The setting is very much inspired by Conan the Barbarian. It is a low-tech, low-magic world of wicked sorcerers, cruel tyrants, devious damsels and brave heroes. You will not find orcs, dragons or magic swords – or most likely even steel swords.
Technology
Steel is the magical metal of Beasts & Barbarians. It was produced in small quantities at the height of the Iron Empire by the Smith Priests of Hulian, but the technique needed to smelt it is lost today. Steel objects are prized relics and treasures; they are almost priceless.
In the Dread Sea Dominions, the science of metallurgy is still in its infancy and many cultures use primitive materials to build weapons and other tools. The most common materials, in descending order of hardness, are: steel, iron, bronze, stone, bone, wood. Iron weapons and armor are common only in the Iron Empire (Faberterra, Syranthia and Zandor). In the other lands they are Rare and cost double. Bronze is common in most of the Dominions. Only in the Caledlands, Lush Jungle, and Ivory Savannah is it Rare, and there it costs double.
History
Refer to the Players’ Guide for details, but briefly:
- (three thousand years ago) The not-quite-human Keronian Empire ruled the world
- (two and a half thousand years ago) A massive mountain of fire falls from the sky and destroys the Keronian Empire; the crater it made is now the Dread Sea
- (two thousand years ago) The few surviving Keronian princes founded the realm of Tricarnia in the north
- (fifteen hundred years ago) Human kingdoms arise from the slaves of the Keronians
- (a thousand years ago) Having discovered iron, Faberterra becomes the strongest kingdom, founding the Iron Empire
- (188 years ago) The Valk Invasion starts: hordes of riders sweep in from the east and much of the Iron Empire is lost
- (48 years ago) Dhaar, leader of the Valk horde, dies mysteriously and the invasion falters
Lands
Ascaia, The Amazons’ Island
A small island of women who rebelled against and expelled all menfolk a thousand years ago. Ruled by the Sister Queens.
The Borderlands
Small independent kingdoms allied to Faberterra; a buffer zone against the savage tribes of Northeim.
The Cairnlands
A land of burial mounds where the Cairn Lords worship their Ancestors and live amongst the dead.
Caldeia
A city-state founded by an exiled Priest Prince of Tricarnia, Caldaios the Cruel, four hundred years ago. He is rumoured to still be alive, but has not been seen for three hundred years.
Caledland
A vast, ancient forest inhabited by primitive savages, the Caleds–naked, tattooed barbarians who fight with stone-tipped spears; their strength lies mainly in their druids, a caste of very powerful sorcerers.
Cannibal Islands
Home to one of the most ferocious peoples in the world, primitive men who attack and eat any stranger they meet.
Ekul
A young nation founded by Eku, one of the sons of Dhaar, leader of the Valk. Mainly a desert, but enlightened leadership and an industrious population makes it a pleasant place to live.
Faberterra
Formerly the heart of the Iron Empire, but now only a shadow of its former glory. The rich countryside, full of large estates and prosperous farms, is slowing decaying, because the landowners spend more time indulging in personal pleasures than looking after their properties. Home to Faberterra City, the biggest settlement of the known world; almost a million people live there.
The Fallen Realm of Keron
Part of the Keronian Empire that was not destroyed; separated from the mainland by the Keronian Range. Officially an uninhabited land, but there are rumors that particularly wicked tribes of Red Nomads, who call themselves Black Nomads to distinguish themselves from their southern brothers, dwell there, their souls and bodies corrupted by the evil things lurking in the ancient ruins and dark fissures of the Fallen Realm.
The Finger Islands and The Cove
Home to pirates and the dreaded Finger Pygmies, surrounded by treacherous shallows and dotted with ancient Keronian ruins engulfed by the jungle.
Gis, Free City Of The Alchemists
Founded by foreign mages, probably from Lhoban. Ruled by The Alchemists, mysterious masked figures who control powerful magic.
The Independent Cities
A dozen Independent Cities exist, but the most important are Hillias, on the Dread Sea, Teyerana, on the shores of the Endless Ocean and Quollaba, in the heart of the Red Desert.
The Iron Mountains
A massive mountain chain, dividing the Dominions in two. Home to the fiercely independent Mountaineers and various clans of Nandals, which are the nightmare of civilized people.
The Islands of the Maimed Ones
This archipelago in the center of the Dread Sea is usually avoided by all mariners. Covered in a thick jungle and home to strange beasts unknown in the rest of the Dominions.
The Ivory Savannah
An endless land of rolling hills and flat plains, home to herds of buffalo, lions, gazelles and zebras. The Savannah Tribes are mostly herders or hunters organized in clans, who follow the migrations of the herds that provide them with food.
Jalizar, City Of Thieves
The biggest city of the north, probably the second or third biggest city in all the Dominions. The Rotten Flower of the North, as it is often called, is a place of trade and passage, but also a den of thievery and wickedness.
Kyros
A gateway between south and north, and east and west. It is an ancient land with imposing palaces and well-tended gardens, ruled by the paranoid Autarch.
The Land of the Idols
A spooky land dotted with ancient ruins of unknown origin. Animals don’t like it and people generally avoid it.
Lhoban
A very spiritual land of high mountains and deep valleys. Although each village is ruled by a council of elders, the monks are the true ruling class.
The Lush Jungle
An enormous tropical forest that marks the southern border of the known world. Nobody has explored it completely. It is a very dangerous place.
Northeim
A wild land of wolves, bears and mountain lions. Mostly uninhabited, because the Northlanders live in isolated clans and don’t farm on a large scale.
The Red Desert
A dangerous place but hosts some Independent Cities and is home to nomads and tribes of herders, the only people capable of surviving in this harsh land.
Syranthia
A land of low, rolling hills and fertile plains, Syranthia represents civilization in its most opulent form. Ruled by a council of merchant princes, independent from the Empire but still pays tribute to Faberterra.
Tricarnia
Tricarnia is divided into Principalities, each ruled by a Priest Prince, a powerful sorcerer. Most of the population are slaves, with day-to-day business usually supervised by eunuch slave-bureaucrats.
The Troll Mountains
Marking the northern border of the world, what lies beyond these tall, snow-capped peaks is a mystery even to the sages of Syranthia. What lurks among the mountains, though, is well-known: Trolls.
Valkheim
The new home of the Valk. The clans faithful to Tukal, first son of Dhaar, followed him here and established a new Valk realm. Today Tukal has been dead for many years, but his kingdom survived him.
The Valk Steppe
The first, little chunk of the Far East, where whole hordes of Valk clans and other strange populations live. Very little is known about them.
The Verdant Belt
A fertile land, where farming is easy and the climate mild, but threatened from the north by the Savannah Tribes and bordered in the south by Lush Jungles, from where the Pygmies and other dark things occasionally come looking for prey. But the greatest evil comes from the west in the shape of Caldeian slave traders.
Zandor
What remains of the eastern Iron Empire. Largely destroyed by the Valk invasion, the remaining Zandorians live in isolated, independent settlements, with strong militia and draconian laws, and they can only protect the nearby territory. The Valk, instead, wander the region freely, following their nomadic customs. In truth, nobody is capable of ruling over Zandor.