The Twelve Kingdoms

A parallel world in which many different persons of various races and lineages congregate, the Twelve Kingdoms was once one united land under the banner of Hozze the Bloody. After his death, his descendants split the realm between them, some with politics and trade, others by means of the sword. After many generations of wayward ruling by Hozze's bloodline, the gods decreed that a king or queen of the kingdoms will be selected by divine right, not virtue of their ancestor.   Thus, strange folk began wandering in to the kingdoms via portals. The gods split what remained of Hozze's glory into twelve, each claiming one land in their own name, and each ruler they selected would be known far and wide as their vassal who best embodied their core trait and what the gods believed was important to rule with. The gods also imparted a single Planetar to verify any claims made in becoming the next ruler.   While the world has now been populated with many different races, it remains a tense atmosphere in kingdoms that have no ruler or have a poor one. The world is rife with war and plague, famine and horrors. Some believe the gods have abandoned the Twelve Kingdoms, yet others believe these hardships to be merely a trial. Even so, several kingdoms are without a strong voice to lead them. This is the Age of Declension.