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[Bloodgod]

This is a setting I built a while ago in anticipation of running a D&D game in it, but it never went anywhere.  I dug it back out when I found this site, though most of the data was lost/corrupted by my evil Computer from Hell.  I've replaced/repaired some of it, but most of the bology of the races has been lost, and only hastily re-written.  So bear with me.  


Nogrod:  The closest planet to the sun, Nogrod is home to the dwarves, gnomes, and giants.  The giants own the surface, roaming about in semi-nomadic tribes, occasionally waging war on each other.  The gnomes and dwarves have lived in the caverns of the planet for as long as they can remember, venturing out  when traveling from one carvern system to another, or for occasions such as the dwarves' Rite of Passage, during which the dwarf in question must "tag the giant."  Each cavern (or  Khazad, as they are rightly called) has its own governing system, though they occasionally send representatives to a mass assembly when important matters must be decided on.

Nurnen:  Nurnen is a massive planet home to hundreds of races.  Generally speaking, the Monstrous races live here.  It was also the capital of an ancient race that left behind untold treasures in the form of forgotten magic and incredible technologies.  

(Note: this is where most of the adventures would be.  It's sort of a planet-wide dungeon crawl)

Anduin:  Home of humans and halflings.  Anduin's climate is similar to that of Earth, except that its deserts have shrunk since men discovered weather magic.  Similarly, men have begun combating pollution with magic, and have succeeded in fixing much of the damage they have wrecked on their own homes.  The halflings for the most part stay to themselves, carving out small communities wherever they feel like settling.  The world is ruled by a council of one hundred men and women (and halflings, though they usually don't want to), elected from various districts and regions.  The Anduin Council is rife with political backstabbing and bickering, and rarely accomplishes anything, leaving the actual work to the local authorities.

Beleriand:  The homeworld of elves and the fey races, Beleriand is temperate, covered mostly with vast oceans and verdent lands.  The elves have been careful to preserve their world, and it is a gleaming jewel of pristine beauty.  The cities are designed with graceful arcitecture made possible by a complete lack of natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes.  The worst they get is the occasional summer thunderstorm.  Their capitol city of Neldoreth is the center of their kingdom, and home to Queen Melian.

Morgoth:  Home of orcs and goblins.  It was a cold, dismal planet, until the war between orcs and elves 150 years ago, when the elves completely destroyed it.  It has been "rebuilt" as a series of hollow asteroids orbiting Morgoth's moon, which has never been given its own name.  Orcs never really felt the need to name the lights in the sky until they discovered a means of reaching them, and then they just called their moon "Goblin-home."  The goblins originally lived on the moon, until the orcs discovered them and adopted them into their society.  Morgoth is ruled by a kind of democratic monarchy.  Their kings rule because they have enough orcs backing them, so their rulers are always currying favor from someone.  Their current king is King Thrugg, the Deathless One, thus named after surviving seven assassination attempts.  


Breif History:

Some 400 years ago, the orcs discovered space travel.  Their natural urge to keep moving finally drove them to reach the stars, and they sent an explorer forth.  The first stop was their moon, where they found the goblins, a clever race with a talent for magic.  The orcs quickly set up frequent trips back and forth, making it the first interplanetary kingdom.  Soon after, they went farther.  After almost a year in space, they stumbled onto the world of Beleriand.  The elves were amazed when the rugged metal craft made its way out of the sky and landed just outside their capitol city.  Their long-standing facination with the sky and the stars made for a warm welcome.

The orcs taught the elves the secrets of space travel, which the elves refined with their considerable magic.  52 years after they first met, elves and orcs set out to explore the rest of the system, using the elves knowledge of astronomy to keep from getting lost like the orcs' first try.  A short six months after they set out, the two ships landed on Anduin.  The humans, not yet united in a planetary government, were difficult to deal with, but between them, the elves and orcs were able to win over most of the inhabitants.  A central government formed in order to present a united front during interracial dealings.  Eight years later, the three races set out for Nurnen, and were disappointed with what they found.  No single race that was at all interested in their diplomatic offers, but instead hundreds of races of savage monsters.  While mapping the planet, however, they encountered a ramshackle spacecraft.  The dwarves had found them instead of the other way round.  

Some 50 years after Final Contact, a faction of elves hired goblin assassins as part of a coup.  The coup failed, and the goblins were to be punished for intruding on elven politics.  The orcs refused to allow this, and war broke out.  The dwarves sided with the elves, though they had little to offer, due to their great distance, and humans remained neutral by means of extended bickering in their Council.  After years of bloody war, it became apparent that the orcs had the upper hand, their naturally beligerent culture better suited to it.  In a last effort, elven mages wove a spell to shatter Morgoth.  it succeeded, though most of the mages died in the casting.  The elves celebrated their victory, while the other races were horrified at the attack.  

The orcs, however, survived.  The planet's remains clung onto enough of the atmosphere to allow the orcs to escape to their moon, where they worked in secret.  They bolted makeshift weaponry on every spacecraft they had, and strafed Neldoreth, burning it to the ground.  The elves capitulated.  The orc king, Boss Thrax Nomtur, now known as Thrax the Builder, demanded that they help build the orcs a new home.  A decade later, both the repair of Neldoreth and the asteroid network was complete, and the orcs spent the next year throwing the biggest party in the history of the system.  

As a result of the war, elves and orcs have a longstanding grudge against each other.  The elves are generally bitter about the war, blaming the orcs and goblins for everything.  They often blame the dwarves as well, asking why they did not do more to help.  The great goblin shaman Grindelsticks declared that the orcs were the Divine Protectors from goblin mythology.  The goblins have since fully integrated into orcish society as craftsmen, and literally worship the memory of Thrax the Builder for saving them from extinction at the hands of the elves.  


Biology, Culture, Technology, and Magic:

Anduin:  Humans are culturally similar to real-world humans.  Their technology is equal to the real world, and their magic is the equivalent of D&D standards.  They have recently managed to mass-produce magical items such as potions and scrolls.  These products are inferior, but are much cheaper.  Many mages do not trust Mass Magic, as it is often called.  The halflings are an offshoot from the human race, once a genetic mutation that went its own way.  They are genetically similar to humans, and are capable of interbredding, the children being somewhere between them in physical traits.  The halflings prefer simple technology, and quiet magic.  

Nogrod:  The dwarves are genetically similar to humans, but not nearly as close as the halflings are.  They possess a much higher tolerance for heat and solar radiation, a result of living so close to the sun.  They also adjust quickly between light and dark, and are much less sensitive to airborn pollutants, such as soot, dust, and smog.  Their culture is based on tradition and Law, enforcing strict rules on how to live one's life.  Marriages are strictly "for life" affairs, and are often arranged by the families of happy couple.  Their magic is limited to practical applications, such as blessing a craftsman's tools, or healing the sick, rather than floating cities and flaming swords.  Their technology has a distinct "industrial" feel to it, being loud and mechanical, rather than compact and electronic like human technology.  The gnomes are actually the same race, seperated merely by geopraphy, living in the mountains.  The primary difference is their culture, the gnomes placing less emphasis on hostory, and more on personal accomplishments.  The giants have little history to speak of, being completely nomadic.  They hate the dwarves for some anchient reason, and see no difference between elves, humans, and dwarves.  After all, they're all "little giants."  Their magic is shamanistic, and their technology is limited to the carts they carry their homes in.  

Beleriand:  The elves are, like the dwarves and humans, genetically similar, suggesting some past contact.  They possess almost no technology, relying on magic to cover the gap.  They put great importance on asthetics, making their cities and their crafting works of art.  They have always valued knowledge, peace, and the natural world.  Recently, the younger generation has been adopting aspects of human culture, specifically Pop culture, much to the mortification of the older generation.  The Pop Elves see the humans as energetic, in contrast with the ancient, almost static culture of their own ancestors.  Little is known about the fey races beyond the planet, as the elves prevent outsiders from studing them.  To date, no one has really pressed the issue, and none of the fey have come forward in an attempt to contact anyone other than elves.

Morgoth:  The orcs are, genetically speaking, extremely seperated from the other races, with the exception of the goblins.  The orcs are physiologically similar (two arms, two legs, lungs, stomach, etc), they have traits that some find "animal-like."  Their young are born in litters of three or four, with a birth of two being very rare, and viewed as a good omen.  The single-born orcs are almost always destined for greatness.  Orc women usually have two sets of breasts to deal with the multiple offspring, though it isn't unheard of for them to have one or three instead.  

Orc marriges are polygamistic, and are called Packs.  Several males and several females set up a kind of communal group, sharing their belongings and breeding among themselves.  Orcs that mate outside their own Packs are viewed with disgust, and are usually shunned.  (Orcs not in a Pack are free of this restriction, and tend to be rather promiscuous.)  Additions to the Pack are common, and many packs live long after the founding members are dead.  Children of each Pack are kicked out once they reach sexual maturity (about 13 years old), and go on to join their own Pack.  Their technology tends to be brute-force oriented and extremely durable and reliable, provided you have enough engine tape and rivits.  Their magic is fairly simple and pragmatic, though they tend to be superstitious, and consult with mages for advice on many issues.  Diviners make a good living among orcs, provided they have a ready supply of tea leaves, bird entrails, and crystals.  

Goblins have no marriage laws, and mate freely.  Their only laws are religious.  They worship a massive and complex pantheon of gods, and have extremely complicated laws concerning various aspects of day to day life, such as punishments for theft (being hung by the toes from a Loblob tree long enough for a spider to weave a web between the thief's head and the ground), which side of the street to walk on (left side before lunch, right side after lunch, and the right down the middle during lunch), or what color clothing is acceptable for formal occasions (moss green for males, white or grey for children, and women can wear whatever they want to).  Their technology is less an original work, and more of a compilation of the technology of the other races, making it extremely adaptible, but a little unorthadox.  Since being introduced to complex machine by the orcs, they have shown a true skill that rivals that of the other races.  Their magic is limited, and extremely primal in nature.  They have a great respect for magic users, and their mages always wrap themselves in mystical trinkets and pretty cloth to make themselves look more "magicky."  

Naming customs among orcs allow the mother to name her children, and they carry the name of the Pack until they leave, when they give themselves a new second name.  When they join a Pack as a member, they affix the Pack name as a third name, after their other two.  Goblins are less formal, and just call themselves something descriptive, like Grix Bignose or Wrik the Shoemaker.  Their first name is more of a nickname, while the second name is just something to distinguish them from other goblins with the same first name.  A favorite story among goblins is the Battle of the Mushrooms.  Two goblins, both named Gutsblat Mushroom-farmer, started fighting over the name until they finally went into business together and made a fortune.  Then they fought over who could be Gutsblat the Filthy Rich.


(Note:  I'd like to apologize to all Tolkien fans for hijacking so many names from Middle Earth.  It's just my method of paying homage to the great story teller.I would also like to apologize for borrowing the orc marriage customs from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.)


Author's Notes:  I liked the idea of the humans not being a unified kingdom, as they are often presented.  Typically, humanity's future is presented as an oppressive Empire, and I wanted to break away from that.  I also wanted to screw with people's expectations by having the orcs discover space travel first.  Making the elves vindictive was another way to do that, and the distruction of Morgoth and their desire to exterminate the goblins highlighted it very well.  I didn't want to go whole-hog and make them seem like the typical "dark elf," so I left their cultural values the same.  making young elves fans of human pop culture also seemed like a good break from the norm.  I kept envisioning elven boy bands.  Goblins were a way to have fun, and their religious laws were a way for players to throw in some comedy.  Thye players would be allowed (even encouraged) to make up the religious laws as they went, and just act like their goblin characters have all these obscure regulations memorized.  Eventually, I'll put together a massive list of existing laws based on what the players made up.