A fork in the road

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Which part of Soloastrian history are you going to explore?

Ancient Soloastria

Learn about the old supercontinent where everything started, and how it came crashing down.

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Old Soloastria

Learn about the continent of revolutionary technology, and how it fell because of its hubris.

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New Soloastria

Learn about the continent of hopes and dreams, and how it fell because of its decadence.

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Prelude

Creation Myth

Prelude Timeline

Creation of the Universe

Inside of the endless void, the force of creation manifested itself into existence in the form of astrane particles. These particles joined together to create entire worlds, following creation's orders.

Race against the Void

Disturbed by the emptiness of the universe, the force of creation intended to fill the void at all costs, hastily putting together various ideas for entire worlds, only to abandon each one and move on to the next, lacking commitment to a single idea.

Creation of the Gods

In order to maintain its abandoned projects, the force of creation entrusted its unfinished worlds to the gods -- powerful beings who can bend astrane particles to their will, shaping their worlds as they see fit.

In the beginning, there was only void. A boundless sea of nothingness, incomprehensibly vast. But nothing stays empty forever.

As the infinite void kept expanding, something felt... compelled to exist. It was creation itself. And to keep creating, it used particles.

As such, the force of creation manifested itself into existence with "astrane".

Astrane is the essence of all creation. The smallest particle, of which everything is made of.

Using said particles, creation sprouted in the endless void.

However, something was off. Astrane particles were constantly jumping from one world to the next. Creating chunks of one world, then leaping over to start a new one. In the race to fill the ever-expanding void, creativity couldn't focus on its children, for creativity was too full of ideas.

Creativity couldn't fully commit to one thing at a time, being, ironically enough limited by its limitless potential.

In order to not leave anything unfinished, gods were created.

These gods were limited to single worlds and the realms connected to them, but could manipulate astrane particles in their domains as they saw fit, continuing the process of creation. Life in the universe was thriving. While some gods interfered with it directly, other simply enjoyed watching evolution do its thing, sometimes correcting its course if their domains would risk extinction.

Chapter 1

Ancient Soloastria

Chapter 1 Timeline

Creation of Soloastria

Astrum, one of the first gods of the still-budding universe, shaped the world of Soloastria rather unequally, focusing its efforts solely on the lone planet of Astoria in a tiny galaxy inside of Soloastria's prime material realm.

Astorian Evolution

Astoria was the first planet to develop sentient life. Some of those lifeforms evolved into "civilised beings", which in Soloastrian philosophy terms means "beings capable of creative thought".

Fall of Astrum

The overwhelming amount of thoughts that Astrum couldn't help but constantly hear with its omniscient mind had lead to its demise. The original god of Soloastria was torn inside out by the torrent of lesser gods pouring out of its body, each representing various aspects of Astrum's former domain.

Soloastrian Schism

Some of the lesser gods that emerged from Astrum's body had grown in size, expanding their domains and subjugating their lesser counterparts. For a time, they ruled their respective domains in peace, but ambition and lust for power had driven them to war. This bloody conflict ended in total annihilation of the "true gods", leaving behind only insignificant deities that could hardly interfere in mortal affairs. The supercontinent of Soloastria was shattered into pieces, the biggest two of which would later be known as Old Soloastria and New Soloastria respectively.

Simplified, Generic World Model

In Soloastria's prime material realm, the most essential realm in any given world, there lied a special kind of galaxy in the depths of its cosmos. This galaxy consisted mostly of unexciting dwarf planets where seldom anything happened, except for the one true planet:

The planet of Astoria.

Soloastria's original god, referred to throughout history as Astrum, grew attached to Astoria. It would neglect the other galaxies and realms, delegating their management to the wild clumps of astrane particles which were subservient to it, and focus all of its efforts on its favourite planet.

Eventually, life on Astoria became too complex to micromanage.

Astoria was not only the first planet to conceive sentient life, but also the first one to conceive civilised beings.

In the words of a great wizard and an even greater philosopher, Kabir Al-Fayir:

"To be civilised is to possess the capability for creative thought."

As such, Astrum was slowly losing control over its favourite planet. It was an omniscient god, yes, but this omniscience can heavily weigh on one's mental health. Back when there were no thoughts in Soloastria, the world was quiet. Now that the planet of Astoria was home to millions of thinking beings, Astrum was becoming overwhelmed by their constant stream of thoughts and prayers. Unable to withstand this amount of information all at once, Astrum took physical form and perched on the soloastrian supercontinent on Astoria.

After several hours of pondering its next move, Astrum was unexpectedly torn to shreds from inside out.

Its unsightly demise would herald the coming of a new age.

The age of polytheism.

Lesser gods poured out from Astrum's body like a flood, fighting each other for scraps of their creator's body, each eager to have their own domain.

But despite each new god eventually getting their own domain to rule over, none were quite satisfied. Given how many lesser gods could've theoretically emerged from Astrum's corpse, the leading theory claims their domains were small because of just how specific they were. Every idea was a domain for some god. For instance, one can safely assume there were multiple gods for privacy, secrecy, and discrecy respectively.

Thirsting for power and eager to grow their domains, some gods subjugated the others in one way or another. Be it through a diplomatic union or a bloody skirmish, the lesser gods of similar domains were merging with each other, growing exponentially stronger with every idea absorbed. These all-powerful "true gods", as they were supposedly referred to on Astoria, were initially skeptical about expanding their domains beyond similarly-themed ideas. Thousands of years later though, the true gods' hunger was growing restless.

Astoria was subsequently torn apart by a cataclysmic world war of true gods, each fighting to become the only one left standing.

And the result?

Allegedly, no true gods survived. Several civilisations fell, tens of thousands of species went extinct, and the continent was torn in half.

With that, Old Soloastria and New Soloastria were born.

Chapter 2

Old Soloastria

Chapter 2 Timeline

Librus Era

Draconic Invasion

The Dragon War

Nocturne's Gambit

Modern Era

Physical Map of Old Soloastria

"Old Soloastria is a land that most resembles the Soloastria of ancient times, in that its history was shaped by powerful beings and their battles against one another. During those clashes, mortals would cower in fear, afraid of who would become their new master. In our modern age, we can still feel the consequences of such historical events as the Dragon War or Nocturne's Gambit; respectively: the draconic invaders of old are still imprisoned on Old Soloastria, and the entire continent has had its day and night cycle altered during the squabble between Nocturne and Candela." —Erteus Gallindorf

Although the "true gods" had been annihilated, remnants of divinity remained on Astoria — those being — the lesser deities.

Such beings were not omniscient, nor all-powerful. Just immortal (as in, ageless) and divine in nature (as in, could influence the world to some extent). They could feel the worship of their believers, but couldn't see or hear them without being prayed to. These deities were numerous, and much like the original lesser gods of ancient soloastria, each represented a different idea.

Although the "true gods" had been annihilated, remnants of divinity remained on Astoria — those being — the lesser deities.

Chapter 1

Age of Librus

The island-continent of Soloastria was initially very much like Chult - an isolated region with its own deity. Chult had Ubtao, the god of dinosaurs, and Soloastria had Librus, the god of balance, with his symbol being a giant eyeball that watches over the continent.

Symbol of Librus

During the reign of Librus, all races prospered. "The All-Seeing Father" made sure to protect his domain from invaders, cataclysms and extraplanar entities. Common surface races of Soloastria at the time included humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings and goblins. Underdark society was comprised of the drow, the duergar and the svirfneblin. Last but not least, the tritons acted as the guardians of Soloastria's seas.

The island-continent of Soloastria wasn't always here though. No-one can accurately pinpoint just when it appeared on the planet of Toril, but one thing is for certain - it was ripped from a different universe, long before the reign of Librus. That era has been forgotten by now, but as you probably know, history likes to repeat itself...

Chapter 2

Age of Dragons

As such, it was Librus's turn to become the forgotten one. Lost to time. A relic of history. But who would have the guts to put the old, All-Seeing Father out of commission?

The answer is dragons, of course.

A flight of ancient dragons from Faerûn have decided to band together in order to overthrow Librus and split his domain among themselves. Having found no success on Toril's main continent, they were sure that this small, relatively young and still largely unknown continent was the perfect place to estabilish their lairs. Much to the surprise of Soloastria's folk, confident their god would protect them, they were shocked to see Librus weaker than they expected.. Truth be told, the All-Seeing Father had grown complacent. With no threats in the centuries of his rule, the old god was unfit for battle, and the dragons have managed to successfully overthrow him.

Librus was destroyed: his body shattered into five fragments that we now know as the "Librus Regalia" - legendary artifacts whose combined power in the right hands could bring back order to Soloastria.

Subsequently, after Librus's fall, the young island-continent had become a playground for the five tyrannical, ancient, chromatic dragons who, as it turns out, don't even get along with each other. Several territory disputes later, Soloastria took the shape that is has now:

Soloastria - a land of vastly varying climates, from the humid and tropical north to the dry and cold south.

The northern archipelago - transformed into swamps by Chologoth the Defiler, a black dragon hellbent on corruption and chaos who turned the islanders into merfolk and fishmen.
The northern woods - transformed into lush jungles by Maleficus the Tyrant, a green dragon with a love for all things elven and with a tropical flair. A manipulator and a schemer, not to be trusted.
The dunelands - used as a spell-testing site by Kabir Al-Fayir, a blue dragon who loves magic almost as much as he loves himself. His magical experiments have made extraplanar beings run wild across the dunelands.
The polar south - turned into hunting grounds for Urghoros the Savage, a white dragon who went insane after seeing visions of a terrifying prophecy.
The southern mountains - infiltrated by Kaiserin Rotwein the Cruel - a red dragon crime empress who's obsessed with information, like the self-proclaimed "queen of gossip" that she is.

Humans were nearly decimated, the remaining survivors being turned into dragonborn - humanoid dragonfolk that serve their draconic overlords. Dwarves, halflings and gnomes were respectively turned into kobolds, differing in scale colours based on their original race. Goblins hid in their dirt huts, largely unaffected by it all (this cowardice of theirs will become important later).

The people of Soloastria thought their lands were doomed, but Librus had two cards left up his sleeves - Candela and Nocturne.

Chapter 3

The Dragon War

Candela and Nocturne were the only two surviving children of Librus. The deities of light and darkness respectively. In a combined effort to eradicate the draconic threat, the divine siblings created the perfect, dragon-slaying race: the orcs.

Symbol of Nocturne

Symbol of Candela

Nocturne, the brother of darkness, bestowed his creations with strength, intelligence, ambition, and determination.

Candela, the sister of light, bestowed her creations with fortitude, wisdom, compassion, and perserverance.

Together, the siblings of light and dark created a near-perfect race, capable of waging war against the ancient dragons. One lengthy war later, soloastrian orcs have defeated their draconic overlords after 12 years of constant battle. The dragons became prisoners of their respective lairs, and children of Librus were now free to rule as they see fit.

The remaining kobolds hid in the mountains and hills, while the remaining dragonborn became wandering hermits. Goblins, as usual, stayed hidden. This has lead to them abandoning their raider ways, and becoming rather peaceful and resourceful creatures, mirroring who the gnomes and halflings once used to be. Peace, however, was relatively shortlived.

Chapter 4

Nocturne's Gambit

This is most likely the moment you've been waiting for. The big reveal. The answer to the first question you, the reader, might have had about this campaign setting: Why are Soloastria's nights so long and deadly?

The orcs grew complacent, just like Librus once did. Societal advancements grinded to a halt, and centuries of hedonism and decadence took place. Nocturne had it up to here with his "subjects". He swayed Soloastria's balance of power to his side, and covered the entire island-continent in darkness, completely obscuring Toril's sun and moon. This darkness became home to incomprehensible horrors.

Beings of darkness known as the "shadows" began rapidly decimating population after population, all to fulfill Nocturne's idea of "wiping the slate clean" and "starting anew". Elven societies whose diviners had prepared for this event were punished with a magical curse much akin to a disease, dubbed "strigosis" by the locals. Strigosis turned the highly-sophisticated elves into feral, blood-thirsty aberrations who thrive in the very darkness they once tried shielding themselves from. Even if someone were to escape the shadows, strigoi elves were waiting for them, foaming at the thought of their delicious flesh. Soloastria appeared to have been doomed.

Candela wasn't going to let all this hard work go to waste though. Unfortunately, she was weaker than her brother, and couldn't confront him directly. Instead of completely stopping his plan, she had at the very least managed to throw a wrench in it:

She had created a magical star that simulates the effects of a moon. Instead of rotating around the planet of Toril, it floats across Soloastria over the course of 30 days. On the 30th day, "Candela's Gift", as locals have dubbed it, becomes a full moon - shinining so bright that Nocturne's shadows cannot act. Watch out though, as strigoi elves have no problems prowling under moonlight.

But even this wasn't enough. As such, Candela had no choice but to confront her brother. After a grueling battle, the siblings were both weakened, and arranged a truce: Candela would turn into Soloastria's new sun, and Nocturne would refrain from interfering with her cycle.

Chapter 5

Modern Age

Candela wasn't strong enough to last for more than 6 hours, so one Soloastrian day now consists of 6 hours of light and 18 hours of darkness. This meant that the calendar had to be adjusted:

A year in the soloastrian calendar has exactly 360 days, divided into months that consist of 30 days each - roughly the time it takes for Candela's Gift to complete its journey across the continent. In Candela's weakened state as the region's own sun, she rises at 6 AM and falls at 12 PM, granting soloastrians 6 hours of light every day.

Some races adapted rather quickly. Goblins, for instance, had a technological boom in which they created artificial suns they call Nyings, which means "gifts" in goblin. Their "suns" are split into three categories - Holy Nyings, Arcane Nyings and Fuel Nyings, each representing the way they're powered. They serve as giant light sources that completely shield their flat settlements from darkness. Ylvindall's elves, the last untouched by strigosis, have instead erected a monumental magical construction known as the Walls of Light - radiant barriers that surround their capital city of The Dallia, completely shielding them from shadows and strigoi elves that lurk in the darkness

Besides goblins and elves, other races have also discovered ways to produce arcane, magically-powered lamp lights. The hardships that came from Nocturne's Gambit have forced the societies of Soloastria to improvise and adapt if they wish to overcome them.

Who knew that plunging the entire continent into darkness would lead to a technological revolution?

Age of Librus

Age of Dragons

The Dragon War

Nocturne's Gambit

Modern Age

Nocturne knew.