Sir Byronius Sunfist
Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 12:00 am
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The Prime World of Agathon
- 45 years ago a cult of demonologists opened a portal to the Abyss. They died shortly thereafter. There are two problems with this portal: 1) It does not require any portal key and 2) it has not shut for the past 45 years. Demons are able to walk back and forth at will like a revolving door whenever they want to play with some primes.
- In the years since roughly 50% of the surface world is uninhabited by sapient mortal life. Wastelands in those areas are very, very common. Worldwide weather patterns have shifted in sometimes unpredictable ways. Disease is an issue. Food is a bigger one. Clerics help with the first and druids help with the second but the Abyss is the Abyss- the numbers game is a losing one.
- All mortal races that are isolationists or have trouble cooperating with others have gone extinct. The drow made a deal with demons within the first decade of the war but are now extinct on this world. Other evil races learned their lesson from this but most simply cannot survive without cooperation in this dying world.
- The races of humans, elves, dwarves, etc.... have banded together in a level of cooperation and national unity never seen before on that world. There are separate kings and leaders but they now form a congress of sorts that vote and abide by the majority vote- they all know that isolation means you stand alone against a tidal wave. Even the previously extremely independent metallic dragons are leaving their lair-hoarding ways to become more 'civilized' and work with mortals on a day-to-day basis.
- Social graces and many social institutions have become a casualty of this war of attrition. Magical items are vital to fighting demons but academies and schools are turning to rubble faster than they can be rebuilt and so fully-trained wizards are becoming more scarce every decade. The concept of marriage is no longer a human institution- being pressed towards extinction has made monogamy go out the window. It is normal for a female traveler arriving at a new town gate in an habitable zone to be splashed on the shoulder with a bit of holy water just in case she's a succubus trying to get in. There is no such thing as 'paranoia' here- there really are things out to get everybody. This, along with this new melting pot of races influencing each other's traditions, has colored the mortal culture in ways both good and bad.
- A few evil races have turned to the Baatzu for support and defense. So far the majority of mortals on this prime world, noting what happened to the Drow, have not - yet. They grow more desperate by the year, though, and more than one Baatzu has tried to capitalize on this by offering a contract or three. So far only in isolated incidents has this worked and never with a major leader.
- The Gods have taken notice now that the balance of this world has been shattered. Once, though it wound up a stalemate, Athena and Hades actually crossed swords. Many fear more duels between gods are to come now that most rules are void and most bets are off. The Gods are losing worshippers faster than they are being born and this is altering their normal behavior and divine restraint is slipping away slowly but surely.
