Setting Info and Background

Intro:

The Pillars of Dawn separate Northern Argollë from the rolling hills of Southern Argollë. In ancient days, Southern Argollë was the forested heartland of the ancient Argollëan Empire, but the elves and the forests have both largely been eliminated. Nowadays, it is the easternmost province of the Auran Empire. Southern Argollë extends eastward to the Tëhonaurë ("Deep Ocean"), which expands endlessly outward to the rising sun. Bordering Southern Argollë to the south-west is Krysea ("Arrow Land"), a stark, rugged country known for its stout archers and mercenaries. Now a loyal province of the Empire, Krysea resisted Auran dominance for over one hundred years. The remnants of the old border forts of the Krysean Wars still dot the landscape. South-east of Krysea and Southern Argollë spread the black-faced Zaqāru Mountains ("Area Raised Above All Others" in Ancient Zaharan). Fiercely sloped in the west, the Zaqāru descend gently in the east, thereby forming the great plateau which was in ancient days the land of Zahar. Now, that once-fertile highland has been reduced to ruin and become part of the great Waste that spans the breadth of the continent. The Waste is a dry and wind-blasted barrens dotted by ancient ruins of Zahar, Thrassia, and even older places said to date from before the Day Without Night. It is populated by monstrous beasts, undead evils, and savage clans of barbarian beastmen who live for plunder and rapine. Along the border between the Empire and the Waste, two rivers – the Krysivor ("Arrow River") and the Mirmen ("Black Rock") – run northeast from the Meniri Mountains down to the Tëhonaurë. The region between the mountains, the ocean, and the two rivers is known as the Borderlands. The Borderlands has been contested throughout recorded history and its landscape is littered with ancient fortresses, blood-soaked battlefields, and dread ruins, all crumbling relics of the empires that once ruled there. The Borderlands is secured by a fortified line of forts, but even when these have been fully manned, they have never been able to entirely secure the region. Two years ago, most of the Borderlands’ legions were sent west to confront the Skysos. Now the dangers facing the Borderlands are greater than ever. Monsters are slipping across the porous border to terrorize and plunder. Travel has grown perilous, and the border forts are becoming increasingly isolated and outmatched. The power structure of the region has begun decentralizing to local warlords and private armies.

Player Map of the Region here

The City of Cyfaraun:

Cyfaraun is the capital of the prefecture of the Borderlands in Southern Argollë. It used to be an elven city until the Auran Empire conquered it a few hundred years ago. A lot of elven architecture is still visible in the city’s old districts. Like most Auran cities, Cyfaraun has a large sewer system, but the Cyfaraun sewers are unusual because they’re built in and through the ruins and rubble of an even older elven city. The local storytellers claim the city’s underground architecture encompasses everything from ancient catacombs to chthonic temples to criminal hideouts. The city’s residents tend to say that the storytellers, like the sewers, are just full of shit.

Recent history:

The Current Year is Imperial year 381, at the very top of the calendar. The Emperor of Aura, Tarkaun Valros Valuin, lead the majority of the Imperial Legions westward to war against some petty barbarian tribes. No one seems to know why he summoned so many troops to fight some tent-dwelling herdsmen.

However, the Elves recall a time when their grandparents and parents were young, roughly 250 years ago, that the region the Humans call the "Borderlands" was the Elven kingdom of Southern Argolle. The humans began settling in the region about 300 years ago and bred faster than the elves, who were still devastated from wars with orc and beastmen tribes a few decades earlier. Elves do not recover from such conflicts as quickly as human populations do. The elves asked the humans to leave their lands, but the humans refused, and kept bringing more and more of their kind.

Eventually the elves launched war to drive out the humans of the Auran Empire. In response the Empire snet legion after legion to burn and cut the forests back to expose the elven cities hidden within. In the meantime a great dragon conquered the Elven capital city of Cyfandir, and rumors say it dwells there to this day.

After decades of war, and the loss of their capital, the Elves agreed to a truce and the region was annexed by the Empire. Though permitted to stay and be treated as equal citizens of the empire, most of the elves chose to move North to be with their own kind rather than live alongside the conquering Empire. But much elven history and knowledge was left behind, the former capital of Cyfandir was abandoned and the great and ancient city of Cyfarawn was renamed Cyfaraun and filled with humans.

For the humans now living there, these events are five six, or even seven generations distant, but to the elves, this was the war of their parents and grandparents, some of whom were young children fleeing their devastated forest homes and grand cities. All of the elven members of the party know these points of history.

Religions: The religions of Cybele are Syncretic, so most people acknowledge the existence of the same sets of gods, even if they ascribe them different names and symbols, or attribute slightly different qualities to them. For a real world analog, think Jupiter and Zeus, or Odin and Woden. Additionally, the name or image of one god may in fact refer to multiple divine beings, either closely aligned with one another, or in service to one another, and there are dozens or hundreds of minor gods and spirits besides, including some that preside only over a specific grove of trees, or house, or crossroads. But they are all aligned to one of the major divisions.

There are three major divisions: Law, Neutrality, and Chaos. Law believes that Order and Justice are supreme goods, Chaos holds that Power and the will the use it are the only measures of worth. Neutrality believes that all things are necessary, whether good or ill, and maintains a stoic attitude towards all things.

In the Auran Empire and the Argollean Elven realms, the gods of Law (the Empyrean Gods) are worshipped and the gods of Chaos (the Cthonic Deities) are viewed as demons and their followers hunted down as criminals against the Empire. Often with good reason, as they practice human sacrifice and other vile practices.

The Empyrean Gods are as follows:

Ammonar: Ammonar, called the Lightbringer, the Lawgiver, and the Lord of the Dawn, is the god of light, law and creation. He is symbolized by the winged sun, and the eagle is his sacred animal. He is known as Eamon Arne to the Rorninsh men and Argollean Elves.

Calefa: Calefa is the Lady of Fortune, goddess of wealth and protector of the dead. Her symbol is a 7-spoked wheel, while her sacred animal is the raven. The Sisters of Mourning are her priestesses; they manage funerals, oversee wills and estates, and offer prayers for the dead. She is known as Cailleach to the Rorninsh men and Argollean Elves.

Istreus: Istreus is the Master of Secrets, god of knowledge, learning, and magic. His holy symbol is the crescent or the tower, while his sacred animal is the owl. The mages and scholars of the Tower of Knowledge pay him allegiance. His worship is conducted in secret, and only the initiated know the meaning of the mantra, "no sooner spoken than broken". He is known as Taliesin to the Rorninsh men and Argollean Elves.

Ianna: Ianna is the Lioness, goddess of love and war. Her symbol is an eight-pointed star and her sacred animal is the lion. She has two orders of priestesses, the Dancers of the Veil and the Dancers of the Blade. The veil-dancers serve as dedicated priestesses and monastics, performing the majority of liturgies and rituals to the goddess. The blade-dancers are warrior-priestesses, highly desired as bodyguards by the nobility and serve as auxiliaries or commanders in the Auran military. She is known as Aine to the Rorninsh men and Argollean Elves.

Mityara: Mityara is the Noble Lady, goddess of peace and civic duty. She is symbolized with either an ivory lady with her arm outstretched, or with an ivory torch. Her sacred animal is the dove. Her priestesses are known as the Keepers of the Hearth Fire; they maintain the sacred fires and pure waters of the city, oversee ceremonies such as marriage and childbirth, control censorship of the arts, and may pardon any criminal. She is known as Demara to the Rorninsh men and Argollean Elves.

Naurivus: Naurivus is the Patron of Explorers, god of travel, water, and weather. His symbol is the galley, and his sacred animals are the dog, the horse, and the dolphin. He is also known as the Lord of Winds, and sailors praise and curse him. The Imperial Company of Explorers, whose men and women serve as scouts and navigators around the empire, hold him as their patron deity. He is known as Nuadhain to the Rorninsh men and Argollean Elves.

Türas: the "Hallowed Strength", known as the Marshal of Justice, is the god of strength, justice, and nobility. He is symbolized by the hammer and by the sword and the scales, while his sacred animal is the bull. His clerics are known as the Templars, and serve as justicars, executioners, and interrogators for the Empire. He is called Tuireann by the Rornish men and Argollëans elves.