[center][i]...the desert is the country of madness...it is the refuge of the devil, thrown out to wander in dry places. Thirst drives man mad, and the devil himself is mad with a kind of thirst for his own lost excellence- lost because he has immured himself in it and closed out everything else. So the man who wanders into the desert...must take care that he does not go mad and become the servant of the one who dwells there in a sterile paradise of emptiness and rage.[/i]
MERTON, Thoughts in Solitude

[img]http://img04.deviantart.net/6ae4/i/2014/144/4/f/boneyard_valley_by_lionsketch-d6ppjxd.jpg[/img][/center]

[center]
[i]I will show you fear in a handful of dust.[/i]
ELIOT, The Wasteland

[img]http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z374/LyntonLevengood/Sketch%20Dumps/Ashlands_01_zpsc8c56314.jpg[/img][/center]

[center][i]To Carthage then I came, where there sang all around me in my ears a cauldron of unholy loves.[/i]
AUGUSTINE, Confessions

[img]https://msolneyauthor.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/1354924079-0600534-www-nevsepic-com-ua.jpg[/img]

[b]Welcome to Azoth.[/b]
[/center]

Welcome to a world scarred by history, to a world broken by the wars of ancients known now only as the Old Ones. Who or what they were is mysterious even to the most learned, for they destroyed themselves in ages so distant only confused myths and legends remain. 

Some tell of a race of gods descended from the stars, others of kingdoms of devils that dwell still in the wastelands and in the many hells below the earth. Azoth is strewn with the ruins of these advanced and strange peoples, haunted by ghosts and demons, warped and mutated by magic; it is a wasteland-world covered in deserts, poisonous jungles, caustic seas, irradiated plains, and the endless ruins of forgotten nations. Millenia have passed since the fall of the Old Ones, and societies have risen and fallen in their wake, defying the harsh realities of life in the endless Azothi wastes.

It is now the Year of the Setting Sun 8,014, as reckoned by the astrologers of the Dratha, and a new age is dawning. The mighty Salished Empire- for centuries the unrivaled superpower of the Rainlands- is teetering, its ruling Priest-Smiths desperate to regain their hold on power. The discovery and proliferation of gunpowder weaponry- arquebus, cannon, pistols- has challenged the might of Salished arms, swords forged of enchanted Soul Steel and wielded by spellswords of unrivaled skill. As client states and old foes begin to buck against the yoke of Salished dominance, a new power is rising across the Godsfang Mountains, a great horde of beastkin and barbarians, intent on the plunder and riches of the Rainlands.

Yours is a nation that has lived in the shadow of the failing Salished. Perhaps a client state or vassal kingdom, perhaps an ancient foe much beaten but never broken by the great Empire, perhaps a neutral trading power that has long played a delicate diplomatic game. Whatever your nations' history, the future is uncertain as the hegemon begins to fail and new threats rise in the wastelands.

[b][center]About This RP[/center][/b]

-GMs are [@Flagg], [@gorgenmast], [@Kingfisher], & [@Pepperm1nts] 
-It is (grim)dark fantasy nation RP set in a harsh and unforgiving fantasy world living among the ruins of ancient, hyper advanced civilizations. Azoth is crawling with mutants and monsters. Resources are scarce. This is Lovecraft meets Tolkien meets...mad max?
-I'd like this to be an exercise in collaborative world building. That means that we want [b]nations that feel like they inhabit a shared world[/b]. Players will collaborate heavily in designing their factions.
-[b]It is low-medium fantasy: magic exists. It is powerful, dangerous, and rare. Rare.[/b]
[hider=More on Magic, Races and Cosmology]
A note on Magic: I am not a big fan on fixed magic rules or magic systems. I do want to stress that this is low(ish) fantasy. That means no armies of reanimated dead or golems, no legions of fireball casters, balrogs, etc. We're going to err on the side of how the LotR handled magic rather than say, D&D. Meaning, it is present and powerful, but mysterious and often indirect. 

This is what I call the Tolkien/GRR Martin approach to magic and religion. Magic is real, mysterious, and powerful, but for the most part takes place 'off-screen', and is for aesthetic purposes somewhat subdued or indirect. Likewise, the RP will take the GRR Martin approach to religion: there are as many religions as we can come up with here, but [i]we will leave it an open question as to whether any of them are true[/i]. [b]Conflicting mythos and cosmologies and visions of god(s) are encouraged.[/b]
[/hider]
-It is vaguely Renaissance tech. Cannons and arquebus are new military technology. There are a few exceptions to this.
-It has archeo-tech from a lost, highly advanced civilization is wielded by many.
-It has original fantasy races
-Inspired by Tolkien, Warhammer fantasy and 40K, Lovecraft, China Mieville, Morrowind, Song of Ice and Fire, Mad Max Fury Road...looking forward to seeing what others bring to the table.
- [u][b]Advanced[/b][/u] writing standards.
- [url=http://piratepad.net/EckRsnmnIL][b]Chat[/b][/url]

[center][b]Setting Details and Nation Sheets

Map[/b]

[hider=Blank Map]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/iwvlyOK.jpg[/img]
[/hider]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/GW1lvbl.png[/img]

[/center]

[center][b]Rare Resources[/b][/center]

[u]Functioning Archeo-tech:[/u] found in the monster and demon haunted ruins of the Old Ones. Archeo-tech comes in a variety of forms due to the variety of ancient civilizations on Azoth. 

[u]Ichor:[/u] Some in the Scholams claim that our world has been cursed, impregnated by demons, and that Ichor is the seed of fallen gods and ancient monsters, seeping up from some vast, accursed womb. A black, viscous fluid with dangerous mutagenic properties in its unrefined state, Ichor is most frequently found among the ruins of the Old Ones and of course in the polluted waters of the Dread Sea. Refined Ichor in liquid and crystal form has an immense variety of uses, from powering archeo-tech to use as a key ingredient to many potions and spells. Some sorcerers despise the use of Ichor in magic as amateurish, but its effectiveness is undeniable. Warlocks among the beastkin are known to ingest raw Ichor, thus vastly increasing their power, though with often unpredictable results for themselves...

[u]Unpolluted Fresh Water[/u]

[u]Unspoiled Fertile Soil[/u]

[Center][b]Regions and Factions[/b][/Center]

[hider=Region Descriptions]
[i]Additions to all regions are welcome, below is just meant as a rough sketch.[/i]

Cinderlands - An inhospitable, volcanic land of jagged rocks and fiery rivers of lava. Ash chokes the air and powerful geysers burst from unstable ground. A dangerous land home to dangerous and strange monsters and filled with ruins from the Old Ones.

Ashlands - Semi-arid plains coated in ash and thorny brambles, the Ashlands are home to significant hydrothermal and volcanic activity, but are much more hospitable to life than the Cinderlands. The fauna here are largely mega-insects and arachnids, hunted by bands of mutants that are in turn hunted by brutal slaver-tribes. The Ashlands are bisected by the Smoking River, so named because of the number of geysers and thermal pools along its banks.

Ashen Coast - Vast mudflats along the coast of the Ashlands and Cinderlands, the waters along the Coast are teaming with life and infested with sharks and crocodiles, in particular the aptly named Bay of Teeth.

Arm of Azoth - A rocky country of hills and low mountains, the Arm has warm, wet winters and boiling, humid summers. Its open meadows are studded with hardy shrubs, bushes and vines, and it is home to a wide range of large reptiles and predatory birds. Relics of the Old Ones are few, but the Arm is home to many ancient castles and ruins from more recent civilizations.

The Rainlands - A high altitude plateau with cool summers and moderate winters, the Rainlands are home to frequent- and violent- storms. Large parts of the region have been cultivated with rice and spice-cane paddies for millennia, and its wilder districts are dominated by thick pine forests. The Rainlands are protected to the north by the huge Godsfang Mountains and to the East by the Shelf, a series of massive cliff faces where the plateau drops off steeply into the lowlands of the Eastmarches.

Eastmarches - A shattered, fog-shrouded moonscape of rocky hills and low lying bogs, roamed by reptilian megafauna, barbarian tribes and mutants, and is frequently terrorized by the strange monsters of the Meridion.

Godsfang Mountains - Huge, jagged mountains home to large pine forests and bisected by several great passes and hidden valleys. Their wilds are roamed by the elusive and mysterious Ithaqua Tribes, known more commonly as the goblin-eaters, they are cannibals who hunt beastkin and mutants and worship the Mountain Crones. Vast tombs and ruins are scattered throughout the mountains.

Sullied Coast - Boggy, ichor-polluted coastline punctured with Old One ruins. [more details welcome]

The Meridion, [i]the Kingdom of the Dead[/i]- An inhospitable land rich with ruins from the Old Ones. The Meridion is wracked by Roil-storms and dimensional leaks, and it is rumored that time there does not flow like it does elsewhere. Usually shrouded in a toxic mist, it is one of the most dangerous regions in all of Azoth, and the breeding ground of monsters that terrorize more civilized lands.

The Rift - A region named after the still, impossibly deep inland sea that dominates the region. Tiaga relatively untouched by pollution, but infested with mutants. [more details welcome]

The Broken Coast - [more details welcome]

Sea of Glass - A vast expanse of ancient ruins dominated by great crystals of hardened ichor poking out of the ground. [more details welcome]

The Erg - A vast desert. North of the Godsfangs, the land drops off precipitously from rocky, arid highlands into a low altitude desert of enormous dunes and little else. [more details welcome]

Sour Fenn - Venomous, burbling bogland where the Poisoned Sea leeches into the desert. Infested with mutants. [more details welcome]

Poisoned Sea - A huge sea of ichor-fouled water. The land around it is very polluted and subject to less intense versions of the same phenomena found in the Meridion. [more details welcome] 

The White Sea - A salt lake surrounded by salt-pans. [more details welcome] 

Weald of Ung - A vast jungle known for its carnivorous fungus and its immense variety of immense spiders.  [more details welcome] 
[/hider]

[Hider=Accepted Nations/NPC Factions]

[b]Salished Empire[/b]

The Salished Empire is a heavy-handed feudal state that has come to control much of the Rainlands, the largest expanse of arable land in all of Azoth. The Empire rules over as many as 3,000,000 souls. In spite of the fertility and wealth of this land, the vast majority of the Rainland's inhabitants live squalid, depauperate lives as serfs and servants. In exchange for the protection of the land from the savage hordes from the unsettled world, these serfs toil all their lives to enrich the masters responsible for their safety.

The Salished Dynasty came about in the Year of the Setting Sun 7,200, when a tribe of mountain folk known to history as the Saliszi descended from the Godsfang Mountains to invade the verdant Rainlands below. The Saliszi warriors fought with weapons forged from iron, a technology that the petty Rainlander kingdoms had never encountered before. Saliszi iron swords and  javelin heads were immeasurably superior against the Rainlanders armed with bronze weapons. By 7,380, the Saliszi had established dominance over the eastern Rainlands. There, the Saliszi king Mardok established the city of Nyssos at the confluence of the Nabal and Tashgad rivers - and remains the seat of power of the modern Salished Empire to this day. A mixture of cultures transpired in the new Salished kingdom, Salished warriors adopted the lamellar armor, archery tradiation, and chariots of the Rainlands, while the inhabitants absorbed the language, architectural motifs, and religious concepts of their occupiers.

Over the next two centuries, the Salished Kingdom expanded across the rainlands. The conquest of the southern kingdom of Moribon gave the Salisheds the exceptionally fertile Nabal Delta and unhindered access to the sea. 
[@Gorgenmast]

[b]Fel Sothen[/b]

Fel Sothen, otherwise known as the Sothen Vale or the Emerald Crown, is a kingdom nestled in the Godfang Mountains, or more specifically the Vale of Sothen. Though the kingdom's power is centered around the city-state of Sothen, a handful of forts guarding the mountain passes are also under the jurisdiction of the Emerald Crown. Among those are the fort cities of Sotheros and Theron. [@Pepperm1nts]

[b]Oskamoore[/b]- In days gone by, Oskamoore was a peaceful and prosperous city-state, one of the great trading hubs of the south, but it has since descended into a land of madness and depravity. Having been rocked by the earth-shattering cataclysms which pollute Azoth, the Oskamoorians survived by preying on neighboring cities, looting and pillaging whatever hadn’t already been swept away. Now a capital of criminal activity along the Broken Coast, Oskamoore’s chief exports are slaves and contraband items of the darkest nature. [@Kingfisher]

[b]Tzieania[/b]- Situated inside a nearly inhospitable lagoon of ichor in the midst of Sour Fenn, and riddled with abhuman degenerates, Tzieania is a loose cluster of bandit settlements and raider outposts living in the shattered remains of an ancient city. What little civilization that exists in Tzieania is enforced by a ruthless self-appointed government called “The Sentinels”, who demand tribute from all other Tzieanians, in return for protection. The Sentinel's biggest rivals are the Chainless, a mismatched amalgamation of several bandit clans, who do everything they can to oppose the Sentinels, and keep Tzieania as lawless as is possible. [@Kingfisher]

[b]Feikaina[/b]- A city on the border of the Meridion and the Eastmarches, well-known for its massive stone walls. Feikaina is an almost entirely self-sufficent city-state, sealed off from the rest of the outside world and the horrors beyond its walls. Governed by an oppresive militant reigmie, Feikaina is one of the few truly safe places left in the region; even if that safety comes at the cost of complete and utter submission to the City-States supposedly benevolent overlords. [@Kingfisher]

[b]Drathan Union[/b]

[i]From Wisdom, Power. From Power, Right.[/i]
 
An alliance of three city states- Zar Dratha, Zar Pellos, and Archeos, the Silent City- and several lesser towns located throughout the Ashlands and Cinderlands, the Union is governed by the Congress of Masters, a fractious coalition of mage-lords hailing from the  Great-Clans of the Dratha. Magical inquiry thrives among the elite denizens of the Union, which is home to many of the most celebrated libraries and arcanums in known world. All forms of  magic, including necromancy, blood magic, and the other branches of dark  arts are permitted and indeed actively studied in the Union. 

Except for the relatively small members of the ruling caste, the denizens of the Union are deprived any of political participation, though the Masters are generally laissez-faire rulers, interested more in their arcane pursuits than actually governing and disinterested in the religion, mores or associations of their subjects. Most subjects of the Union are slaves, fishermen and grub-farmers toiling in the ashen mudflats along the Bay of Teeth and the Smoking River, though there is a strong middle and upper-middle class of artisans and merchants who appreciate the protection, low taxes and general aloofness afforded by the Masters. 

Militarily, the Union relies on hordes of slave-soldiers, mostly beastkin and mutants purchased by the Masters from the slaver-tribes wandering the Ashlands. Technologically backwards and badly led, the armies of the Union [i]do[/i] benefit from huge numbers and from small numbers of powerful magic weilders.

[/Hider]

[center][b]Races of Azoth[/b][/center]

[hider=Ancients, Gods, and Monsters]
(can be used as leaders/heroes with GM approval)

[b]Old Ones:[/b] Who or what these ancients were is mysterious, for they destroyed themselves in ages so distant there remain only confused myths and legends. Some tell of a race of gods descended from the stars, others of kingdoms of devils that dwell still in the wastelands and in the many hells below the earth. Azoth is strewn with the ruins of these advanced and strange peoples. 

[b]Red Gods:[/b] Azoth is a world filled with lurking spirits, mysterious intelligences, powerful beasts and haunted sites of power. Some of these- out of vanity or ambition or  for other, more inscrutable motives- have set themselves up as gods.  Many of these monsters and spirits are bloodthirsty, warlike, and feuding, often  devouring each other when they become strong enough to do so. They grant  their followers boons in exchange for blood sacrifices. The gods and  demons making up the Red Pantheon are innumerable- it is not really known if they are all even one kind of thing...some are corporeal, others not-  and most peoples and tribes who follow the pantheon worship one or a select few of the deities, though some worship the Pantheon as a whole, which they take to be symbolic of the fundamental nature of the cosmos-  one of constant battle and unending appetite. Some of the red gods communicate and interact frequently with their devotees, while others  remain aloof, answering prayers and rewarding sacrifices only  occasionally and indirectly. Likewise, while some of the gods are tied  to one specific holy site, others roam the world freely, manifesting  themselves wheresoever they please. 

They are frequently sought out by the ambitious or the desperate, who seek to create pacts with them in exchange for material gain, victory on the battlefield, success in love, magical power, or other boons. Some of the more commonly known and worshiped red gods include: 

[list]
Jadas, the Scorpion Mother, depicted frequently as half-scorpion, half woman and often taken as the patron of pirates and slavers. She is not associated with any holy site, and it is a subject of debate among scholars whether she exists or is merely the name given to a range of demonic activity. Some scholars think the being known as Jadas is a Ghul.

The Gore Lord, a powerful spirit often invoked by warriors. His holy site is known as the Blood Spring. It is a pilgrimage site for many beastkin.

The Mountain Wisdoms are monstrous crones said to lurk high in the Godsfang Mountains, often sought out by those seeking hidden knowledge.
[/list]

[b]Ghul:[/b] Legendary monsters and sentient super-predators, some of the most powerful magic wielders across Azoth, it is said they devoured the Nyr'Kiin Queens and stole their power. Some consider ghuls to be myths, others think they are deities or Red Gods.  It is rumored one dwells in the cavernous Dead Hive. They are said to resemble vast spiders, grubs, or centipedes according to various myths.

[b]Tomb Lords:[/b] The remnants of beings that arrived on this world in millenia past. They are trapped deep beneath the surface in the fossilized remains of their voidships, desperate for any chance to escape their underground tombs. Those who enter the deep places in the world are liable to fall under their corrupting spell.

[/hider]

[hider=Playable Races]
[b]Abhumans:[/b] humans and other sentient mutants.
   
[u]Valoth:[/u] Mystics and carnies, the Valoth have become well-known for their swindling skill-set, and elaborate cons. Misstrusted by most, the Valoth skirt about the edges of other civilisation's settlements, working as performers or camp followers. They look mostley human in apperance, with flakey grey skin, pointed teeth, and hair like coarse straw. Like the Dratha, the Valoth trace their ancestory back to Othman Dratha, but whereas the Dratha see him as a trickster hero, the Valoth depict Othman as a freedom fighter, and someone who rebelled against the social constructs they so despise. 

[u]Dratha:[/u]  An ethno-cultural subgroup of abhumans, the Dratha are a bloodline of sorcerers who engage in careful eugenics to ensure the purity of their race. Few in number, a Dratha is known by his or her pale skin and intricate, curling tattoos in ancient script. They have a natural affinity for magic, and are famous for their magical academies, their skill at enchanting and their legendary arrogance and disdain for custom and piety. They venerate the memory of their founder, Othman Dratha, who in popular lore is said to have used cunning and treachery to steal the secrets of magic from the god of the moon (some legends say he ate the moon-deity's heart). Few Dratha believe such superstitious nonsense, but tales of Othman's ruthlessness and ambition illustrate the guiding tenets of Drathan society.

[u]Beastkin:[/u] Abhumans and mutants warped by prolonged exposure to unrefined Ichor, the  Beastkin are everywhere the scourge of civilization and are almost  universally despised. Violent tribes roam the vast, empty wastes,  haunting especially the ruins of the Old Ones. They are frequently led  by wizards, warlords, and the occasional red god. They come in an  immense variety of shapes and sizes, most vaguely humanoid, and are  occasionally used by other factions as slaves or mercenaries.  Occasionally a warlord or sorcerer-priest will unite several tribes  and pose a significant danger to more civilized peoples.

[hider=Types of Beastkin]
Beastmen: revolting fusions of beast and men, beastmen come in a thousand varieties.

Trollkin: the result of breeding experiments by wizards looking for an easily mass produced, obedience soldier. Trollkin are strong, viscious humanoid mutants, with cunning minds geared only to violence. 

Slinkers: Small, gremlin-like monsters, Slinkers have an obssesion with shiny objects, and value wealth over anything else. Slinkers are weak individually, but pose a real threat in large groups.

Gobblers: Bloated abominations, the Gobbler is cursed with an unsaitable hunger; one which they will try to placate in any way. Gobblers will eat anything, living or dead, and don't discriminate when it comes to turning on their fellow Abhumans. Gobblers were mages in life, typically those who were known for their vanity and narcissism. As a result of this, many Gobblers were once Dratha, who have since been outcast by sophisticated society, and forced into the wild, like lepers. Some factions of beastkin have been known to use Gobbles as makeshift siege weapons, luring them in with promises of a feast, before unleashing them upon enemy lines and battlements. 

Grappler: Some of the most feared and hated of all Abhumans, Grapplers completely cross the line between sentience and animalism; effectively being more monster than man. Whilst vaugley human in apperance, Grappler's are covered in sickly lizard-like scales. They also have iron-hard talons, for which they were named.

Locust: these voracious monsters are mutated Aboriginals and other insectoids that devour anything in their path. While they often are found mixed in among other beastkin, locusts in the mating season congregate in ravenous swarms of their own kind capable of depopulating entire countrysides.
        
[more varients can be made by players]
[/hider]
[u]
Aboriginals, the Nyr'kiin:[/u] sentient insectoids that come in a variety of phenotypes, the Aboriginals are among the oldest races of Azoth. Individually sentient, Aboriginals are psychologically scarred by the ancient memory of the unity of their species under the long lost Hive Mothers, destroyed eons ago but now worshipped as gods by many Aboriginals today.  Aboriginals are widespread and common in most societies on Azoth, though many live in vast hives that are mere shadows of their former glory. Today, most members of the species can lay eggs and reproduce sexually or asexually, but scholars believe that in ancient times the Aboriginals reproduced like ants and bees through the Hive Mothers. They are extremely susceptible to collectivist politics and demagouges, which many scholars theorize is a result of the psychic trauma caused by the ancient deaths of their Queens. Aboriginals are hyper-sensitive to psychic phenomena and magic, able to detect its use from some distance away. They generally despise magic, since it is associated with their ancient foe, the super-predators known as the Ghul. Stronger than humans, they make excellent soldiers, workers and slaves. Aboriginal larvae are known to many as nyrworms, and take 1-3 years to reach maturity. They are considered a delicacy by Drathan wizards.

[u]Sphinx:[/u] Golem-type automaton recovered from ancient ruins. Made from ancient archeotech. These were soldiers or guards of some lost civilization. The powerful and rich often hire archeologians to reset these beings and force them to serve as warriors or guardians. Most utilize crystallized ichor for fuel.
[/hider]

[center][b]Nation Sheet[/b][/center]
[hider=Nation Sheet]
[i]A note on factions: if a player goes inactive, a faction may revert to NPC status, to be controlled by the GM and other players until the original player returns.[/i]

Faction Name:
Alias:
Government Type:
Faction Specie(s): [see list of playable races above, or submit custom race to GMs for approval]
Species Descriptions:
Location: [Factions will [i]generally[/i] be located south of the Godsfang Mountains, between the Cinderlands and the Meridion. Feel free to place your cities on the map and describe the geography/climate of your region, and name any un-named geographical features in your region]
Faction Religion/Ideology: 
Faction Description:
Faction History:
Important Characters:
Important Holdings/Territory/Possessions: [describe your settlements, limited to 3-4 cities, max, plus as many lesser holdings as make sense for your nation] 
Relation to other Factions:
[/hider]