This is part of the campaign setting im starting to write. It's short and to the point, details a very specific area and includes a side bar (highlighted in green).
Rahab- or what came before
Knowledge of the time before the Devastation is limited to the few surviving creatures that lived through it, and the rarest of surviving tomes detailing its history. What can be learned through research is limited- less than 10 books survive in Otep telling of the once great Mageocracy that ruled the land. Of those 10 only 3 have had any true scholarly influence and they are; The Lawless of Kym, Emissary: The holy tome of Bahamut, and Gwideon I’s journal.
What has been gleaned about the Mageocracy of Kym is sparce. Mostly gathered from Gwideon’s journal it appears that Kym was divided into multiple principalities; each of which was ruled by a council of powerful wizard. These individual councils elected “Kings” to run the daily issues while the mages studied and grew in power. Each council sent their most powerful member to the city of Somnium where the council of Archmages met to discuss the course of the Mageocracy as a whole. Gwideon’s diary covered the lessons he learned while under the tutelage of Name Here, a distinguished Archmage whose fate remains unknown. Among those entries are recollections in which Gwideon served as an assistant to Name Here and accompanied him to council.
The only other information readily available about Kym comes from the short tome The Lawless of Kym, a classification system for renegade wizards. Rankings range from A-C, and the colors White, Red and Black; An A rank threat was the equivalent to a mad Archmage rampaging throughout the kingdom. A Rank threats required the immediate dispatch of War Wizards and Spell Slayers to destroy, no matter the cost. B Rank wizards represented malicious, cruel or evil wizards who had yet to loose control of their magic or infringe on the laws openly. These B rankers faced heavy sanctions. A C rank threat was a rogue apprentice or terminally late payers of dues, these only required a stern reprimand until they became a higher level threat. White threats represented individuals that could be destroyed with little loss of life in the kingdom. Red threats represented a substantial threat, including the potential destruction of a city or principality should true fighting break out. Black threats represented planar wide catastrophe should they be engaged in open combat.
Besides the classification system, the Lawless of Kym includes a listing of the 5 most dangerous threats identified by the order, compiled approximately 6 years before the Devastation. It is assumed that the A rank threats were constantly being hunted, while the B rank threats were under intense supervision. The lack of any Black rank threats only shows how little the Order knew about the coming darkness. What became of these 5 is unknown to even the most dedicated scholar.
1) Yves the Lucid- Red A
2) The Mirror Maiden of Somnium- Red B
3) The Shadow Sage of Blackport- Red B
4) Vio Pio the Hell Wizard- White B
5) Mary Two-Hearts- White A
Scholars of Epistorium have many reasons to cheer on the new settlement of “Gra”. Besides the reclamation of lands from Chaos, the settlement opens the doors to entirely new scholarly frontiers. Libraries unseen for half a millennia can now be perused for surviving tomes and ruins thought lost forever to the madness of chaos are available for excavation. Combined with the longer life span of elves, many of whom are only 1 or 2 generations removed the loss of their ancestral empire, it is possible that Epsitorium’s former grandeur may yet return to Otep.
Of the lands known once as Disharpa there is no surviving knowledge known to the world. This western continent is referenced only once in the journal of Gwideon in the following passage.
I traveled across the sea to the mighty lands of Disharpa. The land of the Orcs is dead, their palaces and temples are in ruins, the immortal Priest-Kings are nothing more than bone.
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