Lutum

Magic

Lutum is a fairly grounded fantasy (or as grounded as that can be to an extent) world where magic is not uncommon but is hardly understood. Your average commoner will likely have very limited first hand experiences with magic, although almost everyone has at one point or another benefited from its influence even if that influence does not affect them until many years after the initial casting (so a mage at one point summoned rain and from that point on the natural climate was changed leading the land to receive more rain which made the land more suitable for farming etc.). Magic in this world is fairly unpredictable and can only really be controlled, or at the very least channeled, by sheer force of will. Methods for the use of magic can vary and even the methods that can be used for the well-known spells can have numerous variations depending on if the caster discovers a new method to cast it, with published spell books simply being the most reliable way to attain the desired effect. Magic tends to be highly restricted in some way by most societies due to its long-lasting after effects on both the land and those around the caster (Mechanically speaking this means spells above a certain level are usually restricted or banned outright). Wizards tend to be in high demand from most kingdoms and the secrets to ensuring successful casting tend to be highly valued and guarded. Ever since the Crossing nearly anyone with significant enough luck, willpower, and natural intuition/talent can become a spell slinger and as such they tend to be either conscripted by their local government forms or dealt with by other wizards who want to reduce the "inflation" that can occur which dissuade a large majority of people from trying to handle such dangerous forces that have dangerous consequences. Only about 1 in every 200,000 people born are capable of truly great magical feats, but anyone with enough dedication and training (a larger barrier to entry than many can overcome) can achieve low levels of simple magiks.    

Races

The Respite of Lutum for many millennia was only populated by Goblinoids (Orcs, Goblins, Bugbear, Hobgoblins etc.) and the Half races (Drwafs, Halfings, Gnomes) with Orcs reaching heights much beyond the tribes that their ancestors once lived in. When this Great Oriculum Empire reached for the planes beyond in search of greater magical power, since at this time the powers that be were weak and the magic required more effort and risk than many were willing to deal with, they reached out into a realm of much greater natural magic - The Fey Wilde - and those that were contacted over from the other side were at first willing to bargain and give power for the sake of loyalty but over time the weakened barrier between the Prime Material Plane and that of the Fey Wilde was taken advantage of by those who felt they could rise no higher in the Chaotic Courts of the Unseelie. Those who were looking for more flooded in mass from the Fey Wilde in an event known as the Crossing. These Unseelie Fey quickly overcame the orcs with their superior magic and ruthless disregard for the lives of their enemies and their own (for what is death to a being who with be reborn anew in their home realm). After the battles were won and those that had left the Unseelie Court grew weary of lording over such simple creatures such as the Orcs and Half-folk they left High Elfs in charge so that they could maintain influence through delegating to their lesser kin. As time went on and the orders became less frequent the High Elfs who made up this Unseelie Regime began to practice mystic arts of their own and ruled even more cruelly than they had when they received orders. These arts took place in magical laboratories in what is now known the Upperdark (which is the uppermost layer of what can be considered the Underdark) while the extent of the results of the tests are not known beyond a few key things: the creation of many of the foul beasts that plague Lutum, the imbuing of the Underdark with the foul and mysterious energies that permeate it, and the creation of the Humans as a slave race by mixing the blood of Orcs the Half-Folk and some claim the blood of Seelie Fey as well. After many Trials and Tribulations, Humans have become the dominant race in Lutum.  

Gods

The divine also have a place in Lutum mainly with after the War between Pantheons that occurred during the Crossing that left many Orc and Unseelie deities dead or dissipated it left a hole that needed to be filled and after the creation of Humans they that was filled through blind faith in a better life. Humans believed that thing would improve and that they would one day be their own masters and when the Great Hero Nikandrios rose up against the Elfen masters and defeated the Unseelie Pantheon the Human's belief that he would be the one to free them helped him ascend into godhood. This event ushered in a new path to godhood which is the power of Faith and True Belief which lead to finding a new breed of gods that gain power not just from their divine essence but also from the faith of their believers. This leads to many gods encouraging zealotry and religious intolerance (so promoting ones religion/god as superior to others). This is not out of malice but out of self-preservation. Low-level clerics are fairly common as they are living embodiments of their god's will and are commonly tasked with converting others, for this reason, the more followers there are the more power the god gains but the more clerics there are the more spread out their power is. As such many gods try to strike a balance between how many clerics they have in relation to their followers. Due to the nature of the Human Gods (with their many variations from each subculture that exists) clerics of other faiths rarely get along even though many of their gods are willing to coexist. Gods of the other races are more primordial in nature and as such do not rely as heavily on believers. Although there are many clerics in the world there are few capable of true miracles such as raising the dead.