Okay heres some rough stats for character gen who need them.

Ability scores: base 10. 25 points to distribute on a 1 for 1 basis. Cap at 18 unless you have a racial mod to improve (or hinder) that max by an equal amount (for example an elf's max con is 16) ability points gained by level progression are not limited in this way and your starting allotment doesn't include them as part of the total.

Magic items: all magic items are cursed. Why this is? No one is certain but intelligent items can recount a time when not all items were cursed somehow on creation. Engineers and researchers have spent lifetimes trying to solve the magical conundrum. All your starting gear is cursed unless you pay double for the item (one from the ancient past). No starting item curse will make it unusable. All random treasure is cursed and might not be usable. Ruins are a great place to find ancient non-cursed items.

Religion: if the gods exist, they've never revealed themselves nor can any outsider substantiate their existence. There are simply higher and higher levels of powerful outsiders from the Lords of the 9 Hells, to Primus. Divine magic however seems to function all the same except it is more an extension of mortal will then godly might. Divine casters pick a principal correlating to their favored 2 domains. For example a cleric with the Strength and War domains could be a worshiper of "Strategy".

The Seven Sovereigns of Civilization: The heroes who formed Pacifista. Their titles are: the Flawless King, the Dragon Prince, the Dungeon Princess, the Elven Thane, the Dwarven Thane, the Lightfoot Thane, & the Kabouter Thane. Most Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, and Gnomes live in the parts of Pacifista ruled over by the Elven, Dwarvish, Lightfoot, and Kabouter Thanes respectfully. Little is known about the individual Thanes or the King himself because of the lack of mingling of the general populace with the nobility. What is general knowledge is this: Each thane is responsible for holding off the advance of two different Lords of Evil, and that save for the Flawless King, each thane's region composes part of the border of Pacifista. The Flawless King is head of the Oligarchy that composes Pacifista, and all the Thanes, (of which the Princess and Prince are technically) are the ruling counsel.

The Thirteen Lords of Evil: Only the most current to be called that. The only things they share in common are their desire for more power & their hatred of the Seven Sovereigns. Mostly unknown outside of the residents of their vile domains, their titles are: Gaunt Lord, Unreal Lord, Clockwork Lord, Sylvan Lord, Hulking Lord, Riddle Lord, Hungry Lady, Fertile Lady, Feral Lord, Brimstone Lord, Possessed

Lord, & Stitched Lord. The thirteenth and recently titled Red Lord (For his inclination to dominate by needless bloodshed) is the key to overthrowing Pacifista and returning the land to vile depravity. Non-evil beings come from the realms of the 13 lords but their harsh environment and inclination towards wholesomeness in a place where the very land itself opposes them means they ether escape somehow into Pasafista, or have to become the monsters they fear in order to survive.

Also character creation notes. Max HP. And if you want your character to come from one of the 13 domains leme know, there are small aesthetic qualities that will give hint to your heritage. For example those from the domain of the Unreal lord have some form of insanity. Those from the Stitched Lord's domain all seem to have some kind of magical surgery performed, often being kidnapped in the night and returned before morning with some alien (but functionally identical) body part swapped with their own.

Ah yes. Last but not least. Character wealth based on your level. 49,000 gp. Spend it wisely. You may use the DMG or Magic Item Compendium.

On Elves:

Most elves historically are native to the Sylvan and Fertile lands. Half-elves are a fairly recent offshoot (historically speaking) only having risen to prominence in great numbers worthy of being considered their own group (rather than just the occasional mutt in ether an elvish or human society) as of 200 years ago. The Elves' connection to nature and the world around them make the Sylvan and Fertile lands their ideal home. Smaller communities of elves slightly bleed into the Feral and Unreal lands but most of those are considered extremist in religion. Those elves who live too close to the (or in the) Feral lands are Elves who have gone beyond a symbiotic existence with nature and instead have become almost "one" with nature letting bestial curses such as lycanthropy or massively antisocial Druidism consume their lives. Elves from the Unreal lands differ from their more benign kin in their views on the universal/traditional acceptance of the world of Elvish/humanoid life. Most elves believe life mimics the Sun and Moon. Birth is dawn, Life is the High Sun, and Death is the setting Sun. The moon, while not evil, is reflective of things "after" life and is the domain of death, spirits, and those things which live beyond their demise and such not proper to devote high amounts of dogma to, unlike most elves, sometimes called "Day elves" by their scorned cousins, Elves in the Feral and Unreal lands focus more on the moon and its phases. For the Feral lands, the full moon represents great power and the waxing and waning similarly building up to and depleting from the same such power. The Unreal land's elves take it a great deal further, denoting that the night has great power and that to glaze over the moon's (and vicariously death's) role in life is to purposely misunderstand the entire concept of life itself. These elves more than

any others are the most likely to become lichs, create undead, and focus on the more entropic aspects of the natural world.

The unified capital between the Sylvan and Fertile lands is known as the Selesnya Conclave. Focused on Order, Life, and Harmony, the Conclave has survived for hundreds of years under multiple "Lords" if for no other reason than the combined might of all the Light Elves would be enough to overturn any despot. The Conclave is ripe with many wonders of the natural world. Dryads, numbering in the several hundred, under the leadership of the matron Jurai (Jer-eye) have long had a sympathetic relationship with all the Wizards and other elves of the Conclave. Despite not being a true nation the conclave has a freestanding army of devoted protectors in many various forms. A handful of zealous Centaurs and Loxo (a subspecies that seems more at home in the temperate forests) supplement a high cavalry of Elvish Wolf riders. The wolf riders are the exclusive companions and keepers of an intelligent breed of wolf called a Borz (Bworz) which, are in turn descended from an ancient albino Warg who forswore its kind’s evil ways in lieu of a life of righteous vigilance. The Conclave worships the Elvish Solar rights and they even use a unified symbol for these religious beliefs. A tree that merges with the sun called the Laurelin (ˈlaʊrelin) Gold, marble, green growing plants, as well as pure white silk and vibrant green cotton adorn many of the almost cathedral-like buildings of the Conclave, but no object more seems to represent their unified passions more than Crystals. Luminescent crystals with glow with a soft inner light seem to occur everywhere and are the perfect "mascot" so to speak of the Conclave, natural, orderly, and beautiful it is to the Light Elves what Mushrooms are to Night Elves, and often find their way as foci for spells, golems, and for their most renowned feat, taming normally vicious wild beasts (such as Purple worms) into constructive forces.

This week we get a glimpse into: The Riddle Lands.

Vast, dry, inhospitable lands... Robbed for months or even years at a time of precious rain and plagued by searing winds peppered with cruel motes of sand that eventually wears down even the mightiest of mortal monuments. Despite all this, or perhaps somehow because of it, life has always thrived here. Abundant with resources, most if not all incense, silk, lamp oil, and many fine exotic goods from the foreboding land. The beings who live here do so with great pride and determination, their ancestors were here, and their ancestor's ancestors. Not surprisingly ancient ruins and cities appear and disappear in the seeming blink of an eye amid the ever shifting sands and rough rocky hills. The rule of the newest sultan of this realm, the "Riddle Lord" is a passive one. No decrees are handed out. No tributes demanded, Indeed to some this mysterious figure might not even exist save for the occasional discovery of slaughtered foes from bordering nations found with bodies where they lay trying to force incursion into the Lord's domain, while their heads, now separate, find their place on pikes for to see. Attest who would defy the unknown and perhaps unanswerable will of their protector and "owner." Indeed the few

who do wish to leave this land often find themselves beset with armed guardians who seem to be set them before they ever even leave home. An odd riddle posed to them as their "exportation tax" failure to say the answer correctly ends all hope of leaving. So far only a few bands of caravaners and Halfling preforming troupes have been able to scale the border between this saffron scented land and live to tell of the world beyond.

Rumors abound about the true nature or even the name of the Riddle lord. Some say he is a mortal man, an ancient arcanist made powerful by forbidden magics of earth, sea, and evil, a Mud Lord. Some speculate that the riddle lord is more of an "It" a mummy, animated by dread and terrible power who would claim this ancient land as their birthright. Some say even that the Riddle lord is a half animal, half humanoid, like the statues on many of the ancient temples buried in the sands. Whatever the identity of the Riddle Lord, no effort is exerted to keep others from discovering. The riddle lord and all of its servants seem to come from a central temple of ancient make. Requesting to see the lord is to be simply escorted to a room and told that after passing tests of knowledge and cunning the riddle lord would gladly grant audience. These tests however are quite deadly. Who or whatever the Riddle Lord is it seems that the lives of fools and the unworthy mean nothing to the Lord.

The Riddle Lords enemies are few but of note he is opposed by three major powers. The Brimstone lord covets his ancient secrets and his forces are turned away from plundering the sand's evilest of secrets. The Hulking lord whose avarice is the stuff of legend would have all of the great wealth that comes from the Riddle Lords domain, especially the diamonds to which he is especially hopeful of hording. Most loathed of the Riddle Lord's enemies however is the Dungeon Princess, "Sush" who so easily skips across his borders, plundering the knowledge of the ancient ruins, and suffering smugglers to live so they may do the same.

The Stitched Lands.

Along the “backbone of the world” mountains and sharing border with the Brimstone Lords and the Possessed Lord’s lands, lays the domain of the Stitched Lord. One of the younger of the lords of evil the Stitched lord only came into power about two generations ago by human reckoning and at first was a boon to the people in fear of the ever expanding forces from the Brimstone Lords greedy grasp and into their traditional home. Before his appointment he was named Momir Vig, a moon elf of strange height and lankiness appeared. He seemed to be a wizard but called himself a natural philosopher and a chirurgeon and said that if the people deposed their former (and clearly ineffectual Lord if the Brimstone incursion was any indicator) Master, then he would clam the land as his own and send his forces to war to defend it. The people gladly gave in to his demands and almost overnight the Outsiders and their mortal allies were pushed back by warriors seemingly dreamt by some mad taxidermist. Vultures with the heads of wolves but dawned with antlers. Centaurs made of nether man nor horse but combinations

of beasts and demi-humans of kinds to haunt the dreams and even hydras made from several naga of different sorts merged together. Frightening as they were to behold their numbers only grew as foes on the battlefield fell even the outsiders were gathered if they had breath left in them and returned the next day in the form of wings, arms, and other additional limbs and body parts on formerly mundane Allies. The lands themselves have prospered ever since … in a manor. As the Stitched lands and the Brimstone lands share the banks of the Ladle Gulf, ships bearing trade goods from around the coast can enter the gulf and up the deep channels of the Carotid River where all manner of trade comes in to make up for the political and terrestrial isolation of the nation. However the people do live in fear. Every man, woman, and child knows that, without warning or reason they might be “procured” by agents of their Lord and absconded away to his citadel where they will be forever changes. For the most part they are returned home different, but no worse, Sometimes a limb is replaced, Sometimes parts of unknown beasts are grafted into place. Because of the wide spread nature of those affected as opposed to those who have yet to experience it the social stigma on the hideousness of those who have been altered is at a minimal, however the fear experienced by those who have not been selected yet and realizing any day or any moment they could be next is sometimes all consuming.

Also:

The Possessed Lands

Bordered by the ravaging creatures of the Feral Lands and in a cold war against their neighbors in the Stitched Lands lays the encompassing wooded realm of the Possessed Lord. The Possessed lands are what has quickly become the second best thing to Pacifista normally a hearty northerly people who scraped out a living planting winter crops and fearing constant incursions of Wargs or Lycanthropes they welcomed their new lord with open arms and he in turn gave them the power to defend their homes and lives like never before. To understand this power however one must first understand the lord. Before being named a Lord of Evil he was simply the king of the area that is now the Stitched Lands. When he was king he was known as Regan Lyle Hydewhite III. If asked he would be the first to admit that he was a poor leader and provider for his people. An academic at heart Regan was obsessed with the concept of creatures that had magical powers innate despite having no unified worship or strength of conviction. He neglected the growing power of the Brimstone Lord and let his borders fail more and more. When he was finally ridden out of his capital on a rail by his former nobles even the fact that he had stumbled onto a great secret of an effortless and powerful magic was of no succor. Traveling over the mountains into the lands on the edge of the Feral lands he saw the plight of the peoples there struggling against the cruel and relentless forces of nature and he pledged to aide these people in amends for his failure to protect his own. The secret he uncovered was called Soul Binding, where in creatures beyond life and death could be called, and beckoned to cohabitate the body. A symbiotic

relationship to be sure, the binder gains power while the entity gains the ability to experience reality. The truly frightening part of the denizens of the Possessed Lord is not only that mere farmers and even children could wield magical might, but that poorly created pacts with these entities result in the entity exerting great empathy over the binder. Consider also the danger in easy magic itself and it is clear why Regan is known as the Possessed Lord. Though benevolent seeming can one truly be sure he is in his full faculties?

The midnight elves of the Unreal Lands

The Guédé Nation

The Guédé is divided into four tribes, this was done at the founding so that the midnight elves would never incur the problem of inbreeding, all tribes are expected to find a mate from another tribe and convert them into their way of functioning. The four tribes are also in charge of holding record and practicing the religious tenement of one part of the “night” version of Elven religion: Death, the Grave, Decay, & the Stars.

Tribe name: Golgari

Spirit animal: Spiders

Divine focus: Mushrooms

Tenement: Decay

The Golgari are the smallest and least organized of the four tribes, whether by happenstance or ironic design the clan continually goes through periods of implosion and degrades. Despite never holding great heights of power or influence the Golgari are the guardians of an essential part of the dark dogma, Decay. Without the concept of decay in the normally long and almost eternal nature of the elves it would be easy to forget that destruction and rebirth, not just birth, are the origin of new growth. The second closest tribe to the stronghold of the Unreal Lord, they have suffered the greatest amount of the mental kind of other-worldly taint, depravity. It is highly suspect to meet a Golgari tribesmember without some sort of mental condition, rarely do these conditions stop them in their everyday lives but

they have been known to make them the least desirable choices for mate acquisition. Typical mental aliments among the Golgari range from Phobia, Paranoia, Schizophrenia, Mania, and Dementia. The Golgari honor spiders, their webs are seen as akin to nets which ensnare the destined to die, and their venom which liquefies them from the inside of silken cocoons an agent of decay meant to fuel life. Races most common among the Golgari are Wood elves, Grey elves, and Humans. Due to their isolation the three races have developed significantly similar appearances, the main distinguishing factor being the more rounded ears of the human members, otherwise all members seems to have a tannish-gray skin tone with sharp angular features. To further cause the members to blend in as part of a cultural identity the Gogari practice ritualistic face marking with coal oil and ash creating elaborate tribal designs highlight their own skeletal structure and spider motifs. The truest embodiment of the Golgari belief that decay fuels life is the humble mushroom. Almost uniformly the mushroom grows only on already dead matter and converts it into fertile soil and rich earth, so for practical and religious purposes many magical fungi are common in the Golgari. Shrieker fungi guard the entrances to Golgari underground lairs, Phantom Fungus patrol Golgari strongholds, and mysterious other kinds of fungi aide them in survival.

Tribe name: Samedi

Spirit animal: Scorpions

Divine focus: Blood

Tenement: Death

The Samedi are easily one of the most powerful tribes of the Guédé nation with a ridged militaristic matriarchal bent, they have successfully defending themselves and their land since the Guédé’s settlement in these lands. Because of their strong physical and magical presence in the nation it is only natural that the Samedi are keepers of the most iconic part of the dark dogma, Death. All things that begin must end and in a life of a creature born on the mortal coil, that end is death. Violent or somber, glorious or unsung all living things die and thus the gravity and nature of death can never be ignored. The closest tribe to the stronghold of the Unreal Lord, the Samedi have taken the poisoning of reality in stride like any other change to their environment and learned how to make it work for them instead of against them. While mental instability has clearly taken root in some most Samedi practice human-born “blood magic” which feeds off the evil in their bodies and turns it into physical and magical power, having the physical attrition normally present in willingly allowing such corruption to imbibe work internally and show few outward signs. The Samedi honor scorpions, as the venom of such creatures poisons and ends life, but if taken in small doses over time can eventually lead to immunity and thus

power, a fitting allusion to their relationship with the taint. The Samedi are almost entirely, Drow and their desire to maintain the predominance of their racial bloodline has resulted in some close relational breeding in the past hundred years. In both symbol and practice Blood is the expression of the Samedi power over death. Exsanguination has always been the most primal and uniform method of death of any creature so the retaining and mastery over it is thus the power over death itself, also given the fact that blood magic allows them the ability to enhance magical spells or ignore restrictions in the structure of the craft furthers this belief. Be it their own or someone else’s, blood, holds power.

Tribe name: Cimetière

Spirit animal: Moles

Divine focus: Gemstones

Tenement: the Grave

The Cimetière are the largest of the four tribes, when a non-elf thinks of “dark” elves, the Cimetière are typically what they seem to envision. The most like their mainstream cousins the Cimetière are charged with upholding the most acknowledged and socially acceptable part of the dark dogma, the Grave. Regardless of an elf’s focus in their spiritual beliefs it is understood that they will someday perish and that their mortal remains must receive service and honoring to avert social outcry, spiritual tragedy, and emotional anguish of their survivors. Nearly the furthest tribe to the stronghold of the Unreal Lord, the Cimetière have endured little in the way of extreme taint and more often self-medicate themselves against it by the very nature of their religion, as dealing with the peaceful and sometimes the restless dead can accelerate taint they take no infraction on their souls lightly and go to great lengths to cure and protect themselves. The most typical signs of taint in a Cimetière are the physical signs of corruption as handling and caring for the dead it unavoidable, these signs of bodily maligning come in sallow skin, sores, protrusions, or other ailments that can often make the Cimetière seem more malign then their actual character reflects. The Cimetière honor the humble Mole, for despite its rotund, and sometimes cute or even dopey reputation these animals dig though the earth ceaselessly searching the darkness and feed on creatures which themselves feed on the powerful and influential after their demise. Races most common among the Cimetière are High elves, Sun elves, and Moon Elves. Successful inner breeding has merged some of the features of the elves together but inevitably physical taint often unifies the race more by similar malformations more than race do. In an attempt to break the almost uniform depravity of moral body the Cimetière use earth-based powders and mineral dusts to give color back to their skin and enjoy decorating their bodies with hard graceful lines of vivid color also tinted with metals. Males often hide their faces in social settings to ensure females and outsiders are not

disgusted or unnerved by their appearances and undertakers, a special place of honor, mark themselves with chained collars connected to their scriptures, a sign of total devotion to the sacrament of the departed. The Cimetière, like their Selesnya counterparts find great spiritual and magical power in natural stone but unlike their more ridged counterparts the Cimetière favor gemstones to crystals. Gemstones being mineral cut, polished, and refined, they see them as more like the natural earth made part of their lives more than the ridged and structure growth of crystal. The Cimetière have the most exposure to the outside world, being often the main tribe consulted by grieving families to see their loved ones put to proper respectful rest and secondly the most hands-on when dealing with the all too common threat of the malign reanimated. Cimetière are the most likely of any elf to have undead among them, but the least likely to use a body in a disrespectful way. The undead encountered in the Cimetière are almost uniformly ether those dedicated to service after death though their own will prior to perishing or the cursed walking wishing to be properly maintained and controlled until ether death or life can be fully imposed on them.

Tribe name: Acroix

Spirit animal: Serpents

Divine focus: Smoke

Tenement: the Stars

The Acroix are the final and most eldritch of the Guédé equal in size to the Samdi and are honored with keeping faith over the least “sinister” or misunderstood part of the dark dogma, the Stars. To all elves of the traditional faith, the stars are actually the suns of every day ever known and also the soul of an elf not yet born. It is understood that the sun rising in the west each day is actually the soul of an elf born sometime that century, parading across the sky in a signal of vitality and glory, and that it’s setting the sun streaks into the far reaches of the heaves to join its kin. Only the winking out of an entire star in the night sky seems to be the only universal thing which saddens an elf. The closest tribe to the stronghold of the Dragon Prince, they have suffered the most often from the Prince's demands of tribute, but so far from the origin of the taint that they seem to have little physical alteration and almost no mental fragility. The Acroix favor snakes, as the constellation Ophiuchus is said to contain the eldest stars in elvish reckoning and thus the eldest elvish souls still in existence. Races most common among the Acroix are Moon elves, Winter elves, and Imaskari. Whether due to their magical affinity or their glancing exposure to the taint, all Acroix seem to have the same physical appearances spread uniform across their unique races. Males are pale, gaunt, and have oily white hair which grows fine and long,

sometimes yellowish amber eyes crop up and their builds tend to be willowy. Females always seem to have coal black hair that wafts off of them like smoke. Male or female all Acroix have unearthly pale skin, even those of Drow descent. Tattoos of astrological and arcane marks are common among men and women but only women ever wear makeup or tribal paint. For the Acroix, smoke is the most spiritual physical object that can reflect their affinity for magic and the soul, a brief wisp of silken ribbon that merges into the night sky and infuses the soul with its scent. Acroix tribesmembers are the most likely to leave the Unreal lands as their desire for spiritual and magical enlightenment has been known to carry them, these “comets” rarely return but sometimes sire elves or half elves gifted in natural spellcraft or divine insight.

This week we get a view into the core nature of Cursed Earth.

Across all nations, beings and religions tested theories and beliefs have been proven correct over and over again and have become understood as truths. In such similar ways as we have universal "laws" so too does cursed earth seem to break down to a series of undeniable facts below all other interpretations of events and ideas. These are called the Elements of Existence.

There are three elements of existence: Mind, Body, and Soul, and these elements are (for simplicity sake in unified research fields) identified with symbols representing these concepts that date to the earliest age of intelligent life. Also recognized is a partial element of existence, it too is given an uniform shape of ancient origin. These principals are called elements of existence because everything material, immaterial, and somewhere in-between is composed of at least one Element.

The elements are as follows:

Mind: The element of a creature's ability to choose, learn, evolve, and become more complex. Its Will.

Body: The element of a creature's form, matter, ability to interact with its environment.

Soul: The element of a creatures collective essence, its nature, its feelings, it's want and focus.

Also there is a fourth understood but often is considered transient in function.

Unreal: The element of a creature's alien nature.*

* Unlike other elements Unreal typically follows similarly to a function of one of the three main elements but does so in such a way that is contrary to the focus of the element. It is often a substitute for a normal element in beings that are outside of normal reality.

Certain beings are defined or rather embodied by the elements' interactions within them. Different combinations of the elements as part of the whole dictate the nature of the being.

Mortals: Mind, Body, Soul. The most common being in existence, Mortals are born and die, having both a beginning and end of their Body. They learn and become better with experience and introspection and thus have Mind. Finally they retain their natures, Evil or Good, Lawful or Chaotic, they feel strongly and follow those feelings in what they do and try to impress their focus on others and so have Soul.

Outsiders: Mind, Body. Beings typically birthed from places outside the material plane, Outsiders are being who can interact with their environments and the desire to see their will done and thus clearly have Mind and Body, however where they differ from mortals is not in their lack from being created on the material plane (for indeed there are mortals born outside of the material and the inverse is also true) but because of their unique sense of self. In essence all outsiders are a kind of slave to the place that bore them, the plane of their birth is their shared "soul" and therefore it is immutable and unaltered by the actions or even the will of those that birthed it. Many mortals can be deceived or even deceive themselves into the idea that an outsider can know things such a Passion, Honor, Duty and Dedication born of their own choices and will but it is a falsehood. Unlike a mortal who can, through will, change their nature with determination and effort from one extreme to another an outsider cannot, even a Succubus who has magically had her evil mindset altered and has the will to do good deeds eventually will revert to evil and indiscriminate seduction due to her lack of individual Soul. Granted there are ways known to grant a soul to an outsider but this changes them to simply a powerful Mortal, and supersedes the dual nature of their extra planar existence.

Embodiments: Mind. The concept of a being composed entirely of mind is easiest to grasp by a divine spellcaster, for indeed when a diviner pulls on the power of their belief in a principal or ideal they are in fact aligning their will with that of the same said principal/ideal, then channel its power to shape reality. Embodiments themselves are rarely ever encountered, for while enough have been around long enough to have gained self-awareness few have deviated from their introspection to exert themselves on things or places which they cannot directly affect. This is to say that as beings, they can understand, grow more powerful with experience, and have great will, but as beings with no Body they cannot extent their will on anything, and as creatures without soul, have no true desires or drive. Certain spellcasters, via their extreme sympathetic nature with Embodiments have claimed to have "met" them, but this is often in the form of dreams, an area where wills can be interpreted as image and sound, but are just as likely to be creations of a desperate mind.

Ghosts: Body, Soul. Named after the most prominent of their ilk, Ghosts are creatures of desire and emotion who have not lost the ability to affect the material world, more accurately an inversion to Outsiders, Ghosts are defined by their inability to grow and evolve, having most of their will derived from the fling of their desires, and whims of their emotions. The Body aspect of their existence need not be entirely material. Many Elementals fall into the category from the simple fact that the Embodiment of Fire is the source of their will, while their body and soul are created by other means.

Physical: Body. Magically animated objects, and certain Constructs, undead, oozes, Plants, and mundane matter such as stone, water, air… the list goes on infinitely because all tangible things with no will or emotion fall into this category.

Vestiges: Soul. Though means not entirely understood sometimes being of pure emotion are known to exist. This area was often speculated over but only recently proven true by Regan Lyle Hydewhite III, an eminent researcher. Vestiges seem to have been more complex combinations of beings at one time but have somehow become whittled down so that only their essence remains. Unable to interact or even learn and grow from outside sources they just seem to perpetually roll in their desire and emotional turmoil.

In multiple instances any of the above categories of existence can have one element replaced with Unreal, to which Unreal mimics in certain ways the element it replaces. Coming from a dimension not of our own it is recognized "Unreal" creatures in some basic ways resemble and fall into the Elements of Existence but just as easily go outside of what is understood as normal or even conceivable by natural beings. Ultimately however all things with one element of Existence are understood to exist, for to have none of them is to not, have not, nor ever will have existed.

As a final note, notice in the diagram how all elements are shown to flow into each other. In a manner of speaking all things that exist have a combination of all three elements to attribute to their origin.

[[What this Means In game]]

Basically every character knows about the elements of existence and that they are true. It's never been a political or religious viewpoint but is as close to Science and the "laws of the universe" such as gravity or time/space as this world gets. Consider it equivalent to the Laws of Alchemy from Fullmetal Alchemist. Also the symbols are considered cultural universal symbols and their meaning is understood.

This week we look into: The Feral Lands.

The large northern territory known as the Feral Lands in Pasifista is traditionally known locally as Jund by the locals. Jund is an area that once encompassed what is now known as the Possessed lands, clear to the Backbone-of-the-world mountains, and seeping very tentatively into the Sylvan lands. Jund is a land of hardship and survival, where all the most savage call home and the law of nature turns to its most base testament: Eat, or be eaten. Traditional home of Dire animals and Lycanthropes, this land has no system of government, no industrial centers, only scattered settlements of hearty humanoids and giants who ether seem to enjoy or have no other will to migrate out of this place. The most complex organization in existence in Jund is the Gruul, a loose grouping of lycanthropes who recognize only one being as their superior, Gutchuck, the current Feral Lord. Gutchuck is a half-troll Athach, who's not a "Lord" so much as he's "the most dominant of several gang leaders", and came to his current position by overthrowing the previous Feral Lord Fenris “the grayback” by sheer physical might. Under his insipid leadership the once undisputed humans at the base of the mountains have beaten back any attempts to devour their livestock or themselves. Gutchuck is oblivious to any suffering of the Gruul because he can see no evidence of a decline in their “society”, and takes the numbers of weaker lycanthropes and dire animals falling due to starvation as an epitaph to how weak they were. Due to pack structure a pack-leader cannot be overtaken by more than one opponent at a time and thus Gutchuck remains at the top of the heap due to his bloodline and lycanthropic power. Even if under capable leadership the Gruul would never truly rival any other organization in a head-to-head military might, this is both their strength and weakness where as an organized military needs trained soldiers, weapons, supplies, and coordinated communication means the Gruul simple sweep in like a plague, using instinct, animistic power and unpredictable timing to make ambushes, eating or infecting opposition and then disappearing back into a well learned and naturally repellent environment. Nearly everything in Jund is carnivorous, or omnivorous including the plant life, paired with strong extremes of weather and violent terrain, it is as if the land itself exists to test its inhabitants with life or death challenges. Despite this, humans have a strong history in the area as one of the few natural inhabitants, some even theorize that this is the last refuge of an environment in which humans once originated from as more primitive humanoids like Goblins or Orcs. If such it the case it would explain the human’s high adaptability and pension for survival, as the land would demand on the most fit live long enough to be even the least bit fruitful. Jund is marked with extreme cold in its northern shores while it’s most southern reaches can become nearly tropical in their summer months. Jund is the only land where thunder lizards (or Dino-Saur in a primitive human tongue) still dwell and indeed even examples of Lycanthropy’s curse tinging the blood with these mighty beasts is not unknown, but of the non-humanoid saurian creatures dwell in

the middle northern reaches. The most successful human settlements exist on the borders of this land where other territories and thus other threats from opposing lords and their forces divert the focus from them and give some anonymity. In the central regions Jund is high in geothermic activity, fighting off most of the extreme cold from the north, but this accounts for many of its more hideous geography and dangerous terrain, including mud pots, salt pits, methane pockets, and hemorrhage geysers. Jund is a land in turmoil, beautiful and terrible. Unique to the region is the "Shifter" race, sometimes called the were-touched they are born from humanoid stock (mostly humans but rarely elves) but have met and bred true among their own kind. Their existence would be easier to explain if science had advanced to the point where the existence of microscopic life was known. For in reality lycanthropy is a magical mutagenic virus, and having it "cured" or even prevented still leaves some mark in the form of a carried, neutralized, virus. The neutralized virus transfers from carrier to carrier via intimate contact. While the neutralized virus itself is harmless when different forms accumulate in one host, they sometimes combine and mutate into a form (while weaker) which can alter the genetic makeup into a more bestial form. Antibodies protect the parent but the fetus becomes susceptible to this new virus. Shifters are most often born in the human settlements on the outskirts of the areas dominated by lycanthropes, as those which would be born among lycanthrope packs are normally subjected to a full strength form of the virus, producing more lycanthropes and not Shifters. For obvious reasons silver is rarely used as currency or as decorative metalwork, its value as a weapon material is paramount. So while it still retains its original value as 1/10th of a gold piece the local currency systems focus on Gold, Copper, and scrimshaw Bone coins. These coins rarely leave the feral lands because of their fractional value in Coppers. For example one egg costs two Bone coins. Bones are plentiful because the predatory nature of Jund means many creatures are devoured and their bones left to bake in the heat for long periods, producing ample bleach white bone from which only the flattest and cleanest ones are inscribed with scrimshaw according to the design of local town moneylenders who honor the coins as tokens of credit.

The Gaunt Lands

Perhaps one of the oldest of the lands claimed by what we now call lords of evil, the traditional name of the Gaunt Lands is Caligineux. With mountains dominating much of its north and uninhabitable (to most humanoids) swamplands to the south Caligineux is a land beset by golden rays of light and twilight shade. Sometimes seen as somber, or dark, the constant pallet of dark grays and muted tans of the countryside make it seem like a land of eternal autumn. In keeping with the lingering shadows of the sallow landscape the Gaunt Lord looms in the back of the minds and at the forefront of the fears of all who live there. Here he is not so much a tyrant to be feared, or a foe who cannot be beaten, but a force of fear, a grim looming in every shadow and dark ally, or as the popular saying in Caligineux goes; “A terrible fate.” Some outsiders may hear of what and how the Gaunt Lord acts and classify him as simply a “boogie man” figure. Those who easily dismiss the idea of the Gaunt Lord’s looming are wise to pick up on the fear that even grown men and women show, for doubting the tales is the first and last mistake any fool makes. Tales tell he is particularly fond of children, girls mostly but males are not beyond his machinations. He seems to find some great pleasure in impaling them like piglets on a spit on great

gnarled tree limbs, so far above the ground in unclimbable oaks that no moral man could even attempt to stage such a grisly murder.

The people of Caligineux have learned to live with their fear, fear begets habit, habit in turn begets tradition, and tradition becomes religion. Indeed it is religion that holds the hearts and frayed nerves of the indigenous peoples together, and where there are people willing to believe anything, there are those willing to sell belief to them... That is where the Orzhov come in. The Orzhov church, sometimes referred by its business branch name (as that face most often is seen by the outside world) the Orzhov Syndicate, is founded on the beliefs that wealth is power, that structure breeds wealth, and that guilt creates structure. The church is run like a combination religion, credit-lending agency, and crime syndicate. An ostentatious hierarchy of priests, enforcers, and ghostly councilors rules over a congregation of guilt-bound loyalists, indebted undead, and homunculus servants referred to as Thrulls. Nearly every business in Caligineux ties back to the Orzhov in some devious way or another. Whilst they bear the facade of a religious group and may well have been a true faith at their founding, they now worship only profit and power. The Orzhov church is responsible for all trade coming from the region; their lonely mountains are seemingly nothing more than coffers of great precious metals and gems simply waiting to be exported. They discovered long ago during their religious practices that the amount of death, unlife, and terror that seemed to permeate the area created an almost endless amount of survivor’s guilt in the innocent (regular guilt in the more tortured souls of the wrongdoers not as easily capitalized on) that could be used to cow and control the populace. While the Gaunt Lord might be the crowned as the master of this place, it is the church who rules it. Though not without redeemable qualities the Orzhov church provides, though its many many churches and businesses, places for people to obtain genuine tools for the prevention and defeat of the Undead denizens who terrorize the countryside. Holy water, wards and talismans are easily obtained from any church, almost as if they themselves were magic item shops more than centers of faith.

In the Gaunt Lands not all undead are immediately considered evil, but also true is no undead considered a welcome and harmless creature. If one were lucky enough to have the ghost of a beloved family member with them to offer advice and keep family lore, the inescapable truth of their unfinished business on earth and their inability to find peace is never forgotten. Rangers know to trust a bear, to act as a bear would, so too do the Caliginous trust undead to bring darkness into their lives. If legends are to be believed, the Gaunt Lord himself lives in the charred hollowed out ruins of an immense castle lying at the center of a lake deep within Broodhollow forest. The castle belonged to the last human sovereigns of these lands that died long before the great Curse fell over all magic in the land, The names of their nobles and members are lost save the name of the last crowned prince Cabadath. Thus the island and the gnarled forests that grow between great slabs of scorched stone are called Castle Cabadath.

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The Brimstone Lands

The exotic and mysterious place known as the Brimstone Lands in Pacifista is called Jemdet by its local inhabitants. Full of ancient intrigue and drastic if a sort of cruel beauty Jamdet's terrain ranges from scrub and evergreen hills to grasslands and desolated dunes. Simi-tropical yet somewhat arid, with palm trees standing strong on the hillsides amid the brush Jamdet can sometimes deceive one with its areas of lush and strong plant life into thinking the place is not as much a desert as the lands to the south, but indeed little rain ever falls here and most of the plants have adapted to tap into ground water and aquifers deep below the reach of casual thirst. Cities here never become intensely large unless they are based along the coastlines of the Nasr river, the "forked tongue of the asp" as this river flows from the hills to the sea in the north bringing precious water and valuable trade goods to and from this isolated place. The largest trade center on as the mouth of the river is walled city of Eshnunna, however even that isn't saying much, mostly the place is a trade hub with a large bazar, or open air market, where goods both foreign and domestic are traded, higher end products are kept in ramshackle looking but magically guarded buildings while more mundane items are sold in simple street carts are crude covered stalls almost clogging all egress though the dusty cobble streets. Most people who live inside the city and are not tradesmen or craftsmen make their living by mining tin from the hills a few miles to the south, and graze sheep and goats on the scrubland nearby. The grasslands at the fork of the river is part of the range for a nomadic tribe of herders, who are there sometimes depending on the year and climate. The relationship between the people of Eshununna and the herders is fricative at best. Further up river are monoliths and monuments of an older civilization which the people refer to as the Sumer (Sue-Mer) which seemed to vanish a few hundred years ago, and is beyond the reckoning of most scholars other than how their system of writing, mathematics, and astrology are the basis of what the Jemdet people use today. However in scattered pockets beyond the reach of the river are signs of an even more ancient civilization known as the Ubaid. The Ubaid are said to be the source of what is Jemdet's most unique cultural and metaphysical phenomena, the Satan (sah-tan) or "the Adversaries". All Indigenous people of Jemdet origin who are born in its borders are the subject of a strange and ancient magic. Instead of normal afterbirth a creature not unlike an Imp is born directly after the child, (in the case of still births the Satan is oddly absent), This creature watches over and shares a link with the child, in fact acting as a repository for all their sin and ill deeds. As the child grows so too ages the fiend but not necessarily in power. Those who live a virtuous life find their Satan a weak and enfeebled creature often little more than a glorified pet or companion. Wicked people however discover that the Satan grows in might and even alters form to suit the nature of the evil its sibling engages in. Satan cannot force their sibling to do anything against their will but can manipulate events to see their desires fulfilled and indeed there are many stories where the age old tale of man's struggle with the evil inside himself has become a literal fist fight on the streets of some local dive. In the end however the Satan are strangely endeared to their "siblings" and try to protect them from harm, for should a bound mortal die while their Satan yet lives the creature is suddenly shunted into the outer planes (the Abyss or the Hells depending on moral alignment) and forced to remain for a year before even being able to ponder returning to the mortal realm. Should a Satan die however it's bound human instead suddenly has the weight of their sins thrust on them, for some this is a minor inconvenience and a loss of innocence as

they suddenly take full weight of their evil deeds, however for some the great influx of evil forced on them could extinguish their souls as sand smothers a fire and end their lives. No amount of distance can sever the bond between Mortal and Satan but the further they drift the less likely the Satan is to be able to protect its link to the mortal world. Though no accounts exist to prove it, it is believed an ancient set of evil Ubaid priests and Sha'irs (arcane casters) made a pact with the kings of the evil underworld to be free of the consequences of their own sins. The sight of fiends in Jemdet is a common one and most people who wish to travel these lands in peace are best reminded not to question their presence, or openly disbar their existence lest they invoke the ire of the Satan's moral ilk. The current lord of this land (also called a Pasha) is a man by the name of Anshur, and is a man of great age and failing health, he is officially ninety and one years of age and is considered one of the oldest humans on the planet, he has sired seven hundred and seventy seven children with fifty wives over his lifetime while he is not beloved by his people (for his war-like ways and intense reinforcement of the socially order between the poor and the rich,) he is feared and respected for his ability to keep absolute order and continually defeat his nation’s enemies, having taken much of the fertile lands to the north-west before the appointment of its current Lord drove his armies to a standstill; should that army ever falter however he will again begin conquest of the west clear to the Backbone of the World Mountains. The Satan of the Brimstone Lord is not often seen, a hulking creature often shrouded in black and red silks it remains out of sight whispering secrets into its brother’s ear and spurring him on to greater glory and evil. Besides the Stitched Lord to the west who insults him by not simply laying as his feet the Brimstone Lord also loathes the Riddle Lord to the south, though he fears his armies less than the body-thieving Momir Vig. Pasha Anshur is low to send warriors in great numbers into the dunes to the south as the Riddle Lord vexes his best infernal sources attempts to learn his weaknesses, strengths, or even true form; for knowledge from that place whos wealth he craves, it seems such knowledge cannot be obtained without a price and no evil outsider would ever give of itself for nothing in return.