/wbg/ - Worldbuilding General

Take a look at Finland's lakes and rivers

Do what you think will be a cool theme and interesting in play/read.

How do i give things good names? I'd rather avoid everything sounding like some place in Yorkshire.

I have this idea for some kind of conservative, magic centric society but I don't know what race would fit them best. I've been thinking of either using some kind of pale/purplish drow, a new form of Halfling, or using TES's Bretons. But the whole schtick of them would be that though every citizen dabbles in magic, whether it would be useful to their real job or not, is that being a mage as your real job would be seen as dishonorable and impractical. Like hearing your son saying he wants to be a mage when he grows up would be the same as hearing that your son wants to eschrew his business degree to become a rapper. Thus, they honor pure warriors and see them as resilient for not succumbing to using magic in their day to day life.
For example, a blacksmith may use fire and earth based magic in his day to day job that would obviously help him, but a nobleman's elderly servant may be a master necromancer and teach classes on weekends with no one batting an eye. However, if an adventurer of that race has no magical aura to him and fights with just his wits, he'd be a home town hero and celebrated for his work.
If this were like a unique race I would think they would get advantages on INT and CON and have more Lore bard inspired feats.

That sounds cool user. You could always make up a new race to fit the mold you've made and if not that then elves always work for magic-centric things.,

>Does your setting have a Halloween equivalent?
Halloween spread to the colonies, this led to martians and belters coming up with their own myths and folk tales to scare the little shits.

If you want visual inspiration for your race, you could base them off Gnomes, or Svirfneblin. They're both magically inclined, and would seem to fit into your world well.

a society doesn't have to be based on a race

I'm working on a researcher wizard NPC that is trying to prevent the magic from fading away, essentially looking for means to reverse entropy.
Turns out I'm not good at coming up with fucked up experiments he could have done while working towards his goals that could litter the environment around his lair or that he could mention while interacting with the party.
Magic being synonimous with life force in the setting, it's carried by blood, so one of his contraptions is a blood synthesizer spell applied on an existing circulatory system that then uses blood as a supplemental fuel in an attempt to create more mana than is consumed. It just depletes all mana from the area, making a death zone around it. Another experiment would be trying to turn people into mana factories by overexposing them to mana or implanting enchanted crystals into them.
Do you guys have ideas for inhumane experiments?

Play with the phonetics of "awe".
Ough (as in "thorough") is one example.

I got one.
In my setting gnomes where made by the god of sadism (named Yolash) and are hyper violent and genocidal. The story goes he made them small with child like laughter to, in his mind, haliorous when murdering. Redcaps are his upmost followers, gnomes who kill and drench themselves in blood. The gnomes will kill anything without provicaftion.

Look up stuff in religious texts, history books, different languages, other countries, etc. Those I find to be really good places to get inspiration.

I'm working on a sci fantasy setting but I have a hard time making magic and tech coexist.
My setting is the standard fare of a post apocalyptic world. I want tech like cars and mechs but at a small scale but I'm unsure about magic, Like what is a sound level to make it coexist with tech, how did it came to be after the apocalypse and how does it work in the setting.

So it's a "Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog" type deal? I like it. I'd set it up so your PCs don't know about their Violent tendencies, and spring it on them for comedic effect.

Mages vs Martials, how do you balance them in your fluff?
How can an incredibly good swordsman match a powerful wizard, for example?

I like dangerous magic, so I go with magic users have the chance to explode.

What would be the ideal location for a medieval civilization's capital? I was just going to put it next to the sea but the place where the story will take place is a hugeass continent so I don't know if it would be better to put it near a bunch of rivers or something.

>The West is the last frontier. The Temple and the Fellowship vie for control of the people's minds, while the Empire tries to control, simply, the People themselves. It is a wild, untamed land, crossed only tenuously by telegram lines and railroads. The last of the Elves live out here, in the deserts, squatting besides the burned hulks of their once glorious empire. Kobolds search for the remains of the Dragons, while Orcs test themselves against the deadly fury of the desert, and Dwarves hunt for gold, mithral, and silver. It is an armed society, and a polite one, where the old codes of honor typically don't stretch much further than "watch your back". Outlaws, bandits, and rebels stalk the law abiding folk, while marshals and sheriffs try to keep some semblance of civilization alive in this unforgiving country.
>Pandora is a lawless land, where players assume the roles mentioned above, as well as prospectors, gamblers, and horse-thieves. They pan for gold, hunt wild monsters, hunt the civilized ones that go outlaw, cheat at cards, and hunt through the ancient elven ruins for loot. They can even rob a few banks or join a posse on the side.
>I am stupid tired at the moment, but does anyone have some thoughts on this? I'll be back in the morning if the thread survives.
Most generic thing i've ever read man i'm sorry but.

I play 4e so this isn't a problem.

In-world though I explain it as mages and martials (and primal, and divines) are just learning different techniques, and their power is based on their proficiency in their tradition, not the tradition itself. An experienced fighter will be able to take down an inexperienced caster any day.

If that makes sense.

That's fair. It was stupid anyway. ;_;

>/wbg/ - Worldbuilding General

So, okay, I'm doing something a little differently mechanic-wise and I'd like an OPINION on it.

I'm working on my Pantheon of Gods, I'm giving them their alignments, but what I'm doing so differently is that each God has two different or similar alignments: one represents how they treat their worshipers or followers and one represents how they treat non-believers or strangers.

Is this a "sufficiently neat" idea or what do you think /wbg/?
For context, I only intend on using "Dnd Alignments" for spiritual beings and religious purposes.

>using alignments as a crutch instead of outlining their dispositions in no uncertain terms

Combining a shitload of people into one undulating mass of flesh that is sustained through automation and used solely as a huge producer of blood. It's too disfigured and grotesque to fight back or escape, and nobody in their right mind would ever come to save it (with the exception of probably wanting to kill it).

Also viable as an ace in the hole as a surprise BBEG if it spontaneously became a crazy powerfully sorcerer.

Not particularly. What basis does this have in reality? Myth? Anything?

Bump for the night. A little setting I work on from time to time that combines Darksun and Pirates of Dark Water, among other things.

you're joking, right? Most religions have two attitudes towards people: fellow worshipers, and everyone who isn't. That a deity might have this same dichotomy isn't even far fetched. Even nowadays you can be damned to hell for being unwilling to convert to a religion of peace of love - and I'm not merely referring to Islam and Christianity.

Depends, Canada has so many lakes in Quebec and Ontario that they cover a larger surface area than israel

>you're joking, right?

Your comment is appreciated and accurately reflects the sort of stance I was going for when I was giving them two sets of alignments (because religions are hypocritical, and the Gods biased as hell) but they raise a compelling argument: "Why am I using Alignments?"

Allow me to elaborate a little on my creative process and address some of you fine user's criticisms.

Fundamentally I was following this system I made for myself:
-'Good', means a Deity who will never blatantly attempt to benefit from the suffering of others if they can help it.
-'Evil', means a Deity that has absolutely no issue benefiting themselves off of the suffering of others and may make a point to do so at times.
Good & Evil is the "I have an opinion" or "I have an emotion".

-'Neutral', Deities are ultimately only interested in the state of the environment/nature, they do not care about the suffering of people, but may intervene if they find it personally distasteful.
Neutral is the sand box alignment, they care more about the ecological niche of mortals than their individual troubles- not that they can't get invested.

-'Lawful or Order', entails a Deity that believes mortals need to be kept close, watched over, shepherded and directly managed so they can be fully utilized and protected from outside forces.
-'Chaos', entails a Deity who actively believes that mortals need to be left alone, divine intervention left to a 'minimum', so they can be their 'true' and 'pure' selves as dictated by creation.
Law vs Chaos is basically a control farm vs free range argument.

See, this is the new problem.
I've had to go, "wait no, this is what I mean", so I'm obviously in the wrong and this isn't engaging nor convenient and should maybe just keep it to myself and out of games.
That's ultimately what was driving this: immediate convenience for players.

Felt like thinking about various martial art styles. Very very rough, gotta keep thinking about it later on.

I think there are few balancing points for magic:
>Power
Obvious one, how powerful magic is in general.
Are we talking about wizards who can cast 9th level spells or 4th level at most? Generally, what are limits of magic for this powerful wizard.
>Difficulty
How difficult is to set up a powerful spell and cast it? If you are under stress, are you likely to botch it? Does the effort to learn them leave them frail or unlearned in some areas?
>Safety
Is magic dangerous to caster and those around him/her?
And if you botch it, will there be backlash or negative effects on user - hell, are there negative effects on successful cast?
>Resources
How many times can it be cast? What are limits in general, are they limited by mana, health, per-day, materials etc.
>Time
And how fast can they actually cast these? Can they feasibly use these spells in battle?
>Convenience
And can magic achieve effects that are beneficial in battle-situations?

Then you have some that apply to number of magic users like public perception and population.

Okay here are some of my ideas for Vampire "houses" and I just want to see if there's anything I can add to them. I'm going to add unique powers to each house later as well.

>Noctua
Orlok looking guys who mainly use their immortality to research the secrets of the universe. Mad scientists crossed with vampires, very secretive, keep themselves to themselves. Don't have any real political power in the vampire houses. Very few people live near their castles so they must capture people for their "experiments".
>Corvus
Reasonable vampires, generally take care of the townspeople near their castle and get their blood donated to them.Probably the second most powerful house.
>Hydra
"Might makes right" house. Pretty much a warrior culture with a strict code of conduct...as long as you are considered an equal. They consider the humans under them as little more than food, though they will consider siring one if he or she meets their expectations. The most powerful house.
>Felis
Vampires who hold beauty above everything else. While many vampire castles are lavish they seem to have taken it up another notch. Very vain and rarely combat the other vampires directly. It is quite possible that they treat their townspeople even worse than the Hydra house.
>Vela
Pirate Vampires, live a long long way away from the other houses. Basically in a Caribbean type place. They turn their ships over in the sea so they can avoid the sunlight during the day. Dis-organised and rowdy.

Thoughts?

Also, just also figured out that having floppy ears might be detrimental in grappling art.
Maybe some solutions - outside of being a hardcore motherfucker and just cutting them off.

Lot seem kinda standard ones behavior-wise in a way. The vain ones, the warrior-caste, spooky scientists, almost-good-guys...
Not that it is a bad thing, but could be elaborated further. Maybe it is due stigmatization?
Perhaps you could work house-specific weaknesses, quirks in behavior, some peculiar history, feuds etc.

I really like the pirate vampires, though. It is a nice idea.

...Not stigmatization. Don't know where that came from. What I was looking was "summarizing".

>Not that it is a bad thing, but could be elaborated further. Maybe it is due stigmatization?
>Perhaps you could work house-specific weaknesses, quirks in behavior, some peculiar history, feuds etc.
Thanks, I was planning to beef them up a bit more later.

That's not balancing wizards. That's keeping wizards more powerful than martial except sometimes the wizard will randomly explode.

Whatcha guys think of my new map? Its an expanded view of the part of the world my players already play in, still WIP

And this is the local region they play in, which is the gulf on the left side of the bigger map. For scale (which is probably off quite a bit) the landmass in this map should be about the same as france and spain combined

>inkarnate
It's shit

yeah i accept that, but it suits my needs. Any other world generators you'd recommend?

As good as the current version of Inkarnate allows it to be. I really miss the old map markers.

Thanks. Is it possible to still use older versions?

Not to my knowledge.

Are there some cool tools, guides, or tutorials for modern nationstates worldguilding? I just want to know what kind of problms and details to look out for when building a realistic political machine, the kind of shit regular folks aren't usually aware of?

>party slays the researcher
>head down the basement levels to put the amalgam out of it's misery
>the amalgam is now the vessel for the sorcerer, now practically immortal and ridiculously overpowered
Sounds golden to me, thanks.
Reminds me a bit of the typical JRPG multi-stage final boss, but I don't think my group would object to that.

It's not so bad. Just try to flesh it out more. As I see it, it's just the wild west mashed up with Fantasyland™. Not a bad idea to start with, but it needs more.

Hey /wbg/, I made a website a few months ago that hosts some generators that might be useful for your world building. I haven't worked on it in awhile and I'm not sure I'm gonna have a ton of time to work on it going forward, so I thought I'd post about it here and maybe someone will get some use out of it somehow instead of just letting it sit there.

procgenesis.com/generators.html

There are 5 generators up there right now - the main map generator, a symbol generator, 2 small less useful map generators, and a 3D height map viewer (not really a generator I guess but I'm counting it).

The main map generator attempts to create a world based on some very rough/approximate geographic principles. It features tectonic plates, erosion, rivers, wind patterns which determine how moisture in the world is distributed and therefore where biomes are placed, a very basic ore/mineral system, temperature map, cities with generated names that belong to different language "families", the ability to apply a normal map to make it prettier, (clunky) map scrolling and zoom, and probably a couple other things I'm forgetting. You can view ~10 different layers of data about the world - tectonic plates, elevation, temperature, biomes, a "satellite" view, a plain outline of the landmasses, etc.

You can also view your world in 3D, either as a spherical planet or as a flat plane. And you can also use seeds to generate worlds, it basically works the same as in something like minecraft. The idea behind this generator was basically that it would create a good amount of realistic seeming data about a world that someone could use either verbatim or just as inspiration for whatever world building they were doing. I tried to make things have cause and effect, so for example the movement of the tectonic plates affects elevation, which affects temperature and how moisture is distributed by the wind. Elevation affects how rivers flow, etc. Keep in mind though that the generator is slow (like a few minutes slow) and a bit janky, especially for larger map sizes. I'm an amateur at programming and this project was in part to teach myself a bit more about it so give it a chance and hopefully it's not too frustrating.

The symbol generator will create 100 symbols for you based on the parameters you set. Examples of parameters are curvy vs straight lines, line width, symmetry type, and symbol complexity. You can get a good variety of symbols out of it so hopefully it can help somebody with iconography ideas.

The 3D heightmap viewer allows you to upload a 2D black and white heightmap and shows you a 3D model of what it would look like. Again you can change some parameters about how it converts the image, so you can make the mountains seem a little flatter or taller and so on. You can add an adjustable sea level to see how that would look, and you can also color your model based on mapping a gradient to the height values. You can then convert that back to a colored 2D image if you're looking to color your map a certain way, or make some abstract art out of it.

The last 2 small map generators aren't really too special, but they were earlier projects that I decided to just put online. One just uses perlin noise to create a map and the other creates a small more tile based map. They might be fun to play around with but probably not quite as useful for world building. Maybe if somebody needs a small square tile map for a war game or something it could be useful.

Like I said earlier everything is pretty janky but I hope someone out there can find it useful in some way. And sorry to any phone users, there's probably some weird formatting going on there.

Powerful mages harvest people as spell components and the great mages scheme to acquire the other's corpses; prime ingredients.

Mostly just wartime injuries; a soldier loses an arm in battle. The difference is that in this setting he carts it home to sell.

Regenerative spells don't exist, but people stave off infection and such with fire and fungus; a lost eye gives way to a fungi stalk stretching out and upwards.

My group were still working out the kinks with the DM, but the players thought pieces of bone would be a good currency; some great demon's skull fractured into a million pieces. We always had a stiffy for variable currency quality, alternatives, etc. We used a mage to identify who he belonged to.
>DM brought pieces of bone to hand out as currency
>Never explained how he got it
I know it's common and all, but we were spooked at the time.

...

>High Tech world
>Even higher tech being come from another dimension/planet or scientist tap into another level of technology which brings about the apocalypse
>This high tech is so advanced it's just plain magic for anyone

Maybe it's nanoshit that splices with your genetics and let's you manipulate energy, so you can pretty much shift gravity, or use cold spells or shit like that??? idk

I like it user. Original does not mean good, nor vice versa. It seems evocative, a world which your players could immerse themselves in.

are there crusaders in your world?

This is seriously cool dude, thanks for posting. the symbol generator is really useful for my ancient ruins campaign

Anyone know of a setting with Hungarian themes or a not Hungary
I've seen Germany, Bohemia, Poland but never Hungary

I LOVE BROWN BRICKS

Anyone interested in my setting based on my dreams?
It's surprisingly Veeky Forums related, lots of dungeon and monster material.

Not specifically. I've tried a couple of times to insert something like that in a setting, but I've not gone far with it.

What do you know or like about Hungary that would set it apart from Not!Germany or Not!Poland?

How they had slightly different feudalism in the early first millennium

Hey guys, I'm sort of at an impasse with a part of my world and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. So basically, the Dwarves in my world live in a swamp, inhabiting the few mountains that rise above gloom there. I am currently struggling to figure out what kind of war machines the Dwarves would use against each other. Huge mobile fortresses traversing the land seems unlikely because of the swamp. I've already established that airships are very rare, so I'm feeling like I wrote myself into a corner. Maybe some kind of hovering siege engine? Like not completely flying but just hovering? My PCs seem very interested in finding something that can help an army march through hostile terrain more effectively and are looking to the Dwarves for help.

Is there anyone more creative than I who has any ideas? Honestly anything would work at this point, I need a starting board.

And for reference the technology level in my world is pretty low, but powerful magic makes almost anything possible.

Oohhh. Please tell me more!

fantasy equivalent of tunnel boring machines like pic related, to bore into enemy fortifications and let swamp water flood in

Glad you can get some use out of it!

I would love a feature to upload a picture of a certain res and then through some vodoo it gets mapped to the thing

Quick you can pick one animal that isn't similar to a lizard or a snake to act as a stand in for dragons in your setting. The animal will gain great size and a breath attack and has to be just as fearsome as a dragon would.

Personally, I choose the Goose

Magic is to art what technology is to science.

Short memorable names are a lot cooler than long ones.

Well you can color the map based on height if you upload a height map to the 3D viewer. So you can get this colored Australia map for example.

Could you explain in more detail what you're looking for? I'll take a note of it for later if I get a chance to do some more work on the site

Here's the original B&W height map

indicate some books to inspirate me to world building an amazing fantasy world

>In your setting, what goes BUMP in the night?
In the cities and heavily populated dwellings, nothing much. In the country and frontiers most definitely. Vile fey from the feywild/shadowfell. Werewolves, cannibals. frightening shit
>Does anyone or anything BUMP back?
The occasional paranoid country person whose curiosity (or stupidity) outweighs his fear. Wild clans or tribes may bump back.
>Does your setting have a Halloween equivalent?
The end of the fall harvest season. Harvest Festival. Parties, drinking, dressing up in slightly freakish [region-appropriate] costumes (ie. wearing crude hay facemasks/hoods while dancing through town)

Question, are you making it for yourself as a hobby, or are you making it for a group?

hobby

revolutionspodcast.com/2017/08/706-the-kingdom-of-hungary.html Not him but Mike gives a pretty good overview of Hungarian history, if you wish to listen to it. Hungary is a very unique state within Europe. From their language to their history as nomadic raiders that became a Christian kingdom. They were a great Europen power before they were divided between Austria and the Ottomans. I think he's referring to the Golden Bull which made all nobility equal, and regulared their and the kings rights.

Wolves. Creatures black as the night sky, who devour whole villages at once, and who can summon the bitterest winter storm with only their soul-rending howl.

Would a world with High oxygen be harmful to human colonists?

This is interesting. A very interesting way to look at it.

Only if someone invents fire.

Like the midiclorians from SW? That can work plus the force has a modest power level that could fit the setting.

I didn't know Alan Moore browsed Veeky Forums

It is but it doesn't suit a fictional setting too well. Moore's idea of art an magic is using art to communicate a message and change a person's point of view. Like you write a satire to show the bad side of a person.

Ahhh yeees.

Elephants.

>>In your setting, what goes BUMP in the night?
If you're lucky, it's vermin that have gone weird in the congealed shadow of your cellar. If you're less lucky, a small demon manifested in the congealed shadow. If you're really unlucky, you only moved in a few days ago and found a gnostic cocooned in the corner contemplating darkness and you woke him up.

>>Does anyone or anything BUMP back?
If you're lucky, you can strike a few torches and let the darkness shift and dissipate. If you're less lucky, you might have to find a wizard to deal with it. If you're really unlucky, you found the gnostic too late and your wife goes missing during the night and you hear her screams from every dark crevice for the rest of your life. You can burn your house down, though. He's not moving. He go what he wants.

>>Does your setting have a Halloween equivalent?
The grimmer hamlets on the north bank of the river and a little further inwards believe in Dark White People and there's one night year where they apparently just fucking swarm the countryside. Why they get so strong then is anyone's guess, but no one really wants to go out and find out. No one. It's a night to stay inside and just try ignore all the knocking and scratching and horrible sounds. Get drunk on ale and giddy on sugar-stuff. Honestly it's not so bad, it's kind of comfy being able to run around the night before, stock up on nice things and lock up come sunset. People are deadly fucking serious to keep the lights on, the fires going and the doors and windows barred, though. Apart from that, it's about whistling against the dark. There's all kinds of songs and rhymes to bellow and sing before you pass out or crash for the night.

Dubs of fucking Majesty, checked.

Is this an established setting or system? What the hell are congealed shadows?

>Would a world with High oxygen be harmful to human colonists?

Yes, mildly to wildly: A planet with high-oxygen content would have huge insects (if it's anything like our own world), extreme weather patterns -mostly rain- would be a constant with incredibly violent thunder strikes and fires.
There's also the issue that high-concentrate oxygen is really hard on your body: purer oxygen causes small tears in your lungs, mess with your blood, maybe even cause hallucinations or dizziness and is why you ideally want to breath in "air" which is a mixture of oxygen dulled/watered down by nitrogen.

The air we breath is 78% nitrogen and only about 21% oxygen concentrate. I think you can go as high as 30% oxygen purity before you start running into health problems- your people would be fine, but they might want to wear "rebreathers" or little air-tanks that mix in some nitrogen so it's bearable.

MUH FUCKEN DUBS

No, this is my setting I've been working and re-working for years now. I'm at a point where I'm going for a high adventure kind of feel. It's a reverse-gnostic setting in which the Godhead is a tyrannical space monster and the Demiurge escaped to a hidden corner of the universe to create a sanctuary for souls to exist in. It all takes place in section of a potentially vast world, there's a huge ass river intersecting the region, upper is cold with a spooky place, lower is more temperate with vast steppes and an artificial 'desert' (and land decimated by an ancient age of storms). The Godhead stuff is completely unknown to all but the most learned wizards and foul gnostic madmen.

Darkness is the Godhead's thing and there's a fallen Archon (a la gnosticism) in the far north which allows darkness to get in and get spooky. Basically, if left long enough, darkness starts become physical (like, if you found yourself in a deep dark cave, you actually can't light a torch, the darkness is so dense it snuffs it out) and STUFF starts to come alive in it, the umbrella term for them being demons (vampires and dragons are also the result of darkness). Any particularly lonely place shrouded in darkness is in a state of existence referred to as The Deep. Full of awful stuff.

Oh shit nigga this is some good stuff. Could we bother you for a dump?

I've actually used the shadows = legit spooky before. I wrote a setting that assumed it was the Sun that dictated things like Law and Time, and that places where it didn't shine were places where physics were loose enough that anyone could do some trippy stuff, like flying, or removing a soul. The Underdark was completely fucked.

>I wrote a setting that assumed it was the Sun that dictated things like Law and Time, and that places where it didn't shine were places where physics were loose enough that anyone could do some trippy stuff, like flying, or removing a soul

Not necessarily a direct inspiration, more a happy coincidence.

>Oh shit nigga this is some good stuff. Could we bother you for a dump?
Sure thing! I can be a bit more concise since the world got a pretty thorough makeover recently.

>Cosmology/Myth
The universe/spirit realm is a vast realm of darkness presided over by a tyrannical Godhead. At some point, a spirit awoke and fled from the gaze of the tyrant with seven Archons in tow. The spirit, the Demiurge, created from its body the material world where spirits from outside could incarnate into the world and be safe. In its wake, the Demiurge left a trail of empty space where souls go to be reincarnated into the world, but sometimes get caught in the moons that drift through that space, creating a haunted celestial landscape where souls gaze enviously down upon the living.

At some point in ancient history, an Archon became dissatisfied with its station protecting the world, and sought to flee back in the dark, but was instead cast down by the other 6 Archons, and now slumbers beneath the earth, dreaming of darkness. It allowed shadows to seep into the world and congeal and stagnate and fester in deep places. Sometimes, it spoke to people and gods and told them of an even higher power beyond, and thus, Gnosticism was born, a terrible ancient cult that continues to seek escape from this perceived prison, and in some cases, drag the world with it into the dark.

Back in the day, spirits came down into the world and started incarnating, some didn't, some stayed spectral, some became half-forms. Many of these ancient things became the many gods and heroes revered today, further shaping the landscape and creating holy places. Not all are good, not all are evil. The Archons keep themselves a secret.

cont.

>The World/People
The known world is comprised of great stretches of land intersected by a vast river. Much of civilization is to be found around the great round bay on both banks.
To the west are green lands with forests to the south and hills to the north. Many kingdoms of varying sizes and powers can be found here,all with their histories and heroes. There are countless old forts, ruins, caves and dungeons in forests and hills in which adventurers both common and noble seek to find fortune and glory.
To the east is a great stretch of steppes and mountains from which people came originally out of the vastness. There are towns and hamlets scattered throughout, as well orcish nomads and strongholds, often a welcome sight to weary, lost travellers (just be polite to the old orc ghosts). It's a fairly untamed land with many secrets hidden in the far places. There are pygmies living out here.
Far south is the beginning of a desert no one knows the length of, but the explored regions are home to weird tribes and ancient ruins. It isn't a true desert, for the sand is grey and hard, it was in fact a land obliterated by an age of storms some time in the distant past. Countless stories surround this place.
The north bank of the river is the highlands, a hilly region of wilderness inhabited by the old clans whose traditions and customs and beliefs are labyrinthine. Forgotten clan homes are found in the hills, along with monsters and adventure. But it's a dark land, and from the far north comes a black spot on the land, towering nighted mountains and screaming winds. Something awful is up there, and travellers rarely return to speak of it. In reality, it's the place where the fallen Archon slumbers and is the center for all gnostic terror on the planet. It's filled with demons, subhuman barbarians and madmen contemplating darkness in rotting cells deep below the earth, seeking to awaken the Archon.

>Religion
There's a number of different religions to be found around the known world.

The World Serpent is a major religion concerning belief in a world serpent. A few different denominations believe in a wholly distinct deity of immense power, or the world is the world serpent and we simply cannot comprehend it in its totality, or one believes in it as a sort of abstract force of life. They also belive in a demonic figure called Moleg, who tempts believers away to heathenry, because even a king knows not what happens in all the breadth of his kingdom, so Moleg can exist.

There's a Triumvirate of nature gods. The first god is the god of the earth, trees, hills and mountains, caravans, farming and the Present, for it is the world we walk upon. The second god is the god of bodies of water, rains, fertility and the Past, which is as murky as the ocean floor. The third god is the god of the sky, wind, thunder, celestial movements and the Future, for it can only be dimly seen.

The Lord is a folk hero believed in by many many people and around whom, there is said, is a million different stories, parables and lessons. No one knows where belief in this figure came from, but all sorts of things are attributed to it. It's sometimes male, sometimes female, and tales are often about the will to survive and achieve, morality and equality.

The Dark White People are a phenomenon believed in by just about every northerner to some extent. Alien things that exist just beyond the borders of natural perception. Believers have an unfathomable and uneasy relationship based on favours centred around not harming one another. They exist, teeming on the borderlands of human habitation, often times said to dwell amongst and inside lonely hills, and swarming invisibly about lone travellers. The Dark White People are a primal elemental force, the breadth of their true power unknown, and their intent inscrutable.

There's a good bit more, maybe I could upload a doc to read?