The Anomalies

"The house was warped inside out ... furniture and family twisted and forced through walls and ceilings. I saw their bed just sticking out where the chimmney should be. "
- Eyewitness account, the Warping of Acriman

After the birth of Tsamsara, magic has settled into the world’s ecosystem, becoming a fact of life for its inhabitants just like the mountains and the sea. As landslides and freak waves occur, so do Anomalies.

Ranging from magnetic tides floating entire mountain ranges, winds made purely of thought, or graviturgical forces that invert buildings, Anomalies are manifestations of magic’s ebb and flow

While severe Anomalies are rare, there are unconfirmed reports in the outland villages that they are increasing in frequency and magnitude.

Return

The Factions

"Everyone has to pay their dues, Cian. In return, all of us know for a fact we've all got each other's backs. Perks of being in the Friends..."

From the intrepid Build Guild exploring the ruined Machine Halls under the Selunin Peaks, to the House of Concord engaging in spirited debate about the future of Benthia, the people in Tsamsara have banded together towards a common goal.

Each faction holds varying degrees of power and reach with some being more altruistic than others.

Return

The Heroes' Journey

"Oh, those four? Really nice folk, paid for the drinks and stay up front, though that one guy still owes me for the soup." -Sylvie, local bartender and self-proclaimed gaslighter.

Above the grey sky above Jordis, a dark silhouette streaks through the clouds at high speed. In the town square below, a child prodigy, a mycology enthusiast, an information broker, and a human man all experience the same splitting headache. Static fills their heads as a series of jumbled words and numbers begins to replay.

United by circumstance, the four resolve to investigate. After parlaying and trading favors with the mayor, the four scale the Kaspian Peaks, now floating kilometers above the forest floor, in pursuit of the mysterious silhouette.

After rescuing a stranded merchant and swinging from magnetic tides above the clouds, they find their way to the peak. Waiting for them, heavily damaged by Tsamsara’s magical atmosphere, an Old World machine in the shape of a dragon…

Return

The Metropolises

"There's cities, and then there's metropolises. Yeah, magic and machines are all around us, but those two metropolises are the only places that can really make them into something valuable. And they know it. It's why New Acriman is pushing so hard to get recognized."

In central and southern Tsamsara, stand two great cities. What started off as clusters of wooden huts have become bustling centers of trade and culture. Anything one would need, the metropolises have.

Nicknamed the “Floating City”, the metropolis of Benthia hovers a mile above the central lake below. The mystery of how it floats attracted scholars from all over, making Benthia the premier place to learn magic.

The iron-wrought sprawl of Isleheim rests in massive crater to the southern reaches of the continent. The abundance of old-world wreckage lead historians to mount countless expeditions into the caves below.

For their residents, living in a metropolis is a source of pride. The walls mean safety from bandits and Anomalies, while the powerful factions that call them home bring prosperity to all.

Return

The Old World

Alright so, the second you open the door to an Old World ruin, you're racing the clock and the clock usually wins. There's a reason the Build Guild's bounty for a functioning Old World device is so high. These things turn to dust the second they hit open air.

Knowledge of the Old World is spotty at best, even with the combined efforts of scholars and archaeologists over the past 5 centuries. No one really knows what their society was like or even what the people even looked like.

Although Their lives are a mystery, Their legacy surrounds and permeates the land. Tsamsara’s villages are cradled within fallen Old World mega-towers, artists recreate and reinterpret faded murals depicting long-gone heroes, and artificers have repurposed the rusted shells of vehicles into horse-pulled carriages. It was even theorized They had magic far beyond modern understanding, with lost schools of “science” on tomes They called “computers”.

Although many religions, schools of thought, and explorers have differing theories on how the people of the Old World disappeared, there are three facts everyone has agreed upon:

• They had wonders beyond imagination.
• They were all wiped out.
• They did not go quietly.

Return

The Origins

"Who made this world? Don't know, don't care. Don't even know why we call here Tsamsara. I just wanna make sure we don't all die out like they did." - Hallis Kob, former Head Delver of the Build Guild

In a world as new as Tsamsara, there are many theories as to how the world came to be. For every 5 people, you’ll have at least 8 opinions.

Those in the outlands believe in the divinity of the land, of how life first emerged as seedlings borne of ghostly loam and rainwater. That is how Tsanism came to be. Others are Primalists, proposing a primordial Titan wandered the shell of the Old World and lamented the barren land. And thus he chose to sacrifice himself, to spark new life and let his bones form the foundation of Tsamsara.

Scholars and Artificers of the Magician’s Union and the Build Guild posit variations on the theory of Tsamsarans being descendents of Old World survivors. Perhaps Tsamsarans are the lineage of long-dead explorers, who came from lands remote. Or even the skies above?

In any case, the New World is inextricably tied to the Old World, and perhaps through understanding how the last world died, it will be revealed how we came to be.

Return