Almanac

The Forge

The beginning is a primal realm of possibility and potential; neither good nor evil, neither ordered nor chaotic it is the source of all that has and every will be created. From the essence of this realm Asmythe and all the planes of existence were forged. The Forge is the source of all magic and the manifestation of thought and action.

History

The First Era - The Age Of Beasts

The First Era is characterized by nomadic tribes of all races scattered throughout the world.

It began when the world was created and ended when the first nations of elves and dwarves appeared.

The Second Era - The Age Of Dragons

The Second Era is characterized by the supremacy of elves and dwarves. The elves built a surface empire of magic; the dwarves built an underground empire of machines. These empires stretched throughout the world.

The Second Era ended when conflict between elves and dwarves destroyed both empires.

The Third Era - The Age of Anarchy

The Third Era is characterized by the supremacy of goblinoids, who built on the ruins of the elven and dwarven empires.

The Third Era ended when humans, strengthened by holy power, began building settlements capable of holding back the goblinoid armies.

The Fourth Era - The Age of Spirits

The Fourth Era is characterized by scattered nations of each race, none particularly stronger than any other, engaged in holy wars with each other. Although humans were the first to use the power of the gods the other races quickly learned to access their own deities.

This is the current era.

Astrology

Circling Asmyth are three moons. The largest, Cylene, marks the seasons with its four cycles each year. Slightly smaller and much redder, Samlene, cycles every fourteen days; normal weeks are seven days. The third moon, a small dark body hard to see even when in full aspect, which is often called the blue moon, cycles every 17 days.

By the empire calendar there are four weeks in a month, three months in a season, and four seasons in a year, for a total of 336 normal days per year. The spring months are Seeds, Clouds, and Flowers; following are the summer months of Stars, Golden, and Contest. The autumn months are Bells, Harvest, and Crowns; finally the winter months of Shields, Storms, and Silver. The new year is on the first day of Seeds. The weeks are Squire, Knight, Prince, and King progressing from the first week of the month to the end of the month. The first day of each week is set aside for worship and is generally a day of friendship and renewal.

Every ninety-eight years is the Time of Passing, alternating between midsummer and midwinter. This is when a great darkness falls on Asmyth bringing with it a great shaking of the land, heaving of the seas and other great disasters. In the skies a great dark body growing ever bigger heralds the coming of these baneful times; it is called The Destroyer.

Astrologers also mark the passing of three great lights that streak the sky at regular intervals over the years. There is one seen every 27 years that brings with it the passing of a great leader, one every 42 years that marks the birth of a great hero, and one seen only by a few every 150 years foretells the coming of the avatar of evil who will try to claim all of creation for itself. There are many other lights that pass through our skies that cannot be predicted; all bring with them an event of great significance.

Language

During the first age language was as diverse as the people of Asmythe. Every tribe and region had it's own language and dialect. With the rise of the Empire and the Elven and Dwarven nations during the second age language became more unified. The goblin invasions of the third age created an even greater need for a common language that every race and nation could understand.

Literacy is not common among most nations; although it is taught in some schools most people don't go to school and/or don't use it in their daily lives so it is quickly forgotten. Generally only aristocrats, merchants, and scholars know how to read and write.

Spoken Languages

These are the most common languages of Asmythe. Every civilized nation uses one or more of these languages to conduct it's affairs. Hoblings never developed their own language, instead they usually take and use the language of the nearest friendly nation.

• Empire Common - The standard language of all Empire nations.
• Dwarven - The standard language of the dwarven nations.
• Elven - The standard language of the elven nations.
• Goblin - The standard language of the goblin nations.

Written Languages

These languages can be written, read, and understood without magical assistance. Goblins never developed their own written language and the other languages have changed so much over the ages that ancient texts, if they exist, may be difficult to decipher.

• Empire Common - The Empire uses the Draconic alphabet to represent words in the common language.
• Dwarven - Written language of the dwarven empire.
• Elven - Written language of the elven empire.

Magical Languages

These languages originate on another plane of thought and are impossible to read, write, or speak without magical assistance. With training a person can learn to recognize the characteristics of the language, decipher basic meanings, and even communicate with creatures who speak the language fluently; but doing so without magical assistance can be dangerous and is always unreliable. Arcane texts and spells use these languages, usually draconic, but knowledge of these languages is not required nor especially useful for sorcerers because magical assistance is still required to understand them.

• Draconic - The language of dragons, fey, and other eternals native to Asmythe.
• Celestial - The language of celestials and eternals native to to the "upper" planes.
• Abyssal - The language of demons and eternals native to the "lower" planes.
• Elemental/Other - Each elemental and other outer place also has a native magical language but they are too many to list. Examples include Infernal, Aquan, Ignan, etc.

Barbaric Languages

In addition to the civilized languages described above, many beasts and barbarian nations have their own language. Unlike the civilized languages these languages vary from region to region even among the same kind of beast. Orc spoken in the Far Verge is different from orc spoken in Erronia or the Homelands. Sometimes these differences are just a matter of dialect, sometimes they are so different that communication is impossible.

Economy

The most common coins are the ancient dwarven coins and the coins of the Empire.

The coins of the empire are ornate and difficult, but not impossible, to forge. They are, however, barely worth the cost of the base metals and the difficulty of mixing the proper metals into the correct molds, and the harsh penalties for forgeries, makes counterfeit coins fairly rare. In the outer reaches of the empire these coins are somewhat uncommon because of the fear of forgeries and the fact that they are more difficult to get than dwarven coins. In the heart of the empire these coins are the only legal tender; forgers are aggressively hunted and punishments are severe.

The dwarven coins are of extremely high quality; they are ornate and composed of complex alloys. Dwarven "silver" is not actually silver but some kind of aluminum alloy. The art of making dwarven coins has long been lost, making them much more valuable than their base metal and legal tender in most cities of Asmythe. In many of the outer reaches of the empire the dwarven coins are more common than empire coins.

Good and Evil

"Good" and "evil" are but thoughts and actions brought into being by the creatures Asmythe and of the planes. Good and evil are more primal even than the gods but they are still just manifestations from the Forge. Most creatures native to Asmythe are neither "good" nor "evil" even when they have kind of destructive tendencies. Only in creatures and beings close to the forge is the essence of "good" and "evil" strong enough to manifest.

Powers, abilities, and traits that specifically affect "good" or "evil" creatures only affect beings that:

• Have an alignment or nature that is "good" or "evil".
• Are from another plane, aka "outsiders".
• Are able to draw on the power of the Forge.
  • Have spells-casting or spell-like abilities.
  • Have supernatural abilities.

All other creatures, regardless of alignment or nature, are not affected by spells or abilities that only affect "good" or "evil" creatures.