Iren's PbP - Fantasy Setting

[Irenaeus]

The Age of Chaos

The World: Broken Empires and Rising Faith

Empires have long since fallen, but their shadows linger. Once, legions marched from the icy north to the warm southern seas, ruling through law, discipline, and divine favor. Now, its cities are either smoldering ruins or decaying strongholds, ruled by petty warlords. Cities that survived have become fortified strongholds, ruled by kings who now claim divine right under the Church of the One True God.

The old pantheon—the gods that once shaped the land and demanded blood sacrifice—has been declared heresy. The old gods are said to be dead, but in ruined temples, deep forests, and forgotten caves, it is said their voice can still be heard. Some gods grow desperate, demanding more blood, more worship—lest they fade entirely.

Much has been forgotten and visions of the future spread. Iron is new, but not yet dominant, and many warriors still wield bronze, with smiths clinging to tradition over progress. The world is ancient but ever-changing, caught between the past and the future. Some warlords claim to be the heirs of the empire, others seek to carve out their own domains.

The land is not yet fully civilized—beyond the reach of authority, warbands, outlaws, and exiled mercenaries roam unchecked. This world belongs to wanderers, fugitives, and lost souls—those without a home, a cause, or a king. The cities are full of judges and inquisitors, but the wilds belong to those who can fight, lie, or hide.

These are not heroes yet. They are survivors.

[Irenaeus]

The Arandian Kingdom: A Realm Forged in Fire and Faith

A Kingdom of Warriors, Settlers, and Saints

The Arandian Kingdom is a land of warriors, pioneers, and zealots, a nation forged in conquest and held together by metal, faith, and necessity.

A few centuries ago, it was nothing more than scattered tribes, feuding warbands, and exiles with barely any land to call their own. But in the wake of the last empire’s collapse, these people—descendants of northern seafarers and western highland clans—took root in the ruins of the old world and built something new.

From warring chieftains to kings, from raiders to rulers, the Arandians have carved out a place in history, their banners flying over conquered valleys, sacred mountains, and broken empires.

And yet, their kingdom is not secure.

Though their warriors have bested barbarian lords and their priests have burned the idols of old gods, the kingdom has still plenty of frontier land. Arandians are always looking to places not yet tamed, not yet claimed.

A highland province to the southeast, though conquered many decades ago, remains untamed, wild, and rebellious—a reflection of the kingdom itself.

To the kings of Arandia, it was once a land of promise.

To those who have fought in it and tried to settle it, it was a graveyard waiting to be filled.

________________________________________
Origins: The Warborn and the Fallen Empire

The First Arandian King, Reccared the Great, was once a warleader, but he united his rivals through oath and blade, forging the first true kingdom out of warring tribes and crumbling provinces.

His descendants, the Kings of Arandia, would turn their swords east, south and west beneath the deep sea north of them, conquering new lands, defeating barbarian warlords, and bringing order to the lawless frontier.

________________________________________
The Three Pillars of Arandia: Faith, Metal, and Land

1. Faith: The Light of the One True God

• The Arandian Kingdom is a realm of believers, its nobility and commoners alike devoted to the worship of the One True God. Their faith is fierce, missionary, and militant, drawing upon visions of warrior-prophets and celestial messengers. Clerics preaches order, salvation, and unity, its priests claiming the God of Light speaks through visions, angels, and saints. The Church of the One True God is not just a religious force—it is a pillar of governance. Priests are advisors to kings, inquisitors root out heresy, and bishops hold land as lords in their own right. In the wild provinces, however, pockets of old faiths remain. Some worship forgotten gods, others pay tribute to weird spirits, and a few still whisper prayers to things best left buried. A river spirit might bless a village with clean water in exchange for offerings, while a trickster god might demand a blood price for his favor. Minor gods form covenants, their power waxing and waning with the devotion of their worshippers. Some whisper of Hunkar, the cruel King of the World, worshipped by the Naked Rock tribe, or the Lady of the Lake, whose shimmering waters promise love and doom. Rumors of elder, forgotten gods—beings of shadow and decay—circulate among the frontier folk, their names spoken only in fear.

2. Metal: The Legacy of War

• War is woven into the soul of Arandia. The kingdom was forged in conquest, and its lords believe that which is not won through battle is not worth having. The Arandian knights are fierce and pragmatic, skilled in horseback warfare, ambush tactics, and prolonged sieges. The common warriors are a either professional soldiers orlocal militia, many of whom train from childhood. Mercenaries are common. Arandian metalwork is sturdy but not refined—they use a mix of ancient metalworking techniques and their own smithing traditions, creating weapons and armor that last, even if they lack elegance. In the heartland province, where the kingdom was founded—a patchwork of rolling plains and fertile river valleys, dotted with stone-walled towns and sprawling farms. Here, the Arandian dream of order flourishes, with well-trodden roads connecting bustling urban centers where blacksmiths and crafters ply their trades. On the kingdom’s southeastern border—a rugged frontier that has defied the Arandian vision of conquest.

3. Land: The Blood of the Kingdom

• Land is everything in Arandia. A family without land is without purpose, and every Arandian noble, no matter how small, holds territory and the responsibility to defend it. Despite that tradition, traders, crafters, academics, artists and outlaws thrive in the sideways and fringes of society, some accumulating large fortune, prosperity or at least peace. Feudalism in Arandia is a mix of old warrior oaths and emerging royal law—nobles swear fealty to the king, but their loyalty is first to their land, their people, and their family. The expansion into new provinces was meant to secure new land for younger nobles and ambitious lords, but the wild nature of the land proved stronger than expected. The Arandian Kingdom is a land of stark contrasts: fertile heartlands where the One True God’s order holds sway, and frontier regions where the old gods and untamed chaos whisper defiance.

________________________________________
The Structure of the Kingdom

The Crown and the High Lords

• The kingdom is ruled by a king, but his power is not absolute. The Great Lords of Arandia— Dukes, counts and barons—hold immense power, each ruling their own domains with only loose oversight.

The Church and the Priests of Light

• The Church of the One True God serves as both spiritual guide and enforcer of the king’s will. Bishops control land, inquisitors hunt heresy, and priests counsel the noble houses.

The Noble Houses and Frontier Lords

• Below the Great Lords, lesser barons and landed knights hold small keeps and estates, ruling villages and towns. Some hold royal charters, while others simply took what land they could defend.

[Irenaeus]

Magic in the Arandian Kingdom: Feared, Revered, and Controlled

Magic in the Arandian Kingdom is both feared and respected, viewed as a dangerous tool rather than a birthright or an art. Unlike other aspects of civilization—such as knighthood, religion, and trade—magic does not belong fully to the nobility, the Church, or the common folk. Instead, it is something that struggles to find its place in a kingdom that values metal, faith, and land over the arcane.

Magic was present in the conquests of Arandia, but it has always been secondary to military strength and divine will. It played a role in battles and sieges, but never in the way that knights and priests did. The Church calls it a tool of the heavens when controlled, a gateway to damnation when unshackled. The nobility sees it as useful in war, but dangerous in peacetime. The commoners, meanwhile, fear magic more than they understand it.

How Magic is Officially Seen

• The Church of the One True God tolerates magic, but only when controlled. It preaches that miracles and divine blessings are the only true source of holy power, while all other forms of magic are the remains of arcane, less holy traditions.

• The nobility recognizes magic as a weapon of war, but most do not trust magic-users, seeing them as useful, but dangerous to have close. Those who wield it—wizards, warmages, and sorcerers—are required to register with the crown and swear fealty. Unregulated magic-users may be branded as witches and hunted.

• The common people fear magic unless it comes from the hands of a priest or a healer. Hedge-witches, alchemists, and sorcerers live on the outskirts of society, rarely welcome in civilized towns. Still, the townsfolk speak of magic with dread, blaming it for their misfortunes. Cursed artifacts are said to bring doom to entire villages.

How Magic is Actually Used in Practice

Despite distrust and restrictions, magic persists because it is too useful to be ignored. In any case, magic in the Arandian Kingdom is scarce, unpredictable, and often perilous.

1. In War: The Arandian Kings have always employed battle-mages, especially during their wars of expansion. While knights and cavalry form the backbone of the army, warmages are used to break enemy formations, collapse walls, or conjure storms over sieges. However, they are never allowed too much authority, and many nobles view them as a necessary evil.

2. In Noble Courts: The most powerful nobles employ court wizards, but always at a distance. They are valued as strategists, astrologers, and diviners, but rarely trusted as advisors. A wizard’s position in court is never secure, and many have fallen to jealous knights, scheming priests, or suspicious kings.

3. In the Church: The Church officially denies using sorcery, but everyone knows the truth. The highest-ranking bishops have miracle-workers, priests trained in ritual magic, and inquisitors capable of rooting out hidden dangers. However, the Church keeps its magic deeply hidden, never admitting that it uses the same forces it condemns.

4. Among the Common Folk: Hedge-witches, alchemists, and mystics live in small villages and isolated huts, offering their services for coin, barter, or secrets. These folk magicians are tolerated in times of need but are often blamed when misfortune strikes. Some work in secret, some serve noble courts, and some are simply waiting to be burned by the Church.

________________________________________
Institutions of Magic in Arandia


1. The Noble Academy of Warmages

• The only formal magical academy in the kingdom, it was founded to train noble-born warmages in war magic and strategy. Magic here is treated as a weapon, not a philosophy—students are taught battlefield tactics, enchantment for war, and magical countermeasures.
• Only those sponsored by noble houses may study here, ensuring that powerful magic remains in the hands of the ruling class. Most of Arandia’s battle-mages, court wizards, and war scholars come from this school.
• High wizards are not part of the kingdom’s official hierarchy, as their power makes them a threat to both the nobility and the Church. The Academy remains a symbol of the Arandian dream of controlled magic, but its graduates often face a harsh reality: the wilds care little for their training, and the Church’s inquisitors are always watching.

2. The Forbidden Scholars of Magic

• Mysterious orders of sorcerers, hidden from public view, said to be advisors to the powerful in secret. Rumored to hold forbidden occult texts, records of magic that predates the One True God’s dominance.
• Some believe the kings of Arandia consult them in private but deny their existence in public. These reclusive figures often live in distant towers, their isolation a necessity born of both their power and the Church’s suspicion.

The Church’s Secret Magic-Inquisition

• The Church denies practicing magic—but the Inquisition of the Church exists to hunt rogue sorcerers, heretics, and those who delve into old heathen rituals.
• They have their own scholars, exorcists, and sorcerers, but keep them deeply hidden. Magic-wielders working for the Church are called "Purifiers"—their magic is used only to destroy heresy, never to benefit themselves.

________________________________________
Forbidden Magic and Heresy

1. Necromancy & the Forbidden Arts

• The Church condemns necromancy absolutely, believing it to be an affront to the soul’s rightful place in the afterlife. Necromancers are hunted and burned, though rumors persist that some lords secretly employ them.
• Elder pagan ruins are said to hold dark knowledge, where the old emperors practiced rites to sustain their lives or rule even in death.

2. The Old Gods and Their Magic

• The elder gods are dead—or so the Church claims. However, divine magic drawn from these forgotten deities still exists, and some scholars believe these gods are merely dormant, waiting for worshippers to revive them.
• Any magic that involves invoking an old god is seen as heresy.

________________________________________
The Role of Magic in the Future

Magic is not a dominant force in the kingdom, but it is impossible to remove.

• The nobility controls it, the Church suppresses it, and the commoners fear it.
• Some believe magic should be fully embraced, while others see it as a relic of a fallen age.
• The wars and conquests have depended on magic, but it has never been allowed to rule openly.

Magic’s perception—officially controlled, practically perilous—mirrors the kingdom’s broader struggle: the Church’s light against the wild’s darkness, with magic as a chaotic force that defies both. However, as the frontier is explored, and the secrets are uncovered, magic may become more important than ever. For now, it remains a blade hidden in the dark, waiting for those bold enough to wield it.

[Rand]

TL;DR

[DemoGraph]

Can we discuss things here? Or is the thread only for lore dumps?

Iron is new, but not yet dominant, and many warriors still wield bronze, with smiths clinging to tradition over progress.

Sorry if you know this, just sperging here.
IRL iron working was known for about as much time as bronze working.
Bronze requires combination of copper and tin - the metals that almost never exist in the vicinity of each other. So advanced bronze working pretty much requires complex trading systems. On the plus side, it's quite easy to work with - a "typical" oven would suffice.
Iron is much more brittle than bronze when worked in a "typical" oven. To purify ore and temper iron properly you need a comparatively high temperature - so a kinda large and advanced furnaces as well as a lot of charcoal (read, massive deforestation for charcoal, because natural coal is too dirty to reach the required temperatures). They all need a lot of manpower.
So bronze weapons are a tool of trader empires, while iron weapons are a tool of traditional sedentary and populous kingdoms.

As an idea, the new church might be the main propagator of massed iron smelting.

[maidenhaver]

Are we beginning in a remote barony?

Do the barons have cortes, or are they despots? I ask because it'd be neat to have a scenario like Rivendell at the end of our first adventure, if we get into the good graces of one of the barons, to choose our next adventure. We could represent a town or bring attention to some discovery, like a dungeon.

[Irenaeus]

Can we discuss things here? Or is the thread only for lore dumps?

Yes, you can discuss the setting - did you like it? did you hate it? What do you think?
I'll be continue "lore dumping" just for a bit before the game starts.

Iron is new, but not yet dominant, and many warriors still wield bronze, with smiths clinging to tradition over progress.

Sorry if you know this, just sperging here.
IRL iron working was known for about as much time as bronze working.
Bronze requires combination of copper and tin - the metals that almost never exist in the vicinity of each other. So advanced bronze working pretty much requires complex trading systems. On the plus side, it's quite easy to work with - a "typical" oven would suffice.
Iron is much more brittle than bronze when worked in a "typical" oven. To purify ore and temper iron properly you need a comparatively high temperature - so a kinda large and advanced furnaces as well as a lot of charcoal (read, massive deforestation for charcoal, because natural coal is too dirty to reach the required temperatures). They all need a lot of manpower.
So bronze weapons are a tool of trader empires, while iron weapons are a tool of traditional sedentary and populous kingdoms.

Don't worry about sperging, I enjoy these discussion and it's always fun to me to learn something about old technology.
About Iron vs Bronze, I did some research before developing the game and, if you care to follow, this is how I came up with this setting in the spoilers below:

► Show Spoiler

We start with copper metallurgy in the ancient times, as copper ores (like malachite and azurite) are abundant and often found near the surface, making them easy to mine. Native (pure) copper exists naturally in most regions and can be cold-worked without smelting. This made it the first metal used by our people here, even before proper smelting. Tin is rarer but still easier to extract than iron: Once people discovered that adding tin to copper made a much stronger metal (bronze), they started mining and trading tin. This was done in the setting by past tribes, kingdoms and empires.
Then we move to iron, brought by invaders.
Iron is more abundant but rarely found in native form, meaning it always needs to be extracted from ore, which requires more advanced smelting technology. Copper melts at 1,085°C (1,985°F), and tin at 231°C (447°F), meaning bronze can be smelted at around 950-1,100°C in primitive furnaces. Iron requires at least 1,250-1,350°C (2,282-2,462°F) to properly smelt, which is much harder to achieve with early technology. Early furnaces (such as simple pit kilns and charcoal-based forges) could easily reach temperatures for copper and bronze but struggled with iron.
Why was bronze so easier to work with? Bronze casting is simpler: Bronze flows well when melted, so it can be easily poured into molds to make tools and weapons. Iron is more difficult to cast because early furnaces couldn’t reach the temperatures needed to fully liquefy iron, forcing smiths to hammer iron blooms into shape instead of casting.
Tin was rare but became a major trade commodity, leading to large bronze-based economies of the ancient empires, eventually with its technologies spreading to the original tribes that formed the Arandian Kingdom. As empires and their trade networks collapsed, many regions lost access to tin, making bronze impossible to produce. Through invaders and other traders, iron was slowly introduced in the original tribes that would one day form the kingdom.
Iron, while harder to work with, was more widely available and could be smelted even from local bog iron deposits. Once blacksmiths developed better furnaces and forging techniques (like carbonizing iron into steel), iron became the superior material for tools and weapons.
Comparing the metals for durability, bronze is hard but brittle, while is soft at first, but as you turn it into steel with advanced techniques it gets way stronger.
In the Arandian Kingdom in particular, the new urban centers focused on blacksmithing and metallurgy, with a shift away from traditional bronze workshops. In old tribal towns, the technology for bronze was preserved, but since is scarce, the production and accumulation of bronze weapons and armors is very slow and the care of the trade is in the hands of stubborn tradition bronzesmiths. Some of these older factions try to hold onto bronze as a status symbol and moral superiority but they are clearly losing power.

As an idea, the new church might be the main propagator of massed iron smelting.

This is indeed part of the setting already, I can even emphasizing more. The king and his nobility are major proponents of iron weapons/armor to replace older, local bronze equipment. The three biggest cities (not metropolis-sized by any means) are the major iron smelting centers and tool and weapon/armor manufacturers. All this iron needs to go through protected road lanes from the mountain mines, which leads us to the next "info dump".

[Irenaeus]

Are we beginning in a remote barony?

Yes, the game will be set in frontier lands in a wild, barely settled province to the southeast of the heartlands of the kingdom.

Do the barons have cortes, or are they despots? I ask because it'd be neat to have a scenario like Rivendell at the end of our first adventure, if we get into the good graces of one of the barons, to choose our next adventure. We could represent a town or bring attention to some discovery, like a dungeon.

Barons have courts, most nobles with keeps or castles away from the bigger cities have them. The farthest from the centers of power (like in the province where the game will begin) the more authority they have and less supervision they receive, meaning some may act like tyrants and/or try to forge their own kingdom/domain.

After the first adventure there will a plenty of places like towns and keeps you will have heard about to visit and get in the good graces of by pursuing quests or just exploring the wilds which will be full of mysterious (and promisingly loot-heavy) locations. I hope we can have that spirit of old D&D like Keep on the Borderlands or the style of sandbox campaign that is the very inspiration for ACKS... or a more recent game I played, Battle Brothers.

[maidenhaver]

What should Rangers or Barbarian/Fighter know about the SE, that the civilized wouldn't?

[Irenaeus]

What should Rangers or Barbarian/Fighter know about the SE, that the civilized wouldn't?

Depends on where he was raised and where did he spend his time in his previous occupation as developed in the character creation thread.

I'll do a personalized little-info dump for each character later

[Val the Moofia Boss]

TL;DR

It seems we are starting off in a good kingdom. There is a king but no powerful hand bearing down on us. Seems most people are Godfearing. Each area we run into will have a local lord defending it. As long as we don't do evil or aggravate him, we will probably be fine. The kingdom is attempting to lay claim to a wilderness to the Southeast. The kingdom has a pioneer culture and respects landowners, and people can become owners simply by being able to hold territory.

Since most of our characters are dispossessed, and several character backstories had our families get backstabbed and there might be people trying to kill us if we remain in the civilized areas of the kingdom, it seems like the thing to do is to hike to this Southeastern Wilderness and try to stake out land there, becoming lords which may insulate us from our backstory enemies. In the wilderness we might run into pagan clans and bandits there and have to fight them. They might wield the power of pagan gods against us. Alternatively, if we want a challenge we could remain in Arandia and try to pick a fight with the powers that be there, though that would probably turn out badly real fast if the local lords ally against us and/or knights start coming after us and/or the Church's inquisitors comes after us.

From people's character backstories, it seems that there is raiding of villages happening within lord's territories and not much being done to clamp down on it.

If you want to use a lot of magic, you will probably want to get into the good graces of the Church and maybe become a recognized priest or inquisitor or paladin or something, or have an Church agent accompany you around and vouch for you. Maybe one of us could become that person. Mages are shunned and mages employed by lords are considered expendable, so being under the Church's wing might offer you protection.

[Irenaeus]

The Hidden Wealth of Arandia: Traders, Crafters, Artists, and Outlaws


While Arandia is a kingdom built on war, faith, and land, it is not only knights and priests who shape its fate. In the shadows of its feudal order, in the fringes of law, and in the heart of its marketplaces and workshops, there exists a world of traders, crafters, artists, and outlaws—those who do not fight on the battlefield but shape the kingdom nonetheless.

These people thrive in the cracks of society, some accumulating vast fortunes, others finding freedom where knights and priests have no power. They may not hold noble titles, but their influence is felt in every market, every street, and every secret deal.

________________________________________
The Economy of Arandia: Trade, Craft, and Coin

Arandia is not a land of vast cities, nor is it an empire of sprawling markets. But wealth flows through it nonetheless, not in shimmering palaces, but in the hands of merchants, blacksmiths, weavers, and coin-lenders.

1. Trade: The Kingdom’s Lifeblood

Arandia’s geography shapes its economy. Though it is a warlike kingdom, it sits between regions of wealth and need, making it a necessary bridge for trade.

• The Heartlands – The breadbasket of the kingdom, full of wheat, cattle, and timber. Feeds Arandia so much that food can be exported.
  
  The Mountain Clans – They bring iron, silver, and gold, but at a high price—they do not trust the kingdom’s law, and many prefer barter over coin.
  
  The Northern Coast – Arandian ports see foreign merchants, from distant lands beyond the sea. Here, exotic goods, slaves and rare materials enter the kingdom, enriching those who know how to use them.
  
  The Frontier Trade – While not officially encouraged, there is a market for relics, lost imperial artifacts, and untapped resources from the borderlands. The nobility and clergy do not acknowledge it, but there are riches in the wild places.

Most of the material wealth of Arandia is not in its nobles, but in the merchant families who control trade routes, supply armies with weapons, and bring in goods the kingdom does not produce itself.

Notable Trading Hubs


• Segothir – The old capital the kingdom, where guilds battle for dominance. Underneath the royal quarters and the archbishopric seat, there is a place of coin, corruption, and quiet ambition.

• Port Spiral – The northern gateway, where foreign ships bring goods and where outlaws disappear into the sea to become pirates.

• Vertidor’s Rest – The last stop before the wild frontier, where traders gamble fortunes on lost treasures.


2. The Crafters and Smiths: The Makers of the Kingdom

A knight’s sword and armor do not come from the heavens, despite your local cleric may tell you—they come from the hands of blacksmiths, alchemists, and tinkerers who shape metal, leather, and magic into tools of war.

While Arandia respects most its warriors, it is the craftsmen who keep them fighting.

• Master Blacksmiths – Weapons are not mass-produced, and the best smiths are as valued as noble knights. A blade from the Master Crafter of Segothir costs as much as a small estate.
  
  Armorsmiths and Tanners – The noble houses demand the best plate and chainmail, while frontier warriors prefer lighter armor, built for ambushes and skirmishes.
  
  Carpenters and Stonemasons – Fortresses, bridges, and ships do not build themselves. The kingdom relies on guilds of builders, many of whom hold more power than minor nobles.

Notable Crafting Hubs

• Durnhold – A fortress-city, where the best armorsmiths and siege engineers are trained.
  
  Caelbrandt – Home of the Warmage Academy, where arcane-forged weapons are rumored to be made.

3. Artists and Scholars: The Beauty and Knowledge of the Kingdom

Arandia glorifies war and faith, and this holds a high culture.

Poets and Bards – Kings and lords desire songs of their conquests, and bards hold great influence, particularly with public opinion. Some become advisors, spies, or couriers of secret messages.

Scribes and Historians – Knowledge is power, and ancient ruins and mysterious locations might hold secrets that could change the world.

Architects and Sculptors – The Church commissions great works of stone and stained glass, immortalizing saints and prophets.

However, some artists work in secrecy, creating forbidden texts, heretical paintings, and knowledge that would haunt the nobility and clergy.

________________________________________
The Outlaws: Those Who Live Beyond the Law

Wherever there is law, there is crime. And in Arandia, those who live outside the feudal order thrive in the shadows.

1. Bandit Lords and Raiders

• While knights fight for land and honor, some fight only for themselves.
  
  The borderlands and wilds are home to bandits who answer to no king.
  
  Some raiders claim ancient descent, saying they are not outlaws, but the true heirs of the land.

2. Smugglers and Black Market Traders

• There are things the kingdom does not allow, but that does not mean they do not exist.
  
  Alchemists, relic-hunters, and thieves trade in ancient artifacts, magical components, and contraband from foreign lands.

3. Assassins and Secret Societies

Though kings and lords rule openly, many rise and fall by the blade in the dark.

Assassins operate in noble courts, merchant guilds, and even the Church. The borderlands and the wilds are also home to secret orders or hidden cults.

________________________________________
The Balance of Power: Law, Coin, and the Hidden World

Despite its strict feudal hierarchy, Arandia relies on more than just its lords and priests.

• Merchants shape its economy.
  
  Blacksmiths forge its weapons.
  
  Scholars uncover its past.
  
  Outlaws prey on its weaknesses.

The king may wear the crown, but coin, blades, and whispers may decide the kingdom’s future. And in the shadow of its fortresses, in the markets, the workshops, and the lawless roads, that future is ready to be written.

[rusty_shackleford]

I don't want to sound rude, but I think you should focus on those rats and goblins.

[Irenaeus]

I don't want to sound rude, but I think you should focus on those rats and goblins.

What do you know? The next lore dump is on fauna and monsters!

[logincrash]

Good thread, great read.

[Oyster Sauce]

My character doesn't know any of this so I won't read it

[Lord of Riva]

Guess we should get rid of our flint and steel then?

Seems great, my char is the only sanctioned mage then (right?) *and* we have a necromancer, let me think about how that will work out.

[Humbaba]

Brazilian not!Warhammer

So yeah, Zollo and his unholy god worshipping ass won't be welcome in civilized society and since he can't read and knows practically nothing about anything beyond Manhunt Mountain and the surrounding areas we'll have tons of very hilarious "fish out of water" moments

I suppose then Hunkar is on the list of old gods. Is the inquisition aware of him? Does the church know the Manhunters exist?

[Humbaba]

Boy I hope the Dumb Bitch Podcast does a recap of alla dis lore

[rusty_shackleford]

My character doesn't know any of this so I won't read it

Off-topic:
Telling only parts of a setting and each different parts to players with characters that are learned is a pretty good idea and it would be interesting to see it mutate from it being retold by them trying to teach it to the rest of the party and squaring up what each knows. Maybe even purposely give different info to characters of different origin locations to reflect cultural biases.
Heck, even give basic folk tale versions to those without educations that was passed down by their grandpappies.

[DemoGraph]

Yes, you can discuss the setting - did you like it? did you hate it? What do you think?

I like it.

Most of the material wealth of Arandia is not in its nobles, but in the merchant families who control trade routes, supply armies with weapons, and bring in goods the kingdom does not produce itself.

This doesn't seem realistic. Traditional agrarian economies were closed (as in, didn't depend on foreign trade). Trade was primarily conducted for goods for prestigious consumption - furs, silks, spices, curiosities, etc.
There were some exceptions (Western Russia had no quality iron and no silver of its own, so it had imported it all from Scandies and Arabs). But, generally speaking, if 90% of population are farmers or agricultural labourers, all your income comes from land. And nobles own the land. Including a right to organize large seasonal fairs (and profit off them).

You could have a strong trader class if your kingdom had colonial ventures, but it doesn't seem this way. You probably would've had slavery in this case and I don't see it mentioned (except for that naval market).
You could say that trading is sinful and organize traders into a guild that is separately taxed by a king (and is overseen by church; the king might promote the guild to have a power base independent from landed vassals).

Or maybe rephrase the original to "most of monetary wealth". Nobles could be taxed in labour and in kind. And coins could be rare (and minted from iron, you can even have them have some funny shape, like shield or helmet or sword or grainsack). In this case church (or royal court) could be responsible for keeping records of taxes and debts (and redistribute some of the gathered taxes as king or patriarch demands).
For style points make those debt records be kept on steel tablets with letters made of wire that are stored in METAL LIBRARY. As a saying goes, "What is notched in metal is notched forever." And defaulted debtors are branded with that same wire cut out of their debt books.

Also, cold steel kills fairies and pagan gods better than the bronze.
Also also, there's a legend about a godly white metal that brings wonders and immortality. Alchemists are trying to get its secrets and adventurers are running around looking for old empire artifacts allegedly forged from this metal.
Also 3. There was AN IRON PROPHET once, who forged wondrous things out of this metal and made the sinful old empire crack, before being killed by drowning him into liquid metal. From metal he came and to metal he returned. And that crack of the old empire got covered in (spiritual) rust and had led to its downfall many years later. Because soul rust gnaws slowly but unstoppably.
Also 4. The curse of the soul rust is heretical and abhorrent and its usage is a reason enough for a pyre.

Seems great, my char is the only sanctioned mage then (right?) *and* we have a necromancer, let me think about how that will work out.

You'll be the first to burn for heresy, of course.

[Humbaba]

Let's please keep the lore bloat to a minimum for now or this is gonna take 10 years.

[DemoGraph]

Let's please keep the lore bloat to a minimum for now or this is gonna take 10 years.

The real game is all the bloat we've made along the way.

[maidenhaver]

My character doesn't know any of this so I won't read it

Off-topic:
Telling only parts of a setting and each different parts to players with characters that are learned is a pretty good idea and it would be interesting to see it mutate from it being retold by them trying to teach it to the rest of the party and squaring up what each knows. Maybe even purposely give different info to characters of different origin locations to reflect cultural biases.
Heck, even give basic folk tale versions to those without educations that was passed down by their grandpappies.

This is how lore dumps should work.

[Irenaeus]

Good thread, great read.

Thanks, I wanted to make a detailed background if anyone was interested. This is just the veneer, the details are a treasure, and they will only be unlocked by playing the game.

[Irenaeus]

My character doesn't know any of this so I won't read it

Your character (and all characters) knows a lot of that but experienced different based on his life experiences. I will be posting what each character knows and thinks about all this prior to us starting the game - which I expect to be soon, since I'm almost out of lore dumps.

[Irenaeus]

Guess we should get rid of our flint and steel then?

Keep your flint and steel. You bought them with hard earned money (starting money).

Seems great, my char is the only sanctioned mage then (right?)

I developed that most of that part of the setting - noble scions being trained at a warmage academy but with their future still uncertain _ based on your character description:

► Show Spoiler

Wolfgang was born as part of a noble family that governed a small part of the countryside of the local Baron. His mother died relatively young and while his Father was a dutiful and loyal man to his betters he was not well liked, to stubborn, to straightforward, too correct and while he always had his families best interest at heart he never came into the good graces of his superiors or peers.

Due to this Wolfgang as the only male child of his family was burdened with loneliness in his childhood and youth, though this came at the benefit of him being a good student in the various ways of the life he was born into, at least most of the things that were not burdened by the pretentious etiquette that nobles normally were beholden to. While he was somewhat of a loner this did not really weight him down on a personal level as he found a pretty fulfilling life in the things he was interested in.

While he had not much interest in participating in the political plays the other nobles seemed to be keen on, mostly the backstabbing of course, his father was very much invested in bettering the status of his family. To that end it was decided that Wolfgang, due to his talents, was to be sent to the Academy to become a mage versed in both statesmanship, Military logistics and strategies and combat magic in the hopes of him getting a high ranking position in the courts as a Military advisor.

Wolfgang was an exceptional student, highly Intelligent and eager to learn, for the first time as well, in the cities he bloomed into a young man with halfway normal social life. The years passed and he was nearly reaching the end of his study and was even promised a very good starting position at court when disaster struck.

A scandal revolving around his family lead to their downfall, he would never know if the accusations of the other noble family was true or not or if his father was framed for it but according to the rumors his father had blackmailed some higher ranking officials and when he was found out killed two guards who tried to apprehend him and was Promptly executed.

The lands of the family were sized by the surrounding nobles as part of supposed reparations, nearly in an instant, his sisters were forced to marry into other noble houses and while he was never directly associated with his fathers supposed doings Wolfgang learned really fast that friendship in the courts was not much more than politeness towards someone to be used, his promised position was gone and every person he asked for help did turn his back to him.

Without his lands and his fathers stipend for the education his monetary means dried up very fast and that is where the story begins, a man robbed of his legacy now searching for a place in life, not sure if he even wants to get back to where he was, back into the places where hard work meant nothing and only Venom gets you ahead.

I hope you liked it.

*and* we have a necromancer, let me think about how that will work out.

Yes, I developed the necromancer bit based on Stack's character.

► Show Spoiler

Scion of a fading noble house, previously employed as an assessor of petty magical items, the guy who looks them over to decide their worth - a kind of back-room mercantile role. With that idea in mind, I think the precipitating event for my adventure should be that someone sold an old heirloom that turned out to be a powerful cursed magical item, the unknowing buyers hired me to have a look at it, and it told me that I should steal it and run away, so, since it sounded awfully trustworthy, I did... but now I have this divine curse on me for NO REASON??? I dindu nuffin
Motivated, then, by freedom and survival.
His name will be Alfwine Hengstsson and he ought to be a pale and bookish young lad who likes to scrutinize things with a jeweler's loupe. He knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Hope you liked that bit too, @Stack of Turtles

[Irenaeus]

Brazilian not!Warhammer

Interesting that you associated with Warhammer, which I have zero familiarity with - never played the games or read about the setting.
I went with a little of what I know of old D&D settings, greyhawk/mystara, already mentioned Keep on the Borderlands module. Inspired further by the ACKS campaigns, with more ideas pulled from Torchbearer base setting, Battle Brothers' world, and even themes from The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante. The historical parts are inspired by alternate history Europe mixing Late Antiquity/Dark Age (post-rome, early germanic kingdoms) and the Bronze Age to Iron Age. I hope you liked it. Nothing Brazilian here except the idea of exploring vast unknown regions (Bandeirantes).

So yeah, Zollo and his unholy god worshipping ass won't be welcome in civilized society and since he can't read and knows practically nothing about anything beyond Manhunt Mountain and the surrounding areas we'll have tons of very hilarious "fish out of water" moments

I suppose then Hunkar is on the list of old gods. Is the inquisition aware of him? Does the church know the Manhunters exist?

The game will be set on the borderlands, on of the many frontiers of the kingdom, as most characters are running from their past or at least unbounded and wanderers. Royal authority and the Church inquisition is practically non-exist there and the local lords may pay only lip-service to the Kingdom of Arandia. Not belonging in the feudal system hierarchy will matter much less, it will be a question of survival in the wild, untamed unknown.

[Irenaeus]

My character doesn't know any of this so I won't read it

Off-topic:
Telling only parts of a setting and each different parts to players with characters that are learned is a pretty good idea and it would be interesting to see it mutate from it being retold by them trying to teach it to the rest of the party and squaring up what each knows. Maybe even purposely give different info to characters of different origin locations to reflect cultural biases.
Heck, even give basic folk tale versions to those without educations that was passed down by their grandpappies.

This is a great idea and one that I will be adopting. What I posted is just a basic outline of the setting. Each character will have their own pieces of this puzzle based on their origins, upbringing and life stories. These were all developed in the Character Creation thread and I based the setting on the sum of their stories. Old folk tales and fresh rumors about what is going on in the setting will play a big part of how players deal with information.

[Lord of Riva]

You'll be the first to burn for heresy, of course.

Even though, of course, there is no position to be had for Wolfgang at this point and his disdain for the Noble courts that wronged him and left him out to die, he studied at the Academy officially and does not necessarily question the dogmatic religious system, why would he? It's not Gods fault that humans are wrong.

If you are an inquisitor type you might as well have a friend, not an enemy.