Seasons of Heroes: A D&D-inspired Adventure!

Since they're not one of the protagonist's origins, I'll share this bit of worldbuilding with you.

The Nelkaelands

Description: North of the Central Lands, as they are called, but connected by a somewhat thin land bridge, the Nelkaelands and its people, often known as the Nelk, have had a complicated relationship both with each other and with the larger world. They are a hardy people, of varying heights but with a habit of cultivating impressive beards. Their warriors once raided all across the known world, and traded equally broadly. They were once one people, who resisted, almost to the last, the Sepult-Edelian Empire with the help of their own Sepult rebels, radicals who stood behind their own Empire.

Then, when the Empire broke, they raided up and down the entire known world, wealthy and powerful. But they fractured, internally and externally, and one Empire became an Empire and a Kingdom, that of Neckland. Then at last, as the Kingdoms and groups of the region became better able to resist them, they were forced to deal with the fact that they couldn't survive purely on raiding, or on trading. The latter had dried up some too, as internal networks improved and other traders competed. So they turned away from raiding, and traded more broadly, and remade themselves.

Nelkaelanders are people who differ wildly, though they are divided into various Kingdoms, clans, and castes. The Undermountain Sepult still exist, reduced and decaying, and yet protected by treaties and the usefulness of their own crafts. Orime have their own 'Kingdom' ruled by a symbolic ruler whose only purpose was to negotiate on an equal level with the Kings of Eswae and Ketlar, and does fealty to these competing Kings in turn, to maintain their independence. Then, among the human Nelkaelanders, there are divisions between the dark-skinned Frozen, who believe they come from the center, that is to say the top, of the world, and the Snowborn, whose skin is bright, and whose hair tends towards the blond. All of these divisions make it a world balanced at the edge of a spear.

But if that's how the Gods have made it, then what is there to do?

Society: Each of the three Kingdoms, and all of the other peoples, have their own customs, but they do share a few things.

Local decisions are made by Things, usually of nobles, warriors, and reputable and honest (and often rich) traders and the like. The Royal Thing, on the other hand, is made up only of nobles and prominent warriors, and they are the ones who gather only once or twice a reign, to elect one of their own to be King. The exact specifics of it vary by place. The Necklands has had a dynasty of sorts, with the old King making his intentions towards a cousin, or nephew, or even son, quite clear. Recently the Thing has entertained the possibility of women rulers, as it once reluctantly embraced women warriors and traders. So Neckland, that land of crossings and trade between Center and north, has a Queen now, fierce and proud and quite ambitious.

The other two Things tend towards a little less ceremony, and a little less certainty.

Clans are important, and indeed they've only grown in importance as certain paths of upward mobility, via raiding and plunder, have been closed off. All clans enter the Thing together now, and stay together elsewise, which has helped increase divisions between the Snowborn and the Frozen, each of whom have very similar customs, but with some differences. The Snowborn were often thought of as better Blood Shamans, while the Frozen were better Shifters, though there are both sorts of magic among both people.

The average village is governed according to its whims, and pays the price to those above them and gets on with its life. The Nelks are a quite law-abiding people, as much as that might surprise those who assume rather too much. Their laws are very specific about crime and punishment, about who gets to do so (not the clans) and how, and for the most part, people follow them.

Culture/Life: There is so much variety that nothing concrete can be said that's true of everyone. But most people are farmers and fishers, all the same, and village life isn't the same everywhere, but at least everyone has to eat, however they can. People are given a name, and the name of their father or mother, and trained within the Clan, among the humans. They usually take the same profession, and while you can switch, after a few generations, it's hard to step outside the mold your ancestors have made. It's hard to want to, either.

Funeral services involve burning, and weddings involving kissing an axe. People tend to eat a lot of fish, and grow as much winter grain as they can. Even so, winters are tough for anyone, anytime, and the villages stand together to survive them. It's a harsh world, and thus the Nelks are known for their hospitality, since to refuse it could be to leave someone to freeze to death outside.

The Sepult are a dark echo of the Undermountain Sepult, decaying even faster, but clinging even tighter to their traditions.

The Orime have been changing. Once, all the Orime gathered, more or less, or at least all the Councils and as many others as could, to elect the 'King'. But increasingly it's become more like a Thing, and that has created fears that their 'King' will become more like a real King. Certainly, divisions have been increasing, and the lifeways of the Orime are highly influenced by their human neighbors, in this case.

Mythology:

The Nelks believe in Gods who were once humans, in the ancient past at the start of the world, and by their deeds were inducted into the Halls of the Gods, where all drink and make merry and encourage and send aid to warriors and those in need, on the wings of dark birds and strange dreams, and blood, too.

They burn bodies, and believe that the honorable dead, especially the warriors, might yet become minor Gods. Their priests keep track of their ancient stories, and keep to ways that have stood them in good stead for many, many years, and look unlikely to change.

Religion is often seen as stability in an confused and muddled world.

History: In the beginning, people came to the Nelkeleands. Other than the rumors of trolls or other such monsters, monsters that are rumored still to exist, in fact, it was said to be empty of humans, or Orime, though not Sepult, who had always been everywhere, or so it was thought.

They only gained power and prominence as the Edelian-Sepult Empire began to spread, and then the Sepult of their lands came to them, offering them power in exchange for unity, and uniting the tribes and clans under one banner, which strove against the Edelian-Sepult Empire, contesting its control over the Center, and the islands. When the Edelian-Sepult collapsed, many thought it was the start of a golden age for the Nelk. Instead, within a few centuries, they too collapsed, and had rather less ability to govern an Empire beyond their borders than their rivals.

The divisions increased, and so did the war, and it was only three and a half centuries ago that something like peace was established. The striving Kingdoms still war sometimes, with each other and those outside, even, but the days in which violence was endemic and blood was all that mattered have passed, and many are glad that it has. There's enough trouble in the world as it is, with ambitious monarchs, with the Orime still standing apart, with Sepult who lust for the glories of a world that they haven't lived long enough to have known either. Much has changed, but far too much, truly, has stayed the same.

Classes: The Nelk Bearsarkers are rather different than the Orime ones. Instead of controlling themselves, they mimic their understanding of animals and go entirely out of control. They used to be useful, but as peace settled, the price for keeping their order together grew higher and higher, and the benefits lessened. It's one thing to keep on a Nelk Bearsarker in an age of war, even if he slaughters a peasant family in a fit of rage, one whose patriarch had offered insult. It's even possible to ignore or sweep under the river this massacre of that of villages… when they're villages far from where you rule. But eventually the foot was put down, and those Bearsarkers who remain are chained mad dogs, and those who do not submit to virtual slavery are hunted down and killed. They are not people, and unlike Shifters, they aren't *truly* animals either. A wolf doesn't slaughter for rage and joy. A horse bears burdens, a bear protects its cubs. A Bearsarker is like no animal. No, they're lower than that.

The Blood Shaman are most known for their power over the weather, but they do more than that, but always for a price. Their blood, and the blood of others, mingling. It has power, a lesson some suspect they learned from the Orime and advanced to the level of actual magic. Others think it might have been the other way around. Either way, you see plenty of old Shamans, but few who have both of their eyes, ears, all of their teeth, fingers, toes, limbs in general. The world asks much sacrifice, and yet to act right and proper means an eternal lifetime of feasting and drinking after, so Blood Shamans, who are usually quite religious, are quite dutiful in learning how to control the outside world. Blood Magic is not very good at controlling minds, except to whip them into a frenzy. It is quite potent, and very respected, though those abroad often view it as in some way suspect, for indeed Blood Shamans during the Empire once used less than willing captives. In this time of peace, Blood Shamans mostly use the blood of allies, fallen enemies, and always their own, and their pain as well.

The Shifters are a group that embodies many animals at once. While most well-known are those who take a single animal and take on its aspects, and eventually forms that combine it and humanity, there are those who pick multiple totems. What matters is that a wolf can hunt, a bird can fly, a bear can do all manner of things, a horse can run, and a Shifter is never without resources, even in the starving times, resources that human legs and human skills can rarely achieve. They learn from a young age, and often keep to themselves, half-outcast and half-deity, deeply respected and yet sometimes less than understood. There's a lot of honor in becoming so different, but it can be lonely. That is why Shifters often stick together. Even when they travel, they do so most often.

Traveling: There are plenty of reasons to leave the Nelkaelands. The Bearsarkers are barely wanted anymore, and traders and mercenaries slip out, looking to seek their fortune. Even Shifters and Blood Shamans can leave, though less often.

Peoples: Edelians, and Edelia

Description: Once the seat of the longest lasting and most powerful Empire in popular memory, they are now a band of squabbling, though not always warring, city-states. They are rich, they have affluence, sea-power, and they are divided and fractious. Dozens and dozens of city-states compete with each other, and with the various petty kingdoms, dukedoms, and baronies stretching up and upward until they, at their farthest north, were little distinguishable in character and kind from those of the Central Lands, except in their self-conception.

For the Edelians were proud. They had, it was said, the blood of Sepult ,which would certainly explain their smaller height. They were not astoundingly short, but they were known to be a short and slight people, by human standards, given to darker skins at time, for they traded far and wide. The city-states have a wide variety of governments, including the only Republics on the continent, pale shadows of the government that Edele was rumored once to have before the Sepult came and uplifted them with their artifacts and expertise.

While they all speak one language, there are many variations on it, and a traveler should be wary, for while mercenary wars have not happened in generations, there are still bandits, and hidden by magic and strange prophecies and Gods, plenty of dark holes to hide in. It is a land of ruins and lost glory, and yet it is also a land of the quick coin and the cutpurse, the sailing ship and the humble supplication to the Gods.

It is a land of crossroads, and one steeped in both tradition and radical change.

Society, Culture, Life: Their traditions include a very traditional relationship with society, in which individual families were the center of a lot of aristocratic and peasant life, and yet even this is changing. People travel far and wide, and bring their viewpoints with them, and enough centuries have passed that their Empire has become not even a memory, but more like a dream. The average peasant, and the average city-dweller, lives in a world where the Edelian Empire might as well not have happened.

Yet its marks are everywhere. In the countryside there are ruins, some hidden by magic, which often drive adventurers wild with ambition. In fact, in this chaotic and sometimes violent land, there is plenty of work, and adventurers are often cheaper than calling up a militia, or employing an army to deal with many problems. While more people were in the countryside than city, it is the cities, and especially the coastal cities, that come to mind when people think of Edelian culture. Bookbinding, primitive proto-factories, conflict between guilds, strange innovations in terms of sexuality and behavior, all can be found in an Edelian city, often in very different combinations.

Edelian women, the poor, the peoples of a dozen countries cast ashore… old men complain that once all knew their place in the world. But if that world ever did exist, it doesn't any longer, and Edele is a dynamic place to live, albeit a dangerous one. The cities are crowded and riddled with disease and crime, but also vibrant centers of trade, wealth, and culture, and the peasants have their own traditions and ways, ones which can change just as much in the city.

To live in Edele is to accept change and to be ready for anything, including the hot weather and the storms.

Religion: They worship their old Gods, a pantheon that predates their contact with the Sepult. They being traditionalists, but in no other country are there so many that do not on a daily basis engage with the Gods, or with any sort of deity or belief-system at all. But for those who do, they find the Gods vengeful upholders, or so the stories go, of sacred oaths and sacred hospitality. The gods are stern, figures to obey, not to love, as the traditional conception of Edelian parenthood mimicked. But even this sort of culture can be twisted and turned to support change, as can be seen in…

Adventuring/Class: The Edelian countryside is full of ruins, and just as importantly, there are many buried in the last days of the Empire, and many that are hidden by strange magical keys, or other means of concealing them. This, combined with the many potential employers and the wealth concentrated in a relatively small area means that adventurers flock to this place, and Edelians become adventurers in great numbers, driven in part by the power of their oaths. For an Edelian woman who makes an oath to achieve some goal, or to find some treasure, can have the ability to step outside of her expected roles for a time and became an Adventurer as much as a woman in their eyes. The opportunities all mean that there are many ways to live, and they have their own secrets. Thieves are thick in Edelian city-states, and it is rumored that they are more organized than they are in some lands. Certainly, they're more famous, and there is a God of Thieves, something that few other cultures can boast.

Witches are common as well, a broad category of people whose magic is based on sleight of hand, strange traditions, odd brews, and dark rituals. They are not well understood, and yet their abilities are little in doubt.

Less doubtful are the skills of the sailor, the privateer, and others whose nautical adventurers are the stuff of legends and tavern tales. Either way, as a place to start (and as a place to end) one's adventure, there are few as thrilling, as novel… and yet also as dangerous. It is a place of old secrets, and old secrets can, at times, be rotten to the core.