Duergar: The psionic duergar dwell deep under the surface, enslaving or slaying all who dare travel into the Underdark. The exotic caverns of the Underdark used to be a diverse world under the lands of the surface folk, but during the events of the Catastrophe, the duergar were able to conquer the deep world and claim it for themselves. The remaining Drow were captured, while those on the surface fled. The svirfneblin left their home and moved to the world above, living with the people on the surface. The Mind Flayers fled to Wildspace in an act of self-preservation, and the Myconids had to leave to the Feydark in order to keep their lives. With the help of legions of devils, the Duergar were able to seize complete control of the world below. This devastated the ecosystems of the Underdark, and got rid of much of the assortment of life that was there. The Driders fled to the surface, the Jermlaine were eradicated, Hook Horrers were hunted to extinction, and many of the other races and monsters that formerly roamed free in the Underdark were captured, forced away, or slain by the Duergar.

Then, the Catastrophe ended. While all the races (with very few exceptions) were devastated at the death of their gods, some suffered more than others. The Duergar suffered quite a lot due to the loss of communication with their gods, many people suspecting them to have perished. The very few clerics to Deep Duerra and Laduguer lost their powers, and the few devils that remained with the Duergar were banished at the event of the Great Sacrifice. While most of the gods who perished during the Catastrophe died at the Great Sacrifice, some did die before that event at the hand of other gods. Many scholars and the Duergar don't believe that the Duergar "Pantheon" would have sacrificed themselves in the moment of the Great Sacrifice, as they had nearly no reason to do so. They were allied with the devils, and did not have compassion for any of the races of the Inner Planes, including their followers. Many people believe that one of the following three things happened to the Duergar gods:

• They were killed by Ao or some other gods.
• They were killed by the Devils.
• They are still alive in the Outer Planes.

The Duergar tend to believe that either the gods of the surface dwelling races betrayed the Duergar deities and slew them, or that the surface folks' deities were jealous and scared of their power and chose suicide over domination. Either way, the Duergar use the lack of their deities as an excuse for their hatred of the surface folk, depicting themselves as the victim in this situation.

One way or the other, the Catastrophe ended with the Duergar no longer having deities, and with the loss of their devil allies as well. This was problematic for the Duergar, but did not bring about the downfall of their society. Their society was too rigid and resilient to be destroyed by such an event. To replace the role that their deities filled, the Duergar took up the industry of artificer and experimentation. They quickly became masters of this, discovering ways of combining psionics, emotional energy, and magical inventions. They experimented on their slaves, livestock, and the creatures they captured, finding way to manipulate the inherent powers inside of them. They found ways to toy with the arcane souls of the drow, twisting them into the Dhaer and trapping their spirits inside Soul Cubes. They also discovered ways to manipulate and harness the madness of the Derro, and attempted to do the same with the Kuo-Toa.

They transformed the drow into perfect slaves, capturing their souls and manipulating them as well. They modified the inherent arcane light inside the drows' spirits, and manipulated and warped their bodies. They were frustrated by their inability to control the mad Kuo-Toa, and eventually threw them out of the Underdark and they were forced into the oceans above. The Derro, the Duergar's sick, twisted, shorter cousins were good slaves, and better sources of psionic energy. The Duergar were able to harness the madness of the Derro, which they discovered was connected to the Far Realm, and could cause many strange effects with this connection. They could cause them to have schizophrenic breakdowns that could effect reality, mental meltdowns that would put them in comas, generate power from their dreams and nightmares, as well as contact the Far Realm with their link to it. They also chose to do a different experiment on Kobolds, not a physical or mental test, but a cultural one. They taught the Kobolds how to master alchemy, jus to see what they would do and what would happen to them.

They also experimented on their domesticated animals. They gave the Striders the ability to grow colossal in size, made their Deep Rothe be telekinetic, and gave Diatrymas the ability to teleport. They also found ways to bind psychic power to objects, creating mixtures that could turn you into an ooze, ways to mind-blast stone to find ore, and how to transform diamonds into magical fuel. This short, psychic-industrial race of cold, heartless, experimenting enslavers now have warped and "improved" themselves so much that they no longer are recognizable as dwarves. They are now known as the Duregair, with warped minds that allow protection from unwilling changes to their bodies, and powers over artifice. The Duregair are the insidious taskmasters of the tortured and paved Underdark. If you hear the screaming crack of a mindwhip, see the glowing blue eyes of a chained Dhaer, or hear the sticky steps of a gargantuan Strider, turn back, or it may be too late to save your life and soul.

Quote from Storm_Sorcerer >>

Awesome!

Thanks! Anything specific that you'd like to comment about? I know there's a lot to read, how much have you read? 

I am going to upload probably another update later today about the Surdrae (surface drow) and the changes in their culture. I'm really proud of some of the stuff I've made. This is a difficult project, and I still have quite a lot to do. 

Here is the Githxei race:

Change of plans, I'm now going to list the planetouched supernatural feats of Tor-eal, which can fairly easily be transferred to any other world. Here we go:

Planetouched Supernatural Gifts
In Tor-eal, after the Outer Planes were severed from the Inner Planes, the planes that remained a part of the connected cosmology gained more influence and affect over the Material Plane. This caused the births of more Genasi and more Planetouched to come into existence. These individuals are tied to specific planes, and count as supernatural gifts. Any race can become planetouched by any plane, typically by traveling into the deepest parts of another plane, and can be strengthened through other powers and magic. These are the following planes and supernatural gifts attached to them:

• Hollow One for the Shadowfell
• Shining One for the Feywild
• Scorched One for the Elemental Plane of Fire
• Drowned One for the Elemental Plane of Water
• Light One for the Elemental Plane of Air
• Rocky One for the Elemental Plane of Earth
• Shattered One for the Elemental Chaos
• Phantasmal One for the Ethereal Plane
• Warped One for the Far Realm

Only rarely is one planetouched, and even more rare are the few cases where one was planetouched by two or more planes. Those touched by the planes that give them more pleasing physical ones, or don't change their physical traits in a negative way, are called Planeblessed, while those touched by more outwardly harmful planes are considered Planescarred. Those touched by multiple planes are called Planewrought. An individual that is planetouched by all 4 of the main elemental planes gains the Shattered One Supernatural Gift, but it can also be gained by those not touched by all 4 planes. 

The DM chooses when a Supernatural Gift is awarded, but typically one is chosen by the player at level 1. Others are typically awarded by the DM when the story would warrant it. These supernatural gifts are additions to those in Mythic Odysseys of Theros, only some of which are available in Tor-eal. The following Supernatural Gifts are considered Planetouched Supernatural Gifts:

Shining One
As a Shining One, your soul is filled with the bright, bursting emotional energy of the Feywild. Becoming a Shining One is a Planetouched Supernatural Gift that bestows upon you the following traits:
Longlived. It takes you 10 years to physically age one year. 
Fey Appearance. You retain your creature type, yet you register as fey to spells and other effects that detect the presence of the fey creature type. 
Bursting Energy. A creature that reduces you to 0 hit points takes radiant damage equal to your proficiency bonus. 
Radiant Step. As an action, you can teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see, and each creature within 5 feet of your destination or origin (your choice) takes radiant damage equal to your level. Once you use this feature, you can't do so again until you take a long rest. 

Scorched One
As a Scorched One, your body and mind are both burned by the deadly flames of Elemental Fire. Becoming a Scorched One burns your body and gives you a Planetouched Supernatural Gift that gives the following:
Ageless. You don't age, and effects that would cause you to age don't work on you. 
Flaming Nature. You retain your creature type, yet you register as elemental to spells and other effects that detect the presence of the elemental creature type. 
Burning Life. When you regain hit points, a creature of your choice within 5 feet takes fire damage equal to your level. If no creatures are within 5 feet of you, an object of your choice takes this damage. 
Flaming Fury. As an action, your flaming nature spontaneously ignites everything around you. Each flammable object that is neither being worn nor carried, as well as each creature within 10 feet of you bursts into flames. At the start of each turn of the ignited creature, they take fire damage equal to your proficiency bonus until the fire goes out. The fire can be put out by the object or creature being submerged in water, or if they or a creature within 5 feet uses an action to make a Dexterity check, DC 10 + half your total level. On a success, the fire is put out and they stop burning. An object takes this fire damage at the end of initiative count 0. 

Drowned One
As a Drowned One, you have ventured, or otherwise been touched by the deepest, wettest parts of the Elemental Plane of Water and become transformed by it. Becoming a Drowned One is a Planetouched Supernatural Gift that bestows the following traits:
Ageless. You don't age and effects that would cause you to age don't work on you.
Watery Form. You retain your creature type, yet you register as elemental to spells and other effects that detect the presence of the elemental creature type. 
Aqueous. You can breath in all liquids, and gain a swimming speed equal to 30 feet. If you already have a swimming speed, it increases by 30 feet. 
Wave. As an action, you can cause a wave of water to pour out of any orifices of your body of your choice. Each creature in a 30 foot cone in a direction of your choosing must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw, taking bludgeoning damage equal to your level on a fail and is pushed 10 feet away in a line, or half as much damage on a success and it isn't moved. The DC for the saving throw is 10 + half your total level. 

Light One
As a Light One, you have formed a bond, voluntary or not, with the Elemental Plane of Air. You may have inhaled magical air from that plane, or fallen for days through the airy void. Becoming a Light One is a Planetouched Supernatural Gift that bestows the following traits:
Ageless. You don't age and effects that would cause you to age don't work on you. 
Airy Presence. You retain your creature type, yet you register as elemental to spells and other effects that detect the presence of elemental creature type. 
Light Body. You weigh half as much as before, and when you fall you descend 60 feet a round and don't take fall damage. 
Burst of Wind. As an action, a creature of your choice within 60 feet of you takes bludgeoning damage equal to your proficiency bonus. They also fall prone and are moved in any direction of your choice 10 feet. Once you use this feature, you cannot do so again until you take a long rest. 

Rocky One
As a Rocky One, you have in some way been close to the stony energies of the Elemental Plane of Earth and been changed by it. Your skin may become the color of a type of stone and may become rougher and harder.  Becoming a Rocky One is a Planetouched Supernatural Gift that bestows the following traits:
Ageless. You don't age and effects that would cause you to age don't work on you. 
Stony Body. You retain your creature type, yet you register as elemental to spells and other effects that detect the presence of the elemental creature type. 
Sturdy Form. You gain advantage on ability checks and saving throws against being knocked prone or otherwise moved involuntarily. 
Earthen Shield. As an action, rocky material forms around your skin to protect you, granting you temporary hit points equal to your level that last until you take a long rest. Once you use this feature, you can't again until you take a long rest. 

Shattered One
As a Shattered One, you have been torn apart by the maddening collisions of the Elemental Chaos. Elemental energy leaks from your body and can change the environment around you, and you may be more impulsive and erratic. Becoming a Shattered One is a Planetouched Supernatural Gift that bestows the following upon you:
Ageless. You don't age, and effects that would cause you to age don't work on you. 
Elemental Soul. You retain your creature type, yet you register as elemental to spells and other effects that detect the presence of the elemental creature type. 
Chaotic. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed. 
Unleash the Elements. As an action, each creature within 30 feet of you takes damage equal to your level. You choose the damage for each individual from the following list: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage. 

Phantasmal One
As a Phantasmal One, you have been ravaged by Ethereal Cyclones or another ephemeral hazard of the Ethereal Plane, disconnecting you from physical matter. Becoming an Ethereal One is a Planetouched Supernatural Gift that bestows the following:
Ageless. You don't age and effects that would cause you to age don't work on you. 
Spectral Spirit. You retain your creature type, yet you register as undead to spells and other effects that detect the presence of the undead creature type. 
Weightless. You are light enough that traps dependent on gravity pulling on your body have no effect on you, and your jump distance is multiplied by three while you are not encumbered. Gravity still pulls on you, and you still take fall damage. 
Incorporeal. As an action, you can become incorporeal. You may fly in any direction 30 feet and move through objects and creatures freely. If you end your turn in an object or creature, you take 1d10 force damage and are shunted to the nearest unoccupied space. This effect ends at the end of your turn. Once you use this feature, you can't do so again until you take a long rest. 

Warped One
As a Warped One, the Far Realm has tormented you mentally and physically. This warping has changed your appearance to become more aberrant, and broken your mind. Becoming a Warped One is a Planetouched Supernatural Gift that bestows the following traits: 
Maddened. You have one indefinite madness (roll to determine it). 
Aberrant Scarring. You retain your creature type, yet you register as aberration to spells and other effects that detect the aberration creature type. 
Horrific Mind. You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened. 
Aura of Insanity. As an action, no creature within 10 feet of you can have advantage on any attack roll, ability check, or saving throw until the end of their next turn. Once you use this feature, you can't do so again until you take a long rest. 

Okay, those are the current Planetouched Supernatural Gifts. I may add more for the combined elemental planes, but this is it for now. Any thoughts?

Quote from Third_Sundering >>

Here's a bit more lore:

Elves: What happens when your gods die and your heaven is destroyed? If a people knows that their creator and afterlife's paradise are gone, and that death will truly be the end of their souls, what happens to the race? How does that people deal with such a calamitous event? The elves of Tor-eal are an answer to this question, as that, briefly, was exactly what happened to them.

Before the Catastrophe's end, the elves of Toril were special. When the non-drow, non-shadar-kai races would die, they would return to the heavenly paradise of Arvandor, where they would reside for a time until they would stay until Corellon would return them to the Material Plane or Feywild in a new form. When an elf would enter their trance, they would see visions of their previous lives and time on Arvandor. This system all changed with the Catastrophe.

Unknown to most of the elves at the time, when the Catastrophe began, and the Drow were freed from Lolth's grasp, Corellon was able to reclaim the souls of the drow. Some of the drow that died during the 79 years of the Catastrophe were reincarnated as other elves or drow, and some of the elves that died during the Catastrophe were reborn as drow. For the first time in several millenia, some drow could see visios of previous lives in their trances. Unfortunately, this time period didn't last long.

When the gods sacrificed themselves to protect the Inner Planes, each god devoted part of their essence to create the magical barrier that bars travel and communication too and from the Inner Planes from the Outer Planes. Though most of the gods' energies were devoted to this act, most gods were able to devote part of their power to another purpose of their choice, and some groups of gods contributed to the same purpose. Mystra chose to devote power to reform magic, Gond chose to inspire his followers and artificers in Lantan, Bahamut chose to allow Chromatic Dragons and Metallic Dragons to be any alignment, and so on. Almost all of the Seldarine united in the act of reforming the soul cycles of the elves.

24 hours after the gods died, the elven soul cycle was reborn. The Seldarine chose a new system, revolving around the paradise of Evermeet. They took Evermeet, and turned it into a major demiplane of the Feywild. They made it only be accessible by the souls of half-elves and elves, where they would go after death. Now, after death, the soul of an elf will journey to Evermeet, where they will stay in paradise until they choose to leave the island. When they leave, they choose a subrace of elf that they will become in the next life. Within a year of their leaving Evermeet, they will be reborn as any individual elf, born from a pregnant elf of the same subrace as their choosing. When an elf enters into a trance, they see visions of their time in Evermeet. This process is known as Metesence, and all elf subraces, except for Shadar-Kai and Dhaer, undergo this cycle. The elven religion, culture, and subraces were devastated by this change at first, but it slowly became the new normal of the elven life cycle.

Though their souls were saved, the elves were still in trouble. The Dhaer were dominated by the Duergar, who discovered how to steal their souls and bind them into Soul Cubes, which they would use to keep the whole race under their control. The Shadar-Kai were also not members of the Metesent Cycle, as the Raven Queen had complete control of their souls. The elven race as a whole was shattered across the planes, each subrace dealing with their own individual crises, often relying on their neighbors for support instead of their elven cousins. The Eladrin were splintered into supporting different sides of the Faerie War, the Shadar-Kai were busy combating Vecna and his Vezyi servants, the Wood Elves were battling the Minotaurs with their fey, firbolg, and centaur companions, and the Sea Elves were being driven from the seas by the Sahuagin. During all of these disastrous events, if the whole of the elven race had been united and supporting each other, they would have been able to be united, instead of being fractured and furthering their diaspora.

When the elves failed to unite together during the fallout of the Catastrophe, it resulted in uncountable amounts of elven deaths. The price was too high for independence, but the elves still failed to unite. They are still scattered across the multiverse, with the various subraces still as diverse and unconnected as possible.

I was going to ask you about the afterlife, as it seems like the gods are gone, and the two often (though not always) go hand-in-hand. Interesting that you made Evermeet the new afterlife, as Evermeet was always said to be a piece of Arvandor. 

What about the afterlife for other races? Sorry if you mentioned it already and I missed it. I admittedly haven't been able to read through the entire thing yet. 

Quote from Seldarine801 >> 

I was going to ask you about the afterlife, as it seems like the gods are gone, and the two often (though not always) go hand-in-hand. Interesting that you made Evermeet the new afterlife, as Evermeet was always said to be a piece of Arvandor. 

What about the afterlife for other races? Sorry if you mentioned it already and I missed it. I admittedly haven't been able to read through the entire thing yet. 

Hi! Yeah, the afterlife did end up being quite a mess immediately after the Catastrophe, but like I said in the elf afterlife section, the gods were able to choose 2 things to devote their power to. The elven gods chose to reform the afterlife of the elves, and the gods of death (Jergal, Kelemvor, Myrkul) chose to allow the Raven Queen to have power over the Afterlife. I'll get into in more detail, but in the simplest form, when someone (non-elf) dies, their soul goes to the Ethereal Plane, which then normally ferries the soul to the Shadowfell's Fortress of Memories, for the Raven Queen to learn about its life, and to judge them in their actions. They are either given another chance at life and are reincarnated, absorbed by the Raven Queen, or cursed in some way. 

Thanks for asking, and I'll write an update for this sometime in the future. 

Draevar (Driders): After being driven from their drow cities, abhorred by all the races of the Underdark and surface alike, forced to flee to the surface by the Duergar, and chased out of the forests by the Minotaurs, the driders are no strangers to being rejected due to their looks. Though Lolth did perish or was banished, her curse was not lifted from the twisted Driders. Instead, they became their own race of people, able to reproduce by laying eggs, and able to create their own culture as well. Thrown out by all those who saw their horrifying forms, with no end in sight to their torment, the Driders left to the Feydark to become a seclusive race of fey creatures.

Though they were never fully accepted into the Gloam Council, they were allowed to create settlements in the feyish caverns. Allied with, but not full members with the Gloam Council, they had to fend for themselves. They cultivated fungi in the Feydark, and would use their webs to trap prey that they would then devour. Over the course of a thousand years, they shrunk slightly in size to make it so they didn't need to eat as much, they lost their venomous bites, and took up the art of silk weaving. They became masters of tapestry making, and could create useful items with their spider silk. They also became excellent trappers and ambushers of the prey, which included the beasts of the Feydark and surface Feywild, as they would often dwell near disguised exits of the Feydark to ambush prey. They also changed their name to the Draevar, and still appear as drow with the lower portion of their bodies being spider abdomens.

They are reluctant traders, and their silken creations are envied by those who do not have them. A drider that journeys to the surface of the Feywild is accepted and well known, due to their excellent ability to create artistic objects. Now, their society is based on hunting, as those that eat more produce more silk, which they can use to build large webbed homes that hang from the roof of the caverns of the Feydark. Those with larger, grander homes are seen as favored by fate, as they are lucky enough to have plentiful access to food.

Draevar Names
Female Names:
Archiava, Ayvaka, Bria'zara, Cleastari, Dridela, Eacara, Hae'lora, Jasorae, Kevethores, Luizerai, Pelioneh, Qwaeflo'rae, Reasthara, Seewilvary, Twilyaeh, Ufarya, Vyellith, Wyae'sthvoe, Xaelya, Yuara, Zaika'flor
Male Names: Arias, Azyoreth, Biar'xalyas, Caefortil, Dyex'norin, Esthyn, Iw'zikaer, Jlest'zer, Lao'telyr, Nethitor, Ostarin, Pwelliq, Queth'alfaer, Roelizk, Suolarith, To'zayfin, Velzkuon, Xarin, Yiwaer, Zail'wuth
Surnames: Aefleraek, Culzayin, Daerlundar, Eythorwilk, Flehnoric, Hiynather, Ifvarinyel, Kaelrowinath, Noataloryinth, Oywalitan, Qyithanor, Rilinthal, Ualreth, Vloneythar, Wilsayar, Xiathinathor, Yvcarin, Zyalthor

Draevar (Drider) Traits
Your draevar character has the following racial traits.
Ability Score Increase.
Your Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution Scores all increase by 1.

Age.
Draevar hatch after 6 months inside an egg, and mature at around 100 years of age, and can live to up to 550 years old.

Alignment.
Draevar are typically chaotic due to their lifestyle, and tend to lean towards neutrality as well, due to their independence.

Size.
Draevar stand between just above 6 and a half feet to about 7 and a half feet in height. Their spider bodies reach about 4 feet high at your waist. Your size is Medium.
Here's how to determine your height and weight randomly, starting with rolling a size modifier:
Size modifier = 1d12
Height = 6 feet + 6 inches + your size modifier in inches
Weight in pounds = 420 + (2d10 x your size modifier)

Speed.
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Fey.
Your creature type is fey, rather than humanoid.

Spider Climb.
You have a climbing speed of 30 feet, and can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

Arachnid Build.
You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity, as well as how much you can push or drag.

Innate Spellcasting.
You know the thorn whip, and can cast it requiring no material components. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the snare spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so again once you finish a long rest. At 5th level, you can cast the web once with this trait and regain the ability to do so again when you take the long rest. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for this trait.

Sunlight Sensitivity.
You have disadvantage on attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in direct sunlight.

Darkvision.
You can see in dim light as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light out to a range of 90 feet. You can't see color in darkness, only making out shades of gray.

Draevar Silk Weaving.
You have proficiency in weavers' tools, and can produce silk with your spider body's spinnerets. During a long rest, if you have eaten within the past day, your body can produce up to 10 feet of silk rope. During this long rest, if you have weavers' tools on your person, you can create a 5 square foot piece of silken fabric, which can be turned into a blanket, cloth, clothes, whips, or other objects created out of silk with your DM's discretion.

Web.
While you are in contact with a web, you know the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web. Additionally, you can shoot restraining strands of webs from your abdomen. As a ranged weapon attack, you can shoot the webs with a range of 20 feet, and a long range of 60 feet. If you hit a creature with the webs, they become restrained by the webs. A restrained creature can use an action to make a Strength check, with the DC being 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier, bursting the webbing and ending the condition on a success. The webbing can also be attacked and destroyed. The webbing has an AC equal to 10 + half your total level, and it has an amount of hit points equal to 5 x your total level, as well as vulnerability to fire damage, and immunity to bludgeoning, poison, and psychic damage. You can use this attack an amount of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining all uses at the end of a long rest.

Natural Armor.
You have a tough exoskeleton on your lower spider form, which can aid in blocking attacks. While you are not wearing armor or you are wearing armor that would give you a lower armor class than this natural armor would, your AC is 14 + your proficiency bonus. You can gain the benefits of a shield and gain the benefit of this AC at the same time.

Languages.
You can speak, read, write, and understand Common, Elven, Sylvan, and Umber.

What is Umber? Is it Umber Hulk?

Quote from Storm_Sorcerer >>

What is Umber? Is it Umber Hulk?

No, the Umber are unseelie fey that follow the Dusk Queen Umbra, and they have their own twisted dialect of Sylvan called Umber. 

Quote from Third_Sundering >>

Quote from Storm_Sorcerer >>

What is Umber? Is it Umber Hulk?

No, the Umber are unseelie fey that follow the Dusk Queen Umbra, and they have their own twisted dialect of Sylvan called Umber. 

 👍

Quote from Storm_Sorcerer >>

Quote from Third_Sundering >>

Quote from Storm_Sorcerer >>

What is Umber? Is it Umber Hulk?

No, the Umber are unseelie fey that follow the Dusk Queen Umbra, and they have their own twisted dialect of Sylvan called Umber. 

 👍

I've created their race, and will upload more about them sometime in the future (I know I've said this about a lot of stuff, but this does take a long time. It's going to be awhile until I'm done). 

Any thoughts on the Driders (Draevar)? 

Cool! I look forward to it. I'm always interested in afterlife stuff in D&D (or any fantasy setting, really), so I'm always curious to see how it works for various settings. I didn't really like what MToF did to the elven afterlife (while they've always believed in reincarnation, Arvandor was a reward, and reincarnation was never forced on them like MToF implied), I like what you with them "staying in Evermeet until they choose to leave". This is more aligned with the lore of previous editions, I think. 

Anyway, looking forward to your afterlife write-up!

Quote from Seldarine801 >>

Cool! I look forward to it. I'm always interested in afterlife stuff in D&D (or any fantasy setting, really), so I'm always curious to see how it works for various settings. I didn't really like what MToF did to the elven afterlife (while they've always believed in reincarnation, Arvandor was a reward, and reincarnation was never forced on them like MToF implied), I like what you with them "staying in Evermeet until they choose to leave". This is more aligned with the lore of previous editions, I think. 

Anyway, looking forward to your afterlife write-up!

Thanks! I have never played any previous editions, and was not aware of this change in different editions until recently (after I made this afterlife system). I do prefer this system more, too, where you can choose to leave paradise if you want. This system will be a bit different, too, when combined with the general afterlife system. Evil serial killer elves don't get Evermeet, the Raven Queen chooses which ones are allowed to go there. The others could have any number of punishments, like their soul being destroyed, they're tormented for x years, and so on. 

Quote from Third_Sundering >>

Quote from Seldarine801 >>

Cool! I look forward to it. I'm always interested in afterlife stuff in D&D (or any fantasy setting, really), so I'm always curious to see how it works for various settings. I didn't really like what MToF did to the elven afterlife (while they've always believed in reincarnation, Arvandor was a reward, and reincarnation was never forced on them like MToF implied), I like what you with them "staying in Evermeet until they choose to leave". This is more aligned with the lore of previous editions, I think. 

Anyway, looking forward to your afterlife write-up!

Thanks! I have never played any previous editions, and was not aware of this change in different editions until recently (after I made this afterlife system). I do prefer this system more, too, where you can choose to leave paradise if you want. This system will be a bit different, too, when combined with the general afterlife system. Evil serial killer elves don't get Evermeet, the Raven Queen chooses which ones are allowed to go there. The others could have any number of punishments, like their soul being destroyed, they're tormented for x years, and so on. 

 Yeah, MToF changed a lot of elf and drow lore. The only thing they kept from previous editions was the gednerfluidty of the Seldarine and the elves being born from Corellon's blood during his fight with Gruumsh. Everything else they pretty much changed. Let me know if you have any questions about it, or FR afterlife stuff. I'm no expert, but it is an area of interest for me. 

Okay, your question got me thinking, so I started developing the structure of the afterlife in Tor-eal. Here it goes, and this is because of your question:

The Afterlife: Before the Catastrophe, all of the souls of the dead were funneled by the Raven Queen into the Fugue Plane, where they would stay until they would be scattered across the Outer Planes based on their beliefs or alignment. Though there were other facets of the system, this is it in its simplified form. This system had to end after the Catastrophe and was transformed due to the Great Sacrifice, and there were many reasons for this change. 

The prime reason was the fact that the Outer Planes were no longer accessible, which shut off most of the system. Additionally, there were Devils that resided in the Fugue Plane, which they would use to recruit souls to the infernal forces of the Nine Hells, and at the end of the Catastrophe, this became a problem. During the Catastrophe, the pact that the Devils and Celestials made swore that no devil would go into the Material Plane unless summoned, which was enforced by a barrier called the Waypoint, and it worked on the Celestials as well. The Celestials had power over the Waypoint, and kept the barrier up for as long as possible. During the time that the pact between the Devils and Celestials was broken, this barrier was able to continue existing for as long as the Celestials devoted energy to maintaining it. This caused the Devils to search for another way into the Material Plane, which they decided would be easiest through the Fugue Plane. 

The Devils traveled to the Fugue Plane, and began to invade the Shadowfell from the connection between the two, with tens of thousands of devils coming through. At this moment, the Celestials knew what they had to do. They travelled to the Material Plane, the gods sacrificed themselves, forcing all of the devils out of the Material Plane, and creating the Eternal Shield between the Inner and Outer Planes. The Fugue Plane was forced into the Outer Planes, as it was under the control of the Devils, thus creating another problem. 

The Raven Queen began to experience a surge of souls. The invasion of the Devils, and other events in the Catastrophe caused a surge of deaths, which would have overwhelmed the Raven Queen if not for the sacrifice of the death gods, who devoted parts of their essence to the Raven Queen. These gods, which included Kelemvor, Jergal, Myrkul, Shar, and a few other minor deities, gave all of their power that they didn't devote to the Eternal Shield to the Raven Queen so that she would have the power and agency to restructure the afterlife. 

With this bestowed power, the Raven Queen was able to unify her form into one purpose in the moment of need, and was able to reform the afterlife system within 24 hours of the Great Sacrifice. In order to allow her to not have to focus around gathering the souls, she changed the Ethereal Plane, making it gain the primary purpose of transporting the souls of the deceased sentient creatures to the Raven Queen's Fortress of Memories in the Shadowfell. When souls arrived, the Raven Queen would learn everything about them, and judge them. If they were neutral or didn't accomplish anything worthwhile in their lifetime, they were normally stripped of their memories and reincarnated. If they were the soul of a good elf, she would send them to Evermeet. If they were the soul of a good non-elf, she would give them the Paradise. If they were the soul of an evil creature, she would send them to the Punishment. 

When the Raven Queen took in a soul, she would scan all their memories and categorize them. All of the good memories would be separated from the bad ones, and all neutral/boring memories were forgotten from the multiverse. She would gather the good memories and send them to a bright demiplane above Evermeet called "The Paradise", which was a heaven where all good moments of every creature that has ever existed were gathered, creating a paradise for the souls of the good dead. The good souls would dwell in the Paradise for a time, before the Raven Queen would reincarnate the souls in a new form for a new life. Depending on how good the individual soul was, the longer it got to reside in the Paradise. 

Then, she also created the punishment. She gathered every horrible memory from every creature that had died after the Catastrophe, and created the Domain of Dread called "The Punishment" to contain them. The Punishment was unique, where the bad memories would physically manifest, and torment the damned sent there by the Raven Queen. Not many souls would stay in the Punishment for long, as the Raven Queen would also reincarnate those who were bad people, but not the worst souls of the multiverse fairly shortly after sending them into the Domain of Dread. Those that tried to destroy the gods, rule as a tyrant over kingdoms, killed hundreds in their lifetime, or consumed the souls of others were sent to the Punishment for hundreds of years, occasionally for all of eternity if they did enough bad things in their life. Most undead who had souls and then perished were sent to the Punishment for eternity. 

The Punishment is a huge demiplane, much bigger than the Paradise, and many scales of magnitude bigger than the Inner Planes. It was a bleak, hopeless land, filled with figments of memories that took physical form. Though those who were sent here also had physical forms, they never truly died, reforming a day after they perished. Inside the deepest parts of the Punishment, the worst memories of all those who died would gather, creating a wasteland called the Bleak Fields of Tortured Minds, where the darkest figures in existence could be found. The absolute worst memories could be found in this land, and many of them would gather into one solid being whose name is whispered among the churches of the Raven Queen. Known as the Abomination, this culmination of millions of unfathomable terrors had chains of black iron with the souls of the worst people in existence, whose sole purpose was to hunt down the damned in the Punishment and cause them to suffer hell for the rest of their existence. 

The Raven Queen would occasionally curse the dreams of a creature who has cheated death or committed many awful acts in their lifetime, sending their dreams to the Punishment. If someone died and they didn't complete an important task, the Raven Queen would occasionally give them a new body as a Revenant. A creature whose soul never made it to the Raven Queen would continue existing as some form of incorporeal undead, who the followers of the Raven Queen despised. 

This is the main afterlife system, and it applies to most sentient creatures. Aasimar who were descended from a living angel could have their souls sent to that angel so that they could be rewarded or punished based on their ancestor's judgement. There were other exceptions to this system, but in general, this is the afterlife. 

Lol you're welcome? Thanks for writing that up! 

Is the fact the Punishment such a huge demiplane have anything to do with the Catastrophe? That was a horrible and surely traumatizing event. Do the memories of the Catastrophe have anything to do with its size?

It's not big just because of the Catastrophe, but that certainly added a lot of space to it. Mostly because of the fact that most of the beings that were alive when the Catastrophe ended are dead now, and 1000 years have passed, and that bad memories are much more common than good ones. 

Okay, got a bit more. 

Dryads: During the Faerie War, when the Seelie Court was being reformed as the Society of Radiance, the Archfey decided to change certain aspects of how the different types of fey were created and produced. Happenstance transformed dopplegangers into changelings, St. Labelia turned some centaurs into ichthyocentaurs, and so on. The Green Lord Oberon decided in order to increase the amount of dryads, they needed to allow dryads to reproduce fully independent of any Archfey. In order to do so, he transformed all of the dryads' home oak trees into a male dryad, which became their mate, and allowed dryads to bond to any tree type of their choice. 

Now, all male and female dryads can choose their mates, as other races do, no longer being linked to any individual tree or dryad. They are also capable of breeding with humans, elves, and half-elves to produce only Hamadryads, and can reproduce with Hamadryads, producing only Dryads. They bind themselves spiritually with any tree of their choice when they reach adulthood, choosing to live near those trees in the woods of the Feywild. 

Harpies: After the Great Sacrifice, most of the gods were dead. This was disastrous and a negative event for most of the species of the Inner Planes, but not for all of them. Harpies were one of the races that benefitted from this event. Harpies had been created by the Seldarine, and cursed the elven gods, causing their monstrous nature. After the deaths of the Seldarine Pantheon, the harpies lost their hatred for the elven gods and also lost their inherent hunger for humanoid flesh, which was a bane afflicted upon them by an elven goddess. 

The harpies started dwelling in forests, using their beautiful voices to attract mates, spread music across the woods, for communication, and to impress travelers to make them more likely to trade. They built houses on the canopies of the forests, woven out of branches, similar to nests. They would hunt prey as they needed, cultivate farms on top of the treetops, and spread their music wherever they could with their voices. They would also trade for food, shiny jewels, tools, and metal objects with other races, and they particularly were fond of dwarves and gnomes, whose stout nature they found amusing. 

Seyri: Due to the restructuring of the Seelie Court, Queen Tinaria decided that they needed to create a race of Fair Folk with wings, similar to the Umber, but as a Seelie race. Over the course of about 900 years, the eladrin, halflings, huans, gnomes, sprites, and pixies of the surface Feywild eventually formed a race that was melded into the best and brightest features of the Seelie fey. They are a short race of happy and bubbly fey with multicolored fairy wings, spread throughout the Feywild. 

Followers of the Society of Radiance, the Seyri are a delightful, pointy-eared folk of bards, rogues, sorcerers, warlocks, and paladins. Filled with joy, the Seyri love everything and everyone upon the first time encountering them. Their societies are diverse, filled with many different races, creating many art objects, instruments, songs, and poems. 

(I will update later with the racial features of all these creatures)

Okay, I just created a subclass for this world, but it can be used in any. I have it in the character builder, but it's being weird and not letting me publish it (and I wouldn't anyway until I playtest it). It is a paladin subclass that is common in Tor-eal, mostly found in the Yikkan Goblinoid societies. They are essentially eldritch bodyguards for mages, focusing on protecting and spreading arcane power. 

Base Class:Paladin

The Oath of the Arcane is sworn by those who wish to carry out the goals of those who are true masters of arcane powers, while not wishing to become a master themselves. Often called Arcane Warriors or Eldritch Bulwarks, they who swear the oath vow to protect the mission of eldritch powers and block attacks against their mage masters. Though they are far arcane power from the exemplars that are wizards, sorcerers, and warlocks, they do gain some eldritch magic from the oath that they uphold.

Though Eldritch Bulwarks do vow to protect masters of arcana, they do not hold this to be a universal law amongst their orders. Some of these paladins do choose to protect any mage under nearly any conditions, but most are more selective, choosing masters to serve depending on their goals, alignment, ideals, and other important factors. In many worlds there are paladins who devote themselves to divine orders, but it is rare to find paladins who serve arcane powers. In Toril, they may swear themselves to the Weave, Mystra, Azuth, or an ancient Netheril wizard or lich. In Eberron, knights of this order may serve the Ring of Siberys, The Shadow, Sul Khatesh, or the Wizards of Arcanix. IN Exandria, these knights may serve the Cerberus Assembly, the Luxon, or another arcane power. In Tor-eal, the Yikkan Goblinoids have many servants of the Yikare, and Oath of the Arcane paladins are relatively common. Others of this order in Tor-eal may swear themselves to Vecna, Zilya Darkcord, or the master artificers of Lantan. 

TENETS OF THE ARCANE

The tenets of the Oath of the Arcane focus on protecting arcane masters and spreading the touch of eldritch magic. 

Resilience. Be the bulwark that deflects the attacks of the forces of chaos when they target masters of the arcane powers. 

Eldritch Might. Arcane power will preserve the foundations of the world as long as it has worthy followers. As eldritch magic spreads through the world, it will become a better place, a haven to masters of arcana. 

Spread the Word. Be a missionary of the arcane masters, recruit all who are willing to study arcane magic, and strengthen the roots of magic in the realm. Never force and never preach. Instead, be an example to those who do not follow the Art, and practice magic in patience. 

Exorcism of Psionics.Crush all those who practice the abomination that is psionics. Psychic powers are alien and must be destroyed before they can disease the land around them. Never allow a psion or aberration to escape your grasp. 

Channel Divinity

When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.

Arcane Empowerment. When a creature within 30 feet of you (including you) casts a spell using a spell slot, you may use your reaction to cause the spell to come into effect without expending a spell slot, using your Channel Divinity instead. The spell slot used to cast the spell must be of a level equal to your proficiency bonus or lower. 

Eldritch Weapon. As a bonus action, you can imbue one weapon that you are holding with forceful arcane energy, using your Channel Divinity. For the next minute, when you hit with this weapon, all damage that you deal with its attack deals force damage. Additionally, it deals extra force damage equal to your proficiency bonus. 

If the weapon ever leaves your hand, you can choose to teleport it instantly back to your hand (no action required). If you are ever incapacitated, this effect ends. Additionally, if you take damage from a creature within 30 feet of you, you may end this effect as a reaction, dealing force damage to the creature equal to 2d10 + your paladin level. 

Oath Spells

Oath of the Arcane Spells

Paladin Level	Spells
3rd	absorb elements, magic missile
5th	hold person, mirror image
9th	elemental weapon, thunder step
13th	fire shield, mordenkainen's faithful hound
17th	bigby's hand, steel wind strike

Aura of Arcana

Beginning at level 7, eldritch power surrounds you, causing others to have a more difficult time avoiding spell effects. Each creature of your choice within 10 feet of you has disadvantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. 

At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet. 

Mimic Magic.

Starting at 15th level, when a creature within 60 feet of you casts a spell, you may quickly learn how to cast that spell. If the spell is of a level you can cast, it becomes a paladin spell for you and you prepare it, not counting against the amount of spells you can normally prepare. Sometime before you take a long rest, you may cast any spell prepared this way once without expending a spell slot. You may use this feature an amount of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once), regaining all uses when you take a long rest. At the end of a long rest, you forget all spells prepared this way. 

Eldritch Bastion

At 20th level, you can harness your inner arcane power to become an embodiment of eldritch energy, causing your eyes to glow and your body to float. As an action, you gain the following benefits for the next minute: 

• You gain a flying speed of 60 feet and can hover. 
• Whenever you cast a paladin spell that has a casting time of an action, you can instead choose to cast it using a bonus action.
• When you deal damage with an attack or spell, instead of rolling damage, you deal the most damage possible. 

Once you use this feature, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest. 

I would love any feedback, and you can use it if you want. I may change it in the future, but this is the most recent (and second) version of it. 

I created another subclass, mainly for this world, but it can be used in any world. This is the Oath of Souls Paladin subclass, and these paladins in Tor-eal are normally servants of the Raven Queen, most often being Shadar-Kai. Here it is:

Base Class:Paladin

The Oath of Souls is sworn by individuals who wish to assist the deceased, the undead, and others who should be dead pass on into the afterlife. Also known as Spirit Guides or Death Watchers, these paladins typically swear themselves to deities of the afterlife, but can instead vow only to cause death to come to those that should be dead.

Death Watchers dedicate themselves to maintaining the strict line between death and life, and they typically are not fond of resurrection or reanimation magic due to this. They don't have any ire for zombies, skeletons, and other soulless undead, as they are mere animations of dead creatures, but they do hate incorporeal undead and other undead that have souls. They hunt and destroy ghosts, liches, death knights, and other undead that retain their souls, and they do the same for those who have cheated death. They tend to serve death gods, such as the Raven Queen, Hades, Thanatos, Erebos, and other powers who maintain the afterlife. 

TENETS OF SOULS

The tenets of the Oath of Souls uphold these paladins' vows to protect the afterlife's system and keep the dead dead. 

Dead is dead. Death is the end of life, and is meant to be. Protect this balance and kill those who have died and returned, or cheated death. 

Uphold the balance. The multiverse is balanced on how the afterlife functions. Protect this system with your life.

Inevitability. Death is inevitable, and cannot and must not be cheated. Destruction shall come to all those who test the strength of death and try the mechanisms of the afterlife. All must accept death or have it forced upon them. 

Channel Divinity

When you take this oath at level 3, you gain the following Channel Divinity options.

Cloak of Death. As a bonus action, you may expend your Channel Divinity to wreath yourself in negative energy, protecting you from the attacks of undead. This effect lasts for the next minute or until you choose to end it as a bonus action. During this time, your hit point maximum and natural ability scores cannot be reduced in any way, and if you are not already resistant to necrotic damage, you gain resistance to it. If you were already resistant to necrotic damage, during this time you have immunity to necrotic damage. 

Path to the Grave. As an action, you choose one creature you can see within 30 feet of you, cursing it until the end of your next turn, using your Channel Divinity. The next time you or an ally of yours hits the cursed creature with an attack, the creature has vulnerability to all of that attack’s damage, and then the curse ends.

Oath Spells

You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed in the Oath of Souls table. 

Oath of Souls Spells

Paladin Level	Spells
3rd	bane, inflict wounds
5th	ray of enfeeblement, shadow blade
9th	blink, spirit guardians
13th	blight, sickening radiance
17th	antilife shell, negative energy flood

Aura of Necrotic Power

Starting at level 7, an aura of necrotic energy shields you and your allies, while also empowering your own attacks. The aura extends 10 feet in every direction, but not through total cover. You and every ally within the aura gains resistance to necrotic damage, as long as you are not incapacitated. 

Additionally, whenever you deal radiant damage to a creature within this aura, you instead deal necrotic damage, and you ignore resistance to necrotic damage to creatures in this aura. 

At 18th level, this aura's radius becomes 30 feet. 

Harvester of Dying Breath

At 15th level, when an enemy within 60 feet of you dies, you may use your reaction to regain a use of your Channel Divinity. You may use this feature an amount of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once), regaining all uses when you finish a long rest. 

Keeper of Spirits

At level 20, you become a guide of the dead and dying, allowing you to harness the necrotic energy that suffuses your soul and body. As an action, you can surround your form with dying energy of those who have passed on, gaining the following benefits for the next minute: 

• You gain resistance to all damage. 
• When you deal necrotic damage to a creature, you regain hit points equal to half the amount of necrotic damage dealt. 
• You gain a flying speed equal to your walking speed. You also become incorporeal, allowing you to move through objects and creatures as if they were difficult terrain. If you end your turn inside another object or creature's space, you take 1d10 force damage that you are not resistant to. 

Once you use this feature, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest.