Cyllian:Setting

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The World

The Greater Gods each know a Word. That Word is one of the Runes is an aspect of reality. The Gods sang their Words. As the Words wove into harmony, melody, and rhythm the World was formed. The World lies at the juxtaposition of the Great Gods Words; at the juxtaposition of their realms of power. All that exists in the World was created by the Great Gods. After some time, they lost interest in the World, most of them returning to pursuits where they had more individual power and interest.

However, the World continued to exist. Humans spread throughout the World, creating cultures and civilizations and learning to manage the lands of the World. Some Heroic Mortals even learned aspects of the great Words of the gods. No Mortal can master a Word. Instead, they learn a small fraction of the World and with significant Effort can perform some miracle with that Word. Other Mortals may even be born under the correct auspices and have some portion of Word infused into their being. These Heroic Mortals have always existed and always taken a leading role in the World.

A Brief History of the World

Humanity had spread throughout the World. Civilizations had risen and fallen. A particular aspect of the creation of the World is that there are many paths to the World from other worlds. A small group of humanoids, human in appearance, came through a gate from another world to this World some 1500 years ago. They were called the Dieni and had a considerable amount of magical power that superseded anything humanity had ever possessed. Though only a few thousand in total numbers, they were able to use their power to conquer most of the Western Continent in a few hundred years. Civilization thrived under them and yet that civilization was built on the enslavement of all humans within their realm. Their power seemed unbreakable though it never reach all the World.

Lying in middle of the Cyllian Sea is a large island, Illyria, which has always featured superb sailors. For many years, it was known for the skill of their merchant ships in traversing long distances and also known for their pirate activities upon the sea. About 500 years ago, the Illyrians started conquering lands to form the Illyrian Empire. They had found a Secret that allowed them power. Within a hundred years, they came into direction conflict with the Dieni Empire. A war raged for nearly a century as the two sides fought themselves to extinction. The Dieni have completely disappeared from the World. Some say a pocket exists in the far west, others in the east, and many think they were completely annihilated. The Illyrian Empire is generally considered to have won the war, as they still exist. However, they were forced back to their island and went into isolation for the last four hundred years.

The Dieni-Illyrian War destroyed the fertile lands the Dieni had ruled. The majority of the Western Continent is now known as the Blasted Lands. Those lands are desert and scrubs lands now, despite once being fertile. Only pockets of civilization hang on where water is hoarded and crops can be grown, or where sufficient magic is concentrated to manage life. South of the Blasted Lands is Garttan, an open land of rugged, rolling hills. It remained independent of empires and sets along the major trade route out of the Cyllian Sea to the Southern Islands. The cape is dominated by two ancient city states, each with their own god, in the east and south, while the western part of this land is controlled by powerful Amazon queen. North of the Blasted Lands lies the Brupek Empire, ruled by an ancient being who arrived in the World and forged his own human empire before the Dieni arrived. The Eternal Emperor has ruled unchecked for two thousand years now.

The Eastern Continent was untouched by the Dieni-Illyrian War. Four great leaders took survivors to colonize the fertile northern lands of the continent, located between the Cyllian Sea on the mountains of the continent. Those lands were occupied sometime in the past, but had been completely devoid of human life for known history. South of those colonies is the great Grindalspar forest that stretches for hundreds of miles in all directions. It's said that elves, or some otherworldly creature, came through a gate an occupied those lands thousands of years ago and that they kill any human that enters their lands. There's no evidence anyone has ever successfully entered their lands and returned. South of Grindalspar, the Principalities are a group of dozens of small states that occupy islands and coastal mountains. All trade going to the east is controlled by them, so that they grow rich off of monitoring that trade. Their island fortresses dissuade those who would contest their control. Beyond the mountains of the Eastern Continent are the Ajzerian Plains, occupied by nomad tribes.

South of both continents lie the islands.....

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