Hargulin

Organizations

  • The White Shield: a loose organization to find and banish malevolent spirits taking root in the mortal world
  • Inquisition: still think they have the right to cleanse arcane magic, limited power, based in Alitandro, a town on both banks of the Winding River
  • local guilds, tentative and volatile alliances / antagonism
  • 3-4 open arcane groups
    • Crimson Valley: north-south valley, both at dawn and at dusk the sun shines red on it, home of the Elixir Makers

The Landscape

  • grim archipelago, sea witches, monsters from below the waves, sailing, weird rock formations
  • Soilwater: large wetland, includes marsh, fens, swamp, small villages inside and around
  • lots of abandoned ruins dot the landscape, waiting to be reclaimed
  • badlands with deep ravines, featuring strange flora and fauna

Magical Traditions

  • The Craft (hexes and blessings, emotions, third eye, healing) - Witches belong to a community and fit in the natural world. Balance and reciprocity are their main tenets, and respect those who respect these concepts. They tend to congregate into covens, for shared lore, community, and mutual protection. Bargaining with a witch or coven is rarely about money, it's mostly about favors.
  • The Open Eye (divination, fateweaving, third eye) - The seers are a closed group with lots of internal rules, something rare in this land. They are openly merchants of information, though few common people can afford their prices. Since the dissolution of the Kingdom of Hargulin, they are on the decline because of the lack of regular customers.

Religious Traditions

  • Warden (warding, summoning, healing, community) -
  • The Inquisition (investigation, protection vs. arcane, offence vs. arcane, rule) -

Gar-Serath

Overview

Countries

  • Hargulin is a nation of no ruler, or of an infinite number of rulers, depending on who's asked. Shifting political alliances, arbitrary fees and taxes make it a risky place to trade, and a deadly social swamp to visit.
  • Nevrion is a kingdom, ruled by a royal family, served by noble families who control the land and the armies. The spiritual and merit-based old ways are the favourite with the majority of the population. There is a widespread church, the Church of the One Lord/Lady, but it is far from being the ruling faith.
  • North of the mountain range called Lirales lie the kingdoms of OsquaƱes, Astariore and Riallon. Their people are known for their passionate way of life, vivid arts and spicy cuisine.
  • Shai'Hada is an Empire of several allied dominions, along the southern edge of the continent, edged by the Lirales. Beaches, rocky highlands, lush forests and deserts dominate its lands. Life congregates around water, where it is opulent and vivid.
  • Wullhar occupies the harsh northern lands, its clannish people steeped in traditions of battle glory and storytelling.

The World of Ardail

Cosmology

Each culture has its own dozens of views of the cosmos, but there are several recurring patterns to be noted.

  • The spirit world is a place of ideas, potential and creativity. These are nice things, but mortals need solid bodies and spirits to stay who they are, and these are in danger when spending extended periods on the other side.
  • Innumerable types of spirits inhabit the spirit world, no list even comes close to mentioning the majority of them.
  • There are dark spirits that feed on grief, pain, fear and hopelessness, and these things can manipulate mortals into getting so overwhelmed by these emotions that they become susceptible to possession by the them.
  • There are dark spirits controlling a mortal body, a notion that's really terrifying in all cultures.

Geography

  • The tropical Dragon Islands are inhabited by tribal people worshipping dragons, said to be sleeping on the towering central islands (really high rock columns). Some people are joined by flying drakes, making them be able to travel and fight using flight.
  • Ennanthir is a continent spanning all climates, but there is next to no contact with it due to it being overrun by demons, and rendered into a state often hostile to human life. The middle part is now basically a gigantic swampland, full of demons and faeries. The northern region is an enormous ice cavern system, while the southern region is a single hot tropical jungle, many of its vegetation inhabitants hungry for mortal flesh. There are no great empires, a small town and several villages and hamlets is the largest community to exist.
  • Gar-Serath features all kinds of climates, characterized by a generallly strong attitude against dark spirits, including numerous open orders working to destroy or banish those. Swords, metal armors, bows and horses are the technology as a rule of thumb. There are several large kingdoms with centuries of history, and well-established social systems.
  • Shigata lies east of Gar-Serath. Travel is hazardous and draining between the two, due to the violent weather over the open ocean. Its cultures are rooted deeply in the past, rely more on rigid social rules than their western neighbours, and most empires only allow avatars to be rulers. Associating with dark spirits is frowned upon, but not openly persecuted.
  • Waineroo is found to the south-west of Gar-Serath and travel is even rarer than with Shigata, because it takes months even in a straight line. This is a continent with very strong connection to nature and nature spirits, and large, permanent settlements are very rare. Shamans (spiritual guide avatars of a tribe) are the most respected members of a community, and most tribes consider a long journey the coming-of-age ritual.