Campaign World Information

[brujon]

Sandbox, Medieval, Low-Mid Fantasy, Gothic, Magic is Witchcraft, Theological society, Non-Intervening God (Single), Humans are Xenophobic - Think 1000's Europe at the height of Christian power.

It's an evolving setting, which i'll be constructing along with the campaign. Starting area is more or less like England, physically, but more in line with Spain during the Inquisition, politically.


THE SETTING:

In a nutshell, it's our world, if magic existed in it. The places and locations remain the same. The game will be taking place in England, in the (fictional) kingdom of Astaria.

The government is a Monarchy, but in name only. The Church is the one that holds true power, having a monopoly on who gets to practice magic or not. They are divided in different sections:

Order of the Contemplative Mind: Psionic ability is seen as a gift from God, and most children who exhibit the Gift are taken to the various monasteries of the Order of the Contemplative Mind for training, where they can hone their skills as psions, wilders or psychic warriors. They also employ the services of Swordsages, combat monks that didn't have psionic ability, but wished to serve them as well, who are then trained mostly in the Diamond Mind and Setting Sun schools. They are the second most powerful organization, having people infiltrated deep into the government, as well as every section of the Church.

Order of the Sacred Scriptures: The most influential section, spearheaded by high-level Clerics and Archivists, they are the ones that hold the most sway. They control the various churches, and are tied closely with the Order of the Holy Knight Crusaders, who answers to them.

Order of the Divine Choir: An organization that is headed by bards, it is responsible for propaganda, as well as espionage and subterfuge. They don't have much influence themselves, but know enough that they are nearly untouchable. They make dealings with pirates, nobles and rich men from everywhere, and are the order least concerned about the true purpose of the scriptures, but, ironically enough, are the ones responsible for spreading the religion to everywhere.

Order of the Holy Knight Crusaders are the church's army, composed of crusaders, knights, psychic warriors, as well as combat inclined clerics, psions, and divine bards. Many aristocrat sons who couldn't make it to anywhere else in life are thrown in here, to be used by the church to hunt down infidels. They have the most members out of every order, and thus the most power, but different factions fighting from within prevent them from becoming more influent.

There's also secret orders within the church... Who you will have to find out during the game!

Other than the church, there's the Monarchic government, ruled by one King, with 10 different regions divided amongst several nobles of varying influence. The king's army is small and pitiful compared to the Church's army, and so the King decreed his army was to become support for the Church's army, and gave high-ranking bishops the power of generals.

Regions of Astaria:

They are much as they were many hundreds years ago. Particulars around each region will be developed in-game.

London

Bristol

Portsmouth

Northampton

Norwich

Nottingham

Birmingham

York

Manchester

Blackburn

The locations are on the same map as they are on the current modern day map of the UK. Use this map for reference: http://www.mapsofworld.com/united-kingdom/
There are no clear cut-and dry borders around the kingdom, as it is constantly warring against neighboring states.
The area between Plymouth and Portsmouth is populated by Celts – Elves, of druidic tradition, who hold their land through their mastery of the land, impeding the advance of any great army, and through the superior fighting prowess of it's beast-warriors.
The region of Wales is populated by Dwarves, who live in and around the Cambrian Mountains, which provide a natural terrain advantage and prevents them from being conquered by the much larger kingdom of Astaria.
North of York is home to many Saxon and Anglo-Saxon tribes, of varying tradition, that don't have a really concise government or rules. Some are employed as puppet states for Astaria, while others band together to fight the oppression of Astaria. Many Orcs, Half-Orcs and less savory breeds live here, warring for land and glory.
Ireland is an inhospitable and mysterious land, where few dare to enter. It is said to be the home of Fey and creatures of wild imagination.
Between Scotland and the Grampian mountains lives a different breed of Dwarf, less war-like and more erudite, and they are in good terms with the Halflings from the Scottish highlands.
The Scottish highlands are home for many of the Halflings, who try to leave peacefully. Provoked by any others, however, they are a fierce opponent, having many Sorcerers amongst them, as well as the fearless Halfling Outriders.
From France, many weird and different races and people enter England, and war with French states and governments is not uncommon.

THE PREMISE:

You are all criminals. Whatever crimes you have committed, or were accused of committing, got you arrested. They were something really bad, punishable with death in the kingdom of Astaria - treason, murder, arson, kidnapping, racketeering, piracy, repeated armed robbery, aggravated assault of a noble, drug dealing, blasphemy, witchcraft, heresy, prostitution... It may have been any of them, or more than one, coupled with more minor offenses, and it doesn't matter if you were innocent, you were judged, tried, convicted and executed. ON THE SPOT. And, no matter the innocence of the crime you were convicted of...

You were sinners.

Buried in a shallow mass grave, along with all the other recently convicted...

But it didn't end there. You all awoke screaming, naked, searing pain burning through your skin... Hot irons sizzling in your chest. Burning hellfire all around you... Thousands of others, all the same...

Was this hell?

You felt cold, and blacked out.

When you awoke again, you were in chains. Neck, hands and arms bound. The room was pitch black, and a grave, otherwordly voice said:

"BEHOLD, for i have brought you back from the fires of hell itself, and i will give you the opportunity to avenge your deaths."

[brujon]

THE INQUISITION:

As the Church grew in power, it also grew in influence. With all the different religious traditions living in the same limited region, however, how could it hope to keep people believing in the idea that there is only one true God, especially since He never speaks directly, and those who directly oppose and affront the tradition can perform similar miracles as them?

There was only one solution. From Rome, the decision passed down out to every church, to every Priest, to every member of the Choir, and to every Friar. There would be NO MORE TOLERANCE. There was to be a Purge. Not one single religion can be allowed presence in the regions controlled by the Church. Those suspected of practicing a different religion, those suspected of committing blasphemy, or even those who look like it, are to be taken into custody, and guilt is to be determined.

In practice, however, there is no fair trial, no fair judgement. Unimportant people are given nothing more than a painful death and a mass grave, while those of note are only given a mock trial, and are similarly executed or otherwise disposed of.

To every peasant and to every farmer in the land, a message was given: 1 sp for any information regarding sinners. And so, countless and countless masses were led right into the slaughter. Friends delivered friends unto the hands of Death believing to be doing the right thing, believing to be sending them unto God's way.

Bounties were placed on the heads of opposing religions, up to including a Noble title, and a 150gp Gold reward to anyone who made the arrest or execution of a real Sorcerer or Church Dissident. Veritable clans of capable bounty hunters rose to the challenge.

Revolt was quickly subdued, and Order was quickly reinstated. The streets were swiped clean of beggars, and every capable scoundrel and every heretic did their best to emigrate or otherwise hide under a stone somewhere.

For decades, now, the Inquisition has taken place, and at night, there isn't one town or hamlet where you don't see a Burning Stake, or a tree with hanging corpses.

And the Church continued with it's two-face charade, maintaining the façade of Charity, Love and Caring, while also conducting wanton Slaughter, Mayhem and Destruction - A big Rift exists within the Church, but no one is stupid enough to act out on their true beliefs, for fear of execution.

The King has given blank authority to Friars, Priests and Bishops, and they effectively now rule the kingdom's Judiciary system, while the King is suspected of being mind-controlled.

At the same time, warring with other states gives way to rising expenses, and the townsfolk are being unjustly taxed and overworked to the point of exhaustion. The situation is dire, and gloom, and as such, crime is a common offense. The punishment is nearly always death - but also the cutting off of limbs, torture, branding or other unsavory methods.

[FireInTheSky]