Welcome to the ancient continent of Elyssia, where survival is an achievement and understanding the past is a curse. This corner of the world has endured wars, cataclysms, institutional betrayals, and tense family dinners. The current kingdoms stand on histories that almost no one remembers—and those who do are usually buried or driven mad, their rule based on a history unknown, or known only to a few. Only its recent history has been recorded in writing, while the older one has been forgotten or preserved through oral tradition (the only documented part of its history begins more or less when everything had already gone to hell).
In the Old World, beliefs and superstitions have taken their toll over time. These evolved into religion; religion, into politics; and politics, into armed fear. Magic was banished to the dusty corners of the world, forcing its practitioners to live in ostracism. Its place was taken by alchemy, a science respected because it yields tangible, explosive, and easily packaged results. In Elyssia, if you don't know how to make a potion, a bomb, or an aphrodisiac with side effects, you'll probably end up as one of its ingredients.
In these lands, sooner or later, anyone who wants to survive learns to become an alchemist. Wizards and sorcerers wage a cold war against inquisitors who take too much pleasure in their work, while the mages' hidden havens are under attack by a third, shadowy entity—anonymous, elegant, and deadly force—that has begun hunting both sides. The good news? That means more fresh bodies. The bad news? Sometimes, there aren't even any bodies left. Meanwhile, the alchemists build their colleges and research laboratories to acquire and preserve more knowledge and power.
The major kingdoms have watched as crime has vanished from towns and cities, as if the thieves and criminals had simply gone elsewhere. Organized crime has learned to smile politely. The black market has grown cautious, with havens in almost every civilized (and sometimes uncivilized) place, becoming more wary of those who do business with it. Strange and troubling rumors are spreading from the south, and eccentric prophets adorn village squares, foretelling the awakening of an ancient evil.
Bodies have begun to accumulate on the beaches of a small town, Arteal, washed ashore daily by the tide. One by one, the fishing boats in the area have been disappearing. Sightings and lights in the night are observed in the old Red Archipelago; meanwhile, on the mainland, cemeteries are being desecrated and alchemists' warehouses raided. Few have witnessed these events, but all agree on one detail: blood mages. However, the authorities pretend that everything is fine, but no one believes them—not even themselves.
A new faction moves in the shadows, slowly calculating and advancing undetected, its attention always focused on places like the Red Archipelago. At night, small, bannerless regiments can be seen marching far from the main roads. On the southern coasts, north of the forgotten deserts, groups of godless, wage-less mercenaries begin to gather like rats in an abandoned temple.
It seems a war is brewing, and each faction is only looking out for its own interests. Who will stop it?
The kingdoms that exist today were built upon ancient civilizations that have not survived to the present day. Myths, rumors, and stories that almost no one remembers or wants to, except for the newly founded Department of Archeoalchemy. Its mission: to uncover the buried history. Its true mission: to amass even more power.
- Kingdoms built on half-truths and forgotten foundations.
- Alchemy academies, licensed guilds, and research laboratories.
- Inquisitors with real authority and too much enthusiasm for their work.
- Magic controlled, eradicated, or put to military service.
- Organized crime that learned to smile and dress well, mixed in with the upper echelons in big cities.
- Prophets in town squares. People laugh at them less and less, and listen to them more attentively.
- Clandestine mages in hidden hideouts and secret routes, aided by the Black Market.
- Blood mages operating in the shadows, with ever-increasing impunity.
- Unknown factions hunting clandestine mages and inquisitors alike.
- Ancient ruins that no one officially asks about, with activity again.
- People abducted from the Blood plane: future runners and fighters in the Blood Arena.
- Former prisoners speak of state prisons and clandestine laboratories.
Elyssia is a world bleeding from within. And you're proposing to rub salt in the wound.
Some sources of power. None without a price to pay. Choose wisely, because in Elyssia the consequences don't wait long.
- A place whose forgotten history threatens to resurface
- You will learn to be an alchemist, to plant and harvest your ingredients and to create your own potions, oils, bombs...
- If you are a spellcaster, you will learn how to hide, cast spells without giving yourself away, encapsulate spells in potions, and discover the last refuges of clandestine wizards.
- In such a divided place, as an adventurer you not only have a background, you have an origin that has marked you and your own aspirations. Will you seek power at any cost or will you save those you care about on your journey?
- Elyssia is a place of buried secrets that are slowly surfacing, among them corrupted weapons (additional power for a price) and blood spells
- You will notice how your actions have a price, your prejudices can be costly, and corruption and fear can easily appear.
An Ancient Empire
In the local folklore of the small coastal town of Arteal, old tales are told of an ancient empire that, from the Red Island—now the Red Archipelago—extended its power to the shores of the continent of Elyssia. This empire not only mastered arcane secrets but also found its greatest source of power in blood. Its sorcerers, masters of blood magic, far surpassed neighboring kingdoms in knowledge. However, what truly granted them their strength was a dark secret they guarded jealously.
The empire's expansionism did not go unnoticed, and faced with the growing threat on their shores, several kingdoms of Elyssia formed a fragile coalition. Their objective was clear: to stop the invader before it spread further. Although the empire's armies were powerful in the arcane, their soldiers could not withstand the overwhelming numbers of the kingdoms' combined military force. The balance ultimately tipped in favor of the coalition.
But the coalition sought more than a military victory. They wanted to unravel the secrets of the fallen empire's power. They ravaged its territories in search of knowledge, tortured its prisoners in a desperate attempt to extract the truth—but all was in vain. The dark secret that granted its strength remained hidden. Amidst this devastation, the volcano on Red Island, the seat of its power, erupted violently. In a cataclysm of lava and ash, it obliterated all traces of what had been the great empire. The unholy rituals discovered on the shores of Elyssia and on the island sowed such terror in the hearts of the victors that they resolved to erase all historical records of the existence of that dark empire. Thus began a new era: one in which magic was viewed with suspicion, and blood magic in particular was outlawed under penalty of death.
The Rise of Alchemy and the Hunt for Mages
The kingdoms of Elyssia, scarred by the trauma of that fateful war, developed different views on magic. Some kingdoms outlawed it completely, while others chose to control it with severe restrictions. In most lands, magic was perceived as something evil that needed to be bound and controlled, forcing many mages to live in hiding.
It was in this climate of persecution that alchemy, previously viewed as a lesser science, began to gain strength. What had once been ridiculed for its unpredictable effects began to be respected when alchemists demonstrated they could replicate the same effects as magic without relying on it. This shift altered the balance of power. The magicians who had lived in secret were now persecuted, considered a threat to the new order that was being forged.
The kingdoms quickly established networks of peacekeepers, mage hunters, inquisitors—elite forces trained to track down and eradicate unsubmissive spellcasters. In response, these spellcasters formed secret societies, developing new ways to conceal their power: encapsulating spells in potions or alchemical artifacts. Now they could walk in plain sight and cast spells without suspicion. The game of cat and mouse had begun. The clandestine mages had certain advantages—enough to free several captured comrades by finding new ways to evade their hunters.
The Discovery of the Blood Mages
Everything changed when a group of peacekeepers discovered, in the northern lands, an enclave of blood mages—direct descendants of the ancient empire who for generations had secretly passed down the dark knowledge of their ancestors. The news spread like wildfire throughout Elyssia, causing panic and prompting new, extreme measures in the kingdoms. While most nations intensified their efforts to eliminate any trace of magic they could not control, Thalentis, a kingdom that still respected it, took a different approach. In the past, exiled mages had helped eradicate a plague that ravaged their lands. Since then, it had been a haven for any persecuted spellcaster. However, they began conducting a census of magic and, increasingly, limiting the number of users within their borders, fearing an invasion of magic-practicing refugees. Finding themselves cornered once again, the clandestines began to disperse across Elyssia, seeking new refuges deep in the forests, in the mountains, or even in other planes of existence.
Elyssia has no clear balance of power, nor any established justice or morality. It has factions, each convinced they are right, and none with many scruples. Four of them will cross paths with any adventurer from the very first session, whether they like it or not.
Don't know where to start? It depends on how much you want to suffer at once. Two campaigns, a whole world. The first one draws you in. The second one doesn't let you out.
