Avernicus

The world of Avernicus, a temperate paradise world filled to the brim with all manner of mysticism and magic. From lowly Gibbers, miniscule blue skinned humanoids with a taste for human hair, to the might Drakon, towering, bipedal forces of elemental nature that can furrow canyons and melt glaciers. Magic is within everything, from the trees and the bushes, to the mountains and the clouds, flowing through all that was, is, and will be. This magic is called Essence, and it is the lifeblood of Avernicus, and the spirit of all that lives and even that which walks in death. That magic can be harvested, reaped, sown, and used for all manner of miracle and magical phenomena.   The planet is dominated by a Pangaea continent, dominated by two dynamic nations of intelligent men, The Oligarchy of Avernus and The Geneforge Order. Within the lands of the Oligarchy, cogs, gears, and great stacks of iron forged chimneys belch the gas of industry into the air. And from their massive complexes, they create and field artificial monsters of iron, essence, and coal, from marching Automaton's to rare, powder shot muskets. Theirs is a ceaseless march in the name of industry, of mastering the natural and magical world, and lashing it to the harness of humanity's supposed divine mandate. Governed and charged with it's ruling and its march, is the man known as Emperor Lucarus, First of his Line.   Within the southern lands, below the territories of the Oligarchy, is The Geneforge Order, a country of meditation, magic, perfection of spirit, and the magnificence of life. Theirs is a country of wonders and bizarre magics, where they take the magics of Essence, and the bodies of mystical beasts, marrying them into truly unique things. From combined beasts that spew the breath of Drakon's and walk like Apes, to small and weak, though intelligent hybrids of a Pixie's body and a Dendroid's invincible bark. But not only these intelligent 'serviles' do they make, for with their mastery of life they may even make living weapons. Blades that see and feel their victims, shrieking with sated blood lust as their serrated edges bite into tender flesh. Or crossbows that fling their bolts with living arms or chitin and giant spider silk spinneret woven strings.   And these countries, are embroiled in brutal and merciless all out war. The screams of the dying fill the battlefields, and the cries of the starving fill their cities. This war is a bloody thing, tearing the Earth asunder with both industry, and magic. Towering automaton grapple with enormous monsters birthed from the magic of The Geneforge Order, and soldiers wage war in bloody melee. There is little hope in this world, for it is in pain, suffering and writhing beneath the wrathful war that is waged upon it, from the rivers to the seas. And this story, is about unlikely heroes, everyday people ripped and torn from a reality and world completely unlike this one, to save it or damn it as they struggle to return home.