Ten Things You Must Know

These ten things serve as an introduction to key points of the Spirits of Eden Campaign Setting for both curious DMs and more importantly, new players. It serves as a primer to the themes, locations and cultures of the setting.

1. There was a world before this one:

The New World began with the Cataclysm. The civilizations of the Pre-World were lost. All that remains of them are ruins, befouled tunnels and blasphemous temples in forgotten or dreaded places. Somehow or another, the people of the Pre-World brought the wrath of creation upon themselves and were almost completely erased. The skies shattered, the sea swallowed ground, the earth split, twisted and melted into different forms.

After the Cataclysm time wound back entirely. Mortals crawled out from beneath the rubble dazed and primitive, but renewed. 1175 years after the Cataclysm, the current world of Eden has only a single, massive continent and a few islands visible in its vast ocean. It is a beautiful new world, a world still mostly rural and the colors of nature, but dotted with  glorious civilization and monuments uniquely its own. Geographically and atmospherically bizarre, with frozen mountains to the north, southern deserts, central tropical areas, a spiraling river, a central mountain range, a deep underground, all surrounded by sea, Adel is a result of a great catastrophe, and can no longer function as nature intends it should.

2. Humanity is at its twilight:

Mankind had great empires before the current era. Humans lost all they had, including most of their race, to whatever forces saw fit to punish them. Now they are extremely rare. There might perhaps be one or two in a crowd of thousands. The crowd would instead be composed of people of very familiar anatomy, with the distinct touch of a new world.

This crowd is formed of a new mankind: the fox-eared and tailed Iomadi, most populous of the new humans; the indigo-skinned Athirua with their otherworldly, unmatched beauty; the dark-skinned, aquatic Damakran merfolk who take after sharks; the alien Dromidae all of whom seem identical, save the twists of their antennae; the Cuporo, short, curious people of the earth and flora; and many others.

3. Divine powers large and small wander the world:

When the Cataclysm struck and the world was left bleeding, its blood gave birth to a new paradigm. Spirits of numerous forms and varied divine power are now common to the world as animals are, all born from the wild magic unleashed by the cataclysm, and all tasked with regulating it. One might look through a village to see a person with feathers interspersed in its hair, pale skin and gold eyes, wings coming out the ends of its arms, yet dressed and behaving like a mortal – one would be looking at a God, perhaps capricious, perhaps honorable, perhaps naive and child-like, but a God in the flesh nonetheless.

The Spirits were created from the worldly Essence shaken from World due to the Cataclysm. Essence now permeates all. Spirits are created entirely of this Essence. They first came to be in order to repair the world after the Cataclysm. They performed this task, and now the Spirits join the cycles of nature as mortals do, some with sentience, some with beast-like instinct, some in peace, some with intelligent, cold brutality. Spirits take power from the worship and admiration of mortals, and there are spirits for every element, every natural process and every concept a mortal might conceive of. They exist in part because mortals conceive of them and such conception gives them their various shapes.

The most civilized spirits are humanoid, unable to be told apart from a person except for a few details – perhaps stalks of wheat growing the hair, or a mass of tentacles in place of feet, or a pair of wings instead of arms. Many more are like animals or beasts. Any form is possible for a Spirit. Mortals hold a mixture of emotion for Spirits, ranging from great devotion, grudging respect, enamored admiration, stunned reverence, mortal fear.

Spirits help in the functioning of a world otherwise in great crisis. The presence of Spirits keeps the world alive, taking the burden of natural processes and natural magic off the fragile heart of nature. Adel’s cultures, recognizing the power and importance of Spirits, are liberally polytheistic. Many concepts are worshiped all at once – rural people might worship sky spirits, rain spirits, spirits of the seasons or of agriculture, their local guardian spirit, and many more. Of these Spirits, Nine are the greatest, but all are worshiped.

4. There are seven great nations:

Adel’s history has been a war-torn one. Beginning with three large war-like cultures, Adel came to ultimately be ruled by the Aptoan Iomadi, whose empire stretched across the continent. Their absolute rule would then be challenged in a war lasting hundreds of years. The Intolerable War would split the world into the Seven Nations now maintaining stability and giving protection and prosperity to the people of Adel.

Andaliel is said to be the wealthiest nation. Founded by a bold revolution in the very heartland of the Aptoas Empire in the northernmost reaches of Adel, Andaliel is a democratic nation, where the whole of the land votes for its rulers. Their hearts are so invested in this system, that their Nation has become embodied in a Spirit that resides in their capital, able to count all the votes merely by feeling, and announcing the outcomes of every election. It is a mostly rural nation with strong agriculture and trade, rich in natural resources. Its few large cities are romanticized as hubs of innovation, education, trend-setting and opportunity. Andaliel sees many visitors and exports a lot of culture.

Emderuer is the remainder of the Aptoas Empire, west of Andaliel, an old-style monarchy that honors tradition, personal responsibility and chivalrous honor. Its forests hold many spiritual sites from the old Empire. Though not the richest nation, it is one of the proudest, and despite their history with them, are great allies of Andaliel.

Sargasso in the central west, along the coast, is a tropical nation ruled by a theocratic monarchy. Their own history of inner turmoil and political struggle has been put aside, and they are now a prosperous and powerful nation, with their peace kept by a cadre of powerful, revered inquisitor-nuns known as the Seraphim. The Sargassans control much of the river and ocean trade along western Adel and their people are seen as the most pious and superstitious of the Adelians. Their grand religious festivals and their vast collections of religious lore make them a sight to see for believers from all over Adel.

Periterim in the central east, along the coast, is a tropical nation ruled by an Oligarchy of business-related interests. Periterim is the freest market in the world, and it is said that anything there can be bought and sold, or held privately. There is a marked difference between haves and have-nots, but everyone believes they can rise, and there is plenty of work to go around. Pereterim are the staunch rivals of Sargasso and control the river and ocean trade along eastern Adel. A land of opportunity, it is said, but also a land of greed and luck of the draw, Periterim is a wealthy, urban, and adventurous nation and people.

Noshiki in the central mountains is a mining and exporting nation ruled by the Dwarven Mithral Throne. It is a conservative, honor-bound society where respect and tradition are valued above all else, and strictly adhered to. Flippant new modes of thought are looked at skeptically, and the dwarves in the mountain strive to keep alive traditional values. The Mithral Throne is wealthy and powerful, as are those in its lands, due to the abundance of rare ores in their mountains, which they happily supply to all other nations at a price.

Vedaria is the desert nation to the southwest, hungry for wealth and expansion, and quickly rising in power. Vedaria is a totalitarian nation ruled by the Vizier. Once the position of the strongest warlord, the title was usurped by a young, beautiful Andalian socialite and intellectual (and now traitor) named Magdalena Keehl through an improbable coup de tat. Her rise is a complete mystery, but her guidance has made Vedaria more powerful, united and regulated than it ever has been. It is said now that only Andaliel, its polar opposite, can rival its strength. The people of Vedaria, despite lacking some freedoms, are proud of their prosperity and strength in the harsh desert. They are used to an unforgiving food chain of life and see those outside it as weaklings.

Selvage is the jungle nation adjacent to Vedaria, and always the target of its aggressions. Selvage is merely the place no one else wanted – a dangerous, vast jungle rich in resources but also in undiscovered terrors. Unknowing natives reside within the vast jungles, hardy from constant predation by horrifying beasts. Strange spirits, some of which are certifiably insane, harry passersby and spirit away mortals to die. Vedaria has now taken interest in Selvage, and constantly attacks and plunders it, claiming the unclaimed land as their own.

5. A sea of light with points of darkness:

Adel is a generally peaceful world. Nations protect their people and every village has a minor guardian spirit that helps them with certain spiritual and educational tasks. Though there is political tension and some skirmishes, a second Intolerable War is nowhere near close to happening. It is a good world to raise children in, to walk into the forests, to travel, to grow crops and raise cattle. It is not a sea of darkness with points of light.

This world holds much evil, however. Organized crime hides beneath the surface of urban places, ever tempting both the elite and the common. Evil or indifferent spirits roam the world, just as inscrutable but quite deadlier to mortals than their good cousins. Remnants of the Pre-World lurk hidden in corners of the map where few dare go, and those who do go to plunder treasure, knowledge, power, at times never to return from their voyages. Enemies human and not are out there – points of darkness in a sea of light. The Sorian Lizardfolk tribes who despoil and destroy what the Adelians worked to build; the xenophobic and machiavellian High Elves who pine for the world before the Cataclysm; the metallic, insect-like Angels that fall from the sky in chunks of the old world to turn cruel weaponry loose upon the Adelians; the corrupted Furies, once Seraphim that protected the innocent, and now pillagers and brutal murderers, striking from shadows.

6. A number of varied cultures:

Throughout the seven nations a variety of cultures, modes of dress, styles of art and ways of weaponry and magic exist, interact and mingle with one another to form a greater culture. All over the world, the rural lands are dotted with small agricultural villages of farm hands, foragers, fishermen and cattle herders who dress in robes tied with cloth belts, or cloth shirts and pants. The cities have their gentlemen in suits, vests and long pants, the ladies in extravagant (or extravagantly revealing) dresses, gambling or courting, seeking business or education or participating in some intrigue to test their so-called wit.

In the tropics and the heat, such as that of Periterim and Vedaria, robes and clothes become shorter, looser and lighter (except for the benighted gentlemen and ladies, always in need of the trappings of their stature), and the culture becomes faster, more emotional, passionate and bold – and in Sargasso, reverent. Each nation, each climate, each land has both predictable patterns and unique touches to its culture.

Travelers come and go, bringing these cultures all over the world. They bring the romances of wandering swordsmen from Andaliel and Emderuer, tales of bold thieves and dread pirates from Periterim, epics of the ancestors from Noshiki, the military dramas played out in Vedaria, the scripture known by the heart in Sargasso. Spirits themselves dress in unique ways and have their own strange culture and tales apart from those of the mortals.

7. Magic permeates the world and its people:

Whatever explanation Adelians choose for it, much of what they do is clearly a form of magic derived from some kind of faith or belief. The grit of great warriors, the faith of pious sages, the knowledge of legendary scholars, all can be advanced by tapping, sometimes inadvertently, into a pool of power shared by all equally, a pool of power from the breath of the old world. Such warriors defy gravity, such sages meditate to contact the root of creation itself, and such wizards unleash devastating arcane power.

Though not widespread, these powers are harnessed into technologies that, were they in greater quantity, could greatly change the world. Teleportation circles from ancient times are reactivated and connect a few major locales; powerful ritual magic with expensive components can be used to make wagons ride horseless, or conjure horses for them, even horses which fly. Arcano-physical and Arcano-chemical reactions are harnessed in the creation of uncommon machinery and weapons, from the common Shotwand pistol to the rare and powerful Arrowlance arcano-kinetic railgun, from powerful Golems that perform limited physical tasks, to the incredible Hoversails that can inhabit both ocean and sky.

8. There are worlds beyond the world:

Adel is situated on a planet half in shadow, a lone continent in an otherwise blue face. The shadows correspond to Septinum, the Hells Beneath All Creation – a massive place parts wasteland and inferno that seems to extend into a planar underworld of unknown scope, where devil princes and queens control kingdoms of dark spirits and lost souls. Around the Adelian planet, the many clouds of the Second Skies shelter the people, letting in light, regulating darkness, playing host to skybound spirits and keeping unwanted things from the void outside the world. This entity is known as the Crawling Chaos of the Forlorn Void, an interloper from beyond time and space. It is the vast darkness upon which hover a valiant sun and moon and numerous struggling stars. In this hungry space, the Dromidae race built an empire of flesh-crafted living cities that resist the encroachment of Chaos and protect the alien race from the harsh environment out of which they were first born.

9. The Old Gods are not completely gone:

The Last Cataclysm failed to completely wipe out all trace of the World Before. That which remains is small in part and seemingly detached from the rest, lost in deep jungles, in the midst of the desert, beneath high mountains. Yet, the ruins of the aberrant temples, massive unholy magic sites, ancient mechanisms of occult gear and unhallowed steel, have already given great insight into the World Before for Adel’s scholars. Many managed to document their findings before losing their minds.

The Old Gods were monsters who in turn fed a people’s monstrous appetite for ultimate freedom and power. The people of the Pre-World could kill others instantly with a touch or ray, summon or turn into incredibly powerful beings, speak words that would instantly create miracles or cause wishes to come true, bolster themselves from the weakest creatures into the most formidable warriors. This magic did not lead to prosperity. It instead led to the complete destruction of the Pre-World and its people.

But remnants of this foul power and its foul servants wait, in hiding, trying to reach out to Gods now long since gone from this reality. Cults, aberrant monsters and schemers, ancient weapons, and glorious servants, either sleep or bide their time, for when the stars become right, and they might try to reach their great old masters once again.

10. A world of legends, mythology, superstition:

Across Adel’s nations, villagers and scholars tell the tales of great valor, deadly evil, capricious and unknowable spirits, larger-than-life heroes and exploits honorable and not, that they themselves were told. Rumors of real life heroes and villains surface, fall, twist and meander from mind to mind. Many of these are tall tales – but separating those from the truth is even more difficult, for some of the tallest tales are the ones that are true.

Tales of flying on the backs of dragons to palaces in the sky, fighting the Queen of the Clouds for her prized golden bird; tales of expeditions into the depths of the hells to free one’s beloved from the clutches of some devil; stories of great sea beasts that can capsize ships with a sweep of their tails. All of these are true: except perhaps that the sea beast is really the size of a lithe woman, dressed in silk, and capable of sinking a ship with her voice and not her tail; that perhaps the Queen of the Clouds is in fact a dour king instead, who’s beautiful daughter was stolen for marriage to an earthly king, and there was no gold bird; that the depths of hell were in fact just an over-long tunnel leading down to a forgotten ruin of some aberrant God. In Adel, any of this could be quite true.

Children who grow up with these tales usually forget them. But a select few do remember, and aspire to be that great; or perhaps by accident, those who wished to forget these seemingly childish things are the ones first thrust into them.

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