Introduction

This is the story of a world.
Whether the world is a sphere spinning through the cosmos, a flat plane of infinite extent, or something far more bizarre, is a matter of great debate among academics, philosophers, mages, and theologians.
The existence of gods (excepting the indisputably real but less-than-omnipotent beings worshiped in various places), other realms, afterlifes, as well as the origin and ancient history of the world, are shrouded in uncertainty - despite the protestations of The Many various faith that humans follow.
The world has a single moon, a single sun, a smattering of constellations, days and nights 4 seasons; their nature, as with the nature of geography and time, are matters of great certainty and little consensus.


What is known is that Essence dominates and infuses everything in the world, influencing climate, biology, magic, and the very laws of nature. There are two broad categories of essence: elemental (steel, cloth, lava) and organic (bird, moss, bamboo). nothing that happens in this world can be understood without taking essence into account.


There are two known continents: Eastern Ummea and western Daknir, joined by a broad isthmus to the north.
Rumours abound of a third continent to the south, or of strange lands far to the east across the Diamond Sea; explorers that seeks such lands return unsuccessfully, or not at all. The vast expanse of land and sea that is known, however, is home to vast wildernesses, sprawling farmlands, empires rising and falling, traders trading and academics studying and armies clashing, strange beasts and stranger landscapes and people the strangest of all. This is their story.


It is also the story of a group of loosely-affiliated Adventurers of all types, working in the broad region of Caracar and the lands around the Nidari Reach in the decades before and after The Foreseeing. Some became historical figures, others were forgotten; All have stories worthy of telling. For this reason, the information included here is most extensive in this time and place.

Good Starting Articles:

Caziyel Firesight

Caracar

Nidari Reach

The Braided Band

The nature of essence

Worldbuilding restrictions:

• no undead
• no dragons
• no Clockwork - pulleys, wheels, primitive matchlocks, golems all allowed.
• no other planes/realms/dimensions