Thelemar is a fantasy world rich with history, magical wonders, political intrigues, cultural conflicts and godly meddling. For the full chronology, see the History of Thelemar.
Summary
Long ago, in ages past, there was only one empire, so mighty and far reaching that it was called simply The Empire. It’s inhabitants lived a life of luxury and comfort, and magic was as easy as speaking. But the emperor, every greedy, sought more. Under his rule the magicians of The Empire embarked on a road for endless magic, an unfathomable goal. The old gods of The Empire, apathetic to the world’s impending turmoils, cared only for the continuation of their worship, and let the mortals do as they may - without guidance, without protection. This oversight led to their fall. The cataclysm at the Heart of The Empire - The Collapse, as it is called - has brought an end to the Age of The Empire. The world was torn asunder, ravaged beyond repair by forces the mages so foolishly tampered with; climates changed, cities crumbled, monsters were born, and the mortals were thrust into an age of war and despair, of tears and sorrows.
Demons infested the land, and people became so twisted by the rampant magical anomalies that new races were born. Even magic, the cornerstone of life in The Empire, was gone from the world, and without it the mortals were left to live by their swords. When magic came back, hundreds of years later, it was different. And the mortals, who knew only war, strife and the blade by then, used it like so.
These hundreds of years are now referred to as The Age of Chaos, a dark chapter in history.
But then, the world changed again, when the Gods of the Three Pantheons appeared to the world. They came to the mortals as saviors, and brought with them promises for a brighter future, for guidance and protection. They expelled the demons and kept at bay the hordes of monsters. They gave light and magic back to the world, and under their watch, the world’s discord calmed down a bit, and the endless chaos ceased. And so began a new age, one of relative stability.
During the next thousand years, the world grew and changed. Countries rose and fell, wars were fought, and magic started being more than a tool for wars. A new god appeared and was proclaimed by his followers to be the creator of the world, putting his religion in direct contrast to that of the Three Pantheons.
Lately, the world has been unified in a war against the House of Horrors - an order of abominations that, using the darkest of magic, fused mortals and demons to create soldiers for their ranks. The war ended recently with no clear winner, with the House driven back to a small island off the eastern shore.
A new port city on the western shore has sent expeditions to the west, and a new land mass was discovered, dubbed “The New World”. Very little is known about these new lands, and the mystery draws the eyes of both adventurers and nations. The year is 1541 after the collapse, and the world is in a relative period of peace.
Will it stay that way for long?
Etymology
Time, Seasons, Moons and Weather
Time
Time in the land of Thelemar passes in a very similar way to our own. All basic time measurements (second, minute, hour, day) denote the same passage of time. When it comes to larger units of time we have a divergence - a Thelemarian month has exactly 28 days, with 12 months, to the count of 336 days in a year. Thelemar does not have weeks, and no standard names for the days or months. This calendar dates back to the days of The Empire, and while many attempts at replacing it were made, it is deeply rooted in how society functions.
Seasons
Thelemar has 4 seasons, much like our own world. While their effect varies in strength and consequences along the world, they are fairly analogues to our own seasons, with the following order to them:
- Winter - Comes in the first, second and third months, since the Plane of Water is closest to the Prime Material Plane
- Spring - Comes in the fourth, fifth and sixth months, since the Plane of Earth is closest to the Prime Material Plane
- Summer- Comes in the seventh, eight and 9th months, since the Plane of Fire is closest to the Prime Material Plane
- Autumn- Comes in the 10th, 11th and 12th months, since the Plane of Air is closest to the Prime Material Plane
Some Areas in the world - such as near the Black Desert, The Storm Seas and the Frigid Straits
Celestial Bodies
The Sun of the world, often called Witsil, is spoken of in all cultures as a powerful source of energy in the sky. Every god of the sun (Ra, Apollo, Frey) claims that as gods of the sun, they keep it in check, protecting the world from it’s immense heat while giving it enough of it to help creatures grow. In truth, the sun is the personification of the god Huītzilōpōchtli (Wit-si-lo-pocht-li), an ancient being bound by the gods who were unable to destroy him completely. In contrast, the world does have 3 moons:
- Phaesporia - Also called the Virgin Moon, the Golden Moon, and Moon of the Hunt, has a golden hue and rises in the beginning of each month for 7 days, which are considered by many to be “Days of the Hunter” for the increased light in the night. It is the most luminous of the three moons, but is average in size. It is tied to the goddess Artemis, and is often considered to be her blessing for hunters in all the lands.
- Manni - This silvery moon rises and falls during the whole month, being full in the middle of it. It is the smallest of the three moons, and is considered to be pulled over the sky by the sled of the god Manni. It has many other names, such as Counter of Years, Waxer, the Hastener, The Fiery One, and many more.
- Chons - The Traveller, The Defender, The Embracer, this greenish moon is the most elusive of the 3, despite being the largest. It does not have any set time in the month of rising, and the time it appears in the sky is also not fixed. The stories tell that the god Konshu has gambled the light of his moon away, and that is why it is so rare to see it in the sky.
There are many stars in the skies of Thelemar - groups of constellations often relate to powerful beings such as the gods, mighty heroes who once lived, and so on. There is some connection between the gods and their constellation, and often times clerics will receive omens from the stars.
The Zodiacs
Amongst the many stars there are also the zodiacs, constellations who’ve held great cultural importance in the days of the empire, each more prominent in the sky at a certain time of the year. All zodiacs originate back in the days of the empire, but some have lost their original meanings and name, and each culture has different names and meaning to these zodiacs. Each month of the 12 has two zodiacs - one that shines brightly through the first 21 days of the month, when the moons are at their strongest. And one that is dimmer, is prominent only during the last week of the month, when Manni is waning and the night is at it’s darkest. This week is often called “Star Week”, though other names for it exist. The Zodiacs are, by order of months:
- First Month, Beaver
- Star Week, Sequoia
- First Day - Phoenix
- Second Month, Aurochs
- Star Week, Salmon
- Third Month, Horse
- Star Week, Unicorn
- Fourth Month, Cat
- Star Week, Aurumvorax
- Fifth Month, Peacock
- Star Week, Pseudodragon
- Sixth Month, Roc
- Star Week, Raven
- Seventh Month, Bee
- Star Week, Almiraj
- Eighth Month, Octopus
- Star Week, Hillstep Turtle
- Ninth Month, Hound
- Star Week, Kitsune
- 10th Month, Griffon
- Star Week, Bat
- 11th Month, Bulette
- Star Week, Owlbear
- 12 Month, Phoenix
- Star Week, Lizard
Geography
Humanoid Species
Magic
Magic is a central aspect of life in the world of Thelemar. In the past, in the age of the empire and before, it was so central that every living being was able to use magic like average magic users of the latter ages. Following the collapse, magic went haywire in the world. Due to the nature of the collapse and its effects, it became much harder to use and control magic. Many aspects of magic has since been developed, each with it’s own unique pros and cons:
- The Watchers - The first magic users to rise after the collapse, not much has survived from their magical arts. It is said they gained their powers through meticulous studies and body alterations, and all their spells were cast using their eyes, hence their name.
- Bards - The first spell of the modern age was cast by a young woman named Fontina, singing to a wounded soldier. Her song healed him, and gave rise to a new art, one that used music and art to attune into magical energies.
- Clerics - When the gods came into the world, they chose followers from within the people to carry their words and blessings to every corner of the land. These became the clerics, and their magic was constantly supplied by the gods who gave it to them.
- Wizards - Inspired by a wandering bard he met on his travels, the spice merchant named Mauran set out to understand magic to it’s fullest, ending up cracking the way to cast spells with intelligence and dedication.
- Sorcerers - Those who has magic running in their blood are often called sorcerers, and they can all use magic like it was a muscle in their body, often without understanding exactly how or why.
- Warlocks - People desperate for power have found that some powerful beings wouldn’t mind giving them what they wanted… for a price. These magic users gain a spark of power from an external source and nurture it within themselves.
- Druids - Yeah, Weirdos who can attune to nature to gain the power to change it. SUper cooL.
The Gods
The pantheons of Thelemar are chronicled across the world’s Religion and Deity pages; see the Heavens of Thelemar.
The Planes
The world of Thelemar sits within the Prime Material Plane - the central reality from a mortal’s point of view. Overlapping its borders are the two transitive planes: the misty, shore-like Ethereal Plane, through which one reaches the Inner (Elemental) Planes - worlds made almost entirely of a single element, from seas of endless flame to skies without ground, together with the raw realms of positive and negative energy whose touch so often gives rise to powerful beings in the Prime; and the Astral Plane, a grey-black gulf of glowing motes and drifting colour where travellers move by thought and are shaped more from idea and ambition than from flesh. The Astral is held by many to be the very wellspring of magic.
Where planes of “mind” (the Astral) and planes of “matter” (the Inner Planes and Ethereal) meet, a Prime is born; each such gathering of a Prime with its transitive planes is called a cluster. The Astral is a single infinite over-plane that joins not only Thelemar’s cluster but countless others, and crossing between clusters is exceedingly difficult. Realms that take shape in the Astral with no material base - woven from elemental energy and from the thoughts and feelings of magic-touched beings - are the Outer Planes, home to mighty entities and bound to the cluster that birthed them.
Several of these realms are detailed on their own pages: the dream-realm of the Dreamtime, the mirror-wild of the Feywyld, the ashen Shadowfell, the nine-layered hell of Mictlān, and the strange Starlight Roads. Oldest and most dreaded is the Abyss, a plane born at the dawn of time and brimming with negative energy, whose origin none can name.
For the cosmology of the suns, moons, calendar and stars, see the Heavens of Thelemar.
History
The History of the World of Thelemar is vast, complicated, and peculiar. It is often split into ages, in a manner following this one. Each age is further divided into finer eras; see the Ages of Thelemar for the full age-and-era hierarchy and the dated events within each.
Age of Myth
The Empire was long lasting, so long that it encompasses all memory. But some things must have existed even before it, as it is agreed by all that the world was created long before the empire rose to power. Not much is known about this age, and what is known is oftentimes not known, but guessed, mere tales
Age of The Empire
The Empire ruled over the entire world for 3000 years. It was a time of prosperity, utopia upon the earth, when all humans could use magic as naturally as breathe and all wants and needs were provided for. It ended with the collapse.
Age of Chaos
The centuries of war and darkness after the Collapse, before the gods revealed themselves. It is chronicled as the Age of Chaos & First Kingdoms era.
Age of Resurgence
The long age of relative stability under the returned gods, when the great nations of today were forged. It spans several eras — the Rise of the Old Powers, the Swadian Age, the Long Decline, the Worldshaper Wars, and the Modern Age.
Age of Exploration
The present age, opened by the discovery of the New World across the western sea. See the Present Age.
Countries
During the hundred of years since the collapse, many countries rose and fell around the world of Thelemar. All will be mentioned here, but more information can be found in their respective pages.
The Lexalian Republic
The Lexalian Republic was formed as a union of the many tribes of the north under one ruler and under the teachings of the Nordic Pantheon. They are a country of proud warriors, of harsh environment and constant struggle with droves of monsters who plague the northern regions even to this day. They fight not only for their own survival, but also for the future, to help the world survive Ragnarok, The Final Battle.
The Holy Theocracy of Olympus
The Holy Theocracy is the eastern nation, formed after years of instability by groups of priests who sought to better serve and worship their gods, the Greek Pantheon. They are a country of devotion and holiness, where the gods are the ultimate good. Their leaders have begun an anti magic campaign in the latter years, seeking to regulate and diminish all use of magic whose source is not the gods above.
The Kingdom of Clairnia
The Kingdom of Clairnia, in the southeastern jungles and savannah, is an old kingdom of intrigue and politics. Ruled by many lords, its king gains his legitimacy from both their support and from the One God, which is worshipped largely in these parts of the world. The large, uncharted jungles of this country contain many secrets and treasures.
The Jaknian Conglomerate
The Jaknian Conglomerate in the south prides itself as the land of commerce, where business acumen and shrewdity will get you further than any magic or sword. It is a nation of merchants and entrepreneurs, who worship the Egyptian Pantheon, and in it is also the famed Great University of Nature and Magic (GUNAM).
The Hub
This area, that borders with every country and with the only shore suitable for housing larger ships, is not ruled by any nation, but is rather an area controlled by all four nations, without any independence for itself. It is a land of many travelers and outsiders where different cultures meet and fuse, that despite not having its own leadership has the identity of a separate country.
The New World
Not much is known about the new world - on it’s shore the explorers built the city of Acadia, “New Beginning” in the old tongue. Amongst its inhabitants are adventurers and explorers, but also renegade mages and criminals on the run. The new world is vast and exciting, and many of the countries in the mainland show interest in what happens there. The few contacts with the locals has revealed them to be Twisted Races not seen on the mainland.
Heart of the Empire
The heart of the empire, the origin of the collapse, remains uninhibited, beyond the black desert to the west of the Jaknian Conglomerate. It’s a source of unparalleled magical energies that mutate and kill any who comes too near, and so the riches and secrets of The Empire remain beyond reach. For now.
Cultures
Organizations
Heroes and Legends
Fontina
During the great uprising in Clairnia, a young woman named Fontina sang one of her songs to a wounded soldier in a healing tent - and by the song’s end, he was healed. So the art of the bards was revealed to the world: the ability to reach the ancient magic through song and art. Fontina became the First Bard, and taught her art to five students, each of whom founded a bardic college. After the departure of Dinar - her fifth and favored student, who founded the College of Whispers - Fontina ceased teaching and vanished, and rumor says that deep within the ancient forest she founded a school for heroes and yet another college.
Mordan the Recorder
Mordan the Recorder, the First Bard of Lore, founded the College of Lore and later helped the merchant Mauran learn to touch magic without song. Together with Mauran’s daughter he would also found the Emporium Recollectors.
Raven & Ismareldor
The more well-known story says that Raven was a monk of many adventures, during which she felled a dragon with her bare fist, climbed the highest mountain in the world to meet a legendary bird, and slew a lich in single combat. The legend tells that her greatest enemy was the dark paladin Ismareldor, the Crimson Knight, who sought to free the demons once more and enslave mortals - and that she defeated him too.
The Fiend Hunters
The year was 1360 when the Fiend Hunters first banded together - among the earliest companies sworn to hunt fiends. As Ma’ar gathered his followers across the Theocracy of Olympus and the first horrors began to walk the world, a young and untried paladin of Clairnia, Alisias Coruo, sought aid until he found the wandering warlock Niko Castaris, a debtor fled from Jaknia. Together they founded the order and recruited storied heroes: the famous bard Bynard Clint, the promising young spellcaster Amilius Grandt, and Mishkalobak, a dragonborn cleric of Ares.
The New Fiend Hunters
The New Fiend Hunters are the order’s revival in the present age, led by Achilius Clint and counting among their number the Valkyrie Kaura.
Achilius Clint
Achilius Clint, the aasimar “Hero of the East” and son of Zeus, architect of the Verra Accords that created the Hub. See his page for the full account.
Marian Winterbeck
Marian Winterbeck - a hero of older tales, still told today only in fragments. (To be written.)
Olander the Shade
Olander the Shade was a young boy who received power from the realm of shadow after a fateful encounter with a dreadful shadow that protected the daughter of a court mage in Olympus, around the year 1100. He was the chief reason for the end of the Great Gang War in 1115.
Ventura Estaban
Ventura Estaban is a famous heroine who grew up in a small, nameless village in the north and became a legendary adventurer. A dark-skinned Descathi with an excessive fondness for cakes, she is the daughter of Amilio Estaban, founder of the Blood Hunters. Whether her peerless prowess springs from spellcraft or from powerful magic items, none can say; the most famous part of her story is how clever and shrewd she is, and that over her adventuring years she earned a treasure that could sustain a city. It is also widely said that she is exceptionally ugly.
Draz the Dragon Rider
Draz the Dragon Rider - a legendary rider of dragons. (To be written.)
Mauran Magefather
During the civil war among the Clairnian Watchers, a simple spice merchant of the region that would later be called Jaknia, named Mauran, gave shelter in his caravan to Mordan the Recorder, the First Bard of Lore, as Mordan hid from the Watchers’ men. Their night-long talk set Mauran wondering whether magic might be reached in a scholarly way - to understand not only how, but why. After years of study he cracked the secret behind magic and cast the first spell without song, and so became the first wizard - and the world changed overnight.
Janeeb the Collector
Janeeb, daughter and heir of Mauran Magefather, founder of the Emporium Recollectors together with the First Bard of Lore, Mordan.
The Tenth Muse
A famous figure who lived around the year 1200, whose deeds inspired hundreds of songs and tales of love.