The World of Nesda(Campaign Setting) - The Era of Nerull

[Satyrus]

This is a campaign world I’ve used and developed for the past 6 years or so for 3.5. I recently revamped the world and forwarded it 1500 years from where I had been playing so a lot changed. Basically Nerull has gained control of most of the material plane and the overlapping planes such as the ethereal leaving only pockets of nations ruled by the living that have not been in contact with each other for several centuries in the current time. A more detailed account can be found in the “History of Nesda” section. For now I’m just getting it up on the boards I’ll work on exactly what needs working in the next week but until then any general comments or ideas are greatly appreciated. Dead Nations skeleton info will be up soon too!

The Era of Nerull Campaign

Welcome to the world of Nesda in one of its darkest hours. The Era of Nerull has begun and the menaces of the undead that have conquered most of the material plane in Nerull’s unholy name have begun to stir once more. The few remaining free nations have been cut off from each other for centuries, extradimensional travel is extremely dangerous and resources are scarce as the land dies and the gods of nature have been shut off from the plane. In the dead nations liches, vampires, dracoliches and other undead millennia old are in wait with millions of animated corpses at their command to pour forth and devour the last bit of light from the world. Who do you stand with in these times? Protect what little freedom remains, join the undead in conquest or simply try to survive in a world where the living have lost their place…

The History of Nesda

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In the very beginning of time as it known on the planes there must have been something but nobody, not even the oldest of the gods remember that time. What is known is that their were generations of deities born and the first nine deities are now known as the old gods. Most of their names and the knowledge of their existence has been lost to mortals only Io, Boccob and Fharlanghn are still called by their true names. The other six are known only by titles; the Great Herder, the Black Guardian, the Magistrate, the Crafter, the Watcher and the Primordial.
Some believe the Crafter is the true originator of the multiverse but none know for sure. When the Old Gods were born so were the lower planes symbolizing law and chaos as well as the elemental planes that other planes would be based from. The Black Guardian was given domain over the lower planes to keep the peace between devils and demons and the Primordial watched over the elemental planes. The astral plane was created to give the first sentient creatures a home to live in and explore the other planes if desired.
The only sentient creatures alive were demons, devils and true dragons. This was before the dragons had split into their many species and their immediate dispersal to the elemental planes started the slow process of differentiation. The demons and devils of this early time were beings of pure law and chaos, the dichotomy of good and evil did not exist yet but that would soon change with the first rebellion of the lower planes.
When the first rebellion began it was for freedom but as more fiends were free a select few began taking control and fought amongst themselves as well as against the Black Guardian. This infighting was between the demons and devils known in modern times and what would become the angels and archons of the upper planes. If it had not been for this infighting they likely would have succeeded in overthrowing the Black Guardian.
The first rebellion of the lower planes had two major results. The first was that the Old Gods recognized the axis of good and evil and created the upper planes for the “good fiends” to make their home. The second consequence was another generation of deities as war brought new aspects of the multiverse into being. The concept of death embodied by Nerull, the opposing ideas of righteous good and oppressive tyranny brought forth the twins Heironeous and Hextor and the concept of vengeance and justice gave birth to St. Cuthbert were just a few of the most important.
Seeing that the multiverse had been altered forever the Crafter created new planes and creatures to inhabit them. But these new creatures were different than before, while they may show some characteristics of an idea or concept they were allowed minds that could adapt new philosophies and evolve over time. The Shadow, Ethereal and Material planes were all created in this stage and the first new race to come forth was the human.
These new creatures were incredibly diverse and adaptable and prone to fickly minds and souls. This first race created many new gods as the Old Gods observed them worshipping different things, the Sun became Pelor and nature Obad-Hai. Many more would follow and this was the third generation of deities.
A little further on more races were created and this time each one received a single deity to watch over them. Dwarves, elves, gnomes, goblinoids, halflings, Kobolds and giants were given life at this time; the fourth generation of gods. At this time the second rebellion of the lower planes occurred and one of the Old Gods was struck down.
With the Black Guardian’s fall many of the Old Gods fell silent and have remained so this day. Those still known are the ones that kept active in the affairs of mortals and steered the multiverse throughout its history.

The history of Nesda stretches back farther than mere mortals can imagine and even most gods do not know all that has come and gone in the world but here is a brief history from a mortal’s point of view on the material plane. The timeline below has a very brief run-through of some of these events.

Timeline

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The Astral Calendar is the standard for the living Nations as the Dead Nations seldom keep track of time due to their immortality.

Year -1034: The capital city, Zenthos, of an ancient kingdom is destroyed overnight and becomes a haunted graveyard of the walking dead.

Year -326: The ancient kingdom of Dranis, ruled by Death Giants, is destroyed and the sunken sea is created.

Year 28: The Kingdom of Narsil is established and the Astral Calendar becomes standard across what will become the civilized lands.

Years 2180-2205: The Fallen Empire’s expansion across the Nesdan continent and then eventual fall.

Year 2203: Lord Kristak deposes King Gardisk III of Hagrath.

Year 2205: The alliance against the Fallen Empire takes form and the Great War comes to an end.

Year 2215: The city of Hagrath, Lord Kristak, many nobles, and the majority of the army is destroyed in a catastrophe.

Year 2215-2216: The country of Hagrath dissolves into rebel factions and civil war is rampant.

Year 2216: Hagrath is reformed into two smaller countries; Ethrine under a former noblewoman and the larger part renamed Athear Gix under a silver dragon named Aveswisp.

Year 2218: The countries of Celentrus, Pellingresh and the Sand Dynasty begin to decline economically as portals and other magic trade systems make water routes obsolete.

Year 2219: The country of Frent is created with the support of King Thoman Narsil III of Narsil, the move is unpopular amongst many of the nobles.

Year 2219: Mass migration of gnomes from the Sand Dynasty move to the Civilized Lands, particularly Athear Gix, Celentrus, and Pellingresh.

Year 2221: The Arcane Order is ejected from Athear Gix by Aveswisp on the grounds of extortion and treason.

Year 2222: Aveswisp disappears and is supplanted by a mysterious figure who controls beings of shadows and calls himself The Dark One in the capital. The rest of the country falls into political chaos once more.

Year 2223: The city-state of Krusk-Baggran is founded in the southwest when a group of gnolls lead by the orc Krusk take over and settle the former free-town of Baggran.

Year 2567: The first of the death generals appears in the far south and begins its conquest of the Sand Dynasty and the surrounding areas.

Year 2570: Undead are more commonly encountered in the wilds and begin attacking outpost settlements.

Year 2571: The Agrith Empire declares war on the Civilized Lands with little apparent reason.

Year 2577: The undead have made travel in between countries incredibly dangerous even with bodyguards, nonmagical communication is slowed.

Year 2580: The second and third death generals reveal themselves and it is also revealed that the Agrith Empire has been under their thumb for decades. As the Agrith Empire presses the attack a traitor among the civilized lands appears as Litira too is found to be ruled in truth by a death general and the country of Beltrad is annihilated.

Year 2581: The death generals and their armies press further on many countries are destroyed or severely pressed, only Gondu, Grisal, the Fallen Empire, Narsil and Durgoth are holding their own.

Year 2582: The Death Crusades begin in earnest as dozens of dracoliches are unleashed from the northeast and proceed to systematically destroy Gondu. Durgoth begins to lose open battles and retreats deep within the mountains. The remains of Inba, Dekmar, and Gondu are forced to flee to the islands of the Frozen archipelago to the north.

Year 2592: Of the civilized lands only Narsil and Grisal still remain in any true form of power. Durgoth has fortified themselves deep in the roots of their mountain homes and given up much of their land. The fallen empire manages to drive back the undead for a brief time and erects a massive wall of iron and ice as well as magical protections around their entire border. The remains of the merchant nations have fled to sea where they gather to form what will become the City of Wind and Wave.

Year 2594: The Fallen Empire is reformed into the Cohar Republic.

Year 2598: Narsil manages to accomplish a similar feat to the former Fallen Empire and erect a massive wall of iron and magic around themselves.

Year 2600: The age of Nerull begins. The undead stop actively campaigning against the remaining nations and build, or in some cases rebuild, the Death Cities of Coldcreep, Litria, Ak’Manus and Xenthos. Resurrection magic begins to fail and the power of those gods attached to nature begins to weaken.

Year 2843: The territories of the undead have been split up among the death generals and the dracoliches serve as the common rulers of major cities or regions. The gods of nature, Yondalla and Obad-Hai chief among them, are separated from the material plane and in a last gift they raise the landmass known as the Haven far out in the Endless Ocean and transport many of their followers there. Those that rely on nature for magic lose their abilities.

Year 2902: The former druid Alasmos Fenfeeder discovers a new source of druidic magic that allows them to regain many of their lost abilities through something akin to reverse necromancy.

Year 3043: Scrying magic becomes unreliable beyond the bounds of countries that have specially protected themselves.

Year 3278: Magical communication is entirely cut off, leaving each nation isolated from any others.

Year 3587: The territory outside of any country becomes impassable from the thickness of undead and the lands themselves are often just barely alive.

Year 3600(Current): The territories of Nerull stir once more after nearly a millennium of relative peace…

The Living Nations

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As undead in the countless millions wander about the material plane a few pockets of civilization still attempt to press through and find a way to be truly free once more. There are only a handful of nations that count the living as their rulers still: the City of Wind and Wave, Cohar Republic, Dekmar ,Durgoth, Gondu, Grisal, Inba and Narsil.

The City of Wind and Wave

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Government Type: Dynastic Magocracy
Capital: None
Ruler(s): Akmian Restere, Kaltish Castmine, Alvindor Fangleeder, Jasmine Pycni, Xantu Wister
Population: 326,000 (75% Human, 10% Halfling, 5% Gnome, 10% other)
Religion: Free worship with the exception of evil deities

The City of Wind and Wave is the remains of what were once the merchant nations along the coast, principally Celentrus and Pellingresh. They fled to sea long ago to escape the larger land armies of undead during the Death Crusades. Forced to combine their resources the fleets banded together and eventually were able to establish a massive flotilla of ships that might as well be an island. But this was not enough to protect them and they knew it well and crafted dozens of ships that housed small manors of arcane and divine casters. These ward off the undead and the influence of Nerull.

Very quickly those that controlled the means to protect the fleet with their magic found themselves in power. The power of these first individuals became consolidated in a few families and the eldest member of each house is one of the five that are the final word in this nation.

The Cohar Republic

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Government Type: Republic
Capital: Rastford
Ruler(s): Head of State, Galmere Cohar
Population: 2,235,000 (70% Goblinoid, 30% Human)
Religion: Worship of evil deities forbidden

A few hundred years before the Death Crusades began the Cohar Republic was known as the Fallen Empire and went on an empire-building crusade of their own known as the Great War. Internal unrest within the royal family of Cohar led to its armies’ failure and early on in the Death Crusades the government was reformed into a republic though the Cohar family continues to hold some of the highest offices.

The Cohar Republic was always different from the other nations, being much more further east they did not contain the same races. In fact much of the population was goblinoid at its founding and has continued to be so to this day. As the Era of Nerull began the races of the Coahr Republic became socially stratified to different duties that each excelled at.

Dekmar

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Government Type: Theocracy
Capital: Bitterleaf
Ruler(s): High Confessor Amiline Starlighter
Population: 532,000 (99% Elf, 1% other)
Religion: Elven Panthenon is the state religion but non-evil worship is allowed

Before the Death Crusades Dekmar was a nation of elves that had settled in the northern forests of the civilized lands and adopted the more urban habits of the human nations to there south. When the Great War broke out they were spared the destruction of the elves that still dwelt in the wilds to the east.

When the Death Crusades began Dekmar was hard-pressed to hold their land and the betrayal of Litria drove them from the mainland to a few islands in the Frozen archipelago that they had explored centuries before.

Durgoth

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Government Type: Divine Monarchy
Capital: Ironcage
Ruler(s): King Orthos Irongut
Population: 1,145,000 (99% Dwarf, 1% other)
Religion: Dwarven Panthenon is the state religion, all others banned

Gondu

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Government Type: Magocracy
Capital: Jade Mountain
Ruler(s): Archmage Yan’ki A’nal
Population: 236,000 (70% Human, 10% Elf, 5% Half-elf, 5% Gnome, 10% other)
Religion: Free worship of all magic gods except Vecna. All non-magic associated evil gods are banned.

Grisal

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Government Type: Divine Monarchy
Capital: Underkeep
Ruler(s): Stone Mother Darshin Mountainfoot
Population: 668,000 (99% Dwarf, 1% other)
Religion: State religion is the dwarven panthenon, free worship of good gods

The Haven

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Government Type: Tribal
Capital: None
Ruler(s): World Breather Alastin Aves
Population: 667,000 (85% Elf, 10% Human, 5% other)
Religion: Free worship of good gods

Inba

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Government Type: Military Dictatorship
Capital: Krakos
Ruler(s): Supreme General Ettlin Mascor
Population: 667,000 (85% Elf, 10% Human, 5% other)
Religion: Free worship of good gods

Narsil

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Government Type: Absolute Monarchy
Capital: Narsilii
Ruler(s): King Drakos Dashtir
Population: 1,641,000 (75% Human, 15% Halfling, 5% Elf, 5% other)

Magic in the Era of Nerull

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Arcane Magic: In all nations both living and dead Arcane Magic still thrives and especially for the living nations as resources are pushed to the limits and undead are a constant threat it is a necessity. All the living nations rely on some degree of arcane magic to guard there borders from undead and unlike divine magic it functions at the same power level everywhere.
The now island nation of Gondu remains a magocracy known as the Arcane Order and continues to rely almost exclusively on arcane magic to protect itself. Durgoth, Inba and the city of Wind and Wave also rely heavily on arcane magic but supplement it with divine.

Divine Magic: The story of divine magic is much different, where once it functioned in much the same way as arcane when Nerull began to control the material plane he dampened the influence of other deities. Outside of their protected cities clerics found that their magic wasn’t quite as strong while worshipper’s of Nerull were stronger than usual. In the Death Cities, the capitals or each Dead Nation, that difference is even greater with the blessing of Nerull infusing the area with negative energy.

Those who once relied on nature or the gods of nature to support their magic found that as Nerull’s influence grew their magic quickly dwindled until the deities of nature were forced from influencing the material plane altogether. In a last bid to protect their followers and nature those same gods raised an enormous island in the Endless Sea and transported their followers and beasts to it. There alone nature flourishes but even so for over half a century magic for druids, ranger and other nature worshipping groups did not function. Eventually Nerull’s influence grew so great that it degraded the landscapes not specially protected and became thick in the air. A druid learned to gather the bits of the living energies that had been broken down to fuel his magic once more and spread this practice quickly until it became the norm.

In territories outside the living nations all divine magic, except those cast by worshippers of Nerull, has its DC reduced by 1. Worshippers of Nerull outside the living nations receive a +1 to divine magic they cast and in the Death Cities of Coldcreep, Ak’manus, Litria and Xenthos these modifiers are doubled. There are additional worries when entering Death Cities, see the nations section for more information.

Magic Items: During the death crusades all of the living nations were pushed to the brink of extinction, most fell under the onslaught of the undead hordes but not all. As Nerull’s aura penetrated the material plane the residual magic that could be called upon to bestow magic into items became scarce. The same aura of death drove the residual magic into living beings and it is from these that the energy to craft magical items is now drawn. The task of harvesting this magical substance, known as vith, is not an easy process and almost certainly requires the death of the creature. This has made dealing with the substance somewhat dangerous as it tends to accumulate in the dealers making themselves potent targets for harvesting. Some of the living nations have created vith farms but they must be very cautious of how they spend resources and the process is tightly controlled by the governments. Only those standing high in society or government have any magic items at all usually.

Crafting Magic Items: I generally do not use experience points in my campaigns for a variety of reasons and the vith system that follows is an alternate route for creating magic items. It is untested and most likely will have some balance issues but here are the current mechanics.

The substance known as vith takes the place of experience points in the case of item creation and in most spells that require experience points as a cost. A unit of vith is equivalent to 10 experience points and is consumed just as experience would be during casting or item creation. Vith can be harvested off of any living creatures but how many units of vith can be harvested from a single creature is determined by its type and size. The base value of vith is for a medium-sized creature of that type. Creatures with class levels have additional vith that is added to their base units before being modified for size equal to ½ their class levels.

Will format table in a little bit for viewing

Extradimensional Travel: As Nerull’s Death Generals began their invasion and dracoliches took to the air normal means of travel became increasingly dangerous until it was considered suicide.

At that point teleportation was still viable and became the only means of traveling between the isolated living nations. But all extradimensional travel requires traversing one of three planes: Astral, Shadow or ethereal. Nerull’s forces invaded these planes as well and soon were able to hijack teleporting caravans to bypass living nation’s defenses. It soon became apparent to the living nations that the endeavor was far too risky after several invasions by undead on other planes and so the governments put a ban on extradimensional travel.

Now the last line of communication was by scrying and sending spells but soon even those were disrupted by the agents of Nerull. Within the confines of each living nation these spells function as normal and outside the boundaries of a living nation they work across the Undead’s territories.

Resurrection Magic: As the god of death and now near ruler of the material plane Nerull has the power to deny the souls of the dead from returning to the material plane if he wishes. As such all resurrection attempts on subjects automatically fail if the subject is not in the favor of Nerull with two exceptions. A wish spell may restore a creature to life and a druid’s reincarnation spell may also bring a subject back. The only reason that a reincarnation works is because it must be done quickly while the subject’s soul has not yet left the material plane and the druid’s unique reverse necromancy magic is able to reconstruct a body and bind a soul to it.

Corpsecrafting: In a world ruled mostly by undead necromancy has been under open and intense study leading to all sorts of new improved techniques. In particular the altering and augmenting of the dead, known as corpsecrafting has greatly improved over older methods.

Ultimate Corspecrafting Rules from Katarl on GITP with permission.

Cosmology

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The cosmology of Nesda has the material, shadow, astral and ethereal planes paralleling and overlapping each other in a middle ring. In the center of this ring lie the elemental planes of water, earth, fire, air, positive energy, negative energy and time. Below all this lies a pair of planes, the abyss and the Nine Hells while above in opposition are the Celestial realms. Small artificial planes reside as pocket in the planes they were created on.

In the Era of Nerull the most powerful influence on the material plane is obviously Nerull but many others still have influences on the land while others have been cut off or fallen to Nerull’s conquest.

The Infernal Planes
A few hundred years before the undead invasion that culminated in the Death Crusades began the demon-lord and proto god Orcus was imprisoned and the abyss flew into even greater chaos than usual. As Nerull began to invade the material plane the good gods fought back how they could. Bocoob had been harboring the remains of one of the old gods, the Black Guardian, and revived him to begin his duties once more of corralling the demons and devils so there was one less front. There was resistance from both demons and devils of course, especially with the top arch-devil Asmodeus who was a deity himself in power, but eventually the Black Guardian pushed his will of peace onto these creatures. Unfortunately, Asmodeus alone needed a great deal of power to contain and some demon-lords and arch devils escaped the Black Guardians grasp fleeing to small demiplanes where they could try and rebuild their power individually but very few of the lower demons or devils could escape with them and so these creatures which once commanded thousands have only a handful of servants.

The Celestial Planes
As Nerull’s plans of domination for the material plan were made clear to the good gods swift action had to be undertaken but Nerull is one of the oldest forces and had already taken measures to seal away other deities that could threaten him. As his armies moved across the material plane his power grew and he was able to shut out the deities of nature entirely from the material plane. Pelor, Heironeuos, Bocoob and St. Cuthbert have been Nerull’s chief opponents and each has had to concentrate their powers on the relatively small areas of the living nations just to keep the same level of power they once had. Outside those boundaries they are weakened by Nerull’s interference. They have come to a standstill with Nerull for now, but it is tenuous and some of the more aggressive gods are pushing for action.

Original Deities
Ashriel
Ashriel is a mysterious and new deity that is just beginning to emerge on the material plane, he is lawful neutral and his sign is a purple and black butterfly with a skull pattern on its wings. His titles include the Shadow Count and the Spirit of Dusk. Ashriel’s goals are not known and as a new power his worshippers are few, let alone any temples. Among his few worshippers are those that seek power from shadow and work in them as well. The domains he is associated with are Knowledge, Magic and Trickery and his favored weapon is the rapier.

Elysian
Elysian was a mortal that ascended to godhood along with Krusk and Randusk a few centuries before the Death Generals appeared. He is chaotic neutral and is prone to whims of curiosity and destruction. He also has an affinity for blood which has given him the title of Blood Seeker. His symbol is a bloody palm with pulsing veins. His followers are berserkers and destructive mages, particularly sorcerers, and often they are multiclassed. His domains are Chaos, Blood and Destruction and his favored weapon is the punching dagger.

Krusk
Krusk rose to the level of a deity at the same time as Randusk and Elysian from once being a mortal orc, he is true neutral. He has actively explored the entirety of the material plane and slew the demon-lord Yeeghonu and took his place as the gnoll’s deity. He is also immensely strong physically and surprisingly intelligent. His worshippers are mostly gnolls and goblinoids that find strength in his teaching to shrug off the pain of slavery. His symbol is of a massive orc wearing a gnoll-like pelt and wielding a greatsword. The domains he is associated with are Strength, Travel and Competition and his favored weapon is the greatsword.

Randusk
Randusk arose to godhood along with Krusk and Elysian a few centuries before the Death Crusades, he is neutral evil. He was too ambitious and nearly became a pawn of Nerull but was rescued by Ashriel but not before he was partially transformed to an undead. He holds the title of the half-dead herald, the wisp and the Scheming shadow and his symbol is that a pair of eyes one a pinprick of red the other blue staring out from a black background. His followers are few and secretive in their worship for he is partially undead himself and creatures in both the living and dead nations oppose him. His domains are Celerity, Domination and Trickery and his favored weapon is the crossbow.

The Black Guardian
One of the old gods that fashioned the multiverse the Black Guardian’s actual name has been lost to time even by the god himself. His task at the beginning of time was to suppress the beings of chaos, demons and devils, from warring on each other. He did this through mental domination but some slipped from his control and the first rebellion occurred. The Black Guardian lost one eye but was able to regain control but unknown to him the demon Orcus, who was a minor general in the first rebellion, rose from the dead and because of his state was immune to the Black Guardian’s mind control. He gathered his own forces and rebelled once more this time successfully deposing the Black Guardian and initiating the Blood War.

The Black Guardian’s soul was split into 6 pieces across the planes of existence in his glass eye until all the piece were gathered once more by a group of adventurers that included Krusk, Randusk and Elysian. They gave the pieces to Bocoob who resurrected the Black Guardian at the start of the Death Crusades to resume his duty once more. While he was successful in retaking control of the demons and devils some of the more powerful ones escaped from his will and fled to demiplanes.

The Black Guardian is true neutral and has few followers though he has a fair amount of temples in his honor. His followers are generally reserved and strong-willed with a sense of purpose. The Black Guardian’s Symbol is an old man in a black cloak looking out with one eye. His domains are Mind, Protection and Domination and his favored weapon is the quarterstaff.

The Great Herder
The Great Herder is one of the Old Gods that helped create the multiverse, he is the overgod of all living things, particularly animals, he is true neutral. His followers are almost nonexistent as he distanced himself from mortal affairs long ago and very few even know of his existence. His symbol is a chimera lying asleep. The domains he is associated with are Animal, Earth and Plant and his favored weapon is the sap.

The Magistrate
One of the Old Gods that fashioned the multiverse the Magistrate is the grand organizer of all civilizations good and evil, urbanized or tribal. She is true neutral and her followers are extremely few and far between since societies can’t reconcile their differences and appreciate their similarities and accomplishments. Her symbol is an inked quill poised over a blank parchment. The domains she is associated with are Community, Creation and Protection and her favored weapon is the longsword.

The Crafter
The Crafter is an entity almost entirely unknown to mortals or even young gods as it is one of the Old Gods that fashioned the world, the Crafter may even be the original God that began all creation but such questions can only be speculated upon as the Crafter has been silent since near the beginning of time. The Crafter is true neutral and its symbol is a block of clay with a sculpting knife leaning on it. The Crafter’s domains are Creation, Dream and Mysticism and his favored weapon is the knife (dagger).

Watcher
The Watcher is one of the Old Gods that created the multiverse. He is the record-keeper observing and seeing all but never taking part in the events, he is true neutral. Watcher’s followers are scattered across the planes and are solitary contemplative creatures. His symbol is a white bird overlooking a city from the sky. His domains are Knowledge, Travel and Oracle and his favored weapon is the rapier.

The Primordial
The Primordial is one of the Old Gods that existed at the beginning of the multiverse. The Primordial is a being representative of the four elements of nature, it is true neutral. The Primordial’s followers are most common, for obvious reasons, on the elemental planes but occasionally a mage with an elemental affinity will worship The Primordial as well. His symbol is diamond with a symbol for each element in one corner. The Primordial’s domains are Air, Earth, Fire and Water and its favored weapon is the great club.

Standard Deity Alterations
Io
One of the Old Gods that helped forge the world Io is true neutral and the over-god of all dragonkind. When Nerull took to conquering the material plane many gods, particularly Bahamut, turned to Io for guidance and opposition to his actions. Io made no move, in fact he did not respond in any way and though he still grants his followers spells he does not answer their calls.

Nerull
Death is inevitable for all things but in the very beginning of the world this was not so. Death did not yet exist but it did not take long and Nerull was born as the second generation of deities. As Nerull watched the living go about their lives and then cower in fear of him he was angered. When the gods took the souls of their followers instead of letting him have them he was spiteful, he had nothing else. All things should experience death, true death, where not even the spirit was allowed to survive. So Nerull selected his avatar on the material plane and set him forth with a grand plan. Over millennia his forces slowly grew as powerful undead were recruited and hordes stored away until as last the time to attack came.

Nerull unleashed his forces on all fronts, the material plane, the shadow plane, the ethereal plane and the celestial realms to punish even the great deities of old for their arrogance. Though the celestial realm went unconquered Nerull succeeded in securing the ethereal, shadow and astral plane as well as most of the material plane. With the lines drawn Nerull has been working to coerce some of the evil deities to his side and his forces are stirring again.

Orcus
Orcus once overthrew the Black Guardian in the second revolt of the lower planes and though he was never a true deity his powers were on par with them and he had many followers. In a bid to take control of the abyss Orcus attempted to reassemble the shards of the Black Guardian’s spirit and then absorb his powers but this plot went awry and Orcus’ soul was trapped and then destroyed instead. This was good news as far as most were concerned but Orcus’ undead hordes were quickly assimilated into Nerull’s forces without much notice, bolstering his power in preparation.

Obad-Hai
The patron god of nature Obad-Hai once has many followers on the material plane but as Nerull’s influence crept across the land his power became greatly weakened. Eventually he was cut off entirely from the material plane and he now seeks a means to defeat Nerull and restore nature’s proper balance.

Vecna
The lich-lord of forbidden knowledge he and Nerull forged an alliance long ago and it was from Vecna that the secret of dracolich transformation. Their plans were laid togethether but Nerull betrayed Vecna and forced him into servitude. Now the lich-lord is forced to divulge all his mysteries to Nerull even as he urges his few remaining followers to hide away any knowledge they can and seek a way to free him.

Wee Jas
The demanding goddess once tried to thwart the plans of Nerull and maintain some control over the undead and necromancers. She was one of the first gods to note Nerull’s advances but she had no allies among the powerful deities of good that would be able to do something until it was too late. After the death crusades and the assaults on the celestial realms Nerull tempted her to his side to begin tipping the scales of power in his favor.

Yondalla
Goddess of nature and bounty Yondalla was the favored deity of halflings before the Era of Nerull. Like other gods of nature as Nerull’s power increased on the material plane hers steadily decreased until she was cut off entirely. She seeks to recommune with her lost followers and put Nerull back in his place.