Plot Summary:
The prime material plane of Vaylen and its associated multiverse are the culmination of homebrew settings some friends and I have been building for years. It is a dynamic world filled with plenty of political intrigue, magic, competing factions, extraplanar threats, cultural growth, epic landscapes, exploration and adventure. At present, city-states established in the aftermath of the Dragon Wars post perched on the precipice of war, accusing one another of international machinations and arms hoarding. All the while, organizations – legal and criminal – influence events and decisions locally and internationally, and the few remnants of the dragons and their supporters seek to rise to their former glory. The ever present philosophical struggle between the arcane and divine paradigms of answers to the age old questions “what is truth?” and “what is power” underlie the entire setting as native beings and outsiders from the whole spectrum attempt to circumvent the planar seal. Welcome to Vaylen.
Campaign Info “Brief” History/Current Events:
The Dragons, semi-celestial scions of the god of magic, awoke when Tovol, the first Wizard-Emperor, unknowingly ruptured the multiverse in his quest for enlightenment and incidentally began the Planar Wars. Armed with the powerful augmenting Nethylus, the Dragons erupted from the Isle of Roanuk to valiantly defend mortality as denizens of myriad planes –newly aware of each other’s existence- descended upon one another to rape and pillage resources and power; this was their charge. The war ended with the creation of the Planar Seal by a fellowship of mortals, deities and outsiders of all alignments in a desperate, pragmatic attempt to prevent the utter destruction of the fabric upon which existence lay. This Seal, largely metaphysical in nature, separated the planes once again; made planar travel without summoning difficult enough to prevent the free transit that was characteristic of the war; and healed the rupture in a place that on the ‘prime’ plane of Valen would come to be called the Tovolscar.
In the aftermath, the Dragons, now awakened without guidance from their creating deity (for the god of magic – Nethys – had been punished for his inadvertent gifting of arcane magic to mortals), began to lust for power as a method to fulfill their charge due to their semi-mortal nature that separated them from the purity of traditional celestials. Those of their number who viewed mortals as weak began to subjugate the very races they were meant to protect, establishing cruel draconic empires across the known plane. Mortals were completely incapable of withstanding the divine might granted to the draconic races through the Nethylus, and so their kingdoms fell. They became little better than slaves to their dragon masters, their very existence considered simply for the potential for experimentation or exploitation of magical talent. Those few talented enough, particularly in the arcane arts, became thralls of their dragon masters, blessed with greater freedoms and power but seen as traitors.
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Over time, rebellion began all across Vaylen, though destruction was the inevitable fate to those mortals either brave or foolish enough to fight for their freedom. It was the extraordinarily gifted thrall named Sollomon Naar that would liberate the mortals of Vaylen. A trusted advisor to the Dragon Emperor Alanath the Artificer, Naar had been given access to a grand artifact of war: the Tower of Alanath. It had been engineered by the Elder Dragon as a deterrent to other dragon emperors, or those dragons who still fought to defend mortals, from waging war against him; the tower itself was capable of annihilating enormous areas completely. For the salvation of mortals, Naar committed perhaps the greatest betrayal in history and used the Tower of Alanath to devastate the Isle of Roanuk and destroy the power source of the Dragons, putting them on an equal playing field.
One by one, the oppressive Dragon Empires fell. Independent city-states rose in their wake, each with their own claim to authority, and most ruled by mages in some fashion, as magic had proved in the previous global conflicts to be the deciding factor of power.
Aeonar:
The first would be Aeonar, the Eternal City; ruled by the Wizard-King Aeomon (formally Sollomon Naar), Aeonar is the greatest international superpower as a result of its prime location cut into the enchanted mountains that make up the border to the impenetrable Tovolascar. This grants Aeonar endless access to powerful resources for crafting of all kinds; coupled with the discovery of the Aeonstone within the mountain and its ability to transform certain types of stone to mana storing crystals, this makes Aeonar the world leader in magical artifacts, arms, armor, and techmaturgy.
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Valan, the Fount of Knowledge, is an international superpower in its own right. It is run exclusively by a council of mages, some appointed and some elected, and is the host of Academy City and the Librarian’s Guild. This makes Valan the foremost authority on magical theory, spells, spellbooks, and magical history. Valan’s centralized location allows for ease of trade between most nations, and travel through it or its territory is generally necessary to move from one city-state to another, solidifying its place as an international power. Due to a major near-cataclysmic event in Valan, teleportation within and through it and its territory is greatly limited. Valan exists within the walls of the major hub of the previous empire established by the dragon emperor Valerox; these walls were rebuilt upon Valan’s establishment. The high population of true mages within Valan has caused it to become a hot-bed for major crime syndicates dealing largely in the trade of mana potions - created through the use of a combination of mana crystals and arcane blood – which have been outlawed by virtually all nations due to their addictive and dangerous corruptive potential within the general populous. Many of these syndicates, minor and major, also deal in a variety of other goods, including black market mana crystals, drugs, dragon skins, scales, teeth, and eggs. It has been said that interface with the criminal world is a major source of corruption within the Valanic government.
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The Republic of Rayne is yet another major superpower within the world of Vaylen. It boasts no particular claim to authority, but arose as a melting pot of fractured cultures and peoples in the aftermath of the Dragon Wars. As such, Rayne is, both in population and square mileage, the largest city-state. It has a strong foothold in all fields, expressing mastery of none. It is also one of the few nations in which leadership is not restricted to mages of some kind. Rayne contains the largest number of private and free enterprises, including a variety of renowned specialty schools in a plethora of subjects. Within the government of Rayne, as a direct of its more free nature, the corruption of external organizations runs deeper than anywhere else. Access to mana potions competes with Valan simply because of the larger population, and its location directly under the Blightlands (promoting vampirism).
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The City of Dusk, Caer, is a nation shrouded in mystery. The time of day within Caer flows differently than the rest of Vaylen, and it is believed that parts of the city spontaneously shift into the adjacent planes. The city-state is ruled by an even more mysterious monarch, known only as the Whispering Queen.
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Drakomaar, further removed from the international politics of Vaylen exists deep within the Wildwood. It is a smaller city-state consisting of even smaller triplet cities that borders the Sea of Roanuk. The waters, enchanted with the arcane remnants of the Nethylus and the blood of dragons, give Drakomaar agriculture and alchemy that is unparalleled. It is ruled by a triumvirate of mages.
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Eralan and Erasmus are the remaining major city-states, and both are theocracies of some sort. Eralan, much milder in its ruling and culture, is ruled by twin monarchs and two councils: one secular and one religious. Similar to Rayne, it is a melting pot of fractured cultures. Relations with the nations of the world are largely good, and all are welcome within Eralan’s borders. In contrast, Erasmus is much more militarized in its theocratic methods. It is ruled by a religious high council and a single divine primarch. Within Erasmus, practitioners of the arcane must be registered by law, and any spellcasting beyond minor cantrips must be filed. Within the divine central area of Erasmus, arcane magic is prohibited, and violators are executed without prejudice. Culturally, Erasmus holds onto the major belief of divine practitioners during the time of the Tovolier imperium that arcane magic itself was not only an unintentional, but inherently evil. As a result, Erasmus is also home to a variety of anti-mage terrorist organizations and independent mercenary “witch” hunters.
All nations are plagued with the ever-present threat of dragon cultists who seek to return the dragons to their former glory. Presently, Aeonar is being accused of amassing grand magical artifacts of war and supplying cheaper mana crystals and resources to Rayne to support their colonization campaign. Rayne, in response to the perceived potential threat of Aeonar and Valan, began a colonization campaign on a collection of independent tribes in a region known as the Vax in order to take advantage of its high incidence of warlockery as a potential military edge. Valan is being accused of amassing devastating spells for the purposes of war as well.
Magic:
The only difference between arcane and divine magic is arcane magic is self-derived, and the ability to use magic in the first place for divine casters is granted by their deity for devoted worship. This causes a distinct occurrence in which many arcane casters are not religious; this is not because they deny the existence of any deities. This would be foolish. Instead, they reject the paradigm of divinity that suggests that one must be given the tools to change the reality around them by one far greater than himself and/or undergo subjugation simply to gain arbitrary favor.
There are three major arcane magiforms, all of them are flavor related only in terms of spells cast with the exception of the warlock:
Wizardry:
Wizardry – As discussed, magic is not simply unknown, ungoverned power over one’s reality. Instead it is a philosophy and way of life. It is also a science; one with nuances, rules and laws that govern its existence. It is these laws that the wizard seeks to not only comprehend, but master through years of rigorous study. For a spell to be cast, mana must be transferred from the soul to the relevant plane of existence. Every detail of this transfer is known to the wizard, and it can be seen in the arcane imprint that occurs around the transfer conduit the wizard uses to cast his spell in the form of highly organized arcane energy lines. Wizards are often confused with rune mages depending on how ordered their arcane imprint is.
Sorcery – Magic can be mastered through intense study and dedication. For a rare few, the arcane gift is one that requires little scholarly cultivation. It is largely innate. The sorcerer is blessed with an ease of transfer naturally, granting him the ability to manipulate mana without the intricate knowledge many wizards need before they are capable of safely and successfully casting their first spell. Their arcane imprint is far less controlled and ordered than the wizard, manifesting in simple unordered wisps, lines or curves, or completely unnoticeable as they blend perfectly with the spell of choice.
'Warlockery' – Warlocks, the third magiform, perhaps have the strongest innate ability to manipulate mana out of the three. So strong is their natural talent, that they are incapable of controlling the transfer to the degree of their arcane cousins. Instead, the warlock produces an energy type exclusive to his magiform: Arcana. Largely unstable, it is the direct transfer of mana into its material energy form on any given plane. Mana flows forth from the warlock in this form, and while he may adjust the effects of his arcana by subtly manipulating his mana as it transfers, it is the ability that most warlocks will ever conjure. The arcane imprint of a warlock is exclusively arcana related, and almost impossible to see amidst the chaos of his spells.
Religion:
Established deities and religions exist, many of them similar to those of Golarion. Death works markedly differently in this multiverse, however: it is a plane in it of itself that all souls travel through to reach their final destination. One can be present in death physically or metaphysically depending on how they were sent there. If you have any questions on deities, death or outsiders, just ask.
