Welcome to Asylum
Asylum is a high-fantasy, dungeon-punk world that is home to many different people from across the multiverse, hence its name. It is a TTRPG campaign setting designed for use with the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition (2014) ruleset, and as such, aims to incorporate as many player options as possible, while simultaneously introducing brand new ones. This page serves as a primer, an introduction to the broad concepts of Asylum's worldbuilding, as well as outlining the details of character creation.
Lore of Asylum
Asylum is a storied world with a storied history. Each and every corner of the land has a rich and in depth history and is home to many different people, creatures and monsters with their own part to play.The Land
Asylum is home to six vast continents, each one of which named in Draconic by the first settlers of the world. From Aussir and Dryicir, to Kethend in the East and the dueling continents Aussir and Ruhahe in the west, Asylum's continents are home to many. Beneath the continents lies the Underdark, a sprawling system of caverns and tunnels, separated into several Domains of its own. Perhaps its most striking feature is the Woven Sky, a magical window into the night sky eternally projected onto the ceiling of the Underdark's most spacious caverns.
The Sea
Broad swathes of water stretch endlessly from shore to shore, the oceans and seas covering much of the worlds surface. Even beneath the waves, Asylum teems with life, from the sinister Sahuagin to the nomadic Sea Elves. And of course, magical creatures such as Krakens and Leviathans also call Asylum's seas home. Seafaring civilisations have rode the waves since before the Age of Magic, but the advent of sorcery and magitech has given rise to fleets of enchanted ships capable of breaking through the waves, further bringing the world together.
The Sky
Cerulean skies and white clouds encircle Asylum, emblazoned with a single white sun during the day. While the weather is much like what you would expect in other worlds, the influence of magic can cause strange and unnatural cosmological events. When night falls, the stars adorn the sky, and Asylum's dual moons appear. The first is the shining silver Teu'kelytha, steed of the Traveller. The second, the fractured, crimson-stained Corpse Moon, shattered into a thousand fragments millennia ago by an unknown force.
The Planes
Beyond Asylum are myriad other planes of existence that form the multiverse known as Thel. Of most import are the four realms of elemental Fire, Earth, Water and Air, from which the fundamental building blocks of reality flow; the axis planes of chaos and order, the Feywild and Shadowfell; and the realms of good and evil, Bliss and Torment. Beyond those are other material planes, some alike Asylum and some completely different.
People
The people of Asylum are as diverse as they are plentiful. On the continent of Irral, several major nations arose in the wake of the Mage Wars. Arcaniss, formerly known as the Grand Arcane Kingdom of Arcaniss, is a haven of magitech. Their people are intelligent and determined, with a love for magic and magitech. To the south is the Gilded Coast, a stretch of land dotted by powerful city states once controlled by the Kingdom of Arcaniss but now free after the Mage Wars. The Goldmane Kingdom controls the south-east corner of Irral, a mighty Dwarven kingdom that stretches deep into the Underdark. They are currently in conflict with the Primus Imperium - meaning First Empire in the Elder language - who seek to dominate the continent and bring all people under their banner. They are a proud and militaristic people who value merit above all else and abhor magic. The Silver Federation in Irral's great planes is an alliance of smaller mercantile nations that united in the face of growing tensions between themselves and the Imperium. These people are diverse, with each house and the cities they control having their own distinct cultures. To the west, the nations of New Aldria and the Holy Kingdom of Eilion are the last dredges of the Aldrian Empire. While peace reigns between them, tensions are still high. Next, the north-west coast is home to the Kingdom of Stone, a kingdom ruled by warriors who choose their king with a tournament every ten years. Finally, Duskhold to the North is a small isolationist nation ruled by vampires.Languages
History
Before the current age of magitech and gunpowder was the Age of Magic, a time where the arcane arts flourished the world over. Before even that, long ago at the dawn of Asylum's history, the single most defining element of Asylum's history was the arrival of the Elders.A supremely powerful culture that arrived from beyond the stars, the Elders quickly brought all of Asylum under their thumb. They were possessed of incredible magic, and even greater magitech, which allowed them to bend the very fabric of reality to their will. No-one alive knows their true goals on Asylum, nor even what the Elders looked like. We do know that they ruled for several thousand years, the native people of Asylum treated as second-class citizens under their immortal rulers. They erected great Monoliths across the world, which are still staunchly defended by Eldertech relics, and even created the Elderdark - a cavernous expanse beneath even the Underdark where the walls are lined with steel and Eldertech monstrosities still prowl.
Their rule came to an end with the Unravelling. Their immortality meant nothing in the face of such a death, and the Elders were wiped out within a few years. What followed was an age of chaos. Without the Elders that had kept them shackled for generations, the people of Asylum made a grab for power, transforming the surface of the world into a near-permanent warzone. Extraplanar entities made a bid for Asylum's throne, with the fey of the Wild Hunt streaking across the sky. The forces of Bliss and Torment were embroiled in the War on High, before being cast out by the Dragons.
It was only when the dust settled, more than a thousand years after the death of the Elders, that Asylum began to know peace again. Nations still rose and fell, but eventually settled into a near enough what we know today. And of course, magic began to flourish across the world, and the first Brands began to manifest.
Brands
Brands are one of Asylum's unique phenomena. Rarely, an individual may be blessed with arcane power in the form of a Brand, a magical sigil that burns itself in to the skin of a creature. From these marks, a branded creature can pull a great deal of power, becoming capable of casting spells and performing other magical feats. Brands are one way a creature can get around the limitations of Severing as well. There are thirteen brands, each one corresponding to one of the Divines of the Aldrian Faith.Aldrian Church
The Aldrian Church is the foremost religion in Asylum that sees its people worship the Thirteen Divines. Legend tells that during the Age of Chaos, the prophet Aldir descended from the westen Monolith of Irral and stepped foot on the Aldrian Steppe, whereupon he spoke the names of the true Gods into the wind to be forgotten. From there, he embarked on a pilgrimage across the world, spreading the truth of the Thirteen Divines and giving rise to the Aldrian Church.The Aldrians believe that all Gods worshipped across Asylum are merely reflections of the Thirteen Divines described by the prophet Aldir. These Thirteen are so ancient that the people of Asylum have forgotten their names, and their presence on Asylum was stifled by the Elders so they could clutch to power. Each of the Thirteen is associated with a Brand, which is used as a symbol of the God or Goddess. Each of the Divines also have their own dedicated faiths within the Church, with every one of the Thirteen Divines having their own unique form of worship.
Character Creation
Character creation for Echoes of Asylum Episode 3: One Empire will be done by the following rules:For additional content, the following sources will be used, in addition to the full roster of 5th Edition (2014) books.
