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Road to Bimini Setting

Page history last edited by Shadowtext 15 years ago

Retroactively and as of Session 2, the setting for Road to Bimini is the world of Eberron, on the continent of Khorvaire. By dint of luck, the backstory is already very close to the backstory for Eberron. There are a few customizations being done on the setting as well. Don't worry if you don't have any of the Eberron splatbooks, any information you need to have to play the game will be on the Wiki.

 

Eberron is a high-magic, Steampunk-inspired setting. There's a lot of politics going on in the background which may or may not be an issue for the adventuring party (depending how the campaign goes), but the entire thing has an Adventure-serial (think Indiana Jones) feel at the forefront.

 

 


 

Geography

The continent of Khorvairre is dominated at the center by the Five Nations that were once the Empire of Galifar before the Last War split them up. On the outer edges there are a handful of smaller nations with negligible political power.

 

The Five Nations

The five nations of Aundair, Breland, Cyre, Karrnath, and Thrane were once united as the Empire of Galifar, but split during a massive conflict known colloquially as the Last War. There are other nations on the continent, but they are small and generally can only hold on for their lives while the ripples made by the big five affect them.

 

Aundair

In a way, there are two Aundairs--the Aundair of simple folk working lush farms or as skilled, but still simple, craftsmen, and the Aundair of advanced arcane studies. Aundair is known all over for its many learning centers, with arcane colleges like the Arcanix, and even boasting the first center of higher learning in Khorrvaire, the University of Wynarn. Whatever their occupation, the people of Aundair have great respect for their scholars and arcanists.

 

Aundarians are a proud people, but other nations see Aundairans as arrogant and stubborn. This goes doubly for their leader, Queen Aurala, who is seen as power-hungry and confrontational. Aurala maintains a grudge with Thrane over Aundair losing the Thaliost region to them, and many believe she has great desire to claim Khorvairre as her own. A council of wizards, the Arcane Congress, advises Aurala and trains a select few as elite spellcasters.

 

Aundair's symbol is the dragonhawk, a massive bird which, in the past, Aundairan warriors would ride into battle to give air support to their ground armies.

 

Breland

Breland is a center of industry, boasting the most advanced technology on the continent (maybe the world) and might be the most powerful of the Five Nations. Fully half of Breland's population lives in cities. Not only does Breland host more cities than most nations, the cities of Breland are also more densely packed, none moreso than Sharn, a metropolis known far and wide as the largest city on the continent. 

 

Breland is led capably by King Boranel, who is a peaceful man at heart, and fought hard to see the end of the Last War. Now, Breland's army mostly just guards the borders from the warbands of Droaam, and the navy mostly scouts for pirates. Still, it would be foolish to take Breland's military lightly--these are people who have bears specially trained as mounts by House Vadalis. 

 

Cyre (The Mournlands)

A great blast of arcane power at the end of the Last War wiped Cyre off the mount on a day now known as the Day of Mourning. It is now a barren, haunted land. 

 

It is unclear what brought about the Day of Mourning. Some say it was an attack from one of the other nations, others say that Cyre did it to themselves while testing their own doomsday device. 

 

The Mournlands (as Cyre is now known) is constantly saturated in a gray mist. The magical conflagration produced some strange terrain, such as the glass plateau and the Glowing Chasm. The creatures of the Mournlands (those that survived) have become twisted and horrific, and far more dangerous than they were before. Only the ones that could survive a blast of that nature did so, leaving only powerful monsters in the wrecked land, including the undead soldiers who continue to fight their battles from the Last War for eternity.

 

Living things find survival in the Mournlands difficult, as the mist tends to hamper healing and necrotic energy permeates the place, but Warforged are largely unaffected. A small but growing nation of free warforged has banded around a charismatic "messiah" known as the Lord of Blades, who preaches warforged superiority and wages a campaign to rule all of Khorvairre.

 

Surviving Cyrans live as refugees, mostly in the eastern Breland settlement of New Cyre. 

 

Karrnath

Karrnath is a military state, and every Karrnathi youth is expected to serve time in the military, with many continuing on. Karrnath has a grand magical tradition, even making extensive use of undead troops in its armies. This understandably worries Karrnath's neighbors as undead are generally seen as pure evil. Karrnath is not, however, openly in bed with evil forces. and actually goes to great lengths to maintain peace in Khorvaire, not just among the former Galifarren territories, but among the smaller nations of Khorvaire as well.

 

Karrnath has its fair share of educational facilities, including the officer training facility Rekkenmark Academy, where even before the Last War many Galifarren nobles were trained, and the Twelve, a magical institute funded by the Dragonmark houses.

 

Karrnath is lead by King Kaius III and his extended family, as well as a number of nobles who have attained high military positions. The entire nation is under martial law.

 

Thrane

The nation of Thrane is a theocracy ruled by the Church of the Silver Flame. Thrane makes a big show of fighting the forces of evil and serving the Silver Flame, but is highly authoritarian and the church in Thrane often shows signs of fanatacism. Inquisitions and crusades crop up occasionally. Most church officials and citizens in Thrane are genuinely honest and tolerante....they're just not as loud as the loonies.

 

Thrane is somewhat isolationist, and has tried to develop an economy that has little reliance on imports, but hasn't had a lot of success. The other nations, for their part, are wary of Thrane's religious fervor which is fairly unique in the history of Eberron. The primary interaction with the outside nations is missionaries from the Church of the Silver Flame. 

 

Thrane is lead by the spirit of Tira Miron, a paladin who became one with the Silver Flame and is now known as the Voice of the Flame. The Keeper of the Flame, who is the state's intermediary with the Voice of the Flame, is eleven year old Jaela Daran, who was called by the Flame itself to be the mortal leader of the church and state.

 

Other Nations

There are a handful of other nations on Khorvaire.

 

Darguun

A goblin nation formed by former mercenaries under Lhesh Haruuc, their warlord. 

 

Demon Wastes

Labyrinthine canyons that hide ancient evils. Barbarians patrol the demon wastes, fighting back the rakshasa and demons that might emerge. 

 

Droaam

A nation of monsters led by a trio of hags, the Daughters of Sora Kell.

 

Eldeen Reaches 

Wildlands overseen by druids. The Far Plane seems to seep into the world here, as Aberrants appear here frequently. The Druids spend much of their time making sure the Aberrants don't get too strong a foothold here.

 

Lhazaar Principalities

A group of islands in the northeast of Khorvairre. The confederation of Lhazaar was once known for its many pirates and smugglers, but since being recognized as legitimate nations, illegal activities have become more scarce here.

 

Mror Holds

Dwarven lands between (and under) the Hoarfrost and Ironroot mountains. Heavy mining operations have made the dwarves of the Mror Holds quite wealthy. 

 

Q'Barra

An independent territory founded by Galifar loyalists at the end of the Last War. Cyran refugees also have autonomous holdings here. 

 

The Shadow Marches

Swampy territory hosting mostly humans, orcs, and half-orcs. Of little interest to the outside world, other than its high concentration of dragonshards.

 

Talenta Plains

Largely untamed desert territories populated mostly by halflings. Who ride dinosaurs. Freaking A'.

 

Valenar

Valenar was built by eladrin who emmigrated from the Feywild. Over many generations in the mortal world, the oldest eladrin families have become elves, but there are still plenty of fresh immigrants from the Feywild keeping pure eladrin stock viable. Though Valenar is the "elven nation," elves and eladrin can be found anywhere.

 

Zilargo

Gnomish lands. Widely known as the place to go for diplomats, translators, and magically crafted goods. 

 

Organizations

Political power isn't held only by the national governments on Khorvairre. Plenty of power is held by the various churches, but perhaps most dominant are the twelve Great Houses that act as megacorps, overseeing much of the day-to-day policy in all of Eberron.

 

The Dragonmark Houses

See Full Article: Dragonmark Houses

 

Dragonmarks, special symbols that appear on some people and grant magical benefits, are passed through the bloodline. Those who had dragonmarks used the advantages granted to them to great effect, and over time their descendants (especially those who themselves inherited the dragonmarks) have become quite powerful both economically and politically.

 

Though the national governments hate to admit it, the Dragonmark Houses are each as powerful as any given country. They maintain political neutrality to avoid conflict with the nations, but if it ever came down to the Houses versus the State, no one can be sure who would win.

 

Religions

See Full Article: Religions of Khorvairre

 

The gods in Eberron don't show themselves openly--they don't walk the earth or perform miracles in the streets. Divine power comes more from the faith of the caster than it does from the gods themselves, and therefore there's no proof that any of these gods exist at all. There are a number of conflicting religions, and many people identify more with one of these religion than with any particular deity, though it's not uncommon to have a particular patron from among them.

 


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