Arkadai

Main
Arkadai is a world created by the god Xaon (more commonly known as the Maker) for various other divine beings to play in. These beings inhabit avatars known as the Ensouled, which are no stronger than any mortal at birth but develop incredible powers the longer they live… which tends to be a very long time, seeing as they don’t age and can return to life when slain. Some go on to become heroes, slaying the monsters and villains that continually rise to threaten Soulless civilization. Some steal, lie, and murder indiscriminately. Some settle down and become barkeeps or gardeners. All are feared.

While it appears real to planeswalking visitors, Arkadai is in fact a simulation. Various bugs in its source code allow more learned inhabitants to do the impossible, at the cost of weakening the plane’s very fabric of existence. Even when working as intended, Arkadai tends to operate on video game logic rather than more elegant physical laws found on many other planes.

Some time in the past few hundred years, the Maker and his Modran servants vanished, leaving only a skeleton crew of angels to keep the plane functional. Since then, the number of Ensouled has decreased, but many remain despite Arkadai’s steady deterioration.

Major Areas and Factions
Cetani – The largest continent on Arkadai, and the first one the Maker created (besides Limbo, which most would say doesn’t count). Consists of two subcontinents. Cetani Major, to the south, is dominated by the Kingdom of Valyria. Cetani Minor, to the north, is mostly wilderness and known primarily for the regions of Timberspine and Mandelshay.


 * The Kingdom of Valyria – A relatively peaceful kingdom locked in roughly late-medieval stasis. The lack of dangerous wildlife, and strict magically-enforced laws against murder outside specified zones, make it much safer than anywhere else on the plane. Most of the Ensouled spawn here, and many of them never leave.
 * Mandelshay – A vast plain inhabited mainly by pastoral centaurs. Some humans occupy villages on the outskirts, close enough to Valyria that raids by the territorial centaur clans are usually more trouble than they’re worth. It’s so suspiciously boring that some people theorize the Maker hid some terrible secret here. They’re right.
 * Timberspine – A treacherous mountain range inhabited by giants and monsters. By far the most dangerous place in Cetani. When one of its inhabitants decides to roam a little too close to Valyria, whole teams of powerful Ensouled heroes may be required to take it down.
 * The Adventurers’ Guild – A world-spanning guild of adventurers, most of them Ensouled. Its headquarters are built around the immense Nexus Tree, which has portals to lands across Arkadai strewn among its branches.
 * Zulixi - A coastal region directly above Limbo, populated mainly by gnomes. The worst affected by the glitches that plague Arkadai, and doomed to destruction with the awakening of the SOURCE.

(Yldar?) – The second largest continent on Arkadai, to the west of Cetani Minor. A patchwork of warring states and dangerous hinterlands.


 * The Empire of Zarad – A fast-growing dictatorship led by the once-human Zarad, who is determined not to end up like every other would-be villain who sought to take over the world. Even if it means breaking the world apart in the process.
 * Stonevault – A system of interconnected tunnels and vast underground caverns, home to the dwarven clans.
 * Thornweald – A forest full of venomous flora and fauna, and home to the elven tribes.
 * The Cult of Jormir – Worship a giant snake said to encircle the world. This is true: The Maker initially put krakens in the Lanthic Ocean to eat anyone who got too close to the edge of Arkadai and prevent them from crashing the server, but after a few too many of them got killed he realized he needed a stronger deterrent. The cult used to be much more widespread, but the Maker wiped most of them out because they kept trying to make pilgrimages to the edge of the world to be eaten by their god. A handful of them survive deep in the northern parts of Thornweald, where even the elves refuse to go.

The Gray Desert – The third largest continent on Arkadai, to the southwest of Cetani Major and connected by an isthmus only a few miles wide. Most sane people avoid it due to its sheer hostility. Naturally, the Ensouled descend on it like flies.


 * The Mukal Hordes – Humanoid constructs of ash and clay that spawn endlessly from the ground. Attack in waves, killing everyone in their path.
 * The Orc Warbands – Nomadic tribes that subsist by hunting the few other creatures tough enough to survive here. While often viewed as violent savages by other humanoid species, orcs have a rich and varied culture based around the virtues of bravery, honor, endurance, and pragmatism. They’re also just as instrumental as the Towerwatch in checking the growth of the Mukal Hordes.
 * The Towerwatch – A standing army funded and staffed by both the Kingdom of Valyria and the Adventurer’s Guild. Tasked with keeping the inhabitants of the Gray Desert from crossing over to raid the people of Cetani Major. Very high mortality rate.

The Lanthic Ocean – A vast ocean that encircles every landmass on Arkadai (except Limbo, which doesn’t count). Home to all sorts of dangerous and rather unpleasant sea monsters. It also sustains several underground seas beneath the continents, most notably Urilath.


 * The Nation of Urilath – Populated almost entirely by cephalids, since no other race can breathe underwater. Its very existence is a closely guarded secret, and revealing it is punishable by death or worse.
 * The Fourth Eye – Once an unimpressive Valyrian thieves’ guild, the Fourth Eye’s fortunes changed drastically once it acquired the Book of Secrets. Branches of the Fourth Eye are now found across the world, and it pays the brain-council of Urilath an exorbitant sum to keep its headquarters in the most effectively hidden nation Arkadai has ever seen.

The Celestial Spheres – The realm where divine beings reside. Not technically a part of Arkadai, nor is it accessible to Arkadai’s inhabitants. Almost nothing is known about it, since planeswalkers always arrive in Arkadai rather than whatever parts of the plane lie beyond.


 * Xaon and His Servants – The Modrans are similar to other Ensouled, but much more powerful and with far fewer restrictions on using that power. Some of them also have limited access to the source code of Arkadai (except for Xaon himself, whose access is complete). Angels are mana constructs created by Xaon to automate tasks he and the Modrans are too busy to perform.

Limbo – The Maker’s first attempt at creating Arkadai, which quickly became corrupted and spawned the nightmarish being known as SOURCE. Unable to destroy it, the Maker simply built over it, leaving SOURCE to fester in its stillborn demiplane deep beneath Cetani Major. With the Maker and his servants gone, SOURCE has begun to make itself known once again through the glitches that plague Arkadai.