The Fringe Lands
An incredible world of magic, adventure... And curry, for some reason.
Long ago, a great god forged this world from iron and gold, and bound it together with his lifeblood. This great god's name has been lost irretrievably to the annals of History... Or the librarian lost the book. He's had trouble pulling it together lately, y'know? Either way, this god was a god of the forge, and looked upon his majestic world with great glee- but felt empty, as no being yet existed that could appreciate its splendor,other than him. Thus, he bent over this world, and formed all forms of life from his very flesh. All were present: humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, demons, halflings, gnomes, lizardmen, and so on. He watched these first emmisaries of life explore their new world with joy... Which then turned into exasperation when they died because he hadn't put in an atmosphere yet.
After putting in an atmosphere, this powerful god finished his great work (again), and for some strange reason, left. However, he left other deities in his stead: beings of grace and strength to guard and lead the beings of his creation. Unfortunately, most turned out to be jackasses, and their followers turned on the others. As the evil hordes spilled across the realm, all hope seemed lost. Just then, the magnificent god who created this grand realm came back!
Mortified by their actions, the great Unnamed God chastised his younger brothers and sisters, saying ,"What kind of crazy bollocks have you sods been up to!?" Bending down, he heard the terrible anguish of his people, begging him to help them. Thus, he took out his great hammer, and split off a small piece of his great world: the last remaining strip of resistance worshipping the good gods. He thus dubbed this land "Kalos." He then dubbed the other land, the evil one, "Hamartia." He then left once more, but first, he forged a great blade of immense power and grace- the only weapon in existence capable of slaying a god. He then waved in front of the assembled gods, stating, "Oh, want it, do ya? Well, too bad! I leave for FIVE MILLENIA, and you've already wrecked the place! I will encase it within a great crystal tomb, that will only open at a time of great magnitude, and when a hero pure of heart comes to take it for the forces of good." One of the assembled gods then stated, "Ah, sir? There aren't really any people quite THAT good. I mean, I'm a decent guy, I think, and even most of my followers are pillocks." The Unnamed God then sighed, and grumbled, "Alright, alright! Let's just make someone who won't go on a rampage, okay? We all happy? Good, let's do this." And so he did.
As time went on, the followers of the Dark(er) Gods on Hamartia, now known as the Fringe Lands on Kalos, butchered each other in foul rituals and overzealous warfare, while the people of Kalos prospered. Before long, though, the people of this blessed land began to long for their old world. The pined for its great oceans, its misty forests, and its grand mountains. As such, they began to research ways to travel through space, and developed a number of magic vessels to travel along the short distance between Hamartia and Kalos. Once there, these pioneers established kingdoms, and explored the land, opening footholds for the flood of adventurers to come.
This was 200 years ago, but danger remains. The valleys of the Fringe Lands brim with ancient evils, remaining sects of cultists attack those who practice the ways of Good, and as the greats drums of war beat, they summon the very dregs of society to fight in them- merciless cutthroats who care not for god or nation, but only about women and loot. In these days, adventurers strong of arm and brave of heart are worth their weight in gold... especially due to the rumors of the return of the Dark(er) Gods....
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? Responses (4)
Not bad. Will you be expanding on this setting a little more?
This actually doesnt seem very silly to me, at most a bit non-sequitor(A god calling his followers pillocks etc) I think most divine submissions get a little heavy with the shining white light, strong and silent types, martyrs and the gods on high all speaking in archaic Thou's and Shalts. I am left to assume that this is a rather strange setting, gods still play a major role in society, and there is a mode of space travel. I am curious about the tech level in general.
Alright, I probably SHOULD expand on the technological level of this whole area. Now, the technological advancement of the world can be safely separated into two overarching areas of influence: namely, Hamartia and Kalos. Before the evil gods and good gods got at each other's throats, Hamartia was a relatively advanced society, with primitive guns and magic. However, After Kalos split off, Hamartia's technological level nose-dived like crazy. Nowadays, most Fringe Land locals still consider stone huts a little hoighty-toighty and frivolous. However, to replace their long-lost technology, many of the local tribes have had their witch-doctors hone their arcane magics to the point of near-perfection over the years, making them a massive danger in a fight. Kalos, on the other hand, has had a true technological Renaissance since their split with Hamartia. The technology used to travel from one place to another is surprisingly simple: they take a heavy metal ship, like what you'd normally find on the ocean, place a number of mages aboard, cast a spell creating an oxygen bubble around the vessel, and.... Fire it out of a gigantic catapult into a small landing zone on the other side, using a mage to guide it in. They're still working the kinks out of the last bit. The regular technology on Kalos is fairly advanced, utilizing a mixture of Civil War-era technology, mixed with magic, steampunk tech, and a fairly common medieval flair. For example, a fairly common group of adventurer is the Pistolier Magi, or Pistol Mages- a specialized group of warriors who use pistol to increase spell effect by enchanting bullets (or even their guns) to have certain effects upon impact. Or, as another example, most kingdoms (except for the cemetary-state of Plutograd, which has outlawed machinery as it "insults the dead") employ groups of knights equipped with automated, steam-driven armor. Based on a special steam engine on their back and a number of magic-driven pistons in each limb (AND augmenting the engine), the armor, which can weigh in excess of 200 pounds in extreme cases, allows the user to enjoy almost impenetrable protection while still maintaining their mobility. Many nations have even managed to build primitive tanks and airships (for atmospheric use, but they're planning to eventually expand that knowledge to use in space). That's the basic idea of their technological abilities.
This has an interesting tone to it.