The Contestia Campaign is set in a high-fantasy world comprising isolated city-states and small nations surrounded by an untamed wilderness sprinkled with the ancient ruins of a long-lost civilization.
Thousands of years before the beginning of the campaign, the world of Contestia was dominated by a number of highly advanced magical kingdoms governed by powerful wizards. These magocracies competed with one another for resources and power until, eventually, a devastating war destroyed the civilization and its magical technologies. The few scattered survivors were reduced to subsisting in small bands of nomadic hunter-gatherers.
In the millennia since, agriculture and permanent settlements have slowly returned, but the common use of spells and magic devices has not. Most commoners have never seen an arcane spell cast or magic item used, and indeed would become fearful if they ever did. The memory of the Wizards’ War between the magocracies looms large in the folk mythology of the common person and has instilled a deep distrust of arcane magic.
The Wildlands
Separating the scattered, isolated nations of the civilized world are vast tracks of dangerous wilderness called “The Wildlands.” These largely unmapped and unexplored regions are filled with dangerous beasts – and worse. For while the magocracy civilization was utterly destroyed, some of its creations and their consequences remain to the present day.
Monstrosities
The wizards of old created many strange, magical beasts called “monstrosities.” These bizarre creations sustain themselves and reproduce using entirely unnatural means. Because of this, the behaviors of monstrosities are often inscrutable. A yeti may hunt, kill, and eat its prey even though it receives no nutritional benefit and can survive without ever eating.
Extra-Planar Incursions
The experiments of the ancient ‘Mage Lords’, as the ruling class of the magocracies were called, left cracks in the fabric of the Material World through which creatures from other dimensions may enter. The most common origin of these extra-planer incursions is the land of Faerie, sometimes called the “Feywild”.
Visitors from Fairyland include goblinoids, ogres, ettins, trolls, fomorians, and of course fey creatures such as hags, pixies, sprites, dryads, and pseudodragons.
Ancient Ruins
The Wizards’ War destroyed nearly all the buildings and towering structures of the ancient civilization. But underground, vast systems of both natural caverns and hewn tunnels were left untouched. These subterranean complexes await exploration.
Everstorms
Far from shore, in Contestia’s wide oceans, rage permanent storm systems that have lasted millennia. Each of these storms has its own unique set of characteristics, and even personality, and are known to sailors by proper names such as Widowmaker, Kraken’s Breath, and the Wet Howl.
The Settled Lands
Clinging to coastal areas in isolated pockets, civilization has re-emerged from the destruction wrought by the wizards of old. Fishing and farming form the basis of the economies of these coastal settlements, with smaller resource-extraction based communities a little further inland.
Trade
With a few exceptions, overland trade between settlements separated by wildlands has not been practicable, and travel through open ocean is difficult due to the deadly creatures in the depths. Sailing close to shore, however, is relatively safe (“relatively” being the operative word here), so almost all international commerce is conducted by shipping along the coastlines.
Colonialism
Not all the descendants of the survivors of the Wizards’ War have returned to a civilized state. Many groups remain nomadic hunter-gatherers. When explorers from the civilized nations encounter these primitive tribes, the result is often conquest and sometimes exploitation. Several civilized nations have established outposts in tribal regions to facilitate trade and colonization.
War
Although nation states seldom share borders with one another, they nevertheless find plenty of occasions upon which to wage war. Casus belli include resource competition, trade disputes, religious conflicts, and simple lust for glory. At any given time, several nations are typically at war.
Warfare consists mostly of naval battles and coastal raids. Sieges are not uncommon, but seldom last more than a few months due to the difficulty in maintaining supply lines.
Slavery
Slavery is a common, but not universal institution. A few nations have outlawed the practice, but in most places, it is at least tolerated.
Slavers obtain their chattel by raiding villages in foreign nations or tribal areas. Conquering armies take slaves as spoils of war. Criminals are often sentenced to servitude. Debtors sometimes sell themselves into indentured servitude to pay off their debts.
A faction called The Freedom League seeks to end slavery worldwide. They attack slavers, foment slave rebellions, and shelter escapees.
Piracy
Piracy and privateering are common in the coastal waters near civilized nations. Pirates establish secret bases in the wildlands from which they raid shipping on the trade routes.
Pirates typically do not kill or enslave the passengers and crew of the ships they raid, provided that the ship doesn’t put up a fight. High value passengers may be taken for ransom.
Religion
Divine magic was unknown in the days of the magocracies, only appearing centuries after the end of the Wizards’ War. In the present day, divine magic is by far the most common type. Unlike arcane magic, divine magic is not feared by the common folk. On the contrary, divine magic casters are highly valued for their healing and beneficial magic.
Since the end of the Wizards’ War, four main categories of religious belief have emerged.
Druidism
In the early days after the devastation of the Wizards’ War, survival depended on a deep understanding of, and connection to, the natural world. On the northern island of Waelenia this connection became strong enough to allow especially sensitive members of the tribes to cooperate with and influence the natural magic of the forests and grasslands. These members of the Waelen tribe were the first druids.
The Druidic religion teaches that humanoids should strive to live in harmony with nature. Planting seeds and harvesting the resulting grains, fruit, and vegetables is allowed, but only in moderation to supplement hunting and gathering. Forest should never be cleared to make room for farmland, and domesticating animals is frowned upon.
When trade arose with Wereholm Island and the continent of Nordheim in the fifth century after the Wizards’ War, the Druidic religion spread as its benefits became clear to foreign wisemen and wisewomen.
While Druidism is a highly moralistic religion – holding all humanoids to its tenants – it is not an evangelical one. Druids do not seek converts to their particular sectarian beliefs and rituals; they merely expect all humanoids to respect the balance of nature.
Druidism has no formal hierarchy, but at any given time there is one high level druid somewhere in the world who is recognized as the Archdruid and whose wisdom is especially respected.
Folk Religion
The demihuman races tend not to have organized religions or dedicated clergy. Instead, these ethnicities have traditional rituals and practices revolving around reverence for the ethnic group’s specific folk heroes. Dwarves commemorate the glorious exploits of legendary dwarven heroes of old. Elves sing songs about the great elves of the distant past. Etc.
These folk religions are neither moralistic, nor evangelistic. Especially devoted practitioners of folk religion become warlocks rather than clerics.
The High Church
The High Church is the largest organization in Contestia, with temples in every nation in the settled lands and missions in many of the borderlands at the edge of the Wildlands. It both advises kings and provides succor to beggars and slaves.
While the community of the Faithfull largely consists of humans at the present time, the High Church seeks converts among all creatures with free will to choose it.
The Church teaches that the world is a battleground between two implacably opposed metaphysical forces, Good and Evil, and that the winner of this battle will re-shape the world. Every creature is a contestant in this struggle. Each time a being acts in accordance with righteousness, the forces of Good come closer to victory. And every time a being acts in a way contrary to righteousness, the forces of Evil gain ground.
Someday the world will end when the battle between the forces of Good and Evil is over, and a new world will be constructed by the victors. No one knows when the End will come and the final score tabulated, so it’s important to do as much good as you can as quickly as you can.
The High Church seeks to suppress other religious sects when it can, as it sees religious pluralism as an opportunity for Evil cults to gain a toehold.
Founded in 1055 A.F. in the human city of Vedena by Saint Valvori the Visited, the early High Church spread quickly through human populations around the world. (Druids wryly refer to the High Church as “Valvori’s Virus” in reference to how fast the religion spread.)
Headquartered in the city of Vedena in the nation of Florenn, the High Church is a highly hierarchical organization comprising four distinct holy orders: the Priesthood, Deaconry, the Inquisition, and the Order of Monks. A Supreme Patriarch or Matriarch is the overall head of the High Church and appoints the archbishops, archdeacons, lords protector, and archabbots of the various regions within the High Church’s reach.
Priesthood
The purpose of the Priesthood (also called the Clerisy) is to nourish the spiritual needs of the communities that they serve. This includes both fostering the spiritual growth of current High Church members as well as seeking new converts. The Clerisy’s primary method of advancing these aims is the establishment of temples and the use of those temples to perform rituals for the benefit of the community.
A secondary technique of the Clerisy is to participate in worthy endeavors that benefit the community such as adventuring.
Deaconry
The Deaconry fosters the social and material well-being of communities that have a temple of the High Church. Deacons advise the secular authorities and run various institutions to help the community such as orphanages, schools, and charities for the poor.
In principalities in which the sovereign is a member of the High Church, the Deaconry also administers the civil legal system, resolving property disputes and the like.
The Inquisition
The mission of the Inquisition is to eradicate demonic and undead influence in the world and to protect the High Church and the Faithful from evil.
The Order of Monks
Monks seek enlightenment through self-discipline, contemplation, and empathy. Most monks alternate between periods of life sequestered in monasteries engaged in honing skills and contemplation, and periods of life as mendicant friars spent among the poor in the outside world in order to develop ever deeper empathy.
Evil Cults
Evil never sleeps. Its threat is ever present. In every community of beings that have free will, some will be tempted by the allure of Evil, and fiends will be ready to exploit that desire.
Evil cults form when power-hungry people seek the aid of evil forces to work their will in the world. Such cultists are seldom fanatics, at least not at first. They don’t believe that Evil is a preferable metaphysical principle upon which to base the world. Rather, evil cultists tend to view their religion in much more transactional terms. If they perform the dark rituals and complete certain unspeakable tasks, their demon lord or devil will reward them.
No two evil cults are alike. Each of the devils and countless demon lords of Hell has its own twisted technique to corrupt the denizens of Contestia, and each offers its cultists a different form of power. Such offers never ultimately redound to the benefit of those who accept them.
Culture
Hospitality
Because journeying from one civilized area to another is so fraught with danger, travelers are widely admired, especially in smaller communities. Commoners and nobles alike are eager to hear news and gossip from distant lands. For these reasons, generous hospitality is a common practice throughout the humanoid settlements of Contestia.
Even in tiny villages and lonely keeps, travelers will find a hot meal and a welcoming place to stay, at least for a few days. Monetary compensation is never expected when staying at someone’s home, although hosts will sometimes request a small favor.
Large cities have a more commercial culture and inns that run at a profit are common. Even here, however, lodging prices are kept reasonable, and if the inn is full, travelers will be able to find a place to stay with local residents.
Arcane Magic Taboo
Long ago during the Wizards’ War, one of the factions unleashed a powerful weapon that has shaped the practice of arcane spellcasting ever since: spell wraiths. Spell wraiths are shadowy, incorporeal creatures that seek out arcane spell casters to drain them of magical energy.
Spell wraiths can detect the casting of arcane spells at a distance – only a short distance of a few hundred yards for a cantrip, but a distance of thousands of miles for the most powerful spells. These wraiths then travel towards the location at which the spell was cast and look for the arcane spellcaster in order to drain that spellcaster of his or her magical energy.
If, upon arrival, the spell wraiths find no spellcaster near where the spell was cast, they linger there, hiding themselves in whatever shadows they can find. If no opportunity to attack an arcane spellcaster presents itself to the wraith, it will often turn its malevolent attention to any life that happens to be in the area, attacking it out of sheer spite. This is why the locations of ancient wizard battles are often desolate and barren of life.
As a result of the dire consequences that the presence of a spell wraith can have in a populated area, a powerful taboo has developed against casting arcane spells in a town or city. If an arcane spell is cast within the town limits, the most likely result is that the townsfolk will try to run the caster out of town.
This taboo has not caused the study of arcane magic to die out, but it has pushed arcana to the fringes of society, both figuratively and literally. Wizards typically practice their craft in remote towers, out of sight (and thought) of civilized areas.
Language
A language called ‘Common’ is the lingua franca of Contestia. It is the language in which all commerce is conducted, and nearly everyone in larger towns and cities speaks it. Common is the ethnic language of humans, the most populus humanoids in Contestia, as well as the ethnic group most involved commerce and religion.
Each of the demihuman races has its own ethnic tongue, which may be the most frequently spoken in rural areas where one demihuman ethnicity dominates, but even in small settlements, the leaders are likely to also speak Common.
Communication
Other than word-of-mouth, the only communication network in common use is the mail. No formal postal service exists, but as a common courtesy, travelers from town to town will usually deliver addressed letters to the destination’s town hall.
The Law
The modern concept of the rule of law has not yet developed anywhere in Contestia. Rather disputes are resolved by a patchwork of procedures ranging from the judgments of magistrates to trials by ordeal, to honor duels.
Criminal Law
Criminal complaints are either resolved by the local lord or by his or her designated magistrate. In either case the authority in charge of resolving the matter is referred to as the judge. The judge may choose to call witnesses and hear evidence or may decide to resolve the case with some kind of trial by ordeal. If both the complainant and the defendant are members of the nobility, the accused may demand trial by combat.
Liable, Defamation, and Other Points of Honor
Questions of honor are resolved by duel. Dueling is not illegal anywhere in Contestia.
Civil Law
In human principalities, civil matters are resolved by the Deaconry of The High Church. Civil matters include contract disputes, probate, commercial disputes, marriages, adoptions, child custody, and miscellany that don’t fall under criminal law or points of honor.
The Deaconry merely adjudicates which party to the dispute is in the right and makes recommendations. The deacons have no power to enforce their decisions. Enforcement is under the purview of the local lord. In demihuman societies, local lords resolve both criminal and civil disputes, but not points of honor, which are handled by dueling.