66 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
66 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
Title: Etravar
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Description: bss's high fantasy campaign setting, a world of adventuring and discovery.
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# Etravar
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Etravar is bss's home campaign setting, a universe of high fantasy, setting adventuring and discovery against the backdrop
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of points of light in the wilderness and the forgotten legacy of lost eras. It is
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meant to be a rich, varying world, where any type of adventure can occur among its many continents and regions, most of
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which haven't been written of or described yet.
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## History
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### Creation
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In the beginning, The One Beyond spawned three goddesses out of the endless nothingness --- the twin sisters Nydia,
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goddess of light and Dysthia, goddess of darkness, and Etra, goddess of creation. The twin sisters both coveted domain
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over Etra, and waged a bitter war, bringing about the light of the stars and the darkness of the void, creating the
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universe. As they sparred over eons, their wounds shed their essence and, merging with that of Etra's, created the
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planes, including the material plane which is (inaccurately) considered to be Etra herself. The war between the sisters
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also brought forth the Etran pantheon --- darkness and light combining chaotically to produce divine concepts of sun,
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moon, life, death, and so on --- countless immortal forces that shape the universe.
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### Civilization
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There is no agreed upon definition --- or even guess --- of the age of the world, or life on Etra. Modern scholars
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believe there are at least one hundred millennia of empires rising and falling that have shaped the world, but this is
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as much a guess as any previous attempt to estimate the age of Etra. This belief holds that in those lost ages multiple
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progenitor races native to Etra gave rise to great civilizations and further peoples before disappearing from the record
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of Etra, be it by gradual decline, war, leaving for other worlds, or so on. Little is known about these races other than
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the undocumented relics and ruins left behind.
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The oldest known history is owned by the elves and dwarves, both ancient races in their own right. They shaped the lands
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above and below long before humankind rose to prominence, and in a way shaped the ecology of Etra itself --- their vast
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cities and dungeons have become part of the world's genetic memory, and it naturally spawns weird dungeons, corrupted or
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blessed plazas, and the like. The living world creates not just flora and fauna, but also grand towers and abominable
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strongholds.
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It is claimed by some that an immense magical calamity brought about by the elves and dwarves brought Etra --- both the
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world and the goddess --- to the brink of annihilation, with this corruption its/her only chance at survival, but both
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races' leaders and scholars vehemently reject such slander.
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## The Material Plane
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The world of Etravar is known as Etra based on the goddess's influence and divine history, and consists of five primary
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continents, each separated from the other by large oceans. Travel between the continents is quite rare, but not unknown;
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due to their relative isolation, their histories and culture tend to differ, and even the recognized pantheon can vary
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as some deities are known by multiple names or unknown in a region entirely.
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### Trezuria
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Trezuria is a long continent, spanning most of the latitudes, leading to a diverse climate over the span of the
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continent. It is roughly divided into a north and south Trezuria, divided by a vast mountain range that runs from ocean
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to ocean.
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## Themes
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* The universe is a wide assortment of planes, including forces of law/chaos, good/evil, and light/dark, connected via an
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astral plane.
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* Magic is common but not commonly-practiced, and is nearly limitless in potential.
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* Casting magic can be learned, divinely bestowed, or inherent.
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* Civilization ranges from hunter tribes to grand metropolises, points of light with much uncharted territory in
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between.
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* The world is old, many civilizations have risen and fallen.
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* The world itself is magical, and not strictly bound by natural law.
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* Humans, elves, and dwarves are most common among civilized lands, but plenty of other intelligent humanoids show up.
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