#Errakor

[the-world-of-errakor]

People Of Errakor - Ghostwise Halflings

So when trying to see how each of the different races of D&D would fit into the Errakor setting i came upon the Ghostwise Halflings from SCAG. When reading over them I found that they didn’t have a lot of lore nor was I a huge fan of it. So I decide to write a little bit about them and ended up writing a couple paragraphs about how they were created and how their community fits into the setting. So please if you like it or if you have any notes please let me know!

Ghostwise halflings are the rarest of their kin, solely known to come from one community within the Igian Isles, as Ghostwise halflings are descendants of the halflings that lived in the Igian Isles during the Sundering. During the sundering planar barriers were weakened and many planes bled into one another all across the material plane, for those living within the Igian Isles, they were exposed to the Ethereal Plane. Many of the halflings that felt the plane’s exposure found themselves with pained thoughts, migraines and a feeling drawing their minds to the Esterlile island within the Igian Isles. Those who made the journey to the island found a remnant of the Sundering, a large solidified shard of Ethereal energy, that unlocked what revealed to be the people’s burgeoning psychic abilities.

This shard, known as The Guiding Mind, became the center point of a community that grew throughout the years, where the community members dubbed themselves the Ghostwise due to their connection with the Ethereal Plane. An important custom in the life of a Ghostwise is the bond they forge with their communities shard when they reach adulthood (20). Each Ghostwise pushes their psyche into the shard through a ritual where they see visions of the Ethereal Plane, once complete each Ghostwise is given a small piece of the shard to keep and act as a bond to their homeland and community. These pieces are kept on them at all times, and are often incorporated into a piece of jewelry they wear. Their psychic powers and shard fragments can help them to sense their home at any time, allowing them to always know in what direction they’ll find home.

Over the years within the community there have been those who have broken under the strength of their psychic powers, driving them mad and posing significant harm to any others with psychic powers, as their uncontrolled powers can overload or even damage the minds of other psychic creatures. Often called Lost Minds or The Shardless, as they are stripped of their community’s customary shards of the Guiding Mind. These shunned members of the community were later forced to move to the island’s smaller accompanying Island known as Orolita, where they live out there lives separated from the rest of the Ghostwise community, who for which they consider Orolita a dark place of pain and ill omen.

[the-world-of-errakor]

Hi there! I'm Dan or @timely-rogue.

I'm a long time D&D nerd, I've been playing and DMing since 2016. More recently I have been DMing more consistently, running a weekly game in my local uni society, and with running one session atm and prepping to run another game come September, I have been spending a lot of time working on my campaign setting and thought I might use here to blog about it.

I have worked on my homebrew setting, The World of Errakor on and off since I started the hobby (so approximately 7 years) I've run some short campaigns in the world before, most ending due to time conflicts after approx 8 sessions, but with my current game having run most weeks since last September, I have spent much more time working on my world which is something I'd really like to show off my work and chat about my world.

So please if you have anything you'd like to ask about Errakor I'll gladly answer and if I don't have an answer as of yet, I'll come up with answer.

I'll be posting about details of my world and its 3 continents (so far) alongside random fun facts about the setting and fun moments from my campaigns.

So if that interests you stick around!

[the-world-of-errakor]

People of Errakor - Elves

Aight so if you can't already tell this is going to be a longer one cause there are almost too many kinds of Elves to count. This post will mainly cover how they came to the plane originally and how some of them evolved. So if you like Elves and lore dumps have fun!

Originating from the Feywild initially, the Elves of Errakor were initally created by The Arch Heart and for many years the civilization stayed their solely in the realm of the Fey, before over time moving to other planes. In search of the wonders of the Material Plane’s wilds, the first tribe of elves decided to make their way to the world of Errakor, these Elves would become the first Wood, Sea, Frost and Desert Elves. Not long after many other Elves made their way to Errakor, creating many of the lineages of Elves we know to this day, those who wished to study and advanced their knowledge under the celestial bodies of Errakor’s sky became the High Elves (Sun and Moon), those who felt the call to worship The Moonweaver ventured to Errakor to share her wonder and became the Pallid Elves.

One group that unwillingly left the feywild were the original Drow, as they were cast out of the Fey Realm by Corrleon below the surface of Errakor for their support of The Spider Queen in her attempted murder of him where they began to cultivate communities in The Underdark.

Unlike many others that left the Fey Realm, the Elves now known as The Shadar-kai, did not venture to Errakor but its other Reflection, The Shadowfell, in order to best serve the God they followed The Matron of Ravens.

The last group of Elves are The Eladrin, whilst a large portion of The Eladrin stay within the Fey Realm, there are sizable populations of them found on the Material Plane. Within the Fey Realm, hundred of years ago there was city of Eladrin known as Ilhenor. During the Sundering The planar divides weakened and Ilhenor was dragged to The Material Plane. However this act of power sundered the city into four different spires, each eternally locked into a seasonal phase. These spires are now bastions of elven society and have been for over eight hundred years, hosting multiple different kinds of elves rather than just Eladrin, though any Eladrin at a spire is locked into the associated seasonal form when there.

[the-world-of-errakor]

People of Errakor - Warforged

Continuing on with posting about how some of the many species in D&D came to be in Errakor, next we have the warforged.

The warforged were built to defend the people of Silens during the Sundering. The first warforged were created when the city’s founder, Igden Silverthread, found the city he called home, and much of the surrounding area thrust into the sky, from the effects of the plane of Air, and under attack from creatures of other planes. He raced to provide the people of the new Elgarian Highlands with some form of defense. However after the war Igden no longer had use for their service and set his creations free to venture into the world, wishing the best for his creations. however some still see the warforged as less than human, and choose to experiment on them. Some warforged wrestle with finding a sense of self, unsure of themselves and unsure if they have true value due to being constructs.

[the-world-of-errakor]

Continent Overview - Aurkura

Ok so the next continent we’re going to cover is the one I’m currently in the process of redesigning, Aurkura! (The map for this one is still in the sketching stage so will add later)

Aurkura is not only the largest continent in all of Errakor but has the largest number of governing entities of all of them (so far).

The first we’ll cover is Cripea. Not only was it the first designed, and the one I have actually run a short term campaign in, but it used to be the whole continent during the first draft of this continent’s development. Cripea is very much your classic fantasy environment, with large forests, grasslands, mountains and lakes. The nation has two mountin ranges that help to seperate the nation into it’s northern and southern parts. The north of Cripea contains the nation’s capital Redholt. Redholt is a large city with a large arts scene, having many theaters throughout providing great support for theatrical actors and musicians, even providing people with places to train with their bardic college. The north also holds its northern port towns of Eccot and Prylyn, which act as the easiest point of travel to other nations on the continent, as well as the continent of Faerith to the north-west of them. In the south of the nation is one of the strongest places of magical energy, The Everdusk Forest. Initially a forest that was the home of the god Sylvanus, The Old Oak, until during The Sundering (my calamity event) when Mystra, The Mother of All Magic was dragged from her divine realm to the material plane landing in Sylvanus’ forest. In order to prevent chaos or an overload in magical power caused by this event, the two deities weaved the magic spread by her summoning into the forest itself. In modern times those woods became known as The Everdusk Forest.

The next area is the group of islands to the south of Cripea is The Votquetian Islands. A series of three islands occupied with jungle terrain, many tirbal communities as well as variety of large beasts, the most notable of which are dinosaurs. The main settlement, Vot, is a huge point shamanic knowledge and important to those well attuned to their or others beastly natures.

To the north of Cripea is the small dwarven nation of Voratim. Surrounded on almost all sides by mountain ranges, the dwarves of Voratim are extremely proud of how easily defendable their nation is as well as proud of the strength of their military. The culture in Voratim is very much focused on the strength of not only that of their indivdual clans but their collective strength as a nation. They often see themselves as stronger than their neighbouring countries. Recently their has been word of some clans pushing for war with the surrounding nations, mainly Cripea as in the past Voratim used to control much of it’s northern region before being ousted a couple hundred years ago.

One much smaller governing body to the east of Cripea is the floating elven Autumn spire Galgwyn, one part of an Eladrin citadel shattered during the Sundering when it was dragged into the material plane from the Feywild. Though it contains more than just the Eladrin subrace of elves, due to being locked in the season of Autumn, this causes any Eladrin present in the spire to be locked into their Autumnal Forms.

To the east of Voratim we have the quaint nation of Wiryish. One of the main stand out parts of the nation is its large marshlands that make up a large portion of the nation. These marshalnds contain five different settlements, some of which include Ol’Fen, a welcoming village of goblins and halfings in the northern swamplands, and Guskatin a village that is little more than a goblin encampment that awkwardly grew overtime to become a large chaotic settlement. My favourite part of developing this nation was the motivation it gave me to develop my own Halfling subrace known as the Marsh Halfling/Bogling. Many of the fetures for which are repurposed from the Boggard race designed by R.N.W.’s Spike Patch Grove one shot, check it out its great.

To the north of Wiyish is the currently very underdeveloped jungle nation of Dowajiro. I have plenty of ideas ideas for the society of the nation, mainly involving some mayan influences and making the population largely consist of the animalistic lineages, such as Leonin, Tabaxi and Shifters. But for now I don’t have much written for it.

And finally to the south of Wiryish/east of Cripea in the Orean Sea we have another chain of islands known as The Igian Isles. The Igian Isles are a series of seven islands that all used to be part of one landmass, until the destructive effects of The Sundering led to a titanic influx of water from the Plane of Water that raised sea levels globally and earthquakes, caused by the pained reverberations that the Plane of Earth felt during The Sundering leaked into the material plane, separated what was still left above sea level into the series of Islands we are familiar with today. The landmass was known as Opath, but is now since known as The Igian Isles as Igia is largest landmass of the remaining islands.

Ok this was really long but I really enjoyed writing about all of this, if you found anything cool, had some ideas or any writing pointers please let me know, see you all next time!

[the-world-of-errakor]

Continent Overview - Remtei

So the first Continent I'm going to give the general overview for, though it was the second designed, is that of Remtei.

The land of Snow, Sand and Sky. A continent full of a mix of very diverse environments, cultures and creatures. Comprising of three very different nations one of religious zeal, another of advancing intellect and a third of feral intuition. These nations are Athus, Elgary and The Frostlands.

The first nation is Athus, where the current campaign I run "Ruins" is currently set. Athus is a land of religious zeal, desolate wastes, high peaks and long forgotten mysteries. Located in the south of the continent of Remtei, Athus is mostly made up of deserts and a series of mountain ranges. The largest of these mountains is located in the centre of the nation and is known as the Athan Peak. The capital is a city known as Vannasir and is governed by 7 different orders that follow different deities from the setting.

Next we'll cover Elgary. Located in the North Eastern portion of Remtei, Elgary is a land of great heights, whether this be their great mountains or floating highlands. As of such the nation’s people have a large affinity for the sky whether this be through the nation’s invention of sky ships or the fact that many of them have the ability of controlling the winds and some even have the ability of flight themselves. Its capital Silens is a highly innovative city, with years of scientific developments to boast, whether it be the creation of the Warforged over 800 years ago, the recent development of the Silenian Hybrids (my setting's name for the Simic Hybrid race) and much more.

And lastly we'll cover The Frostlands. The Frostlands is a frigid nation, seemingly locked into an eternal winter. Towns are very sparse within this nation, however that does not mean it lacks communities. Across the frozen wastes there are 12 different tribes that roam the region, very much so viking inspired, that all follow the nations leader, their Warmother. Though this unity does not prevent fights and animosity between the clans. In this region people have to focus on their base instincts to survive, as many predators, be they man or beast, have adapted to these frozen wastes and they are all fighting to be the one that survives.

I've really enjoyed not only developing this continent but also getting to DM a regular game in it. Which I can say has really tested my writing and improv skills. Each of the nations will get further posts discussing they're history and locations, so keep an eye out.

[the-world-of-errakor]

So with playing a lot of Baldur’s Gate 3 over the weekend I got inspired to actually buff the Ghostwise Halflings of my world. Providing the Regular and Shardless of the Ghostwise of the community different abilities. Let me know what you think of my additions to the subrace, whether its something you like or think could use with being reworked further!

True Ghostwise

Connected Mind. You know the Mind Sliver Cantrip. At 5th level, you can cast the Detect Thoughts spell once per long rest. Choose Wisdom, Intelligence or Charisma as your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Shardless

Psionic Backlash. When an enemy within 30ft of you casts a spell, you can use your reaction to inflict 1d4 psychic damage per spell level on the target.

People Of Errakor - Ghostwise Halflings

So when trying to see how each of the different races of D&D would fit into the Errakor setting i came upon the Ghostwise Halflings from SCAG. When reading over them I found that they didn’t have a lot of lore nor was I a huge fan of it. So I decide to write a little bit about them and ended up writing a couple paragraphs about how they were created and how their community fits into the setting. So please if you like it or if you have any notes please let me know!

Ghostwise halflings are the rarest of their kin, solely known to come from one community within the Igian Isles, as Ghostwise halflings are descendants of the halflings that lived in the Igian Isles during the Sundering. During the sundering planar barriers were weakened and many planes bled into one another all across the material plane, for those living within the Igian Isles, they were exposed to the Ethereal Plane. Many of the halflings that felt the plane’s exposure found themselves with pained thoughts, migraines and a feeling drawing their minds to the Esterlile island within the Igian Isles. Those who made the journey to the island found a remnant of the Sundering, a large solidified shard of Ethereal energy, that unlocked what revealed to be the people’s burgeoning psychic abilities.

This shard, known as The Guiding Mind, became the center point of a community that grew throughout the years, where the community members dubbed themselves the Ghostwise due to their connection with the Ethereal Plane. An important custom in the life of a Ghostwise is the bond they forge with their communities shard when they reach adulthood (20). Each Ghostwise pushes their psyche into the shard through a ritual where they see visions of the Ethereal Plane, once complete each Ghostwise is given a small piece of the shard to keep and act as a bond to their homeland and community. These pieces are kept on them at all times, and are often incorporated into a piece of jewelry they wear. Their psychic powers and shard fragments can help them to sense their home at any time, allowing them to always know in what direction they’ll find home.

Over the years within the community there have been those who have broken under the strength of their psychic powers, driving them mad and posing significant harm to any others with psychic powers, as their uncontrolled powers can overload or even damage the minds of other psychic creatures. Often called Lost Minds or The Shardless, as they are stripped of their community’s customary shards of the Guiding Mind. These shunned members of the community were later forced to move to the island’s smaller accompanying Island known as Orolita, where they live out there lives separated from the rest of the Ghostwise community, who for which they consider Orolita a dark place of pain and ill omen.