Xealaz

Planet 1 Plants: Mostly Mobile Move to keep ahead of planets terminator, since planet is halfway tidally locked (one day is half the planets year) -Still do rely on photosynthesis for primary energy usage -As stationary herbivorous animals evolved, faster motion than that which is required to just stay with planet was required -Faster motion required more energy than mere photosynthesis could provide -Energy gained from preying on animals much like herbivores do -Herbivorous animals made that difficult -Plants began feeding on other plants - lower energy per feeding, but safer -Reproduction preformed intially through pollen spores like on earth, direct pollen insertion became more reliable, seeds planted by parents) -Intelligence developed under artifical light shed by a particular animal species. By shedding sunlight it allowed plants to survive the night in a single place - at the cost of the animal feeding on the plants. It is believed that a group of nomads, roughly as smart as neanderthal, was trapped and survived the night near one of these animals. Soon the animals were bred and fed sacrifices (mostly non-intelligent plants) and became a major component of the intelligent races life. The animals also provided a permanancy that allowed the development of agriculture, cities, etc and eventual civilization. Modern members of this race use mechanically generated light most of the time, but still revere the animals that originally allowed them to develop civilization.

Animals: Mosty stationary -mostly go into hybernation during night phases as animals move away -Have evolved number of ways to attract mobile plants, from emitting pollen that simulates mating pheremones to radiating light to simulate sun to coloration -Stationary nature allows animal to need much less energy than required for earth animals, most species only feed every 4-5 weeks, rely on respiration for most energy -grow slowly due to low protien intact -reproduce by males releasing fertilizing cells to females, much like plants reproduce with pollen -Calcium based skeletons rare, smaller animals either non-skeletal or exo-skeletal, larger ones either non-skeletal or have cartilige skeleton -Predatory animals do exist, usually small and fast (invertibrate), prey on stationary animals or (rarely) other mobile animals - carnivores often form symbiotic relationships with plants.

Quickplay Stats: (Roll 2d6, subtract 2, Bonus equals 1/2 score rounded down) BODY MIND

DEFENSE (chance to not be hit) ARMOR (Reduces physical damage) ATTACK (Chance to hit) HEALTH (how much damage you take)

SKILLS MIND Sense Speech Magic Knowledge Medicine

BODY Athletics Trick Sneak Dodge 6618234103

Classes: Thief (Attack =1/2 Level, 2 Tricks per level) Warrior (Attack = Level, 1 Trick per level) Mage (Attack = 1/2th Level, 2 Spells per level) Cleric (Attack = Level, 1 Spell per level) Warmage (Attack = Level, 1 spell per odd level, one Trick per even level)

Kothari Sulock

races: yuan-ti - Make PC version, give same stats as elves? humans elves - Great Flotilla halflings dwarves dromites half-giants (Jann) Thri-kreen Asheri? Warforged?

Ashworm Dragoons = Knights Gand Oasies - where civilization sits. Most Oasies house one nation Deep Desert - Sand Oceans Waste Between - smaller sand strips that sit between oasises Sandstalker - Raptor, desert native Waste Eater - Allisaurus, as above Dwarves all live undermountians Psionics rule High Magic - Sorc/Wiz illegal Low Magic - Bard, Assassin, etc legal but frowned upon Divine Magic - acceptable, in some areas dominant Paladins can give up Smite Evil for monks AC bonus and Barb fast movement. Rangers - no magic, have sandstorm feat that makes movement over sand easier Drids - n/a? Or change? - retool Assassins - Hashashim, base class? Blackguards - Theocracy of Thet-Akun uses as black ops/commandos Wasp Riders - either military or bandits. Constructs common - city? Avalon - Arcane Magic haven, island in deep desert, psionics not work there Magic - Treats psi resistance as half, etc. Psi doesn't do same for magic, making magic inherently more powerful against psi Magehunters - Elite order trained to do what the name says. Inspired - Rule large oasis, perhaps multiple? Elves - what to do about them? Airships, used to cross deep desert, only work over deep desert due to magic Black Sand - Sandstorm Weather - Deep Desert too hot, rain evaporates before hits, can build up into massive storms en route to cooler ground. Wood rare, needs replacement Religion Egyptian themed, Sumerian Themed, or Old God Themed

DESERT 42: And then Man rose, grasping at magic, and looked the Heavens as an equal. 43: And the Gods did look upon Man and said 44: "Woe be unto you, son of An'Khet, for you have looked upon our holy Faces." 45: And Man said to them, still looking upon their holy Faces, 46: "Woe be unto you, Host, and woe be unto the world, for I will now take my place among you." 47: FOr his isolence man was cast down, and Ahn-Ket brought the wind to scour, and Saen unbound the seas, 48: and Thet-Akun tore magic asunder, denying mankind the gift they had so mistreated. 49: But Orinis, God of Gods, would not allow Mankind such leinency, and he spoke one word to voice his displeasure. 50: And that Word was Wither. 51: And the world did. -The Scroll of Withering, chapter 5, verses 42-51. Holy scrip of the Church of Orinis.

While the Orinian story is a beautiful fantasy, it is only that, a fantasy - or at best an allegory for the truth. Yes, hubris destroyed the world, but it was not just the hubris of humanity, but of elves and dwarves and the gnomes and all other races, for mankind did not use magic alone. Yes, this destroyed the world, but but it was not because we had displeased the gods. It was simple greed, greed for power and the utilization of it, that broke the world. The destruction of the oceans was likely the act of some lone Mage's death curse. However, even if the Orinians are wrong about what broke the world, I think we can still all reach agreement over a passage from the Scroll of Justice, chapter 1, verses 1-5. "Suffer not the mage to live, nor the wizard or the warlock. Such a creature is an abomination from birth, as are the creatures that spawned it, as are any of its spawns. Do not torment them, for they are no more than a rabid dog or hungering raktre. Simply put them down them so they may no longer darken the world." -Exerpt from "A Critical Exploration of the Orinian Scrolls", Gex Minthri, 3247 P.S.

While scolars may disagree on the source of the actual cataclysm, the Shattered World, known to its inhabitants as Aelithia, is indesputablably a world broken and sorched as a result of abusing magic. While accounts from before the shattering are scarce, they state that the world was lush and vibrant, full of oceans - what has been loosely translated to mean "large lake," though many find it hard to picture how large such a body of water could be. Regardless, such bodies exist now in only myth and legend. Instead, the world is set out among the Great Oasises, large bodys of land capable of sustaining life, which are mere islands among the vast Desert (a terrain feature fully deserving the capital letter, since it covers more than 6 parts out of 10 of the world.)

The various elements of the world are outlined below. The information contained here is what the average person knows about these plus any mechanical information- if your character would have more intimiate knowledge of a particulare element, you will be provided with a more detailed description.

Races: Humans: Humans are a hardy and adaptable race, but even they have limitations. When the world was scorched, the majority of humanity died - while they remained the most numerous race in many regions of the globe, the total number of human deaths was greater than most other races combined. The result of this was that human religion and beliefs places a heavy emphasis on death and the afterlife - even a human pauper is given a elaborate buirial, and the tombs of kings are imposing complexes indeed. However, while the religion is comparable that of achient egypt, the society is not as much so - modern society allows for a number of idepednent ventures and more closly resemples (at least in terms of class structure) Renissance Europe. The Great Guilds are a dominate power among the humans, and there's often a question on any given oasis if the Guilds or the local government holds the most power. There is no unified empire that spans multiple oasises - the logistics of supporting an empire over stretches of Near Waste are nightmareish, and while warlords rise up now and then to build an empire in there name, such things rarely last past their deaths, if that long. (And the death of a would be warlord is often far quicker than most.) Besides the above each Oasis has their own culture with many unique practices and beliefs (some of which will be outlined below).

A second sect of humanity are the Thirteen Tribes, nomadic tribes of the waste between. This is the primary source of barbarians and other such "savages." However, overall opinion of these peoples is very positive, simply because they preform a very nessicary task - as one of the only people who are willing to venture into the deep waste and search for new Oasises without claiming them for themselves (the Tribal word for the Aasises translates to softlands), they commonly trade with the cities locations of untouched Oasises in exchange for various goods. Little more is known about these peoples by the Oasis dweller or other races - information will be provided if you either want to play a tribesman or someone who has reason to know more about the tribesmen.

The third sect of humanity dwelles in the Illuminated Empire. Ruled by the Inspired, a powerful group of psionics, the Illuminated Empire houses the single largest known Oasis and is the largest unified political entity in the world. Blah Blah Inspired

elves - Great Flotilla

halflings

dwarves

dromites

half-giants (Jann)

Warforged

Yuan-Ti

Classes: Core Barbarian Bard Cleric Druid Fighter Monk Paladin Ranger Sorcerer Wizard - This class is not an player option. Psion Psychic Warrior Soulknife Wilder

Terrain/Weather:

Magic and Psionics:

Oasises/Cultures:

Myth and Legend:

History/Current Events:

Creatures: Ashworm Raktre

AETHER 42: And then Man rose, grasping at magic, and looked the Heavens as an equal. 43: And the Gods did look upon Man and said 44: "Woe be unto you, son of An'Khet, for you have looked upon our holy Faces." 45: And Man said to them, still looking upon their holy Faces, 46: "Woe be unto you, Host, and woe be unto the world, for I will now take my place among you." 47: FOr his isolence man was cast down, and An'Khet brought the wind to scour, and Saen unbound the seas, 48: and Thet-Akun tore magic asunder, denying mankind the gift they had so mistreated. 49: But Orinis, God of Gods, would not allow Mankind such leinency, and he spoke one word to voice his displeasure. 50: And that Word was Sunder. 51: And the world did as he commanded. -The Scroll of Sunder, chapter 5, verses 42-51. Holy scrip of the Church of Orinis.

While the Orinian story is a beautiful fantasy, it is only that, a fantasy - or at best an allegory for the truth. Yes, hubris destroyed the world, but it was not just the hubris of humanity, but of elves and dwarves and the gnomes and all other races, for mankind did not use magic alone. Yes, this destroyed the world, but but it was not because we had displeased the gods. It was simple greed, greed for power and the utilization of it, that broke the world. The breaking of the world was likely the result of the immense stress of countless spells being acted upon it. However, even if the Orinians are wrong about what broke the world, I think we can still all reach agreement over a passage from the Scroll of Justice, chapter 1, verses 1-5. "Suffer not the mage to live, nor the wizard or the warlock. Such a creature is an abomination from birth,as are the creatures that spawned it, as are any of its spawns. Do not torment them, for they are no more than a rabid dog or hungering raktre. Simply put them down them so they may no longer darken the world." -Exerpt from "A Critical Exploration of the Orinian Scrolls", Gex Minthri, 3247 P.S.

While scolars may disagree on the source of the actual cataclysm, the Shattered World, known to its inhabitants as Aelithia, is indesputablably a world broken as a result of abusing magic. What was once a whole word is now broken up into hundreds of islands floating the in the Aether that resided outside the world.