TheLonelyScribe
2010-05-20, 03:45 PM
The World of Tezerth
Tezerth is a world of fairy magic, beautiful angels and strange occurrences by day, but a world of fell power, hideous demons and warps in reality by night. The sun, high above the villages of mortals, slowly pulses between glorious yellow and dim red through the course of a day, one phase feeding celestials and the other fiends. Human settlements have adapted to this, none being very large and all having huge walls surrounding them. The night guard is one of the most vital organisations that has ever been.
However, this doesn't mean that there is no intrigue or relationships between civilisations. Messengers run between settlements, hurrying to get there by sundark. Dukes use the message-stones of civilisations long gone to communicate by night. Some study the arcane writings of the lost cities that pepper the land like dead leaves, hoping to gain some insight into the great magic that once held those lands above all others, but didn't protect them once the Great Night finally came.
Basic Geography: The world of Tezerth is like the inside of a hollow sphere. On all sides land stretches up until it appears to meet the sky (rather, clouds and light diffusion reduce it to a white or blue colour). Above (or, rather, in the centre) floats the sun, bright white and yellow by day, and murky red and black by night. If you dig or teleport outside the sphere you will find an endless expanse of earth and tunnels not unlike the elemental plane of earth in core D&D. It is even possible that other worlds exist within the endless expanse, and the arcane writings of dead civilisations seem to suggest so.
Planar Geography: Throughout Tezerth are little dimensional pockets. Known to most people as 'Fairy Holes', this is where the significant amount of fey that roam Tezerth originate, and where most of them take residence during the nights. There are Fairy Holes that have nothing to do with fairies, however, like shadow pockets, elemental pockets, and free magic pockets. Free magic pockets contain free magic elementals, which are to be detailed and statted out later.
The sun, although technically not another plane, is different enough from the rest of Tezerth to be mentioned here. In it wages an eternal battle between celestials and fiends, the guiding hand of fate unstoppably changing the winning side every 12 hours. The fires are too bright and too hot for mortals to survive them, and this is why all celestials and fiends have fire resistance.
Outsiders: Almost any creature that doesn't occur naturally (giant bees and such are natural, but fey are not) originates from a fairy hole. They are not considered outsiders in the rules of the game, but, to most people, a water elemental is no more otherworldly than a pixie. To confuse even more, although holies and diabolics (the common terms for celestials and fiends) reside on the same plane as humans, they are still considered outsiders. In Tezerth celestials aren't necessarily good, nor are fiends necessarily evil. They are both looking to capture the souls of mortals, but simply choose to go about it in different ways. Celestials are prone to making deals with mortals and to luring them. They also enjoy being worshipped. Fiends have a more simplistic method, attacking mortals and dragging their souls to the sun.
Religion and Afterlife: Although gods are worshipped in this world, there are immense multitudes of them and none are particularly special. Clerics exist, even if they're rare, but there is some debate on whether they get their powers from gods, and even whether gods exist or not. As far as afterlife goes, if their soul is not dragged off by a holy or diabolic the souls of mortals generally drift around for 1d12 days, then are recycled into the nearest living organism. This can make resurrection difficult, as the creature that 'inherited' the soul has to be tracked down and killed before the soul is free to return to its past body. Memories and personalities are stored in bodies, but bodies cannot function properly without a soul.
Politics: Most villages and outposts have someone in charge, but who it is and what they're called varies wildly. A few villages are united as some sort of kingdom or republic, and a few of these kingdoms reach populations near those that metropolises had before whatever wiped them out.
History: Most NPCs and players do not know the following. Before the current age the world was sunless. Most of the creatures that lived in Tezerth had darkvision or blindsight and were specially adapted to living without light. Civilisation flourished, and creatures began to develop magical powers. These were the first signs of dimensional instability, and scientists of the ancient civilisations were fascinated. The first ever full planar gateway was one into a free magic pocket, and soon half the population was initiated in the arcane arts. It was also around this time that clerics began to gain supernatural powers. A few decades later opening planar gateways was practically a common hobby, and the world was filled with magic. It was at this time that celestial and fiendish pockets were discovered. Soon, the world was full of the creatures, stealing souls ruthlessly. The once glorious civilisations were reduced to ruins, and one of the few remaining truly powerful college of wizards worked a grand spell to bind the angels and demons into the sky, dooming them into an eternal war. The humanoids were utterly demolished, and they gradually evolved into what exists today.
Players in Tezerth
Warriors: There are plenty of options for warrior characters in Tezerth, from waging petty battles between villages to slaying terrible dragons threatening entire kingdoms. They work pretty much as in core D&D. A good class that I or someone else could homebrew would be an explorer of the wilderness, one who could traverse the confusing lands of Tezerth by day, and, at higher levels, set up wards against the horrid demons by night.
Experts: Options for experts in Tezerth range from simple craftsmen to those who raid the tombs of the ancient civilisations. There are actually more NPC experts in Tezerth than commoners, as significant hardiness and skill is required to survive the dangers of farming life outside the villages. A good class that I or someone else could homebrew would be a historian, someone who was particularly good at penetrating the ruins of the ancients and who, at higher levels, even unlocked some of their great and arcane power.
Spellcasters: Spellcasters are interesting in Tezerth. The core D&D classes all exist, but are incredibly rare. Instead, I will homebrew a caster class with various different options for gaining power from holies, diabolics, fairies and free magic elementals. These are people who undergo basic training to access the power that has resided inside everyone since the ancients opened their gates. This caster class is very common, and almost every village has at least two to help fend of demons during the night. Wizards could gain power from texts that the ancients wrote, sorcerers could have an innate bond with free magic, clerics could appear to gain power from a variety of plains around them but claim it is their gods that allow them to do so, and druids could absorb magic from fairy holes.
That's a lot of ideas I've just shoved onto you, but if you look there are many holes and things I haven't detailed. This is meant to be a community project, and if you have anything constructive to say, please say it!
Tezerth is a world of fairy magic, beautiful angels and strange occurrences by day, but a world of fell power, hideous demons and warps in reality by night. The sun, high above the villages of mortals, slowly pulses between glorious yellow and dim red through the course of a day, one phase feeding celestials and the other fiends. Human settlements have adapted to this, none being very large and all having huge walls surrounding them. The night guard is one of the most vital organisations that has ever been.
However, this doesn't mean that there is no intrigue or relationships between civilisations. Messengers run between settlements, hurrying to get there by sundark. Dukes use the message-stones of civilisations long gone to communicate by night. Some study the arcane writings of the lost cities that pepper the land like dead leaves, hoping to gain some insight into the great magic that once held those lands above all others, but didn't protect them once the Great Night finally came.
Basic Geography: The world of Tezerth is like the inside of a hollow sphere. On all sides land stretches up until it appears to meet the sky (rather, clouds and light diffusion reduce it to a white or blue colour). Above (or, rather, in the centre) floats the sun, bright white and yellow by day, and murky red and black by night. If you dig or teleport outside the sphere you will find an endless expanse of earth and tunnels not unlike the elemental plane of earth in core D&D. It is even possible that other worlds exist within the endless expanse, and the arcane writings of dead civilisations seem to suggest so.
Planar Geography: Throughout Tezerth are little dimensional pockets. Known to most people as 'Fairy Holes', this is where the significant amount of fey that roam Tezerth originate, and where most of them take residence during the nights. There are Fairy Holes that have nothing to do with fairies, however, like shadow pockets, elemental pockets, and free magic pockets. Free magic pockets contain free magic elementals, which are to be detailed and statted out later.
The sun, although technically not another plane, is different enough from the rest of Tezerth to be mentioned here. In it wages an eternal battle between celestials and fiends, the guiding hand of fate unstoppably changing the winning side every 12 hours. The fires are too bright and too hot for mortals to survive them, and this is why all celestials and fiends have fire resistance.
Outsiders: Almost any creature that doesn't occur naturally (giant bees and such are natural, but fey are not) originates from a fairy hole. They are not considered outsiders in the rules of the game, but, to most people, a water elemental is no more otherworldly than a pixie. To confuse even more, although holies and diabolics (the common terms for celestials and fiends) reside on the same plane as humans, they are still considered outsiders. In Tezerth celestials aren't necessarily good, nor are fiends necessarily evil. They are both looking to capture the souls of mortals, but simply choose to go about it in different ways. Celestials are prone to making deals with mortals and to luring them. They also enjoy being worshipped. Fiends have a more simplistic method, attacking mortals and dragging their souls to the sun.
Religion and Afterlife: Although gods are worshipped in this world, there are immense multitudes of them and none are particularly special. Clerics exist, even if they're rare, but there is some debate on whether they get their powers from gods, and even whether gods exist or not. As far as afterlife goes, if their soul is not dragged off by a holy or diabolic the souls of mortals generally drift around for 1d12 days, then are recycled into the nearest living organism. This can make resurrection difficult, as the creature that 'inherited' the soul has to be tracked down and killed before the soul is free to return to its past body. Memories and personalities are stored in bodies, but bodies cannot function properly without a soul.
Politics: Most villages and outposts have someone in charge, but who it is and what they're called varies wildly. A few villages are united as some sort of kingdom or republic, and a few of these kingdoms reach populations near those that metropolises had before whatever wiped them out.
History: Most NPCs and players do not know the following. Before the current age the world was sunless. Most of the creatures that lived in Tezerth had darkvision or blindsight and were specially adapted to living without light. Civilisation flourished, and creatures began to develop magical powers. These were the first signs of dimensional instability, and scientists of the ancient civilisations were fascinated. The first ever full planar gateway was one into a free magic pocket, and soon half the population was initiated in the arcane arts. It was also around this time that clerics began to gain supernatural powers. A few decades later opening planar gateways was practically a common hobby, and the world was filled with magic. It was at this time that celestial and fiendish pockets were discovered. Soon, the world was full of the creatures, stealing souls ruthlessly. The once glorious civilisations were reduced to ruins, and one of the few remaining truly powerful college of wizards worked a grand spell to bind the angels and demons into the sky, dooming them into an eternal war. The humanoids were utterly demolished, and they gradually evolved into what exists today.
Players in Tezerth
Warriors: There are plenty of options for warrior characters in Tezerth, from waging petty battles between villages to slaying terrible dragons threatening entire kingdoms. They work pretty much as in core D&D. A good class that I or someone else could homebrew would be an explorer of the wilderness, one who could traverse the confusing lands of Tezerth by day, and, at higher levels, set up wards against the horrid demons by night.
Experts: Options for experts in Tezerth range from simple craftsmen to those who raid the tombs of the ancient civilisations. There are actually more NPC experts in Tezerth than commoners, as significant hardiness and skill is required to survive the dangers of farming life outside the villages. A good class that I or someone else could homebrew would be a historian, someone who was particularly good at penetrating the ruins of the ancients and who, at higher levels, even unlocked some of their great and arcane power.
Spellcasters: Spellcasters are interesting in Tezerth. The core D&D classes all exist, but are incredibly rare. Instead, I will homebrew a caster class with various different options for gaining power from holies, diabolics, fairies and free magic elementals. These are people who undergo basic training to access the power that has resided inside everyone since the ancients opened their gates. This caster class is very common, and almost every village has at least two to help fend of demons during the night. Wizards could gain power from texts that the ancients wrote, sorcerers could have an innate bond with free magic, clerics could appear to gain power from a variety of plains around them but claim it is their gods that allow them to do so, and druids could absorb magic from fairy holes.
That's a lot of ideas I've just shoved onto you, but if you look there are many holes and things I haven't detailed. This is meant to be a community project, and if you have anything constructive to say, please say it!