Shards of Heaven

THE WORLD

Set in the world of Gaia, the Shards of Heaven campaign setting centers on the kingdom of Asturia. It is in the midst of social turmoil following an invasion of lifeless monsters from beyond the northern mountains five years ago. The country has a temperate climate and features a varied landscape. Fertile fields and hills in the east, forbidding mountains and forests in the north, a vast sea to the south, and rugged badlands to the west. Mystery shrouds the lands outside Asturia’s borders. The church has warned that those who venture there never return.  

THE PEOPLE

The peoples of Asturia are diverse. Among the ones that players can embody are the humans, dwarves, and elves as well as the half-breed races of half-elves and half-orcs. Naturally, humans are the predominant race in Asturia. They are ruled by a monarch and his court, comprised of noble houses and delegates from the Gazel Ministry. Southwestern Asturia is home to the Deepstone dwarves. They have lived among the humans for generations and have brought the knowledge of magecraft to the kingdom. In the mountains to the north are the reclusive Luril elves. They claim to be enemies of The Devourer: the force they claim is behind the darkness in the land beyond the mountains.   Nomadic tribes of orcs, known as the Odakota, roam the wilds far from large human settlements. They have a mixed history with the Asturians ranging from peaceful trading to war. Asturia rests upon the lands of the ancient Anasazi lizardfolk who now live to the west in the desert region known as the Crimson Lowland. Ruins of their ancient culture dot the land and indicate a civilization that may have spanned the entire continent. The last culture of note is the Sazire kobolds, small reptilian humanoids who are inclined towards engineering and machinery.  

THE FANTASTIC

Various cultures have developed many ways of using magic. Each have built up belief structures around the "right" and "wrong" ways to wield it. The common folk of Asturia accept the divine miracles of the Ministry but tales of dark and pagan magic are surfacing as outsiders have become more common in cities.   Nature magic is considered pagan but harmless. Arcane magic of wizards is misunderstood by many, due to its physically punishing nature. The musical magic of bards is said to be a mixture of skill and the divine blessing of the Maker. On the other end of the spectrum, the magic used by warlocks is greatly feared. The forces behind it seem to be able to corrupt even those who want nothing to do with it.  

SETTING CORNERSTONES

• Exploration: Recent events have stirred the human kingdom of Asturia to gaze beyond its borders and into their own land’s past to discover what lies hidden there.
• Dreams: There is a place beyond the wall of sleep where voices from the past still echo and deep within the earth can be found crystallized dreams.
• Forbidden Knowledge: Magic is rare and there is a price to be paid for the people that choose to interact with it.
• Cosmic Horror: The universe is a purposeless, mechanical, and uncaring place and there are immensely powerful forces in it that care not for mortals.