Introduction to "The Call of the Tree"

Fifteen years ago, people started to wake up in The Pit, a giant round(-ish) hole in the ground, with a giant seed floating in the middle of it. As the years passed, and the seed formed into a tree, the people formed communities, discovered lost technologies, fought with monsters and other people.
But still, they haven't even scratched the truth of the place they are in.

The Pit and its layers

The Pit is so deep no one knows its lowest point. Partially because the complete darkness and monsters living in it and partially because no human being can leave a certain distance from the mysterious Tree.
This is also the main reason why no one ever took a step on the surface. Or rather, those who tried turned to dust.
The inside of The Pit consists of layers, multiple round cavern systems that stretch endlessly. Each layer is made out of random parts of our world from different ages. Eiffel Tower could be standing next to a large jungle and ancient city in its prime days at the same time on one layer. And there is at least a hundred of them, each varying heights and complexities.

Technology level and magic

Technology

Depending on the part of the Pit, the technology levels could vary a lot.
Close to the middle of the Pit, people share and exchange the stuff they find and create. Thanks to that it's not uncommon to see people with guns or even the elemental weapons. Elemental Crystals are used to farm and power stuff up.
On the other hand, due to the conditions prevailing in their layers, People of the Surface and People of the Depths are stuck on the stone age level.

Magic

Sometimes, the Tree chooses someone, giving them the ability to use The Magic of the Song. Those songs let people affect reality in an unexplainable way.
Besides the Songs, one can find the artifacts that let them create magic effects.
There are also hundreds of things naturally existing in the Pit, which are indistinguishable from magic (Such as Anomaly).

Cult of the Tree

The Tree gives and the Tree nurtures.
It's Shine speeds up the growth of crops and scares away the monsters.
It radiates with Elements, which can be used to create new crops, heat houses, create water and dig. It gives the ability to use magic.
The phases of its growth mark the seasons passing.
It's no wonder that the Tree and its children (The Guardians of The Tree) are considered the gods of this world by many.

Growth and decay

Each passing year means another step for mankind. New discoveries are made, new technologies created, new artifacts unearthed. The settlements grow and connect to each other, becoming stronger and stronger.
But at the same time, the shine of The Tree gets dimmer and dimmer each passing year, protecting the smaller and smaller area from monsters. Four great Anomalies: Jungle, Junkyard, Red Sea, and Grayness grow and spread, bringing more death and despair with them.

Discovery and danger

Most of the areas of the Pit and their properties are still unknown or incomprehensible to the humans. That's why the explorers and the scientists are kept in high regard. A new discovery can push humanity forward, making it easier to survive the dangers of the Pit.
But every discovery usually means a great risk and many deaths. There are things that can't be seen, places that shouldn't be visited, beings that should be avoided

The Call of the Tree is a world of mine that was created the first day of Summer Camp 2018.
It's made up mostly of stuff that I find cool and is a mixture of ideas for a few worlds I had in the past.

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I still don't know if I just want to write stories happening in it or create a setting for a tabletop game, I'm just enjoying the ride.
Hope you have fun reading it! :D

Where to start?

The Pit and The Tree explain the geography and the main landmark of the world.
The Spirit's Wish is a myth that uncovers some of the secrets of the world.
Elemental Crystals and Anomaly - some of the cool, weird stuff present in The Pit.
People of the Surface and People of the Depths - two ethnic groups living in two opposite sides of The Pit.

The idea for the underground, layered world

The idea for the Pit as it is now was an evolution of many earlier ideas.
I really like the aesthetics of steampunk (and not only) worlds, especially the world that is made out of the floating islands that people need to fly or build between. So when I was younger, I came up with a lot of worlds that were exactly like that and the cities that would look cool in those worlds.
That's when I created a ringed city, the city consisting of castle and rings floating around it, where every farther ring was inhabited by people of lower and lower classes.
The first projects had rings on the same level, but then I started to play around until I created a city where every ring was above another (with the castle still in the center.
Then, as I started to like Underdark and other underground places more, I thought to myself: "What if I would put that city underground?".
The final step in creating The Pit of the Call of the Tree was changing the castle in the middle into the giant Tree and integrating each ring into the walls of the Pit.