Eldurae

Start-class article · First seen: pre-campaign brief · Last seen: ongoing
Eldurae
Elduri · Elduria · the world
Eldurae — portrait.
Location
StatusActive
First seenpre-campaign brief
Last seenongoing

Eldurae is the world in which the campaign is set. The current year is 843 A.I., the Age of Illumination. A continent shaped less by borders or oceans than by ideology — by what should be feared, what should be worshipped, and who decides the difference. Six great powers (Aurelia, Arcanthys, Velkris, Umbrafall, Vhal’Zarim, Sablemar) plus the regional dwarven city of Khaldun Forgehold shape the continent. Magic exists but is not trusted; the gods answer but not always in the way you expect; the powerful tighten their grip while the cracks beneath them deepen.

Map of Eldurae
Map of Eldurae

Overview

Eldurae is the world, divided not by borders or oceans but by ideology. By what should be feared. What should be worshipped. And who decides the difference. The current year is 843 A.I. — the Age of Illumination. The Illuminated Calendar is the standard reckoning across all major factions: 12 months of 30 days each, 360-day year, 7-day weeks; time is stable, mostly, except where it isn’t.

Magic exists but is not trusted. The gods answer but not always in the way you expect. Across the land, the powerful tighten their grip while the cracks beneath them deepen.

The six great powers

Six dominant forces shape the continent. Every war, trade route, or whispered prayer answers to one of them.

  1. Aurelia, the Shining Bastion. A divine empire of marble towers and golden law; magic is outlawed; arcane power caged beneath the streets.
  2. Arcanthys, the Floating Metropolis. A city suspended in the sky, where reality bends and ambition defines truth.
  3. Velkris, the Veiled Gate. Built on silence, secrets, and coin; controls the only river route into the interior.
  4. Umbrafall, the City Beneath the Dead Sun. Once-fertile farmland cursed by eternal night; crime thrives. No clean public government, but real power structures (the Shade Mistress, the Broker, the Nightwatch, the Rat King, the Black Cartels, and other criminal/export powers).
  5. Vhal’Zarim, the Bastion of the Platinum Flame. Bahamut’s holy fortress raised from dragon-scorched ash.
  6. Sablemar, the Dustbound Bazaar. A lawless desert sprawl of forbidden relics, outlawed magic, and dangerous truths.

The dwarven city of Khaldun Forgehold, deep in the Emberpeak Mountains, is also a regional power.

Whispers of history

Things a character might have heard around fires, in temples, or whispered over drinks (per the pre-campaign brief):

  • The Scorching of the Sky (201 A.I.) — Silver fire fell from the heavens. Magic flickered. Some say it was a divine purge. Others blame the gods for failing to stop it.
  • The War of Fractured Heavens (582-589 A.I.) — Aurelia tried to destroy Arcanthys. The skies cracked. Magic bent. Aurelia’s Nullstone Constructs and Arcanthys’ Grand Conflux fought to a stalemate.
  • The Treaty of Duskwatch (607 A.I.) — Velkris stepped in to settle a war over river trade and began taxing every ship passing through.
  • The Fall of Karvos (631 A.I.) — A city too eager to serve Aurelia burned for it. Dragons descended in fury. Bahamut arrived in fire. What remained became Vhal’Zarim.
  • The Silent Pilgrimage (710 A.I.) — Ten thousand people walked north in silence. They never came back. The place they vanished still hums at night.
  • The Eclipse of Luminara (793 A.I.) — A ritual meant to birth a second sun cursed the land instead. The fields rotted, the light died, and Umbrafall was born.

Magic, faith, and knowledge

  • Magic exists; its stability and origin are debated. The campaign’s main quest (The Egg Quest) treats magic as actively failing across the world.
  • Divine power flows from a shared pantheon, but each city worships in its own way — often shaping faith to suit law or conquest.
  • History is written by the victors, and rewritten often. Truth may lie buried under ruins, behind masks, or within your blood.

See also