An unusual world - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

An unusual world

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
atomicdragon
May 27, 2009 11:18:27 Have a rough idea for a setting, but it needs fleshing out.
The usual rules apply

1. You can only post two ideas per post. You can add to anything, the geography, the gods, the nations, the monsters, it is a world we all share.
2. The ideas must be well thought out, yet light enough for others to add to it later. So no complete world history, but events, stories and ages are up for grabs.
3. All ideas are final, Everything is Canon once posted.

The world is a flat plane filled with negative energy. A single source of immense positive energy exists, and anyone approaching it is overwhelmed and explodes. Life and civilization exist in an immense ring where the positive and negative energies balance out, with the inner edge being more vital and the outer edge being more dreary.
#2
mostly_ghostly
May 27, 2009 12:34:05 Night and Day are caused by the constant tension of the Negative and Positive energy bands: when the Negative shifts a bit closer, it is night, and when the Positive pushes back, it is day.

Once in a while, a person will be desperate or foolish enough to risk a resurrection. When a family member or close friend dies, if their body is taken to the Outlands and bathed in the blinding light there for a full day, they will arise reborn. Not all return from this ordeal, and some who do bear little resemblance to their former selves. These glassy-eyed people do not fight, do not dance, do not even speak. Their minds and souls have been burned from them, and so it is that they are called The Scorched.
#3
Voltaggia
May 27, 2009 12:43:49 The undead in the world are divided into two castes, and those castes into seven families. The castes are Higher Undead, who are self-aware and intelligent. There are only three families among the Higher Undead caste - Liches, Vampires and Necromancers. The Lower Undead, who are used by Higher Caste, are Skeletons, Zombies, Spirits and Beasts of Flesh. The families of Higher Undead constantly fight among themselves for power.

There are two main pantheons that are worshipped - Pantheon of Kaath, and Pantheon of Anor. The followers constantly fight each other, although both Pantheons are composed of Lawful Good aligned gods.
#4
sigil_beguiler
May 27, 2009 12:51:17 The edges of the ring are wastelands of garbage and people. As civilization and the population grows the amount of space taken up by the cities becomes larger and larger. Waste and the poor are pushed closer and closer to the borders of the ring as the cities slowly encroach on each other. The Scorched are a common sight amongst the poor thanks to this.

Arcanist and technicians continue their efforts to explore beyond the ring. Suits encased in fields of the opposite energy (or equally outfitted Warforged) allow these explorers to delve deeper into this flat plain. Their life line being the thinnest of barriers only kept powered by a chord running to similarly equipped airships slowly drifting above. A single moment of weakness in the field could spell disaster for the explorer.
#5
leowulf
May 27, 2009 23:39:56 Kaath and Anor are progenitor gods who dwell in the positive zone with their offspring. Some of those offspring drifted to far from the light - that is, too close to the darkness, being lured by the dark side of the force - and were turned into the very many shadow gods, known as demons. They created the undead races, like their good-god siblings created the humanoid races.

The battle between the Kaathites and the Anorites is actually fueled by the shadow gods, using everything from economic disparities to racial tensions to sow discord and distrust between the followers of each. The shadow gods know that they can't defeat their siblings directly, so they use the weaknesses and fears of the humanoid tribes to make them fight against each other.
#6
aaronellery
May 28, 2009 10:21:21 One of the reasons the shadow gods foster discord between the the Kaathites and the Anorites is to open up a possibility which has been denied them: When the shadow gods were first created, they managed to weaken the Source and thereby shrink the habitable ring. Since then, one of the only things Kaath and Anor can agree on is protecting the Source from further incursions of that type.

This is also one of the factors fostering exploration into the negative zone. When the ring shrunk, it was the outer edge which contracted, comprising a large percentage of the livable area. Within that zone lie the remains of ancient cities and wildernesses which were destroyed in one fateful day.
#7
leowulf
Jun 22, 2009 0:42:55 *attempting to resurrect a nice thread that died too soon, hoping it doesn't come back Scorched*

The ring has at least two known shadows of itself; one of greater light called the Feyring and one of less light called the Shadowring. The two rings are the same size as the main ring, only the light is brighter in the Feyring and dimmer in the Shadowring. Exploration has taken people from this ring to the other rings and vice-versa, leading to friendly and not-so-friendly contact between races.

The darkness beyond the Source originates in a Dark Source, called by some the Abyss, said by others to live in the Abyss. Also, there are realms beyond the Ring that are lit and inhabited. Not Points of Light so much as Elemental Realms, where strange beings exist who are made of elemental energy. One of the most famous of these is the fabled City of Brass. Travel to these Elemental Realms is generally possible only by teleportation.
#8
sigil_beguiler
Jun 24, 2009 3:12:42 Some believe the Positive and Negative Energy has grown and become Self-Aware. This awareness seems distant and unconnected to both the Source and any deities or beings forged within or helped to forge the Energies. As of now the intelligence appears weak and animal-like, reacting off such concepts as fear, humour and so forth.

In recent years the amount of people drawn too either the Positive or Negative has grown. It is unknown whether it is through coercion (such as threats and such from the criminal underground), some mental condition or something else. Guards have walls have proved unsuccessful in stopping these mindless, lonely marches into their doom. A fringe group believes the intelligence residing within the Energies is consuming and growing more intelligent from the minds of those that enter.
#9
turtlshellz
Jun 24, 2009 4:04:50 In myths that are now half forgotten by the people it is said that the ring was once... different. It was a sphere with large bodies of water called Ocean and Sea and Lake, land that was called Island and Continent. Trees, flowers and plants of all descriptions, many now absent from the ring, grew in abundance here and people walked under a glowing orb called the sun. Something called stars shown down on the world at night. at this time the world was shaped like an orb. These concepts are now almost so alien to those livig on the ring as to be nearly inconcievable. However something horrible happened to that paradise and the current existence was formed. No one now remembers what this was but to this day a distrust, fear and loathing of Warlocks is nearly inbred into almost all societies. Scholars wonder at these myths: they are to widespread to be ignored completely but no one has any answers to what happened. Why is it that none of the current civilizations can remember what happened? And why is the fear of warlocks so closely tied to these myths?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 atomicdragon May 27, 2009 11:18:27	Have a rough idea for a setting, but it needs fleshing out. The usual rules apply 1. You can only post two ideas per post. You can add to anything, the geography, the gods, the nations, the monsters, it is a world we all share. 2. The ideas must be well thought out, yet light enough for others to add to it later. So no complete world history, but events, stories and ages are up for grabs. 3. All ideas are final, Everything is Canon once posted. The world is a flat plane filled with negative energy. A single source of immense positive energy exists, and anyone approaching it is overwhelmed and explodes. Life and civilization exist in an immense ring where the positive and negative energies balance out, with the inner edge being more vital and the outer edge being more dreary.
#2 mostly_ghostly May 27, 2009 12:34:05	Night and Day are caused by the constant tension of the Negative and Positive energy bands: when the Negative shifts a bit closer, it is night, and when the Positive pushes back, it is day. Once in a while, a person will be desperate or foolish enough to risk a resurrection. When a family member or close friend dies, if their body is taken to the Outlands and bathed in the blinding light there for a full day, they will arise reborn. Not all return from this ordeal, and some who do bear little resemblance to their former selves. These glassy-eyed people do not fight, do not dance, do not even speak. Their minds and souls have been burned from them, and so it is that they are called The Scorched.
#3 Voltaggia May 27, 2009 12:43:49	The undead in the world are divided into two castes, and those castes into seven families. The castes are Higher Undead, who are self-aware and intelligent. There are only three families among the Higher Undead caste - Liches, Vampires and Necromancers. The Lower Undead, who are used by Higher Caste, are Skeletons, Zombies, Spirits and Beasts of Flesh. The families of Higher Undead constantly fight among themselves for power. There are two main pantheons that are worshipped - Pantheon of Kaath, and Pantheon of Anor. The followers constantly fight each other, although both Pantheons are composed of Lawful Good aligned gods.
#4 sigil_beguiler May 27, 2009 12:51:17	The edges of the ring are wastelands of garbage and people. As civilization and the population grows the amount of space taken up by the cities becomes larger and larger. Waste and the poor are pushed closer and closer to the borders of the ring as the cities slowly encroach on each other. The Scorched are a common sight amongst the poor thanks to this. Arcanist and technicians continue their efforts to explore beyond the ring. Suits encased in fields of the opposite energy (or equally outfitted Warforged) allow these explorers to delve deeper into this flat plain. Their life line being the thinnest of barriers only kept powered by a chord running to similarly equipped airships slowly drifting above. A single moment of weakness in the field could spell disaster for the explorer.
#5 leowulf May 27, 2009 23:39:56	Kaath and Anor are progenitor gods who dwell in the positive zone with their offspring. Some of those offspring drifted to far from the light - that is, too close to the darkness, being lured by the dark side of the force - and were turned into the very many shadow gods, known as demons. They created the undead races, like their good-god siblings created the humanoid races. The battle between the Kaathites and the Anorites is actually fueled by the shadow gods, using everything from economic disparities to racial tensions to sow discord and distrust between the followers of each. The shadow gods know that they can't defeat their siblings directly, so they use the weaknesses and fears of the humanoid tribes to make them fight against each other.
#6 aaronellery May 28, 2009 10:21:21	One of the reasons the shadow gods foster discord between the the Kaathites and the Anorites is to open up a possibility which has been denied them: When the shadow gods were first created, they managed to weaken the Source and thereby shrink the habitable ring. Since then, one of the only things Kaath and Anor can agree on is protecting the Source from further incursions of that type. This is also one of the factors fostering exploration into the negative zone. When the ring shrunk, it was the outer edge which contracted, comprising a large percentage of the livable area. Within that zone lie the remains of ancient cities and wildernesses which were destroyed in one fateful day.
#7 leowulf Jun 22, 2009 0:42:55	attempting to resurrect a nice thread that died too soon, hoping it doesn't come back Scorched The ring has at least two known shadows of itself; one of greater light called the Feyring and one of less light called the Shadowring. The two rings are the same size as the main ring, only the light is brighter in the Feyring and dimmer in the Shadowring. Exploration has taken people from this ring to the other rings and vice-versa, leading to friendly and not-so-friendly contact between races. The darkness beyond the Source originates in a Dark Source, called by some the Abyss, said by others to live in the Abyss. Also, there are realms beyond the Ring that are lit and inhabited. Not Points of Light so much as Elemental Realms, where strange beings exist who are made of elemental energy. One of the most famous of these is the fabled City of Brass. Travel to these Elemental Realms is generally possible only by teleportation.
#8 sigil_beguiler Jun 24, 2009 3:12:42	Some believe the Positive and Negative Energy has grown and become Self-Aware. This awareness seems distant and unconnected to both the Source and any deities or beings forged within or helped to forge the Energies. As of now the intelligence appears weak and animal-like, reacting off such concepts as fear, humour and so forth. In recent years the amount of people drawn too either the Positive or Negative has grown. It is unknown whether it is through coercion (such as threats and such from the criminal underground), some mental condition or something else. Guards have walls have proved unsuccessful in stopping these mindless, lonely marches into their doom. A fringe group believes the intelligence residing within the Energies is consuming and growing more intelligent from the minds of those that enter.
#9 turtlshellz Jun 24, 2009 4:04:50	In myths that are now half forgotten by the people it is said that the ring was once... different. It was a sphere with large bodies of water called Ocean and Sea and Lake, land that was called Island and Continent. Trees, flowers and plants of all descriptions, many now absent from the ring, grew in abundance here and people walked under a glowing orb called the sun. Something called stars shown down on the world at night. at this time the world was shaped like an orb. These concepts are now almost so alien to those livig on the ring as to be nearly inconcievable. However something horrible happened to that paradise and the current existence was formed. No one now remembers what this was but to this day a distrust, fear and loathing of Warlocks is nearly inbred into almost all societies. Scholars wonder at these myths: they are to widespread to be ignored completely but no one has any answers to what happened. Why is it that none of the current civilizations can remember what happened? And why is the fear of warlocks so closely tied to these myths?