Setting Information

The world is recovering from the Dawn War between the Incarnations, their Immortals, and the Mortals, and their Deities. The war ended with the Shattering, which sundered the Deities into Gods, Mortal People into the races, and the Mortal Realm into the Shattered Lands. Though the war is over and the chaos of the Shattering has prevented any major conflict over the last half century since the Shattering there is still tension in the lands. Three major factions have risen up, the Kingdoms and Tribes are allied or subject to the Incarnations or Titans, the Divine Nations and Cities are beholden to the Gods and their Demi-God offspring, and the Freeholds and Clans who refuse to ally with either.

Animals, monsters, giants, dragons(dragons all use magic, drakes are weaker, less intelligent and don't use magic), and humanoids are native to the Mortal Realm and found in most lands. Fiends, Elementals, Celestials, and Fae are from the Immortal Realms. Abominations, constructs, ooze, and undead, referred to as warborn, are products of the Dawn War and common only in Shattered Lands or ruins from the war.

Most mortal humanoid all have a common origin, the People of the Dawn Age, and understand common and its simplified ideogram writing. All other writing is uncommon and spell casters are usually the only ones who read. Some of the 'lesser', quicker breeding, shorter lived humanoids are theorized to be creations of the war that were uplifted to make better soldiers, though records from that time are lost so no one knows for sure.

The Primal World is a collection of realms and planes where magic is everywhere and civilization is young, though the realms are not. Ancient powers, exotic beasts, and conflict between Races and Nations can be found across the mortal lands.
The Dawn Age and Dawn War
After the Incarnations finished creating the Immortal Realms they created the Mortal Realm, the People, and their Deity. The Incarnations taught the People and Deity until the Dawn War between the Mortal People, their Deity, Immortals, and Titans. This was also referred to as the immortal war.. This war raged for centuries.
The Shattering
The Shattering ended the Dawn War. The Shattering fragmented the Mortal Realm into lands divided by Borders, the People into races, and their Deity into Gods. In addition the previously stable planar pathways between the Realms became unstable and dangerous.
The Lands
Since the Shattering the Mortal Realms has been split into four types of regions. Each land is separated from others by the Borders. Crossing Borders takes you to other lands or occasionally to an Immortal Realm, but not always the same destination. Some are static, most are cyclical but some random transitions occur.
The Divine Nations are home to the followers of the Gods and filled with their divine influence. The Kingdoms are ruled by nobles, descendants or vassals of Titans. The Wilds are natural lands that though they are not ruled by Gods or Titans they may be home to one, or more. The Shattered Lands are filled with remnants of the war , including dangerous warborn creatures, unstable Borders and Rifts.
The People
The People are any, PC or monster, humanoid race. All of these have gods though not all worship or follow them. Before the Shattering all were the Mortal People and could intermingle freely. The Shattering split them into various races and anso altered their minds resulting in the racial languages and clouding all knowledge of the Dawn age

These contain the majority of "civilized" lands. The gods were able to protect large areas of land and their people from the Shattering. Due to this most of these lands have close ties between church and state though the structure and implementation depends on the God and clergy. Nations usually have a pantheon of gods while isolated cities often only have one god though they may acknowledge others that have close ties to their god. The most common form of government in the nations is a civil theocratic parliament with the civil sector being the lower house that runs most of the day to day matters while the high house is reserved for clergy and only sets policy. Due to the fact that the gods protection during the Shattering much of the infrastructure was preserved including intercity roads and even teleportation networks.
The Divine lands of this region are primarily controlled by the hill dwarfs and some rock gnomes in the north eastern mountains and lands and human cities around the southern sea filled with sailors with halfling villages sprinkled throughout the area. The drow elf live in their subterranean citadels to the far north west. RACE: Dwarf : Hill, Elf : Drow, Gnome : Rock, Halfling : Lightfoot, Human
CLASS: Artificer, Cleric, Monk, Paladin, Warlock

These are decedents pf refugees and dissenters from the Dawn War including most of the colleges of bards, wizardly universities, and large portions of the armies and their families. All settlements in the Wilds and Shattered Lands are walled and have strong physical and magical defenses. Freeholds are larger, sometimes multi-racial, settlements. Each usually has several smaller settlements within a day or two's travel. Clans consist of several families usually of the same race. Associations are professional organizations found in Freeholds. Freeholds are usually managed by the dominant local clan, association, or a council of representatives. Sample associations : Mage Tower, Bard College, warrior school, merchant guild.
Most of these are republics with multiple levels of control and support though most control is kept at a local level and larger organizations only exerting indirect influence save in times of need or when undertaking tasks of common interest. Without Patrons to protect them the Shattering had the larges impact on these lands and people. Fortunately since then the wizards and bards have discovered means to map the lands across barrier and allow safe passage across them. Some have even managed to create anchors that allow the borders to be manipulated allowing lands across them to be linked most if not all of the time.
RACE: Dwarf : Grey, Elf : Wood, Gnome : Rock/Deep, Halfling : Stout, Human : Variant
CLASS: Bard, Fighter, Rouge, Wizard

These are ruled by nobles who manage it for their Titan Ancestor, protector, or overlord. The Tribes live in the Wilds and/or are nomadic traveling mostly though Kingdoms and Wilds. Both the kingdoms and Tribes are keenly aware of the local Titans and strive to maintain harmonious or at least non aggressive relations with them. As the Titans that created these lands are varied so are the lands and forms of government. Most use a form of hereditary rulership that existed before the Shattering as the Titans use designated families to act as their representative in managing people in their area. The views of the Titans strongly influence the societies within their territories. This is seen is the elf closeness with the woods and dwarven kinship to stone, etc.
RACE: Dwarf : Mountain, Elf : Eladrin/High, Gnome : Forest, Halfling : Ghostwise, Beastmen
CLASS: Barbarian, Druid, Ranger, Sorcerer, Warlock

During the Dawn Age, before the Shattering, there was only 1 language of the people, though many dialects formed through interaction with spirits and Immortals. However the Shattering seems to have greatly accelerated the linguistic drift of these dialects into new languages, elvish, dwarvish, goblin, etc. Thus all languages share some common origins and can, with effort and study, allow limited comunication with others. The common tongue is agreed by all scholars to likely be the closes to the ancient language of the People though it has been polluted by absorbing words and ideas from other races and only has a simplistic written form used to convey basic ideas only. Mages and Priests argue that Arcane or Divine are the true written form used by the People Most do not bother to listen to their long winded and, to most, pointless arguments.

During the Dawn War the People with the help of their Diety created the War-Born races.
How this was done, whether shaping some of the People or altering beast is debated, but most believe they were once of the People. All War-Born races were created for the war. Most had accelerated maturation and shortened life spans along with other gifts to make them better able to fight in the war. As a result of these changes and the centuries of warfare all of these new races have a violent nature and since the shattering and loss of almost all organized government they have turned from fighting Immortals, whom they can no longer reach, to attacking the mortal races. It is assumed by most that all monstrous humanoids as well as the beastial humanoids are War-Born. Some of the beast men argue on this point saying they were of the People but were closer to nature and its spirits, even than the elves, and has been gaining animalistic features even before the Shattering which only finalized the changes.
Known War-Born: Goblin, Hobgoblin. Bugbear, Orc

The expedition is to explore a city from the Dawn Age that was abandoned during the Dawn War and only recently rediscovered. While much of it is in ruins there are sections known to be standing in relatively good order. The adventuring party that found the city signed a contract ensuring we gain sole access to the information. We were able to convince one of them, Danoll, to stay on and act as a guide and advisor. They had mad contact with a local tribe of Gripli and some of our previous scouts helped reestablish this contact

Vault
You may leave any extra money or items in the expedition vault and have it guaranteed up to 100gp without exception.
Healing
All server wounds taken in the service of the expedition will be healed by the expedition free of cost
Identification
All items recovered while in the employ of the expedition must be turned over for identification and cataloging. Items of historical nature or of specific interest will be kept and the agent compensated. All other items can either be sold or kept by the agent.

The expedition is based in some reconstructed ruins that quite luckily have a dock that somehow survived till this day. A band of goblinoids were using it before we arrived but we were able to capture the docks and fortify the area. The base is maintained by a garrison of guards as well as the might of a mighty wizard and skilled artificer. The expedition is now firmly established and the base has a tavern, inn, housing, a cafeteria, and other amenities. The scholars have been working with the Gripply to salvage the ruins within the swamp which the earlier scouting parties, with occasional help from the garrison, cleared. While other city remnants have been located nearby the pressure from goblinoids, as well as some kobolds and lizardmen has kept us from freely entering those prime sites.

Required Activities
You will not discuss anything regarding the job with anyone but authorized individual.
Exploration
You are to explore all areas assigned to you and the party. All information is to be recorded and relayed to the researched. All conclusions by the researchers will be shared with the exploration team to assist them in identifying future threats and/or assets.
Bonuses will be given based on the significance of the findings.
Clear Threats
You are not expected to endanger yourselves unduly but threats within the scope of your power are to be cleared to allow the researchers access to the explored/cleared areas. Proof of a known threat will count as having an area been explored.
Protection
If the researchers are required to enter the site the exploration team will provide protection to them until they return to the base camp.
Payment
You will be guaranteed payment of 10 GP a week upon the termination of the contract. Profits you make while on the contract will be considered as part of the payment.
Support
The researchers and investors will be maintaining a safe zone close to the site. The full support of all personnel will be provided to the exploration team. These services include
Identifying items for free
Healing and other spell services at reduced rates
Items to complete specifically requested activities will be available for use and returned upon completion of said task.
Additional gear to assist with the exploration can be purchase at or below market value. (note: due to the remote nature of the site availability will be limited but requests can be made for items not available in the base camp but there will be a delay and charge for shipping the items)
The camp guards are to ensure basic safety but the exploration team may be called upon to assist with major threats as needed.
Treasure
Any items of historical, magical, or relevance as noted by the researchers are to be collected and handed in upon return to the base camp.
All items recovered are considered the property of the Investor except as noted below.
- Coin and jewels - 25% of all wealth belongs to the investors and the remainder is to be divided among the exploration team members as they see fit.
- Items of a magical nature will be identified and the finder will either be paid a bonus or given the option to take the item instead of a bonus. (note the researchers and investors are interested in knowledge and major artifacts. Basic magic items will either be sold and a portion of the sale price given as the 'bonus' or left to the exploration team to distribute as you see fit)

Gods Are tied to aspects of their People, not elemental forces. They are patrons to paladins, clerics, and warlocks. Though the gods do not reside in the mortal lands their Avatars and demigod children ensure they are not forgotten.
God Domains (Ideological): Arcana, Agriculture (nature), Death, Deceit (Twilight), Forge, Grave, Knowledge, Medicine (Life), Order, Peace, Protection, Trickery, War. (Note: gods do not grant light or tempest domain)

Demigods are offspring of Gods and Mortals, Immortals, or Titans and have existed since the Dawn Age. Most serve their divine parents though some are more independent and/or rebel against them. Demigods rival Titans and can serve as patrons for Warlocks, paladins, rangers, druids and Clerics. As Demigods are half mortal some of them have elemental domains. Due to their mixed heritage they are less at odds with the Incarnations and some were neutral during the Dawn War.

Incarnations reign in the Immortal Realms. None have been known to enter the mortal realms directly but records talk of Avatars sent by them before the Dawn War. While they can be patrons of druids, rangers, warlocks and elemental domain clerics, most are not interested in mortal affairs. Sample Incarnation Domains (Elemental): Nature, Storm, Sun, Moons, Air, Earth, Fire, Water, ...

Immortals are creatures native to all the realms other than the Mortal Realm. They mature much slower than mortals and few die of old age. The more long lived mortal races of the People are assumed to be a result of mixing between mortals and immortals during the Dawn Age. Some immortals are almost as old as the Incarnations and are very powerful. Most serve Incarnations though some act independent. They can be patrons to druids, rangers, warlocks, and clerics with elemental domains, and do so for various, often unknown, reasons.

Titans are beings of power, typically over CR20, who reside in the Mortal Realm and can be patrons to druids, rangers, warlocks, and clerics (usually elemental/nature domains). Most are patrons only to mortal servants who administer their territory and oversee their interests. Sample Titans : Tarasque, Dragons (Ancient/Immortal), Elementals, Ents, Unicorns, Fey Lord, Overmind, etc...
Powerful creatures (CR 20+) that were previously Mortal or Immortal and now somewhere inbetween. Most rule territories and some act as patrons. Domain : Any

After the People and their Deity were created the Planar Incarnations left the other Realms to their Incarnations and stayed with the People. They created a great city, teaching the Deity and the People. As the Deity and People grew in knowledge and skill so did their desire for more. They began aggressively expanding their lands and sought ways to gain the powers of the Immortals and Incarnations. This resulted in various reactions from the Incarnations. Some tried to limit the People, others tried to teach them harmony. In the end war broke out, the Dawn War.

With the onset of the Dawn war the Planar Incarnations withdrew from the Mortal Realm and the Immortals and Mortals waged war for an centuries. The People and their Deity crafted great fortresses and war machines. The Immortals and Incarnations who lead them warped mortal beasts and monsters with their power into deadly war beasts (abominations). Even some of the People who either were shaped for war either voluntarily through their Deities power or forcefully by the Immortals.

The Dawn War ended with the Shattering. The Shattering fractured the nature of the Mortal Realm. The lands were broken with planar Borders connecting them all and isolating each, like cracks in ice. The People were fractured, creating the races. And with this the Deity was also shattered into the Gods with each tied to a specific race and ideal of that race.
Even as the Shattering destroyed much of the Mortal Realms, the emerging Gods, some Incarnations and a few powerful mortal and immortal creatures used their power to shield their territories. These became the seeds of the new age along with ragtag assortments of mortals who managed to survive without outside protection.

After the Dawn War the shattered races and gods were much weaker. Now the races are scattered across the land and their gods are no longer tied directly to them. Instead they could only draw strength indirectly from those who followed and/or had faith in them. Time has passed near to a century and the races have regained their footing and are starting to assert themselves in the shattered mortal lands once more.

The undead soldiers on the island identified the city and can tell more about it. The researchers have been collecting information from the ruins they have access to as well as talking with the undead.

Intact city blocks that are surrounded by protective magical fields. The entire city had similar enchantments on each city block and a greater barrier around the entire city but only these Remnants remain intact. The rest of the city ruins are oddly burrid and overgrown concidering only a few decades have passed.

The Infinite Tower was created and grew during the dawn age as a place of knowledge and learning. It was open to all as neutral ground and was instrumental in the developement of the People. With the coming of the Dawn War it was used as and offensive and feffensive bastilion as it gave easy access to the outer planes. It was recently deiscovered by the expedition as well as teh Hobgoblins.
The expedition has had several members apply for testing and some have even gecome tower agents. Agents have access to tower services, including magical items customized fro their use and information but are required to perform services for the tower.

The way I view and play Fey in this setting is as wild creatures on innate intellect, power, and wisdom. They are nature spirits tied closely to the Mortal Realm and during the Dawn age were on equal terms with the People. This setting history, like in many books, has they Fey starting with a greater hold over the world than the People. Some tribes of the People, ancestors of some Elves, Gnomes, Halflings, etc, actually were subservient to the Fey as either servants or residents of their lands beholden to Fey Nobles. As the People grew in knowledge and power those tribes of the People took much of the wisdom of the Fey and taught it to the People.

During the Dawn War the Fey stood neutral to the conflict except when Immortals from the outer plains threatened the Lands of the Mortal Realm. It is unknown if this is the cause of much or the was focusing on the cities of the People and the Infinite Tower. This neutrality was not one sided as the Fey also ensured the People and their Deity respected the lands of the Mortal Realms. There are a variety of Fey but only Fey Nobles have the unswerving loyalty, obedience, and command of all fey in their lands. Some Fey nobility are at the rank of Titans, Ancient Dragons, and Demigods.

Though with the Shattering separating the Fey Wild form the Mortal Lands not all Fey ended in the Fey Wilds and not all of the People affiliated with the fey stayed in the Mortal Lands, perhaps most notable being the Eladrin.

The Fey were the first with the idea of Nobles. All fey nobles belong to the Fey Court.
The exact nature of the Fey Court is not fully understood as each noble presides over their own court. What is known is that all these lesser courts are beholden to a higher court but no mortal has every leaned who or what presides over the High Fey Court.

All Fey nobles have the ability to enter and leave the Fey Wild and are able to force any in their territory similarly across the border separating the two aspects of the Mortal Realm.
Many nobles maintain territory in the Mortal Lands but few still reside in those, preferring the Fey Wild.

Dragons and dragonkin, including wyverns, drakes, hydra, and any other creature with dragon traits or blood, have existed since the beginning of the Mortal Realm. Like the Fey they were created with great intellect, and power. While the fey have innate sense of balance and harmony dragons are far more primal and driven to dominate. All dragon kin carry a trace of the pride of the True Dragon within them.
True Dragons all are able to perform magic as well as having powerful bodies'. The 15 great families of the chromatic, metallic, and crystal dragons have long dominated the dragon-kind though not all powerful dragons are part of these families.

For a time during the Dawn Age the Dragons council, comprised of the 15 families held equal or greater power to the Fey court and had conflict with them over territories. The people know of this only indirectly. The conflict was resolved at some point before the People truely raised themselves to be on equal, according to the People, to the other two great Mortal powers.

During the Dawn War many drakes and dragon-kin were used by the people to fight against the Immortals. A few True Dragons also joined the People and fought for treasures in the outer planes or to defend cities of the People as mercenary guardians. The 15 families though withdrew all contact from the People at that time. Little is known of the current state of the 15 families save that each has at least 1 Titan that acts as Patron over the family.

The people are comprised of all intelligent mortal races.

wondrous item, uncommon (bonded)
Once bound to an individual by a drop of blood it will only work for that individual as long as they stay true to thei Oath and the Tower Laws. The token allows the owner to know the direction and distance to the closest Tower Portal. Once per day the token allows the owner to cast the sending spell without components to contact a Tower official they are familiar with, or the closest at hand.