Lore24 - The Sovereignty - The Borgondian Marklands

A wide landscape of heaths and moors, of plains and pastures, of shifting dunes and shimmering streams, bounded by the Echor Mountains to the west, the Winter Sea to the east and low hills to the south, the Marklands of Borgondia stretch before you.

The Sovereignty loosely governs these lands from the city of Antissa, but most of the Marklands are effectively held by anarchic barbarian tribes, hailing from across the Echor Mountains. These semi-autonomous towns, mottes and forts are catalogued as "Marks" by the scribes of the margrave of Antissa. Here, the tribes are allowed to hold on to their strange traditions while paying lip service to the margrave in Antissa and the King of Kings far away in Aurora. 

The true threat to the Borgondian Mark comes from the Barren Lands to the north, where the ancient wizard Keth rules a domain of darkness, served by an increasing number of orc tribes. This is the true purpose of the arrangement between the Sovereignty and the Borgondian tribes: defense against Keth and his evil hordes.

Recently, trouble has also been brewing from the west. Orcs have come over the mountains to the west and have started preying on the elves of Silvanor forest and the Borgondian patrols. The southern Marklands have been overrun by giants boiling out from the Echors, driving refugees north to the other Marks and east towards Antissa. The margrave of Antissa has been reluctant to assist these refugees or even defend the borders of the Marklands, increasing the tension between the Borgondian tribes and the Sovereignty.

Lore24 - The Sovereignty - Magic of the Land

Eldritch power flows through the very lands of Aedes. In places where nature is strong, wizards can harness magical energy to cast mighty spells and rituals. According to these arcanists, the force of magic is the very lifeblood of Aedes, causing plants to grow, animals to procreate, even humanity to give birth to new generations. The force of magic is the force of creation itself.

Heresy, says the Ecclesiarchical Church of Phaeton. There is only one source of life, and that is the light of Phaeton, the Sun's holy radiance. According to the Church, humankind is destined to tame the land, not live in awe of it. To slay the monsters spawned by arcane forces, not try to understand them. As such, wizardry is regarded with suspicion in Aurora and the Hartlands. 

The origin of this suspicion may lie in the very first chapters of the Holy Codex. According to the Codex, Phaeton shaped the world of Aedes out of the corpse of the Mother of Monsters. According to Church theologians, the magic of the land is the emanation of the remains of the Mother of Monsters, while Phaeton's light seeks to tame it.

Whatever myth or legend tells us, the effects of magic are real, as are the influences of human civilization on the land's power. The further one is from civilization, the stronger the spells a wizard is able to cast. Conversely, a mage's power is weakened the larger the human population is around him. Is this perhaps the effect of the ancient struggle between Phaeton and the Mother of Monsters? Only the very wise deign to know the answer.

Notably, only human and dwarven civilization impacts the power that flows through the land. The elves of Aedes, having a greater understanding of the land and magic, know how to live and build in harmony with nature. Their cities leave the flow of magic unimpeded.

OSR

In old school game rules, this impacts the maximum level of spells arcane magic-users are able to cast. 

Plains/Desert/Hills:                      level 3
Forest/Mountain/Water:               level 4
Swamp/Marsh:                             level 6
Heavy Forest/High Mountains:    level 8

Light Cultivation:    -2
Heavy Cultivation:  -4
Large City:              -6

Cortex

For Cortex Prime, the power of the land manifests as a die added to the wizard's dice pool, as follows:

Plains/Desert/Hills:                      d6
Forest/Mountain/Water:               d8
Swamp/Marsh:                             d10
Heavy Forest/High Mountains:    d12

Light Cultivation:    1 step down
Heavy Cultivation:  2 steps down
Large City:              3 steps down

Eldritch Locations

Now, there are places on Aedes where arcane power flows more potently even than in ancient glades or between stark mountain crags. In these eldritch locations, arcane power is one level higher than in even the most mysterious forests and mountains (level 9 in OSR games, d12 for Cortex Prime). These locations are veritable wellsprings of magic and life, and are very rare and often tied to ancient secrets tied to either Phaeton or the Mother of Monsters.

Lore24 - The Sovereignty - The Wildlands

Even though the Church of Phaeton claims it as truth, the world of Aedes does not end at the Echor Mountains. The great stone wall that surrounds the lands claimed by the angel is immense, and scholars disagree about its nature, but the world continues beyond them.

West of the Echors, wild and strange lands are to be found. It is from these lands that the barbarian tribes now inhabiting the Borgondian Mark and the Barren Lands to the north hail. Their ancestors, like all humankind, fled the Lost Lands in the Exodus and gathered in Aurora. But from there, they struck out across the lands of what today is the Sovereignty, over the Echor Mountains, and beyond. In these western hinterlands, legends told by the Borgondians claim that great beasts stalk the land, immense natural forces shape the land and humans live in humility of the wonders of the environment.

The barbarians were changed by these factors. Where in the Sovereignty, mysticism is frowned upon, and deference to authority is king, the Wildlands breed folk steeped in superstition and fiercely independent. In the legends of the Borgondians, the great beasts of the Wildlands are the founders of their tribes and their clanchiefs claim direct descent from creatures like Brother Bear, Dire Wolf and Mountain Lion. But great and terrible lizards also dwell in these wild, western lands, as do woolly and enormous elephants.

The Borgondian seers tell of great and pure mystical power coursing through these lands, which they suggest is the life-giving energy of these beasts and the clans they allegedly fathered. There is truth to these stories, as the seers have a known record of reading signs and omens, and have magical healing powers on the same level as acolytes of the Church.

The stories are a few decades old, however. Three generations ago, the tribes that now live in the shadow of the Sovereignty fled the Wildlands as dark and terrible forces made conflict with the ancestral beasts, and the mystical power of the land was corrupted. None know the cause of this darkening. The Borgondian seers claim immorality and the loss of the ancestral ways is to blame. Scholars of the Sovereignty claim ecological factors. Whatever the case, the Wildlands remain just that: wild, unexplored, and their former sons and daughters now seek refuge in the light of crowns and Golden Throne.

Lore24 - The Sovereignty - The Echor Mountains

When the first human tribes came to these western lands, they mostly settled on the eastern shores, in and around the City of Dawn in what we today call The Hartlands. But some ranged further afield. And like earlier elven ezplorers, the human settlers also reached the mountains at the end of the world, the Echors.

It is said that the Echor Mountains encircle all lands fit for human habitation and civilization. According to the Codex, the most holy of texts of the Church of Phaeton, it was Phaeton Himself that raised these slopes from the bones of Aedes, to set the boundaries of his protection. Within the lands and seas encompassed by the Echors, humanity is subject to Phaeton's aegis, and His divine influence shields the Sovereignty from demonic incursions and unholy threats. Outside of the Echor Mountains, humanity is fated to survive amongst the elements.

No human has ever explored even the near side of all the ringing mountains. Only the eastern edges that form the western borders of the Sovereignty have been charted. But both scholars and wizards alike maintain that the Echors indeed encompass a large mass of land and sea.

The Echors on the western borders of the Sovereignty are of further interest, as beneath the mountain range lie the ancestral halls of dwarvenkind. The great city of Irongard is hewn out of the very core of the western Echor Mountains and their creation myth tells us that their Maker created the dwarves in these very halls.

Lore24 - The Sovereignty - Exodus

According to knowledgeable sages, humanity has had a presence in the lands that would become the Sovereignty even before the mass immigration called "the Exodus" took place. Forlorn ruins and excavated tribal remains testify to that notion. But the biggest proof was the presence of the City of Dawn, Aurora, itself.

Before the Exodus, humans were native to the eastern, paradisical, lands, whose original designation have been lost to time and catastrophe. In this paradise, they were shepherded and tutored by the High Elves of that land. The human tribes learned language, culture, invention and even magic from the elves. In time, the inventive folk of humankind struck out on their own, beyond the shores of paradise, to lands over the horizon. It was a clan of these enterprising humans that founded Aurora as the first human city, a colony in the western lands. 

When magical cataclysm befell the eastern paradisical lands, causing them to become "the Lost Lands", humans of all stripe and color, as well as remaining elves, fled westward to these shores. And while most of the elves settled on the island of Lendor, humanity fled to the bastions of Aurora. From there, groups of like-minded humans struck out into the wilderness, to take land, cultivate food and rebuild civilization. Peoples of all ethnicities flocked together, causing the new cultures of the Sovereignty to become a mix of different clans and populations. Intermarriage between clans and, later on, kingdoms, became common, meaning that the Sovereignty is a true melting pot of creeds and colors. 

What caused the cataclysm is a topic of debate among the wise. Some say it was ecological collapse, a freak natural accident that destroyed the life-giving properties of paradise. Others, more suspicious, say the High Elves cast humanity out, out of fear of their pupils surpassing them in magic and invention. A select few point to the current happenings in the lands of the Sovereignty, the rise of Beastmen and monsters, and say that the Mother of Monsters herself rose up against elves and humans. And other select sages suggest it was all the work of magical experiments of epic proportions - rains of colorless fire, devastating invocations - gone awry.

Whatever the cause, the catastrophe was sudden, the ruin utter. The eastern continent became uninhabitable for both elves and humans. And thus, the Exodus.

Lore24 - The Sovereignty - Creation Myths

For my second entry for Lore24, I will delve into the various myths and legends circulating in the lands of the Sovereignty of how the world, Aedes, was created. It seemed fitting to provide creation myths at the beginning of this project. Furthermore, the central idea for the world of Aedes and the lands of the Sovereignty emerged as I was considering what fantasy I could base on the classic Chaoskampf, specifically the Babylonian creation myth of Marduk and Tiamat. For those well versed in ancient Mesopotamian myths, the following legends may seem familiar.

Ecclesiarchic Church of Phaeton

IN THE BEGINNING - the most holy book of Phaeton, the Codex, claims - there was only Chaos. And Chaos was Darkness. In that Darkness came Phaeton, Angel of Light, Bringer of Civilization, Teacher of Laws and Invention. Phaeton cleaved the Mother of Monsters that was Chaos and brought Light into the Darkness. He planted his spear in the corpse of the Mother of Monsters, and the sun rose for the first time. Phaeton appeared before the leaders of Humankind, who had suffered in the darkness, amidst the monsters born of Chaos, and promised them a a golden land to the west, beyond the blighted shores of the Lost Lands. There, He laid the foundations for the Golden Throne, amidst what would become the City of Dawn, and he chose Claudus, Anaxandron, King of Kings, the most noble Human, to sit upon it. A task was given: "Tame this land and multiply, all that is touched by Light, is yours to reign over." 

Tribal Tradition

FROM THE ELEMENTS AROSE THE ANIMA, Masters of Nature, They who ordered Aedes. And when the Anima had given order and rythm and fate to the world, they fathered children: Dire Wolf, Brother Bear, Mountain Lion and many others. From these children, the Human Clans were born. In our ancestral lands, we lived in harmony and freedom amongst the Anima. We trusted Them, our vigor, our fate. There is no higher purpose than to live in peace and balance with the Anima, to take care of the world and give Aedes unto a new generation in a cycle that never ends.

Dwarves of Irongard

DEEP BENEATH THE EARTH, the Maker, He who first forged this mortal abode from darkness, took soulless rocks and breathed fire into them. Massive statues, Titans, misformed pieces of mountain and hill, were thus birthed onto the world. Deeming them failures, and not satisfied with his work, the Maker cast the Titans back into the Heartforge and, with fireproof hands, kneaded and molded the molten forms into new shapes. Thus was Giantkin created. But they, also, were deemed impure. The Maker reached for finer tools, smaller ingredients, and out of the heart of the mountains, He forged Trolls. But, having spent much of His energy, the Maker breathed too little fire in them and at the first touch of sunlight, these Trolls turned back to stone. Rest, though, would only come to the Maker when his creations would be perfect. He reached for smaller but more pure quantities of rock and earth, breathed wind and fire in them, and watched proudly as the Fathers of Dwarvenkind drew their first breaths in the Heartforge under Irongard.

Elves

BEFORE TIME BEGAN, the children of the stars, the Eldar, came to what would become the world, amidst Darkness, Wild and Chaotic. Amidst these elemental forces, and creatures of darkness, the Eldar were prey, vulnerable. The wisest of the Eldar called to their ancestors and from beyond the Darkness, the stars lighted up. In constellations they took form, shapes akin to gods with names such as Corellon, Melora, Sehanine and Lendor. But also more sinister aspects: Lolth, Asmodeus. These Old Gods kneaded the elements and forged the world of Aedes from the Darkness of Chaos. Under the starlit heavens, the descendents of the Eldar, now called Elves, made their home in beautiful forests, on stark coasts and upon silver oceans. As shepherds, the Elves sailed the seas of Aedes, finding and teaching many lesser peoples.

Lore24 - The Sovereignty - Laying the groundwork

Ever since commencing play in our current 5E-campaign, DM-ADD has tugged on me to create and explore other worlds. Settings such as the Westerrealm and the comedic Burgundy were results of that urge, as was the brief reexamination of Greyhawk.

This spring, I decided to pool all world-building efforts into a reimagining of the homebrew world our group has been exploring for the past 13 years, and enrich it with all that has come before and since (both homebrew and official). In doing so, I hope to create a mix that speaks exactly to my (and my group's!) tastes. Pulling from published sources as well as the rich history of our own homebrew games, I strive to concoct the perfect homebrew.

I will be creating / fleshing out this setting taking part in the Lore24 challenge, launched by Yora of Spriggan's Den. Every day in 2024, a new part of setting lore will be published on this blog. This can be a kingdom, an item, an NPC or a small bit of background. Today, I present Lore 24: The Sovereignty.

The Sovereignty (Basileia)

The Sovereignty is the name by which is referred to all civilized human dominions. A millennium ago, humanity fled the fallen lands to the east to settle on this wild continent. Fanning out from the ancient city of Aurora, on the continent's eastern shore, humanity quickly spread to all corners of the land this side of the great mountain chains that divide this continent. And while the humans that travelled across the mountains fell into strange and barbaric ways, on the eastern side of the mountains great kingdoms were established.

In the beginning, these kingdoms all strove to be independent or in control of one another. But in the first century after the Exodus, it became clear that there was one dominant power in the land: the Golden Throne of Aurora, from which ruled it's divinely appointed Sovereign. And so, all lands east of the mountain chains became known as The Sovereignty, or Basileia in the native tongue of Aurora. The Golden Throne mostly retains power and influence through the application of soft power, religious influence and cultural significance, and money - large sums of money. 

The subject kingdoms and principalities of The Sovereignty, with names such as Navaroigne, Lotharingen and Thule, all have early medieval trappings and technology. Religion in the Sovereignty is a monotheistic state church, dedicated to the worship of a living angel named Phaeton. Civil wars are frequent but of low intensity. Sovereigns are formally elected but de facto frequently members of the same influential dynasty. Dynastic upheaval does occur, however, the latest being a decade ago with the ascension of Sovereign Rauxes Anaxandros, King of Kings, to the Golden Throne.

The Sovereignty is intended to be a setting full of intrigue, adventure, mystery, ruins and unexplored wilderness. PCs are challenged to carve out their own domain, principality, perhaps even kingdom, out of the rivaling kingdoms of the Sovereignty - perhaps even staging an attempt at the Golden Throne itself. 

Inspiration

The Sovereignty is partly inspired by the early Byzantine Empire, a mysterious yet powerful state in early medieval Europe. Hence the monotheistic state church and application of soft power. The look and feel of soldiers of the Sovereignty will be largely influenced by the Easterlings of Peter Jackson's film adaptation of Lord of the Rings. Phaeton's church will be both reminiscent of the most corrupt depictions of the Catholic Church in various media sources, as well as of the manner in which faith is depicted in media such as The Last Kingdom  - as a source of power and hope.

RPG-wise, major influences are both early Greyhawk and the Birthright setting (the latter for reasons that will become apparant in subsequent posts). 

All in all, I seek to invoke a Tolkienesque flavour, but with a twist (such as taking the Byzantine Empire as the cultural analog to the main political power on the continent). 

I look forward to developing this setting in the coming year.