Setting

EARTH
Midgard, Realm of Humans

Earth has been desecrated by climate change, and as a last-ditch effort to save humanity, Mars is terraformed to a habitable planet and all life on Earth moved there. This signals to the wider galaxy that humankind is ready to begin meeting the intergalactic community. The "aliens" of the galaxy are the ones we were taught by the ancient Nords: Elves, Dwarves, "Jotuns" (AKA: Goliaths), etc. Fast-forward 100 years and we're fairly well-acquainted with the galaxy at large, adapting to this new life as quickly as we adapted to the internet.

The colonies are on the fringes of the galaxy (known collectively as The Outskirts) and have devolved somewhat technologically, adapting to this quieter, simpler kind of life. Desperation runs rampant as money is eternally tight; many of the already well-established other people aren't interested in giving up everything to go support out-of-the-way human colonies. For these colonists, it's like the Wild West all over again; one step forward, two steps back. The campaign will be taking place in Rhea, a thought-lost colony that has been recently rediscovered.

RHEA
A human colony

The town of Rhea was lost after a three-year-long lightning storm destroyed their communications relay. After the storm finally subsided, the relay was repaired, and the town considered returned to known space.

ELYTH
Alfheim, Realm of Elves

The second oldest of the realms, Elyth is known to have been seeded with sentient life by a group of Celestials that are believed to be as old as the Aesir. Whatever they were, the ancient Elves referred to them as the Fey, their leaders were recorded as Queen Titania and her unnamed rival, Queen of Air and Darkness. Only Queen Titania and her Seelie Court ever came to Elyth and left behind the seeds of sentience so that a new type of Fey could grow: the Elves. Whether or not the Fey Queen infused Elyth with it’s strange and boundless magic as well is unknown, but the Elves have never lived in an era without the magic of their world.

Long-lived, atheistic, and brilliant, the Elves adhere to a strict meritocratic matriarchy, based on magical prowess. Most of Elyth is now ruled by Queen Aravae Ulanorin from the Grey Palace, though local regions are controlled by Matrons (elder female Elves). The Grey Palace is said to be at the ‘center’ of Elyth, that the massive, sprawling cityscape that dominates most of the world is interconnected through roads and flying lanes, all of which can lead you to the Grey Palace.

The Elves had been doing exploration in the region now known as The Outskirts, setting up small forts on worlds in the habitable zone, when humans destroyed their homeworld and moved to another. A group of Matrons banded together and protested Queen Ulanorin’s inaction, saying that the terraforming process of Mars had been incomplete and was unstable, but humans had proved they were ready to join the galactic community. Eventually, the Queen agreed to help the humans, and gifted them The Outskirts, since many of them had not been settled yet. In the century since, many of the even most-conservative groups have been won over by the easily impressed humans.

Elven name generator.

ASGARD
Realm of Aesir

{PC’s cannot be from Asgard} The Asgardians are the oldest known inhabitants of the galaxy. They had achieved spaceflight before the Elves had been seeded on Elyth. They are amongst a group known as Celestials, beings who come from beyond the stars. They do not attest to being divine, however, they can bestow gifts of power upon those who swear fealty to them. A life devoted, a pact or an oath will be accepted and gifts given in return. (Clerics, Warlocks, and Paladins gain their powers from the Aesir)

Asgardians once visited Earth and spent time there, telling the humans of the stars beyond, in an attempt to uplift the people into an era well beyond their abilities. The humans were so overwhelmed with what the Asgardians told them they believed that they must be gods, and the peoples of whom they spoke, spirits from the beyond. The concept of other worlds and spaceflight was too much for them. Eventually, the Asgardians gave up and returned to their homeworld. Time and war eroded and corrupted the legends in the centuries since.

The Elyth Accord was drafted and signed after this event, which all spacefaring peoples must sign. It is an agreement to not attempt to uplift or otherwise interfere with unprepared species.

JOTIN
Jotunheim, Realm of Giants

The Goliaths of Jotin are strange people with unique beliefs about magic. They are runecarvers, focusing on the magical properties of the stone. Their traditions dictate that Goliaths were carved from the stone by an ancient precursor race that lines up with the legends of Celestials from other worlds.

Jotin is a mountainous planet, much of the world exists in the lower atmosphere, and it’s cold all year round. As such, the Goliaths tend to operate in tribes and are nomadic people. To encounter one alone is to find someone who was expelled from their tribe for not being able to contribute or committing some kind of crime against the tribe. Typically, this is challenging the chief for control of the tribe and losing the challenge.

Goliaths achieved spaceflight after a gifted runecarver (whose name has been lost to time) was able to take their flight rune and amplify its power with fuel. This means that Goliaths are the only spacefaring species whose spacecraft partially rely on magic.

Goliath name generator.

MUSPELL
Muspelheim, Realm of the Fire God

{PC’s cannot be from Muspell} Muspell is a tri-star system too dangerous for current spaceflight technology to safely travel through. Most of the system is viciously guarded by a space storm. The Asgardians and ancient Nords believe that a fire god sleeps between the stars of Muspell. The Elves find this ludicrous. Whatever the truth is, for the time being, is irrelevant as the system is unsurveyed.

NIDAVELGUR
Nidavellir, Realm of Dwarves

The Dwarves are the third oldest of the galactic community. Inventors, tinkerers, designers; the Dwarves value production over all forms of currency. Their legends claim that the Dwarves were spewed from the earth like lava, fully grown and capable of reproduction. The Dwarves have an atheistic culture, focusing primarily on the veneration of their dead.

Though their species had not been around for as long as the Elves, they achieved spaceflight nearly concurrently with them. The sudden birth and expansion of two empires simultaneously led to the first known intergalactic conflict, known as the Venalka War, as it was fought over control of that system. The magical superiority of the Elves caused the Dwarves to turn to technology for a solution; they found it in the Warforged. Technology gives them their bodies, but magic gives them sentience, making them incredibly powerful foes. The conflict ended with no territorial changes after revolts on the homeworlds of both species grew to nearly unmanageable degrees. Eventually, Niltra revealed that it had a sentient species already present and ultimately, Dwarves and Elves agreed that it was probably better that neither had taken the system.

Dwarf name generator.

Warforged name generator.

NILTRIA
Niflheim, Realm of Ice

Truly the strangest and most outlandish of all the galactic community. Niltria is believed to have been seeded by the Fey as the Elves were, but something was wrong with that seed. The group that was raised was referred to as Drow. They couldn't withstand the perpetual deep freezing conditions of Niltria, and turned to the most primordial parts of the realm and affixed themselves to the magic there. When they emerged some centuries later, they called themselves Genasi (meaning, One with All).

These folks are the second newest to the galaxy, having only discovered spaceflight 400 years ago. Some wear biosuits to help keep their core body temperature low enough to survive; others find magical methods to attain the same results. Rarely do Genasi seek confrontation, preferring to avoid unnecessary conflicts and resolve necessary conflicts privately and quietly. This often puts them at odds with the loudmouthed, churlish humans, who are far more brusque than most Genasi like.

Ice Genasi name generator.

SVARTAL
Svartalfheim, Realm of Beasts

Several hundred years ago, the world of Svartal was once owned by the Dwarves and settled there. However, they found that there was sentient life already existing on this planet. The Elyth Accord already signed, the Dwarves began preparations to leave the world. Unbeknownst to them, some of the locals snuck aboard their spacecraft and commandeered the vessel. They turned the vessel around and flew it back home, taking the Dwarves prisoner. To save their own lives, the Dwarves answered all questions and learned a great deal in return.

Leonin and Tabaxi are syncretic peoples. The Leonin is the stronger of the two, burly and large, noble and wise. The Tabaxi are lither, dexterous, and intelligent. They evolved separately but with time, fused their cultures, learning to coexist. With the help of the Dwarves, they were able to achieve spaceflight before their time. Many of the Svartals travel in prides, but if you encounter one alone, it is likely going to be a Tabaxi, as they tend to live more solitary, insulated lives.

The first humans to travel to Svartal were amazed by what they found. Peoples who looked like the animals of Earth, and the entire planet covered in sequoias. Not sequoia-like trees, but actual sequoias. This has raised questions in the galactic community as to how and why Svartal and Earth are so similar. The remnants of the Native American populaces after the destruction of Earth resettled on Svartal, finding peace in the familiarity to their ancestral home and kinship with the prides.

Leonin and Tabaxi name generator.

VENALKA
Vanaheim, Realm of Vedalken

Legend tells that the Vedalken emerged from the water, once entirely living beneath the waves of their great lakes, seeking out other communities for trade and resources. The meeting houses that were established on land for these gatherings turned into small townships as merchants moved to the surface world. After a few thousand years, the once water-bound Vedalken became landlocked; with only the smallest gills along their throats to remind them of their aquatic past.

Venalka, or The Lake World, as some have come to call it, is 76% water with no large oceans. The landmass is divided into sections based on being above water level, measured against Delne, the largest lake on Venalka. Anything below water level is marshy farmland or swamps. Anything above is a spire-city, rising high above ground, broken up into levels that determine what someone's place in life is. Zildia is the largest of these spire-cities; over a mile tall, and originally the largest of the old meeting houses before twelve million people moved there.

The Vedalken worked quickly to achieve spaceflight; nearly breezing through their industrial age. Vedalken don't believe in perfection, but improvement. This attitude pushed them to be eternally pursuing bigger and better, finally able to push a satellite into space... just in time to record the war going on between the Dwarves and Elves. Making themselves known to the peoples above as well as knowing now what is possible, they were soon able to copy and implement what they saw in their recordings. Their place in the galactic community was soon assured; as merchants, expert mages, and inventive tinkers, Vedalkens pushed the boundaries of every field they touched and continue to do so.

They were the first to agree with Queen Ulanorin’s initiative to aid the homeless humans, as they saw a kinship with them and the human ingenuity. As the two peoples have gotten to know each other, the Vedalkens have retracted some of that prior excitement, having learned that humans are far more emotionally vulnerable and quick to become complacent in their achievements if they find success. A select few have caught the hearts and minds of the Vedalken populace, but by and large, the Vedalkens are less interested in humans now than they originally were.

Vedalken name generator.

Languages
Lots of folks have been asking, "What languages are available for this setting?"