Welcome to Sharr!
The Continent of Sharr has never been the same since the Cataclysm. When an unknown event caused a tremendous blast and shockwave that caused widespread devastation. Forests were flattened, Cities destroyed, and entire nations thrown into disarray. But its Nearly 500 years later, and people have mostly gotten on with their lives, only the long lived races view it as more than a footnote in history. 500 years being more than enough time for humans to rebuild.
The woodland elves are reclusive and violent, while the ones who worked with mankind have "gone civil". the dwarves have become insular and untrusting again. Orcs and goblins have risen as a dominant race selling muscle and livestock from their new kingdom at the feet of the dwarven mountains. Giantkin can be found wandering the plains avoiding towns. And a new offshoot of strange red skintoned hybrids have begun to appear in Brie.
After the recent fall of one of it’s biggest economic and militaristic rivals, one nation has risen to fill the power gap. Brie, a nation once known for food, wine, and crafty mercantilism is going through an industrial/magic revolution, fueled by radical change in it’s leadership; has begun a steady subjugation of its neighbors.
A nearly perpetual skirmish between Brie and Valaria has become all out war. A war that Valaria has begun to realize it cannot win. Not only does Brie possess better technology but they are well organized (seemingly overnight) but also culturally stronger. A country marked with struggle but at the same time filled with promise if one is willing to work under the yoke of the Primacy. Many refugees of the weakened nation of Celesion flock to Brie for protection. The sparse forest and deep hills of North Celesion are becoming dangerous as more and more beasts, fairies, and other monstrosities have become increasingly common.
On top of this political and national change. A magical renaissance has begun as well. For some reason, The arcane has become easier and more common. the weave of magic within the realms of Sharr has demonstrated a strange transformation and there are only a few people who truly understand why. Ancient beasts of legend, not long ago, were spoken of only in stories and located only by the deepest of dungeon explorers, have now started to appear. encroaching on remote settlements and preying on the populous. Adventurer was a job that for some time in history was often synonymous with vagabond or two bit mercenary. But old dangers have rerisen and old jobs find strange new applicants.
The way of magic, was once the purview of mages and priests. Often they kept eye on and fostered arcane talent wherever it was seen and though many could perform a handful of tricks, true arcane power was rare and mostly outside the reach of the common man. But along with the beasts and strange flow of arcana came new ingenuity as well. A new working class of Artificers is becoming common. strange practitioners who have unfailingly made magic more accessible to all through the creation of new, common place magical items and accessories. While these items often lack the stability of a wizards charm or a dwarven or elven artifacts unbreakable power, they make up for it by being more affordable or if not… more likely to be sold at all.
This upsurge in invention came with a price however. And the nations of Brie and Valaria found plenty of willing contractors when they came looking to pay them for new weapons. And because of this the last 20 years of war have been unlike anything seen before… Guns have come to Sharr. Loud, Destructive, smoke blasting tools of death have been invented. Cheap to make and Easy to train with. These simple but effective weapons have become relatively commonplace. The Primacy places strict rules on the ownership of firearms, keeping them for only their military and policing forces to use, and Valaria does as well, though likely because they have trouble crafting them as quickly as the Brie does more than any desire to hoard firepower.
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