¤ Dahl ¤
The universe of Dahl itself is a vast cacophony of nothingness and empty space speckled with numerous interdimensional planes that overlap in places and exist together in chaos, and balance. Its magic and machinations are slightly different from other worlds of the Dungeons and Dragons multiverse not changing how "spells work" but instead "where spells come from." There are no true Gods in all of Dahl, thus there are no divine, arcane or nature-based Gods for the mortals of Dahl to call upon for help. There is only the Truth, a metaphysical plane where all emotion, life, energy, and the souls of mortals are stored. Only a few mortals know of this fact, and that number of living mortals that know the secrets of Dahl can usually be counted by one person, on two hands.
Dahl: What is thought of as "Dahl" by the common people of the world of Amestleheim is merely its version of a material plane. Dahl's material plane is the nexus where the philosophical and elemental forces that define the other planes collide in the jumbled existence of mortal life and mundane matter. It is influenced by the Truth in the form of Divine Magic by nature in the form of Nature Magic, a subset of Divine Magic and finally by the mortals of Heim and any creature who can produce or use it in the form of Arcane Magic.
Amestleheim: Referred to by most common people by the simpler name "Heim." Amestleheim is Dahl's form of an earth-like world in which the mortal races, as well as monsters, creatures, mimics, constructs and other living-beings found in Dungeons and Dragons on the material plane inhabit. It has a twenty-four-hour day, one sun, four moons, one small, two of equal medium size, and one of a large size, and is surrounded by several asteroids that orbit Heim each too small to be considered moons themselves. The main continent of Heim is named Attigan and has three settlements. The main and first city founded on Attigan by Bregadoir Von Elric; Lys. Lys is the main political superpower being a melting pot for multiple races. The second founded by a forgotten high-elf; Darnassas is isolationist being primarily populated by high-elves, wood-elves, half-elves, drow, and other subraces from the elven hierarchy. Then finally the sprawling farming village of Laedthym provides most of the foodstuffs, livestock, and laborers for the other more developed cities.
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Solaire of Astora: The sun, of Amestleheim, simplified by the common people as "Solly the Bright" is the celestial body Amestleheim orbits it is a vast expansive star found in Dahl's material plane. For the most religious and even the common people it is thought to be the personification of light, heat, anger, wrath, and war. It is three times larger than the sun of the Earth, but also three times farther from Amestleheim than the Earth's sun is from Earth creating a similar ecosystem to that of Earth. It is worshiped like a God by clerics and paladins from the Warriors of Sol-light. It may just be the first thing in Dahl ever worshiped as a God, thus making the Warriors of Sol-light one of if not the first and most devout religion on Amestleheim. The Warriors of Sol-light are easy to anger and the primary antagonists that start and maintain decades-long crusades against monsters, races, and even the other religions of Heim.
Penumbra of Refrain: The smallest of the four moons of Heim which usually rests in the shadow of Perpetua creating a secondary shadow that trails over Heim anytime Penumbra and Perpetua are together creating a halo of darkness mainly at night with the white light from Penumbra being surrounded by the purple light reflected by Perpetua. It is made of a highly reflective white material creating a bright sheen as it bounces light back at Heim from Solly the Bright. It is thought to be one of three daughters birthed from Solaire of Astora and Perpetua of Night. The other two being Padraigin of Sky and Air as well as Peggy of Water and Mist. Penumbra is worshiped as the Goddess of Refrain and Music, thought of like a gorgeous song. This is because not only does she reflect back the light of Sol, but she follows her mother through the sky providing a gentle refrain of shadow within a shadow. She is also the Goddess most Bards may sing about as the patron saint of music. Her followers and devotees are known as the Song of Penumbra. Due to their access to the various Bards of the world who revere Penumbra as the patron Goddess of Music, the Song of Penumbra is the third most structured and devote religion only outdone by the Warriors of Sol-light and the Church of Night.Praise the Sun!
Praise Solaire of Astora!
In the brightest of day!
In the blackest of night!
Because of him, no evil can escape my sight!
Let those who worship evil's might!
Beware our power: Solaire's light!
Praise, Solly the Bright!"
When our work is done! We praise the Sun!
- Proverb of the Warriors of Sol-light.
Padraigin of Sky and Air: A medium-sized moon tied in size with her "sister" Peggy of Water and Mist is Padraigin. Padraigin is made of a dark, obsidian-like material reflecting little to no sol-light making her extremely hard to perceive in the night-sky only viewable by reasoning the stars that are blocked behind her passage as she travels around Heim. The two moons orbit Heim closely together never far from one another. Padraigin is thought to be the Goddes of the Sky, and the force that controls the winds, and the air. She is tied to the emotions of anxiety, anticipation, and surprise, but can also be associated with calm, and gentle. This is because she is thought to control the winds, these can be light breezes, or gale-force tornadoes creating a highly unstable perception of her as a Goddess, she is also closely related to speed. Her clerics and paladins are referred to as The Wings of Padraigin.Sing o' she.
She may be the face I can't forget.
The trace of shadow after sunset.
She may be the song that summer sings.
Maybe the chill that autumn brings.
Maybe a hundred different things.
Within the measure of a day.
She may be the beauty of a song ceased.
May be the famine or the feast.
She may be the mirror of my dreams.
A smile reflected in a stream.
She may not be what she may seem.
- Hymn of the Song of Penumbra.
Peggy of Water and Mist: A medium-sized moon made of a foreign blue material causing it to reflect blue light back upon wherever it casts a shadow. Always close to her "sister" Padraigin, Peggy is thought of as the Goddes of Water and Mist. She is associated most closely with the sea, lakes, rain, rivers and other bodies of water. She is similar to her sister in ideals her followers or the perception of her relates to emotions such as nervousness, worry, and threat as well as calm, and calculated. This is because a tsunami can level a coastal city, as well as whirlpools and rip-tides, being deadly and dangerous things. Alternatively, rain can provide natural life and moisture to a droughted land. She is also associated with formlessness, shapelessness, and adaptation. Her followers are called the Tides of Change.Of Wings and Winds.
Since you've gone, I've been lost without a trace.
But I dream at night and I can only see your face.
I look around, but it's you I can't replace
I feel so cold and I long for your gentle embrace
I know your wings they cause the breeze
Your winds they shake the trees
Padraigin, hear my pleas.
- Prayer of the Wings of Padraigin
Perpetua of Night: The largest of the four moons of Heim, Perpetua is made from an oddly purple liquid-like substance. She is considered the ultimate representation and personification of night and darkness itself. Whereas Solaire of Astora represents light, heat, anger, wrath, and war, Perpetua of Night represents; night, cold, understanding, kindness and peace. She is most likely the first thing to ever be worshipped as a Goddess on Heim, so in the public perception, she is usually depicted as, a rival and lover of Solly the Bright. The religious followers of the doctrine are called the Church of Night and they have the second-most dominant religion on Heim outclassed only by the Warriors of Sol-light creating a supremely structured and nearly not outclassed religion.Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Water can take any form. It drifts without effort one moment then pounds down in a torrent the very next.
- Scripture passage of the Tides of Change
Nyre of the Divide: A river that bisects the Middle-district, the Von Elric Estate, and the Von Heim Estate. It has gathered a tiny religion that follows the river as if it were a God. Nyre is thought of as the God of Separation, relating to the sense of individuality, self-reliance, determination, change and the will to go on. His humanoid form is thought of as a blue-scaled dragonborn, but myths and rumors state that Nyre can also take the form of a blue-scaled kobold. He is worshipped primarily by dragonkin and even has a following that stretches up to Juvenile and Ancient Blue Dragons. Who were probably the individuals who founded the religion many centuries ago. Their following and devotees are deemed the "New Divide.Blessed be the Night
Blessed be the everlasting Night,
And blessed the endless slumber.
We are heated by the day too bright,
And withered up with care.
We're weary of a life abroad,
And we now want our Mother's home.
What in this world should we all
Do with love and with faith?
That which is old is set aside,
And the new may perish also.
Alone she stands and sore downcast
Who loves the pious warmth.
- Poem about Perpetua of Night
City of Lys: The oldest, most substantial and earliest example of a city on Amestleheim is Lys. It was founded on Heim by the late, great Bréagadóir Von Elric known to some as the Deceiver with his wife Fírinne Von Elric, nee, Heim a woman of legendary beauty and grace. They became the first family of noble blood and birth from Lys. They were the family of nobles that started what became the magnificent city of Lys. Lys has three residential districts and various shops, in the center of the middle district is the river Nyre bisecting the city in twain. Additionally in the empty space between the three districts is the headquarters of the Protectors of Lys, a junction for the guard to reach each district. It is a central point with tunnels spidering out underground so that the Protectors of Lys can go out into the districts without being seen or known of.New Divide
I remember black skies! I can remember all your lies!
The lightning was all around me! The water washed over our bodies!
I remember each flash! That booming crash!
As time began to blur!
Like a startling sign!
That fate had finally found me!
And your roaring was all I heard!
Do I get what I deserve!?
So give me reason!
To prove me wrong!
To wash this memory clean!
Let the floods cross!
The distance in your eyes!
Give me reason!
To fill this hole!
Connect this space between!
Let it be enough to reach the truth, that lies!
Across this new divide!
- Scripture of the New Divide
Von Elric Estate | Vasslerune: To the west of the High-district is a walled-castle called Vassalrune and is the home of the Von Elric family the founders of Lys. It is separated from the Scattered Grove by the Nyre River. The Scattered Grove is a grouping of farmland and orchards for the Von Elric family to the north-west of Vassalrune and to the west of the Middle-district. The Von Elric family controls everything relating to Lys including the entire city but has liaisons to deal with the mundane.
Hup Estate | Hupperdook: To the east of the Low-district is the Hup Estate also known as Hupperdook. Hupperdook is a relatively tiny citadel owned by the Hup, and used to keep watch over the Low-district. It appears as a noble fortress with a moat and drawbridge but shows to their lower standing amongst the other nobles as it is much more modest and homely than the other nobles. The Hup is a family descended from High-elves but have by this point mixed their bloodline with various races creating numerous half-elven, and wood-elven offspring. They are the rulers of the Low-district appointed by the Von Elric family themselves. They have the right to collect taxes from the Low-district.
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Von Heim Estate | Hemilich: Finally to the north of both the Middle and the Low-districts is the Von Heim estate also known as Heimlich. The Von Heim is one of the first noble families in the City of Lys second only to the Von Elric. They were the kin of Fírinne Von Elric, nee, Heim. They are related to the Von Elric in the sense that one of their earliest kin married the "self-proclaimed" founder of Lys, Bréagadóir Von Elric. They are a family of humans, who live a modest life compared to their wealth. Most of the gold they take in from taxes is directly pumped back into the economy of the Middle-district. They are a kind, fair and just family who rarely give in to corruption and evil. They have control of the Middle-district and the right to collect taxes from the Middle-district.
Outer-Lys:
There is an extensive forest to the north, with trees as high as one-hundred meters tall, called the Pang-shu forest. To the south of Lys is a glorious lake, named Aoi-umi with waters so blue, and pure white sands stretching all around it. Rumors of a kind and beautiful Water Nymph spread all through Heim about the elegance and charm of such a lake. To the far west is an enormous hill with a small house atop it. The house is forgotten and old but just looking at it tells the story of a deep-love the house being covered in momentoes of exploration and adventure. It is a well-worn house built from love and respect that has somehow weathered years of idleness. Some people who visit it speak of a low drowning noise from the hill below like a creature is waiting below lost to deep slumber. Finally to the east rests a quiet little valley, surrounded by hills, with trees and grass greener than any other place on Heim flowers spread throughout the valley.
Pang-shu Forest: To the north of the City of Lys rests the Pang-shu Forest which is a massive grove of trees spanning on for miles in all directions. It is the home to many various forms of life including various temperate animals, as well as various monsters the most prevalent being goblinoids. The trees themselves range in size from ten or so feet high to as tall as three-hundred to four-hundred feet creating an extensive thicket of trees. There is a path cutting through the forest making travel easier but still rather difficult. Hidden away in the depths of the forest are numerous sections of deep caves in which goblinoids such as goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbear dwell.
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Low: The low distract is a walled section of Lys completely surrounded in enormous barracks and military posts acting as guard-posts stationed every two miles. These posts are watched over by the Protectors of Lys. The Protectors of Lys are the militaristic guard force of the Von Elric family, a pseudo-police-force to control Lys and the common people. It is a nesting place for the impoverished and downtrodden. Few shops can be found here, the main examples being bakeries, butchers, groceries, fruit vendors, a few speckled clothes merchants, carpenters, brick-layers, and maybe the odd apothecary or two. There is a single tavern in the Low-district doubling as a bar, an inn and a brothel.
There are no fine restaurants or theatres, and most forms of luxurious entertainment can't be found in the low district. The closest thing being Serenity's Sticky Lagoon, the inn, tavern, and brothel as well as the Church of Night branch 153 and the 107th Song of Penumbra. However, it is a hot-bed for religious indoctrination. What the low district has more than any of the other districts are churches and temples. They use poverty to convince the poorest people to believe in their Gods. They trade food, and shelter and what meager forms of entertainment, music, and art they can muster and create for the belief that those living in squalor give to their structured religion and their God.
The two most dominant religions among the Low-district are the Church of Night and the Song of Penumbra. This is due to the fact that the Song of Penumbra brings music, refrain, fun and respite to their followers which is something the poverty-stricken cling to. The Song of Penumbra trades the bare minimum in entertainment such as Bards that sing songs of Penumbra of Refrain, to events such as plays, and passion projects about the worship of Heim's tiniest moon. Bards are an unexpendable resource for the Song of Penumbra, which is why it is easily the third most followed religion behind the Warriors of Sol-light and the Church of Night. The people have little in the way of entertainment in the day to day droll of the world. As for the Church of Night, they promise food, and shelter to those who don't have it feeding the destitute in payment for their worship, prayer, and belief.
- > Bert and Boris's Butcher's Block: A tiny hole-in-the-wall butchery run by a hobgoblin and a bugbear respectively Bert the Hobgoblin and Boris the Bugbear. The Butcher's Block is the main place where the poor who do not need to rely upon the Church of Night for their food obtain their wholesale and individually packed meat. They also obtain their animal bone and cartilage for soups and stocks here and it is the only place in the Low-district where rations can be bought and meat and monster parts can be bought and sold. Additionally, it is the closest thing to a general store the Low-district has selling meager wares. It is a ramshackle shop dirty, and dingy built into the side of an old church formally devoted to a small religion about the Nyre river that bisects the Middle-district. It is a wooden structure, the roof leaks, the floor creaks and there is usually blood somewhere to be found. As you enter the shop, you are immediately met with the stench of meat, as you see a single countertop and an open walk-way and room leading up to it. Rumors about the two proprietors say they dispose of bodies, humanoid, goblinoid, or any other kind of sentient creature or monster-... for a price of course.
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The Sticky Lagoon, counter to its name is one of the cleanest, most well furnished, and high tier establishments in the Low-district. It is easily on par with something found in the Middle-district and has a dozen rooms for rent or pleasure. It is split into three sections, as you enter you find yourself in a tavern with a bar to the north, and several tables speckling the room. Next to the bar to the north-west is the entrance to the kitchen and the kitchen itself, to the north-east are the stables which usually have horses for sale and is the only place to buy or rent them in the Low-district. The whole place is guarded by a buff and brawny goliath woman who mainly focuses on guarding the tavern and the women as a bouncer of sorts. To the far south is the brothel side, where men and women alike can seek out the comfort of another. The Sticky Lagoon doesn't kink shame and has a vast repertoire of both ladies and men of the night at least one from every race one so one for anyone's flavor. A young half-elven man tends the bar and seems to be in his early twenties. He is Serenity's "favorite flavor" if you will. Serenity herself is hardly ever seen but can be sought out for work menial or more interesting through a quest board funded by herself and the Hup family.
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- > Branch 153 of the Church of Night: The one-hundred and fifty-third branch of the Church of Night is the division set to look over the Low-district. They are a corrupt lot and will extort from the poor. Regina is the head cleric of the Church of Night branch 153. They have the grandest building in all of the Low-district a grandiose and massive spire of obsidian and darkness casting a towering shadow over the poor district. They hand out food, and shelter to the poverty-stricken, giving out a daily allotment to any family who cannot meet the basic needs for survival. The Spire, as it is called, has a set of extraordinary stain-glass windows and on each is a relief of the purple silhouette of Perpetua of Night first the moon itself rising behind her more "humanoid form" which is depicted as a gargantuan drow-like woman with a mixture of onyx and purple skin as well as glowing white hair and bright white eyes.
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- > 107th Song of Penumbra: The 107th Song of Penumbra is the only place where entertainment can be obtained for the citizens of the Low-district. It takes the form of a massive, wood and stone chappel with hard wooden pews set out before a lavish and ostentatious stage. Various bards and choirs play the stage weekly, plays and presentations happen once a month, and it is all done for free. Free in the sense that you have to wait through a service, and pray to their God before you can revel in the splendor that they provide you. However, unlike the Church of Night branch 153 the leader of the 107th Song of Penumbra actually cares about his followers and the common men and women. Darius is the head of the 107th Song of Night and the final tax-collector for the Low-district.
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Middle: The second walled section of Lys is the Middle District. There are fine restaurants, multiple inns, fine blacksmiths, enchanters, magic item shops, tailors, apothecaries and potion shops. A public library for the common people with storybooks, history books, and other tools for those who wish to self teach and a private library for the nobility with more restricted topics like spell tomes, spell scrolls, and other high-level knowledge. There are also parks, fountains, businesses places for recreation such as theaters and amphitheaters devoted to penumbra, grocers, a lock and canal through the Nyre as well as just about any shop an adventuring party may need.
The river is named the Nyre and has a small faction sized religion relating to it. It is worshiped as the God of the Divide and is known as the Great Separator. It is a small religion with paladins and clerics ranging in the thousands. The river is a fast-flowing current that tears through the land moving so fast that it has eaten through the rock and stone of the ground below. When it floods, it can cause minor destruction to surrounding shops and such but is usually repaired by the Von Heim family through their charitable donations.
Moody's Magic Shop and Evocation Emporium: The primary Magic Shop for the Middle-district with access to various magic items including weapons, armors, shields, potions, scrolls, spell tomes and books, wands, rods, and arcane supplies for spell components. It is run by a retired wizard "Moody." The shop itself is an outlandish sorcerer's spire that seems to rearrange itself by-weekly. The inside is littered with forgotten books, half-eaten food, half-drank potion bottles with strange substances in them as well as several cases that hold various items. When someone steps into the tower and looks up they will see a plethora of tomes, that move, float, sort and rearrange themselves as the bookshelves crawl up to the roof of the shop itself.
Moody: The owner and proprietor of the Evocation Emporium. He is a red-scaled Dragonborn in a draping blue robe with a pair of spectacles that hang low on his snout. He is a scatterbrained and forgetful man is quick to be persuaded and deceived and is willing to part with certain magic items merely out of curiosity. This is only really ever offered to returning customers as he grows interested in how his items and objects are doing once they go out into the world and will trade stories for coin or store credit if offered. Moody is an enchanter.
Sanguinar Arena: The Sanguinar Arena plays the same part in the Middle-district as the Song of Penumbra in the Low-district it is a place for entertainment and revelry. However, it tends to end up being more combat-oriented. The Arena is a massive sprawling stone, brick, and mortar colosseum in the heart of the Middle-district. Adventures, mercenaries, as well as performers and bards, flock to the Arena for a chance to fight and play at the venue. A bard or adventurer who gets to play in the Sanguinar Arena will see their fame and fortune skyrocket overnight.
Sanguine Depths: An underground compound below the Sanguinar Arena and the main base of operations for the Sanguinar family of Vampires the Sanguine Depths is a sprawling manor built into the very earth itself. It is a lavish estate house completely underground far from the light of the day. The interior is that of a noble household, extravagant and gaunt furniture and wealthy attire and art line the homestead with offshoot caves and buildings sprawling out below the streets of the city. The Sanguinar find themselves at direct odds with the Warriors of Sol-light, and financial allies to the Church of Night.
Cassius Sanguinar: The patriarch of the Sanguinar family, his true age is unknown but he is at least a thousand years old having been a figure in the public eye long before Serenity of the Sticky Lagoon took fame and prominence in the Low-district. He has white shoulder-length hair and wouldn't be caught dead without fine noble clothes taking immaculate care to keep his appearance both physically and in the public in the highest esteem. He is known for his long and lasting control of the Sanguinar Arena. It was only in the last two hundred-years that Vampirism was decriminalized and the Sanguinar Arena became more commonplace.
Valeera Sanguinar: The younger sister of Cassius, whereas Cassius is the brains, and the face of the family Valeera clings to the old ways. She is a Vampire who holds true to the stereotype of darkness, and gloom. She wears plain clothes as to not stand out in a crowd and rumors say she uses the Sanguinar Arena as a base for the "Picked Pocket" one of the more shadowy Thieve's guilds in the entire city of Lys. Where Cassius controls the public's opinion of them, Valeera makes sure no one speaks out against them, by any means necessary, and the commonfolk, nobles and other creatures of the night know not to cross her.
The Bizarre Adventure:
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