Join Adam as he builds out the DireLands fantasy campaign setting nations. This is the continuation of a series of livestreams which will see the development of the DireLands fantasy campaign setting. You can learn more about DireLands here: https://reverendcampbell.com/direlands/
About DireLands Fantasy Campaign Setting
DireLands is a system agnostic, dark fantasy tabletop roleplaying campaign setting. It was created by Adam P. Campbell in 2024. DireLands is set in a land that is in the final century of an ice age that saw the rise of the Witch-Queen who subjugated the three realms’ populations and cast out the demi-human races. The Triumvirate rose in the last century and liberated two of the three nations, but after their victory, they have become corrupt themselves.
Show Notes:
Intro
Welcome to this continuation of my DireLands system agnostic, dark fantasy campaign setting episode! My name is Adam and in this episode I will be outlining the DireLands Fantasy Campaign Setting nations. I will also be discussing the concepts of the DireLands setting.
Details
- Bressus
- Founded: 1113 A.M.
- Size: Approx. 1,380 miles east to west and 1,110 miles north to south.
- Population: Approx. 20 million (62% human, 9% elves, 7% dwarves, 5% halfling, 17% misc.)
- Capital: Trinisius (1 million population)
- Government: Republic (Emperor, representative senators, and lords of state)
- Bressus was founded by the men from the west, some five-hundred years after arriving in Faulest. The fledgling nation they created was in constant territorial disputes with the first-nation peoples and after claiming, losing, and reclaiming land. They ended up signing an alliance with the native peoples to found the nation after regular inclusions from Locaston.
- Bressus quickly implemented roads and even aqueducts in their capital, bringing safety and security to a land which has had none since time immemorial. As the nation continued to develop, it began to focus on science, art, and literature over war technology. The sacred Jhion Order began to record history and worked with many scientific experts to record alchemy, herbology, astronomy and mathematics. Magic is understood to be a form of science.
- Caelia
- Founded: 1073 A.M.
- Size: Approx. 1,260 miles east to west and 1,050 miles north to south.
- Population: Approx. 13 million (47% human, 17% elves, 13% dwarves, 10% halfling, 13% misc.)
- Capital: Yurtheq (750 thousand population)
- Government: Tribal Collective (self-governing tribes)
- Caelia was reluctant to form itself as a nation, as they are a collection of wildly disparate cultures. After Locaston began to focus on their border with the unification of Bressus, the tribal elders decided there could be safety in numbers. Each tribe holds sway over their own, with representatives of each having a say in the future of the nation and its interaction with Locaston and Bressus.
- This is one of the only safe areas for magic to be implemented as a way of life, rather than a governed practice. While each tribe has its own culture, they universally share the same first-nation peoples’ language as they populated all of Faulest for untold generations before the beàrrta arrived. They are struggling to maintain tradition with the advanced nation of Bressus nearby, and many of the young populations have adopted their neighbors culture, or intermixed it with their own, to the bitter dismay of their elders.
- Locaston
- Founded: 1955 A.M.
- Size: Approx. 1,500 east to west and 3,5110 north to south.
- Population: Appriox. 17 million (35% human, 20% half-orc, 12% goblin, 8% ogre, 2% elven, 33% misc.)
- Capital: Vuurghnim (1.1 million population)
- Government: Autocratic (tribal leaders with emperor)
- Locaston was originally founded by an alliance between the northern first-nation peoples and the half-orc tribes in the north. They sought to defend their territory not only from the new incursion of the beàrrta, but also the cyclical invasion of otherworldly aberrations whenever the moon of Dòiche was near. It was in one of these cycles that the Witch-Queen first stepped foot on Ciar-mhonadh.
- With the Ice age making life all but impossible for the northernmost tribes, generations would migrate south causing regional conflict. It was in this era of upheaval that the Witch-Queen claimed power and sought to subjugate the entire continent, then the world. The myriad demi-races unified under her banner mostly for the opportunity of striking back against the humans who had treated them so poorly. When the nation was founded, the northern human tribes agreed to work together and stand in opposition to those in the south.
- After the Triumvirate defeated the Witch-Queen, the Gaullix retreated to the Grux Range in the north. They have been building their forces with a desire for revenge embedded in their cultural vernacular. Many even believe the Witch-Queen to have survived the war in some form, though these rumors are unproven.
- Wildlands
- Each nation contains and is often bordered by wildlands. These areas are untamed regions, abandoned by the civilized beings of Faulest. They are primarily populated by fey, aberrant & natural creatures and monstrosities that do not comprehend mortals’ desire to craft boundaries. While the size and shape of the wildlands ebb and flow with time and migration patterns, they are generally contained in the noted locations on the map of Faulest.
- Traveling in the wildlands is prohibited in Bressus after the signing of the Kendra Accord in 1,013 A.M. The people of Caelia believe that the wildlands are to be honored and protected. There are tribes that require young men and women to enter the wildlands to commune with the spirits therein before becoming adults and finding their place in their tribe. The various tribes of Locaston see the wildlands as a nuisance more than anything. It’s easier to avoid them and focus on their own borders and positions in the hierarchy.
Outro
Thank you for watching today’s DireLands Fantasy Campaign Setting timeline episode. Please consider subscribing to this YouTube channel and liking and commenting on this video. Always remember that evil spelled backwards is live, so get out there and be evil!