==== Characters ====
==== =Ability Score options= ====
* Standard set (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8)
* Point-based purchase (8-15)
* Roll dice and live with the consequences
==== =Races= ====
* No Dragonborn, Tieflings, or Drow
* Non-human races must choose:
** Did you come from one of your racial homelands?
** Did you live among the humans?
* Human (and those who lived among them) must choose:
** Backbone
** Lowland
** Other
* Half-Orcs: Your mother was probably a rape victim
==== =Classes= ====
* Cleric/Paladin
** Backbone = Egyptian deities (p.299)
** Lowland = Greek deities (p.298)
** Resh= Sumerian deities (dead; not an option)
** Celtic and Norse also options
* Druid: Grove relocated to Spindrift during wars
* Fighter: Did you serve someone? Where are they now?
* Ranger: Orc hunter during resettlement?
* Wizard: How did the magic change affect you (17 years ago)
* Acolyte – see Cleric note from earlier
* Noble – choose which royal family affiliation
** Backbone: Pre-war Ruling family (King ScardoreVI, deceased)
** Backbone: Non-ruling noble families
** Lowland: Coalition of powerful families (Senators)
** Many other options available (including non-human)
* Outlander – see me for details
* Sage – member of the Guild of Arcane Lore (aka “Wizards’ Guild”)
* Soldier – from Backbone or Lowland?
** Both sides loved and hated by different segments of society
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==== The Human Kingdoms before the Wars ====
* Resh
** Sumerian gods
** Isolationist
* Lowland
** Greek gods
** Inferiority complex
* Backbone
** Egyptian gods
** Prosperous
* The King’s Island
** Part of Backbone
** Katrina

==== The Non-Human Kingdoms before the Wars ====
* Blanan (Dwarves)
** (turned to stone)
* Riprap (Gnomes)
** (scattered)
* Pleven (High Elves)
** (disappeared)
* Ringhals (Halflings)
** (scattered)
* Wisewood (Wood Elves)
** (scattered)
* Druid’s Grove
** (relocated)

==== Recent History ====
==== =“The Wars”= ====
* 1090 (35 years ago) –The First Orc War (Backbone wins)
* 1091 (34) –Lowland invades the weakened Backbone (and loses)
* 1092 (33) –The Second Orc War (Lowland collapses)
* 1093 (32) –The Third Orc War (vs. The Elves)
* 1093 (32) –The Storm Cloud appears over Lowland (Pelham’s doing)
* 1095 (30) –The Dark Mage is “reborn”
* 1098 (27) –The Storm Cloud expands over Backbone
* 1098 (27) –The Fourth Orc War (Backbone loses)
* 1099 (26) –The Orcs overrun Pleven (The Elves disappear)
==== =“The Dark Years”= ====
* 1104 (21 years ago) –Everyone in Resh is killed instantly!
** Due to their isolationism, very few of them survive to this day
** Hidden truth: Cthulhu (aka “The Godslayer”) and his cultists responsible
* 1104 (21) –“The Chosen” heroes emerge to begin saving the world
** Sorgul and Ozzie known to many, but others (NPCs) more famous
** Rathwyn is the local hero (critics say her role exaggerated)
* 1105 (20) –Storm Cloud disabled; retreats to Lowland
** Dark Mage and his army defeated in the ruins of Resh
** Storm Cloud fades over Lowland; Reappears over Resh
==== ="Rebuilding civilization"= ====
* 1105 (20) –Rathwyn begins the resettlement of Backbone
** Katrina helps on The King’s Island
* 1108 (17) –The Magic Changes!
** Voyager campaign begins
* 1109 (16) –Kevin Arcana opens the portals
** After a no-holds-barred feud/battle with Sethar (council wizard)
* 1111 (14) –The “V2” campaign begins (in Rota)
** Hidden knowledge: The Demon King of Pain is Kevin Arcana’s power source
* 1119 (6) –The “V3” campaign begins (in Mosai)
** Hidden knowledge: A lurking extra-planar evil was prevented from taking over Mosai

==== The State of the World ====
==== =Lowland and West= ====
* Lowland is a ruins
** Orcs and undead plague the capital city
** Pelham actively prevents resettlement of surrounding lands
* Pleven, Elflandis a ruins
** Orcs abandoned it immediately after “winning” the war
* Wisewood resettled
** Orcs don’t much like the elven woods
* Wood Elves have sealed the woods and ruthlessly defend it
** Halflings and other non-human refugees live within
* Orc kingdom east of Pleven
** Without people to raid, Orcs have forced to become “civilized”
==== =Backbone= ====
* Resettlement continues
** Lowland refugees intermixed with Backbone residents
** Lowlanders typically live outside city walls (segregated society)
* Cities are effectively independent
** Rathwyn rules via “Trio of Might” artifacts, but almost never uses them
*** Land ownership was completely shuffled, pitting old money against new
** Only Edric (formerly Backbone city) and Hookridge are “safe” cities
*** Portal lies midway between the two cities
** Marsvan is the “wild west” with lawlessness and frequent Orc raids
** Bearly (in mountains) is a civilization “pocket”
*** Has a portal, so trade with Edric and the rest of the world brisk
*** Is protected (claimed?) by the Dwarves from Blanan
* Dozens of towns and villages are struggling to rebuild and survive