Exandria

Building upon the work of Matt Mercer, this is my take on the high fantasy D&D setting he created as of December 2017. I gave it a different twist.   The world: Exandria. The continent: Tal'Dorei. The battle of the Umbren hills did not end with all the powers of the landmass uniting under a single banner but rather by them forming an uneasy truce, governed only on paper by the council of Tal'Dorei. In truth, the northern lands of the continent are still split into seven major realms, some calling themselves kingdoms, others having not quite the temerity - or power - to enforce such claims.   In the east, the Magocracy of Veil rules with spell and steel, their bureaucracy and state military churning out promising mages and burning them up again in their almost constant warfare with small outer provinces, internal rebels, and forces from the outer planes.   In the west, the Kingdom of the Concord holds onto an uneasy peace, though it is beset from enemies within and without both. Large tracts of lands are rendered uninhabitable by large monsters and a mysterious cult seeking to bring back their twisted messiah sows terror in the populace.   Between these two great powers, the respected and peaceful realm of the Good King Omen has fallen to an insurgent overlord by the name of Ajax the Invincible. After over 1000 years of peace and prosperity, the land is tumbling back into chaos, standing on the brink of anarchy with orcish hordes returning and demons walking the land unhindered. Meanwhile, the overlord seems to do nothing to stop his land from falling into ruin, weirdly complacent in his newly conquered capital.   North of all of them, the dwarves of Kraghammer do their duty, though something seems off in the way the royal family is acting. Two brother-princes have gone missing and there is talk of weird rumblings in the deep, of mines collapsing and of dark omens.   In the middle of the continent, the Wardens of Syngorn ever hold their vigil against all who would threaten their sacred woods and usurp their secrets. Times are not so dark here, or so they would have you believe. The elves. having ruled these lands for thousands of years, whisper of parts of the woods going eerily quiet, of experienced rangers going missing without explanation and of the World Tree's song becoming warped and wailing.