Primer

Welcome to Dahri
To begin before anything else, I want you to keep something in mind. There are several continets within the world, but only a few are listed below - you're going to only choose one. Which ever has the most interest is where the party will be starting from and what we will be conducting our session zero over. What is offered below is an overview of the overarching themes, places, and current events to help you decide; you will learn more pertinent information when a consensus is met.

At the very end there are some questions for you to answer regardless of where you choose, as well as a note to keep in mind.

Themes

 * Identity - who you are is defined by the swing of the bat, not the words you use.
 * Exploration - graves and holy places; untouched, private; unwelcoming -- there are no such things here; the world welcomes you. Take that which is willingly offered to you - learning and experience are a reward rather than taking and plundering; respect and care instead of violence and pride.
 * Exploration and Travel - Dungeon delving, eating new food, and meeting new people and learning about how they live.
 * History and legacy - how things get forgotten and misremembered.
 * Dreams and Reality: What changes can someone's dreams have on the world around them? What does it mean to exist within a dream, with the possibility of disappearing when someone else wakes up?
 * You can’t run from yourself.
 * How rumors affect reality. Personal responsibility for making the world what it is and what we want it to be, and the consequences of failing to take responsibility.
 * Environmentalism. What you do to your home matters; whatever it is - make it count.
 * Si vis pacem, para bellum. "If you want peace, [you should] prepare for war".

These are broad overarching themes - some may be more prevalent in one area of the world than another, but when thinking of who you are (character wise) it may be smart to keep these in mind. Make them yours, or disregard them as you please; differences are what make you you and the party unique.

And more than anything, I want to run a game you want to play - if you desire something different or want to play something different I'll make that work.

The World as a Whole
“Explorers dig through the wreckage of dead cities, the only difference is that you are meant to be there. The people of the past knew the end was coming and that it was inevitable, so they chose to leave their homes for whoever was going to come next. They dedicated what time they had left preparing, chronicling, explaining themselves and their world to whoever that would come next... What could their stories have been, what could they have left behind?”

Setting

 * Setting Location - a highly homebrewed world (with help from 3rd party content), that centers around the players exploring and enjoying at their leisure. Do not take this as time being unimportant - things can and will change without you being somewhere to witness it, this is instead a welcome to explore what you'd like as you like; the world will always have problems, and sometimes it's okay to know you can't fix them all. (Nor should you try.)


 * Scope - Continent-spanning. This is mostly done through learning about the world itself -- the history that has been long left to sleep or is actively changing every day, and what specific goal or reason a PC may have to be interested in globe trotting.
 * As a soft-scope, you the PCs, will most likely be starting in the hub city of: this will be shared when the results are finalized

''Remember you can only choose one. There may be opportunities to visit the others in your game, but for the most part the scope is continent wide.''
 * Setting Events:
 * the great Dungeon has been found beneath the Beastlands; it's reach is far and unending, where once was a thriving port town has become a bay of sahuagin, a river changes course at the drop of a hat, a great fort has appeared in someone's basement. With no rhyme or reason the Dungeon appears and the Delvers are the celebrity of the era.
 * the land of Cyllinys is facing the instability of the veil between the planes; odd and mind-boggling changes are appearing upon the world from the City of Brass making a home in the badlands, the Fey taking root wherever they please, and pockets of time out of place; but it is also true to say that new riches and resources are gaining a foothold; academic success? Monster ecology? A chef or crafter in search of new material -- the world is your oyster and there has never been a better time to be curious.
 * Recently, large scale plate activity has shifted a large portion of Temir's geography with some areas being scarred with new undelved ravines, caves, and craters. However, new holes isn't the only thing this plate activity has left behind: ruins; both those unknown in current scripture and scholar, as well as those noted down in the old runes and that theory has been crafted around for years. The mainland isn't the only place to be graced with such revelations, and there's no real telling what spoils are to be found, or if this new appearance is just the start of something much bigger.
 * The island continent of Meraja has always been stagnant. The islands are simply -- where they are. This has changed recently, startlingly recently. Various colleges that do studies on the various islands have taken not how distance between the islands and their ruling forces has shifted, source unknown. It doesn't help that some of the more expansionist paced powers are taking a keen interest. The Uncharted Lands and all that it may offer are now within grasp, and there's no telling if more Everglow, the continents primary fuel source will be found, and if it is, what it will be used for.
 * Danger - Moderately safe to high stakes danger; there is no real safety while out and about on the road, but people in general aren’t out to harm you without good reasons. Ruins and exploration zones will be a mixed bag; some areas are overcoming new wounds.
 * Goals: party-oriented goals (your stories, so to speak). Learning about history (and how, in some cases, everything you know is wrong) and the world left behind. Figuring out who you are or want to be.
 * Player input: What are your goals (or the goals of the party? A game you’d like to play?): Wealth? Doing good/helping others? Surviving? Accomplishing personal goals? Telling a heroic story? Getting revenge? Crafting? Categorizing? Fame?
 * Game style: role playing, exploration, archeology & ruin delving.
 * Levity: light-hearted to moderately serious as campaign deems necessary.

[Show/hide] The Beastlands


People in the Beastlands make their lives beautiful by loving and trusting one another. They live without self-consciousness, and love without shame. Even in a dangerous and sometimes grim world, that gives them power to prevail. Showing vulnerability and trusting someone else aren’t foolish or naive. Those things are what makes delvers strong.

With its own mythology, creation myths, and views someone from the Beastlands may have a bit of a unique view on things.

(Players please note: The beastlands is the only continent that has major race restrictions. Due to it's absolute veil The Beastlands are considered to be a "cross-world" continent and thus has it's own set of history and development set entirely at odds with the other choices.

Beast People
In the Beastlands creation myth, a deity changes her favorite animals into people. In the Beastlands, the walking animal-like people are called “beasts” and non-sentient animals are called “animals,” and sometimes “quiet-minded beasts.” They are considered wholly separate.

The History/Setting of the Beastlands
Before the Dungeon, monsters were a rarity. In the Beastlands, adventuring is a trade and its workers are called “delving crews.” Monsters and dungeons aren’t everywhere all the time, but there are thousands of delvers in the world. Delvers travel in wagons, and in caravans. Crews of around delvers travel in house wagons.

The Dungeon
“The Dungeon” is both an entity and a phenomenon. Spanning the entity of the Beastlands is The Dungeon reaching depths unknown, with few that have traversed past the first upper-crust layers. However, it also causes the mysterious phenomenon where mazes and ruins appear out of nowhere, all around the world. Monsters come from the Dungeon. They aren’t sapient. Delvers kill monsters, but this isn’t considered murder. Monsters can be intelligent, but they act on instinct and don’t change their worldview based on experience. These traits are defined as being a “willful creature”, and it’s also what separates two-legged “beasts” from four-legged “animals.”

Murder is uncommon. The average person isn’t desperately poor. Killing shopkeepers will get one quickly imprisoned or worse. There aren’t bandits cutting throats on the side of every road. Most people have what they need to get by.

Cosmology
The gods of the Beastland are few. Most people revere Pirhoua (good); beasts believe that Pirhoua gave them sapience. There are a few others: Dramphine (justice), The Seelie (dreams), Yttrus (knowledge), Varasta (chaos), Aubade (the sun), Veronette (evil). In addition, the people of the Beastlands don’t see gods as “people.” Deities are personifications of concepts, not people with free will. They can only act in accordance with their domain.

Homelands & Magic
There are five major “homelands.” They are Allemance, Vinyot, Arneria, Al’ar, and Oria.

Magic within the Beastlands is a commonality. People who grow up in cities will more than likely have meet a great magic user, or well-read wizard. Almost everyone knows someone who can cast a cantrip. Most people have used at least one common magic items. However, there are exceptions to this rule. Due to Delvers traveling through wagons -- and a times whole towns doing so -- teleportation, or rather anything that allows instant long-range travel, is a rarity. The undead within the Beastlands, are always considered evil as the people of the Beastlands see the power to create them as coming from Veronette, an evil deity. Fiends are from a place where nothing exists, and exist only to destroy creation. Regular folks will call for help if they see the use of almost any necromancy.

History
There are living beasts who remember the birth of this world centuries ago. On that first day, the Beast Mother Pirhoua chose a menagerie of her favorite animals. They stood up, and she showed them the horizon. In the centuries following, they built cities and societies spanning their world and beyond. They formed homelands, five broad cultural and geographical identities. Then, their young reality’s rulebook was rewritten. They repelled a human army’s invasion. Humans were curious creatures first encountered from a parallel land that they hadn’t known existed. The war surprised them, and a grueling conflict ensued. After three years of occupation, they pulled freedom from the precipice of defeat. The Invader War redefined their world, but change was just the beginning.

Victory solved the beasts’ plight, but defeat left humanity with theirs. Millions of desperate humans were still trapped in their Broken World. Fallow soil would starve most and thin air would suffocate the rest. The Beasts learned that their invasion was motivated by a catastrophe threatening their existence. Beasts learned that sometimes, forgiveness requires deliberate effort. Despite their crimes, Beasts looked to the future and prepared to accept humans into our world. No longer as invaders, but as brethren. Beasts declared forgiveness and pleaded with their goddess to help rescue their enemy. Pirhoua performed her second great miracle: the Pilgrimage of humans. In an instant, millions were swept from the final closing of death’s jaws. Humans were here to stay. The Pilgrimage redefined our world again, but more change came with it.

Invasion transformed the world. The Pilgrimage transformed it again. Now, the Dungeon is transforming it once more. Heroic beasts and brethren take up arms to chase it away wherever it may appear. More bold adventurers join the cause every day to win the unimaginable riches waiting in the Dungeon’s belly. The Delve has begun.

[Show/hide] Cyllinys


Cyllinys is a place of self-sufficieny. Neighbors, friends, and family strive for unity and trust even when the bridge seems well-past destroyed, because that is the only to survive the changing landscape and lifestyle challenges presented to them. They live with hope in their hearts, and appreciate seeing every new dawn. Even when things seem bleak and the world is no longer as they are used to, giving up has never been a concept Cyllinians know. There is no winning if there is no one left to witness the way history is changing in real time; the spite to go on and the obstinance to innovate is what makes this new rocky era less daunting than it could have been.

Cyllinian Tenacity
When the first plane-tear opened up on some poor Cyllinian's farm, it was not their first instinct to hide and call for help. Instead, in Cyllinys, curiosity and all that is wrapped with it is often one's first realization. This curiosity has lead to quite a number of problems on the continent, but this very same curiosity is one of the reason's plane-hopping and inter-planar work-permits and careers exist.

Setting of Cyllinys
Monsters and the occasional odd planar-disturbance are not an unknown to Cyllinys. It's only when the first planar-rift occurred that "adventuring" broadend it's criteria to more than just someone out to caravan the wilds and stab things with. Most rifts are stationary allowing relatively stable travel between the planes and their neighbors, allowing a near-constant ability for "adventurers" (even if, in fact, they may instead be caravan crafters, chefs in search of the big New Thing, or someone who fancies themself a planar historian) to travel, explore, or study as whenever they fancy (and can be allowed through a rift.)

Planar Travel
Rifts are tears within the veil that allow travel through the material plane to the surrounding out planes. There are only a few stationary rifts, anchored by a magic as of yet still unknown and incapable of being replicated, but all over Cyllinys rifts have a chance of appearing -- often without certanty to which plane it allows access to, and even less known about what will come out of it. All new lifeforms and things come from these rifts, with some leaving catastrophic damage to surroudning enviornments in their wake. Some within Cyllinys believe this can be an opportunity to advance while other see this as a portent to greater problems to come.

Officially, all that is known is that there is no way to stop the rifts from opening, and even less on how to force them shut.

Cosmology
The gods of Cyllinys have shifted and changed over the years of the continents existence, and godhood has only grown more turbulent with the rifts. Still, across the world of Dahri the following beings take presidence in terms of power, hierarchy, and continued (unscruitinized) belief: Thymeia (The Maiden of Health), Lotar (The Warbringer), Soliel (The LightKeeper) Fuli (The Amber Lord), The Veiled Mistress, Caochan (The Bloomguard), Nanook (The Rememberance), The Great Grandmother, Tirasil (Mischief Maker/The Elation), Ithil (Mother of Twilight/ Old Candlelight), Erstwhile (The Solemn Arbiter), and Golightly (Everforward), but there are a many other lesser idols, and gods unspoken in the land.

Ruling powers & Magic
There are several rulling powers native to Cyllinys. They consists of: The Tsardom of Vydínnja (Vee-DIN-ya), The Webs of Tethe'alla, and the Tenebraean Trade Lords. There are a handful of other smaller (native) realms of note such as the Throne of Embers, Chamberdeeps of Ruón, and others. Even more exist in the surrounding planes.

Magic within Cyllinys is ever-studied subject. There are universities, societies, and guildes dedicated to understanding its uses, forms, and the root of its very source within the world. Magic itself perforates through the realm, though the practice and formal study of it is considered to be uncommon, with only those with recognition from a school or acknowledgement from someone in power (even if that power is a mayor of a hamlet) allowed to use it without resaon. Yes, many people know someone who can cast a cantrip, or owns a common magic item, but all of these people are registered within their region's Arcane Library. Very few form of magic are considered distastful, illegal, or otherwise, as magic is instead jugged on a case by case basis.

Of course, this doesn't mean that the new swell of magic from the rifts is always so well recieved. Scholars may appreciate the new cultures to study, the architecture to learn from, the ruins to explore, but hardly anyone at all enjoys a swirl of wild magic dropping a bear in their home, or a rift to the fire plane setting off an explosion in their flower garden.

[Show/hide] Temir


Through whipping winds, drought-heavy months, and the ever changing sea of sand the people of Temir prevail. Quick-wit and of sturdy body, there is little that will break the spirit of those who live in the Sand Sea. They have lived through the longest of wars, and seen entire empires fall; the people of sand see change as inevitable; why fight when you can simply live?

Arcane Wasting
Unique to the Sea of Sand, arcane wasting is a disease that ravages the land until there is nothing but silt, sand, and rot left in the earth. Contained to a portion of the Ushos Jungle, there are concerns of warning signs — unexplained leaf rot, sudden loss of land fertility, wells running dry — of it cropping up in regions far from the source. If it is not contained soon, there is very little that will stop its spread.

Setting of the Temir
From the Ground Dragon Migration through Mafazuli road, to at times Cataclysmic Levels of Damage from the aptly named Boomtown, there is hardly a moment of true, unobstructed quiet within the land of sand. There is always something new to be discovered (or for people to be discovered by), and there are always those willing to tempt fate, regardless of how the outcome will tip the scale.

Stringent Flexibility
With the weather, the monsters, and the general hostility of deserts and jungles, one learns to roll with the punches. It’s practically a rule of survival in Temir to be as flexible as possible — if you hunker down in one place, you better have a few plans to fall back on when the water runs dry.

Life here is different. Murder, theft, and trickery is not uncommon here, but nor can it be called a norm. Harming a shopkeeper or robbing a caravan is still a quick way to get imprisoned, or worse. But danger here is -- an expected consequence. There is nothing safe about the desert; it is best to realize this early.

Cosmology
Similar to its sister continent of Cyllinys, the continent of Temir follows much of the listed panthon consisting of: Thymeia (The Maiden of Health), Lotar (The Warbringer), Soliel (The LightKeeper) Fuli (The Amber Lord), The Veiled Mistress, Caochan (The Bloomguard), Nanook (The Remembrance), The Great Grandmother, Tirasil (Mischief Maker/The Elation), Ithil (Mother of Twilight/ Old Candlelight), Erstwhile (The Solemn Arbiter), and Golightly (Everforward), though they may be called different names. In addition, with Temir being one of the oldest lived continents, it too has its own unspoken history and lost beings.

For the most part, Temir looks at gods as “Masks” less individuals (as in Cyllinys), and more as concepts that they cannot stray far from. They are still revered here, but they look at all gods (including beings who may be looked upon poorly in Cyllinys) neutrally, believing that they have no choice but to act the way they do.

Regions & Magic
There are nine major regions. They are Nuria Natal, The Lands of Wind and Sand, Dabu, The High Jungle, The Kingdoms of Salt and Steel, Corsair Coat, The Abandoned Lands, Hives of Tosculi, and The Southern Fringe.

Magic within Temir is not an unknown. Divine sparks exist here, myth and history is rife with magic untapped and unknown, but more specifically, for those in the know, travelling around the continent in a quicker fashion is not an impossibility. Transportation magic -- to those who can figure it out -- exists in the forms of Red Portals, Magical Monuments, or even the shadow roads.

Undead on the continent is a complex topic. There are always those who will see the undead as evil, but in other places such as Nuria-Natal, the undead are an almost expected group of individuals. Outside of this region, however, it is always best to be conservative with necromantic magic and practices lest you stumble into a... situation.

[Show/hide] Meraja
Ebbing waves and an enjoyment of life describes those who call Meraja home best. Life is lived boldly, wildly, and without stifling, they love freely, and community is at the heart of every settlement; regardless of its within a troupe of bandits and ne'er-do-wells, or in the quiet gathering of people in a home. The people of Meraja are not naive or foolish, rather they believe that choosing to give something a chance is better than condemning, or doing nothing at all.

Everglow
Typically, only found in small clusters, Everglow — the powdered forms of the stones — produce fields of magical energy. This energy causes erratic motion, volatile reactions, and is considered to still be highly unstable, but its use is continued due to the various feats that have been accomplished from its use: airships, massive drills, lightning rails.

Setting of Meraja
Traveling the sea or meandering down a sleepy river to one’s destination is a fact of life here. Life here is not small by any means — not with sky pirates and ocean pirates alike, and that’s not even getting into floating settlements, the oft kraken terrorized waters of the north, or even the cacti that act as homes — and there more than a few butting heads both on land and the sea; “adventurers” doesn’t even come close to describe what it’s like to make the journey across the isles, and that’s not even getting into the pockets of life and civilization all around.

Fuel of the Generation
Everglow has revolutionized Meraja as a whole — from popping neon signs of color, faster land based and sea (as well as under sea in some places) travel, to skyships and even conduits of study for the Arcane. This is not a recent discovery, but it is one that has several controversies and discussions surrounding it. For now, many people see the gathering of Everglow as a way to propel the world forward, a way to provide for their families. Others question the instability of the material, of the harm it could do, of what lasting, currently unknown effects could come from its use. For now, what can be definitely said is this: The Opulous Ridge Empire has a monopoly, and as the powerhouse of the region, its rivals are rushing to catch up; some have turned to piracy to steal it for various purposes; others push for its use to discontinue.

Cosmology
Much like its sister continents it has a decent sized belief system, however, it differs from the both of them by having an entirely separate creation story, and it subsets the gods into a much smaller pantheon that goes by different names and has different focuses except for a few. This is due to the fact that Meraja is an incredible distance away from Temir and Cyllinys. The Inventors: Vaidé, The Great Inventor (Life & Death), Balthazar, The Old Candlelight/Moonmaker (Knowledge & Light), Glenyra (Nature & Protection), Ruhn, (War & Order), Zio, The Gift Bearer (Death & Arcana), Dendelah (Trickery & Knowledge), Broggar the Worldsplitter (War & Tempest), Ormu (Nature & Grave).

The Chorus: Savur, The Song of Broggar (Tempest & Protection), Hest (Forge & War), Alvori, The Contrarian (Trickery & Arcana), Lyleen (Nature & Light), Thurven (Grave & Death), Nidinus (Life & Protection).

Ruling Powers & Magic
There are five distinct ruling powers:
 * Euphorbost - An organized civilization that is popular with merchants and craftsmen, as well as an appropriate home for the University of Industrial Arts. A much smaller power in comparison to the rest.
 * Weeping Pass Dominion - Despite still living in the shadow of the Opulous Ridge Empire, Weeping Pass has built its own formidable reputation through its authoritative navy and strong presence throughout the southern Fleetfly Ocean
 * Republic of Achenelle - A unified grouping of cities throughout the Citronay Islands overseen by a guild council, giving them the benefit of great merchant trade and copious resources.
 * Myshelivine Kingdom - Presided over by a long-standing monarchy, the kingdom has claimed the entirety of Apothecia, not seeming to have much interest in expanding its borders further, and thus holding a very enigmatic reputation among other nations.
 * Opulous Ridge Empire - By far the largest of Meraja's world forces, spanning the entirety of Crownwell and across the oceans to other colonized spaces. They designate the main trade routes through the Overon Ocean and the Fleetfly Ocean, and have a monopolized control over the fuel source everglow, allowing them to make powerful airships and other advanced technology.

As for Magic — it permeates through the entirety of Meraja. Some magic, such as druidism and the arcane is more abundant in terms of study and career options, but the other forms of magic wholeheartedly exist within the world, with the divine taking a bit of a heavy presence with most major settlements having churches and funerary rites unique to them. However, it would be unfair to say that magic is an incredibly common thing for all people; unless you show a remarkable promise, have connections or come from a well-off family, you are not likely to be accepted to a school of higher education for it.

Question:
''Please keep in mind that these are continent-agnostic questions. You can be as vague or as detailed as you'd like to be - I simply want something from you to inrich the world in someway, or to muse about things for your potential character.''

In addition to the above, I ask that you keep any race and class combination at bay/to yourself until we have a joint group session 0 to discuss party comp, inter-player relations, and the world as a whole (your questions, your goals and wants, etc., etc.,) If you would, only share these answers with me after that session 0. When characters are rolled remember the dice rolls you get for stats can be fun, and there are always different ways to get improvements; simply go for what you think will be fun.


 * Tell me about a myth or history about where you're from, your family, or a place you've heard of.
 * Who is the most influential person in your life. Why?
 * What is your hobby and what brought you to it?
 * What is something you want to learn about in the world?
 * What is it you considered your greatest flaw? Your greatest strength?
 * What is your biggest regret?
 * Share a folktale with me.

Party Roles
This is entirely optional, and none of you have to do this, but because there can be a lot that goes on I have a request: help. Below is a list of "Party Roles", or tasks that players can divide between themselves if they so choose to lessen the load on all that I as your DM have to keep track of. Again, this is not a requirement.
 * Vaultmaster: Tracks all the shared party wealth. Pays the bills.
 * Quartermaster: Tracks all the shared party supplies/gear.
 * Beastmaster: Tracks all the party kills/trophies or general creature notes (zoology essentially).
 * Journeymaster: Keeps the adventure log.

Optional Content
Everything listed here is optional content - meaning you can ask about it and explore it as you wish. Some can be an interest/hobby if you'd like, while others are classes, mechanics; just options. These are vague for now, but if there is any interest they can be explained (and incorporated) further. Subclass: Circle of the Blighted (Tal'dorei reborn)
 * Alchemy, Crafting & Enchanting (as hobbies/career)
 * Tracking & Harvesting
 * Heliana's Tamer class (there will only be one of this class allowed if there's any interest.)
 * subclass of the seasons (Arcadia magazine); order of hibernation (wizard), college of springtide (bard), child of the sun bloodline (sorcerer), the horned one (warlock).
 * spells. Some I can share with you early if you have a theme in mind, but some will be rewards or discovered.
 * Class: Gunslinger with four subclasses: Arcane Gunmaster, Musketeer, Pistolero, and Sniper. I cannot upload custom classes to DnDBeyond. You will have to help me keep track of your abilities.

Content approved
As in, everything listed below you can freely pick for session zero and character building
 * Standard 5e content (races, classes, feats, etc; the only exception here is for The Beastland - that has an entirely seperate list.)
 * Blood hunters - we may have to discuss a little more privately where they'll fit in the world if you choose this class.
 * In addition, due to bloodhunter mechanics involving blood and... unique ways of activating their abilities, please take caution if others at the table are not comfortable with graphic description of blood and things related to it.