This page contains information about the current campaign I'm running. The
campaign code, which should be kept on your character sheets, is Alpha-7, although
it's unlikely I'll forget any time soon, especially for those playing online.
The campaign is being run for two groups, one meeting in person on a weekly
basis starting in late September, 2008, and the other meeting online on a weekly basis
starting sometime in late August or Early September of 2008. Both groups will run indefinitely and
simultaneously, and although it's highly unlikely the two parties will ever
encounter one another directly, they will probably eventually hear tale of each
other. If the need ever comes up to ajudicate the two parties meeting, I'll deal
with it then. :)
Follow
this link to see the house rules for my campaign, and begin creating your
character.
In the beginning, our realm was void and without form or substance, and the
gods knew the harmony and unity of a combined will and a collective harmony of
life. Then one day, in the realm of the gods, an adolescent lesser deity named
Schyzem developed a sickness. Unlike all the other gods and goddesses, who were
able to remain ethereal and omnipresent, Schyzem's form started to become more
firm, and found that his senses were more attuned and lively than they'd been on
the ethereal plane. Schyzem referred to the disease as "corporeality", in
deference to a word in the Holy Languages which means 'mixed blessings'. He
travelled across the heavens to a place where he could reach Biveshin and seek
counsel. But Biveshin soon fell ill as well, as did many of the other gods and
goddesses. In their corporeal forms, they found that they could create all forms
of life that they'd never envisioned before, and enjoy the passions and
pleasures of the mortal existence. However, they soon found that the longer they
remained in our realm, the longer their personalities were tainted with thoughts
of good and evil, right and wrong. Conflict erupted, and then war, and for the
first time, the gods knew pain. Shattered by the experience, they rushed to find
a way to reverse the effects, and discovered that all that they needed to return
again to the purity of their own realm was to give up the connection which bound
them to Schyzem - the ability to perceive each others' thoughts and emotions and
understand each others' point of view. Thinking that anything was better than
the pain, they did so, leaving Schyzem alone in corporeality and departing to
their world. The damage had been done, though, and although the pain had
stopped, their differences of opinion multiplied, and their ethics remained
diverged. Schyzem, meanwhile, took refuge in the worlds that the gods had
created, bridging the gap between the mortal and divine realms and acting as the
God of Death, escorting the souls of the departed to the deity which coveted
them.
Below are the facts of the campaign world. It's important to point out that
"facts" is a relative kind of term - just because almost every child on Gervaine
is told these stories and has grown up believing them, doesn't mean that the
stories are necessarily accurate information. The most relevant example in
Earth's history being a 13th century child being taught about the flat shape of
the earth. Everything is written from the assumption that the PCs are local to
the province and have been for their entire lives - if there would be knowledge
of the cultures of other provinces or countries, it will be provided on a case
by case basis.
The Creation of the Prime Material Plane
Gervaine
The planet Gervaine is believed to have been created by Schyzem
himself, as His final act before delving into slumber and leaving the job of
ferrying souls into the next world to the care of His minions. The precise
location of His sleeping chambers on the planet remains unknown, though it is
said that when infirmed elves feel the old age urge to leave their communes, it
is to His place that they travel.
About eighteeen thousand years ago, the Great Campaign began. This was an almost simultaneous, biological urge for the six races to intermingle with one another. This was a golden age for the planet, in which the food supply tripled, poverty and crime were barely existant and the technology level rose to the point where magical tomes could be run through a printing press, mechanical clocks could tell time, and great telescopes could see out into the solar system. Half breed races like the half-elves trace their lineage to this age. In all things, the Leerans tended to hold a dominant role in society, but everyone believed that this was simply the result of fair and honest competition. Until a few half-Leerans came into existance and revealed the startling truth - that the entire leeran race was possessed of the ability the gods left behind, the natural psychic power to read others' thoughts and emotions naturally. Uprisings occured on all the continents, and much of what was gained during the Golden Age was lost. In the end, every last pureblooded leeran was hunted down and killed, but most of the other races were similarly decimated. None of their numbers ever did recover, although humans did reproduce about three times as fast as any of the others. The time was ripe for the degenerate races to evolve.
Some say that the orcs, gnomes, goblins, and other races were genetically engineered by the leerans towards the end - the spiteful biological weapon of a dying race. Whether this is true or not, what is known is that the degenerate races, while not as intelligent as the civilized ones, have one major advantage - they reproduce like rabbits, faster even than the humans. As the fragmented post war societies rebuilt and new governments were formed, the people found themselves needing to be consistently vigilant against attack.
Campaign-Specific Information
This area will remain empty until the game starts, at which time I will periodically update it with local information that the characters either become aware of in-game or might be likely to have heard "off-screen". It is HIGHLY recommended that players look here before coming to the game if possible.