The lands of blood are old and ancient. Ruins of the High Time before the demon war can be found everywhere and books in musty libraries speak of older ages and older wars to those who learn those long forgotten tongues. It is a world now high in magic and old in technology, where power and learning meet in laboratories and sometimes in dark graveyards in the dead of night. In this world sacrifice has power and power flows through the blood, land and words of those who call up magic from within it.
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In the Lands of Blood clothing is as much a status symbol as social status itself. In some ways, it is more of one since people can disguise themselves as nobles or peasants but you can’t disguise yourself as Blood or a druid. (At least, not for long.) The following are basic clothing conventions found in the lands:
Generally a sash is more noticeable than a belt, meaning that you wish others to know what you are more readily. A Blood not wearing any signs they are Blood is not considered Blood for purposes of the law being used against those who harm them. This is perhaps the only law that doesn’t favour the Blood and tradition claims (erroneously) that Bred began this law.
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What follows is a listing of common knowledge about the world and its people. Everyone knows this knowledge and displaying ignorance of it tends to be fatal. As common knowledge it is very useful to know. As knowledge to bet your life on, perhaps not as much. Like all truths, treat is as a lie.
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The world mostly runs on silver coins. Most common labourers earn 2 sp a day. Slavs tend to get 1, if they are lucky. In general, it costs 2 gp a moonth to be relatively self sufficient; 5 a month to live as a beggar would; 12 gp for a commoners style of living; 45 for the stereotypical adventurer/merchant who eats most meals in taverns and inns and has the occasional night out drinking. most moderate upper class lifestyles begin at 100 gp and go up from there, sometimes very high up.
Many cities and towns accept letters of credit and trade them as IOU’s instead f giving out actual coinage to someone. Most of these letters are linked to a persons blood (if the are of the Blood) or given their signature and hope no one can steal and forge it. Many of the low realms also use currency “bars” which are thin wands colour coded with strips of gold, silver, copper or platinum. Each strip represents 1, 5, or 10 coins. The danger of bars is they are harder to protect unless marked by magic.
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These are basic laws that apply in Uld and the Low Realms. Many of them can be found in the Outlands as well.
Most laws are enforced (especially in Uld) by Magistrates, NPC Blood with the ability to detect lies at will and good skills are ferreting out the truth. In most cases, they tend to turn criminals over to the city guard and/or local judges for sentencing, though they to have the authority to pass sentences themselves, or even change ones passed by others.
Guards (both city and town militia) tend to make very good use of magic, and seldom care if its Blood, wizardry or the tree-hugging kind of druids. Most of them put their emphasis on true strike, keen edge, dispel magic, magic missile and other spells of that nature. They rarely, if ever, use illusions.
Most nobility tend to be the law for their own land and the people under them, with magistrates the only possible court of appeal above them. As a general rule, nobility -- who, at least in Uld, are almost always blood and often full or half-blood in the low realms, unless they have guaranteed access to magic instead -- tend to be outside basic laws. A noble can kill someone and rarely expect the force of the law to be brought upon them unless they are too blatant about it.
Slaves have no laws and are protected by none. Most slaves wear a special copper collar (often gold for a nobles slave) around their upper arm or the neck signifying they are a slave. Hiding it is a crime. Even a freed slave often wears a thin band around the wrist proving them as a slave, or has a brand saying “this one is freed.” Since they were slaves, the law is seldom enforced as rigorously to defend them.
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Magic is everywhere. Exactly what magic really is remains a matter for scholars and theorists: most people are content to use this tool the same as any other. With so many people having magic is tends to be used very often, mostly for overall good. Spells not found in the PHB abound, such as simple spells to cook food properly or a spell for a house wife half-blood to sacrifice a turkey, wave her hands, and it cooks in 10 minutes, is stuffed and smells delicious. Special alarm spells are often placed on valuable items by merchants or over entire displays you have to ask the merchant to hand you the things you wish to by.
This isn’t to say that such protections are everywhere. Generally only wealthy merchants could afford to protect entire stores, but even the weakest merchant likely has Blood -- or knows someone with magic -- who can alarm the door and windows of their shop and the like. Naturally, counter spells are just as common so everything balances in the long run.
Magical items and such can be common, and many things are left over from the demon wars, such as keened weapons, demonic enchantments and devices and magic left in ruins from before the war. Generally, most people won’t have magical items because they either can’t afford them or simply don’t need them. A merchant might find a wand with alarm spells cheaper than getting the spells placed, but it depends where one is. Wizards tend to be much better at making magical things than the Blood, but a wizard-made item can anger many people depending on where you are travelling.
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The level of technology in the lands of blood varies from place to place. Despite the fact that the printing press has been around for almost a millennia, the Blood tend to rely on message spells, crystal balls and the like to communicate rather than using the written word. Generally speaking, technology is roughly in the level of the renaissance, though the demon war has pushed some of it back. Clocks are prominent, and hot air balloons are just being invented, mostly as a past time. Since some players don’t have access to a DMG, this is a quick weapon listing:
| Renaissance Weapons | ||||||
| Cost | Damage | Critical | Range Increment | Weight | Type | |
| Exotic Weapons (Firearms) -- Ranged | ||||||
| Small | ||||||
| Pistol | 250 gp | 1d10 | X3 | 50 ft. | 3 lb. | Piercing |
| Bullets, Pistol (10) | 3 gp | -- | -- | -- | 2 lb. | -- |
| Medium | ||||||
| Musket | 500 gp | 1d12 | X3 | 150 ft. | 10 lb. | Piercing |
| Bullets, Rifle (10) | 3 gp | -- | -- | -- | 2 lb. | -- |
| Renaissance GrenadelikeWeapons | |||||
| Weapon * | Cost | Damage | Blast Radius | Range Increment | Weight |
| Bomb | 150 gp | 2d6 | 5 ft. | 10 tf. | 1 lb. |
| Smoke Bomb | 70 gp | Smoke | ** | 10 ft. | 1 lb. |
* Grenadelike weapons require no proficiency to use.
** See description (in DMG)
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This is a quick guideline to each of the modern nations.
The north-most nation of the Outlands, Askir is a recent nation that largely came into being as a result of continuing trade between the Outland and the Low Realms. Askir has become largely a cosmopolitan mix of nations and peoples, ruled by an elite guard of lizard folk who seem to always arrive at events before anything bad happens. While Askir's laws tend to revolve against smuggling and forgery , it has the distinction of being the only monarchy close to the realms. Ruled by ogre kings with the backing of many of the Outland races, it represents many unknown species that few wish to anger.
Askir’s population changes and varies as people move in and out and no known census has been taken of it. While anyone is allowed in, it costs a fee to leave, that can range from 5 to even 50 gp. Askir tends to tax merchants coming in who set up shop but have no property taxes of any sort. All goods sold in Askir are subject to a 3% tax given to the government to run things. Like that taxation system, laws tend to be lenient here but break too many or anger too many people and you can find yourself lying dead in an alley or a slave.
The first nation founded after Uld was rebuilt, Cargen was a Low Realm before the demons came and remains one to this day. It is the largest of the low realms and was once brought to its knees in war for daring to have a king again. In almost 250 years since then, Cargen has been a model nation and was instrumental in the development of trade with the Outlands that led to the eventual creation of Askir. The fact that Askir is a monarchy is a statement by Cargen that only the blind ignore. Since then, relations between it and Uld have been strained but neither side wishes to begin a war.
Founded after Cargen, Karse is largely an agricultural nation where the Blood are equal citizens with everyone else. Of all the low realms, it tends to treat slaves the fairest and the capital (and only) city of the realm is only inhabited by government officials except during celebrations or wars. While Karse aided in the war against Cargen, they did it under protest and have refused to aid in any war since. Most of the towns and villages use a democratic system to elect officials, electing a mayor, judge and head mage. The tradition of healer and the head of the village militia is often passed from parent to child like any other village occupation. Magistrates tend to be welcomed in Karse and they are known for being hospitable to strangers. Like Cargen and the other low realms, they follow Uld laws but tend to be very thorough in punishing criminals, especially for abuse of any sort.
This nation is intent on reclaiming the dwarven homeland and many dwarves make live here, willing to give their lives for this goal. It is ruled by a hereditary council of lords that is unique in having dwarves, humans, an elf and some half breeds among the 11 members that make up the Moran Council. So far, over 30 expeditions have been sent north, once even a full army back when Moran was a young realm. None of them returned. Two of them are said never to have been decimated within sight of Morans borders and demons are seen and rumoured more often in this realm than any other. The people of the land tend to be harsh against foes but quick to make friends and often find better uses for thieves (such as making them spies) then cutting their hands or heads off for crimes.
The Outlands are the rest of the world. Unlike the rolling hills and plains of the Realms, the outlands are a melange of peoples and tribes and a few scattered nations. Ruled nominally by the Lizardfolk in the southern jungles and marshes, the outlands have deserts, caverns, mountains, hills and plains aplenty in this vast, largely uncharted area. Few travel here often since laws are often enforced by the races in an area and many of them find the other races make good food, or appetisers. There are stories of dragons living in the Outlands but none of them have been confirmed. Lizardfolk are the only race who travel these lands with impunity and even they are careful to travel in large groups armed with weapons.
The ruins scattered throughout the lands of blood are ruins of other nations from before the war with the demons. The mark on the map is a rough guideline of where the various ruined cities and towns can be found. Ruins can just as easily be found in the established nations, some of them avoided because of the stain of demonic magic on them. many of the ruins of other lands have demons living in them since the demons find it fun to spite the victors in the war in that manner.
These lands and low realms were destroying during the High War and their names stricken from the history books. The land left behind is not tortured magically but it was salted so that the victors could not use it and cursed with Blood. Some stories say ghosts can be seen in the ruins sometimes, wailing about their loss. Only complete fools, heroes or PCs would wish to enter it for any reason. Some druids even fear that the people woke up darkness deep in the world to lay the curses they did on that land
Once a high realm, Tobec was re-founded by many of the Blood who had lived there and is slowly working on expanding eastward. Precisely why they made their borders straight lines in defiance of all reason is something the rulers have never bothered to explain to anyone else. Tobec is ruled by an elected council of the Blood who spend as much of their time trying to discover useful artifacts and magic from the demon wars as they do actually governing. Unlike the other realms, Tobec actually has an immigration policy which, again, they never have explained the particulars of. They tend to prefer correction spells on criminals rather than outright death and the rulers dislike adventurers walking around their land armed and often stupidly heroic for practical reasons.
The High Realm, Uld is the centre of the lands of blood culturally and then source of many laws accepted in the other realms. Almost all of Uld is human and nearly 40% of them are Blood with another 10-20 being half-Blood. Slavery is common in this land and generally accepted. The laws in the laws section above were first tried in Uld and all apply there. Uld is ruled by a council of 12 members advised by a “floating council” of 8 others. The council proper consists of 3 Blood from the second Tier, 2 from the first, 3 from the other tiers, 2 merchant lords, 1 Blood Lord and a lizardfolk. The floating council is literally picked out of a drop of a hat and often consists of 2 merchants, 1 slave, 2 commoners, 1 person with no blood, 1 foreigner and one healer. The amount of time each spends on the floating council is also picked out of a hat. In the event of a spit vote among both councils over an issue, the elven Historian who works as the Uld archivist is sometimes asked to render his or her opinions on issues. All in all, the system works very well and is far to hard to bribe easily.
The most recent Low Realm to be founded, Verdi suffered many problems from demons in the northern dwarf mines for about 20 years until they worked a magic in secret that seems to have repelled many of the demons. While the democratically elected council of Verdi claims it won’t work again, it seems to have been sufficient to drive the demons off the land. The people of this realm haven’t gone out of their way to antagonise the demons and surprisingly seem to have been left alone. Due to many metal deposits under the lands, Verdi has slowly become a large manufacturing centre and is the only realm where the guards are armed with muskets at all times. This alone tends to deter most thieves and many honest people from settling here.
No one knows much about the wasting or, precisely, where it is. An old couplet claims it is:
As close as the distance to the furthest star,
As far as the way between you and who you are.
Maps point it off to the west -- at least, the more accurate ones do that acknowledge the High Realm of Uld as accurate in claiming where north is. Dwarves, who always know their lost lands in relation to where they are tend to agree the wasting is to the left. Now what we know where it is, what is the wasting? Again, no one knows. Those who have been to it emerge changed, if they do at all. Once, before the demons came, it was a simple wasteland of barren rock and desert sands. It says much that not even exiles are sent here any longer, and not merely because of the war, but because the wasting was changed, by Blood and demons and until the unknown is known, it is avoided almost fanatically even by Blood lost.
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Everything exists within something larger. The larger world is more than just the outlands, as shown below.
The nation of Amir is older than even the high times, according to some old legends. It was ruled by the elves until they were broken by the Demon War and the people of the land refused to accept a twisted one on the throne. Since then it has been ruled by a succession of councils that have ruled wisely, mostly because those that did not tended to run afoul of the royal power of Amir that the line still held, the ability to alter fate. After a series of accidents, and an inability to find the royal line to kill them and stop this, the councils tend to actually have the best interests of Amir at heart. Or else.
Due to the large amount of elves that still reside here, Amir is considered on the cutting edge of worldly fashions at it were, and the tradition of dressing royalty -- and high councillors for those lands without royalty -- in blue has become common practice. Most elves tend to regard Amir as their homeland and would do anything to protect it from another demon invasion. As the nation has never recovered fully from the last war, they tend to be very insular and seldom send ambassadors to other nations, preferring to leave the rest of the world alone to its own plans.
The Amir woods are said to be the oldest woods in the world and the place that the elven race was first born. Many old races make their home in it and the trees have seen ages pass. A quiet intelligence is said to pervade the wood and raise its hand against any who try to harm the trees. Harmful magics simply fail to work and no demon has entered the woods and emerged alive again. Some legends claim the royal line of Amir bound a green dragon to serve and protect the woods and that it betrayed them to the demons during the Demon War to gain its freedom. Since many feel the royal lines hides out in these vast woods, most take this to be just another myth of the high times.
The Cities of Femshar are a grouping of 7 cities with some woods and hills around them. The Fel woods tend to provide for most of the cities’ needs and the druids of the woods make sure that the people of Femshar never take more than the wood is willing to give. The cities themselves trade with any who bring trade goods or coins and are home to a wide variety of races and peoples and tend to enforce the same basic laws other lands do, but are not as harsh on criminals. All in all, most nations would not regard them as important save for a special feature of their geography. Between the cities of Femshar and the high place lies an anomaly that has gained these lands fame. The hills between them are said to be hills that traverse time. Little is known of them in this day and age but those who travel can leave to find centuries have passed in the rest of the world while they walked the hills -- forwards or backwards. If someone discovered how to make use of these hills as a weapon it would be terrifying. Some wizards claim this has already been done, and so well that we are convinced it hasn’t.
The nation of Codeth is one of the 3 nations (Codeth, Obus & Vandren) that reside within the Outlands yet are apart from it. Surrounded by other species -- many of them jealous of the trade that the three nations get -- they have had to defend themselves from many foes over the centuries, including each other. The royal line of Codeth has developed a powerful charismatic gift to bend the hearts of people and make them obey the wishes of the ruler. The halfling rulers were once all killed for abusing this gift (proof is does have limits) but the next rulers found themselves wielding the same gift also, and the next and the next .... over 200 years of turmoil followed until some halflings explained (under very creative torture) that the land itself gave the ruling line its power. The halflings have ruled Codeth ever since under a firm but benevolent hand. Some people claim its the only good thing halflings have never done, but not to the face of the nobility or the royal line.
The desert of Quis is, quite simply, a very large desert. The sands howl continuously and there are not even ruins to mark whatever nation once stood here, if one ever did. Who or what Quis was is also lost to history and the power of nature but elven lore claims it was the sight of a mighty battle long before the high time and holds a Door with knowledge that could rock the foundations of the world in it. Of course, no attempt to find this door has survived the desert yet.
This is the largest series of mountains in the world. While the range is not as wide as the dwarven reaches, the dragons spine mountains tower up in the air higher than even dragons can fly, according to stories. Some claim they are the remains of the first dragon or a dragon burial ground but no one has proven any of these rumours true or false. Despite their size, many paths and trade routes exist through these mountains, largely unhindered by bandits since the trolls that dwell in the mountains often eat bandits long before they can become a threat to others.
The dwarven mountains are a series of mountains that would be impressive to any who had not seen the dragons spine. They separate the lands from the further northern plains and the frozen ocean even further north. The dwarven halls beneath them are stunning feats and mines for almost any metal can be found somewhere in their depths. In this age the reaches are the property of demons and their last stronghold since they lost the Demon War. No attempt to take back even one of the mountains has succeeded and many dwarves worry that the demons will discover the hidden parts of their halls and caverns some year and unleash weapons of dark power and magics cast in places that have never seen the light.
The Eastern Realms are some of the low realms separated by the dragons spine. Hard hit during the demon war, these lands have never truly recovered in numbers or influence. The eastern realms are largely villages and farm lands with the odd partially rebuilt ruin of a city a testimony to the strength of these lands before the Demon War struck them. While some of them might be powerful enough to declare themselves high realms, certain incidents involving their own Blood being stripped of their magics have stopped these ambitions rather quickly. Their resentment at Uld is powerful but the trade routes are too easy for an army to traverse and the humbling of Cargen makes them wary of trying to break for Uld in body, though they have in spirit.
The high place is the largest mountain in the dragon’s spine. It rose up out of the earth four hundred years ago as a tall spire into the clouds and mages and druids travel their regularly in search of power or knowledge. What made the high place is unknown but no demon goes within 500 miles (750 kilometres) of it without dying. The few that are permitted to climb the mountain never return the same and are marked by whatever forces made it and given a special quest by it. Gnomes regard it as a holy place but refuse to travel to it for any reason.
This is a large tropical paradise where the lizard folk live. There are two other jungles (with lizardfolk in them, naturally) further west in the outlands. The jungle is large and the lizardfolk protect their land against all invaders ruthlessly. As a result of this very little is known about the jungle(s) save that the lizardfolk dwell in them and are said to grow crystals somewhere in the depths of these forests. Their insular nature has led to many other legends, including a lizardfolk city called Ess Dorisso, said to be made of solid gold.
The campaign area. See the world, above, for stuff on it.
See the lands of blood above. They are just nations outside Uld.
This land is simply a name. Nothing is know of it are the people who live in it.
The southern-most of the 3 nations, Obus is ruled by dwarves who hold a special affinity for the earth and the ability to command it. Unlike their northern cousins, they build underground burrows and cites in that manner, using their own royal power to control the earth and prevent it from rising against them. Of the three lands, theirs is the only one with an unbroken ruling line since their founding and their control and mastery over their royal gift is the most complete. Since their lands are underground, few foes have been able to fight them successfully save Arth the black, the king of Vandren 800 years past. Unlike the Vandren and Codeth lines, the rulers of Obus keep the power within the royal family strictly and few of the noble lines have access to it.
The outlands are a collective name for the vast parts of the world ruled by no nations or empires. Most of these lands exist on tribal lines with various races existing together in an uneasy peace. Unlike the rolling hills and plains of the Realms, the outlands are a melange of peoples and tribes and a few scattered nations. Ruled nominally by the Lizardfolk in the southern jungles and marshes, the outlands have deserts, caverns, mountains, hills and plains aplenty in this vast, largely uncharted area. Few travel here often since laws are often enforced by the races in an area and many of them find the other races make good food, or appetisers. There are stories of dragons living in the Outlands but none of them have been confirmed. Lizardfolk are the only race who travel these lands with impunity and even they are careful to travel in large groups armed with weapons of the body and mind with them at all times. The few nations in the outlands proper are like Askir, results of trade more than any planning.
The northern-most of the three nations, Vandren is ruled by hereditary gnome monarchs who have spread their royal power to sense and command storms far and wide, even into members of other races on occasion. The history of their land is long and generally a rather sorrid affair due to abuses of power and the results of inter marriages with the other two lands often being disastrous (Such as Arth the Mad) or just frightening (The Queen); They are still making restitution to the other two lands for Arth destroying the armies of those lands -- even though Arth destroyed the army of the Vandren as well before his power obliterated him. All gnomes in the world should have some degree of royal blood -- that is the goal of Vandren nobility and they are about half way to succeeding in it, finally coming into the lands of blood to contact the dwarves there, preferably without rousing the Blood against them.
The walled lands are an empire in the north. The dwarven reaches end abruptly where these lands begin and some say the fabled wall around it was made from the mountains themselves. During the Demon War, their neither sought aid nor gave it out and the fate of the people in these lands is unknown but they have remained closed to travellers ever since.
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