I've cut the pieces that already have bigger treatment as a preview, but here's the setting overview from chapter 1. I realized recently that I didn't have one.
Setting Overview
The Mortal Realm is a big place and the continent of Belkan?th is only a fraction of it. Still, Belkan?th is the known world, cut off by impassable lands to the north, deserts to the south, seas and barbarians to the west, and the dragons of the En?r?z to the east. Yet in these bounds civilization flourishes.
The Church The Church is monolithic, all powerful. Not even the squabbling of its internal orders can diminish it. It?s the source of all good and truth in the world, led by an infallible and prophetic master, the Faerarch.
Or so the Church would have us believe.
There are actually six churches, but the biggest is the Church of Angenus, or simply the Church. This is the Human faith, those who believe that the Human Prophet Angenus (of the Five Prophets) was the leader of the Sundering and the divine Savior of mankind.
And although each of the other Mortal Races believes that their Prophet was the Savior, and although they have their own churches dedicated to this faith, the Church is the most powerful.
The Church protects and guides. It is the shepherd to the fold of mankind. The Church cares for mankind and hunts down evil and corruption wherever it is found, especially the corruption of magic. Let the Elves and the Gnomes practice their heathen arts; the Church is there to protect the true followers of Angenus.
And they need protecting.
Evil and GoodThe Mortal Realm is a place of intrigue and deceit. It is impossible to detect the quality of a person?s soul. While magic to detect evil and good does exist, it only detects the Divine Spark and the Infernal Taint. While a person can lose either through their actions, this is still only a guess into the natures of their souls. In the end, only God is the true judge.
The Great FiendsWhen the last great Empire of man fell, it left behind its mark on the world. There are five Great Fiends, the Chaos, the Warlord, the Lich King, the Demon Queen and the Siren. Each of these--except the Chaos--controls a permanent Ulcer in the world, and the Chaos is, in itself, an Ulcer.
The Great Fiends are the closest things to gods in the Mortal Realm. Not even a saint has been able to slay one. Still, they can be stopped. Hacking a Great Fiend to pieces slows it down as much as a Mortal, the effect just isn?t permanent.
The Great Fiends are the biggest continual threat to Mortality. When they rage out of their Ulcers, even the greatest enemies ally to stop them.
The NopheratusNo one knows what the Nopheratus is or from whence it came. All they know is that it appeared sometime during the War in Heaven, and with it came the power of necromancy.
The Nopheratus is Bamon?s greatest ally. It wasn?t an Angel, and that?s all anyone knows for sure. It might be a force. It might be the essence of evil; it might be as powerful as God himself (though suggesting this is heresy). No one even knows if the Nopheratus is intelligent.
The Nopheratus might well be the instigator of Bamon?s fall. It?s almost certainly the motive energy behind the formation of Ulcers. Even mortals can access it with fell necromantic magicks.
The Nopheratus is everywhere.
CambionsWhen a demon lies with a Mortal, any progeny is a Cambion. There are five races of Cambions, one for each race of Mortals. Hobgoblins are part Human. Orcs are part Dwarf. Beastmen are part Elf. Goblins are part Halfling. Kobolds are part Gnome.
Cambions carry infernal blood. They rampage, and destroy, and display the Deadly Sin most tempting to their Mortal half. If given their way, they will destroy civilization.
Nephilim The second third of the Host fell to the Sin of Wantonness. They took wives of the Mortal Races and imitated the husbands of the married. The progeny of these unholy unions were the race of Nephilim.
The Nephilim are the races of giants: five mighty forces of death and destruction in the world. Whereas the Cambions exemplify the Five Deadly Sins, the Nephilim are the sins as an elemental force. There are five races of true giants, but other minor versions exist such as the ogres, corrupted out of the Nephilim by the power of Ulcers.
The Nephilim are the first races born evil, and when they die their souls become demons. As long as they persist, the ranks of Hell swell.
