PW Setting

The Poisoned World Setting 

For too long, the people of the world believed their lives were small and contained. A massive plateau that jutted into the clouds with over a hundred strata to reach the surface of the surrounding earth. A lake surrounded the plateau, acting as a natural barrier, but beyond the lake was an actual magic barrier that disallowed entry or exit. Just beyond the barrier, a black miasma blotted everything out. Only vague shapes of the land were able to be seen like shadows of another world.

They grew to understand their world as “Bastion” and believed everything outside of it was a myth. After ten-thousand years, the history of the outside world was lost. Only a select few were even aware Bastion wasn’t all there was to the world, and they were often ridiculed for their beliefs.

Among scholars and historians alike, the popular belief was that Bastion was made in a last ditch effort to stop the world from complete extinction. It served as an ark to rebuild the world when -- if -- the miasma ever cleared.

One day, the miasma was noticeably thinner. Every day for a week, it became thinner and thinner. After two weeks, it was completely clear. And no one had an explanation for it.

The Establishment of the Alliance of Exploration and Expansion aka AXE

Though forced in relatively close proximity, the people in Bastion are quite the diverse folk. Politics, regimes, wars, and battles between warring factions mar their long history. It’s a surprise they haven’t managed to all kill each other.

Though many grudges are still harbored between factions, they managed to, at least publically, put aside their differences in an effort to tackle the challenges of a world cleared of the miasma.

This quickly spiralled into a mess of bureaucracy with almost every different faction within Bastion needing to approve of an operation. To skirt this issue, many factions hire mercenaries and adventurers to take care of their specific needs.

But perhaps the greatest boon is the freedom for explorers to go out completely unsupervised, allowing critical details to be brought back into Bastion without a worry. These explorers often didn’t emulate the perfect ideal of their faction, but were more often than not trained from hodgepodge of different styles, masters, and some intuitive thinking.

The Strata

Bastion is separated into many different strata. Each strata is essentially a floor of the giant plateau, and each one contains its own biom. Many of these were made to preserve the old world, but that idea has long since died. While there are still forest strata, meadow strata, city strata, and even mountain strata, there are several dead strata where nothing lives, and close to the bottom of the plateau -- and especially on the levels below the ground -- that are hellscapes. Access between strata is controlled by powerful, ancient devices that resemble glyphs. Stepping on a glyph and announcing the destination’s unique code warps all people currently standing on it to that strata.

Strata are ranked relative to their proximity to the top layer of the plateau. The top itself is a veritable paradise that houses the collective government required to ensure Bastion doesn’t descend into complete anarchy.

Strata, especially more than race, is likely to affect someone’s outlook on life and their culture.

The Outside World

The world has been horribly corrupted by the miasma. Even time and geography seemed to be horribly mixed up. What might feel like adventuring for a week may only take a day inside Bastion, and adventurers’ and explorers’ alike can swear that a geographic landmark will be there one day and not be there the next.

Still, the world itself responds to the presence of those who dare to brave it, and locations that gain renown often find themselves stuck in proper time and place. The Alliance of Exploration and Expansion hopes to make use of this quirk to make full settlements.

But a more immediate threat that will have to be faced is the terrible monsters and chimeras that roam the wilds. Without protection from the miasma, all sorts of foul beasts populate the land. Some cruel and intelligent, others wild and vicious.

Genre

While there can very easily be hints of vaguely science fiction things -- magical laser guns -- the setting and genre should remain relatively stuck in its fantasy roots of an adventuring party out to do something. Whether that’s solve a murder in a strata or out to kill a chimera! There is room for intrigue within Bastion and cruel monster killing outside.