Ashdar

[Dirt_Kami]

Ashdar is a world dominated by the goblin races of the Blood Empire and the cold blooded races of Sariya.

Blood Empire
Goblins form the upper and middle classes with subjugated Orc tribes kept in line with Orog slave soldiers. Ogre slaves are used as beasts of burden, mounts and living siege engines, Bugbears live in rural areas, raid outlying villages and are viewed as dangerous vermin and a favorite in arena death matches.

A population of over three million spread across the Empire made up of seven nations, with some cities populations in the tens of thousands. In ancient times, clans and tribes would build fortified villages and war against each other. As the psionic blues took control they warred less and the fortified villages grew into fortified cities.

The largest city on the planet is the Blood Empire capital, Allskull, with a population of over 200,000, home of the 35th Emperor. The goblins have very strict draconian laws designed to maintain order at all costs. Although the goblins do not find these laws all that restrictive, travelers are advised to pay them heed, lest they find themselves in a goblin slave work crew or the arena.

And the Blood Empire blues use the ogres as beasts of burden, mounts, ogre drawn chariots, etc...

Empire Ogre CR 5
N Large monstrous humanoid
Init +2; Senses 60' darkvision, Listen -1, Spot -1
Languages Goblin

AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14
hp 49 (4 HD);
Fort +7, Ref +3, Will -1

Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee 2 claws +9/+9 (2d6+7)
Base Atk +3; Grp +14
Atk Options pounce

Abilities Str 25, Dex 6, Con 18, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 7
SQ pounce, fast healing 3
Feats Endurance, Diehard, Improved Toughness
Flaw: Weak Will
Skills Swim +11

Bred to be strong and compliant, they will work themselves to death.

The feral ogres would be ogres and hill giants with the feral template smashing and eating anything that moves.

Wild Empire Ogre CR 5
N Large monstrous humanoid
Init +2; Senses 60' darkvision, Listen +3, Spot +3
Languages Giant

AC 13, touch 7, flat-footed 17
(size -1, natural +6, dex -2)
hp 49 (4 HD);
Fort +7, Ref +3, Will +2

Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee 2 claws +9/+9 (3d6+7)
Base Atk +3; Grp +14
Atk Options pounce

Abilities Str 25, Dex 6, Con 18, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 7
SQ pounce, fast healing 3
Feats: Alertness, Improved Natural Attack
Skills Survival +9

The wild empire ogres are voracious, ill tempered and dangerous, they consider everything food and are very territorial.

Sariya
Kuo Toa, Yuan-Ti, and Lizardfolk are the rulers of this continent.

The Yuan-Ti are masters of dark wizardry, deceit and cruelty, no longer content to inhabit the lightless caverns and passageways beneath the cities of others and remote corners of the world.

The Kuo Toa channel the forces of primeval gods of water, earth and blood, the stars are right for their return to power.

The Lizardfolk, once the undisputed masters of this land, have retreated to drier terrains unfavorable to the other two races and still maintain their alliance with the Dragon Kings from Eternus Nox who guard the gateways to other worlds.

Humans are a minor primitive race using stone age technology and dwell in cold inhospitable mountains and favored as slaves and food by the three dominant races.

[Dirt_Kami]

Although the goblins and the folk of Sariya rule 90% of the world there are a few other places and races outside their reach.

The islands of Druantia are all that is left after most of it sank into the sea.
Druantia was once the center of an elven empire, now it is a land of fey forest creatures, recently settled by human and dwarven refugees from another world.

Druantia
Misty, heavily forested temperate and sub-tropical islands, home to two kingdoms. The Land of 1,000 Jade Shark Temples is an oligarchy of hobgoblin corsairs and Ironshadow, a monarchy of men and dwarves.
Fey creatures are common outside the two main kingdoms and are the original inhabitants, gates to pocket planes are common. Toadstool rings and climbing into the hollow of an ancient oak tree should probably be avoided since a night spent in a fey pocket plane might pass as a single hour or a decade in the outside world.

The Kingdom of Ironshadow is ruled by a hereditary dwarven king and a council of human and dwarf guild leaders. Their ancestors arrived here through a series of gate spells a few hundred years after most of Druantia sank into the sea. They built the capital upon the ruins of one of the earlier civilizations cities.

Iron, jade and copper mining, raising of goats and pigs, underground fungi farming, stone masonry, crafting of high quality finished goods and fungus wine making are the main occupations, a few brave souls make a living hunting dire creatures in the forests for meat and furs, even fewer explore other islands or join a hobgoblin raid.

They never were a sea going people and trade worked metal goods with tritons and tako for an abundance of fish, strings of pearls and things recovered from sunken ruins. They hire out stone masons and trade finished goods, mainly weapons and armor with The Land of 1,000 Jade Shark Temples for gems, jewelry, other luxury items (their ill gotten loot) and the occasional boat ride to other islands.

Population: The capital of Ironfist 8,000 dwarves, 1,000 humans, 100 earth genasi, 20 lost elves.
The other five towns (Axeholm, Silverdeep, Tradestone, Pikehold and First Keep) average 2,000 dwarves, 200 humans and a lost elf or two.

The hobgoblin corsairs in The Land of 1,000 Jade Shark Temples originally were sea faring nomads whose temporary camps in hadozee fishing villages slowly grew over the decades into the fortress towns they are now. Desperate goblin merchants risk sailing in the storm season just to avoid the pirates, usually after a donation to some sea gods temple or hire an acolyte to accompany them. The hobgoblin corsairs prey mainly on small coastal villages on their way to and from the Blood Empire and Sariya, they regularly trade goods and services with the kingdom of Ironshadow (so much so that half hobgoblins are a common occurrence). They do not venture inland other than the occasional dire boar hunt and to trade with vanara and korobokuru villages along the rivers for lumber for their ships.

Population: Mul 4,000 hobgoblins, 500 hadozees, 100 half-hobgoblins, 50 nezumi and 5 humans.
The other six towns (Xant, Lir, Vret, Yis, Kretch and Fran) average 1,000 hobgoblins, 200 hadozees, 20 half-hobgoblins and sometimes a nezumi, hengeyokai and vanara or two.

Half-Hobgoblins get a +2 racial bonus to Stealth, 30' darkvision, +2 to dexterity.

Lost Elf (Elfling) Racial Traits are the same as an elf except...

+10 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -4 Strength, -6 Constitution: Lost Elves are nimble, both in body and mind, but their form is frail.
Small: Lost Elves are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus (CMB) and Combat Maneuver Defense (CMD), and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
DR 1/cold iron.

(Just elves with the fey-touched and young templates from Pathfinder)
Kind of an insane dex bonus, maybe it should be +4 dex, +2 int, -2 str, -2 con, with a 20' base speed.
I dunno, any random thoughts?

Forests of Druantia encounters
01 Hengeyokai - pair
02-03 Korobokuru - band
04-05 Wood Woad - band
06-07 Tasloi - band
08-10 Nycter - solitary
11-12 Formorian (MMII) - solitary
13-15 Treant - solitary
16-20 Dire Elk (MMII) - herd
21-22 Shadar Kai - solitary
23-24 Panther - solitary
25-26 Forestkith Goblin - band
27-28 Firbolg (MMII) - gang
29-30 Ogre - pair
31-32 Satyr - solitary
33-35 Brewer Gnome - pair
36-37 Raven - solitary
38-39 Brown Bear - solitary
40-41 Wild Boar - solitary
42-43 Auroch (use bison) - herd
44-50 Small Game (rabbit, quail, etc)
51-55 Deer - solitary
56-60 Small Monstrous Spider - swarm
61-65 Wild Riding Dog - pack (7-16)
66-70 Tengu - solitary
71-72 Dire Boar - solitary
73-74 Kenku - band
75-76 Owlbear - pack
77-78 Dryad - solitary
79-80 Pterafolk - solitary
81-82 Forest Giant - solitary
83-84 Thorn - band
85-86 Forest Troll - pair
87-88 Petal - tribe
89-90 Dananshee (CCII) - solitary
91-92 Dire Rabbit - solitary
93-95 Leprechaun - solitary
96-97 Giant Owl - solitary
98-99 Gibberling - band
100 Needlefolk (MMII) - grove

[Dirt_Kami]

Blood Empire Timeline (B.E. before empire, A.E. after empire)

19,000 BE: Earliest records of goblin civilization (Goblin Psions, Wizards and Clerics begin leading orc tribes).
9500 BE: Inter-clan rivalries become common. Generation-long wars and honor feuds become the norm.
5502 BE: Goblin expedition make first contact with the humans of the Death Moon Mountains. These barbaric humans killed several hundred members of the goblin expedition before retreating to higher ground.
5490 BE: Goblins launch a second expedition, it meets with similar results.
5473 BE: Final goblin expedition to Death Moon Mountains, same results.
5450 BE: The Heresy Wars begin when a Dragon Gate appears.
2204 BE: Heresy Wars end, Time of the Dark Triad.
1776 BE: Collapse of the Rule of the Dark Triad.
1000 BE: As large national groupings come about, warfare becomes better governed by codes of conduct (ie surrenders occur, agreements made without battles on occasion).
0 AE: Blood Empire established, month long gladiatorial games every year to celebrate.
330 AE: Nine thousand gorgs and 800 dran arrive through a Dragon Gate and battle their way through the northern edge of the Blood Empire.
340 AE: Almost two thousand gorgs and 200 dran reach the Black Spine Mountains, the rest died fighting.
341 AE: Gorgs and dran enslave duergar tribes.
410 AE: Orogs (half orc/half ogre) raised as slave soldiers in the Blood Empire.
440 AE: Gorgs, dran and their duergar slaves build the city of Freedoms Deep beneath the mountains.
612 AE: Blood Empire expedition to Freedoms Deep establishes trade agreement.
640 AE: Freedoms Deep officially part of the nation of Blackfire and the Blood Empire.
722 AE: Current year, 35th Emperor

[Dirt_Kami]

Death Moon Barbarians - The mountain dwelling humans on the edge of the Blood Empire, as well as coastal tribes north of the Blood Empire. They are led by Druids who train dire bears as war beasts. Most of the population is Neutral, while most Druids are Neutral Evil.

A primitive (no knowledge of metal working) peolple of hunter/gatherers, men average 5', light brown skin, blue or green colored eyes, wavy black hair, muscular builds and the men grow heavy beards. Housing is thacthed huts heated by an open fire. Clothing is made from weaving strips of the inner bark of trees and winter outer wear from animal furs. Villages of 50 to 150 people are built high in forested mountain valleys along rivers and further away some tribes live on the coast.
At age 12 girls have tattoos started on their lips, hands and arms and by age 15 the tattoos are complete and women are considered old enough for marriage. The tribes find outsider males with tattoos to be very amusing.

They hunt irish deer, birds, dire boars, squirrels and rabbits with dogs, poison tipped spears and bows, coastal tribes add stingray poison to the usual herbal poison mixture. They also hunt hibernating dire bears, any cubs found are taken to the village and kept until spring and the village druid performs the rite of renewal which ends with the release of all but one of the cubs several days journey away from the village (the remaining cub is trained as a warbeast). Fish and wild plants gathered in the spring and summer round out their diet, coastal tribes hunt seals and whales as well.

In addition to following the Forest Cult their main god is Bear (the god of mountains), Killer Whale (god of the sea), and Owl (protector of villages).
Foxes, ravens and dolphins are considered bad luck to kill and are sometimes given offerings of food. Druids of the Death Moon Barbarians are usually neutral evil and often are multi-class druid/sorcerers.

The Ice Empress became the leader of the dwarves long ago and united the seven dwarf kingdoms into a single empire and subjugated the human barbarian tribes that dwell in the taigas and tundra along the coast. The human tribes fish and hunt seals, whales and small game, they also sail in the spring to raid coastal Death Moon Barbarian villages and trade the dwarven weapons and white diamonds for iron ore at Ice People settlements and towns. They scorn armor other than leather but appreciate fine weapons and their trade with the Snow Dwarves keeps them supplied with the finest. The tribes supply the dwarves with furs and meat and also trade for them, the snow dwarves have an unreasoning fear of deep water and refuse to willingly board a ship of any kind. The humans here speak dwarvish and giant and most are Lawful Neutral.

For the protection of the Ice Empress against the Frost Giants each human village must sacrifice a healthy child to her once a year. The children are raised in the icy catacombs beneath her palace, the conditions and training are harsh and only one in ten survive. They are raised as her servants and trained as masters of unarmed combat and unyielding discipline. The humans who survive to adulthood that show any magical talent are encouraged and trained in battle magic and necromantic secrets alongside dwarven adepts. (Humans raised here are Monks or Wizard/Monks)

The Ice Empress surrounds herself with acolytes of a dark goddess of law, magic and death as well as adepts of necromancy, her consort leads the wizard guild. The dead are given no rest, they are animated to work in mines, farming fungi filled caverns deep beneath the surface and as last ditch defense against possible Frost Giant raids. Some suspect the Ice Empress of plans of attaining immortality through some necromantic ritual, none openly. Her enemies seem to quietly disappear, its whispered that one of the wights looks like old king Rathgore, others bear striking resemblance to the other six former dwarven kings.

Freedoms Deep - A city of Gorgs (a mix of various goblinoid races and ogre), Dran (half-drow) and their Duergar slaves under the Black Spine Mountains.
The dran tend to be psions and psychic warriors. The Dran and Gorgs arrived through a Dragon Gate almost four centuries ago.

Ice People - Tribes of barbaric humans live on an arctic taiga covered island north of the Blood Empire, they have pale skin, ice blue eyes and snow white hair. The Ice People trade iron ore for finished goods from the Ice Queen and follow the After Ragnarok Pantheon, they have their own language, Grall, most also know Giant and Worg.

Dark Holme - a small community of Deep Gnomes lies far under the Ice Hand Mountains and does limited trading with Freedoms Deep and the Ice Queendom.

Deep in the heart of the jungles and swamps of Sith are numerous small tribes of Vanara, Bog Giants, Bullywugs, Sivs, Mongrelfolk, Tasloi and Korobukura.

Beneath the larger cities of the Blood Empire dwell Nezumi, Ratlings and Slithereen.