Polesia

Polesia is a horror/dark fantasy-themed world setting used by the Idiots and Injuries Crew. It employs the Pathfinder RPG as its base framework and is modified by the Grim 'n Gritty combat rules, the House Rules Handbook's Spellpoint System, as well as a few well established house rules implemented by the Idiots and Injuries Crew.

Campaigns

Paradise City

Set in the provincial city of Lacaeta and following the adventures of local peace keepers Gruck (a half-orc fighter), Clooney (a nezumi psion), and Whisper (an elfling rogue). The group solves various mysteries and battles ancient terrors in the back alleys of the city, culminating with a raid on an undead crypt in which Whisper is killed and an ancient demi-lich named Mel-Ketek is released. The whole city is blanketed in Ethereal Mists and beset by dark nightmares and horrific monsters. Navigating this labyrinth of horror the group performs a foul rite to Shub-Nigurath that resurrects Whisper. Clooney is lost somewhere in the chaos but the group is joined by a mysterious dhampir named Lecroix who aids them as they seek out Mel-Ketek and battle the monstrosity. Their victory is not without cost however and Gruck gives his life blood to sanctify the area and keep the demi-lich dead. Whisper becomes an inhuman herald for Shub-Nigurath, and Lecroix eventually becomes a full vampire. Happy endings to all!

The Vault of Xyra Pt. 1

Beginning in the city of Xyra, this advanced-level campaign chronicled the adventures of the Paladin Sir Anthony Cronqvist, his companion, the mysterious Theurge Shinta, a teacher of the Xyra Magi Jack Anchors, and the battle-hardened dwarf mercenary Brekhan HeBrekhan.

Dead Hills

In the city of Angor Sven an ancient fallen star seems to flare to life unleashing a tide of aberrant life on the countryside. The quest began with the heroes Obrey Zerkin of the Angor Sven Zerkins (an elf sorcerer), Travor (a dwarf cleric of Kalaros), and Levitz (a human anarchist of Ramna). As they explore the mysteries of the countryside and try to find the source of the evil overwhelming the people they meet a mysterious woman from Asashiro named Ryume (an elan soulknife/elocater) as well as the unknown Grant Lorweaver (a city elf assassin of Ashtra). But just as they meet new allies, Obrey is ambushed and killed in the tunnels. The quest ended with the destruction of the star and the group vanishing mysteriously and reappearing on a deserted frozen mountainside.

World Asunder

A three part campaign in which different factions try to make their way in Antanides during a Great War between Avandor and Lattanera.

The firtst group will be part of the crusading armies of Avandor pushing south through the City States. Four officers of renown including the undercover angel Zeta, a human(?) bard, a dragonborn sorcerer, and an augmented rougue

The second group will include the fallen angel Ishtar, Maximus Archus a disgraced cavalier, Vitae (a dhampir cultist of Xamen Dor), and the mysterious assassin Tiberius. Hilarity ensues when they are forced to police the city of Lattanis and find their lack of moral character tested as they defend the city from crime, monsters, and conspiracy.

Lastly, in the city of Xyra, the human (Eshtoran) wizard Marlamin Gallantra, the half-orc sorcerer Shamar, an aasimar quing-gong monk, and a (human?) arcanamach. This group will be undertaking missions for the Shining City and trying to frustrate both the Avandori and Lattaneran advances through the City States.

With Great Power Pt. 1

A campaign of mythic proportions, taking place during the Great War between Lattanera and Avandor. Following the exploits of Borin the human Barbarian Champion, Mordechai the human (Belteshazzar) warrior Marshal, Decadus the aasimar oracle and hierophant, and a warforged paladin of the Rising Phoenix, as they face horrors and wonders beyond understanding, including the machinations of Haman, a lunatic with aspirations of becoming a god.

With Great Power Pt. 2

Details to come...

Historical Timeline

The Time Before Time: The Great Convulsion causes a vast release of arcane and divine energy from which arose the Primal Chaos, personified by the first of the Outer Gods, Azathoth, the Progenitor of Entropy and Destruction. The whole of the Cosmos seethed under Its sway until there came the Song of the Spheres and Azathoth settled into a dreamlike state. As a result the Primal Chaos abated and from the settling energies there arose another Outer God, Yog-Sothoth, the Progenitor of Time and Dimension, and there was change to endless static existence. Planets and stars were formed and (due to the entropic energies continuously released by Azathoth even in his sleep) destroyed. As time began to slowly pass, more of the leftover divine energy began to coalesce and from this was born the third Outer God, Shub-Niggurath, the Progenitor of Life and Struggle, and from the flowing energy released from dying stars, great clouds of gas, and minerals of the planets came the first forms of life.

-4,000,000,000 CA: Polesia is a harsh volcanic world on which modern life could not survive. Then another planetoid, Certa, crashes into Polesia and the resulting collision knocks Polesia to its present orbit around the sun. The two worlds are partially shattered but reform after several eons as Polesia and Lunara (the world and the moon). Due to new elements introduced by Certa and a slightly further orbit from the sun, Polesia begins to cool. Liquid water begins to form on its surface, and oxygen begins to permeate the atmosphere.

-1,000,000,000 CA: Polesia is a planet almost ready for life, but before Shub-Niggurath can seed it, something from the stars descend to explore this now blue planet. Creatures known remotely today only as the Elder Things start building colonies across Polesia, and begin experimenting on single celled organisms brought with them from their home world. From these they create the shoggoths and use these creatures as slaves. Despite employed control factors some of the single celled organisms escape and begin to adapt to the atmosphere and thrive on their own, becoming the forerunners of modern life. The shoggoths also evolve a primitive intelligence and in time rebel against their creators, soon bringing decimation on their colonies and stranding them on Polesia where they hide in scattered locations at the planet’s North Pole.

-530,000,000 CA: Shub-Niggurath passes close to Polesia and spores from Its body descend through the atmosphere into the oceans. These simple forms of life begin competing with each other and the single celled organisms brought by the Elder Things, triggering a competitive evolution that leads to multicellular life in the form of arthropods, fish, and eventually amphibians. Few Shoggoths remain on Polesia and even fewer Elder Things, who go into stasis, leaving room for these new forms of life to expand uncontested through the oceans and onto land.

-250,000,000 CA: Amphibians and arthropods claim vast territories on land which at this time is mostly swampy forests of enormous ferns. In time insects and reptiles come into being and move ever further from the water creating life that does not depend on the sea. The continents drift together to form the Omniterra, through which spreads massive deserts unmatched from that time to this.

-230,000,000 CA: A splinter group of reptiles begin developing the ability to manage their body temperature and start to grow hair, evolving to become the forerunners for future mammals, a few develop unique hipbones and can walk upright, becoming the first dinosaurs. The Elder Things are completely dormant and shoggoths roam only the remotest and most inhospitable parts of the world, leaving no intelligent life to guide the direction of these newly evolving marvels.

-150,000,000 CA: The Omniterra begins to drift apart creating the first seas and ending the vast deserts, the first true mammals begin to evolve and dinosaurs begin to dominate the earth alongside great reptiles that live in the sky and the sea.

-70,000,000 CA: For the first time plants achieve a simple intelligence and began to evolve into a sentient mobile race, forming primitive communities amongst the thriving jungles and even challenging the dinosaurs for supremacy. In time they evolved into a new and unique classification of creature that has not been seen on Polesia before or since. During the time the earth is visited yet again from the stars. Great Cthulhu and its children descend and build the Nightmare City of R’lyeh from there ruling the world and spreading great monstrosities into the oceans and even upon the continents. Some of the Elder Things awaken in response to this incursion but they are too few and too weak to stem the invasion, all but one single city is destroyed and that one returns to stasis.

-69,600,000 CA: Strange extra-dimensional creatures, known today as ethergaunts, start to invade the material plane, using Polesia as one of many beachheads. After a titanic struggle Cthulhu and its children violently cast them back into the void, but the creatures are not fully defeated, they simply return to regroup and attack at a more opportune time.

-68,000,000 CA: The stars shift ever so slightly, as the cosmic cycle ticks onward. Cthulhu and its star spawn, subject to this event, go into a hibernation-like state, preserved by powerful magic in the Nightmare City. They leave Polesia to the stewardship of their servants. The ulitharids are charged with the swampy coasts and lush jungles, and the aboleths with the oceans. Left to their own devices, both races begin a terrible war that lasts for centuries before being ended by a delicate truce. They take to the stars and establish colonies on other worlds, using slave armies of primitive off world humanoids to spread and invade countless worlds. In time they conquer most of the galaxy that had been dominated by the Great Old Ones. The only obstacles standing in their way at the time were the Great Race of Yith and the creatures known today only as the Mi-Go. These races formed a temporary alliance and halted illithid expansion and drove them back, yet even so a quarter of the galaxy stays under their dominion.

-66,000,000 CA: The Great Race of Yith, facing annihilation as a comet collides with their world transfer their minds into the primitive plant creatures that evolve amidst Polesia’s jungles. The illithids and aboleths are disturbed by this event but move too slowly to counter it. Striking their enemies at the heart of their empire, the Yithians nearly crippled the illithid forces on Polesia and drove the aboleths from the land. However the illithids were undone not from this attack but rather from within their own forces, for their main slave stock, the Gith, took the opportunity to rise against their masters, sparking a revolution across their empire. Beleaguered from three sides the illithids on Polesia fell back again and again, until the yithians were the dominant species. What became of the off world colonies is unknown, though it is likely that pockets of illithid life still exist out amongst the stars.

-65,000,000 CA: Another race descends upon Polesia from the stars. Known only as the flying polyps, these monstrous creatures fought both the illithids and the yithians for control and nearly annihilated both species until the yithians sealed them beneath the surface. It was merely a stalling tactic but it gave both the yithians and illithids enough time to escape the wrath of the polyps. By the time they emerged the Great Race had again migrated, this time far into Polesia’s future, and the illithids displaced their last city so that it was slightly out of sync with reality. The polyps spread quickly and became the lords of Polesia unopposed by any. However their reign is relatively short lived, when the asteroid containing the Obelisk crashes into the coast of what will become Shahar Khet, causing destruction for hundreds of miles and the death of countless plants and animals and killed off all but a few of the polyps who went underground. This event also killed off most of the creatures that the illithids or yithians did not place in stasis, dinosaurs for the most part went, as did most of the larger reptiles, leaving behind the mammals to take over.

-46,000,000 CA: The ethergaunts send a scouting force to see if conditions for their invasion are more favorable. Fearing an all-out attack from these powerful foes the veiled masters and ulitharids unite in hopes of discouraging them. The scout force however simply withdraws before them, not even fighting to cover their hasty exit. The elder brains are concerned about what this might mean, but for the time being the aboleths return to the sea and the illithids to their city.

-30,000,000 CA: Terror birds roam the vast grasslands and for a time they are the dominant predators while mammals continue to evolve and thrive in the vacuum left when the great reptiles went extinct. The first whales evolve from water dwelling mammals, birds evolve the ability to fly, and mammals on land start competing with the terror birds for dominance driving many varieties to extinction.

-10,000,000 CA: Aboleth mages excavate the Obelisk from where it became entombed at the bottom of the ocean and start experimenting with its regenerative powers. It is with the aid of this powerful artifact that some of their creations (such as cloakers, intelligent deep ones, boggards, and darkmantels) came into existence. However the aboleths were able to modify their creatures using their mental abilities, so that they were subservient to them and not the Obelisk. There were a few isolated incidents where aboleths themselves became enthralled by the Obelisks power, but these rare cases were quickly dealt with and the corruption was kept in check. It is from long buried aboleth writings from which all current information on the Obelisk originates.

-9,000,500 CA: A great tragedy (of which no records survive) occurs and the city in which the Obelisk is contained in disappears. While the aboleths seem to know the details, they will not speak of it to outsiders. The Obelisk for all intents and purposes appears to vanish.

-3,000,000 CA: A few of the surviving reptiles continue to evolve, several varieties gaining intelligence and become the forerunners of the serpent people and dragons. New mammals continue to arise, including one group of tree dwellers with opposable thumbs, the first primates. Dragons tap deeply into the core of the world and are transfigured into living engines of arcane power unmatched by any mortal creature before or since. The serpent folk in turn develop magical disciplines, much of which was learned through study of the natural forces, some of which was gleaned in ancient basalt carvings left by the yithians, and even a few tablets that survived the drowning of R’lyeh. The two races balanced each other, for while dragons were far more powerful individually, the serpent folk were more numerous and far more disciplined, and while there were terrible wars fought between the two they more or less left each other to their own devices.

-2,000,800 CA: Strange formless creatures known today only as arcanaplasms begin incursions into serpent-folk territory. For centuries the two races fight a bloody war that costs countless lives. Then just as unexpectedly as their arrival the arcanaplasms simply recede, attacking less often and on a smaller scale. The serpent-folk never discover their origins or where they seem to go, though some theorize that the creatures follow some unknown cycle or might have been driven up from the depths of the planet seeking more magic to feed on.

-2,000,000 CA: For the first time rudimentary sentience begins to form in mammals, fascinating the serpent folk who dissect many to see if this budding species might have potential to be a slave race. The world begins to cool and dragons start to hibernate, many of them not awakening for eons. Across the world mammals begin to cement their hold as the dominant animal class on Polesia, especially the hominid species which began to show rapid development to the astonishment of the serpent folk whose own evolution took nearly ten times as long. It was later theorized that this rapid evolution was a result of the serpent people’s experiments and interference. Despite this fact the serpent folk did little more than continue their studies, not seeing these species as anything that could threaten them as their civilization had reached its peak. For the next million years, they were correct in this assumption.

-1,500,000 CA: A serpent folk expedition uncovers the Obelisk, buried in the southern mountain range that will become the modern day Kalladian Islands off the coast of Shahar Khet. Like the aboleths they seek to use the power of the Obelisk and manage to repel its influence for a time. From it they learn much about the genetic structure of all living creatures. However unlike the aboleths their resistance to the Obelisk's call is short lived and within a century it manages to spark dissent amongst them. Ksshethesh, the city in which it is contained, is almost completely destroyed and its inhabitants are turned into necromorphs. The serpent folk nations raise Ksshethesh to the ground and their priests manage to counter the Obelisk's awesome power, quieting it for a time while they displace it back into the ocean.

-1,000,000 CA: The upright walking apes, now dubbed homo primus by modern historians or Dawn People, begin to develop communal bonds very similar to that of the serpent folk and many wild specimens without training or prompting from their saurian betters evolve primitive societies. Some of them were influenced by escaped specimens that interbred and jacked up their development several notches, introducing rudimentary art, language, and eventually spiritual awareness that sparked a competing civilization seemingly overnight in comparison to their predecessors. The serpent folk began to grow concerned seeing that these inferior apes were growing out of their control and some groups began eradication programs to stem their spread across Polesia (accept in the far north where the climate was fatal, leaving homo primus there undisturbed, though the very climate and predators there would test them in other ways). However, this eventually backfired and started pressuring the hominids to evolve all the faster and different species began to flourish.

-300,000 CA: Polesia’s climate continues to cool driving the serpent folk to migrate south, butting them right up against the hominid claimed territories. This sparked the first true conflict between the two species, one that went disastrously for the serpent folk. Homo primus adapted to the various environments they found themselves in. Also many wielded knowledge stolen from their former masters, and they outnumbered the serpent folk many times over. While their losses were catastrophic the species easily shirked such a blow and continued to multiply to the astonishment of the serpent folk.

-200,500 CA: The final stroke is dealt to the serpent folk as a species. The Dawn People begin showing further signs of development and civilization when they begin encountering each other and forging alliances that will linger for millennia to come. At this moment the various tribes are linked by the mutual threat, primitive as they are, and the serpent folk begin to fall more and more frequently than not. The climate also turns against the serpent folk and finally their species as a whole is broken, leaving few survivors who flee far from these hairless apes leaving them to develop without further interference.

-155,100 CA: The bonds between the Dawn People are lessened without a common threat to unite them and there is infighting amongst them driving them apart. Some of the Dawn People went into the then lush forests to the south and interbred with the feral homo erectus creating a new hybrid race known to scholars as homo sylvanus (these were the earliest forebears to elves), another group went to the mountains and after years of interbreeding became homo terra (the earliest form of modern dwarves). Yet another group went south and became homo sapiens(humans), and the Dawn People of the north developed into Neanderthals.

-75,000 CA: Homo sapiens spread out the most going as far south as modern day Asashiro and far into the north where they encounter Neanderthals and either interbreed with or displace them. During this time homo sylvanus arguably does the best, and create the first recognizable kingdoms bending great forests to their will and learn to call on the gods themselves for power.

-40,000 CA: Neanderthals not interbred with homo sapiens have been displaced to the most inhospitable parts of the world and as a result have been pushed to the edge of survival, forsaking much of their gained brainpower for physical power. This leads to a division amongst the variety which becomes the first forerunners to orcs, goblinoids, ogres and lesser giants (later interaction with developing homo sylvanus will bring trolls into being).

-13,000 CA: Elven civilization reaches its peak and they rule most of the known world, other races living in their territories are vassals or slaves. The elves mingle with otherworldly creatures called Sidhe that migrated from the dreamlands. A splinter group that later became the drow rebelled against the ruling families and were quickly banished to the deepest reaches of the world. At this time other fey creatures also migrated from the dreamlands and created the first sacred groves and awoke many new species of sentient plants most of which allied with the elves. Yet the success of the elven people carries with it the seeds of their decline, for after unlocking the secrets of longevity from their Sidhe allies they become less prolific and the other races begin to outnumber them.

-11,000 CA: Polesia’s ice age is over. Many of mega fauna species have died out, with a few remnants living in isolated pockets around the world. Humans, elves, and dwarves are recognizable to their modern counterparts and from diverse interbreeding and selective evolution gnomes and halflings have also developed. The savage races have also reached their modern equivalency and have changed little from that time to this. Serpent people still dwell in isolated communities, many have evolved into lizard folk and various other sentient reptilian races known today, but their ancient glory is only a legend and most dwell in squalor and barbarism.

-10,000 CA: For the first time humans found their own empire, far off the coast of the elven nations, on a great island they called Ghōl. Their Island was situated in a tropical gulf near modern day Thereus. In several centuries the lone city became a sprawling island empire which advanced rapidly due to the abundance of resources and their diplomatic relations with the nearby elves, who viewed them as inconsequential so long as they kept their ambitions to the islands. The Avaladh (as the natives of Ghōl were called) abided by their end of the treaty and left the elves to their own affairs and the two expand as rival empires nominally at peace.

-9,300 CA: The humans of Ghōl start to develop their own schools of magic, gradually leaving the archaic elven practices they had mimicked for centuries. The greatest of these practitioners quickly consolidate power and become the first sorcerer kings of Ghōl.

-9,000 CA: Belteshazar (the keeper of Secrets) is supplanted by Kakrimi (the Maker of Brilliance) who allows his rival’s kinsmen to live to secure his place in his people’s hearts as a merciful king. However, this mercy is not shown to Belteshazar himself, who his cut into four pieces and sacrificed to the earth, the sea, the sun, and the moon.

-8,700 CA: One of the ancient serpent folk priests, Vesshelkhal, awakens from a deep hibernation and rallies his race’s degenerate offspring to take back Polesia from these upstart races that had taken advantage of the previous ice age. Wielding forgotten magic from the time that elves and men hid in forests and caves, Vesshelkhal led a triumphant campaign through several elven nations, causing panic to spread throughout the civilized world. The elves pleaded with the Avaladh for assistance and the Island Empire was drawn into the war.

-8,600 CA: After their initial push, the newly invigorated serpent-folk pause and consolidate power along the tropical coastline and the islands within a certain vicinity, nearly separating the elves from their human allies on Ghōl but also forcing them to wage a war on two fronts. Neither side advances for decades, sparking a chain of elven insurrections, Avaladh blockades, and serpent-folk crusades. The human and elven leaders send overtures of peace to the serpent-folk and their descendants, but Vesshelkhal refuses them. With casualties becoming greater than they can bear the Avaladh start turning to more destructive magic, hoping to bring down their foes before it’s too late for their civilization to recover. They abandoned the elven druidic traditions and adopted newer ecclesiastical ethos that more closely resemble that of modern Lattaneran clerics. These new practices accompany a dark turn in the history of the Avaladh, as they turn to sinister masters from beneath the sea, the aboleths.

-8,500 CA: Ghōl, along with its aboleth allies, secures its borders against the serpent-folk incursions. The humans learn from their inhuman mentors deeper and darker secrets of magic that slowly change their very way of life. All but a few outlying colonies largely abandon the elves, the kings of Ghōl only sending token forces of disposable criminal elements within the Avaladh military. One such group is composed of anti-aboleth dissenters who recognized the corruptive influence that their alliance is having on their once-beloved empire. While exiled to the front lines, the mythic hero Kammen Thal-Ortho leads his band of underlings on glorious adventures and finally confronts and slays Vesshelkhal, ending serpent-folk tyranny once again. Within a decade he returns home at the head of what is now called the Dissident Army, along with many elven allies and lays siege to Ghōl, intent on wresting control from the now decadent nobles and their aboleth masters. The aboleths are not willing to engage the combined might of the Dissidents and the elves and retreat to the deeper oceans to consider how best to deal with this new turn of events. The king of Ghōl and his elites were not willing to cede their empire however, and when it became apparent that they could not win the war they decided it was better for all of Ghōl to die than fall into the hands of the Dissidents. To that end they called on the aboleths to help them one last time, and considering the nature of their requests the aboleths consented. As the Dissident Army marched triumphantly across the royal roadways of Ghōl the noble sorcerers and the aboleths sparked a massive ritual that swallowed Ghōl and many of the neighboring islands into the ocean drowning most of them and the Dissidents with them. The aboleths took advantage of the drowning Avaladh’s desperation and in return for their eternal servitude turned them into various aquatic races, the bulk of which still serve the aboleths to this day alongside the deep ones.

-7,800 CA: Humans establish another empire, this time they are dissidents and outlaws in the desert bordering the elven lands, called Shahar Khet. The growth of this nation is astounding, beyond anything the hominids have done before, within several centuries they displayed rapid advancement in architecture and arcanaology, erecting enormous monuments and pyramids to honor themselves and their sorcerer kings. This rapid rise is partly due to stolen knowledge from the elves and the Avaladh, but there is an even more sinister secret to their success. Delving into lore that the elves were wise enough to pass over, the sorcerer kings make the first metaphorical deal with the devil and start treating with the Great Old Ones. While this sparks their rapid development it also plunges the nation into sociological decadence as they gorge on unearned knowledge.

-7,000 CA: Sorcerers from Shahar Khet stumble on the Obelisk while raiding a long abandoned aboleth stronghold. The kings of Shahar Khet are convinced that this monolithic structure holds the secrets to immortality, little knowing that the Obelisk is (for the first time) influencing their weaker human minds. While they manage to prevent all out corruption, Shahar Khet does not do as well with the Obelisk as the aboleths or the serpentfolk, only managing to coax the secrets of lichdom from it after they manage to reverse its corrupt energies. This event destroys an entire city in a wave of negative energy turning all its inhabitants into ghouls and resurrecting Domhu Stross as one of Polesia’s first liches. Domhu Stross was responsible for making the first translations of the ancient aboleth texts relating to the Obelisk. After the destruction of the city the Obelisk was considered too dangerous and with the advancement of necromancy inconsequential. It was taken far away and buried in the foothills of the modern Kaladian Mountains, at the time a wild and unknown land. This causes a great civil war in Shahar Khet as Obelisk worshipers, called Disciples of the Fallen Star, try to “liberate” the Obelisk . Most are slain.

-6,600 CA: The first human cults of Cthulhu are formed and in time the last king of Shahar Khet, Pharizon XII contacts the extraplanar being Nyarlathotep who teaches him the secrets of Chaos Magic.

-6,300 CA: The people of Shahar Khet have a few glorious centuries during which they nearly decimate the nearby elven nations, breaking the race’s hold over Polesia in such a manner that even to this day the elves have not recovered fully. However in the Chaos Magic wielded by Pharizon begins to have noticeable and devastating effects across the empire. The king himself lost his ability to retain a fixed form and became the first chaos beast, and from him the affliction quickly spread as did other blights from his Chaos Magic, little more than a decade after these things began, Shahar Khet was no more than dust in the wind and crumbling necropolises, in which some the first human undead were the only inhabitants. One lich, named Mel-Ketekk leaves the devastation and travels the world finally ending up in what will be modern Lacaeta.

-6,250 CA: Humans that crossed ancient land bridges into Asashiro are visited by strange beings from the sky. These grey, tall, and inhuman creatures call themselves Kami and teach them how to farm, control the seasonal flooding, and the Celestial Teachings, a philosophy that first introduces chi. Around this time a huge portal opens in the middle of the Shrouded Mountains into Leng (a shadowy plane of madness and demonic creatures). In response the kami help the people to build enormous gates to wall off the disturbance. Seven Kami also “marry” seven women and from them come the seven clans that now make up the majority of the Okubo people. After a century of this the Blood of the Kami is spread throughout Asashiro and psionically gifted children start to become common. When this is accomplished the Kami ascend into heaven and are not seen again for millennia.

-6,000 CA: Other human civilizations rise in Antanides to replace the lost glories of Shahar Khet and Ghōl but none will compare for millennia to come. The dwarven Patriarch Kadazh the Great begins to unite the neighboring zarokhs of the modern Kalladian Mts. and builds the Underway. The modern races continue to trade or fight and civilizations rise and fall at rapid rates in comparison to those of non-hominids. Orcs and other savage humanoids breed like flies in the hostile northlands and humans continue an inevitable spread above ground while elves manage to hold some territory in the forests and dwarves spread below ground. Widespread myths and religions still around today are formed for the first time and many of the ancient secrets from previous non-hominid races are largely forgotten or diluted through the mists of time and replaced by these developing mythologies.

-3,000 CA: Humans create their third major empire, now based in martial power more than forgotten magic. This Pallishar Empire covered a good portion of modern Eshtora and while it was not nearly the largest it was probably one of the richest empires in human history. Dwarves expand the Kadazhem Empire belowground which now covers twice the distance of the Pallishar and the two nations frequently trade and squabble over territory. Gnomes and halflings go a different route, rather than building their own empires they move freely between the Pallishar and Kadazhem empires and the elven holdings and are frequently used as adjutant diplomats and go-betweens. Elves largely stay as they are and maintain their borders, trading with the two empires and maintain peace over a war that would likely mean their extinction.

-2,250 CA: An expedition from the Kadazhem Empire make their way north and encounter the Obelisk. Horrified by what they witness they seal all tunnels connected site, but this only safeguards the horrors from going below, not above.

-1,750 CA: The Pallishar Empire falls to the rapidly expanding Thesian Empire that in less than a century occupies three times their predecessors’ holdings. The Kadazhem Empire endures as it has for over a thousand years, though they cede some their territory to the Thesians creating a feud between the two that is not resolved for several centuries. Humans are almost uncontested in their dominance and rapidly approach what many think of as the golden age. In Asashiro the “Kami” return and teach certain smiths the secrets of forging steel and adamantine for the first time, which they use to create some of the greatest swords in the world.

-1,500 CA: The Thesian Empire falls due to centaur incursions from the north, lack of strong succession, and its rapid inflation. Their empire shrinks almost as quickly as it grew and soon the Thesians control little more than half their home peninsula and the surrounding islands.

-1,200 CA: The Kadazhem Empire also begins to decline as the dwarves are beset by dark denizens from further below. Drow and other horrors begin emerging from the depths, disturbed by the dwarves’ expansion, and much of the dwarves’ holdings are lost. Like the Avaladh before them the dwarves are infiltrated by another ancient power (this time by the mind flayers). These manipulations lead to a horrible civil war that cuts the Empire down to a third of its former size and many dwarves are taken into the deeper tunnels fated to become the duergar after centuries of slavery and psychic oppression. The empire is finally fractured and the dwarven people are divided into lesser states that are only shadows of their former glory.

-1,050 CA General Shinji Takaken spreads his rule across Asashiro and quickly subjugate the smaller continent. The secret steel is used to subdue those that stand in the way of the new emperor and soon the technique of its forging is spread across the land.

-800 CA: A group of druids battle the immense power of Mel-Ketekk. The ancient undead seems invincible as his power covers the land and causes his twisted dreams and the nightmares of others to manifest. Finally the druids call an avatar of Shub-Niggurath in desperation. Even then Mel-Ketekk is only weakened and set to slumber as a demi-lich. The druids as a cost of their summoning are all frozen into immense crystals and set to guard great arcane seals to bind the spirit of Mel-Ketekk. A small group of druids and wizards are left to ward the shrine of Mel-Ketekk.

-700 CA: The former shepherds of Lattanera form their first kingdoms and city states that compete for dominance in the region, creating a nation of warrior kings the likes of which have not been seen before or matched since. The fabled city Lattanis is formed and from there the legendary King Remelius begins uniting the warring states that will form the cornerstone for the Lattaneran Empire.

-600 CA: In Asashiro the Elan secret council is founded when certain monks and psions discover a way to awaken the power within their blood and become effectively immortal. They build the Library City of Aoka and from there spread across Polesia founding chapter houses and creating more Elans to help chronicle the histories of the world.

-509 CA: After a long line of tyrants, the Lattaneran King Vileus Septimius is murdered and the Kingdom is reorganized into a Republic to nominally give power to the people.

-500 CA: The Lattaneran Republic slowly but surely swallows the surrounding lands, wisely leaving them to their own devices and allowing them to keep their culture and beliefs if they will kneel freely to the Republic’s rule. Many nations gladly accept the terms and Lattanera’s conquests are bloodless more often than not. Even the dwarves and the elves fall under the Republic’s sway becoming great provinces, and the early Consuls wisely treat the rulers with great respect raising them to new positions that are almost equal to that of Senators or Governors.

-350 CA: Descendants of the surviving Fallen Star Disciples, locate the Obelisk after searching for thousands of years. Led by the lich lord, Enkiris, this group has come to believe that the Obelisk will help them transcend death in a process called “apotheosis.” Enkiris especially desires this because his current state disgusts him, as do the undead in general. Before they can fully unearth the Obelisk however a Lattaneran Procurator of Justice (or Justicar, aka paladin) named Lukien Val-Terris leads a group of heroes to slay most of the cult and disperse the rest. Before they do this, however, Enkiris tries in desperation to trigger the fabled apotheosis event. With so few cultists remaining their effort is for the most part a failure. Instead the corrupt positive Obelisk energies transform him and many of the cultists into an immense aberration, later called the Guardian. Val-Terris and his followers manage to seal the thing in with the Obelisk and systematically purge the surrounding countryside of its abominations. The land is considered cursed and no one is allowed to settle within a hundred miles. They are large successful but many of the cultists and workers escape and from them the Disciples of the Fallen Star are reincarnated as the Brotherhood of Unity.

-300 CA: The last of the Lacaetan Custodians has met death, but not all of them are truly dead. Certain wizards and druids choose to sacrifice their humanity rather than leave their now underground shrine unguarded and use their proximity to Mel-Ketekk to spark their own ascendance to lichdom and maintain their secret vigil for centuries to come. These undead powers form the Cult of the Masked God, and teach their followers the magical secrets of lost Shahar Khet.

-285 CA: The Takaken Dynasty is torn apart as weaker emperors fail to restrain the power of their warlords. The country, now divided against itself enters a perpetual war that is not resolved for nearly three centuries and is called the Three Hundred Years of Blood.

-51 CA: The Lattaneran General Solenus Remelius leads a great expedition north of the Armurian Mountains, reaching as far as Lacaeta, either conquering the inhabitants or bringing them in as client states. His popularity with the people soars.

-46 CA: Solenus Septemius returns from his conquests in the north and is heralded as Imperator for life.

0 CA: The Common Age begins and it is the height of Lattaneran power. Most of Antanides is under the dominion of Lattanis and her Emperors, save for random tribes of savage humanoids or remote elves and dwarves. A peace that continues more or less to this day is forged and the mortal races stand in unison, coming far from their humble origins. In Asashiro, order is restored when the “Kami” return from heaven and establish a new dynasty ruled by Fukukata Kasejin and end the perpetual warfare.

98 CA: Estrano Fiarrius creates the first living construct and perfects his heretical arts that will later give rise to the warforged race. Multiple powers buy them by the hundreds and as a result many provinces in the Empire are affected by unofficial wars and squabbles. To protect his methods secret, Estrano takes his money and, allying with hundreds of other wizards, founds the city of Xyra as a haven for the arcane arts, beyond the reach of kings and priests.

136 CA: The matter of the warforged comes to the attention of Emperor Galus Remelius who declares a ban on their production and Estrano disappears. All warforged armies are disbanded and they are left to their own devices.

150 CA: The ancient lich Mel-Ketekk is roused in Lacaeta and the whole city is shrouded in his dark nightmarish power. Four heroes (Gruck, Lecroix, Clooney, and Whisper) confront the evil, summoning the Outer God Shub-Niggurath who instructs them on what they must do to destroy the demi-lich. Whisper’s soul is sold to the Mother in return for resurrection and after the destruction of Mel-Ketekk is transformed into Shub-Niggurath’s Herald. Gruck heroically sacrifices himself to sanctify the area, causing him to be elevated to sainthood upon his death. Lecroix finally decides to become a full vampire, feeling that his last ties with humanity died with his mother and friends.

500 CA: The Lattaneran Empire is largely divided between the north and south. The southeast is the domain of the Emperor, and the northwest is ruled in his name by the Arch Consul. The two are at peace but the north is beginning to decline and is largely unable to control the outlying territories, resulting in the rise of orc tribes that pillage the borders of the Empire. In time a large horde sacks Avandor, and the north crumbles leaving only the south and cutting the Empire effectively in half.

800 CA: Dragons begin to reemerge from their eons long sleep and send the fractured remnants of the Northern Empire into turmoil. The Southern Empire (now called the True Empire) manages to repel those that attack and treats with those that are diplomatic. In Asashiro the Kami return yet again and help the people transition from the Kasejin dynasty to the Murobashi dynasty.

862 CA: With no one enforcing the ban on the land near the Obelisk, Angor Sven is founded by the Sullivan Family, who at the time are part of the Brotherhood of Unity and looking for the Obelisk.

884 CA: The dragonborn first emerge on Skaallvatar and establish themselves as a separate nation ruled by several ancient dragons.

892 CA: Out of the ashes of the Northern Empire rises the kingdom of Avandor, ruled by the descendants of the barbaric human and orc warlords that took power from the weaker Lattaneran nobles. They give thanks to Erabis for helping them to regain the civilization lost for so many years and he becomes the chief god of that region.

1000 CA: The Cult of the White Fox spreads to Antanides.

1017-1019 CA: Avandor tries to expand its influence south of the Eastbight Mountains, targeting Lacaeta first. The city, long having been independent resists fiercely and sends for aid from its allied cities and even Lattanera. The emperor has no wish to have the young and obviously hungry Avandor as its neighbor and sends troops to cow Avandor into submission. Correctly surmising that they smiply don't have the might to battle both the Empire and the City States Avandor wisely backs off and searches for easier conquests.

1020 CA: The events that took place nearly 1400 years ago near Angor Sven are largely forgotten, and the records of the Obelisk’s location have been suppressed, destroyed, or lost. Helping this process along are a group of justicars founded in memory of Lukien Val-Terris who stopped the Obelisk uprising over a thousand years before and had a hand in what has become known to the Brotherhood as the Altmus Incident. While these agents have little understanding of the Obelisk's power and no longer know where exactly it is located, they have busied themselves trying to thwart the Brotherhood of Unity, periodically sending agents to Angor Sven to spy and assassinate certain individuals. The people of Angor Sven are largely unaware of the sinister history near their town, though a few older families are adherents to the Brotherhood’s teachings and they suspect that the Obelisk is nearby.

1042-1045 CA: Avandor launches its first earnest conquest of the western Freedlands. They manage to secure a great deal of territory and nearly double the size of what they have come to call the Holy Erabisain Empire, however the cost of the war is staggering, losing them much manpower and a lot of money. It does however train a new generation of warriors and commanders, making their army an impressive spectacle.

1050 CA: The Obelisk spontaneously awakens and the sorcerer, Obrey Zerkin and his allies (Travor the dwarf cleric, and Levitz the human anarchist) help fight the threat as best as they are able. Along the way they find a ship from the stars in which they meet an Elan soulknife named Ryume from Asashiro. While battling their way through the ship they finally come across its masters, two androids in stasis who have been waiting for just such a time to try and destroy the Obelisk for good. With some help from the androids the group embarks below ground and meet an Ashtran assassin named Grant Loreweaver. However, Obrey dies in the tunnels and it is up to his friends to save the town. They succeed but vanish afterward, none know where. Around this time, in the city of Xyra, a strange halo of clouds forms about the sun and the city is thrown into chaos as they are beset from extraplanar monsters and the archmage commits suicide. In response one of the councilors, Thoster Viclannen calls on his old friend, Brekhan HéBrekhan a notable dwarven mercenary and outcast, to investigate the matter and also enlists the aid of Sir Anthony Cronqvist, a human paladin of the Rising Phoenix; Jack, a Zhonggese magus; and Shinta, a kitsune mystic. The four discover that there is something strange going on in Xyra’s mystical vault and manage to journey inside. Within they find numerous horrors as well as the apprentice Williver who's gone quite mad. They defeat him as well as some of the vault’s more dangerous denizens and manage to get a good amount of loot in the process, but at the expense of Shinta’s life. Now in possession of the Staff of the Archmage and a copy of the Seven Tiered Celestial Calculations they return with Thoster to their hideout. However at that moment they are beset by an illithid paragon who memorizes the Celestial calculations and kills Thoster. Shinta is brought back to life via an idle wish by Jack and is now a deathless creature. The group retreats to the school buries Thoster and then pursues the illithid. Their pursuit takes them to Shahar-khet.

1055 CA: The disaster at Godsmeet. Ashtrans of the Midwife and Reaper Sects are at the throats of the Erabisian priests who declare that Erabis the lord of civilization is greater than Ashtra (held by many to be the Mother of Fate). The Judge Sect of the Ashtran faith agrees with the Erabisian belief and for the first time the three Sects are divided. The issue quickly escalates out of hand and several Erabisian priests are murdered in their quarters, the Inifinte Symbol of Ashtra carved into their foreheads. The Midwife and Reaper sects indignantly deny any involvement, blaming wayward Death Angels (Ashtran Assassins) for the crime. The Godsmeet disperses and news of the travesty reaches all corners of civilized Antanides. A few weeks later, Temecleus Valadrian (the half-orc ruler or Avandor) declares that Avandor will not stand for the atrocity and all but the Judge Sect of Ashtra's church are expelled from Avandor's borders. Emperor Felix Verenus Remelius responds to this by condemning the faith of Erabis for daring to declare themselves above the Mother of Fate and executes any priests in the Empire that do not submit to the supremacy of Ashtra. Avandor uses this crisis as a springboard for a holy crusade to expand their empire and bring the light of Erabis back to the south.

Lands of Polesia

Antanides

The largest continent in Polesia located in the north. Currently the home of many nations, faiths, and wondrous places, Antanides also has a long and rich history going back to the very first recorded elven, dwarven, and human empires. The following places are located in Antanides:

Avandor Dominion

"Main article:" Avandor Dominion (Polesia)

A wonderful land of oportunity and prosperity, that is if you're an orc or half orc and a devout follower of Erabis.

Dead City of Ep

"Main article:" Dead City of Ep (Polesia)

An ancient city whose builders are unknown, and whose geometry is strange and in some cases nauseating disorienting. Currently only inhabited by the restless dead as well as the legendary drow vampire, Rhone the Reaper, and (legend claims) the sacred remains of Saint Dioclese the Stern who keeps the monster in a deathlike sleep.

Eshtorah

Main article: Eshtorah (Polesia)

Eshtorah is a country in south-eastern Antonides that is rich in culture and history dating back to when they held the southern quarter of the continent as part of their great empire.

Freedlands, The

Main article: The Freedlands (Polesia)

A land of barbarian tribes and petty fiefdoms or occasionally independent cities.

Ghōl, Lost Island of

Once the seat of the ancient Avaladh Empire, Ghōl is now at the bottom of the ocean.

Iboria

A frozen wasteland full of primeval beasts, hags, drakes, orcs, neanderthals, and some of the most fearsome humans imaginable.

Lattaneran Empire

Main article: Lattaneran Empire (Polesia)

The Lattaneran Empire is an empire to the West on the main continent of Polesia.

Marabi

A desert country slightly northeast of the Desolation of Shahar-Khet.

Necrolands

A blighted wasteland where the dead walk and demons sometimes appear. Also the final resting place of Saint Dioclese the Stern and the ancient dread vampire Rhone Tavier.

Shahar-Khet, Ruins of

The Ruins of Shahar-Khet are the remains of an ancient civilization of humans. The ruins are notable for their strong auras of chaos magic.

Skaalvatar

The home of the dragonborn and their draconic liege lords.

Xyra, Grand City of

Main article: Xyra (Polesia)

A city fulla wizards.

Asashiro

Main article: Asashiro (Polesia)

Asashiro is a smaller continent to the Southeast. It is ruled by the aristocratic warrior class of the illustrious Okubo Empire.

Kmet-Tha

Don't go there.

Zhongguo

Main article: Zhongguo (Polesia)

Just West of Asashiro, Zhongguo is a large island where stuff happens.

Zumwalla

Main article: Zumwalla (Polesia)

Zumwalla is an ancient and wondrous continent somewhat to the south of Antanides and Asashiro. It is believed that humanoids might have originated from this lush and wild environment.

Kuri Archipelago

There are cannibals here.

Races of Polesia

Main article: Races of Polesia

Polesia is home to the following playable races.

Dragonborn

Dwarves and Half-Dwarves

Elves and Half-Elves

Orcs, Half-Orcs, and Dwargs

Gnomes and Dwarrow

Halflings and Elflings

Humans

Neanderthals

Warforged

Gods of Polesia

Main article: List of the Gods of Polesia

The gods in Polesia are not as direct as are those of other campaign settings, and generally when you attract the attention of a god (or rather what people worship as a god) it is usually a bad thing indeed.

Special Groups, Guilds, and Affiliations

The Brotherhood of the Rising Phoenix

Main Article: Brotherhood of the Rising Phoenix (Polesia)

The Brotherhood of the Rising Phoenix is a special order of Paladins and like-minded individuals sworn to root out corruption.

The Élan Collective

Main Article: Elan Collective (Polesia)

The Élan Collective is a secret conspiracy of psionically-charged humanoids with mysterious interests and deep-reaching fingers.

West End Unified Trade and Import Guild

Main Article: West End Unified Trading and Import Guild (Polesia)

One of the most powerful mercantile guilds in Antanides, the West End Unified Trading and Import Guild (or West Enders as they're commonly known) is run and almost exclusively operated by powerful gnome families.