The Ethelsea Region

The Homelands were in a state of anarchy, barely qualifying as a civilisation after the Feudal Dark Age prevailed for a millennia: so-called lords fought petty wars over pettier territories; trade dwindled as neighbours lost the will to trust one another; and the masses starved as constant strife left food ever in high demand. Humanity was at its weakest, and might have been doomed to global insignificance at best, or utter self-destruction at worst, were it not for the Ascended Ones.   Starting out as a meagre party of five adventurers, these five humans came together in spite of their differences to pursue a mutual goal: unification of the Homelands. Through their efforts, humanity was brought together under one ruler, King Ethelred the Five-Blessed, sparking new hope and bringing about the Ethelrian Age; the Ascended Ones, meanwhile, rose to a greater power and became the Gods who now form the Divine Ethelrian Pantheon.   Now, two centuries later, the unified kingdom seeks to become an empire: colonies begin to form all across the coast of the mainland in a race for glory, as nobles attempt to carve out new territories for themselves and adventurers seek to discover what these alien lands may bear.