I rise this thread from the watery depths to ask a question. I want to run a relatively simple in mechanics d20 game.
I'd like your thought on the initial lore for it. Does this sound interesting? Do you have any suggestions?
Ocean of Stars, Fantasy Space ExplorationLong ago, the mortal races lived on a single world - the shell of the great earth goddess, Teryavere. But when her heart was broken, so deep was her grief that her very body broke and scattered to the heavens. The mortal races were cast out into the void - but they persevered, building ships that sailed the Ether and colonies to rebuild what was lost.
Life is preserved by the binding of spirits and demons, who provide gravity and air, heat and fertile soil. Such binding are possible through mana, mined from the rock or through the blood rituals of the elves.
It is a tumultuous time, but great profit and power can be seized by those willing to sail the Ocean of Stars...
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SPIRITS AND DEMONS
Spirits and demons are the basis of life in the Final Ocean. They both require mana, which is crystallised magic energy. Mana is associated with the sun, and can be found in greater quantities the more in-system you go. Mana is both a fuel and a currency - small disks of purified mana are often used as coins.
SPIRITS
Spirits are very simple, magic given basic life and a command by a mage. When summoned, the mage will attempt to give the spirit a focus. A fire spirit would deal with heat, typically producing; a spirit of decay could crumble rock into dust and rot food. Spirits are almost mindless, but dislike being given life - if their binding is broken they typically release all the mana they're holding as quickly as possible and cease existence. This makes them safer in many sense than demons, as they will never form grudges, but their abilities are limited in scope. A spirit that exists for a very long time can become a demon.
A skilled spiritologist can give them more advanced commands and bind stronger spirits.
DEMONS
Demons are intelligent, animate forces of magic. Demons have their own thoughts and opinions, even if many of them are not terribly bright. Binding them is more complicated, but done well demons can be much more useful than spirits. Demons also have focuses, but this restricts them less than a spirit. Some demons are malignant, and may try to trick or harm their binder, but some may be befriended and help beyond their duty as best they can. Demons may form grudges, particularly if they are desummoned by running out of mana. This is very unpleasant for the demon. Demons claim to reside in the Not-Here when not summoned, but that is as much as they will say about the matter.
Demons associated with plants and life are called Fey, and have a particular connection with Elves and the goddess Teryavere. All races use Fey to an extent, to assist in growing crops vital for life. Very weak demons are often called things like Gremlins, and powerful ones Devils, but in truth the categorisation is without solid boundaries.
Particular demons can be summoned by using their name and modifying the ritual to their affinity. A ritual designed to summon a demon without specifying the name of the demon gets one according to the skill of the demonologist. A cleverer, more powerful demon can fufil commands better, but often falls into resentment quicker - or has sinister intentions from the start.
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MAP
SUN---Golska--- Ynidus---The Scatter---Tanglewoods---Losanii---Britagl
GOLSKA
A burning world. Far to close to the sun to support life. The surface is airless and molten, and contains great quantities of mana, but none can get to it and live.
YNIDUS
Ynidus itself is deadly hot, with the temperature in the sun too great to survive - the very stone turns to lava doing the day. The atmosphere is poisonous and more acidic the closer to the surface you go. The night is cooler, and in it lives the dwarves in their walking cities. Has thick deposits of mana, which allow the great cities to continue to function. Few outsiders come to Ynidus and stay - some dwarves leave on the trade-ships alongside shipments of mana and metals.
THE SCATTER
The world-that-was. Nothing more than a thick asteroid field, the Scatter hosts to disparate nations of humanity. Contains many relics of the old world, and perhaps even tiny fragments of the dead goddess. Medium levels of mana deposits. Thick with merchant traders, navies and raiders. A good level of resources, much of which go to repulsing the constant elf raids. Friendliness depends on wealth and location. Elves are rarely welcomed on their own, but both they and dwarves have small populations with the Scatter
TANGLEWOOD
The Tanglewood is the primary home of the elves. This is a great cluster of gnarled roots and branches holding together clusters of rocks and ice. Greatly overcrowded, it constantly grows the great hollow trees the elves use as ships before they break off and sail towards the Scatter to raid. Contains a large shard of the goddess, which is bolstered by constant sacrifice. Hostile to outsiders, but perhaps one strong enough to prove themselves. Poor in resources.
LOSANII
A gas giant. The moons within the rings are small, and not particularly rich. Has a small population of humans and non-Tanglewood elves, who live a harsh life fearing raiders.
BRITAGL
A frozen wasteland. Small, and far from the sun, it has little heat and little mana. Perhaps a few hermits live here, hwing out a basic life. If one wished to never be found, they would come here.
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RACES
HUMANS
Themes: renaissance;; advancement
Bonus: crafting, spirits
Humans can be found in disparate nations throughout the Scatter, clinging on to the remmants of the Old World. With access to the ruins that remain, they are perhaps the most technologically advanced, which helps them hold back the elven raiders. With decent mana supplies to power their ships and islands, they are currently expanding despite elven raids.
Humans tend to rely on simple spirits rather than demons, preferring to try to make up the gaps with technology.
DWARVES
Themes: toil; endurance
Bonus: survival
After the Scattering, many dwarves found themselves ill-suited for life in the void. To that end, they settled on Ynidus. Golska was too hot beyond any spirit or demons' means to fix - Losanii had no surface, and Britagl was both distant and infinitely cold, with few mana deposits at all.
Ynidus itself is deadly hot, with the temperature in the sun too great to survive - the very stone turns to lava doing the day. The atmsosphere is poisonous and more acidic the closer to the surface you go. The night is cooler, however, and the dwarves have adapted to their new world but keeping to the night - they have build cities on the backs of titanic, crab like behemoths of enchanted stone that trudge endlessly across the surface, dwarves swarming down to quickly mine mana deposits and fleeing before the sun comes up. The walking cities rarely come near each other, and when they do there is other a flurry of trade - and violence on the surface over mana deposits.
The dwarves use springjacks, giant stone devices shaped like fleas that spring into the upper atmosphere to catch or release ships to allow trade and movement between the surface and the void.
Unfortunately, they are not the only ones living on the world. Many dragons descended from the void, quickly adapting to the hostile surface. These wyrms prey on the dwarves that leave the cities to mine.
ELVES
Themes: viking, aztec
Bonus: More hit?, more dodge?, bonus to fey demons, malus to others
The elves, after the Scattering, found themselves in a desperate position. Their innate connection to fey demons, opposed to any other, meant they were limited in their magics. They also had very little resources of metals or mana available. With their prodigious birthrate, it also meant that the few resources they had were stretched to their limits.
The elves responded to this by becoming raiders, reliant on blood magic, to ensure their civilisation continued. They sail the ether in great trees that detach from the jumble of rock and roots called the Tanglewood, raiding and pillaging anything they can. Fortunately for the humans, with the elves poor supplies and lack of knowledge on siegecraft they are rarely able to hold territory they take.
The Tanglewood is maintained by a shard of the Earth Goddess, who is mainly powered by the sacrifice of captives - the elves have very little mana deposits.
The Elves have developed a caste-based structure based on martial and magical ability.