Legacy of Darkness (Campaign Seed)

One day, a big spark of light covered the sky. It was not known what happened but the world was shattered in hundred of pieces, killing most of the global populations. Slowly the civilization began rebuilding, and slowly they began to forget about everything that happened. In the end no knew about the other shards anymore, they were forgotten. Each shards developed it own culture it own weapons. 10000 years after the shattering, a nation of mane developed transport between the shards, a new world was about to be formed...

100 years since the races of the mist developed transportation between the shards. The inner ring is growing more prospered and trade relation between the inner race began, even regular transport between the worlds was developed. The time of Mane and the other human descendants seem to have begun, their realms were many and they eventually colonize most of the inner ring. Even if the outer ring remain a mystery, colonist of the main shard nation were sent to the yet unknown outer world. The flame of wars burned as hunger raised amongst the race of the mist, the Palantium empire, nation of the so-called imperial raised in power quickly and began a large scale conquest campaign. Being the only super-power in mist, few can hope to stop them, they conquered shards by shards a large part of the inner ring, thus pushing other race to the outer rings. Many died on the hostile worlds of the outer ring, and eventually entire kingdoms disappeared under the crushing power of the imperial, many of conquered nations began rebelling, other poorer people simply succumb to piracy and crime. Other nation simply fled in the outer rings, these nation found beast to tame, resource to exploit and native to enslave... Since 10 000 years each shards prospered in isolation and peace and now that peace is broken. Take your side.

Legacy of Darkness isn't Sc-Fi, flying ship between the shard are arely made of mateal, and magic runes are used to make them float. People still fight with (more advanced) sword, The technology can be compared with FF9.

Geography

The mist is divided into Shards, miniscule worlds which have their own atmosphere, climate and environment. The main division is a giant ring of whitish mist called The Ring. Any world within the mist is called an Inner world and all without are called Outer worlds.

Inner Shards

Kinda

• Size: Medium
• Shape: A rocky misshaped sphere.
• Location: Between the inner and the outer ring, directly in the Astral Mist.
• Climate: Special
• Other Features: Eternal Mist cover the entire shard, the shard is shielded by a mystical energy shield.

• Race: 99% Kindaro, 1% Others

• Civilization Traits
• Owner: Kindaro (the council of elders)
• Dominant Alignment: Lawful Neutral
• Civilization State: Mystical (Magocratic but more spiritual) Monarchy
• Religious Beliefs: Highly Spiritual, Union and Ancestor Worship
• Other Civilization Traits: Allied with the Empire, neutral to the confederate.

• History and Background: The shard of Kinda is probably the only one who ever resisted the Empire military might. It is the homeland of the Kindaro, a highly spiritual civilization. They see magic as a spiritual and mystical gift. Their sacred view of magic stopped them from creating void ship or magic-powered technology. But they were incredible spellcaster. They in fact create a gigantic shield of energy all over the shard protecting them from the empire. An eternal blueish mist cover the shard and all vegetation have an azure colour. Some say strange beast lurk in the mist waiting their prey. All settlements are shielded from the terrible beast.

Palantium

• Size: Gigantic (Continental)
• Shape: Strange Prism (similar to a crystal)
• Location: Within the Inner Ring, on the eastern pole.
• Climate: Temperate
• Other Features: The biggest second only to the outer shard of Ezuria.

• Race: 80% Imperial, 15% Mane, 5% Others

• Civilization Traits
• Owner: Imperial (Potentate's Empire)
• Dominant Alignment: Lawful Neutral, Lawful Evil (higher nobility), Lawful Good (citizen)
• Civilization State: Absolute Monarchy, Imperial Bureaucracy
• Religious Beliefs: Union Church State
• Other Civilization Traits: Homeland of the strongest nation ever.

• History and Background: Palantium is the home shard of the Imperial, urban city cover the entire shard making it the single most habited shard. It is the home of the Potentate, the supreme ruler of the Palantium empire. The shard is incredibly wealthy and have much of the military power in the inner ring only to itself.

Maaren

• Size: Large
• Shape: Sphere
• Location: Inner Ring
• Climate: Temperate
• Other Features: Global shallow ocean

• Race: 60% Imperial, 35% Mane, 5% Others

• Civilization Traits
• Owner: Imperial
• Dominant Alignment: Lawful Neutral, Lawful Evil (higher nobility), Lawful Good (citizen)
• Civilization State: Imperial Bureaucracy
• Religious Beliefs: Union Church State
• Other Civilization Traits: Large fishing community.

• History and Background: Maaren is known for being one of the few hospitable ocean shards, consisting of a global shallow ocean, ranging in depth from a few feet to around three fathoms (There are a few rare deep spots ranging hundreds of feet however). This ocean is home to an abundance of marine creatures, making this shard the top supplier of seafood to the Empire. Fishing in the shallow water is usually accomplished through the use of large slaves (usually scrags) netting unwary fish, or with flat bottomed ships known as Mare skids. The Empire has built dozens of fishing villages and artificial reefs to house the many fishermen needed to keep the it in constant supply of fish.

Outer Shards

Dryx'a and Yellik, The Dark Twins

• Size: Small(State) (Dryx'a), Large (Small country) (Yellik)
• Shape: Sphere
• Location: Outer Ring
• Climate: Temperate (Dryx'a), Unique (Yellik)
• Other Features: Plains (Dryx'a), Insubstantial Shadow (Yellik)
• Race: 99% Dryx'alin , 1% Others
• Dominant Alignment: Lawful Neutral
• Civilization State: Independant nomad tribes
• Other Civilization Traits: Ex-Imperial training shards

Established as a military training world seventy years ago, the shard Dryx’a was chosen for it's close proximity to its twin Yellik, a much larger shard populated by incorporeal wraiths dubbed “Langs”, (after the first mate of the ship who discovered the shard, he was also the first person to be slaughtered by the wraiths). The theory was that once they had completed their training, the soldiers would travel to Yellik to keep themselves honed ready for battle by practicing on the wraiths. However, around five years after the facility’s founding, an anomaly occurred. Dryx’a’s orbit around Yellik brought the two shards so close they nearly touched, allowing the wraiths to enter Dryx’a. The larger shard soon moved to block the sunlight, creating an effect similar to an eclipse. Dryx’a became partially integrated with Yellik as the other shard dragged it into its orbit. The training facility was almost entirely destroyed and the few survivors were driven into hiding for the next two years until Yellik disengaged and moved far enough away that sunlight finally warmed the now barren plains of Dryx’a. Years passed and it seemed the Empire had forgotten about the ten thousand soldiers of Dryx’a. The remaining soldiers soon separated and formed small roving groups, each with their own form of fighting. More years passed and there was still no sign of the Empire, deepening the survivor’s resentment towards it. Finally, fourty years later, a small contingent of warriors claiming to be Imperial evaluators trying to determine whether Dryx’a was colonizable or not. Shocked to find a thriving population already existing, the evaluators reported the shard as in hospitable due to the closeness of Yellik, further abandoning the survivors.

In recent years, Void pirates have begun recruiting the anti-Imperial Dryx’alin to raid convoys and shards, and just generally pester the Empire. From pirating, many Dryx'alin went on to become mercanaries and warriors for the Confederacy and the Rebels.

Senulia

• Size: Small (Large Island)
• Shape: Sphere
• Location: Near the end border of the Outer Ring
• Climate: Poorly Illuminate, Intense Vegetation
• Other Features: Poor illumination

• Race:

100% Senalis Manes

• Civilization Traits
• Owner: None
• Dominant Alignment: Lawful Neutral
• Civilization State: Independent Clan
• Religious Beliefs: Superstition & Ancestor Worship
• Other Civilization Traits: Live in fear of being killed by horrible creature.

• History and Background: Senulia is small isolated shard in the end of the outer ring. They live in a religious society where the deads are worshipped like gods. No light reach the shard, instead the surrounding shard poorly illuminate (similar too moon illumination). Here each cities must remain silent, since terrible creature roam the shard.

Arquiura

Arquiura was once a thriving city-state in the midst of the void. It grew its own food, governed itself, had its own magical defenses, and generally kept to itself. The shard bristled with magical spires that pierced the heavens, and the world was constantly surrounded by a magical haze. Underground, a vast network of subterranean tunnels expanded the area of the shard even further. At its center stood the secret of the shard's success: an intense magical sun, continually emitting magical radiation. It caused the crops to grow, the city to build, and the state to thrive off its power.

One day, however, the sun's output changed. In the span of a few minutes its output increased 100-fold, bombarding everyone with intense magical radiation and killing off almost everyone on Arquiura. Although none knew what happened, the truth was that the ancient enchantments and protections on the sun were sabotaged by an Imperial spy who had managed to infiltrate the city, freeing the sun into its true output. Only a literal handful survived the shard's apocalypse, those survivors became either magic-tainted with an increase to their connection to the magic of the multiverse, or mutated into horrible monsters. The imperial agent never returned and was presumed dead.

Nowadays, all that remains of Arquiura is a mammoth ghost-city. The towering spires and buildings, built on magic, have even stronger support and regenerating capacity with the increase in output of the sun and will likely stand strong into eternity. The shard, after human abandonment, contains one of the few true amalgamations of city and nature: around the buildings an impossibly thick forest has sprung up, its growth driven by the intense magical source beneath the soil.

No intelligent life remains settled on Arquiura, save for some mutated monsters. None can live there without being one of the extremely few who magical radiation has mutated into beings with stronger magical connections, or those with special protection against magical radiation. Few know that the place exists; if they did, it would probably be coveted for the sun at its core. The Imperials likely have an idea of its existence, but as the spy went missing how much they know is unknown. In any case, they would find it difficult to investigate as Arquiura's magical defenses do remain intact and armed.

Currently, Arquiura is being used as a base for a small group of pirates. Their ship and its pilot both originate from Arquiura, so they manage to safely bypass the magical defenses on the shard. They generally keep to the top parts of the spires, where the radiation is not so intense. It is unknown what future they plan for the abandoned shard.

• Size: Arquiura's surface is the size of a moderate state. There is a massive underground network of tunnels, as well.
• Shape: Ellipsoid.
• Geography: A large city is built all the way around the spherical surface of the shard. It does not cover it entirely however; mountainous regions and a few forests that existed before Arquiura's apocalypse are not industrialized.
• Location: Outer ring, shrouded near the mists.
• Climate: Variable. The intense magical radiation can make the weather mild one minute and intensely storming the next.
• Population: Mutated monsters, animals, and flora. Arquiura is otherwise desolate.
• Owner: None on record, though a small pirate group is based there and have laid claim to it.

Sayatai

• Size: Large (Small country)
• Shape: Sphere
• Location: Outer Ring
• Climate: Cold
• Other Features: Marsh
• Race: 92% Sayatamese, 1% Annis Hag, 5% Imperial, 2% Others (Mane, Troll)
• Owner: The Shadow Court
• Dominant Alignment: Lawful Evil
• Civilization State: Small villages
• Religious Beliefs: None
• Other Civilization Traits: None

When the Empire first discovered Sayatai, the found a large, dark shard filled with ruthless barbarians who were plagued by the depredations of a strange species of behir that inhabitated the marshes. Building a small well-defended fortress on the shard, the Imperials left a small contingient of troops behind, before moving on to search for other hospitable shards.

When the Imperials returned less then thirty years later, they were met by an army of heavily armed warriors mounted on the backs of the very behirs that had hunted them. In a battle that lasted a meager twenty hours, the natives defeated the invaders, gaining control of the three warships that they had brought, and blackmailing the captains to leave.

In the years since the Imperials' first landing, the rulers of the tribes on Sayatai, the alien Shadow court, seized control of their fortress, using it as a focal point from which to unite all of the tribes together. With a new, virtually impenetrable base of operations, the Shadow Court forged a treaty with the behirs, offering them slaves in exchange for their aid in battle. Once peace was established, there was little to do except sit and wait for the Imperials to return.

Today Sayatai remains one of the few entirely Imperial-independant shards, controlled exclusively by the Shadow Court, a powerful covenant of annis hag shadowcasters. Although the empire has sought to conquer them more than a few times, the Sayatamese bear little animosity towards them, in fact they have actually established trade with them in recent years, trading rare herbs and medicines for produce, namely vegetables, which are scarce on the dim-lit shard.

Races

Dryx'alin

The Dryx'alin are the last living descendants of the human soldiers assigned to The Dark Twins some seventy-odd years ago. Despite being stranded only a few decades, forced breeding, incredible training, and a perilous enviroment have made them evolve beyond normal humans.

A hardy and gruff people, they believe in preparation for everything, especially death, which might occur at any moment. A typical Dryx'alin always ensures that everything is in order before going anywhere, as most of the time, they never return.

Dryx'alin appear as humans but with a few changes: nearly all Dryx'alin have pale skin, dark hair, and brilliant golden eyes. While the Dryx'alin never gave much thought to this, it is believed they inherited these eyes from one or more of the many soulknifes or other psionic users (who are know for strangely colored eyes) stationed on Dryx'a. In any case, Dryx'alin often have trouble seeing in normal daylight, due several generations of exposure to Yellik. Dryx'alin on other shards typically counter this flaw with an item known as Gr'lil, basically a thin gauzy strip of black fabric bound around the eyes that tints a Dryx'alin's world so they can see. Due to the slightly higher gravity on Dryx'a, Dryx'alin bodies are denser than normal humans and they tend to be slightly shorter, with females weighing less and standing shorter.

Kindaros

Kindaros are a race of humanoid creature dwelling on the shard of Kinda, between the inner and outer ring. Kindaro are expert of self-control. Able to suppress most emotions, they are religious but are never bloodthirsty fanatic. Kindaros dislike much of the races, their xenophobic and isolationist attitude come from the fact they hid themselves from the rest of the Shattered World. They are allies of the imperials, in some way and are neutral to other power. They don't possess any Void Travelling devices. Kindaros are a lawful people. Traditionalist, xenophobic and religious. They are bounded by strong law and code of personal honor. Each Kindaros have it own personal oath, he pledge this oath once he/she reach adulthood.

Kindaros believe in Spirits, they worship their ancestors and heroes. They believe only in spirits, no gods. In fact they believe that there is Greater and Lesser spirits, gods simply being powerful spirits. They believe magic is sacred and should be used with caution and moderation. They are punitive toward black magic and demonic pact, saying it a desecration toward magic and life itself. Kindaros are said to have discovered every secrets of magics, these secrets well hidden in the Kindaro society and shared to no outsider.

Wild Elves

Primitive hunter-gatherers, the wild elves are the descendants of the original elven races that can be found on dozens of backwater shards, hunting whatever creatures have proliferated there. Strongly independent, these elves have largely resisted the rule of the Empire, opposing them wherever they might find them.

Gray Elves

The last of the true elves, the gray elves were driven from their home shards by the Empire, forcing them to live in transit, forming convoys of ships in the Outer Ring. These convoys are well hidden, since the elves have retained their strong spellcasting heritage, which they use to hide their ships and scout for dangers.

Ogres

Originally found on a handful of Inner shards, ogres are now bred and trained for battle by Imperial soldiers, who use them as shock troopers when they first land on a newly discovered shard.

Sayatamese

The Sayatamese a mix of the barbarian tribes of Sayatai, and the enslaved remmanents of the first Imperial invasion. Descendents of fierce warriors, the Sayatamese have inherited blindly fast tempers, going from calm and collected to foaming at the mouth in moments. A proud race, they view any insult as a threat, even if it's only in jest. Tall and swarthy, they are easily picked out in a room for their dusky skin and pale eyes. A typical Sayatamese has numerious self-inflicted scars all over his body, often mingled with dozens of tattooes. Generations of poor lighting have lead them to have better night vision than other human races, a trait which helps navigate through the dark swamps of Sayatai.

Factions

Belonging to a faction is important in Legacy of Darkness. They can grant special powers and privilege. The most prominent factions are the Palantium empire and the Confederation.

• The Palantium Empire: The strongest of all factions, they alone posses more power than all the other human kingdoms. They posses 36 Shards, 66% of the inner rings. They use a vast amount of mercenary (mostly conquered races) and few manage to get to officer post. The empire recently had problem with the succession, Potentate Magus XVII died recently, and the only 2 heirs remain are Madae his 32 years old daughter and Keames his 12 year old son. The imperial magistrate and the supreme council elected Kaemes as the new supreme potentate of the state. Madae who was suspected of black magic and demonbinding was not judged a worthy candidate for the post. In fact she swear vengeance to the council but remain at the side of her little brother. Many suspect manipulation and maybe eventually a coup.
• The Confederation: To be able to rival imperial influence and military resource all the nation who were partly conquered or threatened by the empire united in a confederation of independent nation, all the nations in confederations must be either fully democratic or constitutionals monarchies. Even with all the nations the confederation is not on par with the empire and it colonies. They manage to get a temporary truce through some miracle on the battlefield and a lot of diplomacy (and luck, the potentate died and the mess it caused obliged the legion to fall back into imperial territories just before dealing the finishing blow). The current ruler of the confederation is the president councillor Himoya, a young yet competent leader.
• Rebels: Rebels are many groups who decided to fight for their freedom, they are defeated nations mostly. They are disorganized and don't fight together, they are easily crushed by minor imperial effort. They have no leader and won't have one soon.
• The Triad of Absolute Darkness: No much is know about the organization, it is ruled by "Darkgod" and are a cult since before the time of the gods. Some say it come from another plane of existence but no one is sure. Current leader unknown
• Val'Ashera: The mysterious guild of evil demonbinder, that the only detail known. Some say the great circle leader is Lady Madae Abbas but those claims are obscure at best.
• Vil'Mashera: Another demonbinder guild, they bounded by hard laws, they are even more mysterious than the Val'Ashera their mortal enemy. the great circle leader identity is completely unknown.
• Void Pirate: Void pirate attack ships in the void between the shards, killing all mostly, they are rare on imperial or confederate territories but are much more common in the outer ring and between both rings.
• The Shining Crusaders: A band of knights coming from both the Empire and the Confederation, who only goal is to exterminate all undeads, evil outsiders and their servants/masters.

Astrology

• The Ascended
• The Mighty
• The Windcaller
• The Witch
• The Spider
• The Master
• The Widow
• The Protector
• The Summoner
• The Priestess
• The Emperor
• The Cabal

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