The continent of Eyrath used to be a beacon of civilization, and under the auspicious eye of the Holy League of the Phoenix, strife between nations was a rarity. Different races lived together in the bigger cities and accepted each other in the countryside. Life was hard, but the increased trade among members of the League gave rise to a rich and powerful Merchant class, from the lands of the Kielen Corporation to the lagoons of the Vestitian merchant princes. Although nationalism had started to become the primary identity for many, one’s primary allegiance lay still with a lord, noble, or in rare cases, the city. Humans are the most common race, and are almost guaranteed to live in any settlement across the continent, though small insular communities of elves exist within the deep forests. Gnomes and Dwarves are somewhat mistrusted for the wealth that they have often managed to amass thanks to the increasing interest in beautiful jewelry and the increasing need for engineers and inventors.

All of this was to change dramatically with the religious wars that has ravaged the continent for more than two decades already. From the South, the kingdom of Castilia is threatened by the Emirate of Jurfa in what has become a struggle for dominance of the Castilian peninsula and a religious war between the Phoenix and the Star.In the East, raids by polytheistic nomadic tribes and incursions by armies of Sultan Selimkar of the Iskandrian Empire threaten the vast lands of the Carpathian Commonwealth. From the West, the League is threatened by the Kingdom of Aquilaine and the powerful Angelian Union, two empires that traditionally focused their attentions on each other, but for some reason had shifted their goals to the lands and ambitions of the League. From the North, the League sees itself confronted by the new power of the Sverigar Kingdom, a young but powerful nation that has embraced the religion of the Lion, and thus is the primary sponsor of apostates throughout the League. They have significant sympathies in the lands of Branden and Erz, but the southern areas of Walden has remained staunch in their conviction to fight for the phoenix.

Much of the fighting has taken place across the lands of Branden, Erz, Kielen, and Walden, though some of the more peripheral nations have experienced fighting too. The war has torn asunder many cities and has completely destroyed some minor nation states, as the boundaries on the map shifted with the ever changing fortunes of war. Much of the burden is carried by the peasants, either pressed into service, or having to labour to feed the troops. Mistrust between the races has increased significantly, especially since dwarfish and gnomish creations have brought untold horrors to the battlefield, such as black powder and toxic gases.

Beyond the horrors of the war however, the lands have also been stricken by plague and famine. And whether as a result of the carnage, or the wicked invention of some engineers, or as punishment from a more divine source, horrors of a wholly different nature have been reported.

Though Eyrath was once the home of as many religions as there were tribes, over the centuries, the faith of the Phoenix has spread across most of the continent, with a few exceptions, particularly in the peripheries. Its main tenets are the belief in the shining light of the phoenix, who guides the faithful through the darkness. The Phoenix had sacrificed itself for the good of all, unleashing the light within. Its rebirth is celebrated as the highest festival during the calendar year. Phoenician clerics and the faith more broadly are associated with the gifts of culture and as such they are revered by many in the population. In response to the rise of the Lion’s Faithful however, the powerful organization of the Phoenician faith has started to unveil its darker side, with the establishment of Inquisitioners, particularly strong in Castilia and Aquilaine, as well as Walden.

The main counterpoint to the faith of the Phoenix for the past to centuries was the faith of the Star, important from the lands to the East. Although sharing most of the same moral bases as the Phoenicians, the main difference between the faiths is the fact that they deny the possibility of rebirth. The Phoenician vision of the afterlife is one in which the souls come to rest among the stars, looking on the happenings on Terra below them. Despite these minor differences, the fighting between the Star and the Phoenix has been fierce.

The newer challenge to the Phoenix stems from the divergent strand of the Lion’s Faithful, particularly strong throughout the Sverigar Kingdom and the lands of Branden. It’s main ideologues were the reformers Marcus Promethar, a human from Branden; Johann Kaltwein, a dwarf from Erz; and Ascal Venleth, an elf from Angelia (who has subsequently modified the faith a bit further to that of the Wolf, though that reformation has as of yet not had political consequences. The whole thing is mostly a cosmetic difference). The main differences between the Faithful of the Lion and the Phoenicians are organizational. Preachers of the Lion don’t need formal training, and can be both men or women. They can even be married. It however requires its preachers to live a life in relative modesty, and abhors private property or Phoenician displays of wealth and opulence. It also extolls the virtue of hard work. The lion was chosen as a symbol to mark the militant nature of the faith, and it’s willingness to defend their followers. Unsurprisingly, it has a particularly strong following among the working classes and among soldiers.

Almost forgotten, the old faiths still exist in small settlements and among dispersed tribes. Their lot is a difficult one, as they are despised by most at best, and sometimes burned at the stake for witchcraft at the worst.

The wars have however also left increasing amounts of people without a faith. Instead, these people are increasingly recruited to secret societies, trade guilds, or mercenary companies, selling their skill to the highest bidder.

Magic is powerful, unexplainable, and as such dangerous, both in terms of its use, but also in terms of the control that the League and the Phoenician Faith hold over Eyrath. Church-sanctioned mages and clerics are usually part of the organized faith, with all the rules and regulations that entails. Sorcerers on the other hand often have to live a life in fear of being discovered, tortured, and killed as witches or hexers. An exception to this are the arcane demon slayers, or colloquially called Blood Hunters, who use the arcane and dark magics to track their prey and rid the land of evil, always running the risk of turning into the horrors they seek to eliminate themselves. Though tolerated, they are largely mistrusted, and typically live a life of solitude, though some are known to travel with mercenary bands. As far as minor forms of magic are concerned, such as the ones that bards and the like possess, these are tolerated in society for the most part, though distrustful individuals may not like anyone who uses any arcane abilities beyond the powers of healing.

Before the war, the continent of Eyrath saw an explosion of knowledge and a thirst for new things to explore. Strange tales from the lands to the east and the vast deserts to the south, coupled with the riches that particularly daring individuals brought back have enticed many an adventurer away. Similarly, there are reports of wholly uninhabited islands with strange flora and fauna to the West. Many of these developments are met with the distrustful eye of the Phoenician Faith, as it offers more power and wealth on the one hand, but also strips away at the power of the Church by threatening to explain more and more of the mysteria of the universe. This is exemplified by the establishment of universities by most major nations- faith run institutions of learning.

Technologically speaking, Eyrath is a world that has discovered uses for black powder and has made significant advances in the fields of engineering and alchemy, but most of the technology is geared towards warfare. Despite this, firearms are still very rare, unreliable, and dangerous. Steam engines are not yet in use, though large mechanical machines that use wind or water energy are. Steel of high quality is rather expensive, and tools for peasants or craftsmen are usually simle iron.