -- were overthrown nearly two millennia ago by the slave Ravena and Her armies. Granted apotheosis and personal union with the Void Incarnate, Ava-Ravena now stands guard over the humans of Campagne to ensure that demonic entities never again rule them as gods. Her church peers over the shoulder of every man, woman, and child, and blesses them with the Sacred Mysteries to ensure the health of their souls.   But while humans are by far the most prominent race in Campagne -- indeed, in all of Tevier -- they are not alone. The Elder Races live on: the High Elves in the misty Isles of Soll Dyweddaf, the Dark Elves in their vast underground dominion of Tlazeth-Lum, and the secretive Dwarves, hidden away in their mysterious and nameless kingdom said to lie under the northern mountains. All seek the same goal -- to regain the power, the glory, the divinity they enjoyed in ancient times when they were but one people. And yet all have sought vastly different means to that end: the High Elves have attempted to destroy all other races, the Dark Elves to enslave them, and of the Dwarves' plans none can say. But the three sibling nations have fought vicious, bloody, devastating wars against one another for countless millennia, and there's no sign of stopping. The Fallen Races -- the Wood Elves and the Domestic Elves -- are also descendants of the ancient Elder Race, but were conquered by mankind, forced into hiding or service, respectively, and abandoned by their brethren.   And then there are the Quickling Races: Humans, Halflings, Saletie, and the Dokani-Ko. Humans have mostly divided the south and east between the Sessin, the Mechantish, the Heimahr, the Tyrarchal States, and the Azynti. Central Campagne, from the Zlose mountains to the Twin Seas, has been carved into an uncountable number of tiny principalities constantly fighting among themselves, and the northeast is split into several small kingdoms that mostly concern themselves with trade and banking. The vast northwest, however, has been dominated by the iron fist of the Agriskaya Imperiya. It's lucky that the Imperiya is too busy trying to maintain order over their vast territory, and repel invasions from the edges of the known world, to conquer the south -- it's said that such a war would last only months.   Halflings have found acceptance in every human society -- no one's quite sure when they arrived on the continent, but they've proven themselves industrious and skilled at whatever trade they ply. Saletie, more commonly known by the pejorative terms "orc" or "ogre," have been met with prejudice in most human communities and tend to lead nomadic lives as traders, although a group of centuries old settlements in the no man's land of central Campagne have emerged as a kind of "homeland" for the Saletie. And then there are the mysterious Dokani-Ko: seldom seen merfolk, they're purported to build their cities on or in the shells of unfathomably enormous crabs who live on the very deepest parts of the sea floor. It's nearly impossible to determine fact from fiction given all the rumors one hears whispered, but the exotic goods and spices that flow from the Dokani-Ko into Campagne via the Dark Elves inspire legends of vast wealth belonging to utterly alien beings.   While the common folk of Campagne go about their lives and pray for protection from threats they've never known, the powerful have grown complacent and greedy. Forgetting their roles as stewards and protectors, they throw themselves into wars and petty spats: the Empire of Sessinaux stands divided as a sibling feud erupts into civil war, the sole heiress to the Agriskayan throne is missing after an assassination attempt, and a thousand-year-old schism between the Tyrarch in Mont Sacrysti and the Archigos in Letopolis is reignited by infighting among the vast nobility of the Kingdom of Heimat. As those tasked by Ave-Ravena with safeguarding humanity shirk their sacred duty in the pursuit of power, a primeval shadow of the forgotten past rises in the south. An ancient prophecy lost to the ages is rediscovered by a fledgling knight and though none will heed his warning, he's certain of one thing: if left unchallenged, the growing evil will consume all of humanity in its bloodlust.