Arikona: Wounds in the Wind

# Arikona: Wounds in the Wind
S*ilk, cloth, and paper form the wings of flight that a lone human takes up in his descent through the Aetherian Sea. As time climbs by, it becomes clearer this zealot has every intention to fall forever through the ethereal winds.*

*Gears of wood turn and groan, water flows through small channels and into hanging basins, and a machine of wood and water awakens into full form, spilling out its contents onto fragile green sprouts and filling life into the apothecary's shop. A device reminiscent of metal-starved times.*

*A priestess adorned in cloth and silk treads smooth fingers across the flimsy paper filling her prayer book. Tiny miracles drip from her pierced tongue, bringing forth spirits that cling to her faith-soaked voice. No longer will the Lotus bind her.*

**Floating Continents.** Arikona is a world not bound into one solid piece, but rather hallmarked by massive continents and scattered islands that float above an even more colossal sea of whipping winds. Islands, both small and world-spanning, nurture the nations, tribes, and collectives of mortals that dwell and adapt to this wind whipped world. Its people trade, travel, communicate, and go to war riding upon its winds through the aid of beasts, inventions, and long practiced magics. At the edge, and beyond, of every continent is a sheer drop into a bottomless sea of furious winds called the Aetherian Sea.

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**Ancient Peoples.** Traditions, long held and warped by fickle mortal minds, are held with utmost importance, just like the countless gods and faiths worshiped here. Its peoples have reigned here, within their homelands and beyond, since ancient times, and have carried forth many of the ideas and ideals of those ages.

**Gods on High.** Zealotry and apostasy, both opposite extremes of faith itself, manifest themselves within the many wandering souls that seek comfort, purpose, dedication, and worth within the arms of the divine. Many inhabitants of this world pray, sacrifice to, and worship at least one or two different gods, while those with faith flowing forth from their very souls find themselves displaying powerful magics.

**High Magic** Airships float like butterflies and swifts upon the air, schools composed of stone and mortar towers house eager apprentices of magic, glass-roofed apothecaries hide tiny glints of old magic within their rare and precious plants, and even the constellations in the sky spell out runes of magical power when formed correctly. This world is drenched in magic, and nary a commoner will live their lives totally free of its influence.

**Antiquity.** Not without tones of medieval squalidity, this setting carries dominant tones of bronze age antiquity. However, the world does not lack for technologies of later classical and medieval ages, like steel, plate armor, and advanced metallurgy. This is mostly reflected in the architecture and lifestyles of average people.

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 Some continents remain whole for their entire breadth, while others are a collection of broken floating islands that drift apart and collide at random interludes.
 
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## Chapter One: Worldly Lore

*"First was the Aether. Uncontrolled and uncontained power, the primal progenitor of what would later become the manifestation of all magic, the Weave. Walking with this power, both masters and victims to its wistful flow, were the Primordials and their children, the elementals. They walked through the pale gray fog of nothingness that was their world, legs and arms able to reach into an impossibly bottomless world."*

*"Then, from this primordial crucible of power and potential, came the Paragons. The gods that first roamed the world in its infancy, the gods who were horrified by the world's empty and dark horrors. With hammer, fist, and grit these children, paragons of power and might, began the long and violent process of taking apart their elemental rivals and using their colossal bodies to form the physical world in all of its aspects. Some elementals fought back, others were indifferent or ignorant to the change they faced as they found no difference in living as the earth, the lakes, the winds, and the wildfires; these passive elementals became spirits of nature, filling their role with familiarity and duty."*

*"The Primordials, in their agedness and might, did not accept the shift of power and the new orderly world being formed. In retaliation, they flung their bodies and their kin towards the god's creations with intent to plunge each fragile ecosystem into true chaos. Making enemies of all with even the faintest inclination towards law, even casting their own smaller elemental children aside, their battle was futile, if long fought. When the gods reigned supreme, their world-spanning bodies would be slain and formed into the world we all know."*

*"Water, earth, fire, and wind, all primal elements that combine to form the crucible that had sown the first seeds of flesh- and petal-bound life. The gods loved these beings, and gave to them the world too large and, even still, too chaotic for them to truly inhabit. From then, and forwards, mortals would come into power and fall from it, kingdoms would be built and would crumble, tribes would hunt and be hunted, and life, as we knew it, was good."*

*-The introductory excerpt from "Of Glories Gone and Gilded", written by Lotus-bearer Atrazen Felterwind.*

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> Arikona takes light aesthetic and cultural inspirations from the many Indo-asian cultures of antiquity, while also including the typical basis of kings and kingdoms prevalent in Western European history. All the while dressed in feathers and silk and adapted to a floating world hallmarked by whipping winds, flying creatures, and elemental chaos seeping in from beyond. The flying are closest to divinity and the truly groundlocked are wretches. Players making characters can interpret their own adaptations of the above and graft them onto their own characters with as little or as much quantity as they want

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The world of Arikona is steeped in a "wild" sentiment, down to its very bones. Shrines to forgotten spirits and pagan deities hide within the forgotten bowels of cities. Mythical creatures stalk the outside of outland villages, waiting to pounce on or play with whomever they happen upon. Oathbound warriors consign themselves to a thus far forgotten aspect of their ancient pact with the gods. Powerful things, unknown things, run freely within the world of mortal kind and its order; and so do its people emulate this free-spirited nature in their culture, aesthetic, and religions.

Whatever mysterious and enigmatic forces dwell within the hidden places of this world, they often have a sense of deep familiarity and incredible distance. These aspects have a closeness to the natural world -to the "green and growing", carry a hint of mysterious magic, and are unclear whether they are safe or dangerous. Nature and magic coexist and often depend upon each other in many cases. The powerful, large, and ordered worship the gods and their typical pantheons, while the lesser, the meek, and the common often revert to old values of Animism and spirit worship.

On a more physical level, the world is defined by how cultures and nations are influenced by the world's "floating" state. How does trade occur when the sea is not water, but an endless swathe of storm and sky? How do nations go to war and siege, when airships can circle a dying city like vultures? How do commoners and peasants, otherwise uneducated, react to the abundant magic and shift in reality? What would a peoples, whom settle upon floating islands, look like? What does this world find beautiful because of the abundant theme of winds and skies, what do they find ugly?

### Using this Setting

Arikona, as a setting, embraces secrets and details. Meaning that players are encouraged to go beyond the established lore and create a part of the world to call their own. A tribe, a religion, a royal family, a small nation, an ethnic group, or any combination of the latter can allow a character to feel like a genuine part of the world and its landscape. Consult your DM on how you can do this, what you would want, and how deep you want to do into it. While the established setting and its lore should be respected, and anything created within the "free space" must be done so in a reasonable way, these aspects can go a long way to impacting the setting and the campaign at large.

In terms of its established themes, players can expect to find..

* **High Magic:** Arcane academies, mageocracies, and hidden occult orders; each of these are all but expected in this world.
* **Intrigue:** Past wars and their scars, old rivalries and alliances, ancient examples of complex political and cultural webs. Characters may stumble upon each and every one of these.
* **"Airpunk":** Floating cities and islands, boats that fly  across the Aetherian Sea, canvas gliders, and kites everywhere. The sky and other flying things is a massive influence in the world.

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 "Ghost Islands" are small domains and realms, once settled, now controlled by none. However, within the scars of old settlements, vestiges of old dynasties feed upon what was left behind.
 
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### Ancient and Drifting Stories
When mortal kind was young and humanity itself hadn't even arose from the mud and clay yet (as believed by the Holy Lotus), the world even then still wasn't isolated and disconnected by the great distances between the islands and the continents. Shifting and moving in the Aetherian Sea, sometimes islands would collide or drift near each other, allowing denizens of either to "hop" between each home to trade, emigrate, or go to war with each other.

Such times were seen as omens of great change, malign or graceful. However, when entire continents drift near each other or collided with one another, it was and still is seen as a portent of doom and suffering. Thankfully, such examples are legendarily mythical, and oftentimes powerful spellcasters of all nations come together to try and reverse the process. When it does happen however, landmass churns as earthquakes sound out, magma forms between the two colliding landmasses, and all manner of natural disasters that both destroy and reshape nations occur with a sense of finality.

Kingdoms and great collectives that had otherwise been prospering and lavishing within their golden ages met their end when their lands collided and melded with (or broke off from) larger floating realms. This great change is a constant within Arikona, and most cultures must come to terms with this as a fact of life -incorporating these messages into wisdom and literature alike; the saving grace being that, even the most rapid of these events come relatively slowly in terms of mortal lives.

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### Of Wood and Water
The people of Arikona are incredibly inventive; a powerful tool when mixed with scarcity. As it was, much of Arikona was metal starved for a great period of time, as popular myth had it that many of the strip mines would result in the workers and resources falling through the earth. Until that myth was disproved, in lieu of metal and other strong materials the many civilizations of Arikona dealt in wooden tools -enchanted or treated to be especially strong. Melee weaponry was often given to the elite, while wielding bows and arrows (tipped with flint or obsidian glass) was commonplace for even the peasantry. Machines of clever inventiveness, such as irrigation systems, pulleys, windmills, and cranes, were operated with wooden gears, wheels, and weighted basins that would pool or drain water to gather momentum. Using canvas sails was also a common factor, which are often strong enough to act as rudimentary elevators. Woodcarving and carpentry became synonymous with the trade of engineering and artifice. Even today, where metals are now abundantly found, civilians often employ the use of water wheels, wind sails, and weighted basins to empower machines that make their lives easier.

### Blood and Bronze
As time went on, and metal became more abundant alongside the art of magic and artifice, traveling from landmass to landmass in search of resources (whether they were unclaimed or otherwise was not exactly considered important) became more popular. Competition became fiercer and fiercer. Nations would swell and bloat in size, until the natural drifting of the lands forced once connected realms to become alien to each other. This, of course, entailed no small amount of bloodshed.

Naval warfare, taken place in the sky, was often the most popular form of warfare, as airships and gliders became much more commonplace and easier to produce. Sieges of cities often created scenes where enemy ships circled around and above cities and their walls like sharks circling dying prey. Mass warfare, though a necessity in war, was often sidelined in lieu of more intimate and glorious skirmishes and single combat. Champions and elite warriors would battle to the death, while the lesser soldiers would cheer on, and death would often incite the beginning of a charge from both sides; all of this after one took a heavy blow to their morale, seeing their warrior fall.

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  Commonly, smaller "Skylands" will float above larger landmasses, remaining part of the geography as if pulled by a constant gravitational force. Many of the more affluent and wealthy use these islands as private land for their villas and mansions, or criminals may hide up within them.

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## Chapter Two: Current Times
The realms of Arikona are ancient and ever changing, however their days of yore aren't so immediately important as their most recent developments. Listed here are some of the recent age's most important events in chronological order.

### Faith and Ancestry
In the interim of wars igniting and nations rising and falling, its people moved on from each disaster and blessing as ages went by and generations were replaced. Each peoples left behind something of their own to the world with each passing. Now and before, the peoples of Arikona are very devout and faithful to the gods. However, in the Age of Zeal, such qualities were only heightened when the *Corvinian Theocracy* entered into a golden age. Ensuring that the newfound wealth and prosperity, and henceforth the glory, of such an age only went to their desired gods, Corvain began to quickly crack down on many pagan deities and religions. Even more criminalized were the cults of elemental evil, which blasphemed against all "Flesh and Petalbound" life. Though mainly only illegal within Corvain, trends of vindication and stigmatism for these religions began to appear elsewhere in the world.

Soon, paganism and "Elemental Fundamentalism" became a form of rebellion against tyrannical and oppressive systems for its believers, but whether or not a person was truly devout to the elementals or pagan gods were individual matters. Both sides became much more zealous in their divide, and a cycle of hatred and fear was built. This made it so that, when the Age of Zeal, had ended, the bitterness would remain for centuries.

### Smoke in the Wind 
Granted, many ages and centuries would go by in relative peace and quiet before the true militarization began. However, with untested powers in hand, many sovereigns began the decline into greed-borne depravity. The fires of industry were spurred and ore and spirit were in plenty in the nations of mortal kind. Tribes sold themselves and their manpower in return for material rewards, monasteries and temples all over were converted into armories and academies of war as faiths sold the gods out, and kingdoms scoured the lands in search for more resources to grow their fragile empires. The world seemed ready to rend itself apart, but at the culmination of a declaration of war, the world paused.

A duo of trading kingdoms, who have long since banded together for protection, became interconnected and one whole nation through a political marriage. The Orinsvurn and the Kwiano trading kingdoms became the **Twinbird Empire**, quickly gaining its title as the *Ascendant Domain* or to others, the *Voraunt*. Given this title for sole purpose of highlighting the grandeur of its new Empress and Emperor, the Ascendant Domain stands to symbolize the nation's ambitions to became more like an unbreakable aspect of life in the world; never to be thrown to the winds like the many empires before it.

Intimidated by the pure force of power both of these states threatened the world with, neighboring countries quickly went on the offensive. Countries such as the "Border Kingdom" of *Eiost*, the *Emirates of Shasca*, the islanders of *Wisteria* (albeit, coerced into action), and the Corvinian Theocracy agreed to put down their differences in order to dismantle the "newcomer" that had stirred up the worldly status quo; forming an alliance known as the Red-White Rose Coalition. The war lasted only 3 years and 11 months. The forces of the Rose were slaughtered, and forced into accepting costly and humiliating terms of surrender. The Corvinian Theocracy betrayed the Coalition midway through the war, beginning its trend into a Twinbird victory.

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 Many faiths and deities, and the cultures that built themselves around such things, became obscured when Corvain demonized them. As such, many pagan faiths only have a paltry few in their following. Fewer who truly remember their gods.
 
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For its change in loyalty, Corvain gained quite a bit of prestige, and was essentially allowed to both retain its many freedoms and entrusted with obligations. While the other states fell down a route of puppetry and colonialism, Corvain was supported by the Twinbird and its subsidiaries in its religious matters.

### The Petals of Many
Corvain, with the support of the Twinbird Empire and its puppets, had established the Holy Lotus. It was, in its intent, a conglomerate religious entity that incorporated the many gods and their faiths into one collective. The Holy Lotus would oversee the institutions of faith it presided over, ensuring their fealty, faith, and purity to their oaths, while itself acting as the conduit through which an entire pantheon of deities can enact their will; this pantheon being the Paragon. Additionally, it further solidified Corvain's right to criminalize pagan faiths and regulate the rest, as the Holy Lotus was the prime figure in the world who decreed what faith was "true" and what was an insult to the true. Other foreign countries, when faced with such ardent power and influence, had to accept the Lotus' intervention and oversight, which was admittedly weaker and more laissez-faire in foreign lands.

Symbolically, a Lotus has about 8 petals. Each petal represents each faith that originated within the institution, the gods of the Paragon pantheon. Each time a new faith is added to the Lotus, referred to as "vassal faiths", a new petal is added, representing the Lotus' growth and ascendancy into an extraordinary figure as it unites more and more of the religious world. Vassal faiths are expected to give tribute in return for the legitimacy and support the Lotus provides, which can take the forms of many kinds of wealth. Coin, relics, and art are some of the provided means of tribute. However, some churches often hand off young acolytes, essentially children, to the Lotus as tribute instead, calling them "Tribunal Pilgrims" as they are sent off to live in whatever land and train in the ways of whatever the Lotus chooses for them. Some of these children were never responsibilities of the churches they were made tribute within, sometimes being forced from the clutches of vulnerable parents by desperate (or stingy) churches.

Despite the world not being centered entirely within faith, the Holy Lotus and its influence still manages to force a grand amount of change within the world.

### Puppets and Insurgency
As Corvain enjoyed the benefits of its fickle loyalties, the rest of the Coalition nations faced heavy burdens in order to make reparations for their "hostility". Exorbitant embassy rights, exhaustive resource demands, circles of Twinbird influence, and other policies essentially made the countries of Eiost, Shasca, and Wisteria colonies and puppets of the Twinbird Empire; although the empire itself would call them its protectorates.

Outcries from other worldly nations rang out towards the Ascendant Domain, in fear of Twinbird power or in genuine shock and awe of such horrid treatment. Although much of those disappeared as trade agreements and insights into arcane research (which were stolen from Wisteria and Eiost) sprouted forth. While the nations of the Coalition lived in poverty, the rest of the world experienced economic prosperity. Parties and organizations began to form, trying to regain their national freedoms. Many small, while others genuinely gaining the attention of their oppressors.

Scripts of papyrus, tablets of stone, paper lanterns, and kites can be found plastered with special symbols of resistance, utterly incomprehensible to those not in the know. Small skirmishes can happen in the streets, catching innocents in the crossfire and making neighborhoods unsafe. Twinbird punishments come swift and harsh to already impoverished and reeling communities, which only makes resistance that much more stubborn, spiteful, and resentful. However they fight, as the years pass and progress is made towards rebuilding what was lost, the memories of the war fade away as do the many homes, families, and cultures caught in war's fire. Collaborators even have begun their rise to power, working with the Twinbird Empire to bring food, medicine, and order to the streets (sometimes somewhat successful). There are few things that could be called benefits of Twinbird occupation, but it has modernized the somewhat backwards technological state of the region.

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 Abandoned, entire towns have been fled from as communities were forced to move elsewhere. Scavengers and dungeon delvers make considerable coin, wading deep into history's forgotten places, and shrines hold angry and spurned spirits who miss their worship and tribute.
 
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### A Young Diaspora

While the continent of Vingoth -parent realm to the Twinbird Empire- had been warring, other distant lands elsewhere had begun to answer their own calls to conflict. The *Voxistanii Magocracy*, once allied with the two trading kingdoms before their inevitable unification, refused the call to war to come to their defense. Stating that the Twinbird Empire was no longer the original governing body that their ancestors had made a defense pact with decades ago. The Ascendant Domain, angered by the potential lives Voxistanii aid could have saved, has cut off nearly all of its contact with the magocracy. It has closed trade routes and travel ports to and from their continent. Only one embassy remains within the Imperial capital, Vesipoli, that tries to salvage potential relations with the newly formed superpower.

However, the closing of ports and contact with the magocracy has had dire effects on pilgrims, migrants, and many other Kudor natives whom wish to go home. Shrinetender tribals, whom have traveled abroad before the war, find themselves unable to go back home to their families. Desperate foreigners, treated harshly by Twinbird citizens, scrape what they can so they may return home via their own means or smuggle themselves upon dangerous journeys. Additionally, the magocracy had opened many magical schools as subsidiaries to their larger main academy back home. With the war, they become under massive threat from resentful imperial armies. Young apprentices and professors both were pressed into military service (although not explicitly conscripted, they had little choice in the matter). Most of these schools were raided and their inhabitants denied diplomatic immunity, and now after the war these veterans of war or disheveled students of magic find no way to go back home.

### Blacklists and Whitelists

Coincidentally, as the Twinbird Empire took to book burning and propaganda to maintain a cultural domination upon its new "protectorates", major scholarly circles were suddenly denied access to the *Aes Adei*, the world's most important archive of literature and a center of education for all. Cloistered and devoted to themselves and their patron god, its archivists tend to take apolitical stances in worldly affairs. However, in the midst of the war, many Eiostan and Shascan libraries and schoolhouses were burned down; along with them went countless pieces of poetry, academia, mysteries, unread stories, and other pieces of literature. Spurned on by their divine mission, the archivists of Aes Adei were angered by this massive loss of mortal achievement. Especially abhorrent to them was the constant twisting of knowledge that the Twinbird committed in order to maintain an edge over their rivals. Henceforth, while average citizens and commoners could theoretically make the trip and join them, the imperial bloodline, its future children, and all Twinbird scholarly circles and organizations were barred from Aesite aid. In return, blacklisted scholars seek other means, sometimes dubious, to sate their intellectual curiosities about mortal nature, the cosmos, and more.

### Shades of Occultism

However, many have begun to question the Aes Adei and its legitimacy. Truly an ancient catalog of mortal literature, and an outlet for the highest of educations, the archive has only survived so long by being purely apolitical and removed from the world (and henceforth, its issues). Never before has it truly barred accessed to anyone, even those whom have used its knowledge for their own selfish needs; that also includes nations which have practiced propaganda and book burning. Why begin with the Twinbird, whom still offer the Aes Adei grand reparations to this day? Many suspect the archive is trying to hide something by fully isolating itself.

Throughout the ages the archive has existed through, it has collected countless pieces of literature scrawled onto any medium. Stone and clay slabs, ceramic tiles, sheets of vellum, parchment, sheepskin, preserved bark, and other countless mediums of mortal transcript have survived and been preserved only through the Aes Adei. Due to this immensity, traveling through their halls and libraries is akin to moving through a forest of labyrinthine bookshelves, tables, and drawers. Without guides, many scholars can get lost, and while there has been no recorded deaths due to such there have been murders and other close calls before.

Such space and storage is near impossible to maintain, and only the help of magical aides and spells allow such an archive to remain functional. Even then, the bureaucratic demand for organization and reordering oftentimes allows many books and tomes to go missing. Literature of both heretical and occult nature, stored for safekeeping or archived on accident may also go missing, only to be found within the hands of overly curious and hidden sages who find it easy to retreat in their own halls. All this to say, there are many who suspect that pockets of Aes Adei allow for the survival of occult circles, or that the entire archive is in of its own self a sphere of safety for those who practice the profane.

### A King of Rust
On the shattered continent of Cor'kivna, the dragonborn of *Hakorrlund* have a tradition of sending out their young, particularly their first- and thirdborns, into the *Koorode Badlands* as a trial of strength. Should they come back, alive and mentally sound, they would be welcomed as worthy warriors of the Exarchate. While time has proven this is no meager feat, and only the strong survive even brief tirades into the badlands, in recent ages some dragonborn have come back with strange marks of old, dead languages; or just not come back at all. Despite the varied nature of these markings, and the fact that many attest to not knowing where they gained them from, each one that bears these marks has faint recollections of a single entity, the "King of Rust". Many believe that is is a new god coming to make its name known in the Bleeding Lands, while others believe it to be a prophesied sovereign that will rally all the realm's warriors in order to conquer the entire continent; as of such, many dragonborn have begun to vy for power in order to *become* the King of Rust. Words of warring dragonborn, on a crusade for the new god, have spread far and wide.

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### Chanting from Afar
The elves of *Iversyl*, despite being such an ancient race, are relatively new to the world at large. Having remained within the feywild for a millennium and more due to an ancient pact, they had returned to the Material Plane about a century ago since. From that time, reappearing into northern Cor'kivna where the land is fertile and temperate, they have been building a tetrarchy and reestablishing a name for the elven race in Arikona.

However, as of now when they've built an impressive nation of their own, in spite of the drama and chaos their appearance has caused, the elven tetrarchy has begun to receive their own threats of war. Hakkorlund, the Ostrikkan Huntrealm, and its own exiles have been hounding at their doorstep. Some call for a crusade, others seek the thrill of a hunt, while some simply want retribution for their ostracism and exile. Those that live among the elves, such as the halflings and gnomes alongside the wood elves and outlander citizens, find themselves having to content with the possibility of an especially brutal war on the horizon. Some villages have already spoken of raids, where both riches and people are taken away.

### Chains and Hunger
It is no surprise that Cor'kivna is a land where slavery and servitude are common. The dragonborn of Hakkorlund take prisoners of war and outsiders as servants, alongside the foul treatment of the kobolds and lizardfolk they find. The Badlands is a safe haven for those who wish to make illicit and dubious dealings in the dark, where few bounty hunters will go. Even the Iversyl Tetrarchy will sometimes make servants out of prisoners -although, at least they can attain their freedom (on a elf's lifespan, unfortunately). Only the Ostrikkan Huntrealm will break chains and set escaped slaves free to roam alongside them (so long as they prove strong), yet they do not make it their obligation either.

However, as of recently, whispers in the darkest corners of religious and occult circles have spoken of a new deity. A goddess in chains. A goddess to slaves and servitude; a deity who serves, instead of demanding service. Some confuse this new deity for *Requiem*, goddess of forgiveness and freedom, who is often seen as a "Chainbreaker". Word only grows more and more of this deity who protects those whom no one else will or can. She is an embodiment of the suffering, despair, and vulnerability of those locked away or in forced submission. Some servants even dream of this deity, finding themselves devotees to her. Those that revere her call her a savior to sinners and servants, who honors their unwilling sacrifice and in turn lightens their burden. Those that hate her gave her a name; a name to define and rebuke her with. Those that hate her, named her *Evarie*.

There are those who join her outside of servitude instead, those whom have never known or understood the pain of being shackled or imprisoned. These servants seek out those in chains and hope to free them from their bondage, and they have very little qualms about the amount of bloodshed necessary to enact such a will.

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 The elves of Iversyl are often seen with a great measure of awe, fear, and with a mythical quality. Their clothing, weaponry, magics, and architecture have compelled many to see the elven nation with an almost demigod-like quality.
 
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## Chapter Three: Nations of the World

Arikona has three main continents which play host to the majority of the recognized nations of the mortal world, leaving many islands flying about within the Aetherian Sea to be unnamed and uncharted. This section will cover all of these nations and more at the surface level, explained to the same level a local to the area might understand.

### Where Do I Belong?
Usually, players already have character concepts that they've made in advance and want to apply. However, they may be hesitant to show them off because they might not be able attach important aspects of their backstory to the world they are about to be ushered into. This, combined with any anxiety that may show itself when showing off a piece of their own attempt at writing, can cause players to drop a developed and fondly thought of character in favor of one that fits the world. Before making any decisions such as the aforementioned, discuss with your DM if they can make exceptions or point out places in which your character would most likely be born or what area would fit them best. There will usually always be small, yet still applicable, exceptions to the written lore that can be worked with.

### Do I Have To Pick One?
While most campaigns will typically deal with adventures within the Material Plane, and henceforth be influenced by the nations and cultures of that realm, characters don't explicitly need to come from Arikona to adventure within it. Outside of the Material Plane, and beyond the miasma that cloaks the Inner Planes from the Outer Planes, are different realms and domains filled with extraplanar life and influence. A character could have once resided within Feywild for a time, or even have had come from the dreary and death-ridden depths of the Shadowfell. Perhaps they lived within an underwater city, kept hidden inside a massive pocket of air, within the Elemental Plane of Water. Maybe they came from the City of Brass within the Elemental Plane of Fire, an escaped slave seeking greener pastures within the Material Plane.

While players should be careful about making characters that have lived within the Outer Planes (as any character who has lived to see the theoretical afterlives is a complicated one), there are small pockets of mortals living where most others could only dream of. For example, some pockets of the Nine Hells, where businesses reign and deals are struck, can sometimes hold mortal communities within them.

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 Iversyl politicking and diplomacy is often dramatic and thespian on its surface. Good scenery, interesting vocabulary, and a decent force of personality goes a long way into making allies.
 
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## Corvain

#### Capital: Gildthrone

#### Hallmarks: Faith, Gods, Wine, Florentine Architecture, Animal Husbandry

Known commonly as the "Corvinian Theocracy", or just "the Theocracy", very few are not aware of Corvain's aptitude towards faith and religion. Pilgrims, missionaries, and theologians all seeks its prosperous lands to prove their devotion and enlighten themselves to the varied histories and lore surrounding the gods themselves. Today, Corvain is still the greatest pillar of religious worship and faith in the world, and a force to be reckoned with should all of its faiths unite. However, where once Corvain was a proud and enduring bastion of civilization in the world, now it seems the Priest-King and his parishes have slipped into a more oppressive stance towards faith and worship.

### Background

Corvain was settled in times before records and writing, when people read in beads and strings instead of words and transcript. Its ancient settlers were simple shepherds and hillfolk, who lived simple, bucolic lives in the countryside. In these ages, the Paragons themselves walked among mortal kind, working to create the world that would become Arikona. In their labors, the Paragons would become exhausted each and all, yet they would have no home nor refuge to return to. It was the ancient Corvinian people who would offer them shelter, food, drink, rest, and reprise within their own homes as honored guests and family. For these kind gestures, and the brotherhood forged between ancient mortal kind and the High Gods, the Paragons lavished them with blessings and celestial children, and granted them ambition, fire, and purpose that would forge the grandest of nations.

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These ancient pacts and newfound devotion to the gods, who were akin to close family, would grant Corvain the divine right and obligation spread far and wide. More than that, the divine magics and powers granted to their ilk allowed them to survive harsh and brutal ages. The Priest-King, bearing divine blood himself, is both a warden to these ancient pacts and an authoritative figure who must act out the will of the gods through mortal law.

### Culture and Lifestyle
#### Social Hierarchy
Ordinary people, the laborers, lesser clergy, and smalltime traders, carve out often satisfying and fulfilling lives from their works. They do not pay explicitly pay household taxes, but do offer tribute of any kind to their churches during masses and ceremonies, of which they are expected to regularly participate within. Common citizens often labor hard nearly every day, given breaks only during holy holidays and prayer days. Nearly every Corvain citizen has a church, temple, or even small shrine which they regularly visit, both out of a spiritual desire and the genuine safety it can provide. Clerics, acolytes, and priests can channel minor miracles empowered by their belief, which are often bequeathed unto the hungry, wounded, sick, and cursed. Those who are avid worshipers and patrons to churches would not be out of line to expect the favor to be returned.

The middling and upper classes are also given very little leeway when it comes to church tribute and participation. However, their lives are considerably much easier and often completely free from the woes of pestilence and complete hunger or thirst.

<div class='descriptive'>
 
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 The "Godhounds" are the standing military force of Corvain, and their reputation as warriors is known far and wide. When they were reigned in by Corvain during the Red-White Rose war, the Empire now had free reign to crush their foes.
 
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Greater clergy -the bishops, high priests, favored clerics- reap the benefits of church tribute and are obligated and expected to offer their funds and means to the Priest-King, manage their parishes, and fulfill their holy missions. It is the greater clergy (named, Cloth Lords and Ladies) that carries political and authoritative powers in Corvain, who influence the futures of churches, districts, and the creation or destruction of laws. It is also they who are sought out for aid in matters of intense religious importance, such as the restoration of a holy relic, the quelling of a powerful cult, or defeating an unholy evil.

The upper echelon and the elite, often those of the original divine bloodline, live luxurious lives often free of sickness, hunger, boredom, and the many frailties of age. Outside the reach of most authority and the drama of the lands below, these people can find it easy to be completely blind to the outside world. Having access to the greatest education available, those who can call themselves elite often must prove themselves to be the pinnacle of what they can be while also seeming like they don't toil at all. The few who can call themselves the elite do so on the basis of their familiarity to the current Priest-King, and their Emperyean blood. With their intense luxuries also come intense obligations (which are, in themselves, high honors). Such people often act as ambassadors to foreign nations, become High Paladins of holy orders, dive deeply into theology, go on climactic pilgrimages for their faiths, or occupy any position worthy of their privileged upbringing.

#### Orthodoxy and Taboo
Corvain has its own sanctioned deities, those that are aligned with civilization and the continuation of mortal kind's influence upon the world. During the Age of Zeal, the theocracy had cracked down on acts of paganism and belief in unsanctioned deities. Once minor cases of pagan belief could end in brutal and dire punishment, and bearing a holy symbol of a pagan deity can land an individual in permanent servitude. Families ostracize and oust other members who show minor signs of occult practice or pagan beliefs, and can outright enact brutal justice towards those who show interest in elementalism.

Witch hunts can often take place in outland villages, where those suspected of heresy can be pulled from their homes, humiliated publicly, and exiled. However, the authority of Corvain doesn't sanction these witch hunts and can hardly stop them due to their numerous nature. Genuinely dangerous cults are threatened by inquisitorial orders and church sanctioned assassins, gatherings that actually garner the Cloth Lords attention. However, it is those very restrictions and taboos which often push the young, impressionable, and desperate into the worship of these deities. In dense cities, there can be said to be hidden pockets of pagan worship or cults of elemental evil present. The pagan gods take in those that the sanctioned's servants rebuke.

#### Biomes, Landscapes, and Realms
Corvain finds itself in genuinely blessed and fertile lands. To its most northern points, taigas dominate with their ancient pine tree forests that dot alongside biting cold streams. Mountains surround these lands, with valleys of broadleaf trees giving entrance to the wider domain of Corvain. Temperate forests with interspersed grasslands and rolling hills inserted between them. Throughout all its lands, beautiful flowers both rare and common bloom through the seasons and paint the lands below with their color. Massive walled villas, housing those of the upper echelon of society, hold extensive vineyards which produce some of the worlds best wines and spirits. Winters can be harsh, but spring and summer remain consistently warm and mild.

### Bastion of Morality
As part of these ancient pacts, soon named the *Divine Accord*, Corvain was compelled to endure throughout all mortal ages, as to ensure the survival of the very morality that compelled the gods to forge such pacts in the first place. Kingdoms will fall as dangerous plagues sweep through, cultures will die out as conquerors erase them from the earth, dragons will raze the countryside, and strange cults will sweep through nations, but Corvain must survive through it all. Henceforth, Corvain tends to prioritize its own survival above anything else, even when the world around it seems to fall apart. This does not deny the theocracy the ability to aid the ailing, or participate in the world at large, but the moment a genuinely credible threat to Corvain rears its head the nation retreats into itself and prepares for the worst. Some blame Corvain for cowardice, but no one person can deny that the nation has endured through untold ages due to this.

However, should the gods under Corvinian protection ever come under harm or severe threat, and Corvain can't protect itself through isolation, there will always be crusading orders ready to leap from their walls and decimate any foe in their way.

### Too Far, Or Not Enough?
Many people stand against the Priest-King's decrees, who see it as an act of tyranny to sanction what gods can and can't be worshiped. Although they do not explicitly join under one banner, nor are they at all united in their cause, those that do hold these beliefs tend to refer to themselves as "Underpriests". Commonly, these people hide small shrines or locations of devotions within hidden places, so that those of different beliefs can worship in safety. Secret societies and other underground organizations also tend to take on these worshipers, hiding them from the Priest-King and his "Godhounds" for a hefty price or favor to be paid in time.

Conversely, there are those who believe that the Priest-King and the decrees of the Holy Lotus haven't gone far enough. The fact at all that people can rally and, with enough luck, persuasion, and force, allow different deities to be sanctioned is appalling to them. These individuals are often loud, outspoken, and wholly devout individuals who make up the forces of inquisitorial orders, holy paladins, or act as vigilante mobs that pull perceived heretics, occultists, and pagans from their homes and deliver them justice.

Both groups, in their extremism, often meet equal punishment from the law due to their blatant disregard for the law and Holy Lotus's dominion.

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## Eiost
#### Capital: Weskov
#### Hallmarks: Mountains, Iron-Working, Lumber, Struggle, Shielings and Shepherds

Eiost, referred to by all its contemporaries as the "Border Kingdom", is a primarily mountainous nation renowned for its industrial power and its people's grit. Controlling and living within and atop the *The Iron Slopes*, Eiost remains to be a gatekeeper to the rest of the Vingoth continent. However, having such a strategic chokehold often invites attention and aggression from the rest of the world, and its people are notorious for having the endurance to survive even through the harshest of times. Today, Eiost now must struggle through Twinbird influence and endure the lingering wounds of war.

### Background
Eiost can trace its routes back to a couple centuries ago, to the proto-Eiostan tribes who hid themselves away in the mountains to escape the reach of a massive war horde. There, in the mountains, its people dug away at the mountainous walls and formed terracotta fortresses so that they may never be assailed again. Over time, the young Eiostan people became adept workers and mountaineers, building cities and villages into the valleys and mountain peaks. As the decades went on, and the war horde below fell into infighting, the people of the mountains returned to their ancestral homes with newfound strength and decimated all those who stood in their way. Ever since, the Eiostan people have considered themselves vigilant watchers of the Vingoth continent who would act as arbiters to the world below.

Living within ore rich mountains, and claiming the mountain valleys for their own, their armies were near unassailable when they had the defender's advantage. More than that, its thriving industry befits its peoples endurance to harsh times, which allowed the newfound kingdom to endure any and all onslaught. However, that testament to strength was brought low when the Twinbird Empire mustered a navy of airships and assailed Eiost from the skies. Incredibly expensive, and nothing the kingdom hasn't dealt with in the past, but an otherwise successful ploy.

### Culture and Lifestyle
#### Labor and Wealth
The Eiostan people are an industrious sort, whose lives mainly focus around their everyday duties and longstanding labors. As early as they can, children are expected to help the family in lesser ways until they are ready to endure true labor. This includes cleaning, cooking, butchering, sewing, spinning thread, and foraging, all of which must be done before the child can go about their free time. By the time a person is nearing maturity (around 15-17 years old for humans), most are expected to work alongside their parents in whatever industry they apply themselves to -the most common of which, in Eiost, is lumber work, mining, quarrying, and farming. Most folk do not mind switching labors, as long as it doesn't happen rapidly, which means by the time a person reaches their 30th year, they most likely have multiple professions under their belt. Labor, physical or otherwise, is often tasking, demanding great endurance and strength from those who undergo such duties. As such, the Eiostan population boasts and prides itself on its peoples strength and ability to endure any labor and hardship. Truly, this has been consistent in the past, but recently they've faced great shame at the hands of a military loss to the Twinbird, which has gripped many with frustration and reluctant admiration of their enemy's forces.

An average commoner, though they do not fall within true squalor, is not exactly of a wealthy standing. Eiost is ruled under a king, one that which has been historically respected and feared in equal amounts. It is this same king, and the lesser nobility under him, that often benefit the most from the intense toiling and labors of those beneath them. In turn, as feudal kingdoms go, the citizenry is protected by a professional military, walls are erected, and laws are formed in order to maintain peace. Although, the lesser nobility, who own small portions of land, do not have the ability to restrict others from hunting, collecting lumber, or foraging in places nearby as has been evident in other countries. Gold and man-made capital is the domain of nobility, whereas natural capital is traditionally the domain of those who toil for them.

#### Gatekeepers and Wardens
Historically, any traveler wishing to take a route to another country must cross the Iron Slopes, endure Eiost scrutiny, and gain the country's permission to travel through safely and swiftly; otherwise, the only other routes that remain are expensive and tumultuous trips across the Aetherian Sea. Due to this, Eiost as a country has had a strong stranglehold on much of the trade, pilgrimages, and general travel that happens on the Vingoth continent for centuries.

Traditionally, the country has never impeded trade or travel, nor does it bully other countries into isolation, instead making money off of the tariffs and taxes placed upon those who enter and leave the country's borders. Trade can happen but Eiost has always gotten a portion of the wealth, even when the kingdom could hardly call itself a merchant kingdom. Furthermore, Eiost reinforces its right to do the aforementioned because of its propensity to curb illicit trade deals. These dealings  include the trafficking of illegal substances, occult knowledge, dangerous materials, weapons, smuggled criminals, and even captured people. As such, many of these deals and their dealers have a difficult time going through Eiostan borders twice over, at least without sufficient bribes. It was through the strength of the *Ironclad Wardens*, the kingdom's main guard and military force, that these borders were enforced and taxed.

In recent times however, after Twinbird occupation, the Ironclad Wardens have been utterly dissolved and a new installed guard force of *Twinwing Hussars* now patrol these borders and settlements. The Empire has opened up Eiost completely, freeing trade of all past restrictions, allowing easier transportation of troops, and consequently easing illicit dealings of  policing.

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#### Biomes, Landscapes, and Realms

Generally a mountainous kingdom, true flat land itself is rare. Many architects and laborers are forced to terrace the land before true development begins. Entire cities and towns are built alongside the mountains and within their valleys, clinging onto their sides like moss and vine upon rock and stone. The Iron Slopes are mainly heavily forested, with deciduous and coniferous trees dominating the landscape in equal parts, providing abundant wood for the brave logger who would dare to tread the uneven terrain. The forest that rides alongside the Iron Slopes is colloquially known as the *Pikewood Thicket*, named as such for how their tall and mighty trees.

The only true flatland that the kingdom of Eiost claims as its own is the *Gladepool*, a region of fertile grasslands, a beautiful blue green lake, and a unique aspen forest. Extremely prosperous, the region is envied far and wide by neighboring lands for its thriving agricultural output, hunting grounds, and scenic beauty. Today, the Gladepool is a place of heavy Twinbird occupation, as native Eiostan homesteads are replaced with manors headed by lords and ladies of the Twinbird Empire. Made claimants of the land by Twinbird law, they take in the displaced Eiostan farmers and ranchers for cheap labor.

### Seeds of Rebellion
The old military and guard force of the Eiostan Kingdom, the Ironclad Wardens, were dissolved and unmade as per the conditions of surrender Eiost was forced into. However, not all went quietly or at all. Pockets of resistance remained, where loyal sons and daughters of the kingdom refused direct orders from their superiors. Though these pockets are long gone, they allowed time for the cunning and clever among them to plant the seeds of future rebellions. At least, this is how it is seen by the current insurgent forces who hide within the cities and ruined forts left behind.

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To this day, many fighters, veterans, disgruntled citizens, and roguish individuals, work under the banner and symbol of the Ironclad Wardens or the *Ironclad Resistance*; depicted as a cracked -yet whole- shield with a single crown above it. It is rare to find genuine information upon this clandestine group that isn't shrouded in rumor, myth, or outright misdirecting lies. They strike often at night, unless desperate or wanting to send a message to their neighbors. Somtimes many innocents can be caught within the crossfire, which has allowed Twinbird officials to criminalize them wholly.

An unintentional side effect of the resistance movement has brought a wave of suspicion and fear towards members of the Eiostan population, specifically to the goliath communities within. Seen as primitive and barbaric by outside nations, few understand that goliaths had been apart of Eiost for as long as humans, dwarves, and orcish folk have. Driven by fair play and a desire for strength, they often filled the ranks of the Ironclad Wardens. As such, many Twinwing Hussars still remember the terrifying visage of their goliath enemies, and often see their presence as conducive to dissidence and resistance movements.

### An Unbreakable People, Broken
Dragged to the capital, beheaded and thrown to the people watching below, the *King in the Mountain* has been replaced by a Twinbird puppet. The popular warrior king, *Vykard Leogaud*, and his death broke the morale of many solders fighting for his recapture. The subsequent capture of the royal children sealed Eiost's defeat during the war. To this day, the children are used for propaganda and collateral, held in house arrest somewhere hidden.

<div class='descriptive'>
 
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 Only Eiostan architects are capable of the feat of engineering that building onto the mountainside demands. Even then, most other infrastructure remains just below the mountain's feet.
 
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## Emirates of Shasca 
#### Hallmarks: Desert, Safari, Subtropics, Sciences, Ingenuity, Ruins, Undead, Gold, Decay 
The realm of Shasca is large and easily the most expansive of the domains within Vingoth. Unfortunately, most of that territory is a desolate desert known as *Godgrave*, believed to be the resting place of an ancient god that died before it was born. Biomes and landscapes of diverse and hardy nature cling to the coasts, oases, and pockets of prosperity that exist within the cracks of Shasca. Seven different Emirates, all whom claim independence from each other, rule this realm. Despite their borders and the different emirs, they are not as separated as they seem, as both interests and ambitions often align for the Shascan people. Those interests often being thriving in a fight for survival and ambitious innovation.

### Background

To the rest of the world, many don't see Shasca's prosperity in spite of its harsh surroundings, instead they focus on its culture of decay, versatility, and strange somber acceptance in the face of loss. The realm itself has garnered a poetic title through the ages that speaks to other's perceptions of it, the *"Land Where Things Go to Die Forever"*. Though lengthy, the title is an apt descriptor for Shasca's ancient past.

Where the Godgrave Desert is a place of scarcity and little life, beneath its shifting sands hold the ancient death throes of a long dead infantile god and the remains of dead civilizations; at the very least, this is how local legends and stories portray their founding ages as. Whatever this dying god might have been (or whatever it was to be), its death throes penetrate the lands below the surface and infect the ruins left behind. Rising from the sands, beget with unknown purpose and scorned fates, come creatures of undeath and decay. Roaming as monstrous hordes, these creatures have haunted the nightmares of even the hardiest of warriors. However, it was these creatures which pushed the ancient Shascan nomads away from the heart of the desert and its poisonous oases and into the coasts and edges of the realm.

Once these lands, fertile yet wholly dangerous and unknown, were unexplored and unsettled. Being forced away due the the undeathly threat may have been the push for these lands to be settled by humanoids for the first time in history. As such, despite their ghastly and grotesque nature, even the hated undead have garnered splinters of respect from the Shascan people.

### Culture and Lifestyle
#### Scarcity and Resources
Though one could hardly call *all* Shasca a deserted wasteland, it is true that some resources are harder to come by than most. Mainly, however, the main concern is water. Tightly controlled by every Emirate, water is a precious resource that is traded carefully, preserved cautiously, and treated the same as precious gems and minerals. Thievery of water, through any means and by any amount, is treated as a devious and malicious crime. Those who get caught with stolen water often face lengthy periods within dungeons and prisons, and those who destroy or waste obscene amounts (that wasn't theirs) often face execution or worse. The same extends to many laws within the Emirates, as tolerance for criminals and their acts are often rare and in short supply. Though Shascan laws aren't without some mercy, this "mercy" often takes the form as conscription or servitude in the stead of serving a full time imprisonment. There is little sympathy for those who work against their states and nations, especially when times are harsh and there is little to go by for most. Thankfully, many of the gold mines and acquisition of other rare and precious stones comes from Shascan lands. With this influx of wealth, they have often found it easy to trade for that which they lack in.

#### Ingenuity and Invention

Another quality of the Shascan realms is their unique and deeply explored passion for the sciences. Many scholarly circles seek to understand the how the world works, delving into the world of mathematics, engineering, biology, and medicine to do such. Natural philosophers have heated and often chaotic exchanges with their rivals and contemporaries on whose explanation and scientific doctrine is superior. Perhaps its because of their constant adaptation, innovation, and quickness to leave the obsolete behind that the Shascan culture thrives in the desert. Seemingly able to pull sustenance from thin air, or preserve famously ephemeral resources, they have expanded the carrying capacity of the realms they live within. As a culture, these peoples have been the ones to invent miracle medicines, methods of sky travel, complex machinery using water or manpower, and water acquisition. All seven Emirates and its people share this collective passion for the sciences, and carry an intrinsic trust over the more mundane arts that they typically do of magical means.

#### Rites of Death, Rights to Death
The Shascan people, for all their ability to survive and thrive, did not build their realms in a smooth manner. Shascan history is filled with sacrifice and loss of life, and still many others succumb to the harsh land around them. Alongside with the Godgrave Desert expunging hordes of ravenous undead creatures at random intervals, the people of Shasca have a culture-wide somber acceptance of death and loss. It is present in their music, poetry, literature, religion, and politics.

In the face of this, the people of Shasca are widely respectful to the dead, be they once hated or beloved. Wandering hordes of undead, when they must be dealt with, have their bodies entombed, embalmed with oils, and given funeral rites. The same is done for those they killed, or those who simply die of other causes, so they never rise again. Funeral rites are perceived to be inexorable natural rights for any living creature, and tampering with the bodies of the deceased in any way but a reverent manner is cause for exodus, shame, and ostracization from the community.

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## The Seven Emirates

### Ka'Sordi Emirate
#### Capital: Audouin

The Ka'Sordi Dynasty has ruled over their domain without a single contender nor rightful challenger for generations, successfully keeping their bloodline secure and in power over the *Verdant Tablelands*. The most secure and stable of the emirates, though the emir's control is strict, many see this land as a safe place to settle.

### Nazut Emirate
#### Capital: Shorquna
The Nazut Dynasty, though one that promotes freedom of religion and ideals, is small and often seen as the "dying underdog of the desert". Its lands are often overlooked by the culturally ignorant Holy Lotus, and so it can afford more freedoms in how its people worship. Tribute and religious tax is how this emirate keeps its head above water.

### Suae'du'vaan Emirate
#### Capital: Dunaveil
The Suae'du'vaan Dynasty has undergone intense political scandal in recent times. Its emir in power is known to be a bastard, with half her blood belonging to a foreign commoner. As such, some people clamor for some change in their regime; even if this regime change meant inviting permanent Twinbird annexation.

<div class='descriptive'>
 
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 Strong, resilient, affectionate, and tasty in a pinch, Packybaras are a famous Shascan beast of burden, and make appearances the world around.
 
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### Amvanna Emirate
#### Capital: Sud'iimal
The Amvanna Dynasty has such authoritarian powers due to their constant support and contribution to the intellectual aristocratic elite who live here. Dominating the culture, those without proper education often suffer for it. For the emir's support, the aristocracy, in turn, support the emir's regime and decisions.

### Basuut Emirate
#### Capital: Beaz'uli
The Basuut Emirate, and its dynastic line, have fallen under intense surveillance by the Holy Lotus. The presence of fiendish cults, elemental worship, deals with the extraplanar, and all other manner of profane pacts are all but numerous in these lands. The dynasty itself seems to serve something higher than just the bloodline.

### Xufraal Emirate
#### Capital: Xuna
Sitting upon immense wealth, abundant even in relation to their neighbors, the Xufraal Dynasty has always been quick to exploit the precious metals and stones that remain within the earth. Its commonfolk, the laborers and miners, see so much of this wealth, yet rarely own it.

### Cid'el Emirate
#### Capital: Norsphin
Sitting upon a land of strategic importance, this Cid'el Dynasty has had to defend their lands from intruders since the dawn of their regime. As such, its emir and its people have adopted an intensely martial lifestyle for themselves.

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## The Twinbird Empire
#### Capital: Vezipoli
#### Hallmarks: Martial Discipline, Mercantilism, Wealth, Imperialism, Jungle

The dominant power upon Vingoth, the Twinbird Empire is a new political entity on the continent. Referred to as the *Ascendant Domain*, or the *Voraunt* by its rivals and enemies, the Twinbird Empire formed itself from the union of two wealthy trading kingdoms. The domains of Orinsvurn and Kwiano made harmonious peace and celebrated such peace with an intermarriage between its two greatest heirs, essentially binding both nations into one larger conglomerate. Being the near sole victor in a recent war, the Twinbird Empire has immense influence over the continent of Vingoth as it holds most other nations in a tight imperial grip.

### Background
The Orinsvurn and Kwiano kingdoms, once longstanding rivals to each other, had come to an almost civilization-wide epiphany. Where their rivalries and their conflicts had drained them of wealth, gold, cash, and manpower, their unity would provide them with so much more than wiping out the other ever could. However, their unity sparked distrust and turmoil within the other Vingoth nations. Fearful of their immense might and growing militarism, enemy nations formed the Red-White Rose Coalition and immediately sprung to war. This began the war of the Red-White Rose. Pulling mercenaries with their immense wealth, calling upon old favors, enticing Corvain to leave the war, and unleashing their combined military might, the Twinbird Empire won the war in 3 years and 11 months. Since then, the empire has dissolved most other nation's militaries and replaced them with their own Twinwing Hussars. Furthermore, local installed leaderships went about to shine the empire's reputation in a positive light, while also quelling any further flames of war or violence. In under 4 years, the Twinbird Empire had most of the continent within an impressive stranglehold. *Twinsoul Emperor Vaustor* and *Twinsoul Empress Vaustrix* have made their names known to the Vingoth at large, gaining both vitriol and respect from those they conquered.

### Culture and Lifestyle
#### Entrepreneurial Empires
As a trading civilization, its no surprise that many people within the Twinbird homeland are often diplomatic and enterprising, for better or worse. Culturally expected to be resource savvy and to take the initiative in order to grow their station, those that can't keep up often suffer greatly for it. A person who had grown up in the homelands may often know how to stretch out a gold piece for every bit of its worth, be able to see opportunity when it arises, or seem very stingy and outright greedy to outside eyes. Additionally, wealth and monetary gain are extensively important qualities within the empire, and many base theirs and other's worth off of these traits

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The poor, or those possessed of little visible wealth, often have very little options for true heightening of their station. Underdogs rarely come to leave such a position, and those who wish to change these perceptions often find themselves making enemies of those with extensive reach and influence.

#### Military Might
Not everyone is blessed with being born into merchant families or wealthy aristocratic guilds, and as such those individuals express the empire's secondary trait. Often taken as a surprise by other cultures who only see the money trading hands and the illicit deals done in the dark, the empire has strong martial traditions. People who can't support themselves in some way are often drawn to military service, either by complete willingness or want, manipulation of their superiors, or by sheer desperation. Even from birth, discipline is often the first trait many children are instilled with, and the acceptance of their lot in life (rich, poor, or otherwise) comes with the territory. Some lose this discipline as they grow, or as their career demands it, but those who thrive in it are forces to be reckoned with.

The Twinwing Hussars, the empire's military and guard force, are an extensive and gargantuan military body that has spread across Vingoth. Their presence has replaced the Ironclad Wardens of Eiost, the Shogun's Hand in Wisteria, and the military spread across Shasca. This immense task is upheld by recruitment drives held over the continent and mercenary reinforcements picking up the slack where the hussars fail.

#### Biomes, Landscapes, and Realms
Riding alongside the western coast is a dense, miles-long tropical jungle that is known as the *Grymwood Garden*. Humid, winding, and constantly prone to rain showers and strong storms, the jungle is known for its thick vegetation and towering trees that coat the sky in a deep, emerald green. Pushing east, past the *Mosshill Range*, the land becomes more subtropical and temperate, where temperatures can drop well past into freezing during the winter months. Deeper south, trees become sparse within the *Jute Steppes*, where the short, scratchy grass looks like the rough fiber of its namesake.

The Twinbird domain is usually a humid and warm one, with long summer seasons fit for growing numerous crops (so long as they endure the hot seasons). Monsoon rains originate from the Grymwood Garden, spewing out torrents of rain as they travel towards the Verdant Tablelands. Within its dense forests, trees grow on winding hillsides. Exposed pockets of earth reveal the ground's ruddy, red color that it gets from its signature clay and silt soil. Apothecaries, plantations, and cunning foragers take advantage of the realm's unique plant life to collect coveted spices, salts, and medicines sold around the world. Its mountains pour forth with rich iron, tin, and copper deposits necessary for a nation's survival. Today, these lands are bustling with life and wealth, as peoples of all nations and origins walk the realm in their travels to trade with the denizens of the empire. Its roads are well traveled and well guarded, keeping the valuable wealth and gold of its traders, merchants, and businesses safe until they can be spent and used later on.

### To the Victors, the Spoils
Having won the White-Red Rose war, the Twinbird Empire has had free reign to install loyal and puppet-like influence within the nations it had brought low. This has earned it equal amounts of obedience and animosity for those it now stands above. Exorbitant demands and rights earned from nations of the White-Red Rose Coalition, the Twinbird Empire claims their prosperity for its own. Resources, manpower, political sway, diplomatic pressure, and more are at its command, and yet with every passing year the empire seems to demand something more. Already earning the ire of many, the *Twinsoul Sovereigns*, the Empress and Emperor, constantly risk inciting rebellion and insurgency among its "protectorates".

However, as it stands to be, the people and citizenry of the Twinbird Empire are among the most prosperous and thriving culture and peoples of Arikona. Even standard commonfolk, no part of the nobility or aristocracy even, can stand to see much wealth and material gain in their lifetimes; even affording to send their children off to schools, afford books, and increase their quality of life. While the standard citizen understands the spoils they've won during war, most are ignorant to the true machinations of their sudden change in station and lifestyle. The pockets of those who do understand the height of suffering their prosperity demands only do so because they have embraced it, rebelled against it, or remained neutral in spite of it.

### The Twinsoul Sovereigns
The idea of a "twin" or a sense of duality in both Orinsvurni and Kwian cultures have always carried a form of divinity, or at least mythical quality. In ancient times, and even in some pockets today, twins boast some form of prophetic inheritance, destined to bring great change and carry great power so long as they remain together. Those born as twins are treated as royalty and spoiled with gifts and luxuries even as children. Those of noble birth lavish them in boons and blessings, granting them the finest of tutors, grooming them to be the finest of their lineage. Birthing twins, or having them in your recent bloodline, also provides a massive boost to status and reputation. All manner of noble bloodlines will boast of their ancient twin ancestors, and their accomplishments; while a fragment minority might revile such a circumstance, usually having had their family brought low because of such events.

A *Twinsoul* on that matter is a pair of individuals, not necessarily blood related, who *share* the same soul (or at least, carry an exact copy of each other's souls). Their unique circumstance comes with a manner of powers that could only be attributed as a mixture between the arcane and the divine. Throughout history, the birth of Twinsouls have marked the eras changing, the death of heroes or villains, the rising of new dynasties, and the destruction of the old status quo. As it happens to be, the reigning Emperor and Empress of the Twinbird Empire are, themselves, Twinsouls. Born to different dynasties, who seem to have been fated to share a single soul between the other.

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## Wisteria
#### Capital: Xhu'heim
#### Hallmarks: Nordic-Wuxia, Animism, Samurai, Spirits, Islanders, Honor

One of the smallest nations within Vingoth, this realm is actually a collection of floating islands that orbits the Vingothic continent's coasts like a moon does a planet. Each island in its collection vary in size and biome, but maintain large populations of the very tree that gives the country its name; the Wisteria tree. Despite each island being separated from each other in some way, the country itself is united in all but landscape. Each different island contains a Daimyo and Thegn, the heads of a warrior dynasty, which pays featly and tribute to the High-Shogun within the capital island. Often ignored by the world, and never remaining in one solid place, rarely do many people on Vingoth actually account the Wisterian Islanders as part of the continent. However, when war came to the realm, the Islanders were pressured into joining the Red-White Rose Coalition all the same.

### Background
No one really knows how or why the Wisterian Islands float different and much more swiftly than the smaller sky-islands that float above continents. What is known is that these islands used to be apart of Vingoth itself, before they split off of it during a collision between what is now the Cor'kivnan and Vingothic continents. The people that clung onto the islands, either too scared or too stubborn to leave their homes, were isolated from the rest of the world's cultures and traditions. Free to form their own, their customs and traditions slowly evolved and adapted to suit the new environment they lived in.

Initially, the cataclysm had left their lands with little natural resources. Forests burned, the soil was made sterile, waters boiled due strange geothermic activity, and its people struggled to scrape together a living. In these ancient times, Wisterans chose to sail across the Aetherian Sea in longboats to raid the villages alongside the coast, to bring back food and needed resources. This quickly came to form a warrior culture within the Islanders, but was soon warped into a more subtle and contained version of itself when the islands began to become lush with life.

As the islands became stable and plant life took to the land, the people formed deep and harmonious relationships with the nature around them; both deeply fearful of its absence and reverent of its return. Religions, devoid of the typical deities of the mainland continents, formed around the idea of respecting, tributing, and sacrificing to a spiritual world and to the souls within the aspects of nature. The animals, plants, and landmarks were given a sense of divinity, and as such were to be respected like gods themselves. Today, the war has connected the Islanders and Wisteria to the mainland in such a rapid manner that causes great friction and turmoil between the two cultures. The Holy Lotus, a mortal instrument of the gods on Arikona, see the presence of Animism and "Godless" devotion as a heresy of sorts, seeking to dismantle and demolish these ageless traditions; only held back by the Twinbird Empire, which does not seek further conflict and does not care about the Wisteran faiths.

### Culture and Lifestyle
#### A Beast's Honor
The people of Wistera hold honor close, and reputation alone acts as a form of unspoken currency among the Islanders. Good-will, dignity held high, bravery on the battlefield, and proper manners are the foundation for an Islander's honor as well as that of an outsider. Those that lack honor, or have little of it, are rarely respected and even feared among the commonfolk. Killing prisoners, betraying allies, going back on deals, harming children, and being deceitful are just some of the ways one could lose honor in the eyes of the Wisterian culture. A surefire way to sully one's reputation, and mark oneself for vengeance from the many, would be to disrespect both the spirits of nature and honored ancestral spirits. Destroying tombs and sanctums, stealing sacrifices, antagonizing animals, or desecrating the deceased invite the vengeance of those who outright worship the spiritual world.

However, for the many that walk a warrior's path or speak to the spirits in their faith, honor acts as a culturally mandated shield for the vengeful, bloodthirsty spirits that possess their strength. Most choose to hide it away and to remain within civilized society, cultivating patience and dignity even in the face unbridled change, frustration, and emotion. Some give in to this power, becoming barbarians which are possessed by animalistc spirits in the height of their rage or those that control the storm and weather with their anger. There are entire warrior paths, monasteries, and orders which exist solely to guide those of these paths, whether they choose to unleash their inherited festering frenzy or keep it locked away.

#### Inherited Ambitions
Children born into Wisterian families, especially those of higher station, are often born with inherent expectations from the beginning. These traditions can be both confining to those who want out of them, or defining to those who stick by them like a code of conduct. Elder siblings must take on the role of guardian, acting as a shepherd between the massive gap of "adult" and "child", which is reminiscent of times when parents rarely came home from raids or war. The youngest child, with aid from both parent and eldest sibling, must become the lineage's pride in a variety of aspects; athleticism, charisma, academics, and combat. Children born with sorcerous powers are intended for the battlefield, while those born on days of great tragedy are forever cursed to be ostracized. These traditions can shape from both superstition and practical use, and remain both burdens to honors to receive (with some exceptions).

As for adulthood, when expectation is levied and removed, many young adults find themselves lost and without purpose. Their society often expects them to find their own way, even when they are removed so quickly from their parents and childhood homes (unless they are still useful).

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<div class='descriptive'>
 
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 Those who ascribe themselves to animal spirits, or even let them possess their bodies, often wear iconography or accoutrements that symbolized and outright display what spirits they swear by. Animal skins, holy symbols, tattoos, idols, fur pelts, and more are all common equipment carried by those shamanistic warriors.
 
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#### Biomes, Landscapes, and Realms

Each island is relatively similar in biome and biodiversity, with a couple exceptions. The islands are a typical temperate climate, with broadleaf and pine forests dominating most unexplored wilderness. Grasslands roll over hillsides and flatlands like emerald oceans, swaying alongside the flower fields. Rocky terrain is carved through by waterfalls and vigorous rivers that originate from mountains and underground springs. Throughout every island, the hallmarked purple petals of Wisteria trees float through every forest and paint the soft soil a calm violet.

However, given that the islands circle around the Vingothic continent, their entire climate and seasons are victims to wayward change. Underneath the sheen of scenic natural beauty is a hardy ecosystem which adapts to constant change. The islands themselves take years to move from different coasts of Vingoth, causing the nation to count both seasons *and* delegate each recorded year a cardinal direction meant to dictate which side of Vingoth they are on. For example; Eastern Harvest is completely different than Western Harvest, although Western Summer is very similar to Northern Summer. Nature itself seems to have taken the many eras and millennia to adapt to this unstable climate and so too have its people, with strict code and tradition for each different variation of the "Cardinal Season".

This manner of change is seen as nothing short than chaos by the Twinbird Empire, and the entire world at that. Few places on Arikona can match this land's propensity for change, and as such it grants a unique outlook and experience to each living Wisterian.

### A Conflict of Faith
The Holy Lotus, an institution that regulates faith and worship on the Vingothic continent, has been at odds with Wisteran Animism since its creation at the end of the war. Seen as something far different than a simple pagan faith, the Lotus perceives it as a perversion of spiritualism and the result of centuries of warped and misplaced faith in entities undeserving of it; essentially, heresy. As such, the Holy Lotus has done everything within their power and influence to undermine Animism wherever it shows itself within Vingoth. Lotus extremists have even gone so far as to capture and forcefully convert Wisterian diplomats, pilgrims, and immigrants whenever they find them. Preventing them from causing a diplomatic tragedy, the Twinbird Empire prevents the Holy Lotus from interfering with the religion of its protectorate. This shielding does little to make the Twinbird anymore accepted or tolerated in the eyes of the Islanders, but is tested to its limits by both sides on a near daily basis.

Due to such religious conflict, Wisterians very rarely walk outside their own lands, else should they risk violent proselytization and kidnapping. On the other hand, this conflict has also prompted many spiritualists and priests to try and spread their religion to the wider world; where in any other era they'd be content to practice it in isolation. As a result, in some hidden pockets of the world, belief in the Animism can be seen if one looks close enough.

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## Voxistan
#### Hallmarks: Arcane, Wizardry, Academies

The *Voxistanii Mageocracy* is the youngest nation on the world stage, and relatively infantile in terms of age, reaching to around 150 years of existence. The only developed nation upon the *Kudoran* continent, the mageocracy couldn't even be considered a country, but rather a large and densely populated city-state. Ruled by a council of three sovereigns called the "Summit Kings", who boast extreme magical power, this country lives and breathes magic. Academies to train fledgling wizards, orders to tame the magics of novice sorcerers, and extensive libraries to sate the endless lust for arcane knowledge most Voxistanii have, this realm is no stranger to spellcasting and magical influence. The city itself, a feat of impossible engineering, is incredibly dense, breathtakingly beautiful, and formed from magic itself.

### Background
It seems Voxistan's history is remembered and honored more by outsiders than it is by the locals themselves. The first settlers who came to *Kudor* did so out of a desperate struggle for survival, liberty, and prosperity. Known to the world as the Voanites, these strange peoples have long since been persecuted for their sorcerous blood and the strange, otherwordly magics it produces. Hailing from Cor'kivna, their peoples had always been at risk. Having the misfortune of being pacifistic scholars in a land of wrathful warriors, the Voanites were time and time again subjected to oppression, tyranny, persecution, and victims to many attempted genocides. Fearing for their lives, and the survival of their magical lineage, they devised a mass exodus from their homeland. Many sought for a promised land, where magics could be studied in serene peace and the realm would encourage the growth of arcane knowledge.

Crafting skyboats, little more than longboats, skiffs, and canoes, they would leave for greener pastures. Saving space for the young and infantile few of the elders were able to escape with them, and as such great pieces of their history and culture remained on Cor'kivna. By miracle and luck alone, the exiles would find refuge upon the continent of Kudor. There, meeting with the ancient tribes of the *Shrinetenders* who would take pity on their struggle, the peoples set to work crafting what would become the future Voxistanii Mageocracy. However, it seems these days the peoples of Voxistanii have become less and less enamoured with their heritage. In time, the country as a larger whole would consider themselves something above or wholly different than their ancient lineage, turning the animosity back towards their ancient kin; as opposed to making a safe haven for those still stuck in Cor'kivna. Although, still faintly carrying the same grievances and grudges of their maltreatment from the nations of Cor'kivna (and the bystanding of the outside realms), Voxistan has only animosity to give to those who come from the Shattered Lands. Tensions between the two continents are fiery, made all the more worse as the Twinbird Empire antagonizes the young nation with trade tariffs and forces isolation.

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### Culture and Lifestyle
#### Arcane Ambitions
Learned arcane skills and inherent magical talents are to the Voxistanii as divine magic is to the rest of the wider world. Magic is the lifeblood to creation, such as water is to all living things, and Voxistan as a collective has immense cultural ties to the arcane. Though their original Voanite blood may be heavily diluted, resulting in fewer and fewer sorcerous children, many people still have an innate knack for arcane learning. Vonsequently, Voxistanii society is built entirely upon arcane learning and the utilization of magics in both the domestic and social settings. Children, even those of poor and lowly station, are often exposed to some amount of arcane knowledge as they grow. Charter and public schools both teach young children the basics of cantrips (and, grimly, weed out those who can't wrap their heads around the subject); sometimes, such children even learn basic spells on their own. Private academies, government established universities, coveted tutors and mentors, hidden arcane societies, and elite orders are responsible for teaching those with ample ambition and skill to match. Such career choices are often expensive, but an individual of a lower station can rely on sponsors and subsidies should their potential prove especially worthy of the aid. Additionally, there are also some small government provided loans and plans available as well, however such things prove to be exhaustively expensive to maintain or exorbitant entrapment into a life of debt.

Some orders are responsible for incredibly important aspects of Voxistanii society, like the *Ahriteckt Arcana.* Taking notes from the druids from the Shrinetender Tribes, and experimenting with various sorcerous powers, this popular order created the wizardly versions of various spells such as: *Move Earth*, *Stone Shape*, *Wall of Stone*, and *Continual Flame*. With these spells, the order created the breathtaking city of Voxistan in short order.

#### Mundane Drivel
For those unable or unwilling to learn magics, they become part of an unspoken caste in Voxistan. Almost seen as a "servant caste", these menials are reserved some of the more dangerous, tedious, and laborious work. Farming, cleaning, mining, courier work, or just general servitude makes up some of these overlooked and ignored career paths. Furthermore, there is little security in any career path for those of the servant caste, where magic mixed with ingenuity might make their labors useless in the face of cheaper, and easily automated spells and enchantments.

Another career choice, that doesn't include outright crime or joining the ranks of the *Ophidian Umbra*, is joining the military. Some do this so that they can learn basic spells of war and defense without shouldering the immense cost of doing so. However, those with no magic at hand nor spells to cast often end up as common levies and cannon fodder, as raw martial talent is rarely recognized when it is not enhanced with magical potential. In spite of that, for many unable to harness the arcane, it is still a pathway to three almost-square meals a day, shelter, and some form of respect in their homeland.

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#### Biomes, Landscapes, and Realms
Kudor as a whole is a generally cold place, where taigas, tundras, and clear steppes are commonplace. As a mere (albeit massive) city, Voxistan's realm is even more simple to describe than that. Located near the eastern coast of Kudor, the city is built into the *Palestone Steppes*, a landscape defined by its massive flat landscapes and rocky terrain that was perfect for the original arcane architects to reshape and terraform into the perfect city. Trees and other complex vegetation are sparse, while thin grasses and wild grains dominate the realm. Rivers cut through the jagged rocks and flow through the land all the way from the *Myrwilds*, a thick, cold taiga that clings around the mountains and beyond. During winter's thaw and into spring, thorny and woody stems burst forth from the ground and produce vibrant flowers of every color imaginable. Most locals cherish the season, but absolutely detest the pollen and floating seeds it produces in abundance. Sticking to clothing and painting walls, most folk give up on cleaning their homes by the first week.

The city mostly inhabits this otherwise featureless landscape, and many architects and builders make it a point of pride to fill the "desolate barrens" of their homeland with beautiful buildings and creations. As for the exurbs and villages that remain outside of the city walls, their lives remain removed from their homeland's infrastructural and aesthetic reputation. Farming, fishing, and little else is done outside these walls and in the countryside; an otherwise perfectly boring life for many. However, some aristocracy tend to use the wilderness to enjoy various forms of recreation as well.

The wealthy often hunt for hillfowl in the countryside, riding horseback and utilizing falconry to find their prey. Foxes, geese, and even roaming bears can also become quarries for these hunts. Horse racing and a cultural sport known as "Spell-Jousting" can also occur outside the walls within the countryside.

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### Broken Alliances
The Voxistanii Mageocracy, in its infancy, made a defense pact with the two trading kingdoms that would later become the Twinbird Empire. These kingdoms, interested in the potential trade agreements and unique luxuries Voxistan could provide, were invested in the young nation's survival. Should either realm come under attack, the other would aid them. However, when the Twinbird Empire had war declared upon it, the mageocracy broke off this defense pact. Stating that the Twinbird Empire was no longer the original government body that it had allied with, it abandoned the nation during the White-Red Rose War. Incensed by this betrayal, the empire consequently cut off trade agreements and travel between the two nations. Many visiting citizens, both students of arcane academies and noble diplomats, were suddenly barred from ever going home. Even the Twinbird protectorates denied travel to Kudor due to imperial influence. Today, this divide seems to be long lasting, as only a single embassy within the Twinbird capital seeks to amend these tensions.

### A Native Conflict
The Shrinetender Tribes, the native inhabitants of Kudor, welcomed the Voanite exiles into their land in older times. Perhaps back then, their relationship was harmonious. However, today, the city expands even further into the continent, threatening to envelop important hunting grounds, sacred groves, and the cherished shrines that these tribes defend with their lives. Time after time again, the city disobeys and breaks the treaties it makes with these tribes, promising to never expand into their valuable and fertile homeland ever again. Tensions rise between these two groups, but the tribes themselves, despite their hidden strengths, may fail to stand up to the massive city's efforts conquer their lands. Furthermore, with the Twinbird embargo, few peoples seem able to come to their aid either.

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## Shrinetender Tribes
#### Hallmarks: Gods, Nomads, Ancient Oaths, Unbridled Nature, Druids, Shrines

This collective of numerous tribes, each sworn to the same oaths that unite them all, have roamed the Kudoran continent (and, once upon a time, the subcontinent) for a millennium and more. These peoples roam the lands, surviving off of only what nature will provide them and refusing to settle into permanent homesteads. Carrying rich traditions that constantly shift, Shrinetender life is blissfully simple yet ultimately carries an ancient burden. Earning their namesake, these tribes tend to the various shrines and altars scattered around Kudor, keeping them safe from destruction and maintaining their glory and prestige. For generations, these peoples have kept to this oath, and for many more they have largely been ignored by the outside world and left to their own affairs.

### Background
Little is known of the origin of the *Shrinetending Oath*, yet it is believed to have been a promise sworn to the Paragon deity of knowledge and ascension; *Apotheosis*. An excerpt from an ancient tome of dead prayers sworn in a longer dead tongue shows the general belief surrounding it.

*"For each god borne to this world, sworn to it, and raised unto the pillars which hoist it up, create a shrine and altar to represent their stake in this world. Not one shrine shall reach higher, demand more glory, or grant succor any more than the others. No sacrifices shall be made upon these altars, and no oaths shall be sworn upon them by you and your descendants. The sins and virtues of any god shall hold no bearing nor dominion over the others and their shrines. Destroy no shrine, nor repair any shrine which fate has broken, and let the shrines of dead and forgotten gods match them in turn."*

*"For your oath, you and your children, and their children, and for the continuation of your bloodline, shall live in bliss. Your people shall sleep under the stars, and rise to warm sunlight. No mother shall bear child and suffer for it, nor shall she or her children come to know the true pain of hunger, disease, or rot. Childhood shall bring hope and the promise of redemption, old age shall promise security and safety, and death will bring eternal peace and rest. Your needs will be met by your own hands, wrought from your own labors, and yet you shall be all the better for it. This is the gift I give unto you. This is the burden I thrust into your hands."*

Acting on this oath and belief, the peoples of the Shrinetender tribes live without faith, yet are always close at hand to it. Their ancestors, those that had created the shrines, had done so with the full intention of their works being forgotten for all of history. Their descendants would claim a shrine for their own in order to tend, clean, and defend it. This proximity often comes to brand a mark unto the culture of each specific tribe (though true worship and tribute is taboo). Often, foreign pilgrims of the many faiths take bold and trepidatious ventures to these shrines to make sacrifices and commune with their deities on an intimate level.

### Culture and Lifestyle
#### The Bucolic Divine
The Shrinetenders are meant to follow no god, instead finding purpose within the unbridled nature abound them. These nomadic peoples live among nature as close allies to the wilds, both enduring its troubles and healing the wounds left behind by otherworldly corruption or outside influence. Druids, who follow the *Old Faith*, wield eldritch powers of ancient origin, sworn to shepherd nature and to kindle light. However, despite their tendencies to deny civilization's comforts, they are no enemy to the lands and realms abound. Where there is beauty, hope, kindness, laughter, and joy in the world, it is the Shrinetenders which work to foster its continued existence. To defend it, these people also need to live it themselves. As such, Shrinetender tribal societies tend to enjoy life to its fullest, practicing moderation and abstinence only when the alternative endangers oneself or others around one.

Dancing, crafting trinkets, making art, singing songs, appreciating the quiet and calm, enjoying food and drink, taking comfort in love, moving on from loss, and all other manner of earthly experience enriches the lives of these tribals. Shrinetenders put no capstone or milestone upon happiness, fulfillment, or joy. Both the old and young deserve all three, just as both should help others try and journey for them as well. Only when they have lived a life worth envying, can one work to foster the same experiences elsewhere in the world. 
#### Unbreakable Taboos 
Letting a shrine come to be destroyed is taboo enough in Shrinetender culture, and personally destroying one is a grand heresy that threatens to break the ancient oath established with Apotheosis. Should a deity die, then it is believed fate will take its toll upon the shrine, as is natural. The earth may swallow up the land it is built upon, a wayward tree might crush its form, or rivers will redirect to engulf the altar whole. Each and all, these are the natural ways. However, through mortal mistake and oversight, some shrines may come under threat, damage, or outright be destroyed prematurely. When such an occurrence happens -and it is not to be taken lightly- the elders of many tribes will come together to judge the fate of the individuals responsible. In this "trial", they divine whether or not the mortal's hand in a shrine's fate was a natural omen or conscious decision to defile sacrosanct traditions. Few crimes are worthy of exile in Shrinetender society, and not one is worthy of execution; even oathbreaking would be met with banishment.

However, to those who make it their life's work, ambition, and devotion to destroy or bring harm to these shrines, they will make ferocious enemies of the Shrinetenders. Practiced druids and wielders of natural, eldritch magics, few can truly prepare to make these ancient peoples their enemy. Should one get away with such an act, even these generally passive and serene folk will track that individual down for their days. Even more dangerous is to possibly invoke the ire of Apotheosis, who compelled the creation of these shrines himself.

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#### Biomes, Landscapes, and Realms

It used to be that the Shrintender tribes roamed unchallenged and uncontested throughout all of Kudor. However, with the creation of the Voxistanii Mageocracy a couple centuries behind, Shrintender tribes have found their ancestral lands being depleted and constrained by borders. Most tribes tend to live, or at least temporarily dwell, within the *Heart Garden*, a temperate forest that clings to the southeastern parts of Kudor. However, all around, the Shrintenders also lay claim to the *Pinewilds*, a comparatively massive region of coniferous forests and wetland taigas which often are subject to cold, harsh winters, yet mild and warm summers. It is not uncommon to see Shrintenders roaming the tundra or steppes of the continent, but generally they no longer approach those lands for fear of invoking the ire of the stronger and much more united Voxistanii.

The sharp mountain peaks that divide the tundra from the taiga are often referred to as the *Glynnstone Sierras*, which is named after the precious crystalline stones that jut out of the mountain face. Voxistan makes painstaking efforts to collect the stones, refining them into powder and essence necessary for many spells. The Shrintenders see the mountains as indomitable entities that house the wellspring of magical energies that interfuse with the land itself.

<div class='descriptive'>
 
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 The scattered shrines about are often quaint, yet utterly simple and mundane for how ancient they are and how much weight their symbolic gesture holds. A simple columbarium, mausoleum, or altar is all they are; it is all Apotheosis asked for.
 
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### Hope Abound, Hell in Time

Generally, even for its flaws and constraints, Shrintender society is generally accepting and generous to both its own and outsiders. Children are encourage to learn the aspects of generosity and flexibility, and taught how to be proper students of nature. This way, children are expected to be able to adapt to change and stress and always remain learning from the world around them, all this to teach and shepherd others. This, in its most broad state, is the "Druid's Way". Shepherding others, much like how one guides a flock of lambs, into greatness and balance, so as to create a longstanding cycle of balance, is how druids from these lands create a manner of peace. Few people in Shrinetender society truly grow up without some hope for the future, even its exiles leave with the expectation they'll be able to provide for themselves.

However, recently, in response to persecution and another, different, cycle of vengeance and oppression, a new "druid's path" has formed. Much like how a great inferno cleanses a forest of its chocking overgrowth and hidden blights, so too can a similar wildfire cleanse those of ill minded morality and oppressive ambitions; at least, this is what druids of the "Circle of Wildfire" believe. Otherwise known as the Circle of Ash, its circle draws in the scared, overly ambitious, and lost every day with its promises of safety and fettered violence against the Voxistanii oppressors. All will be made whole again, as the wildfire claims it all in one great conflagration. To those who follow traditional paths, it is a circle whose evil was once unnecessary to them. Now, reluctantly, many tribes look to them for defense and answers.

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## Vaqar Silkwalkers

#### Hallmarks: Wind, Sky, Air Balloons, Flying, Nomadic, Silk, Banished

Without land to walk on, or nation to bid them stay, the Vaqar are a banished and exiled peoples by the very decree of *Ytol*, the *Sentinel of Planes*, for ancient sins and heresies. They live as a nomadic peoples of the sky, finding sanctity and life within the Aetherian Sea. Their homes and cities are held aloft by massive air balloons woven from special silks, and they watch the world change before their eyes as they remain unaffected by its ebb and flow. With none to speak for them, and no defense from that which would prey upon their vulnerable nature, most outsiders would deem their lives pitiable and derelict from true purpose.

### Background
The Vaqar were once a simple hunting tribe, which struggled and toiled against desperation and starvation in their early days. Children often grew up hungry and without many caretakers, as their parents rarely came back from unsuccessful hunts. Monstrosities roamed their ancient homeland, which is now utterly lost and has been reformed since time immemorial. Owlbears, manticores, chimera, strange reptilian titans, and other savage and ravenous creatures dominated the land which the Vaqar had dwelled within. Their culture was once formed in rebellion against pain and desperate living, which often saw life as a joke and perceived hope as a somber and distant idea. The gods themselves, no matter how they prayed and sacrificed to them for aid and succor, tore no attention away from their battles with their ancient enemy and their duty of reshaping the world.

As their words, hopes, and dreams carried on the wind, something did listen in, something that wasn't the gods or their children. The *Elder Tempest*, child of the wind primordials, heard their words as they carried across its still developing form. Most would say that, in this developmental state, their words became part of this elemental, and henceforth their defense and prosperity became its prerogative. Only small circles today would imply that an elemental, whose mind is that of utter chaos and entropy, actually had *pity* upon mortal kind. However as it was, an elemental of great power favored this tribe, and from its favor came powers and boons of unique form. The elemental taught these peoples how to walk upon air, with wings and swirling tempests carrying their bodies. It taught them how to beseech its children for aid, summoning air elementals to defend their young and aid their hunts. It taught them how to speak their language, whispering words of crackling earth, roaring fire, soothing waters, and raging winds. However, the most notable thing it taught them, was how to pull and harness strands of the Aetherian Sea's essence, solidifying winds into precious, magical, and powerful silks. It was through this wondrous material that this tribe began to create massive contraptions that allowed them to float upon the skies and seas without a single care. Soon, a culture of pain and desperation melted away into one of color, hope, and elemental study. From then on, their patron would be revered as a hero, perhaps even something god-like, and the study of further elements became inextricably part of Vaqar culture.

As they floated upon the skies, making homes and villages held aloft by elemental wind, the Paragons would find them. In the eve of their victory against the primordials, they would mistake these peoples and their strange contraptions for a different kind of elemental. Sundering a village into the bottomless Aetherian Sea, it took them mere moments to understand what they had done and who these strange peoples were. They were their favored children, utilizing the magics and powers of their ancient, bitter enemies. Enraged and betrayed by this, it was Ytol (whom had lost much to the Primordials) who consigned them to their fate. The terms of their sedition were clear to them:

*"For your abandonment of the land we bled for, and your courting with elemental evils, never again will you set foot upon the landed realms. To do so will invoke the ire of the hounds who will hunt and dog you to their last breath. No child conceived or born upon land will live to open its eyes, nor will their mothers survive its endeavor. Crops sown by your blood will wilt and blight themselves, and water will turn sour in your mouths. Live amongst the clouds and the winds for a thousand generations and then, and only then, will penance come unto your ilk."*

His siblings would question the brutality of this exile, but few argued with Ytol and his strength, nor would they insult his great loss at the hands of the elementals. From then on, the people of Vaqar would be given the name *Silkwalkers*, a gentle name in the face of their heresy and banishment. They would live among the skies, and be reviled by those loyal to the gods.

### Culture and Lifestyle
#### Life upon Air

Living upon the air, though picturesque, is an arduous and often difficult feat. Lumber, stone, and any other building materials are rarities, so the Vaqar people build homes out of tarp, canvas, and their unique strands of silk. Their floating villages are swathes of vibrant red, blues, purples, greens, and more upon a pale and otherwise colorless sky. They connect each different floating "platform" with hempen rope, chains summoned with elemental magics, and little else. Young and old balance themselves upon thin bridges and ropes, walking to and from different homes and buildings. Both the respected and obscure live in tents and shacks, decorating them with runes, carvings, and ivy to mark their ownership. Their villages often show massive lines of durable thread reaching to the Aetherian Sea below, where they catch floating fish and scavenge skyweed for their source of food.

Flying creatures, like pegasi, griffons, roc, and more, often fly in and around these villages. There, they eat the scraps and treats left for them by the villagers, which accept their company and value them for the protection that they naturally provide. Oftentimes, barnacle-like growths often take hold on the undersides of these villages, which are often also harvested as delicacies.

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To collect water, most villages chase storms upon the open sea and collect rainwater that falls forth from it. For safety, even the smallest of hamlets are never far from their main city, being tied and chained to it in one way or another. The Vaqar name this collective the *Silken Covey*. From an outside view, it is a collection of cozy homesteads and fantastical tents flitting about on the winds like a massive flock of vibrantly colored birds. However, this picturesque environment is both low nutrient and carries low potential for true growth, as such even hamlets, villages, towns, and cities whole are much more smaller in reality. In total, the entire population of the Vaqar Silkwalkers would estimate something near a fleeting seven thousand.

#### Elemental Fundamentalism
Elemental Fundamentalism (or just "Elementalism" as a blanket term) is the study of elemental beings, the courting of their powers, and even the possible worship of their beings. Cults of elemental evil, scholars who travel to the different elemental planes, and those who summon elemental beings, are accused of practicing this "religion". However, the origin of the term was meant to describe the original Vaqar tribesmen and their use of the Elder Tempest's gifted powers. Though some do worship the elements as god-like beings, they are devoid of true divinity and henceforth cannot grant apostolic powers, which often drives many potential followers away. Elemental Fundamentalism, at its roots, is scholarship in all but name.

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It is more of a subject of study, than a religion; more theology, than actual worship. Today, the Vaqar people treat Elementalism as such, with the same being true for their ancient ancestors. Trying to breach the planar veil, summoning elemental allies to defend their fragile homes, and materializing important resources from the different planes, are each and all the many uses the Vaqar people depend sorely upon. Of course, this only solidifies the animosity and hostility the gods-fearing world has towards the Vaqar Silkwalkers, reinforcing the cycle of cruelty against each other's kind.

#### Freely Trapped
Despite the ability to fly upon the winds, many Vaqar feel trapped within their own homes and villages. Children who grow up with a wanderlust soon find that they can walk their entire civilization in a manner of weeks, if they take it slow. Teenagers clamor for change and chaos in their lives, much like how the elementals wished to remain impermanent. Though these feelings might change in time, and often do upon reaching adulthood and contentment, many youths make it clear just how much their ancestral curse afflicts them.

In time, this often produces individuals who are so incredibly determined to see the world, to walk upon land, and to experience its richness, that they tread upon landed soil of their own free will. God curse be damned, these individuals often trade long lives in order to live ones where they can walk the soil of the earthen realms.

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## Hakorrlund
#### Capital: Apocryn
#### Hallmarks: Warfare, Metal, Mining, Slavery, Combat, Dragons, Honor

The *Hakorric Exarchate* is a land without true innocence. The realm is defined by bloodshed, combat, and strength of body and mind. Its people, mostly dragonborn, reflect this hostility in their culture and diplomacy with outside nations. All the while, a crude code of conduct and sense of honor betrays the one-sided brutality of the realm. Taking root on the southernmost part of Cor'kivna, a continent already renowned for its violence and danger, Hakorrlund is perhaps the strongest nation to exist in its realm. Today, its peoples seem content to battle among themselves and against the horrors of their land, remaining ignorant of the outside realms beyond what concerns them immediately.

### Background
In an era that went unrecorded and largely unremembered, Cor'kivna was yet to be known as the "Bleeding Lands". It remained whole, and what few creatures called its land home were content to survive on the fat of the land. However, such was not the same for a dragon, whose scales shined with the dull luster of iron, whose hunger remained unsated and all consuming. This dragon, colossal in form, was named *Azredossis*, the *Demon of Irons*. No magic could pierce his hide, no blade sharp enough to cut it, and no acid great enough to melt it. With such invulnerability, Azredossis rampaged across the continent and consumed all in his wake. He drank the rivers dry, stripped the forests of greenery, and devoured the armies sent his way. It is said that Cor'kivna's dangerous terrain and perilous ecosystems root their origins to this very creature's hunger.

His feasting would not end, but it would be the end of himself. As it was, happening upon an obscure temple hidden in the mountains, Azredossis would devour each monk, acolyte, and priest hidden within its confines. Among its members was a young girl, whose blood belonged directly to that of the vengeful war god *Hvaelger*. Even in his mindless rampage, it is said that the dragon itself felt true fear when he finished devouring the god's child. For he knew, even in his madness, he invited his own death upon himself. True enough, with rage and frenzy festering in his eyes, the war god would find Azredossis fleeing to the south. Such escape was futile, and the war god would smash and bludgeon the dragon against the very earth itself with such ferocity and strength that, to this day, the land remains splintered and scattered like broken stones.

*Ferrgon*, god of the forge and iron, would take pity upon the broken land. To mend it, he crafted titanic chains that would hold together the broken pieces of earth and rock. Scraping iron from the scales of the undying corpse of Azredossis, enough metal was procured to complete such a herculean task. However, as Ferrgon scraped and sliced through scale, rivers of blood formed from the mouth and nostrils of the dragon. From these rivers took the form of all dragonkin. The wyverns, the great wyrms, and the dragonborn. Though the latter two kin spread apart to proliferate and grow, the dragonborn, who lacked the wings to fly, remained in their broken land. Uniting and dividing, making nations and breaking them, these dragonborn would be the very kin that would eventually come to form Hakorrlund four hundred years ago.

### Culture and Lifestyle
#### Fight makes Right
Strength and justice go hand in hand within Hakorrlund. Such a mindset is a commonality among most of Cor'kivna. Strength is gained and proven in battle and hardship, and as such those aspects are seen as paramount and revered to the Hakorric. Those in power can only remain so should they be able to fend off the contenders and competition seeking to take their place. Those who are usurped through honorable battle are cast away quickly, as the winning contender takes their place with righteousness. Justice is dished out by those who are strong enough to form its laws and definitions, and the weak and meek must abide, be cast out, or challenge authority. The pecking order that forms from this is both enduring and fleetingly fragile, and infighting is common within the exarchate. As such, the exarch (the strongest of their kind) displays pure, inflexible, dictatorial authoritative power in order to quell rebellion and calm the masses in times of turmoil.

A strong and deeply inset warrior's culture thrives in Hakorric tradition. Life is worth taking, if it means one gains honor, respect, and (most importantly) strength from it; such is the same for having one's life taken, if the honor of sacrifice is great enough. Disputes are settled in duels between two individuals (or more), and if the grievance is large enough, duels to the death are not uncommon. So long as one side proves victorious and stronger than the other, their path, their ideals, and their honor is indisputable in the eyes of their society.

#### Struggle and Survive
Hardship takes an important place in Hakorric lifestyles, and is paramount to fostering strength of body and mind. Children, when they come to reach the age of 14, are sent into the *Koorode Badlands* as a rite of passage into adulthood and respect. They must survive and fight in that land, remaining far from home, for a whole year. When they do come back, they do so with the skull of the heaviest creature they had killed during such times. Children who come back before their time is over, or who come back empty handed, are treated as black sheep and devoid of respect. Parents who refuse to send their children into the badlands pay a massive price, as their villages treat them as second class citizens. This stigma remains for their entire bloodline, until a massive deed is done to restore the honor of every single failed member of that bloodline.

Children who die out in the badlands are given honorable burials back home, if their bodies were recoverable. This way, they are respected with the same honor as one who died in war; it also prevents them from coming back as a vengeful wraith.

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#### Biomes, Landscapes, and Realms

The near entirety of Hakorrlund is composed of dry, arid mesas, with trees and hardy shrubbery clinging to its cliffsides and roaming its shaded valleys. Small trickles of water flush through and around different mesas, providing some manner of lushness to the environment. The soil is rocky, with exposed ruddy red and orange stone peaking from the earth in jagged manners. The peoples of this land mostly cling to the cliffsides, carving homes and villages out of the cliffs and stone. Hardy "razorwheat" grows in the rocky, mostly infertile soil, providing some manner of sustainable sustenance for the people of the land. However, massive monsters and dire creatures provide suitable and favorable meat for the masses, of which is enjoyed far more than the dry, poor grain.

Nearing the *Shattered Isles* in the south, cold winds and long winters cling to the landscape. Mountains rise up from massive and strange impact craters, rich with ore that provides steady tools, armor, and weaponry for those brave enough to mine them. Between this cold realm and the dry mesas is a small sliver of soft soil sanctuary, known as *Sakytine Gully*. A depression within the earth, where rivers from the north pour into and soften the soil into arable land. The "rich" and wealthy of Hakorric society often stake claims to plots of land within this realm, taking in both slaves and servants to work the soil. Henceforth, the Sakytine Gully has acted as a major breadbasket and agricultural producer for every nation and realm that has existed in the region.

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 Many Hakorric settlements affix themselves within and around natural landmarks and formations. This gives them a unique look of blending in with their environments, hiding the bustling and tumultuous life within.
 
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Such product has given the families that lay claim to these lands many different "boons" and cultural exceptions; such as esteemed titles, the privilege to not send their young to the Badlands, and exception from some of the exarch's rulings and taxes. All of this requires that these lands continue to produce food for the soldiery and citizenry of Hakorrlund.

### Faith in Rust
The callous and draconian method of their "trials" is not lost on many dragonborn. In short, to many, it is akin to exile, and a method for many families and communities to get rid of contrarian beliefs. It is not uncommon for an irate neighbor or rival to challenge another's strength and honor. Should many others also back this claim, the only way to preserve such honor and respect would be to prove oneself once more. Returning to the Koorode Badlands once more is no easier than the first time, and often many don't return.

That being said, both those that failed their trials (and survived) and those that came back especially scarred often do so with a newfound resentment. Whether this resentment fades with time or becomes the fuel for their fighting spirit, it seems in the modern day some individuals have turned to a new faith to take comfort in. Some dragonborn come back with markings of dead languages upon their flesh and scales, never with the memory of ever gaining it in the first place. Only faint memories and recollections of a "King of Rust" remain in their minds, an entity which spurs them into fervor and frenzy. Many dragonborn bearing these marks have convened with each other, forming crusading parties ready and willing to tear down the land which abused them. All of this for the sake of rebuilding it back into their image, one which would better serve them and their nature.

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## Koorode Badlands

Wicked and brutal, these twisted and warped lands are the bane to all living creatures who dwell within it. Prone to searing heat and biting cold, with long years of drought only ended by months of tempestuous rains, this land only harbors the hardiest and most dangerous monstrosities Arikona hides. No nation lays claim to the land, and all who have tried were buried there and their people turned into monstrous evils. The land itself corrodes all around it, the landscapes, the tools, and even the creatures who dwell within. Rust and tarnish cover the earth, casting a sickly green and rusted orange color over the entire horizon. This land is stripped of all morality, as much as its stripped of life itself.

### Background
In the fallout of a great battle between a war god and an ever-hungry wyrm, it is said that the war god bludgeoned his enemy so hard and so repeatedly into the earth that he would end up burying the dead wyrm. The shockwaves traveled down to the south, where they would shatter and split apart the land. Here, the fires of the war god would burn and petrify all around him and his quarry. His vitriol made manifest, a pungent curse of sickness and pestilence, would seep into the realm itself. Of course, there is little to back up the claim that the battle happened here, or at all. To scholars of learned and respected quality, it will forever remain a mystery as to why these lands are like this at all.

### Culture and Lifestyle
#### No one Remains
No nation claims this land for its own, and even small tribes of strong warriors and hunters could hardly scrape a living from this realm. It is barren, and utterly fruitless. No culture surrounds its environment, nor has it produced a peoples who could come to form one of their own.

Oddly enough, this dangerous realm does provide something for the unscrupulous or those trying to hide. Bounty hunters, law enforcement, and all other manner of authority wouldn't dare follow criminals of many kinds into these lands. As such, sometimes slavers or black market dealers of infamous guilds would come here to make clandestine dealings. Here, they won't be chased nor will the law of the land punish them, for there is no law to speak of.

#### Biomes, Landscapes, and Realms
Pits of sulfurous springs, pools of acidic water, the carcasses of massive creatures, and entire forests made of petrified trees are the hallmark of this horrid landscape. The realm switches between the extremes, rarely ever maintaining a balance between hot and cold, wet and dry, or flat and bumpy. Years can pass without true rain, but when it comes it does so months at a time. Tempestuous torrents of nonstop storms assail the land with both hail and acidic rain, doing little to vitalize the realm below.

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## Ostrikk
#### Hallmarks: The Hunt, Minotaurs, Labyrinths, Monsters

The *Ostrikkan Huntrealm* is one of intense bustling life, and hallmarked by an ever violent presence that seeks to exploit it. Its people, no nation nor kingdom, boast a culture defined by the hunt and the chase that preludes it. Herds of minotaur, with small populations of human, goliath, and wood elves, roam this land. Multitudes of different clans claim dominance over some part of the huntrealm, fighting viciously against competition and their dangerous quarry. Clans can feast upon bountiful game and meats one day and be slaughtered the next in these chaotic lands, and its people would rarely ever have it differently.

### Background
The huntrealm has remained in its chaotic state for eras, ironically remaining unchanged in that manner. Local legend believes that the realm was created to house the minotaur; children, creations, and servants of *Rhenaku*, god of primal savagery, father of lycantrhopes, and arbiter to nature's wrath. He gifted the minotaur extreme strength to commit acts of violence against the peoples of order and civilization, and burdened them with a hunger for meat to motivate them towards such goals. *Tessarius*, Paragon god of nature, saw this corruption as an insult and utter warp of nature's balance and an attempt to leverage nature's needs for one's own selfish goals. In a move both merciful and political, she housed the minotaur within a realm where rocky crags and steep mountain peaks created a labyrinthine maze to occupy and enamor the oxen children. There, in a realm of unbridled life, they would be free to chase and hunt creatures worthy of their strength and endurance, all the while contained within the maze that would become the Ostrikkan Huntrealm.

The maze would test and tire the minotaur, but those that escaped rarely wanted to leave their cradle for lands which could not sate, satisfy, or entertain them like the huntrealm did. Those that did leave, however, had no taste for the bloodshed and hunt-craze that their kin followed, and as such passed Tessarius' test of mercy. They would not fulfill Rhenaku's desire for bloodshed and chaos indiscriminate. Instead, their strength would carry purpose and their minds would reflect intellect and empathy that the savage god did not intend.

### Culture and Lifestyle
#### Survival of the Fittest
The huntrealm is populate by different clans, usually called "herds" or "blood bonded". These clans roam as nomadic peoples, always on the move to ensure their prey that they rely upon does not grow thin and weak. As such, each clan often demands intensive amounts of land to call their own, and oftentimes have to compete with other clans when their lands overlap. Usually these disputes are violent, but swift. Miniature battles and skirmishes between champions and venerated warriors from each clan often decide the fate of the competing parties. However, should a land become important enough, a clan desperate enough, or the rivalry bitter enough, entire clans have clashed with all their might. In these battles, only one side will make it out alive, having slain and assimilated their competitors at a great cost.

However, there is no saying that two different clans cannot act diplomatically instead. Trade agreements, non aggression pacts, and even "blood bonding" are all possible avenues of more peaceful conduct between different clans. After all, in the end, both clans only want to hunt those worthy of their strength, not slaughter those weaker than them.

#### Free and Proud
Cages, prisons, and cells are all abominations to the inhabitants of the huntrealm. Freedom is paramount, and anything less than the ability to hunt, walk, eat, and sleep where one wills is confinement at best and torture at worst. The sole reason why many other races populate otherwise mainly minotaur herds, is that the very same herds had emancipated them from their chains (should they have potential to be strong clan members, that is). Yet, all the same, confinement and imprisonment are among their punishments to clans and bitter enemies that they capture. From then on, it wouldn't be long until such prisoners would be sold to traveling slavers, ransomed back to their clan, or given up as sacrifice to the many gods they pray to. Furthermore, other rejects from different societies often find their way here, to be accepted among the huntrealm for their strength instead of their pasts or natures.

Should a clan's own ever be imprisoned, and should the member be valued even slightly, there are little lengths that the clan will not go to in order to free them.

#### The Great Hunt
The animals and beasts that roam the land of the huntrealm are rarely truly natural, fairly dangerous, and never truly benign. Elk, bears, wolves, and other natural creatures must dwell alongside large monstrosities; gnoll flinds, chimera packs, manticore prides, roaming owlbears, vicious trolls, and more share these lands. It is these creatures which the clans of the huntrealm stalk and chase in their constant search for their next meal and worthy hunt. These hunts are rarely safe, and the weak or clumsy often fall or become seriously wounded. Those that remain feast upon their prey, sometimes even ritualistically feasting on their organs and hearts to acquire their strength.

The greatest of prey usually remain within the mountains themselves, and are regarded with caution and respect. Giants within the craggy mountains, dragons ensconced within the forests, tricksy fey for the seelie and unseelie, powerful aberrations such as beholders, and more are regarded as prey worthy only of a champion hunter. Individuals who can take down these creatures alone are regarded as heroes, but nothing is so honored as leading a hunt and sharing the glory of such a kill with clan and kin. Usually those that lead these hunts form their own clans, or usurp the current leadership as a popular figure in the herd.

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#### Biomes, Landscapes, and Realms

The Ostrikkan Huntrealm's craggy peaks, which are near impossible to scale, twist and turn at edges and curves at an almost unnatural level. The entire range creates a labyrinthine maze that spans the entire region, entrapping the realm and forcing its denizens to tread within the valleys, hills, and rivers of its creation. This is the common explanation as to why minotaurs are drawn to mazes and puzzles and have such great memories, for their ancestral homeland is, itself, one massive maze. Within the crag valleys, broadleaf trees grow thick alongside with massive ferns that spiral up hardwood trunks. Vines and ivy squirm and spread out upon the leafy soil like rope tied around wooden boards, reinforcing rocky heights and maintaining the shape of both hills and mountain edges. The dense canopy provides plentiful shadow and shade for hunter and prey alike to hide and ambush others, while the rivers that flow in and between the crags often are exposed to brilliant sunlight as they tirelessly carve their way through rocky earth.

Verdant moss clings to the sheer mountain sides, absorbing the waters flowing down from them and acting like purifying filters for what they cannot hold. Oftentimes, these mosses are harvested and repurposed for waterskins or ritualistic burnings; prized for their pleasant smell and the deep green flames they produce. Clean, clear droplets of dew slide down the crags and flow into the already gushing rivers. These rivers flow north, towards the Iversyl darkwoods to sustain and vitalize the lands within.

### The Rumbling
Many monstrosities and dangerous beasts find the huntrealm ideal for living due to its massive potential for life, nutrition, and its carrying capacity. Even when civilization remains nomadic, and agriculture is spurned for hunting and gathering, true herds and clans can number their people in the thousands. However, this cannot explain every creature who remains to dwell within these lands. Sometimes, creatures appear from the deepest pits and forest corners that can only be explained away by demonic intrusion or divine intervention. Twisted creatures with endlessly ravenous appetites, when one comes face to face with such monstrosities only then do they remember that these realms were touched by deities of uncaring savagery and mutative nature.

Yet, even they are dwarfed in comparison to the titans the rumble and stumble in the darkness below the huntrealm's earth. Local legends and mythos take care to describe a sleeping behemoth that rests beneath the earth. Chains greased with sopoforic magics, licked by the tongue of a god, hold something truly massive and restless within the earth. As it twists and turns in its slumber, it quakes the landscape and redirects rivers. The elves of Iversyl worry that these tremors will break the crags, opening entrances and holes into their lands where the savage and barbaric peoples of the huntrealm will flood forth from. In recent times, such tremors have become more common, and it has only revealed just how much animosity and bitterness lies between the clans of Ostrikk and the elves of Iversyl.

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## Iversyl
#### Capital: Lynwell
#### Hallmarks: Elves, Nature, Fey, Gems, Curses, Sanctuary

The *Iversylian Tetrarchy* is an elven society that clings to the north of Cor'kivna. For such a long lived race, Iversyl is among the youngest nations to take hold in the world of Arikona. Most of its inhabitants originated from the feywild before their emergence into the Material Plane, with only two generations having been born into the world as of yet. With their spontaneous appearance, it was also the beginning point for elven presence in the Material Plane. The nation is ruled by four Archons, each representing the different subraces of the elven caste system. Though its laws may seem constricting and confusing to outsiders, the land itself tries to be a sanctuary for elven kind and its continued existence in the world at large.

### Background
Elves, for the longest of times, had not been part of the Material Plane, though they were born of it. Leaving the realm behind quickly, the elves' most ancient ancestors settled within the boundaries between the feywild and the Material Plane. There, they would become almost like guards for the archfey and the courts of the seelie who dwelled within the phantasmic plane. They roamed its twisting and turning forests, becoming one with the unbridled and overflowing nature that dwells within the feywilds. Their warriors became ever strong and skilled through centuries of training and honing their abilities; their artisans scratched excellence and mastery over the finest details of their craft; their arcanists touched the very fabric of the weave; there, in the feywild and within the bosom of the archfey's courts, they knew purpose, prosperity, and growth. More than that, they knew safety from the predatory goddess that would stalk their dreams and devour their hope. *Vivinerra*, goddess of lies and nightmares, matron to the corrupted, and queen of spiders.

In the Material Plane, she saw the elves as delightfully fickle minded and malleable, their bodies prone to mutation and change. Their nature often gave way to immense lies that could live for centuries, with webs spreading the entire world. She toyed with their trances, replacing memories with dreadful nightmares that would drag even the iron willed and strong minded into depravity and mania. It was her influence that pushed the elves to escape into the feywilds, and it is her name that strikes fear into the collective peoples of the elves. So great was her influence over them, that she could even touch their souls upon death and reincarnation. An elf, who had given in to the nightmares and touched by the goddess herself, would be reincarnated as a drow, a sickly shell of what came before (to the elves, at least). The point was clear to all elf-kind then; "stay away from the realm of the material and the short-lived". However, time would prove that they could not outrun their tormentor for long, as tragedy and dishonor would be their undoing.

Very few outsiders understand the exact betrayal that broke the oath and alliance between the elves and the archfey, and forced their exile from the plane itself. Even many citizenry do not entirely understand the reasoning for it either, only knowing that their lives were uprooted and changed in an utter instant. Some scholars speculate that the elven elite failed to protect an archfey noble, others even say that the elves had a hand in harming them. Many other scholars blame it upon the fey's whimsical and fickle ways, and that the elves broke some obscure law or etiquette unknown even to them. Whatever it was, they were exiled back to their home plane, back to the mercy of the goddess of nightmares.

Quickly, the tetrarchy formed in response to the fears surrounding this goddess, whose presence was now more akin to a mythical monster from ancient tales. Strict caste systems and policies were put into place that discouraged indulging into taboos or depravities, activities that would lead one closer to the goddess' grip. Spires would be erected from the earth, each four to symbolize the four leaders of the elven realm, which would host immense sanctuaries within them to house its people. Magical barriers were installed within these towers to shield the minds and souls of its citizens and soldiers, and churches of other gods were sought out for defense against Vivinerra's corruption. In an instant, a civilization was formed at a pace only fear and abject horror could drive.

### Culture and Lifestyle
#### Reincarnation and Death
Elves, upon death, are believed to spend only short periods of time resting in their respective heavens. Afterward, they would be shunted out (unless the hells claimed them) and reformed into a new living body. Memories of a past life would fade with time, only accessed in brief, broken visions through trances during childhood. The elves of the tetrarchy believe that morality and achievement in a past life means enlightenment and ascendance in the next. Elves higher in the caste system earned their place through great deeds and acts in their past lives, at least to the larger society. Wood elves would be reborn as high elves, and high elves would be reborn as the fabled eladrin. Many refer to this system as downright cruel and abusive, as it opens many routes for oppression and strips many of those in the lower caste of intrinsic worth. Moreso, it closes many routes for achievement and great deeds that the elite would claim to otherwise ascend them. Despite this, this is an accepted origin for the drow, where even the lowest in the caste system revile and fear their nature.

A drow is often born into prejudice and hatred only a strict culture could perpetuate, where those reincarnated as drow must've lived lives of sordid violence and evil, and as such deserve to be maltreated for such acts. Their existence is a reminder of the horrors wrought upon elven kind in their youth as a race, and as such are rebuked wherever they are seen. In Iversylian culture, it is believed there is no escape from life as a drow. Either one's soul is consumed whole by the corrupting goddess, or reincarnation never opens another chance for the elf to lead a different life as a different elf. Forever damned to be a drow.

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#### Grim Ambassadors
There exists another subrace to elven kind, one grim and yet not excised from the natural order like the drow. The shadar'kai, a pale reflection of elven kind, warped by negative energies and magics from the Shadowfell. Not all elves left for the Material Plane when they were exiled, some entered into the service of the goddess of the dead, *Tenebrei*. There, they found some manner of safety and purpose to replace what they lost. No shadar'kai is ever tormented by nightmare nor plagued by Vivinerra's corruption. In the grim lands of the shadowfell, and sometimes even beyond in the Material Plane, these elves are called on to end undeath in all its forms and to enforce the natural cycle of life and death.

Seen as emotionless and something akin to pagan, these elves are feared in Iversylian culture, but their cult and culture attract more people every day. Still elves, they have claim to the nation their kin have built, and act as ambassadors between the elves, the shadowfell, and the goddess of the dead. In return for the fourth spire, and a place in their society, these elves share their divine boons and powers in the eternal struggle against Vivinerra.

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 Nations and realms that would interpret the elves' panic for weakness would do well to think otherwise. Bearing a strong warrior culture, it seems the martial madness and prowess of Cor'kivna spreads even to the elves of Iversyl. Strong armies and championed warriors stand to defend their homeland whenever needed.
 
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#### Biomes, Landscapes, and Realms
Iversyl is mainly located within the *Darkwoods*, a gargantuan thicket composed of both deciduous and coniferous trees that shed intense shade onto the lands beneath their thick canopy. Each different spire, as part of the wards that defend its people, enchant the lands around it to some degree. The *Spire of Autumn*, heralded by the wood elves, is surrounded by leaves in the twilight between summer and fall. Leaves of yellow, orange and brown sway in the wind alongside deep verdant pines. The *Spire of Winter*, heralded by the shadar'kai, coats the land around it in a blanket of snow, reminiscent of the grim and somber dispositions of its people. The *Spire of Summer*, heralded by the high elves, is abundant with life and bounty. Its trees sprout plentiful fruit and the flowers blossom into truly prismatic colors. The *Spire of Spring*, heralded by the eladrin, exhibits great change all around it. The realm exudes an almost nascent nature, where most forms of life are in an ever present state of infancy and youth.

These enchantments don't hold so strongly that the changing seasons don't take affect, but their influence can easily be seen by passersby most parts of the year. Each spire holds a walled sanctuary, holding the most important infrastructure and people within; the churches, the warehouses, the government buildings, and the homes of the elite. Outside these sanctuary walls, small villages and farms dot the landscape. Although none of them truly ever leave the sight of their spires, for fear of leaving the wards that protect their minds behind.

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## Aes Adei
#### Hallmarks: Knowledge, Occult, Archives, Monastic Life, Asceticism, Anti-Corruption

Not a nation, nor a recognized political power, the archives of Aes Adei are a collection of the world's literature and knowledge that all manner of mortals, entities, and nations have acquired in their existences. So deep and thorough is its libraries and depths to its knowledge, that they become much like labyrinthes and dungeons themselves. Many a wing or library has become a tomb to the unlucky scholars and monks that tend to these archives. All are welcome to plumb through the countless tomes, scrolls, tablets, and silks of the archives, but none are free to take anything. The *Aes Adei Order*, dedicated to the worldwide spread of knowledge and learning, protects this otherwordly collection of knowledge at all costs.

### Background
Spurned on by divine mission, scholars and followers of Apotheosis from all over the world were granted visions and given purpose. Their goal was to create a space to preserve the learnings, knowledge, and achievement of all mortal kind, so as to preserve the content forevermore after such peoples, groups, or nations had passed on and left the earth. This space, the Aes Adei Archives, serves two purposes, both bearing dire importance. This knowledge was kept as a way to forever stand against the corruption in mortals and nations, to enlighten the people to a better and freer way of living and to spur them to fight for their futures. Furthermore, the spreading of knowledge and enlightenment, and the curbing of corruption, was to serve on the side of civilization and beauty in the cosmic struggle of good against evil, law against chaos and entropy.

The monks of this order took their role seriously and with great zeal, sparing no expense in the creation of the awe inspiring archive. Floating upon a massive cloud, donated to the cause by a dynasty of cloud giants, and built from the finest stone, hardwood, and metal, the archives is a colossal structure that is the product of thousands of years of intense work, effort, and cooperation. Even today, its growth never stops, as the search for knowledge is ever unending.

### Culture and Lifestyle
#### An Unending Thirst
The monks of the archive are ascetic, and want for little in their lives. Instead, all their ambition and desire is channeled into the thirst for knowledge and data. The elders of these archives are rarely rivaled in their expertises, and could converse for months upon even the most minor of details in many subjects of science, math, literature, and more. Furthermore, this thirst for knowledge also culminates in a desire to spread it, and the monks of this order both sponsor and personally create many establishments for learning in outside realms. Teaching language, writing, and the base subjects necessary to elevate one's station in life.

Of course, this thirst can often lead to benign and baseless trivia. Useless subjects of fiction and media driven by delusion and boredom must be sifted through and scuttled in order to uncover true knowledge and data upon a specific subject. In more dire cases, the search for knowledge can bring a monk into a dark route through forbidden secrets. Today, many suspect that sects of occult worship and learning have taken root in the archives, and that many monks have begun to abandon their original purpose in favor of more selfish pursuits.

#### Rip out Corruption
Corrupt public officials, warlords bent on conquest, and tyrants wiping away history play the main roles within the nightmares of the Aesite monks. To their patron god, knowledge must never be truly hidden nor destroyed, but kept safe and built upon. Corruption in nations naturally destroys knowledge and askews the truth, so naturally monks of this order also aid in holding nations to their oaths, promises, and social contracts to their people. This has prompted the monks to blacklist Twinbird scholarly circles and its royal family from gaining access to the archives, as its propensity for propaganda and past acts of burning down libraries has earned it the order's ire.

They also deal with more "arcane" corruption as well. Dictators making deals with fiends, public officials replacing their churches with cults, and profane cultists opening ways in for otherworldly influence all are targets of these monks.

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 All are welcome to learn from the archives, other non-humanoids are no exception either. Dragons, naga, cursed folk, and fey often seek out the endless library halls for one purpose or another. 
 
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## Chapter Four: Gods and Glory
Divinity is an important aspect to the people of Arikona, and divine influence has seeped into every corner of the world in some way or another. Most peoples of the world, even if they are not host to divine power or unique zeal, worship one or two different gods. Farmers pay tribute to Tessarius, the *Leaf Mother*, to protect their fields from blight and vermin. Scholars pay heed to Apotheosis, *Grand Archivist*, for his claim over knowledge both seen and unseen. Assassins follow in the footsteps of Vivinerra, the *Night Terror*, to muffle their steps and poison their blades. Barbarians sacrifice in the name of Hvaelger, the *Savage Maw*, for even a portion of his strength and rage. Worship is rooted so deeply into Arikona to the point that, without it, the world would be unrecognizable. The direct acts of the gods in shaping history up into this point have been so utterly significant, that mortal kind    could rarely ever deny their right to divine power.

### Modern Worship
In modern times, most worship has been regulated and controlled by an organization known as the *Holy Lotus Tribunal*. Propped up by Twinbird power, and finding its foundations within the Corvinian Theocracy, it has outlawed many gods seen as overly pagan and outwardly seditious. Churches to these old pagan gods have been torn down or repurposed, sacrifices and tributes to these gods has been stigmatized as unholy and cult-like, and worshipers who have refused to convert have met with terrible fates. At least, this is the case within Vingoth. Outside realms and nations pay no heedance to the Holy Lotus or the Twinbird, and as such worship their original gods freely despite the diplomatic tensions it causes.

Cor'kivna still remains loyal to its gods of war, fire, and stone, while small sects of Guest and Vivinerra worshipers remain in the cracks of Kivnan society. Kudor, or at least the Shrinetenders, widely have little faith in the many gods, but respect all pantheons nonetheless. Their neighbors, the Voxistanii Mageocracy, solely believe in gods that grasp the weave, and shows small, subtle patronage to Ytol, the Sentinel of Planes, and *Lillian*, the *Weave Warden*. The nomads of Vaqar do not even worship gods, unless in extenuating circumstances, but outright revere elementals instead. The archivists of Aes Adei are devout servants of Apotheosis, forever serving in his name and his missions.

#### Character Creation
Understanding where your character stands in the religious world should be considered. This generally can give you an idea what place in the world your character has, whether they are an abject believer of Holy Lotus purity or rebuke the organization in its entirety.

Furthermore, picking one or two gods to worship, even if your character isn't a cleric, paladin, or divine caster, can also add some depth to your character, their experiences, and their ideals. *Choosing no gods to worship is also a valid choice that absolutely adds to a character's depth*.

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 Warriors of the Red-White Rose Coalition often are associated with devils and pagan gods, all due to propaganda devised by Twinbird influence. Here, a warrior is symbolized leaving his duty and people behind for an unknown deity; trading purpose for superficial wants and desires. 
 
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## The Paragon
*"Gods of the First Light"*, *"Arbiters of Law and Beauty"*, *"Those that Endure"*; the gods of the Paragon are among the mightiest, eldest, and most influential deities in the world of Arikona. The highest of outsider gods defer to their judgment and tremble in awe at their power over reality. With such power comes distance, and those of this pantheon are often vague and sparse in their commands to mortal kind, only directly intervening when the realms are in imbalance and entropy dares threaten the world. Communications with their disciples are limited, but despite this distance they never truly leave their own alone.

### Apotheosis
"Grand Archivist", "Father of Truths", "Dogmatic Master of Transcendence"; these titles refer to Apotheosis, god of knowledge and ascension. In the world, he is a force of order and truth that roots out corruption wherever it rears its ugly head. He enforces the truth written in ink and acts, and is attributed to lording over oaths made with the gods as witness. It is said everything written upon paper, clay, stone, and all surfaces are his purview, and that he speaks a language of every dialect and diction in all the realms melded into one.

Moreso, he is the lord who is sought out whenever a new divinity seeks godhood. He judges the fledgling deity on their acts, ideals, the content of their followers, and if they would bring order and balance that is missing in the world. Many have passed his trials, both evil and good and everything in between. However, none have met his true expectations, whatever they may be. Many wonder, what exactly will happen when he meets a deity worthy of greater ascension?

His followers are scholars, philosophers, and truth seekers who dwell within the libraries, archives, and hidden ruins of the world. They seek out knowledge and rebuke those who would plunge their homes and worlds into darkness and deceit. He asks them to be true to their oaths, and to forever contemplate their meaning and mysteries, while forever expanding their minds to new ways of thinking and doing. His greatest church, the Aes Adei Order, is one of the largest and most influential bases of his influence in the world.

### Ytol
"Sentinel of Planes", "He who Holds the Line", "Earth Shaper"; these titles refer to Ytol, sentinel of the planes and elements. He is the watcher who forever repels and rebukes otherworldly and elemental influence from entering and corrupting the Material Plane. The greatest warrior who fought against the Primoridals and elementals, he would forever stand guard and remain vigilant against their intrusion and invasion. He binds the elemental planes away from entry, chaining its influences forever away and making planar travel incredibly difficult to the chaotic planes. He is the one who would break the Primordials and their children, and would form and fashion the world from their bodies.

Though he is a god, and one of the greatest at that, his duty supersedes his domains. Worship, sacrifice, and tribute towards him all goes towards his goal of preventing chaos and entropy from truly taking hold in the world once more. Having lost many beloved children and servants in the fight against entropy, he holds a bitter vengeance and animosity for true chaos which ironically culminates in a furious storm of divine lightning and fire. His followers seek out cults of elemental evil and root them out, rebuke and destroy those who would break open the planes, and cast out summoned elementals and extraplanar creatures.

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 Within his heavenly realm, Apotheosis never relents in his endless study and philosophizing. Legends say his wings, made of the parchment and paper of books he has favored, grow ever so larger and more powerful the more he learns.
 
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### Tessarius
"Leaf Mother", "Our Verdant Progenitor", "Lady of Tooth and Thorn"; these titles refer to Tessarius, goddess of nature and all that entails. She is a personification of fertility, plant growth, and the arbiter of new birth in the world, an utterly integral being and mercifully benevolent in that manner. Though nature is a force of pure neutrality, if not utterly removed from such conflicts and mindsets, she herself is a force of beauty and life in the cosmic struggle against entropy and chaos. Her presence in the realms sparks the ever marching force of growth, adaptation, and birth in the animals and plants that choose to dwell in her light. She is worshiped for a good, bountiful harvest by farmers, and given tribute for a healthy and safe birth for laboring mothers.

Her followers seek to protect nature in all its forms, while cherishing both the ugly and beautiful. They hunt down defilers of nature and of rebirth, those who shirk life for undeath and harm the pregnant creatures and peoples of the world. Their churches and temples are often examples of overgrowth and fertility, with plants spiraling up pillars and ivy taking over walls. There, they feed the needy creatures and peoples of the world, sheltering those without mothers, and chant their admiration to their goddess.

### Tenebrei
"Mother Moth", "Our most Solemn End", "The Great Equalizer"; these titles refer to Tenebrei, goddess of the dead and usher of those seeking the afterlife. A reaping figure, who collects and safeguards souls of the recently departed, she is seen in equal measure of fear and respect for her grim purpose. A reminder that all living things will die, her domain will include all in good time; kings, beggars, archmages, and even some gods are destined to enter her purview one day, and be subjected to her judgment. Though she watches over a domain of entropy, she seeks only to compel the living towards progress and make space for the new souls entering the world. Her form is attributed to moths, creatures of silence and wisdom in the world. They cling to places of stillness and follow the final light of death, much like her followers.

Her clergy are meant to give peace and reprise to those dying, amending their suffering and granting sinners clemency in their final moments (even if it means lying). They seek out those which would circumvent death through any means. Lichdom, fiendish pacts, otherworldly influence, and all else draw the attention and ire of the goddess of the dead, who commands her followers to rebuke them wherever and whenever they see them. Crusading parties forever remain oathbound to hunt undeath and necromancers, all the way from the dunes of the Godgrave desert to the heights of the Ostrikk peaks. These followers are nothing if not devoted to their goddess, and her order inspires them to act even if it ends in their deaths. To them and their goddess, dying in her service is merely another means of communing with their matron goddess.

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### Lillian
"The Weave Warden", "Mistress of Magic", "Crone in the Clouds"; these titles refer to Lillian, goddess of magic and defender of the weave. When time was young and the world was still unmade, she was the goddess who would take the Primeval Aether and refine it into the Weave, the source of all magic. From then on, she would devote herself wholly to its protection and secrets, warding it from those who would abuse magic and damage its source. Hoarders of arcane secrets, mages who disregard their ethics, and those who would seek to rend magic from the realms are her enemies, the ones who gain her ire and vitriol.

Her followers, both invokers of arcane powers and acolytes of her divine gifts, seek out arcane secrets hidden from the world (and henceforth her) in order to take power from magic's abusers. They seek out those who would use magic to selfish and destructive ends. However, the worst heresies in her domain are the occult, magics not entirely derived from the weave or the divine. Old and rarely benign, these magics of often dark or otherworldly influence are never to be trifled with by the sane. Wizards and apprentices of most backgrounds, although not all devotees, understand she should be respected and deferred to in the practice of the arcane and her warnings of the occult.

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 Her title of "Crone in the Clouds" derives from her heavenly domain, which is a never ending landscape of puffy, cotton-like clouds that span the realm.
 
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### Ilm
"Gilded Godfather", "Heaven's Splendor", "He who wakes always"; these titles refer to Ilm, god of the sun and its embodiment. Ancient legend states that, in the first dark, the Paragon were fighting a losing battle against their ancient enemy. For their future, and for his family, Ilm would rise higher than thought possible, cradling himself in the sky and forming what would become the sun. This lantern of radiant light allowed Ilm's god-siblings to beat back the world's horrors and remake the world, and would later on be the source for life's most base fuel.

His followers mimic this radiant light wherever they go, casting light upon lies and bringing hope to places of abject despair and pain. Paladins and clerics travel to overlooked and shadowed corners of the earth, bringing the light of life to those who will accept it. This faith is also built upon sacrifice, where one must give up much to truly shower light upon the world around them. The revolutionary which gives their life to oust tyrants, the eldest sibling which breaks the cruel cycle their parents put in place, or the curious soul who invites pain and harm upon them for the sake of learning; these are all examples of Ilm's sacrifice, where one must suffer so others can create a better future for the rest.

### Ulm
"Slumbering Star", "Dreamweaver", "Moon Matron"; these titles refer to Ulm, goddess of the moon. Ilm's equal and opposite, Ulm inhabits the sun's rival within the sky, the moon. Her presence in the sky alleviates the sun's endless duty for a mere night, giving the vigilant god of sunlight reprise and rest. Her domain inhabits the space between dusk and dawn, and rules over the twilight within the star cradling sky. She is a goddess who embodies the comfort night should provide, and a patron to those who wish to make their dreams reality. She ends the pain of others through slumber and sleep, allowing wounds of mental and physical nature to be mended (or ignored). She communes with her followers from visions within dreams, allowing prophetic counsel to those of lucid awareness and vague intervention to those who dream too wildly.

Her followers reach out into the darkness and shadows formed from night, seeking the monsters of men and beast that try to make it their domain. There, they sunder their enemies and outwit them with clever cunning, all in the sake of making the dark a safe, restful place to take refuge from the sun's blistering rays. Fiends who dwell within shadow, deathly figures who stalk the darkness, and brutal thugs who skulk within the night looking for prey are each and all enemies to the followers of Ulm. Furthermore, she compels her followers to seek the beauty within their dreams, and to usher such endless creativity, color, and imaginative grandeur into reality.

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 Wreathed in beauty only found in dreams, and cloaked in moonlight of silver and blue, Ulm is a resplendent star of sanctuary and twilight found in the comfort of night.
 
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### Onalla
"Queen Shield", "The Holiest of Hearths", "The Civil Sword"; these titles refer to Onalla, goddess of civilization and peace. The most "human" of the Paragon, she inhabits a domain that can only be fulfilled through the presence of mortal kind and its inherent ability to cooperate. Simply enough, she is a goddess of all the good that comes from, and *should* come from, civilization. She is the patron of a peaceful home, a lively peoples, and a community that works for the betterment of all its members. She is the goodwill that puts food upon tables, the force that ignites every warm hearth, and the walls which hold back the tides of chaos. How the community she oversees does this is not her concern, so long as it is a wholesome and decent means to an end. She will not bend different peoples and different cultures to a singular, binary path to civilization and cooperation.

A godddess of gold and ivy, she embodies mortal kind's achievements and their ability to overcome the powers and forces that far extend their own. Her followers oversee justice, preserve the rights of even criminals, and rebuke tyrants at all costs. Violence, though needed at times, is a final resort for her followers, unless their mission is to defend the victims of violence itself. However, when the walls of man are torn down, and homes turn into prisons, all of her ilk will be called to the blade and hammer to take back what was torn from their lives. The busy and difficult road back to recovery and growth is one most Onallans are familiar with, so much so that hardship goes hand in hand with the prospect of peace for this religion.

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 To carry the power of destruction, to be armed with the tools of bloodshed, yet keeping close the discipline and restraint to never use them. That is the Onallan mantle of responsibility.
 
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## The Pagan Many 
There exists many gods outside the pantheon of the Paragon. Lesser and greater gods of obscure and mighty domains slip in between the cracks and niches of society. Some hardly have any following, while others may even rival the Paragon. "Pagan" may even give an otherwise inaccurate connotation about the gods that dwell within its category. In reality, all it stands for is their difference in origin and power to the gods of the Paragon and the society that their worship has sprung up around. Even with this difference and distance, most of these gods still must defer to the Paragon's power over reality and the world they created. Usually, to many pagan god's thanks, they do not interfere in their worship, unless their domains begin to overlap with other gods or their own. In history, there have been a faint few times where the Paragon have needed to act as arbiters of justice between bickering deities or entire pantheons. During those ages, the structure of power, dominance, and authority was displayed out clearly in the Paragon's favor.

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These deities often don't have expansive churches, at least not ones so influential and organized as the Paragon. Many go unknown, starving from the lack of worship and sacrifice. Others have small, cloistered believers numbering in the dozens. They mainly inhabit domains of minor attributes -like deities of festivals, flowers, pottery, or the forge- with only a few strong players adopting powerful and ever expanding domains and skillsets. Most of these deities are vague, and their existences obscure. Players, with the help and permission of their DM, can create various pagan deities to add depth to their character and their interactions with the world. However, there are already a few notable ones. They will be listed here

### Filianore and Hvaelger
Two sides of the same coin, these two pagan deities embody aspects of war, one side honorable and strategic while the other cruel and wrathful.

Filianore is a goddess that inhabits a warrior's courage and conduct. She displays the more honorable side of war, where champions duel to spare the lives of thousands of soldiers and civilians, where laws and treatises ban destructive magics and weaponry, and where innocents will not be caught in the crossfire. This goddess' doctrine acts also as strategy, mastering the art of warfare in order to limit its destruction. Her followers hone their skills to perfection, fighting fairly and displaying both honor and valor upon the field of battle. These warriors also act as diplomats, seeing to it that treaties of peace and armistice are enforced properly (as war without peace is just slaughter, and slaughter inhabits neither god's domains). In times of peace, these warriors seek out realms without order to bend the land back into rights. There, they also seek out followers of Hvaelger in order to challenge them to duels and battles for the honor of their lady.

Hvaelger is a god that inhabits war's cruelty and brutality. Though he maintains a sense of honor, it does nothing to stop his brutal rampage and onslaught against the realms, vying for long, drawn out wars and bloodshed to weed out the weak and undeserving. His followers are encouraged to act upon vengeful desires, to destroy and purge those which have wronged them in any manner. They abandon reason only to embrace war and bloody conflict, although those that fully lose their minds and succumb to bloodcraze are subject to be slain by their siblings. The war god has no place for the feeble of mind and tactic. Although his methods and means are cruel, the war god will never backstab or betray his own following, nor will he employ deceitful tactics upon his enemy. In war he fights fair, if perhaps savagely, and loss is met with just as much honor as it is humiliation.

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### Ferrgon
God of the forge, and master of metal, Ferrgon is a demanding taskmaster that rewards fairly for a job well done. His following hope to parse even glimpses of the creativity, ingenuity, and talent which he uses to craft masterworks and artifacts. These worshipers go out into the world, converting their worldly experience and memories into raw inspiration to craft their masterpieces. Some gods, bereft of other means, beseech him to create weaponry and gear for their champions, the price often steep and costly for such commissioning. Dwarves, gnomes, and smiths of other civilizations often sacrifice small trinkets and tokens of their creation, praying that their forges and tools will survive their strenuous duties for years to come. Rarely, adventurers trekking forbidden and dangerous ruins will find old creations of this stoic god, forged from the hardiest of materials wrought by his bare hands and fists.

### Vivinerra
Vivinerra, goddess of lies and nightmares, matron to the corrupted, and queen of spiders. A sinister goddess by any means, and reviled by half the world if not all of it. Her following are comprised of those entrapped within deceitful designs, unwilling servants, recipients of baleful pacts, or those blinded by vice, sin and ego. Hers is a dark domain, one where the shadows and shade mutate and change all that they touch, clawing the sanity away from the heroic and highlighting the dark desires and urges of the vulnerable. She torments mortal kind mostly with equal effort, however she spares a special interest towards the elves of the world. She delights in tormenting their truly immortal souls, haunting their lives and dragging them into despair and depravity. Sometimes, the Night Terror picks unlucky elves to sink her fangs into for life, never relenting in their torture even after multiple reincarnations. All of this, for the sake of turning them into drow, her favored creations, and later on devouring their souls.

Her following encourages change and corruption in the world, mutating natural cycles and states into a tumorous version of what they once were. Blackmailing politicians and heroes into servitude, manipulating powerful entities into malign action, and warping the ambitions of the virtuous and honest are each and all methods to drag outside souls into depravity, corruption, and loss. Her favored few, a coven of witches, hags, and occultists, named the "Wretched Hollow" are exception to rarities in her faith. They are showered in boons and gifts, given powers and purposes. She tempts other lesser clergy of her following with acceptance in these ranks, all for the sake of driving them deeper into her worship and ideals.

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## The Guest

Some gods arise from soil, and blood, and wood, and stone; these are the Pagan, largely physical in their own domains and being borne from ascended mortals or natural concepts given divine forme. Some gods arise from the wind, from the light, from the sky, and from the Aether; these are the Paragon, enlightened gods who have always been here. Then there was one, and only one, who arose from glass, from mirrors, and from starlight. A visitor from beyond the stars, who doesn't belong within this world's fragile confines. She is the only Occult goddess, an entity that has arisen from forbidden powers and indescribable arts. She is *The Guest*, who entered the world hundreds of years ago -through a wound upon the *Slumbering Star*.

Approximately three hundred years ago, the moon in the sky began to change. Once full, its silver surface began to give way to an inky darkness in its center; which grew wider and wider, until the moon in the sky was naught but a silver ring surrounding an inky center. Those who saw this event, and did not go mad, named this new moon the "*Vacuous Star*". From this inky blackness came a strange and uncanny form; hiding among the blackness of the night sky was The Guest. Those who would look to the sky, and were unfortunate enough to peer her true form from the night sky, went mad.

This, in turn, was dubbed the *Stranger's Crisis*, and its victims became rabid, unhinged, and violent; wielding occult powers that most had no right knowing. Even moreso, it seems any sorcerer contain Voanite blood began to glow a gentle hue as she entered the world; outing their true nature and exposing them to persecution. Militaries, mercenaries, and mighty peoples strove against these maddened victims. For several years, the world's countries began to slowly retake control over their realms, all the while even more resentment for occult magics began to take root in these days. Thanks to the efforts of Corvain, and its illustrious *Godhounds*, the Stranger's Crisis was only that, a crisis. In fact, it seems this event was perhaps the catalyst for the *Age of Zeal*, as the world took to Paragon worship en masse.

In modern times, The Guest is seen as a goddess over fear, mania, and the unknown. Those who do worship her do so out of fear, obsessive curiosity, or an alien understanding of The Guests' agenda. It is unknown or not if those who carry power in her name are lent it from her, or if it is stolen in the same way that some warlocks steal power from unwitting patrons. However, those who do seek out power from her do so by dredging up things that are forbidden from prying eyes; not in an academic sense, like the followers of Apotheosis or Ilm, but usually for some agenda that is largely unknown to others. Others conceptualize her as a being that promotes bravery in the face of the unknown, and these followers seek out desperate situations with wild abandon in the name of personal growth and more power.

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## Chapter Five: Character Creation
With the nations of the world established, and potential gods to be worshiped, players can create characters attached to the larger world. Speak with your DM if you wish to implement something tailored specifically to your character, such as a noble bloodline, custom pagan god, a unique guild, or anything akin to those. When picking your race, make sure to consult with your DM if they have any specific lore, connotations, or unique history within the world at large. Below will be base information for the PHB races, but will not include other monstrous races or those included in future books, modules, or outside sources.

### Peoples of Arikona

**Dwarves.** The dwarves of Arikona aren't so much different than most others in different settings. They dwell within mountain holds, ignorant and isolated from the grander political world above, and take care of their own to the best of their abilities. The ones without clans and holds to live within mix alongside the other common races, valued for their labors, crafts, and steady endurance in the field of battle. However, in Arikona, their propensity for living longer than most can turn them stoic, callous, and jaded to the world's larger woes.

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 Duergar are a different breed altogether. Born from bloodlines who worship Vivinerra, they often grow up within darkness and deceit their entire lives. Deprived of craft, fulfillment, and the warmth of true kin, many duergar turn their resentment both inwards and out onto the world and its people.
 
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**Elves.** The elves of Arikona are an ancient race in their own history. The time they've spent on the Material Plane as a civilization is limited and barely remembered. Instead, up until a couple centuries ago, they've lived within the feywilds. In Arikona, they are a race often seen with awe, bewitchment, and no small amount of fear. Their laws and traditions are fickle to many and outright tricksy to others, causing some tension with other lands.

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 Drow, like duergar, are elves who have been touched by Vivinerra's corrupting influence. Endorsing murder, extermination, and courting with fiendish patrons, drow societies are often evil and treacherous to their core. The few that are lucky enough to break free or develop consciences have shown that, like many other races, they are capable of great good and heroic deeds.
 
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**Halfings.** There have been no triumphant halfling armies. No halfling heroes ascending to godhood. No nation of halfing descent has risen from the hills where they reside. Good, solid, honest working folk, many blame the halfing people for lacking in ambition and greatness. In reality, these small folk are content to live off the land, foster large families, and make friends with all who will take them. By living in human lands, the barons and soldiers that protect their realm also protect halfing homes as well. In return, halfings are happy to trade their produce and goods to lords, ladies, and visiting merchants; although, in that same manner, these trusting folk are often subject to manipulation, extortion, and deception.

**Humans.** Undoubtedly the most common race within Arikona, there are few niches or environments humans cannot fill. Even in other lands, like Iversyl or Hakkorlund, humans tend to fill within the cracks and gaps of their societies. Due to their short lived nature, and ambitious desires, humans can often be looked upon as greedy, short sighted, and inconsequential in the eyes of grander designs from longer lived entities.

**Dragonborn.** A prideful peoples, often bearing militaristic warrior cultures where individual strength of body and mind equates to worthiness and station. A dragonborn will always strive to be self sufficient, never asking for help unless it is truly needed. Honorable to a fault, even the most crooked among them carry some code of conduct or decorum. Subtle and scientific pursuits often avoid most of this kind, but the few exceptions prove that dragonkin wizards, sorcerers, and scholars can rival masters within other realms; not that these paths garner glory and merit in their own culture.

**Gnome.** Inventors, illusionists, and alchemists of maddened ingenuity, to overlook gnomes as "small folk" can be costly if not outright foolhardy. Their hands have invented complex machinery, mechanisms, and even constructs from simple wood, water, and string. Though most gnomes generally carry joyous and selfless dispositions, gnomish engineers have been consulted on great projects of war and destruction in the past, if only for the simple want to see if they were capable of such projects. Living within hidden hovels or introverted districts within human cities, gnomes manage their own communities with equity and equality between men and women, and young and old.

**Half-Elves.** Making the best of a horrible situation, many half-elves often live a century too long or a century too short for the communities they live within. Human parents fade quickly with time, and elven parents are often outgrown and "outmatured" by their half-elven children in due time. Many half-elves leave their homes for more fitting company, only to be left wanting.

**Half-Orcs.** Much like their half blooded cousins, half-orcs are often exiles and black sheep no matter where they go. Orcish clans rebuke them, and human communities fear them. Oftentimes, half-orcs mostly find acceptance within the company of pact-bound patrons, the divine bond between god and follower, or in the eyes of their employers who value their strength and desperation. This makes them valued enforcers, warlocks, or acolytes of some larger entity.

\pagebreakNum

**Tieflings.** With an infernal and demonic visage printed upon their appearance, tieflings are derived from otherwise human bloodlines that consorted, courted, or made incredibly binding pacts with fiends. This often makes them exiles alongside their parents, when the inevitable presence of their fiendish offspring gets them chased off from their communities. These exiles often live among other exiles and "othered" peoples, like the Vaqar Silkwalkers, or in the reach of more accepting communities, like the Shrintender Tribes. Most tieflings often derive power from specific circles of the Nine Hells, however some can merely have the blood of "outsider" entities instead of fiends; all of the same stigma, but the true nature of their bloodline differs.

### Classes, Choices, and Conditions
Each class, no matter how removed from a backstory, will carry connotations of lifestyle, ideals, and experience. A fighter usually has a background of athleticism, combat, and bloodshed. Wizards usually have studied intensely at academies or under mentors. Clerics often are loyal and expressive of their faith, carrying a history of preaching and belief in others.

<div class='descriptive'>
 
 ##### 
 Despite the world's woes and troubles, these times are hardly all grim, dark, and cruel. Homes are built, children are born, love is found, and wonder is never too far away in this floating world. These are the aspects that drive heroes to save the realms, or fuel their ambitions that burn them down.
 
 </div>

\columnbreak

#### Barbarian

<table style="width:100%; text-align:center">
  <tr style="background-color:transparent; line-height:1.35em">
    <th style="text-align:center">d4</th>
    <th style="text-align:center">Background</th>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:lightcoral">
    <td>1</td>
    <td>You were an outlander of an obscure tribe, captured and dragged into war like a tool to be used.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">2</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were a child of aristocracy, abandoning noble blood for a life of free savagery and exhilarating battle.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:lightcoral">
    <td>3</td>
    <td>You were a peasant warrior with nothing but their rage to guard them, you left home to raise your station.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">4</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were possessed by a wrathful spirit of nature, who still yet guides your rage.</td>
  </tr>
</table>

#### Bard

<table style="width:100%; text-align:center">
  <tr style="background-color:transparent; line-height:1.35em">
    <th style="text-align:center">d4</th>
    <th style="text-align:center">Background</th>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:orchid">
    <td>1</td>
    <td>You were an often impoverished minstrel, who quickly squandered whatever short lived famed you garnered.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">2</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were an artist who fell into infamy when your creations sprung to life an attacked innocents.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:orchid">
    <td>3</td>
    <td>You were a diplomat dedicated to fostering peace in post-war Vingoth.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">4</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were a warrior bard, singing tales of valor and courage from your experience in wars.</td>
  </tr>
</table>

#### Cleric

<table style="width:100%; text-align:center">
  <tr style="background-color:transparent; line-height:1.35em">
    <th style="text-align:center">d4</th>
    <th style="text-align:center">Background</th>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:#e4eaed">
    <td>1</td>
    <td>You were an acolyte of a pagan god, on the run from Corvinian Godhounds.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">2</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were a cleric of the Holy Lotus, bent on purifying the holy orders of the world.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:#e4eaed">
    <td>3</td>
    <td>You were a devoted cultist, but fled the cloister for the freedom other gods provided.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">4</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were a chosen cleric of a god, but fled your life and destiny.</td>
  </tr>
</table>

\pagebreakNum

#### Druid

<table style="width:100%; text-align:center">
  <tr style="background-color:transparent; line-height:1.35em">
    <th style="text-align:center">d4</th>
    <th style="text-align:center">Background</th>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:lightgreen">
    <td>1</td>
    <td>You were a Shrinetender tribesperson, cut off from your home due to the Twinbird embargo.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">2</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were a spiritcaller from the Wisterian Islands, come to spread your teachings.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:lightgreen">
    <td>3</td>
    <td>You were a member of a hidden druid grove that was destroyed by soldiers mistaking you as their enemy.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">4</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were always a friend to nature, now you've sworn yourself to defend it as well.</td>
  </tr>
</table>

\columnbreak

#### Fighter

<table style="width:100%; text-align:center">
  <tr style="background-color:transparent; line-height:1.35em">
    <th style="text-align:center">d4</th>
    <th style="text-align:center">Background</th>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:#cca86c">
    <td>1</td>
    <td>You were a deserter from the Red-White Rose war, fleeing judgment from all ends.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">2</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were a bodyguard for important nobility, before you were framed for their murder.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:#cca86c">
    <td>3</td>
    <td>You were a mercenary for an obscure company, trying to cut ties with its brutal and bloody baggage.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">4</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were an enforcer for a network of criminals, you kept the rabble in line until they finally betrayed you.</td>
  </tr>
</table>

#### Monk

<table style="width:100%; text-align:center">
  <tr style="background-color:transparent; line-height:1.35em">
    <th style="text-align:center">d4</th>
    <th style="text-align:center">Background</th>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:#75d9d4">
    <td>1</td>
    <td>You were a thuggish pugilist, trying to reform yourself and refine your skills with monastic teachings.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">2</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were a monastic warrior of the Holy Lotus, trying to distance yourself from its oppressive ways.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:#75d9d4">
    <td>3</td>
    <td>You were a defender of the Aes Adei Archives, only to be exiled for a grave error and sin.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">4</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were a warrior monk from Wisterian lands, seeking to free your people from Twinbird rule.</td>
  </tr>
</table>

#### Paladin

<table style="width:100%; text-align:center">
  <tr style="background-color:transparent; line-height:1.35em">
    <th style="text-align:center">d4</th>
    <th style="text-align:center">Background</th>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:khaki">
    <td>1</td>
    <td>You were oathbound to an entity whose true horror was mostly hidden, now you seek freedom from it.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">2</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were sworn into a pagan faith to defend the deity's temples and shrines, unbeknownst just how hard that would become.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:khaki">
    <td>3</td>
    <td>You were a paladin who followed only the letter of your oath, only to find a god's wrath and be hunted down by irate acolytes.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">4</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You swore your oath in a time of duress, and now you must navigate the rest of your life bound by it.</td>
  </tr>
</table>

#### Ranger

<table style="width:100%; text-align:center">
  <tr style="background-color:transparent; line-height:1.35em">
    <th style="text-align:center">d4</th>
    <th style="text-align:center">Background</th>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:#9dcc76">
    <td>1</td>
    <td>You were a hunter who had slain a pagan god's favored beast, gaining its attention for life.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">2</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were a bounty hunter, until a job too good to be true ended in catastrophe. Now you have an equally as large bounty on your head.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:#9dcc76">
    <td>3</td>
    <td>You were a scout for a military detachment, who never found your way back to the main caravan.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">4</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were a guide for travelers in a wildly dangerous region, only to have been kidnapped by those you were guiding.</td>
  </tr>
</table>

<div class='descriptive'>
 
 ##### 
 This Ironclad Warden, an exile among the people he once fought for, is just one of many warriors of the Red-White Rose war. Should his past be recovered, and his face identified, he will be hunted down as an enemy of the state, treated like an insurgent fighter. 
 
 </div>

\pagebreakNum

#### Rogue

<table style="width:100%; text-align:center">
  <tr style="background-color:transparent; line-height:1.35em">
    <th style="text-align:center">d4</th>
    <th style="text-align:center">Background</th>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:silver">
    <td>1</td>
    <td>You were an insurgent fighter, until a traitor had gotten many of your comrades captured and killed.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">2</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were a spy for the Twinbird Empire, until you finally had seen enough devastation wrought by imperial hands.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:silver">
    <td>3</td>
    <td>You were an impoverished pickpocket on the street, until an imposing guild took you in as their own.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">4</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You managed to get into contact with the Ophidian Umbra, and were changed by their strange yuan'ti magics.</td>
  </tr>
</table>

#### Sorcerer

<table style="width:100%; text-align:center">
  <tr style="background-color:transparent; line-height:1.35em">
    <th style="text-align:center">d4</th>
    <th style="text-align:center">Background</th>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:salmon">
    <td>1</td>
    <td>You were born of Voanite blood, and command sorcerous magics of frightful, cosmic origin.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">2</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">Your bloodline was somehow blessed by dragon's blood, giving you a semblance of draconic power.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:salmon">
    <td>3</td>
    <td>You were influenced by the presence of otherworldly planes, and since then have controlled grim magics of death and shadow.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">4</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were a mad wizard's experiment, given innate powers at the price of your dignity and health.</td>
  </tr>
</table>

#### Warlock

<table style="width:100%; text-align:center">
  <tr style="background-color:transparent; line-height:1.35em">
    <th style="text-align:center">d4</th>
    <th style="text-align:center">Background</th>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:#c585cc">
    <td>1</td>
    <td>You made a pact with an undying lich, in a bid to attain the same immortality such creatures are known for.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">2</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were desperate and a cult offered to fulfill all your needs in exchange for something unknown to you.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:#c585cc">
    <td>3</td>
    <td>You forged a pact with an angelic being, who uses you as a loophole to work around their god's intentions.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">4</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were a scholar of the occult, and stole away a fraction of power from an entity of the Far Realm.</td>
  </tr>
</table>

#### Wizard

<table style="width:100%; text-align:center">
  <tr style="background-color:transparent; line-height:1.35em">
    <th style="text-align:center">d4</th>
    <th style="text-align:center">Background</th>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:skyblue">
    <td>1</td>
    <td>You were an apprentice under an abusive mentor, who broke free of their grip at a great cost.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">2</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were a magical prodigy, who has earned the envy and ire of many of your peers.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:skyblue">
    <td>3</td>
    <td>You were an invoker for a god, an acolyte who commands arcane might instead of divine powers.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="background-color:transparent">
		<td style="background-color:transparent">4</td>
		<td style="background-color:transparent">You were the laughing stock of your academy, until resentment compelled you to cast a diabolical spell over the entire school.</td>
  </tr>
</table>

<div class='descriptive'>
 
 ##### Have Fun With It!
 Whoever your character becomes, make it a great story and have fun with it to the end. Even a character with a minimal background can become a beloved pillar of the party, so long as you are enjoying yourself.
 
 </div>

\pagebreakNum

## Chapter Six: Homebrew

This chapter includes homebrew content that players could use freely when creating characters.

**Additional homebrew content*

## Subclasses

### Cosmic Bloodline
Old and ancient blood runs through your veins, belonging to a people of great repute and proximity to a cosmic alignment. Nearly always, characters with this bloodline belong to the ancient Voanites, people of the cosmic city of Voan that landed upon Arikona as a meteor in ancient times. Those of this bloodline wield magics that originate outside of the Weave, spells that can manipulate matter and draw power from the constellations and distant, cold celestial bodies. Not all of Voanite blood come to gain sorcerous powers, henceforth made exiles by their own people, but your veins have erupted with powerful magics and ancient potential.

#### Cosmic Magic

You learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown on the Cosmic Spells table. Each spell counts as a sorcerer spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of sorcerer spells you know.

| Sorcerer Level | Spells |
|:---:|:-----------:|
|  1st | Detect Magic, Meteoric Pebble*, Color Spray |
|  3rd  | Misty Step, Levitate |
|  5th  | Sleet Storm, Shooting Stars* |
|  7th  | Ice Storm, Dimension Door |
| 9th | Telekinesis, Create Orbit* |

#### Gravitas
At 1st level, you have slight control over gravitational forces which you can use to redirect attacks against you. Whenever you are hit by an attack, you can use your reaction to subtract the attack roll against you by 1d4, potentially changing the outcome. This die increases to 2d4 at 8th level.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier per long rest.

#### Child of Constellations

At 6th level, you can create glowing, ethereal constellations within the air from which you draw power. As an action, you can spend 3 sorcery points to summon a constellation of your choice from the list below. The constellation lasts for an hour and hovers around your body. It disappears early if you dismiss it (no action required), are incapacitated, die, or create a different constellation.

**Stars of Ruin.** Miniature stars crumble and collapse to form a rune of ruin. While this constellation is active, you can force any creature that you can see within 30ft that must save against your spells to make its roll at disadvantage. You can only use this feature once per round.

**Stars of Prosperity.** Lines of starlight collect in great number to make a rune of plenty. Whenever you or a creature that you can see within 30ft deals damage or receives healing, you can increase the dice rolled by one die. You can only use this feature once per round.

**Stars of Chaos.** An image of falling stars and colliding meteors form a rune of chaos. While this constellation is active, you can change the damage type taken by any creature you can see within 30ft, including yourself. The damage type must be changed into fire, cold, lightning, acid, or poison damage. You can only use this feature once per round.

**Stars of Law.** Perfectly ordered and stable stars form a rune of unfettered law. While this rune is active, you can force any creature you can see within 30ft of you, including yourself, that has advantage or disadvantage on any roll to instead roll as normal. You can only use this feature once per round.

#### Walk upon Stars

At 14th level, a corona of stars appears over your head and nebulae drift around you to form a cloak permanently. You can use a bonus action to dismiss or recreate the stars.

While the stars are active, you gain a flying (hover) speed equal to your walking speed. Additionally, your natural steps are weightless (though your weight remains the same) and do not disturb the ground below or leave tracks.

#### Walking Nova
At 18th level, your body teeters on the precipice of the Material Plane and being one with the cosmic beyond. As an action, you can spend 5 sorcery points to transform into a starry form. While in this form, you gain the following benefits.

* You gain resistance to all damage except force
* You exude bright starlight in a 120ft range outwards from you

> ##### Voanites, People of Ruin
> Long persecuted and excised from their grand origins, the Voanite bloodline is obscure and hardly as prolific as it once was. From what can be traced, those of this bloodline come from the Voxistanii Mageocracy, as the realm descended from those who fled from persecution in Cor'kivna. It is not clear if the Voxistanii now view their culture as different or above their Voanite origins, but they seem to mistreat their cosmic ancestors with the same distrust and animosity as their ancient oppressors.
>
> Alongside their stifled growth, they are also few in number because most Voanite families tend to exile members who do not exhibit sorcerous talents through maturity.

\pagebreakNum

### Entropic Soul
All came from something, but it is the founding belief of elementalists that all will go into nothing. In the ancient past there existed the primordials, which stood for entropy in all things -material, immaterial, and thermal. Though beaten and broken to form the world, sometimes their ancient oblivion would seep out and take chokehold of something living. Sorcerers of this kind are different in nothing but their souls to their other kin, whose powers are the result of catastrophically bad luck as opposed to being inherited. This ancient oblivion seeps into their soul without reason, devouring all until entropy takes its toll, but also giving off immense amounts of energy that come to from the sorcerer's magical powers and talents.

#### Entropic Magic

You learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown on the Entropic Spells table. Each spell counts as a sorcerer spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of sorcerer spells you know.

| Sorcerer Level | Spells |
|:---:|:-----------:|
|  1st | Absorb Elements, Chaos Bolt |
|  3rd  | Darkness, Silence |
|  5th  | Counterspell, Vampiric Touch |
|  7th  | Vitriolic Sphere, Blight |
| 9th | Enervation, Negative Energy Flood |

#### Magical Siphon
At 1st level, the nature of your powers lashes out to consume the material and immaterial around you. When you are targeted by a spell of 1st level or higher, or a creature fails its saving throw against your spells of 1st level or higher, you can use your reaction to immediately gain an amount of sorcery points equal to half the level of the spell casted.

\pagebreakNum

### Sky Warden
Metal is a rare material to be found in the Aetherian Sea, yet mettle can be found in plenty among the Vaqar Silkwalkers who live solely in these very skies. Their Sky Wardens are proof of such mettle. No mere militia, their communities have poured every ounce of resources and dedication possible to the training of these elite fighters, allowing them to wield elemental air and storm to supplement their swift and deadly attacks.

#### Dance of Silk
At 3rd level, you can supplement your martial technique with elemental air. As a bonus action, you can cause winds to encircle your body for 1 minute, until you end it (no action required), go unconscious, or die. During the duration, your movement speed increases by 10 feet and you gain an extra bonus action on each of your turns. This extra bonus action can be used only to make an offhand attack or to take the Dash action. In addition, you gain proficiency in the Performance skill.

> ##### Consuming a Potion
> It is commonplace for a bonus action to be used when consuming a potion, rather than the action it takes in standard ruling. If your DM allows it, your extra bonus action can be used to consume a potion.

\columnbreak

You can use this feature an amount of times equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum of once). All expended uses are restored on a long rest.

#### Storm Lance
At 7th level, you've learned to channel the speed and devastation of lightning in the storm. You gain some extra benefits to your Dance of Silk feature while it is active.

* Once per turn, you can add an extra 1d6 lightning or thunder damage (your choice) to your attack damage. 
* You can use your bonus action to jump double the distance you would normally be able to. When jumping in this way, the maximum distance you can jump isn't limited by your movement speed.
* When taking the Dash action, you can ignore difficult terrain.

#### Cloudstep
Starting at 7th level, your every step is imbued with the gentle grace of the clouds above. While your Dance of Silk feature is active, opportunity attacks directed towards are made with disadvantage and you have advantage on all Dexterity saving throws and ability checks.

#### Tempest's Strength
At 10th level, you've learned to buffet your opponents with the strength of a mighty tempest. You gain some extra benefits to your Dance of Silk feature while it is active, which augment or replace the benefits gained from Storm Lance.

* Whenever you use your second wind or action surge feature, all creatures of your choice within 5 feet of you take lightning or thunder damage (your choice) equal to your Constitution modifier.
* Once per turn, you can add an extra 2d6 lightning or thunder damage (your choice) to your attack damage. 
* You can use your bonus action to jump triple the distance you would normally be able to. When jumping in this way, the maximum distance you can jump isn't limited by your movement speed.
* When taking the Dash action, you can ignore difficult terrain.

#### Unwavering Dance
Starting at 18th level, your Dance of Silk feature lasts for 10 minutes and lasts for the duration unless you end it (no action required) or die.

> ##### Divine Exile
> Players wishing to play as a Vaqar Silkwalker should understand that such people are currently under divine exile by the Paragon god Ytol himself, so that they may never touch solid ground again without retribution. As such, speak with your DM so you can understand what you may expect as a person from this background. If you wish to play the subclass, but do not want the flavor attached to it, then speak with your DM on a substitute or alternative.

\pagebreakNum

### Ironclad
The Ironclad fighting style was engineered by the first knights and champions of the Era of the Iron Crown. Utterly devoted to their sovereign's prosperity, they sought to endure every challenge and obstacle in their way. Clad head to toe in heavy-duty iron armor, and put through grueling endurance training, those of this archetype stand tall and proud in the face of injury and pain that would break all others. Despite its ancient background, many Eiostan and Corvinian warriors adopted and added upon this millennium old art.

#### Sturdy
Starting at 3rd level, your training regimen demands exemplary stamina and fortitude. You gain an additional 2 hit points for every fighter level you gain with this sublcass. This includes whenever you choose this subclass at 3rd level.

#### Honed Technique
When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you gain the following features.

**Thick Skin.** Whenever you take damage, you may use your reaction to expend a hit die and reduce the damage by the total amount rolled + your Constitution modifier.

**Spiteful Resistance.** Whenever you suffer a critical hit, you may use your reaction to spend 2 hit dice and turn it into a normal attack. Any effects that would apply on a critical hit are canceled. In addition, you may make one attack against the creature who made the attack if they are within range.

\columnbreak

**Burdened Strike.** Whenever hitting with an attack, you can choose to also expend one of your hit die and add the amount rolled to the damage dealt while also taking damage equal to half the amount rolled.

In addition, you also gain proficiency with heavy armor if you didn't already have it.

#### Unrelenting Comeback
Starting at 7th level, whenever you are knocked down to 0 hit points, and not outright killed, you may use your reaction to remain at 1 hit point instead. Whenever you use this feature you can spend as many hit dice as you wish, provided you have them, and gain temporary hit points equal to the amount rolled.

You must finish a long rest before being able to use this feature again.

#### Hidden Stores
At 10th level, you gain an additional 3 extra fighter hit dice added to your hit die pool. In addition, whenever using your Honed Technique feature, you gain temporary hit points equal to 1d6 + your Constitution modifier.

#### Enhanced Vitality
At 15th level, your hit dice turn into d12s and you gain an additional 20 hit points. In addition, you regain all hit dice back on a long rest instead of half.

#### Sufferer's Strength
At 18th level, whenever you suffer a critical hit you can choose to add half of the damage taken from that attack on your next attack whenever you hit. If you choose not to, the extra damage is wasted.

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### Oath of Freedom

The Oath of Freedom ironically binds a paladin to the ideals and aspects of raw and often chaotic freedom. An embodiment of liberty on the domestic front and a blur of steel and radiant light on the battlefield, many who swear such an oath take it upon themselves to uphold the freedoms of all and retake them for the oppressed. Commonly, such paladins are forces for good even if their personal morals do not align as such. They espouse the freedom of soaring through the air as an attribute of divine grace, incorporating avian styles and designs within their idols, armor, weapons, and fighting styles.

#### Tenets of Freedom
Given the chaotic nature of unbound freedom, the wording of such oaths are often entirely esoteric in nature and can be hard to pin down exactly what they mean, however here is the general confines of it.

**Liberty.** Mortal kind, from its ushering into the world, has been endowed undeniable rights to freedom and unfettered expression of self, however such freedoms cannot, must not, and should not prevent others from enjoying these inalienable rights themselves.

**Egality.** No mortal can come to express themselves should their culture, community, or ideology bind them. Wherever you walk, open the doors to freedom for others.

**Breaker of Chains.** Slavery is a cruel, unjust, and horribly savage aspect of many mortal empires, where the souls of the oppressed often live lives of unknowable toil. You must end this wherever you meet it.

**Virtue of Expression.** No soul is wise without the backdrop of experience to light the corners of their ambition, explore this world deeply, cherish your freedoms, and foster the hope that will burn out all tyranny.

#### Oath Spells
| Paladin Level  | Spells |
|:---:|:-----------:|
|  3rd  | Expeditious Retreat, Jump |
|  5th  | Spider Climb, Gust of Wind |
|  9th  | Haste, Fly |
|  13th | Freedom of Movement, Dimension Door |
|  17th | Passwall, Far Step |

#### Channel Divinity
When you take this Oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity Options.

**Unchained Speed.** As a bonus action, you can use your Channel Divinity to imbue yourself with unfettered speed and agility. For the next minute, you can use your bonus action to take the dash action. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity nor does difficult terrain hinder your movement in any way.

**Abjure the Tyrant.**  As an action, you present your holy symbol and speak words of pure profound defiance in the face of oppression and tyranny and each fiend, fey, aberration, and undead within 30ft of you that can hear you must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is turned for 1 minute or until it takes damage.

A creature turned in this way must spend its entire movement moving as far away from you as possible and cannot willingly move closer to you. It also cannot take reactions. For their action, it can use only the dash action or try to escape from an effect that keeps it from moving.

#### Aura of Sovereignty
Starting at 7th, you emit an aura that fills you and your companions near you with agility and an unbridled sense of independence. You and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you have advantage on saving throws against being Grappled, Restrained, Stunned, or Paralyzed. Additionally, enemies have disadvantage on opportunity attacks while within this aura.

#### Wings of Freedom

Beginning at 15th level, as a bonus action you can sprout wings from your back (which the player can describe in detail, should they wish) that grant you a flying speed equal to your walking speed. You can retract these wings as a bonus action.

#### Champion of the People

At 20th level, as an action you can emanate an aura of blissful winds. For 1 minute, you are immune to being Grappled, Stunned, Paralyzed, Restrained, and having your movement slowed in any way.

Whenever a creature makes an attack against you while within your aura, they must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, they must direct their attack to another creature of your choosing within their melee range or not at all. If a creature succeeds on their saving throw, they are immune to the effect for the next minute.

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### Oath of the Morning
The Oath of Morning, as old as the god Ilm himself, embodies the mind that holds to hope even in the darkest of times. Sometimes called Sunwalkers, Hope's Hellions, or Blazebearers, paladins who consign themselves to this oath hold strong the hope for a new dawn, and seek to usher in new beginnings and better days. They break abusive cycles of power and pain, and are willing to sacrifice themselves wholly if it means their martyrdom will rouse people to a noble cause. They anoint themselves with symbols and icons of the dawn sun and clad their bodies in shining metal armor, representative of their hope for a new, shining beginning to an era.

#### Tenets of the Morning
The tenets of the Oath of the Morning are made primarily concerned with the ending of dark, oppressive cycles, and seeks to uphold the bravery and courage of its followers.

**Sacrifice.** No flame is lit without fuel for the fire. The people who have been bogged down by despair and darkness must see light before they can act, and you must serve as its fuel.

**Hold to Hope.** You cannot seek to usher in a new era without believing in its inevitability yourself. Always hold close to hope, even when you no longer remain.

**Know Peace.** A new era cannot be ushered in should war and action be everlasting and stagnant. Know when to rest, known when to sheathe your blade, and know when the day is done.

**Take Courage, Leave Courage.** Bring your bravery and valor to all corners of the world, and with it your light, so that it may guide the way for others to carry it all the same.

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#### Oath Spells
| Paladin Level  | Spells |
|:---:|:-----------:|
|  3rd  | Heroism, Guiding Bolt|
|  5th  | Spiritual Weapon, Flame Blade |
|  9th  | Daylight, Beacon of Hope |
|  13th | Aura of Life, Wall of Fire |
|  17th | Dispel Evil and Good, Greater Restoration |

#### Channel Divinity
When you take this Oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity Options.

**Restore Hope.** As an action, you can use your Channel Divinity to imbue yourself and your allies with unerring hope and resilience. All creatures of your choice within 20 feet of you gain temporary hit points equal to twice your Charisma modifier. While they have these hit points, they are immune to being frightened and have advantage on Wisdom and Charisma saving throws.

**Turn the Fearmonger.**  As an action, you present your holy symbol and cast out those who seek to destroy hope and each fiend, aberration, and undead within 30ft of you that can hear you must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is turned for 1 minute or until it takes damage.

#### Blessing of Hope
Starting at 7th, you can bestow onto yourself and others a blessing to keep going through pain, fear, and doubt. As a bonus action, you can restore hit points to yourself and any conscious friendly creature within 10 feet of you to an amount equal to your Paladin level. At the start of your next turn, after using this feature, all creatures originally affected by this healing restore the same amount of hit points again even if they aren't within 10 feet of you. You can only use this feat once per long rest.

#### Saintly Corona
Starting at 15th level, once per long rest, as an action, you can exude bright sunlight out from 20 feet all around you for 1 minute or until you end as a free action. While in this light, you and all friendly creatures gain temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier at the start of their turns.

#### Arbiter of the New Dawn
At 20th level, as an action you can assume the form of an angelic being, bringing forth hope and guidance in abundance for 1 minute. While in this form, you gain the following benefits:

* You have resistance to radiant, necrotic, and psychic damage.
* Your Aura of Courage feature extends outward to 60 feet
* Creatures within 15 feet of you gain the maximum hit points possible when receiving healing.

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### The Archivist
You've made a pact with a being that lords over a vast collection of occult knowledge. The true nature and alignment of your patron may be unknown, and may not even matter to you. Ultimately, such beings desire to hoard secrets and knowledge others may covet. Pacts with these creatures are especially attractive to those who wish to plumb their patron's archives and unearth hidden potential.

Such beings are often anathema to gods of open knowledge, and tend to hoard their collections with extreme jealousy and secrecy. Servants of these entities tend to shroud meaningful academia through misinformation and by hiding coveted academia.

#### Archivist Expanded Spells

Starting at 1st level when you choose this subclass, you learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown on the Archivist Spells table. Each spell counts as a warlock spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of warlock spells you know. The following spells can also be ritual casted.

| Spell Level | Spells |
|:---:|:-----------:|
|  1st  | Detect Magic, Detect Evil and Good, Identify |
|  2nd  | Augury, Detect Thoughts  |
|  3rd  | Speak with Dead, Clairvoyance |
|  4th  | Locate Creature, Arcane Eye |
|  5th  | Legend Lore, Awaken |

#### Boon of Scholarship
Starting at 1st level, your pact with your patron has taught you to bolster your strength with occult knowledge. Whenever you expend a spell slot to cast a spell of 1st level or higher, you gain 1d8 + the level of the spell casted worth of temporary hit points until your next long rest.

#### Promising Polymath
At 1st level, you gain proficiency in three skills from the following list: Arcana, History, Nature, Religion, Investigation, Insight, and Medicine. If you already had proficiency in a skill of your choosing, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make using those proficiencies.

In addition, you also can learn to speak, read, and write two languages of your choice.

#### Occult Understanding
At 6th level, your patron has taught you how to assert control over the magic you wield. Once per short rest, you can impose disadvantage on a creature making a saving throw against your spells. If that creature still succeeds on its saving throw, you instead regain the spell slot you used to cast that spell.

#### Intrinsic Power
At 10th level, you've augmented your spells with occult energies. Your spell save DC and your spell attack modifier increase by an amount equal to half of your Intelligence modifier (rounding down).

#### Occult Apotheosis
At 14th level, you can overwhelm the minds of those around you with your surplus of knowledge. As an action, all creatures of your choice within 60ft must make an Intelligence saving throw or take 8d10 psychic damage and become stunned until the end of their next turn. A creature takes half as much on a success and isn't stunned.

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### Dreamer
Not all mortals dream often, but every mortal has slumbered and seen the dreamscape their unconscious mind has crafted for them at least once. Sometimes, individuals with especially aberrant and chaotic minds can dream so vividly that they allow entities to form within them, gaining shape and power from the mortal's vivid fantasy. Few are capable of this, and even fewer actually beseech said entity for power, aid, counsel, and purpose. Those that do, find themselves walking a tenuous and often enigmatic path alongside such a creature, awakening to new powers just as the entity within awakens to the world at large.

#### Dreamer Spell List
The Dreamer lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.

| Spell Level | Spells |
|:---:|:-----------:|
|  1st  | Sleep, Sanctuary|
|  2nd  | Silence, Moonbeam |
|  3rd  | Catnap (can target self), Slow |
|  4th  | Confusion, Resilient Sphere  |
|  5th  | Dawn, Modify Memory|

#### Mystical Reverie
Starting at 1st level, you can fall asleep at will as an action. You also recover full hit dice upon finishing a long rest. Additionally, you can gain the benefits of a long rest after only 4 hours, and the benefits of a short rest only after 30 minutes. You still may only gain the benefits of a long rest once per 24 hour period. You can now dream if you are a living construct or other race that doesn't normally dream.

#### Lucid Dreams
At 1st level, your dreams begin to spill out into the waking world and grant you knowledge and skill. At the end of a long rest, pick skill or tool proficiency. Until the end of your next long rest, you are proficient in that skill or tool.

#### Silent Umbra
At 6th level, you find true comfort and safety within silence and sleep. Warlock spells you cast no longer require verbal components.

#### Sleep Talk
At 10th level, you can maintain concentration on your spells whenever you become unconscious or incapacitated. If you go unconscious due to having 0 hit points, but you are not outright killed, you must make your Concentration check at disadvantage to maintain your spell. Subsequent Concentration checks must be made whenever you fail a death saving throw.

#### Awakened Dreamer
At 14th level, your dreams can come to manifest within the waking world. As an action, you can create an aura that spreads out 30 feet in every direction around you. All creatures of your choice, that are within the aura, including you, receive the following effects.

* Upon first entering the aura, a creature gains 20 temporary hit points
* While a creature still has these temporary hit points, they can cast a spell of third level or higher without expending a spell slot. When casting a spell in this way, the creature loses temporary hit points equal to double the level of the spell casted.

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### Path of the Heart
*"Occasionally, Death would question the Heart if she would ever wish to die. She could never give an answer. Occasionally, Life would question the Heart if she wanted to keep on living. Never was her answer no."*

A barbarian who walks this path, occasionally referred to as a "Never-no", accepts life in all things, miseries and miracles, without limit or end. This unabashed, insatiable, and even unhinged sanctifying of the act of living affords these barbarians attention from certain entities of life, nature, and vigor. In Arikona, this attention comes personally from the servant-celestial of Tessarius known to many cultures as the *Altar and Heart*. Her attention offers supernatural vigor, stamina, and strength, as well as the promise of more power come the will to savor life and its unending challenges. Barbarians of this path are blessed, and cursed, to never give up on life, struggling and fighting up until the very second they die.

### Warrior of the Heart
Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you are protected by powers that preserve and provide for your soon-to-be wounded body. At the start of your turn, while you are raging, you can roll an amoun

### Supernatural Vigor

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## Spells

#### Burning Starlight
*3rd-level conjuration* *(Wizard, Cosmic Bloodline, Druid)*
___
- **Casting Time:** 1 action
- **Range:** 30 feet
- **Components:** V, S, M (A clasp from a cloak that has been completely burned to ash)
- **Duration:**  Concentration, up to 1 hour
___
Until the spell ends, a cloak of fiery stars wraps around a creature of your choice and sheds bright light outwards in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet. The bright light shed from this spell temporarily replaces any magical darkness it overlaps, but does not dispel it. In addition, the target of this spell cannot be blinded in any way and does not suffer disadvantage on attack rolls against obscured creatures.

#### Meteoric Pebble
*1st-level conjuration* *(Wizard, Cosmic Bloodline)*
___
- **Casting Time:** 1 action
- **Range:** 100 feet
- **Components:** V, S, M (A small rock dangling from string hanging from the casters ring finger)
- **Duration:**  Concentration, up to 1 minute
___
You summon a 5-inch diameter meteor within the air and hurl it at a target within range. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 3d4 bludgeoning damage and the meteor begins to orbit around the target as long as you concentrate on the spell. Whenever the target is within 15ft of another creature while the meteor orbits still it, you can make another attack roll as a reaction towards that other target. On a hit, you deal bludgeoning damage equal to the amount you first rolled when casting this spell.

***At Higher Levels.*** When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the damage increases by 2d4 for each slot level above 1st.

#### Shooting Stars
*3rd-level evocation* *(Wizard, Cosmic Bloodline, Druid)*
___
- **Casting Time:** 1 action
- **Range:** 90 feet
- **Components:** V, S
- **Duration:**  Instantaneous
___
You produce a globe of starlight within your hand and hurl it at a target within range. While midair, the globe produces 1d6 miniature stars that follow its trail. The target must make a Dexterity saving throw or take 6d8 fire damage plus an extra 1d4 fire damage for each miniature star produced. On a success, the target takes only half of the damage rolled, but does not reduce any damage taken from the miniature stars.

***At Higher Levels*** When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d8 and automatically produces one extra miniature star for every level above 3rd.

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#### Create Orbit
*5th-level transmutation* *(Wizard, Cosmic Bloodline)*
___
- **Casting Time:** 1 action
- **Range:** 150 feet
- **Components:** V, S, M (A miniature clothespin detailing a simplistic view of the Outer Planes)
- **Duration:**  Concentration, up to 1 minute
___
This spell creates a gravitational orbit in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point within range. All creatures within the range of this sphere, that aren't somehow anchored to the ground, must make a Dexterity saving throw as they are bludgeoned by immense acceleration and other objects picked up in its orbit. On a failure, they take 10d6 bludgeoning damage and are restrained as they fly through the orbit. While restrained in this way, the target cannot make any ranged attacks. On a success, they take half as much damage and escape to an unoccupied space 5 feet outside the sphere.

A target trapped in the sphere cannot willingly move on their own and must use their action to make a Strength (Athletics) check against your spell DC to escape. On a success, the creature is moved to an unoccupied space 5 feet away from the sphere. At the end of a trapped creature's turn, they are moved 15 feet in a direction you choose from where they last were. If this movement would force the creature into a wall or structure, the creature takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage and they are no longer pulled by the orbit.

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#### Loredump
*5th-level enchantment (Wizard, Warlock, Artificer)*
___
- **Casting Time:** 1 action
- **Range:** 60 feet
- **Components:** V, S, M (A thick book)
- **Duration:** Instantaneous
___
You impart a horde of overwhelming useless knowledge on a creature within range. The target must make an Intelligence saving throw or take 5d8 psychic damage and suffer one of the following effects of your choice:

**Stupefying Silence.** The target can only speak in faltering, stuttering words, and cannot form incantations or coherent sentences. Until the end of the target's next turn, they cannot cast spells requiring verbal components and suffer disadvantage on Charisma saving throws.

**Logic Delay.** The target's mental faculties are slowed and unable to formulate meaningful strings of thought. Until the end of the target's next turn, they cannot understand any language and suffer disadvantage on Intelligence saving throws.

****