[AFreebornManoftheUSA]

This game is being run in a homebrew gameworld I've spent decades working on. It was originally designed for 2nd edition, then upgraded to Pathfinder, and now I run it in 5th edition. I'm happy to switch back to Pathfinder is applicants prefer that. There are few game rules and context specific to my world, which can be found in the races and classes section. Additionally, I have a lot of background information on this gameworld, some of which is provided here. I'm providing this because I want a rich role-playing experience. Feel free to ask questions about what I'm expecting from the game.

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I will consider the ad closed on November 22.

Players: 1

Starting at 1st level.

I'm not a big rules horse. The rules only provide the physics and boundaries for role-playing.

My posting rate will vary from once a week to a couple of times a day, depending on my own level of busyness, writers block, moving the plot forward, and the nature of the posts. Please make sure that that will work for you.

Please post your applications in the game forum and NOT as responses to this thread. Use the thread helpfully titled "Applications Here"

However, please post all clarifications and questions to this thread and save the game forum thread for final applications only.

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Races

Combining a high birth rate with ambition, a willingness to work with nearly any other race, and intelligence has made humanity the most successful race on Arelas. For the past 1000 years, they have spread their numbers and their control over most of the land.

Elves were once the rulers of the land aboveground. From the time when Lariast, father of the elven people, first managed to harness the powers of magic to his command over 34,000 years ago, the elves have been in ascension. As benevolent dictators, they limited the despoiling of nature and violent conflict. 1000 years ago, humans began to dominate and spread, and the elves have been in decline since. Today, the elves are clustered around the forest of their homeland, living in isolation from other races. They no longer maintain normal relations with nieghboring countries, and elves are a rare sight in most of the world.

Elves either discovered or created arcane magic. Perhaps a combination of both. Either way, magicians are common among them. No priest of an elven god has been capable of casting divine magic in many centuries. Elven priests of the "human" Mystic Circle, gifted with divine magic, are not unheard of.

Rejected and reviled in elven society, half-elves find varying levels of acceptance in human societies. Many have risen to success, but many more live desperate, impoverished lives of bitterness and discrimination. Were you raised by your elven parent, your human parent, or in a Quabhenti, an orphanage for half-elves?

If elves ruled aboveground, dwarves were emperors of the deep. Their tunnel empire stretched for 1000s of miles beneath the soil. Their clever devices and sense of solidarity and teamwork allowed them to force the Underdark's more vicious races to live on the margins. But something changed 2000 years ago. Their biggest rivals, the drow and the illithid, found new sources of power, and seemed to find a new respect for temporary co-operation. Over time, the dwarves lost more than they won, and retreated further and further into defensible areas. The once vast, continent-wide network of dwarven tunnels has now been reduced to a few small corners, the most famous of which is Dareke Caverns, Bronwend's neighbor. The rest of their tunnels are now abandoned to the dangers of the Underdark. Like the elves, the dwarves are a race in slow decline, still clinging to the pride of their once great achievements, and both believe isolation from all outsiders is the only way to protect themselves, so entrance to Dareke Caverns is almost never granted. The occasional Dwarves Fair is the one of the few times the outside world even makes any contact.

Magic is extremely rare among dwarves. There has been no priest of a dwarven god capable of casting divine magic in living memory of even the oldest dwarf.

Driven out of their caverns during the numerous wars that cost the dwarves their reign, some settled aboveground in or near human lands. These hill dwarves, as they're called, are generally more willing to work with other races, though they still tend to be distrustful of outsiders and often consider working with non-dwarves a necessary evil of business rather than a pleasure.

Magic is extremely rare among dwarves. There has been no priest of a dwarven god capable of casting divine magic in living memory of even the oldest dwarf. Dwarven priests of the "human" Mystic Circle, gifted with divine magic, are not unheard of.

This race of forgotten people has managed to survive by being largely ignored. Their homeland neighbors what has always been the elven homeland, and they have been natural allies for as long as either remembers. Gnomes rarely brought military strength to assist their allies, however, and as time passed, it was clear that the natural alliance was more powerful elves protecting gnomes than equal partners. Today, the two races remain friendly, but they no longer share the bond they once did. The gnomish tendency to make themselves seem inconsequential has led to a tendency to foster illusionists, a magical art they have done more to advance for than any other race. Recently, a few gnomes have found a new home - Dareke Caverns. So different from their forested homeland, somehow the dwarven stronghold seems a natural fit for them, and the dwarves seem willing to accept them. Gnomes now constitute a small but significant portion of its population

Magicians, especially illusionists, are not uncommon among gnomes. Divine magic is almost unheard of.

Halflings have never known a homeland of their own. Whatever the history of this race is, they have been in diaspora since anyone can recall. They most often find homes in human lands, where, like half-elves, acceptance has been a mixed-bag. Stereotyped as thieves and cheaters, many halflings have faced discrimination, and a few have the been the victims of neighbors driven to riot and violent purges following rumors from the relatively true (they steal to survive) to the fantastic (halflings survive by drinking the blood of human children). Sure, plenty of halflings lead good lives, but most are suspicious that at any moment it might be taken away.

Halfling magicians are rare. There are no "halfling" gods, though the very rare halfling priest of the "human" Mystic Circle will show up.

Rarely the product of loving relationships, half-orcs face the most discrimination in a human-dominated world. In some kingdoms, it's legal to kill them on sight. Even if execution on sight isn't legal, few places are safe, and fewer still are accepting. Among their orc brethren, a strong half-orc is at least accorded some respect for his strength, assuming they survive to adulthood.

Other races will be considered, but I prefer the standard ones.

Classes (written for Pathfinder or 5th Edition)

Some of your background depends on your tribe. Near Bronwend is the vast open plain of Amiia, dominated by horse-riding barbarians with a Nordic background. These tribes range in size from one extended family to tens of thousands of members. Other barbarians include coastal, sea-faring tribes, mountain tribes, forest tribes from the south, orc tribes from the cold north, and even rare pockets of Grugach, the wild elves.

Most bards were trained at a Bardic College, or as apprentices. There are bards native to specific cultures, the schalds of Amiia and their cousins the skalds of Nornuta, the Lungdrummers of the orc tribes, and the fops of the gnomes.

You must be a member of the Church of the Mystic Circle, the Mystician Church. Strong orthodoxy is the way with this church. There are two branches of the church, the Sisterhood and Brotherhood of the Wand, and the Knights of the Sword Temple. Adventurers are more likely to be drawn from the ranks of the Sword Templars.

See religion below for domains.

Druids are considered heathens, and face discrimination ranging from being treated as outcasts to being actively hunted by the militant Sword Templars. Playing a druid will likely require hiding your class.

There have always been people willing to use their strength and skill at arms. Fighters are the most diverse group. You could be a landless knight, a veteran of a small war, a pit fighter, or a hired goon looking to make his own life. Any race, and any background that could have given you training in arms works.

Humans, elves, and half-elves were likely to have been trained at a traditional college for mages, or to have been taken under the wing of a master. Mages from other races are extremely rare. Certain magic college specialize in certain schools of magic. Necromancy, right or wrong, is seen as an evil school and practitioners often have to hide it (or become powerful enough to present a serious threat). Necromancy is rarely taught in a college, and usually requires learning as an apprentice in secret.

Can be native to Arelas or from the (undesigned) Far East if you prefer a more traditional East Asian style monk. Any race works.

Most likely a human, and almost certainly a member of the Sword Temple.

Likely human, elf, half-elf, half-orc, or gnome.

Any race, any background that fits works.

Sorcerors, or people who can perform magic without years of training, are a new phenomenon on Arelas. Some cosmic event brought them into the world only within the last few years. Already, threatened by this new class of magic-users, traditional mages have started denouncing them as unnatural, claiming that anyone able to use magic without years of study is going to misuse it.

Witches and warlocks have always been treated with suspicion. Whispers about the dark and evil forces their serve make them figures of distrust in the eyes of the common folk. Role-playing a witch may require hiding who you are.

Other classes, including hybrids, will always be considered, so long as I have access to a description.

Religions

The True Gods. Culturally, it is loosely based on medieval Christianity, but the belief system is very different.

Many millenia ago, people worshiped as they wished. According to the holy texts of the Mysticians, known as the Nine Scrolls, this freedom left society in chaos. Nearly 1000 years ago, a select few of those gods signed the Law of the Mystics, a binding contract between them and the universe. This law functions as a sort of combined Law of Physics and Law of Correct Behavior. It is said to be so complex and contain so many clauses and subclauses that no mortal mind can comprehend them all, but these laws keep the universe from falling apart, and so people must maintain faith in them regardless of how well they are understood. To believe in deities and god-like figures from among those who never signed the Law, as druids in their worship of nature spirits do, undermines the very fabric of both reality and morality. Additionally, to believe that all deities are simply facets of one monotheistic God, as the Igimn of the southern deserts or a few heretic Mysticians do, undermines the belief that only those few gods who constitute the Mystic Circle, were the ones who signed the Law. As such, both beliefs are persecuted by the official Church, which is based on the medieval Christian church. Most believers pay homage to all members of the Circle, while favoring one. Artema is the one favored by most believers.

Here are the gods. If you're a cleric, choose your patron, and we can discuss which domain(s) fit it best. I'm flexible on this, to a degree, but some gods (such as Artema and light) will have more restrictions. 'Evil' gods that are part of the Circle have priests as well, but after 1000 years those priests are often treated as threats by civilized people and those priests may face the same treatment a druid would. Most people might pay specific homage to one god that is especially relevant to them while acknowledging all of them in some way.

The Pilgrim: Not a god and has no direct worshippers, but more of a messenger. An angel of sorts, or a mortal depending on the stories, he brought the message of the Laws of the Mystics to the prime material.


Artema: Goddess of the Sun and Light. She is the prime god of the Mystic Circle, most powerful and the one most worshipers turn to. Her alignment is lawful good.
Aurin, the Wise: Magic, the moon, and creativity. His alignment is neutral good.
Buzzoul, the Deathlord: Originally the God of the Dead, he has become corrupted by his association with death, and perhaps even gone insane. The most evil and most foul of all of the gods. His alignment is chaotic evil.
Chemoraan, Icewind: Winter and the cold winds from the North are his domain. He isn't seen as evil, but reflects the carelessness of nature. His alignment is chaotic neutral.
Glennae, Lord of Decay: Pictured as a sniveling, pock-marked man with sickly skin, Glennae brings disease and despoilment into the world. He is weak, and is often bullied by Buzzoul into helping him. His alignment is neutral evil.
The Guardian: This god is a hard figure to pin down. Usually depicted as a goddess, she can be depicted as a man. She is supposed to have been an exceptionally true angel who signed the Law last of all. She keeps an ever-watchful guard on the heavens, and is said to be the patron of all watchmen. Her alignment is lawful neutral.
Heila, the Free: A true free spirit, her multi-hued hair represents how unfettered she is by custom. Pirates and adventurers are said to consider her their patron. Her alignment is chaotic neutral or chaotic good.
Horn, the Hammer of War: A scarred, ancient warrior whose warhammer has crushed the skulls of millions. He is said to take the spirits of the greatest warriors who die in battle and lead them in endless wars on his home plane. His alignment is true neutral.
Iedi, the Heart: She embodies all love, from familial, parental, friendship to sexual love. Her alignment is neutral good.
Imaver, Lifegiver or The Seed: The spirit of the earth. He is considered the provider of the people, and he and his wife Artema are the patrons of most of the people. He particularly hates Buzzoul and Glenae for how they despoil the earth. His alignment is neutral good.
Khan, Lordtyrant: Khan is the embodiment of lawful evil, the belief that the might should have absolute rule over those conquer. His priesthood is infamous for working with slavers and tyrants, assisting them to carry out their cruel aims. Priests are known as Fists, and the head of a temple is known as the Hightyrant. Lordtyrant is reserved for Khan himself. His alignment is lawful evil.
Navaros, the Trickster: Navaros is a trickster god, the patron, with his brother Wallagh, of rogues, thieves and the downtrodden. His alignment is chaotic good.
Sym, Honor: The patron of the nobility, of the belief that class hierarchy is a requirement for a society to remain stable. His alignment is lawful neutral.
Sises, the Insane: God of the seas, especially of the sea storms. Depicted as a blinded snake of mammoth proportions, he long ago stopped caring about goals and now cares only for destruction, dwelling in complete insanity. His alignment is chaotic evil.
Sullam/Shullam, the Coin: Patron to merchants, his temple supports trade and financial exchange wherever it can. It doesn't necessarily care about who it benefits, believing that the ultimate good it brings outweighs any individual harm. His alignment is lawful neutral.
Timain, the Melodious: Patron to bards and other performers. His alignment is true neutral.
Vamillia, Lord of Tomes: Supporter of knowledge. His temples often serve as libraries, and more than one of his priests is a sage of renown on some topic, often an extremely obscure one. His alignment is true neutral.
Wallagh, Daggercloak: Unlike his brother Navaros, Wallagh is no trickster. Instead, he represents the rage and bitterness of those who have been hurt, and inflames their sense of revenge, usually with an aim to self-destruction. He is the patron of assassins. His alignment is chaotic evil.
Wellestra, Serenity: Wellestra is the calming influence to Sises' insanity. She represents water as beauty and life. Sailors often give a prayer to her to control Sises before leaving port. Her alignment is lawful good.

Based loosely on Islam, this refers to the body of believers who hold that there is only one God, and all of existence is simply a facet of one of It's innumerable faces. This belief is popular far to the south, and is both rare and persecuted in Arelas, and wars between the two have been common for the last few centuries.

What druids are left are a loose group of individualists who secretly maintain the rituals of their faith despite centuries of persecution. They worship spirits of nature, and can draw their divine magic from numerous sources.

The History of Arelas

The Horde is name for the massive migration of goblinoids and humans that destroyed the status quo on Arelas between -500 and 100. Prior to -500, the great elven kingdom of Eldesta controlled most of the land above ground in Arelas. Below ground, the great Dwarven kingdom of Khanarduum ruled the tunnels underneath. Muervana became the place where these two races interacted. Originally settled as a small fishing village, its location made it vital to the diplomatic relations of Elvana. Four settled human lands began to consolidate their power and expand. Bar-Shethba was the first human kingdom, ruled by a god-king known as the Nesut-Bar. It was located on the site of present-day Minoas. The small island of Chresenar was home to independent fishermen and hardscrabble farmers. Rather than conquer militarily, they settled cities on the various shores of far-away lands, most notably modern day Morean and Vie. Veros, a series of islands whose inhabitants were used to sailing amongst each other for trade and war, consolidated together began to conquer weaker nations, including Chresenar, Bar-Shethba, Vie and Morean. Their empire even extended as far as the Hand, where they founded what became the Five Kingdoms. Polyu was a disparate set of rural islands until the Polei family brought them together. The Polei possessed a hereditary power which gave them great psionic trait, and the family rules Polyu still today, a dynasty of over 1200 years. This great innate power of the Polei has kept Polyu safe from outsiders and the dynasty safe from usurpers.
Around -560, a small tribe of goblinoids, known as the Gruhin tribe, living in the cold rocky hills north of Lake Mur were visited by the avatars of the brothers Maglubiyet and Gruumsh. Having previously lived a life of hunting and gathering that was fairly peaceful, goblinoids were not major players in Arelas. Among elves, they were known as like-pigs that conversate instead of fight. It is telling of goblinoid behavior that humans were known as like-elves that fight instead of conversate. The avatars convinced that group of goblinoids that warfare and conquest were the way to success. Through war, conquest and rape, that small tribe of goblinoids became dominant within a generation. Other goblinoid tribes in the area noticed this success and a few converted. Within 100 years, that success had spread to virtually all of Arelas. Originally, goblins were the most dominant race of the many goblinoids, mainly due to their reproduction. The Merane range and the western part of the Merane Valley were dominated by goblins by -200, and the southern and eastern portions of the Kruke Peninsula became dominated by goblins by -100. At the time, the Verosians had settlements along the coasts of both area, and Verosians often came into conflict with the goblins. In -110, Lorenzon Ormo of Veros, a captain in the Krukan guard, wrote that goblins are the greatest threat to Verosian expansion.
Despite their growing influence in the south, it was the cold north where goblinoids were most powerful. Through a campaign of successful example and rape, the goblinoids of the north had built an army of orcs and goblins. Though they fought each other often, they were able to focus most of their energy on the elves and humans. The humans, who lived mostly agricultural lives, were pushed further and further out, their arable land lost to the invaders. Eventually, forced to take up arms themselves, the humans themselves became warlike to defend themselves. Some of the elven tribes and nations living in the north were killed off or forced to flee to Elvana or the Great Forest.
The humans of the North, who were nomadic hunter-gatherers by nature, began to realize that they had to protect their lands from violent invaders in order to ensure they had enough land to provide food. The result was a new social system known as the Land and Meet. The "land" referred to the area that the group considered they needed to survive, and the "meet" was the agreement of the people to gather and protect their land. As groups of humans formed different Lands and Meets, they came into conflict with each other. This forced them to spread outward farther and farther.
Meanwhile, the Eldestan kingdom had been fighting regular wars with the goblinoids from their north. Although the elves won more than they lost, the goblinoids never stopped coming. The settlements in the woods near Lake Mur had to be abandoned by -150, following a devastating loss at the Battle of Orcs Bones near the present site of Murensville. The battle was so named because a camp of orcs living there had been slaughtered by the elves, down to every man, woman and child. The slaughter had left the field littered with bones.
From the loss at that battle onwards, the area from Porana to Lake Mur fell under the domination of goblinoids. With the slaves they gathered, food and supplies became plentiful and the goblinoid kingdoms grew in size and power. Humans began to realize that their Lands and Meets would not survive the continued assault. Beginning in -79, humans slowly began migrating south. Eventually, those numbers grew to massive size. At first, the elves, their compassion and experiences with the goblinoids helping them to sympathize with the humans, allowed them to take refuge in their cities. As the refugees grew, however, the elves became less accepting. In time, all humans were relegated to refugee camps, but their growing numbers led to tension. Throughout the Eldestan Empire, especially from Dareke to Kruke, the refusal to allow entry to humans and to feed the existing refugees led to uprisings and raids.
In -13, Elvana, the great capital of Eldesta, faced a real threat from the growing strength of the goblinoid armies. They recalled their troops from the rest of their lands to defend the capital. This left many of the lesser towns without defense. In many cases, these settlements were entirely destroyed. In areas free of the influence of elves, humans had begun to establish themselves as a power. The Chresen, Verosian and Polyan islands all hosted empires of settling humans based on sea-faring. On Merane Isle, the Hand, Merane, southern Kruke and the Dareke Peninsula, the islanders founded cities that became centers of trade and military. In some cases, as the elves retreated, the islanders came in and took over power. This happened in Mithas, the ancient elven stronghold of Mytho that Verosians occupied. In others, the islanders themselves fell to invading Myceneans, as in Rossan, originally the Verosian city of Rasso and Vie, originally the Chresen city of Uihulos. The last elven city to fall was Muervana, at the mouth of the river we call the Hexan River.
In the midst of the turmoil, among the heathen humans, ravaging goblinoids and desperate elves, a man appeared on the shores of the Amiian Gulf, on the island of Rethez, in the year we now know as 0. He had originally landed in the empire of Polyu, but his teachings had found only limited acceptance there, so he came to Arelas. He called himself Feronicc, and he said this was his third and final pilgrimage; the first having been traveling through the heavens, gathering the laws of the Mystics; the second having been the taking of the laws of the mystics to the court of gods, where those gods who agreed to the law signed it and became the Mystic Circle. Empowered with this new law, the Pilgrim came to the people to bring them peace through the laws. Many of the humanoids races understood this new law would bring them peace, and they embraced it, especially the humans.
As all this was happening above ground, the great dwarven kingdom of Khanarduum was facing a new threat. Stretching from Dareke across Amiia and Kruke to Merane, these great tunnels housed millions of dwarves mining millions of pounds precious metals and gems. Though these dwarves had ruled the tunnels below Arelas with their engineering and grit, they lacked the powerful magics of the Underdark's other residents. New enemies using new powers in new ways grew from pests to constant threats. The dwarves began to lose more tunnels and more mines as the years passed, until their underground empire was splintered into smaller kingdoms. Some of these kingdoms fell in bravery to the evil invaders and others fled the Underdark for the hills and mountains of the surface. In the Dareke Mountains to the west of Kruke, the largest segment of dwarves consolidated themeselves into an easily defensible corner of their empire, which became known as the Dareke Caverns.
The Followers of the Pilgrim grew in strength but not in violence as the years progressed. They sought to change the ways of the old Mycenean barbarians and their druidic priesthood, but rarely with violence.
The Law of the Mystics was intrepreted by all differently. Khan and Wallagh saw it as the law of power and natural selection; Navaros as the right to survival and to defend oneself against abuse; Aurin as the law of numbers; Wellestra, Chemoraan and Sises as a force of nature; Iedi as the law of the heart. Artema and Imaver saw the law as a way for humanoids to shape the world to their use. Among the people, the peaceful life promised by Artema and Imaver was extremely tempting in world gone mad with war.
But not everyone sought peace and quiet. Buzzoul, the god of death and passage, found a way to corrupt the law and bring evil to the world again. Eventually, the other gods were driven to war with him. Some gods saw the power that corrupting the law brought, however, and sought power of their own. Khan saw that power could multiply itself through cruelty. In some cases, Buzzoul's corruption drove the other gods mad, as with Sises.
Artema took up the mantle of driving this evil from the world, and on the day now celebrated throughout Arelas as Apendy, she drove Buzzoul into the Abyss and his minions from the land. She could not drive them entirely from the land, however, and followers of Buzzoul continued to pop up around the world. As a result, the peaceful priesthood of Artema split into two. The old priesthood of contemplation and peace became known as the Sisterhood and Brotherhood of the Wand. In 214, a new, more militant priesthood was born, known as the Templers of the Sword, located in great monastery known as the Sword Temple in the Hexan Mountains. These warrior-priests brought the message of Artema by the sword, sometimes favoring divine justice over mercy. No later had they formed then a new threat emerged.
Simcrinius was a great druid king in Amiia. He had grown weary of his people's isolation and growing persecution at the hands of the Mysticians. In 240, he gathered a great army and brought it bear against the peoples of Kruke, Elvana and Merane. In 241, he was met at the great Battle of Simcrinius and the combined forces of the Mysticians, led by the Sword Templers, destroyed the last vestige of druidic power in the land.
The once great Elvan city of Muervana had long been abandoned by the forces from the capital. The elves that remained there tried to allow the humans in at first, to give them refuge, but the numbers kept growing. Pushed up from their underground caverns, the dwarves who had lived beneath Muervana surfaced and sought refuge there themselves. Tensions arose and the threat of violence often became reality. Halflings and gnomes, often weaker than the marauding goblinoids, were driven from homelands to wander helplessly. Some found themselves at the growing refuge city of Muervana. Just as a crisis was developing, the Pilgrim arived at the shores of Arelas near Muervana. His message of peace resonated especially in the refuge city. Eventually, in 101, the Treaty of the Six Races was signed by representatives of all five, plus the growing number of half-elves that were born in the mingling of humans and elves. The city of Hexaville was born out of the ashes of Muervana, with an ancient Elvan king as its liege, but whose rule was tempered by a Parliament made up of all six races. In order to maintain harmony, citizens of the new city-state were granted individual rights beyond those available to most other nations, which led it become a leader in innovation, trade and thought, eventually becoming the dominant force in Kruke.
West of Kruke from Amiia to Mycenea, various small kingdoms started to form. Most of these were no more than a warlord claiming control over a parcel of land. With time, some of these warlords gained legitimacy and started genuine dynasties, Bronwend being a prime example.
In the lands of the south, a great continent known as Lasrai whose lands are mostly deserts and tropical jungles, a new faith was born in 202. Rejecting the notion that the gods were multiple, this new belief said there was only God, Ig’Timai, the law or social order. The nomadic tribes of Masheem and Qa’ash came together under this new law and began to conquer Lasrai and the Mu’udama (the heathens who worship many gods), forming a single community ruled by the law known as the Igimn. Only a few places remained free of the all-conquering Igimn. Polyu was saved by the might of the Polei. In time, they drove out the Mysticians and nature-worshippers of Lasrai and invaded Morean Isle in 301. The Sword Templers, seeking to defend their faith and their lands, led a war to reclaim Morean Isle. They formed a great army to drive out the Igimn from Morean Isle, working with the great wizards of Morean. They were successful in driving them off, but the result left the city-state of Morean in the hands of powerful mages instead of the early form of direct democracy originally handed down to them from their Chresen ancestors. The resulting power struggle led to a great war in Morean known as the Mayopolam, the War of the Mages. The Red Circle, the eventual winners of that war, became the rulers of Morean.
The tense nature of the borders between the Igimn and the Mysticians led to power vacuums. In some cases, it left evil powers to take over the lands. The ancient kingdom of Zythaous, located in the middle of Morean Isle and trapped between the Igimn in Tash and Mysticians of Morean, fell into the trap of an evil force in 502. By 550, the last king of Zythaous had been killed and the land fell into despair. As of 935, it is still inhabited mostly by agents of evil and their undead offshoot. Along the northern shores of Lasrai, some of the ancient human kingdoms there fell under the influence of great evil. Minoas, the capital of Bar-Shethba, the oldest human settlement known, fell under the power of a cultists of Sises and their yuan-ti allies. A native resistance, made up of followers of Ig’Timai, fights to free their ancient city, but they are small. Even the Polei could not stop this growth, occupied as they were with the Igimn at their doorstep. An eastern branch of Polyu, the land where the Pilgrim is said to have first appeared on the prime material, fell into the hands of evil priests. This great fortress of evil, which became known as The Dark Hall, housed believers of competing foul faiths. The woods surrounding their home were populated with great monsters, and became known by all as the Demonwood.
In the lands of Mycenea and Nornuta, the people began to convert to Mysticianism starting around 400. In particular, Horn (known to them as Thern) was a favorite. Far to the west of Kruke are a series of islands known as the Donovan islands. Isolated as they are from the rest of the lands, those islands were the last home of the druids. In 505, Dorasasinians led an invasion of the islands. Inspired by the victory over the Igimn, many Mysticians sought to drive out the last home of the heathen. They settled the north and south of the largest island, settling the kingdom known as Connia.
The city-state of Rossan, long a rival to Hexaville in influence and power on the peninsula of Kruke, often thought of the kingdom of Alta as their's. In 838, an assassin from Rossan managed to murder the heirless king. In the ensuing fight, the nation was broken asunder and became a collection of small fiefdoms. With no legitimate king on the throne, none of the various factions were strong enough to claim the throne.
In Hexaville, the young prince, Septien Elfmage, spent his youth dabbling in underground activities, actually running with a local thieves guild. There, he befriended two thieves, the human Diablo Lashanson and the elf Sonia. That friendship would end up coming back on all three.
In 919, King Yanzo of Rossan was overthrown by his own mages, who formed a ruling council of their own, called the Circle of Mages. Diablo was a member of that group, a mage in his own right, unknown to his friends. Sonia met and fell in love with a warrior from Elvana known as Thor Els, from the powerful Els family of Elvana.
In 921, the Rossanites invaded Alta. This sparked a war. With the aid of Diablo's charisma and intelligence in diplomacy, as well as his personal strength, Rossan managed to find and hire allies among the orcs, beholders and evil dragons. It was only when they over-reached their armies, and drew in a coalition of forces from all over Arelas, that they were thrown back, in 925. Diablo fled Rossan for parts unknown, and he's walked the world a free man since.
In that war, known as the Kruke War, many heroes were made. Thor Els led the fight to drive the evil back, along with his friends Sonia, the warrior and blacksmith's son Koba Lordsman and the mage Marcel. After the war ended, a prophecy was discovered which revealed that Koba was in fact the long-lost heir to the throne of Alta and the kingdom was reformed. Thor married his love Sonia and they moved to Hexaville, as their union would have been frowned upon in the class-concious society of Elvana. Diablo had killed their first son. Marcel, having betrayed his friends at the end of the war, fled Arelas for lands and planes unknown, never to be heard from again.
The decade since the end of the War has been one of relative peace. Trade has returned to the Civilised Region. Many have looked for Diablo, to bring him to justice for his actions, most of all Thor Els, seeking retribution for his son's death.
Beneath Hexaville, remnants of the tunnels once carved out by the dwarves still exist. Known colloquially as the Hexan Sewers, these tunnels are filled with nasties of the worst kind. The old thieves guild had carved out a corner of these caverns for their own use, but they were eventually ratted out. Over the centuries, magicians and priests serving the good people of the City of Six have sealed off any and all entrances to the Sewers they've discovered, so that people may enter the doorways from the outside but they may never be opened from beneath the ground. Entering the Sewers unbidden is a grave crime.
After the Kruke War ended, many of the non-human races in the world, especially the Elvans, grew weary of their associations with humans. The arrival of the Pilgrim on the shores of Arelas had touched so many that all races were drawn together and some of the old enmities broke down. Over time, some of those natural divisions returned, but many non-humans embraced the Mystic Circle as their pantheon, and these connections helped cross those divides. In particular, Elvana and Hexaville, with historical and racial connections between them, became close allies.
The devastation of the War broke those ties, however. Many non-humans blamed their association with the humans and 'their' gods. A movement began among the younger generations of gnomes, hill dwarves and elves to rediscover the gods they once knew. Along with this, some of those nations and people withdrew from human contact. Always restrictive, Elvana, as the strongest of the non-human nations, became closed to nearly all outsiders. This retreat from human society, human trade and ‘human’ gods is known as the Keshasai, or return, among the elves.

Full size version of the continental map – very big file

Link to Gameworld Encyclopedia

Link to Gameworld Timeline

Link to the Nine Scrolls of the Titan Gulnaqsh, the holy text of the Mysticians. It is a work in progress and may be edited.

Gods of Arelas. This is more detailed introduction to the religions than the text box above. It is a work in progress and may be edited.

The nations of Morean Island. A work in progress.