Yund

“First the Gods tethered the Immortals to the Material Plane. Their eventual apathy turned to greed, which begot destruction and the birth of dark magic. The Immortals failed, so the Gods tethered life anew to this plane: the mortal Men. We have shamed the Gods as well, and now they have left us. Pray ill upon Geterix and his ilk, for they convinced the Gods that naught which they create is incapable of malice. The Gods, their gift of life taken for granted, will never return...”

— Tymede of Aelistria

  Yund, a land created by powerful Gods and once inundated with the arcane, is now only a shadow of what it once was. The ever-present Lightbridge, a ring of dull yellow aloft in the sky, was once the observatory of these Gods. The sun was their feast hall; the moon where they slumbered. Now, these vestiges have grown dim. After the Desertion, Yund lost its light.   In this era, only the most ancient Elves still weep for the Elder Gods. Humanity, unchained and misguided, has spread like a virus across the continent. Worshiping new pantheons, they repeat the vices of their ancestors once more. The Acclian Empire is rising, covetously conquering the north with the speed of a wildfire. The Ortharans and Alyejhi enslave and subjugate, trading members of "lesser" races as if they were coin. A weak veil of false honor masks the lawless realms of Man.   In the far corners of the world, other races besides mankind thrive. The Dwarves pray in isolation for the return of their Divine Emperor, or boast about their centuries of peace while profiting off of the wars of others. The Elves, divided by an age-old schism, have been locked in battle for longer than those not of their kind can recount. The Dragonborn of the remote, eastern islands of Ktahst guard the dormant Ash Roosts, ancestral nesting grounds of the mighty Dragons. Betwixt and between, the Halflings and Gnomes of Yund mostly live reclusive and uninteresting lives, avoiding the disorder of other races. The Half-Orcs of Daalth have started forming a fledgling nation, revolting against their human masters to create a land they can call home.   Amid the chaos of this ever-changing world a rumor has begun to spread. It is a mere whisper now, a taboo discussed only in shadow. It is not certain, but some believe an ancient necromantic cult is emerging anew, to resurrect and faithfully serve their leader: Geterix, Master of Undeath.