I’m here to tap (like a keg!) the collective creativity of this secret cabal of Pathfinder Illuminati to develop a Golarion of about 560 years after the Inner Sea World Guide. Thoughts, constructive criticism and scathing ridicule are all welcome.
The APs completed by the group over several campaigns (and presumed to have happened) are RoTR, CotCT, Second Darkness, Jade Regent, WoTR, Legacy of Fire, and Kingmaker in an in-game 40 year period from from the ISWG. Still in progress are Council of Thieves, Serpent Skull, and Shattered Star.
We’ve ignored other APs which may or may not have been completed, and we’re far out enough in the future that it shouldn’t matter. The group is moving to the 5th Edition Ruleset for the new campaign and are using an apocalyptic event from the completion of what we think of as the Prime Campaign (summaried below) to justify why things work differently.
PCs were at the heart of many of the major events which shaped the campaign setting I’m building for the group. I’ll break down the post with a section on the key behind the scenes conflict which drove much of Golarion’s history for context.
Then I have a run down on where I’m currently envisioning some inner sea nations are today and introduce what happened with some of the major antagonists and power players in the new world order, along with some of the key conflicts we’ll be embroiled in. I’m particularly interested in any added thoughts on how the world may look in the history I’m presenting, as well as to shamelessly steal as many plots and nifty ideas as I can swindle from you gentle forum goers.
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Golarion: The Secret History
In our metastory, the Far Realm exists and is locked away from reality. It is trying to unleash itself for reasons I have yet to disclose heh heh.
The denizens of that Far Realm pushed a tiny piece of the Realm itself into the Prime Material Plane. The piece would one day be known as the Starstone. When aboleth agents of the Far Realm cast it down into Golarion, the Starstone was slowly developing sentience.
Aroden retrieved the Starstone before it became fully aware and through its power, he ascended to demigodhood. The Starstone developed a form of awareness sufficient to complete its mission, to infiltrate pivotal universal powers to open the door between the Far Realm and reality. Rovagug had been the Far Realm’ key agent and was the catalyst needed for the Far Realm to invade reality, and it was necessary to infiltrate the gods to free him. To effect this agenda, the best of the best, those who embodied certain traits, were needed as templates. Hence the Starstone weeded out the unworthy who took the Test.
Those who reached the Stone were in for a rude surprise. Upon touching the Stone, duplicates of themselves would manifest, wholly subordinate to the Starstone but with the power of a demigod. The duplicates disposed of the originals who were murdered or struck powerless and locked away somewhere in the multiverse. Each of the Starstone gods after Aroden, Iomedae, Cayden Cailean, and Norgorber were and had always been duplicates, masquerading as the originals in order to amass divine power and free Rovagug. Moreover, Rovagug had been on the cusp of somehow achieving his objective when he was imprisoned so long ago and if he were freed, all of reality would be torn asunder shortly thereafter.
The PCs discovered this sinister truth in what they thought was their capstone adventure to take the Test of the Starstone, only to be ambushed at the finish line by Iomedae, Cayden and Norgorber (the duplicates). The PCs watched their duplicates emerge and the PCs were promptly defeated and cast through the planes, landing in the Midgard campaign setting. Along the way, our heroes discovered that Aroden was murdered for figuring out the truth of the Starstone and had been intercepted and murdered on his return to Golarion where he had intended to destroy or depower the Starstone.
Ultimately they heroes made a pact with Baba Yaga, the only being who from that setting who travelled to Golarion, and hitched a ride, where it turned out five centuries had passed and the world blithely worshiped their divine dopplegangers. They have a final showdown at the Starstone where they defeat their duplicates and the other Starstone deities (who in the presence of the Starstone were downgraded into fightable high Mythic enemies due as the Starstone absorbed their power divine power.)
The Starstone is completely destroyed and in an apocalyptic explosion, whipes out all of Absalom leaving a hole in the world where the island used to be. The heroes ascend to demigodhood and fade into the planes after absorbing the bulk of the power unleashed in the explosion. They assumed the roles of the deities they defeated. The world is ravaged by the residue similar to what occurred after Aroden's murder. The Starstone had fed on the divine power amassed by its creations and had nearly reached sufficient power to tear a hole into Rovagug’s prison to effect Rovagug’s escape. By the PCs intervention, reality was saved, for now.
As far as the world is concerned, few have even the slightest idea why the recent apocalypse occurred.
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Nations in Future Golarion:
The following is a list of a number of Inner Sea nations and their storylines. If a nation hasn’t been mentioned, I havent’ come up with a plan for it yet.
Taldor - Taldor had a major renewal after heroes ended a civil war following Grand Prince Stavian’s death. Eutropia gained the throne, breaking the Taldan version of Salic inheritance that had been in place for generations. Receiving the backing of a popular Taldan hero (later believed by the public to have ascended to godhood) did wonders for her rule, and her reforming efforts, which revitalized the ailing empire. The renewed Taldor spirit lasted a few short centuries and the empire is backsliding into effete habits. Five centuries later, Taldor made some efforts to relieve Varisia from New Thassilon but renewed hostilities from Qadira split Taldor’s forces and denied the world its only chance to avoid the rise of Runelords. The nation is suffering from major disruptions in trade in the Inner Sea.
Cheliax – Freed from Thrune and Asmo, by a PC lead civil insurrection, Cheliax eventually integrated back into Taldor through strategic royal marriage. Still some pocket devil aligned nobles out there but they keep it hidden. The big ‘A’ wasn’t thrilled by the loss.
Andoran – Still exists although not quite as revolutionary and much more cynical. Wary and somewhat subservient to the Taldor superpower. Largely failed in its mission to spread democracy everywhere but over time caused big decreases in regional slaveholding which is much less prevalent in that time period. Plays the game of international intrigue, hard.
Galt – Revolution crushed. The endless revolution was in part a product of a sinister artifact which heroes located and defused. The country never fully recovered and was eventually retaken by a revitalized Taldor. Out of embarrassment of its own bloody history, it is a model imperial citizen.
Isger – Taldan thrall, seeking independence but because of the disruption to the inner sea, its importance for trade has increased, leading to increased imperial oversight and troop commitment, but also increased wealth. They have a Sons of the Harpy thing going on with secret groups committing murders to disrupt trade and/or profit on Isger’s increased strategic importance. Conflicts with goblinoids have reached a fevered pitch, as they increased dramatically in number over the centuries but have taken massive losses fighting Taldan sponsored forces.
River Kingdoms & Brevoy – Integrated into “Auveranel” the Kingmaker Kingdom and ruled by a king related to a PC hero gods. Divine right of kings has made a big come back in the future. Something of a junior partner to Taldor but fairly autonomos because of a close connection to a Taldan hero god. This is the closest place to a “good” kingdom, in that the populace takes pride in its legendary founders and has some zest with a frontier spirit. However not all things are well in the halls of power….
Kyonin – Elvish population at an all time high. Treerazer was finally slain and the woods reclaimed over time. Sovyrian is all but destroyed by an unleashed evil that the elves were unable to contain. The Last Migration of the Elves led them to Kyonin. Certain heroes went out to Sovyrian to defeat the evil, but the elves permanently shut their elf gates after their departure. After the Last Migration of the Elves, they’re a more common site in Golarion, finally recognizing they don’t have many places to run to if their neighbors become hostile or somehow evil follows them from their homeworld.
Mendev – Hasn’t been a crusader state in centuries has grown, slowly, over the healing lands where the worldwound once stood. Other than that, no ideas on what to do with them.
Numeria – No clue. Haven’t read or run Iron Gods so presumably somewhat status quo.
Qadira – When Taldor got involved in distant Varisia, the Satrap of Qadira thought it was a splendid time ]to give Qadiran armed forces an extended sightseeing tour inside of Taldor’s borders. Qadira is largely unchanged and still hot on kicking Taldan booty. Or maybe it is only the heat of the sun.
Osirion – Fantasy Egypt. No ideas yet.
Katapesh – Still Katapesh. Busy supplying Nex and Geb in their conflict. I have some vague ideas that things should be going poorly for Katapesh considering the massive trade disruptions and the obstinance of their obscenely powerful wizard neighbors but haven’t quite worked that out yet. All ideas are welcome.
Inner Sea trade has been severely damaged by the destruction of Absalom and the giant hole in the world left by the Shattering of the Starstone. Massive storms destroy trade ships and the coasts had been ravaged by tidal waves, hurricanes, and other weather abberations. I’m all for ideas on how that has further destabilized the geopolitical makeup of the region. What few realize is that destruction of the Starstone punched another large hole into Rovagug’s prison, and he’s slowly been releasing kaiju spawn. There have been Godzilla like sightings by brave ships already. How long can it be before these creatures head to land? Moreover, just how bad is this breach into Rovagug’s prison?
Varisia – Once a modernizing land, the destruction of the Starstone precipitated the revival of the surviving runelords, Xanderghul, Alaznist, and Belimarius. (Karzoug, Zutha, Sorshen, and Krune had discovered and slain over the years.) Although initially at odds, Xanderghul, having much fewer rivals to worry about pressed Alaznist and Belimarius into service. Varisia became a warzone and Belimarius was put down by a PC archmage who made it through the five centuries as a lich, but was outmatched and finally destroyed by Xanderghul and Alaznist. Many survivors have fled Varisia which is now home to the emerging, monstruous New Thassilon.
Razmiran – Razmir was defeated by heroes long ago. His cult still exists but seemingly has less prominence. However, several important people are still secret cultists of Razmir. The actual state of the country is still in development although I don't think I want to fold it into Auveranel.
Ustalav - In development. Still want to keep it as the Ravenloft setting of Golarion so changes will probably be cosmetic, if any. Plots especially welcome for short campaigns. It definitely will go up in importance if Tar Baphon finally engineers his escape, or other major powers come recruiting.
Tian Xia, Casmaron, etc. – No plans for here yet but ideas for their influences or possible future history and involvement in the Inner Sea is welcome. I think the Padishah Empire of Kelesh should play a bigger role in the Inner Sea at this point, but haven’t thought of a compelling reason for them to get involved.
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Factions and Power Players
Pathfinder Society - Vanished. There was some internal break that happened centuries back and much of its lore and collected artifacts have disappeared, perhaps locked away for safekeeping. There are successor exploration organizations but none have managed to acquire the fame/infamy, or the level of power amassed by the Society of old. Just what exactly happened to the Pathfinder Society?
Tar Baphon – Imprisoned. Two thwarted escape attempts. If he ever gets out, Alaznist may learn a thing or two about wrath. Has no interest in being second fiddle to anyone.
Xanderghul – Not pleased he was sidelined through the entire opportunity to become a god. Who better than the runelord of pride, after all? No luck finding any shard of the Starstone, which has been one of his prime objectives other than rebuilding his empire. He is keeping Alaznist in line, for now, and has some ill-advised ideas on freeing Tar-Baphon in order to rebuild the runelords in his image. In his pride, he hasn’t given sufficient consideration that Tar-Baphon might be too powerful for him to control.
Alaznist – Wrathful. The only other surviving runelord. Looking to break away from Xanderghul at the first opportunity and to stick it to him. She’s also a bit miffed that the Oliphaunt of Jandelay was released and slain during her hibernation and is looking elsewhere to marshal enough power to secure independence. She has her own, separate ideas, about freeing Tar-Baphon because she needs more power to get away from Xanderghul and TB sounds just sufficiently powerful to her to be a useful pawn.
Nex – He’s back. We don’t know why or where he’s been. Nex had his own plans but Geb’s enthusiasm has been quite distracting.
Geb – Seemingly dispersed by heroes centuries ago, the reports of his demise had been greatly overstated. He’s been around and is secretly overjoyed to get another crack at Nex and promptly resumed his ancient feud. The full extent of the feud’s impact on the region has not yet been developed.
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Campaign Themes:
Trade Disrupted - Imagine if half of the Mediterranean was impassible during the Renaissance. With the destruction of Absalom and the hole in the world, along with the storm surrounding the region, nearly the entirety of that central location of the Inner Sea has been cut off from sea trade. The standard of living has surely dropped, and land routes have become more important than ever. How has this impacted the geopolitical landscape of the Inner Sea?
New Thassilon – A dangerous new empire is emerging, populated by humanoids and oppressed humans and demihumans in Varisia. The two surviving runelords have emerged from inactivity with a rapaciousness and ferocity that exceeded their first turn at empire building, and their presence heralds the unsealing of other great powers. Internal dissension is a much bigger issue here than with Nex and Geb. Can anyone stop the rise of the last runelords?
Wizardwar – Nex is back and it is throwdown time between Geb and Nex once more. Strange beings, creatures, and magic begin cropping up across the Inner Sea as a product of the renewed struggle.
Reversal of Fortunes: Taldor is poised to break up into smaller kingdoms once more with the right push.
The Missing Pathfinders - What was the Pathfinder Society really about? And where may they be hiding some of their powerful artifacts and relics that may change the balance of power across the Inner Sea?
Lost Gods – Iomedae, Norgorber, and Cayden Cailiean are dead. No mortal knows how or why. The hero gods (PCs) have replaced their divine duplicates so as far as the mortal world is concerned, nothing happened to them. Religious strife and crises of faith at the seeming mortality of deities plagues the world.
You Don’t Realize What You Have Until You Lose It- The big Asmo D
wants a foothold on Golarion for his own inscrutable agenda after losing Cheliax.
It's The End Of the World As We Know It – There is a new hole in Rovagug's prison which may be the most porous yet. With some effort, the Rough Beast may finally have his way back into the world. Moreover, there is a new central location to spew Kaiju out to terrorize the Inner Sea. I for one look forward to Godzilla meets Oppara. If the Rough Beast gets free, the end of everything won’t be far off.
