The Shattered Mind

[archmagi1]

This will be a campaign setting brainstorming thread for a distant future game idea.

Premise
The world of Nai is 10 years out from a great cataclysm known as the Shattering. On the fourth day of the fifth month of the year, as the sun flew high above the Seraph mountains, every arcane caster on the planet exploded. Arcane writings began disappearing on the pages they were scribed on. Magic items started withering away to dust. The Holy Patron of Magic, Parallax, quickly traveled to Nai, and thrust his hand into the planet, saving the world from unraveling, but by doing so, the god sacrificed his own existence. Arcane magic was gone forever, and its god along with it.

A decade has passed, and the void left by arcane magic was quickly filled by divine magic and psionics. Kingdoms were quickly overthrown as a dozen theocracies rose within a year. The Mind Mages quickly fell upon the deserted wizard academies, salvaging what was left into great enclaves of psionics. It would be four years before the planet would know a small semblance of peace.

Nai
Nai is a planet ~40% the size of Earth, with a 150 day orbit around its star Melochious. It has one supercontinent, Reru, and a number of island and archipelago nations. Approx 35% of the planet is water. Predominant climate is temperate, with equatorial rain forests and deserts. Mountainous regions occupy 30% of the land mass, 60% lowlands, and the remaining 10% being desert or tundra. Nai has two moons, Teus and Xani in near orbits to each other. Nai's solar system was created by the titan Al-Garba (Fey) as one of it Fey-centric star systems.

Races
Uncommon
Gnome: The second eldest race and ancestor race to Dwarves and Orcs. ~10% of world population.
Elves: The eldest race and ancestor race to humans and halflings. ~5% of world population
Planetouched: Aasimar, teiflings, undines, ifrits, oreads, and sylph are present due to high concentration of low level outsiders. 5% of world population.
Half-Orc: Bastard race deriving from cross ancestor relations (aka, dwarf + halfling = half orc. Elf + gnome = half orc). <5% of world population.
Other races: <5% of world population.

Common
Humans: 30% of world population.
Halflings: 20% of world population.
Orcs: 10% of world population.
Xeph: 10% of world population.
Dwarves: Less populous than gnomes, but their long lives and social tendencies keep them around enough to be considered common. 5% of world population.

Missing
Half elf: Elves cannot breed with anything inside the elf "ancestor tree" other than an elf. Any cross breeding with the gnome tree results in a half orc.
Elan: The secrets of Elan are lost on this world.
Maenad: The scarcity of water larger than a lake or small sea has kept this race from ever developing on Nai.

[archmagi1]

Religion

Major Gods
The Holy Patron, Parallax (LG) (dead) - Portfolio: Arcane Magic, Artifacts, Protection; Domains (unavailable): Magic, Protection, Rune. Patron of Arcane Magic who sacrificed himself 10 years ago to save the planet.
--Holy Symbol: A silver ring on a black field
--Dogma: Magic is the solution to all problems. Use it responsibly to better yourself and Nai as a whole.

Mother of Reru, Shanti (N) - Portfolio: Wildlands, Mountains, Rivers; Domains: Animal, Earth, Travel. Spirit of the planet, often personified by the Super continent Reru.
--Holy Symbol: A small bird on a green field
--Dogma: Shanti has no set dogma and is worshipped differently by every follower.

The Gray Lady, Fastur (NG) - Portfolio: Funerals, Doctors, Artisans; Domains: Healing, Repose, Artifice. Goddess of the dying.
--Holy Symbol: A gray flower on a blue field.
--Dogma: Suffer not those who defile the dead or dying. Heal those who have not yet made it to Fastur's embrace.

Brother Beggar, Maxtra (CN) - Portfolio: Thievery, Pranks, Adventure; Domains: Trickery, Liberation, Charm. God of the outcasts and poor.
--Holy Symbol: A gold coin on a white field.
--Dogma: Don't take life seriously.

The Black Fire, Elu (CE) - Portfolio: Arson, Murder, Lust. Domains: Fire, Evil, Madness. The flame that consumes all it sees.
--Holy Symbol: A red flame on a black field.
--Dogma: All must be cleansed in Elu's flames.

Minor Gods
Melochious (LN) - Portfolio: The Sun. Domains: Sun, Glory, Air
Portus (CG) - Portfolio: Combat. Domains: War, Strength, Destruction.
Vegari (LE) - Portfolio: Tyranny. Domains: Law, Darkness, Earth
Wa (N) - Portfolio: Death. Domains: Knowledge, Death, Weather
Corpa (NG) - Portfolio: Psionics. Domain: Luck

[archmagi1]

Faction: The Church of Lost Hope

The Church of Lost Hope - FKA The Grand Congregation of Parallax
Headquarters: Bastion of the Arcane, Fel Region
Leadership: High Oracle Faustus Mora (Ora 15)
Organization: Insular Commune; Ruling Committee

10 Years ago, when the Shattering occurred, the Bastion of the Arcane was severely damaged. Many of Parallax's priest dabbled in the arcane, and were torn asunder as if they were archmages. The few hundred priests that remained alive, pilgrimaged to the Bastion to prevent the Mind Mages from stealing away with Parallax's holy artifacts. Many of the priests, however, suddenly found a measure of their power missing, as if it died with the god. Faustus Mora quickly rose to power and was elected High Oracle over the Bastion, and within two years, the priests had established themselves as a power in the Fel Region.

Clergy and Lay Worshipers
The clergy consists primarily of oracles and inquisitors, with a few actual clerics mixed in. Priests formerly referred to themselves as Congregants, but now have adopted the colloquial term Hopeless laid upon them by the other mainstream religions. As the Grand Congregation was formerly one of the premiere religions on Nai, a great number of common folk still pay tribute to the dead god, however the ranks of worshipers falls annually. Lay worshipers typical consist of scribes, engineers, city guards, adventurers, magic scholars, inventors, and archaeologists.

Services are held at noon on the first day of the week, with blessing for strong creations, both mundane and magic, concluding each service. Parallax's Holy Text is Magicka Perfecta, written completely in the celestial tongue, and speaks of improving oneself and the world through magic.

Goals and Motivations:
The foremost goal of the Hopeless is to investigate the circumstances surrounding Parallax's sacrifice and attempt to revive the dead god. They hope that if they can revive Parallax, that arcane magic can reenter the world. Secondary goals include combating the perceived threat of the Mind Mages, creating magical items, finding lost artifacts, and spreading the prevalence of magic in society.

Other Gods
Prior to the Shattering, Parallax and his faction were widely respected in the pantheon, even among the evil gods, for the doctrine of increasing magic. The Grand Congregation openly opposed the actions of The Black Fire, and had an unsteady relationship with Vegari. Corpa swore to consume Parallax in eons past, and many worshipers between both gods, saw the Shattering as Corpa finally succeeding. This has caused a hostile, but not violent, opposition between each gods' followers.

[archmagi1]

Faction: The Mind Mages

The Mind Mages
Headquarters: Peak of Wells, Gotta Region
Leadership: Convocation of Minds (Council)
Organization: Loose Affiliation of Psionic Creatures

The Mind Mages are a faction that sprang to existence following the Shattering, as psionics attempted to fill the void left by arcane magic. A convocation was called between a few hundred powerful manifesters, and it was declared that the group would pursue the remnants of the former Arcane society and integrate as much as they could into psionics. The group's quick action to fill abandoned arcane libraries and universities seemed aggressive to many, but the Mind Mages see it as essential to prevent the world from reaching another cataclysmic state.

Members
Member of the Mind Mages are all psionic creatures, though not all psionic creatures are members of the Mind Mages. Likewise, the church of Corpa has a heavy influence within the Mind Mages leadership, but the high number of independent cliques keeps the religious group from taking over. No official membership exists, so any member is simply an adherent to the goals set forth at the Convocations.

Biennial Convocations are held at the Peak of Wells for all who align themselves with the Mind Mages. There they discuss progress over the prior two years and goals for the next two. There are usually a number of fights and deaths at these events.

Goals and Motivations
The Mind Mages wish to prevent the world from ever approaching the brink of collapse as it did prior to the Shattering. They attempt to accomplish this goal in all manners of methods, varying from murder and theft to research to traveling the planes in search of answers. Secondary motivations are to discover any remaining arcane items, devices or artifacts and find a way to bring them into the realm of psionics.

Other Groups
The Mind Mages are enemies of the Church of Lost Hope, however no other major faction openly opposes them. Most nations in the Fel and Gotta regions dislike the Mind Mages for their aggressiveness, but only the nation of Wrimby in Fel has accepted them openly as a part of their court.