Gaelea Campaign Setting

 
    The world of Gaelea exists in the Material Plane as the fourth planet of a solar system orbiting the yellow dwarf star Seles. Seles’ diameter is approximately 100 times that of Gaelea, and its mass is approximately 330,000 times that of Gaelea. Gaelea’s orbit around Seles is the basis of the solar calendar known as the Selesian Calendar. Gaelea has two natural satellites of different sizes, Masser being the greater and Secunda being the smaller.

Calendar

    A mean solar day on Gaelea is 24 hours, and the annual orbital period (year) is 336 days. Months are based the 28-day orbital period of Masser, and are further divided by convention into four 7-day weeks. Secunda’s orbital period is 35 days. The days of the week are named, respectively:
1. Sul (SŪL)
2. Mol (MÔL)
3. Zol (ZÔL)
4. Wir (WĒR)
5. Zor (ZŌR)
6. Far (FÂR)
7. Sar (SÂR)

    The months are named, respectively:
1. Janosh (YÂN-ōsh)
2. Febryan (FÊB-rē-ən)
3. Maros (MÆR-ōs)
4. Ayre (Ā-ær)
5. Milos (MĒ-lōs)
6. Jo (Yō)
7. Hili (HĒ-lē)
8. Aufgasta (ÂF-gôst-ô)
9. Simbre (SÎM-brē)
10. Octos (ÔC-tōs)
11. Nove (NŌ-væ)
12. Decia (DÊS-sē-ô)

    At the start of our campaign, it was Sul, the 1st of Ayre in the year 3E998 (3rd Era, Year 998).

Celestial Events

    The celestial neighborhood around Gaelea is a busy place. The Selesian calendar is used to track the occurrences of celestial events as well as predict when the next known celestial event will occur. Events that are shown on the Selesian calendar are listed below:
    Aurora – An Aurora Borealis appears in the night sky, and lasts most of the night.
    Comet Appears – A bright comet appears in the night sky and remains 2 more nights (3 total).
    Eclipse of Masser – Gaelea’s eclipse of Masser is visible at the party’s location.
    Eclipse of Secunda – Gaelea’s eclipse of Secunda is visible at the party’s location.
    Evening Star – A planet is visible in the dusk and evening hours as a ‘star’.
    Fireball – A brightly visible meteorite strikes the ground within 1d4+1 miles of the party.
    Meteor Shower – A shower of meteors is observed by one or more of the party.
    Morning Star – A planet is visible in the pre-dawn and morning hours as a ‘star’.
    Shooting Star – A single meteor is observed by one or more of the party.
    Solar Eclipse – The eclipse of Seles by either moon is visible at the party’s location.
    Wanderers Gather – Masser and Secunda orbits align so that both are visible in the night sky.

Climate

    Gaelea hosts the entire gamut of climes, from glaciers and arctic tundra near the polar extremes, to blistering deserts and tropical jungles in the equatorial regions. Temperate forests and sprawling grasslands cover the majority of the middle latitudes, and chains of mountains and hill abound both large and small. Rocky badlands are uncommon, but not unheard of.

    The planet is tectonically active from time to time, but not usually so much as to make rapid changes to the geographic landscape nor interfere significantly with current civilization. Most inhabitants of Gaelea have experienced a minor earthquake in their lifetime, but serious damage from earthquake cannot be recalled in living memory. Volcanic activity is rare; however, there are a few active volcanoes known. Severe storms happen seasonally within a fairly regular pattern. Tides are predictable and closely tracked by seafaring nations, but vary greatly in intensity based on whether the moons are aligned (“Wanderers Gather”) or on opposite sides of Gaelea.

Geography

    The world of Gaelea is covered approximately 70% by water, in three oceans (Catanic, Pecunic and Dormic) and five seas. Gaelea has five continents: Atryae, Autera, Calea, Caledonia and Cambria.

Atryae

    Atryae is the smallest of the Gaelean continents, measuring approximately 600 miles wide and 900 miles long along the main landmass. The main continent of Atryae is accompanied by eight islands, which make up the Atryaen archipelago. Atryae is unified as one nation.

    Atryae’s equatorial location attributes to its hot and humid climate. Jungles and rain forests cover the vast majority of the landscape, both on the main continent and the islands, and rivers and streams abound. One group of mountain peaks is present on the southern peninsula of the continent, while the northern peninsula hosts a small area of grasslands.

Autera

    Autera is approximately 2000 miles wide and 2000 miles long. The vast majority of the Auteran continent is uninhabitable desert. Several small pockets of forest dot the countryside, usually denoting the presence of water. An equatorial jungle is located on the northernmost tip of the continent, and a temperate forest borders the southern edge of the central lake. Two major mountain chains exist, the largest interposing as a barrier on the northern shore of the continent, and the smaller bisecting the continent north to south. Several lesser coastal chains ring the shoreline of the continent, giving Autera an appearance of a walled fortress.

    Autera is very sparsely populated, with inhabitants concentrated into only two city-states. The continent is divided into four geographic regions, with no nation-states in existence. The uninhabited areas are rumored to be ripe for exploration, dotted with many ruins and other such sites of bygone cultures, belying ancient activities lost to antiquity.

Calea

    Calea is approximately 1500 miles wide and 3200 miles long, and stretches from the equator north nearly to the polar ice cap. The terrain of Calea varies as widely as its lands stretch. A mountainous region inhabits the southern end of the continent, as well a small patch of rocky desert. Temperate forests and plentiful farmland abound in the east, and a vast grassland plain stretches through the middle continent and central lakes region to another range of mountains in the north. Beyond the northern mountains lies a large region of tundra, with arctic climate to match.

    Calea is divided into 4 nations, and borders closely align to the regions of terrain. Population is widespread across the more temperate regions of Calea, congregating in all sizes of civilization from small villages to large cities.

Caledonia

    Caledonia is the main (initial) setting for our campaign. Caledonia is the second largest continent in land area, but is home to the majority of the population of Free Peoples on Gaelea. The continent is approximately 3000 miles east to west and 2000 miles north to south (roughly North America). Rivers and interior lakes abound, some of enough size to be considered an inland sea. Caledonia hosts huge forests and vast grassland plains, interrupted by several jagged mountain ranges as well as many lines of rolling hills. Three major wetland swamps are present, the largest located in the west, the second in the east and the smallest in the south.

    Two sets of badlands exist on Caledonia. In the extreme northwest is a complex of “Grand Canyon”-sized canyons. In the center of the continent, and nearly bisecting it north-to-south, is a barren, rocky land that is eternally covered by an inexplicable mist that obscures vision beyond approximately half a mile. Caledonia is host to 14 nations; however, both badlands are unclaimed and reportedly ungoverned.

Cambria

    Cambria, Gaelea’s largest continent, is approximately 4000 miles east-to-west and 3000 miles north-to-south, and sports some of the most rugged and varied terrain and climates possible. The northeastern third of the continent is covered in vast forests, varying from jungle and marsh in the northern peninsula to temperate rain forest in the eastern regions. The western third of the continent is a high, sandy desert bordered by large rocky mountain ranges. The southern half of the continent is extremely mountainous, with some of the highest summits on the planet, and continues southward onto two antarctic peninsulas consisting of frozen tundra and glacial peaks.

    Cambria is sparsely populated, and the continent’s extreme terrain and five active volcanoes influenced the few population centers to develop in the woodland regions of the north and east. The inhabitants are concentrated into just a few villages, one major town and one city.

Oceanography

    Three large salt-water oceans dominate the surface of Gaelea. The Dormic Ocean lies in the northern hemisphere east of Caledonia, west of Calea and north of Autera. The Pecunic Ocean also lies in the northern hemisphere, west of Caledonia, east of Calea and north of Cambria. The Catanic Ocean lies in the southern hemisphere west of Cambria, east of Autera and south of Calea.

    The Barren Sea is located to the north of the continents of Caledonia and Calea, up to and underneath the northern polar ice cap. The Icemaw is an inland sea trapped between the southern coast of the continent of Cambria and the southern polar ice cap. Both polar ice caps are referred to as “The Ever Ice”, regardless of declination. The Sea of Rage is located between the continents of Calea and Autera, and is known for its severe tropical storms that occasionally form during the summer and fall months. The Dark Sea is located between the continents of Cambria and Autera in the southern hemisphere of Gaelea, and stretches southward to The Ever Ice. The Sea of Lost Souls encompasses the waters between the continents of Cambria, Atryae and Caledonia. Its equatorial latitude makes it also prone to severe seasonal weather, which coupled with its high commercial shipping traffic has earned it the auspicious name.

Pantheon

    The pantheon of Gaelea revolves around the group of twelve good and neutral deities known as The Sovereign Host, and their malign shadow, The Dark Eight. The gods of the Sovereign Host are thought to have dominion over every aspect of existence, to speak and act in concert for unified purposes. But the Dark Eight are primitive, bloody and cruel gods who offer dissension and opposition.

    The gods are ever present in the day-to-day goings on of Gaelea, actively meddling in the affairs of mortals. While the vast majority of the population is free to worship or not to worship as they see fit, few are foolish enough to deny that the gods exist.

    Many scholarly and theological professors attribute the prevalence of arcane and divine magic in Gaelea to the active involvement of the gods, both for good and ill. The high presence of magic has not only made magic use a very commonplace occurrence, but has brought a level of domestic utility to its applications.

The Sovereign Host	Alignment	Domain	Symbol
Avandra, goddess of freedom and trade	CG	Trickery	Three stacked wavy lines
Bahamut, dragon god of good and justice	LG	Life, War	Dragon’s head in left profile
Belenus, god of the sun and healing	NG	Life, Light	Sun with six rays
Chauntea, goddess of hearth and harvest	NG	Nature	Rose on a grain wreath
Corellon Larethian, elven god of art and magic	CG	Light	Polaris starburst
Erathis, goddess of civilization and invention	LN	Knowledge	Half of a clockwork gear
Ioun, goddess of knowledge and skill	N	Knowledge	Crook shaped like an eye
Kord, god of the storm and battle	CN	Tempest, War	Fist clenching a lightning bolt
Melora, goddess of the wilds and the sea	N	Nature, Tempest	Shell with a wavelike swirl
Moradin, dwarven god of creation and artisans	LG	Knowledge, War	Flaming anvil
(The) Raven Queen, goddess of death and fate	LN	Death, Life	Raven’s head in left profile
Sehanine Moonbow, elven goddess of the moon and love	CG	Nature, Trickery	Crescent moon

The Dark Eight	Alignment	Domain	Symbol
Asmodeus, supreme master of the Nine Hells	LE	Trickery	Three triangles in tight formation
Bane, god of war and conquest	LE	War	Three-talon claw facing down
Lolth, drow goddess of spiders	CE	Trickery	Polaris star with a web motif
Tharizdun, god of eternal darkness	CE	Trickery, Death	Jagged or flaming spiral
Tiamat, dragon goddess of evil	LE	Trickery, War	Five clawed star
Torog, god of imprisonment and slavery	NE	Death	T attached to a shackle
Vecna, god of evil secrets	NE	Knowledge	Shattered one-eyed skull
Zehir, snake god of poison and assassins	NE	Trickery, Death	Snake in shape of a dagger

    In addition to the 20 deities that inhabit the pantheon of the Free Peoples of Gaelea, many of the monstrous races (the “Inhuman Hordes”) worship their own deities.

Deities of the Inhuman Hordes	Alignment	Domain	Symbol
Blipdoolpoolp, kuo-toa goddess	NE	Death	Lobster head
Eadro, merfolk deity of the sea	N	Nature, Tempest	Spiral design
Grolantor, hill giant god of war	CE	War	Wooden club
Gruumsh, orc god of destruction	CE	Tempest, War	Unblinking triangular eye with protrusions
Hruggek, bugbear god of violence	CE	War	Morning star
Kurtulmak, kobold god of war and mining	LE	War	Gnome skull
Laogzed, troglodyte god of hunger	CE	Death	Image of the lizard/toad god
Maglubiyet, goblinoid god of war	LE	War	Bloody axe
Memnor, cloud giant god of mental prowess	NE	Knowledge, Trickery	Thin black obelisk
Sekolah, sahuagin god of the hunt	LE	Nature, Tempest	Shark
Semuanya, lizardfolk deity of survival	N	Life	Egg
Skerrit, centaur and satyr god of nature	N	Nature	Oak growing from acorn
Skoraeus Stonebones, stone giant god of art	N	Knowledge	Stalactite
Stronmaus, storm giant god of the sky	NG	Life, Light	Cloud with forked lightning bolt
Surtur, fire giant god of craft	LE	Knowledge, War	Flaming sword
Thrym, frost giant god of strength	CE	War	White double-bladed axe