Worldbuilding Notes

Here collected are unsorted notes about Asmythe. The information here is unknown to the people that inhabit Asmythe and these notes are intended to give Players and Game Masters an understanding for why Asmythe is the way it is.

Human and Orcs were space fairing races at war with each other. During a battle over Asmythe destroyed ships from each side crashed onto Asmythe; humans in Altazar and Orcs in Cozak. Each race brought with them their culture and scientific knowledge. On Asmythe computers and industrial technology don't function and both races were severely crippled because of it. They lost all their technology but their cultures persisted; mainly navy/army cultural roots adapted to interstellar war.

The culture of the Armada empire is based on space navy culture, tempered through the centuries by the realities of life on Asmythe. Orc culture is also based on their space military, but it isn't similar to human culture.

The Primal Dagapesh, the gods of Asmythe, are giant monsters of immense magical and mental power. Imagine Kaiju like Godzilla, Tiamat, or Cthulu with unlimited magical power. The Dagapesh are not super intelligent and they act as much, or more, on instinct as with reason.

At the end of the first age the Ilthura created the moon Rolene from an land previously in the middle of the Soliander Ocean and fled Asmythe to live there. They were forced to leave Asmythe by the Primal Dagapesh; that was the last time the Dagapesh were awake on Asmythe. They were on Rolene when the humans and orcs brought their battle to space above Asmythe and were probably influential in the outcome of that battle.

Magic has shaped culture and technology on Asmythe in many ways.

• Industrial technology doesn't work, except for dwarven magi-tech.
• Both arcane and primal magic can communicate magically over vast distance.
• Humans and orcs use magic for power and war; elves and dwarves use magic for stability and sustainability.
• Arcane magic can create energy , which makes it perfect to drive ships, dirigibles, etc. and to power some industries like metallurgy. But the rarity of wizards means that such energy sources are not ambiguous until the third age.
• Magical creatures are attracted to magical energy, both arcane and primal. Many of these creatures "eat" magic.
• Lifeforce, "soul", is a magical energy that dissipates when a creature dies. It is not possible to communicate with or ressurect the dead.

Dwarves are inspired by the dwemer of Elder Scrolls and Tolkien dwarves.

Elves are inspired by ElfQuest, sylvan elves, and Tolkien hobbits.

Death is the end and there is no "afterlife" in Asmythe. The souls of all creatures on Asmythe disappear immediately after death, they do not persist in some other plane of existence. They either dissipate into the AEther or are consumed by the Primal Dagapesh. Under some conditions it is possible to "burn" the soul of a dying creature for energy before the soul dissipates.

Monsters tend toward "dark/gothic horror" style, rather than traditional greek/roman mythic, especially for elemental creatures.

Technology is limited by the size of metal components, which has some interesting effects. Because metal object less than a centimeter (about half an inch) isn't reliable many things we take for granted aren't possible. Without nails, wires, hinges and such you can't have chainmail armor. Wooden, leather, and bone work for many things, but they wear out much more quickly than metal would.

Dwarves, being magical smiths, are able to get around the limitation on metal components by enchanting the metal. Dwarves also have access to a much wider range of metals than surface dwellers, so they are able to create better steel and other alloys. Dwarven tools and chainmail are some of the most valuable things in Asmythe.

Edit the Sidebar MediaWiki:Sidebar