About the World of The Longest Year

The world of The Longest Year is founded on two laws:

1) Gods in the world are not single entities, but positions passed from person to person. Each god has a holy ring associated with it; whoever wears the ring embodies the divine power contained within.

2) The beings that wield the divine rings are still mortal. All ringbearers eventually face death, and when they do, they choose a new being to pass their rings onto. Alternatively, if someone is able to kill a god, they are able to wear their ring and assume their power.

Our campaign takes place on The Pendulum, the world at the center of all things. The passage of time in this world is grounded by the God of Time, holder of the Ring of Yaros. Only the most honourable beings ever dare to carry the burden of Yaros, as their life ends exactly one year after they pick it up. This is how years change in The Pendulum; the death of one God of Time and the creation of another marks the end and beginning of each year. However, the current God of Time did not perish when he was supposed to. Instead he crowned himself The Year King and has not given up his godhood in the three-thousand months he has ruled, making the year 12405 The Longest Year.

Years are not meant to be longer than twelve months. When time does not pass at a consistent rate the world starts to tear at the seams. In the months since The Longest Year began this temporal volatility has caused the world to become unstable. Weather changes rapidly, climates are desynced from their natural inclinations, and certain areas are morphing into echoes of their previous selves.

The Pendulum swings randomly. The only thing that keeps the realm from devolving into chaos is The Year King. During The Year King's three-thousand-month tenure, his influence has grown tremendously, and he now holds dominion over much of The Pendulum.

In fact, the Year King's life is the lynchpin of all stability during The Longest Year. Areas close to The Year King's capital of Centura experience permanent summer. Areas further out---The Breadbasket or The Sisters---experience normal-ish passage of days and seasons. Regions far, far, away from The Year King are the ones most at risk of temporal fluctuations. For this reason, he never leaves his Midnight Palace, where time never changes at all, as his transience would cause instability in the empire he's worked so hard to keep stable.

One of those regions far away is a north-western coastal region of The Pendulum, a region known as Cetera. It is contained by the Sallow Sea on two edges and the Eck Mountains on the other. The only way into the area is through old mining tunnels made by the Dwarves of Whithold. The region beyond has been unmapped since the beginning of The Longest Year, despite The Year King's attempts. The only known settlement is the small, red-walled castle of Hunter's Keep, which House Wylder now takes up residence in.