Dying Earth Setting

A bit back we discussed a Dying Earth setting and came up with some neat lore. Can't remember it all, and my last computer went kablooey so I can;t dig up my notes but from memory-

>The Allfather isn't dying, he sits on his throne drooling, eyes vacant. In older days he'd at least babble incoherently or smite a member of the court at random but he rots on his throne.
>The world rots in sympathy with him
>the goddess of life has given up her duties and now has become a goddess of death
>the war god was defeated by the Allfather's first son and chained to the roots of the world tree
>The most important gods resemble the five stages of grief, the firstborn being denial, the goddess of life being acceptance
Aside from the trickster god being the last hope for the world I can't remember the rest.
>the goddess of life has abdicated her duties, as such it's harder to grow plants, people are being born in fewer numbers, famine and disease runs rampant
>The sun shines a little less bright each day, as each day goes on the god of the sun grows more and more hopeless, only the songs played by the goddess of beauty can inspire him to burn brighter but depression has taken her and so she finds it harder to play.
>Dwarves and Elves are dead, humans are on the verge of going extinct but cling tenaciosuly to life. The Vermin races, goblins, kobolds, gnolls, beastfolk and so on are experiencing a cultural resurgence.
>Any hope of restoring the world lies with the Trickster god, banished from the halls of the holy for his attempt to help the War God kill the All Father now he plots and hopes to find a way to slay the All Father and save the world.

and...that's all I got at the moment really.

I recall this, among the funner ideas were that you'd see the Forge God kinda depressed and unwilling to do much of anything. But he could break the chains that held the wargod in captive or forge a weapon that could kill the Firstborn.

I think the Earthmother still loved the AllFather and wouldn't kill him but was under no illusions about his condition.

Funner ideas included convincing the new Deathgoddess to give up her life portfolio to a new goddess like a goddess who represents the struggle of life, so you go from a caring nurturing life goddess to a cold one that encourages struggle and breeding.

Fun Idea I had was a human empire expanding farther and farther looking for lands unspoiled by 'The Blight' but things just keep getting worse and worse the further they go. The Dwarven civilization is gone, taken over by monsters they fought for ages, Elves are a bittersweet memory and things keep getting worse and the Imperial Council is getting more and more desperate. They've started enslaving spirits and minor gods. Dragging River nymphs, Dryads, and Ents to the capital to force them to make their various farming projects more effective but the law of diminishing returns is kicking in and there's only so much you can do to treat the symptoms while the cause is left alone.

bumping because this sounds interesting.

other things I recall
>Dragons were created before the rules of death were set in stone, as such they do not properly die, they simply decay. Creatures as old as the world rendered imoble rotten corpses unable to properly die.
>As a result a ritual was created, one that binds a dragon's soul to that of a mortal creature. Typically the subject in question is a human as they're the highest life form remaining but beastfolk can be used, as can animals. The ritual kills both, but leads to a person being born with a dragon soul bound to them, the being in question is empowered by the relationship, neither wholly dragon or mortal but something new.
>unwilling participants, either dragons desperate for an end to their rotting existance or mortals desperate for power lead to maddened husks who struggle for dominance of their form.

>The Celestial Empire was one of many kingdoms before the AllFather began to decay. It was mystically powerful and had dealings with Elves and Dwarves and Spirits and was ruled over by an emperor descended from the gods themselves.
>It's last emperor lies dead having starved to death during a period of intense fasting and prayer aimed at gods who no longer listen.
>it is now ruled over by a council whose will is carried out by Mettle, a might golem made from a suit of jousting plate and clock work, powered by a caged fire elemental and driven by the soul of the first emperor's favorite bastard.
>The Celestial Empire has not sat idle. It has thoroughly inetgrated the rising vermin races into it's ranks, expanded it's influence and power to every coast on the Northern continent and has resorted to enslaving ancient spirits, demigods, and the dead themselves in a desperate attempt to keep civilization running.
>The peasantry toil in fields working harder and harder and even with the (oftentimes coerced) aid of mythical creatures they have to work hard just to produce a meager crop.
>The Council realizes what few people will admit to themselves; the Gods have failed them.
>For the good of the empire the gods must be held accountable. What man has wrought let no god undo.

This is badass

>in a cave far from civilization a man with a tiny sun burning in his chest regards the dimming light of the sun.
>His heart is long gone, his blood has boiled away, he is ember and his body contains the last vital spark of the sun, a primal elemental that was spawned when the sun was conjured into existance so long ago
>seeking respite from the ravages of the all father's decay the Ember fled from host to host burning out fire mages one by one until it was finally mastered by a pyromancer of supreme skill
>but with this bonding came an epiphany, the pyromancer spent his entire life acquiring power so he could finally acquire the wealth and fame he felt he deserved; but if the world is dying how could he ever hope to enjoy his riches?
>The Ember realized that it's entire existence was one spent simpling going from place to place and living to survive. No purpose, no hopes, no wants. For the first time the Primal Elemental asked itself a question; "what do I want?" It wanted to survive. But all that lives must die and this was an age of endings.
>The Man with the Star for a heart set out that day, no longer satisfied with survival or selfish whimsy. The world was ending and something needed to be done.

so one of the primary issues with a Dying Earth setting is depending on your power level you might very well wind up with an adventure where you just try to settle down and live as happily as you can. In a lot of things like this there's no saving the day, nothing to be done.

But the set up we have here is different. There's a lot to be done but you need to be epic level. You've got an empire fucking fed up with the gods because they're welching on their end of the bargain. You've got demigods looking up and saying to themselves 'there's some empty seats up there.' You have a Trickster god saying 'I like THIS batch of mortals thank you very much. We won't be performing a death and rebirth cycle if I have anything to say about it."

So what you're faced with here really is how would you go about saving the world? Maybe Ragnorak got sidestepped? Maybe the AllFather was meant to die but survived instead. Ten Thousand years of prosperity under his reign as he grew weaker, feebler, more demented, until he was left a drooling vegetable.

The AllFather needs to die, someone needs to take his place and copulate with the EarthMother and peform the old rites of renewal. Someone needs to reclaim the Bowl of Life Giving waters from the new death goddess and tend to the river of the living and dead.

I recall this. Shame it wasn't archived

this is what we get for depending on desustorage I guess.

should've sup/tg/ed it but they're having their own problems.

...

Bump 'cause why not?
> the sun goddess was a qt

>The forge god is a hunched cripple, yearning for the touch of his beloved the Sun. Oft times her fires would be used to stoke the forge and produce great masterpieces. But now he lays trapped at the heart of the world tree, counting out the deeds of the Dwarven souls who went to meet their maker at the end of their extinction. How could he abandon his solemn duty simply to see his beloved smile?

>Bereft of lovers, the songs of her followers, and oft times the companionship of her sister the Sun Goddess wavers in her attentions to her duties. The sun grows weaker...and weaker. The souls of the elves who pledged themselves to her wander aimlessly between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Only something beautiful and pure can inspire her to do her duty again but that's a rare sight in these benighted days.

This isn't just comfy ennui like a lot of these kind of settings. There's setup to make a TRULY epic-level campaign.

However, the setting does need a few lesser problems and adversaries. Grand and interesting cosmologies are all well and good, but a setting that people actually play in will need challenges between "a pack of orcs" or the classic "corrupt noble" and "go on an epic quest to kill the Allfather's firstborn" Not to menation that there is a lot of space for interesting "terrestrial"politics for us to fill in.

From what I remember from that thread

>Oldfather dying almost dead, taking rest of world with him
>Mother barren from grief. Elves were always closest to her, they could not make children and are now extinct. A few humans with a bit of elvish blood in them is all that is left.
>War tried to put the Oldfather down. Either it would start up the cycle of creation again or end everything quickly, no lingering.
>War was group stomped by all of the other gods. War goes into a berserker rage that flows backwards along his link to the orcs. Orcs turn on everyone and themselves and all but get exterminated in the wars of retaliation that follow. A few survive and move to the human lands looking for work. A few hundred years later there are, at best, 1/4 orcs left and less.
>War chained to rock by chains forged by Blacksmith. Requires nothing less than the Blacksmith's hammer to break those chains.
>Dwarves just vanish one day. No clue why.
>Remaining gods try dealing with impending death in their own way.
>Storm, War's son, has taken to drinking. He has the only other hammer like Blacksmith's. Weather goes to shit when he sobers up.
>Wine/Party has taken to drinking more.
>Sea goes through mood swings that are really fucking with the tide and currents.
>Trickster, son of Mother and the demon Deceit/Lies, is the only one who is doing anything about it.
>Trickster plans to kill the Old Father and take his place and hope that works.
>Trickster plans to free War and let War kill Oldfather and hope the cycle of rebirth starts before everything dies.
>Trickster plans to build an ark and find a new world.
>Trickster plans to learn the secrets of creation and slap the reset button.
>Trickster plans to build a big magical habitat and keep as many alive in the last island of life as possible.
>Trickster plans to re order the pantheon and deligate the functions to a broader group of people rather than just one key-stone god and hope that fixes this mess.

>Also there was a plot by the last surviving vampire coven to bleed the Oldfather dry and take his place that way.
>War's daughter Morrighan was trying to take Mothers job. She would be a hard and cruel replacement, but better than nothing.
>Death had kind of given up. She always did her job so diligently because the smooth operation of the world demanded it. With the world ending there was no point in rushing. Soon there would be nothing left to die and more than enough time to catch up. She would be the last one standing when the lights go out.
>Human civilisation was in decline. Becoming isolated and withering away.

This sounds really fucking cool.

As elf and dwarf have died out and humanity is waning, others are now thriving. the beasts and virmin races that were once hunted down or driven to the far corners to the world are resurging, exploiting the weakness of the civilised races. and nowhere is this more pronounced then in the North. As the sun weakens, the north grows colder and harsher, and those places that used to yield good crops are freezing over too soon. meanwhile, the monsters and barbarians that roamed across the northern tundra's and forests are drawnn south, both by the harsher climate and the weakness of their southern neigbours. While normally the civilised realms should be able to repel them easily, those kingdoms torn apart by famine and civil war are a weak prey for the monstrous hordes that march suthward. Even worse, many farmers that used to be loyal subjects of these kingdoms turn to raiding and foraging for their simple survival, often joining up with the barbarian enemies.

Many northern kingdoms are under threat of these hordes, and one has already fallen, the old kingdom of Vangard. It was taken by a coalition of these foul monsters. They call themselves the longtusk confederacy, altough most civilised people refer to the longtusk horde. A frightning coalition of ocrs, goblins, beastmen, giants and human barbarians, they have set out to murder or enslave al good civilised people as revenge for their olld grievences. And after their conquest of Vangard, where does that did not defect to their ranks now toil and suffer under their heels, thay are eyeing up the surrounding reagions with hunger in their hearts.

Those monstrous things are not, as they would claim, the unstoppable horde that will end all things and remake the world anew in their image.

They ae fucking desperate. Desperation holds them together more than the dream they claim to follow.

This is not their natural state of being. They are dying.

This is their last ditch effort.

If they can kill all the humans and take their place in the good lands then they might stand a chance of outlasting this winter. Or at least lasting a little longer.

If this horde fails they won't be able to build up to try again.

It's 50/50 who is going to get the honour of being the last to die. Humanity or the monsters. And as the war progresses it's getting harder to tell them apart.

...

Ok, that's enough Game of Thrones for one setting.

Also
>Vangard
Nice one, the "fertile realm". Altough shouldn't that be Vanagard?

I think you could get some mileage out of lesser groups trying various stop gap measures to keep things going a little while longer.

A coven of druids have constructed a sacred grove grown from clippings from the world tree. The grove acts an amplifier for natural magic and with it they've managed maintain their own power and arrest the decay of the forests. But the power has to come from somewhere and and without the Earthmother's support they've resorted to sacrificing dryads and other nature spirits.