The Known World

For those who are new to the campaign, this is a setting that I have adapted from the lore that is known from Fourth Edition Dungeons and Dragons. Much of the material is straight from the many core and sourcebooks as well as the older Dungeon and Dragon magazines up to 2012, along with some fan materials I've been able to search up. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do adapting and creating.   Anthony   The Known World, the Prime Material plane, here countless millions of souls of many different ancestries call this world home. It is a world of magic, wonder and heroes. Here, gods clashed with titans, great civilizations rose and fell, and now about to rise once more. A new age is upon us; will it rise from the dark, or fall into the abyss once more...?   For over a millennium since the end of the great war between the Gods and the Primordials, the world has been ruled by great empires. Civilizations whose reach extended to the two great continents. Two of the greatest empires of the time were the Empire of Arkhosia and the Empire of Bael Turath.   Arkhosia was ruled over by mighty dragons and their humanoid kin, the dragonborn. A proud empire ruled by the emperor known as the Golden One, led the realm with ideals of honor, nobility and strength, which led to peace and prosperity. While the largest and richest nation of the time, much of the dragon elite and their servants desired more, and soon looked to set their sights beyond the borders.     The Empire of Bael Turath was once ruled by humans, and one of the greatest centers for arcane magic in the world. Unfortunately, their lust for power led to the nobility entering into pacts with Asmodeus, ruler of the Nine Hells. While it did bring untold power, the effects of the pacts changed the human’s bodies, leading to the tieflings of today.     War was inevitable, and with the declaration of both sides came one of the most tragic and violent periods of known history. Great armies clashed with both sword and magic, rending the landscape and blighting much of the landscape. Arkhosia’s great floating citadels were sent plummeting to the ground, leaving craters several leagues long and causing earthquakes destroying nearby settlements. Countless souls have perished from the war, famine and plague.  There was no winner to this war, as both once-great empires had mutually been reduced to nothing.  Even today, both the dragonborn and tiefling races went into a slow, yet steady decline.     Hundreds of years later, the humans forged their own empire in the ashes of Arkhosia and Bael Turath. The Empire of Nerath brought about a new golden age the likes of the world had not seen. Peace and prosperity returned, new cities were raised and new roads were built. The evils of the world were destroyed by the great crusades launched by the Imperial Legion. Trade was established between the planes, bringing in untold riches and wealth. The greatest triumph of all was that the races of the world had finally been united under one banner. The Flame Imperishable shone brightly above the capital city of Nera.     But like all great empires, it was only a matter of time before the empire fell into decline. In it’s final years, an unknown figure who called himself the “Ruler of Ruin” emerged from nowhere and led a great uprising of gnolls against the Empire. The capital city of Nera was razed, the great Gates of Destiny, who have said to cow any army with it’s magnificence, lay crumbled and defiled. The then-Emperor Aldoran was killed. The Empire fell into chaos. In one last desperate attempt to save the Empire, the last great provincial ruler, King Elidyr, took up the Imperial Crown and led the Legions in the charge against the gnolls. Alas, Elidyr perished during the fighting, and with no remaining leadership, the great Empire fell. The Flame Imperishable endures in the empty capital city of Nera, but Nerath itself was snuffed out.     The world has not recovered well since the fall of Nerath. The evil that was once nearly eradicated began to return with a vengeance. Goblins, orcs and gnolls raid villages and cities, evil cultists perform their dark rituals without restraint. Only the bravest merchants and traders dare venture the ruined roads, for bandits roam freely without fear of reprisal, for there are very few guards that patrol the roads anymore. Great warlords, bent on conquest, raise great armies to bring even more untold devastation. Many people believe the gods have abandoned the world.     The Dark Times have lasted to the present day, one hundred years since the fall of Nerath.     While there are great city-states and kingdoms that have emerged from the Dark Times, they are but few points of light in the darkness, barely able to prevent the evil from destroying the world completely. There is hope however: there are still brave adventurers that travel forth from their homes righting wrongs, destroying evil, finding lost treasure and magic, and becoming great heroes known throughout the world. Some of these adventurers hold an even greater destinies; ambitions so great that empires will form from the wake of their ambitions. Fear not dear readers, for if ruling the lands is too great of a task, many other dangers will arise that will threaten not just the world, but all of creation. How will YOU shape the world, hero?