Illean

[down in a hole]

A regional map of the world of Illean made with AutoRealm

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A zoomed out view with more of the world.

As a consolation prize for the torture of reading about the area the PCs get some equipment, a free feat and possibly some skills for picking an area to be from.

Limnos
Population: 70,000 humans, 5,000 genasi (earth and water)
Government: Independent villages
Religions: Worship of the neutral mermaid goddess Airam (water, travel and luck domains)
Alignment: Neutral, Neutral Evil, Chaotic Neutral
Languages: Common, Aquan and Terran
Favored Weapons: Battle Axe and Throwing Axe
Armor: Hide
Cultural Skills: Survival and Swim
Cultural Feats: Axe Proficiency
Additional Gear: Hide Armor, A pair of throwing axes and a pendant depicting a mermaid (Airam, the sea goddess of luck)
Mountainous country with thick forests inhabited by humans who wear furs and thick woolen garments. Men average 5'6" dark skin, straight black or dark brown hair & brown or gray eyes and the men oil their hair and beards. They are mostly hunters, warriors, and fishermen and live in small tight knit communities. Deer, foxes, rabbits, and crows are common throughout Limnos and are hunted using spears and traps. War ships belong to the community, one per coastal village and are used for defense and to raid the Sekyon coasts during the summer.
Most foreigners who are spell casters are killed but local shamans tolerate neutral good druids who are discreet and properly respectful. They worship the neutral mermaid goddess Airam who manifests her displeasure with violent storms and ignoring the pleas and prayers of her priests.
Coast- walled villages of two to three hundred people ruled by a council of the eldest member of each family.
Hills- forested foothills home to large herds of deer and very aggressive dire boars. Also the location of two walled mining villages (one iron & one tin) considered sacred and unlike the other communities are ruled by wisest shaman.
Forests- The wilder parts of the forest are prowled by dire bears & dire wolves
Mountains- a race of white giant owls dwell in high valley forests, they hunt the lower forests during the harsh winters and are on good terms with the tribal shamans. Higher up are herds of dire goats and snow leopards.

Sekyon
Population: 50,000 dran (half drow), 600,000 half-dran (1/4 drow), 5,000 water genasi, 50,000 goblins, 30,000 humans
Government: Independent City-States (Monarchies)
Religions: Worship of the neutral octopus god Ktor (water and war domains) and the neutral evil cow goddess Nerak (evil, trickery and travel domains)
Alignment: Neutral, Neutral Evil
Language(s): Draconic, Undercommon and Aquan
Favored Weapons: Halberds and Swords
Armor: Half-Plate
Cultural Skills: Knowledge (arcana) and either Craft (pick one) or Profession (farmer or fisher usually but any can be chosen).
Cultural Feats: Weapon Focus (Halberd or Sword)
Additional Gear: armor and weapon of choice or four extra spells in spellbook.
Between two mountain ranges on a coastal plain are five city states who alternately war and trade with each other. Males average 5'8", white or silver hair, dark skin & eyes, minor drow features evident (the eyes & pointed ears). They consider themselves to be the most advanced civilization in the world. Each city-state mints their own silver and copper coins, one side bears the current rulers profile the other shows a balance (scale). City-State soldiers use half-plate and halberds, nobles and their servants use swords, and they employ many mercenaries. The people are descendants of half-drow refugees from another world (the dran) and the primitive humans they first encountered here. The common folk have more human in them now (only 30' darkvision) but the nobles are still mainly dran.
Coast- large city-states and small fishing villages.
Plains- fortified farm villas & herdsmen (goats, sheep, cattle), numerous fortified road houses and small keeps. Large herds of wild cattle roam these plains as well.
Mountains- home to many bandit strongholds and goblin lairs, some do limited mining for silver with slaves. Home to dire snow leopards as well.
Hills- forest covered foothills, known to harbor dire weasels & dire wolves. Several heavily guarded silver, iron and copper mines.

Askra
Capitol: City of the Sun
Population: 100,000 humans, 1,000 fire genasi
Government: Monarchy
Religions: Worship of the neutral great shaggy bull god (strength and war domains) and the lawful evil lion god (sun and fire domains)
Alignment: Neutral, Lawful Evil, Lawful Neutral
Language(s): Common, Ignan, Infernal
Favored Weapons: Scimitars and Spears
Armor: Studded Leather Armor
Cultural Skills: Ride
Cultural Feats: Toughness
Additional Gear: A pouch with 20 golden Askra coins and ritual scars of adulthood on males.
Kingdom of war like humans known for their short temper. The people are usually farmers, hunters, miners, herdsmen (goats, cattle and horses). They mint gold coins with bull on one side and lion on other. Men average 5'8" dark skin, & eyes, straight black hair. They use light cavalry and chariots with bows, scimitars & spears, footmen use studded leather, spear & shield, slave soldiers use short swords & flails, archers use bows & scimitars.
Swamp- infested with dire rats, serpents, crocodiles, and carnivorous plants.
Plains- home to dire bulls & dire lions as well as large herds of wild cattle, horses and antelopes.
River valley- walled villages and towns
Hills- four walled mining towns(gold, tin, copper & iron) and one walled city, the home to the king

Kotan
Population: 30,000 humans
Government: Independent villages
Religions: Worship of Bear, Killer Whale and Owl
Alignment: Neutral
Language(s): Sylvan, Terran, Draconic
Favored Weapons: Spears and Bows
Armor: Hide
Cultural Skills: Survival and Swim
Cultural Feats: Alertness
Additional Gear: small wooden carved figures of various animals in a pouch, and a large knife.
A primitive people of hunter/gatherers, men average 5', light brown skin, blue or green colored eyes, wavy black hair, muscular builds and the men grow heavy beards. Housing is thatched huts heated by an open fire. Clothing is made from weaving strips of the inner bark of trees and winter outer wear from animal furs. Villages of 50 to 150 people are built along rivers and the coast. At age 12 girls have tattoos started on their lips, hands and arms and by age 15 the tattoos are complete and women are considered old enough for marriage. Outsider males with tattoos are considered the height of humor.
Bear is their main god and is also the god of mountains, Killer Whale is their god of the sea, and Owl is the protector of villages.
They hunt deer, birds, squirrels & rabbits with dogs, and poison tipped spears and bows, coastal tribes add stingray poison to the usual herbal poison mixture. They also hunt hibernating bears, any cubs found are taken to the village and kept until spring and the shaman (druid or cleric of Owl) performs the rite of renewal which ends with the release of the cubs several days journey away from the village. Fish and wild plants gathered in the spring and summer round out their diet, coastal tribes hunt seals and whales as well.
Foxes, ravens and dolphins are considered bad luck to kill and are sometimes given offerings of food. Druids of Kotan are neutral or neutral good and they gain a familiar as a sorcerer, but they are always owls if neutral good or a crow if neutral.

Kenzoku
Capitol: City of Dragon Bane
Population: 150,000 humans, 40,000 gnomes, 20,000 halflings
Government: Theocracy
Religions: three Lawful Good Deities
Alignment: Lawful Good, Neutral Good, Neutral
Language(s): Common, Celestial and Draconic
Favored Weapons: Paired Swords (one long, one short) for paladins and clerics, Staff or Spear for others
Armor: Half-Plate
Cultural Skills: Knowledge (religion), Sense Motive
Cultural Feats: Quick Draw and Two Weapon Fighting
Additional Gear: A suit of Half-Plate, a light riding horse and one weapon of choice for starting paladins, all characters get a leather cord with three small silver holy symbols on it.
Kenzoku is an ancient kingdom with four classes, the priesthood (including monks and paladins), warriors, craftsmen and farmers. The men average 5'4", and have fair skin, grey or brown eyes and straight black hair, facial hair is very rare. Each village has a monastery which supports one paladin, monks are responsible for the safety and well being of the village, the paladins travel the kingdom searching for evil and dispensing justice. The gnomes and halflings of Kenzoku are fully integrated into the society and can be found in any human settlement as well as villages composed mainly of their own race.

Pharia, Lixos, & Simekli
Capitol: None
Population: 20,000 humans, 800,000 undead, 5,000 wererats
Government: Theocracies
Religions: Worship of the Three Brothers (see below)
Alignment: Chaotic Evil, Neutral Evil, Neutral
Language(s): Common, Abyssal, Draconic
Favored Weapons: Sword
Armor: None
Cultural Skills: Knowledge (religion) and Diplomacy
Cultural Feats: Toughness
Additional Gear: Scars and tattoos showing who owns you.
Three once mighty countries now sparsely populated regions of a few scattered farming villas, and ruins of great cities and towns inhabited by undead. Visitors are captured and sacrificed to Mik-Tol. The people worship The Three Brothers. The male humans of these ruined countries average 6', have fair skin, brown wavy hair, and brown or gold colored eyes.

Sun Spire Mountains
Population: 2 million goblins, 10,000 fiendish goblins, 5,000 mountain elves, 1,000 hobgoblins, 500 bugbears.
Goblins infest the caverns beneath these mountains, long ago a barghest united the warring goblin tribes and sacked a dwarven city. The tribes with barghest blood are fiendish goblins and tend to dominate the non fiendish tribes. The elves who dwell in the forested mountain valleys are primitive and xenophobic (+2 to Str and Dex) and worship a giant fiendish dire bear, a pet left behind by the barghest that doesn't seem to age.

Dwarves, Elves, and other freaks
Dwarves once lived in the Sun Spire Mountains but were driven out by the goblin hordes long ago, there are around 1,000 left. They now travel in bands of 100 or so and hire out as mercenaries and craftsmen in Kenzoku, Askra, and Sekyon.
Elves live in the forested mountain valleys of the Sun Spire Mountains and are rarely seen by outsiders unless your being sacrificed to their fiendish dire bear god (chaos and evil domains). They are no longer the good natured beings they were long ago and now they tend towards chaotic neutral with chaotic evil clerics. They get a +2 bonus to strength, and dexterity and a -2 penalty to constitution. Three or four have left their homes to escape the growing evil of the mountains.
Gnomes live in Kenzoku and tell tales of a gnomish country across the sea.
Halflings live in Kenzoku and in small nomadic family bands (the nomadic halflings are barbarians, rangers or druids) that tend to shy away from human civilizations and big folk in general.
Bugbears can be found slinking around in small bands raiding outlying farmsteads and villages on the darkest nights.
Hobgoblins have their own nations far to the west constantly fighting each other and the Orc nations with their armies of Goblin slaves. Both sides employ Ogre mercenary companies and use Trolls raised for war.

The Three Brothers
Three demi-god brothers, the eldest, Dok the Plague Bringer, the second, Klyll the Red Moon of Fear, and the youngest, Mik-tol Eater of Souls have come to the world.
Priests of Dok are forbidden from healing and cannot harm a rat, they are granted a dire rat as a familiar (and advisor), the power of animal friendship useable only on rats, and the ability to speak with all rodents. They gain no spellcasting ability and have the plague, they attack with their filthy fingernails which slowly hardened over time to resemble razor sharp rat claws (use monk damage chart). The priests of Dok are immune to the pain and weakness of diseases and the last hour before they die from disease they feel utter euphoria. Wererats are his favored and are granted immunity to even his plague. His priests who spread the plague to one hundred people are turned into wererats and their diseased bodies are healed.
Klyll has no priesthood but his worshippers are immune to disease and can see 30' in absolute darkness and by the light of the moon as if it were day, they cannot stand the light of day and are completely blinded by it. His faithful rise as zombies when killed and will obey any other living worshipper, with no commands they mindlessly shamble towards the nearest living sentient creature, even if it is a thousand miles away. Ghouls are his favored and his faithful who slay one hundred people are turned into ghouls.
Mik-Tol has no priesthood but grants those who sacrifice a good aligned person to him gain an immunity to disease for one year, if the victim is lawful good they are granted a +2 strength for the year as well. More than one sacrifice a year extends the duration of the boon. If the sacrifice is a paladin, Mik-Tols favorite, the immunity and +2 strength are permanent. Mik-Tol has no favorite minion and for every one hundred good aligned people sacrificed to him he grants a random gift.
Roll 1d6 for the gift of Mik-Tol
1: Skin turns jet black and hardens (+4 to Natural AC)
2: Eyes turn blood red (can see in absolute darkness 100', and charm person once per night)
3: Grows large bat wings (30' wingspan, and can fly at twice normal move)
4: Fingertips turn into long claws (2d6 damage and paralyze as a ghoul)
5: Can turn one dead person into a vampire with a touch
6: Goat horns sprout from head and legs turn into goat legs (-2 to all stats)
If someone rolls the same result twice they lose the first gift.