The Player's Guide to Beyond the Mist Wall

The Campaign World

The campaign is set on the world of Iridia. The fourth continent, Mistrheimr, was recently rediscovered. Mistrheimr lies beyond the Mist Wall. This wall of magical fog only allows intelligent beings to travel one way: inwards. For this reason, it was long believed to be mythical. Until now.

The other three continents form the Three Powers, which have been in a state of constant war for hundreds of years. The discovery of Mistrheimr and the potential for new resources threatens to upend this long stalemate. All Three Powers are now racing to send colonists on a one way trip through the Mist Wall, with the understanding that they will send back resources for the glory of their homeland.

Some general things to know about the world of Iridia:

Where is Your Character's Country of Origin?

Most characters will be from one of the Three Powers described below. If none of those work for you, perhaps you hail from one of the few independent isles that remain or somewhere more exotic still? Work with the DM to figure it out.

The Three Powers

Iridia has had three main world powers for the last few centuries. Each controlled one of the three known continents. The three powers are:

The Enlave

The Enlave of Elders

(Your character is probably from here if they are: a barbarian, a bard, a wizard, an elf, half-elf or an intelligent undead)

The northenmost continent, Izalflund, is an icy land ruled by an enclave of liches. Their rule is unquestioned due to their vast magical powers and monopoly on Glow, a magical liquid which allows intelligent undead to resist becoming feral. The enclave is supported by the elvish nobility and the magic academies. The elves of Izalflund enjoy long lives of pleasure in sheltered paradise valleys, kept in eternal spring with magic.

For the rest of Izalflund life is substantially harder. The hardy humans scratch out a hard fought life herding livestock across the tundra and growing a few seasonal crops with the help of skeletal workers. The common folk of Izalflund joke that they are only fed long enough to become more skeletons for The Enclave. They focus on becoming skilled artisans as most repetitive labor is performed by undead. Most administrative work is performed by intelligent undead created by The Enclave, who serve them unquestioningly in return for their ration of Glow. Technology is looked upon with suspicion and only magic is well respected. Becoming a spell caster and attending one of the magic academies is one of the few reliable means of social advancement for the lower classes.

As the god of death and magic, the worship of Baelok is most common in Izalflund. Fiona is also honored for her war aspect.

How did you end up Beyond the Mist Wall?

  • If you are non-elvish, you were probably sentenced to exile for a debt or serious crime by some dusty undead magister.
  • If you are elvish or a spellcaster, presumably something went seriously wrong in life for you to leave a society where you were in a position of prestige and comfort.
  • If you are a bard, you know what you did...
  • If you are an intelligent undead, you probably serve The Enclave directly and were sent Beyond the Mist Wall to advance their cause. You will probably enjoy extra support compared to others.
The League

The League of Extraordinary Engineers

(Your character is probably from here if they are: an artificer, a dwarf, gnome or halfling)

The continent of Ferronus lies slightly north of the equator of Iridia. It is a pleasant temperate land of rolling hills sprinkled with mineral rich mountains. Nominally a democracy, Ferronus is closer to an oligarchy of trade guilds, The League of Extraordinary Engineers. Most of the population of Ferronus lives in sprawling, bustling cities where the demand for skilled artisans is high. The best crafts related jobs usually go to dwarves or gnomes who often enjoy guild sponsorship. This leaves the factory jobs to be filled by the human majority. The halflings of Ferronus are mostly content to live outside the cities on cozy farmsteads where the food and pipe weed are plentiful and cheap.

The League has pioneered the techniques for harnessing elementals to power golems and steam engines. They also discovered the recipe for gunpowder and now cannons and firearms see widespread use in their military. This has caused the whole continent to experience an industrial revolution with clockwork and steam powered contraptions becoming commonplace. The comforts and conveniences offered here make the League widely considered the best place for commoners to live. The downsides to living in The League are the rampant crime and growing pollution problems. Many have become sick from the black ash that falls from the factory stacks, but that is the price of progress. Any who complains too loudly or too often is imprisoned for "rabble rousing".

The folk of Ferronus are nearly universal in their worship of Fiona, as she is the goddess of good and cities.

How did you end up Beyond the Mist Wall?

  • Violent criminals, political dissidents, orphans, the insane, religious kooks and other undesirables are regularly rounded up and sent on a one way trip through the Mist Wall on golem crewed ships.
  • Others choose to leave the slums of the cities to seek their fortune in the Great Unknown, as the people of Ferronus call the 4th continent.
  • Soldiers and support personnel have also been sent by the League to aid in the colonization efforts. Their families are assured a stipend for their great sacrifice.
The Republic

The Republic of Zhent

(Your character is probably from here if they are: a monk, a sorcerer, a warlock, a thri-kreen, a tiefling or a yuan-ti)

The Republic of Zhent is a loose coalition of warring city states that dot the wastes of Zhent, the southern-most continent. The lands of Zhent are mainly barren wastelands, high mountain deserts and steamy jungles. The majority of the cities lie along the coast and rely on trade in spices, gems and jungle hardwoods to sustain themselves. The other common occupation is pirate and the people of Zhent travel far abroad to loot and pillage before returning to their home ports to spend their ill gotten gains. The people of Zhent are diverse with the human majority mingling freely with tieflings, thri-kreen and yuan-ti.

Zhents are universally reviled by the rest of Iridia for the practice they call "Purification". This process involves using a machine to strip the mind and soul from a humanoid body. The resulting shell is commonly called "A Blank". Its skin turns ashen gray and it lacks any hint of its former self. Blanks are mindless and must be commanded using a control rod. They perform nearly all physical labor in Zhent and make up the majority of its armies. As they possess no innate magic resistance, their forms can be magically modified to better suit particular tasks.

In Zhent, Charnog is most often worshipped over the other gods. He is given offerings to stay his hand and calm the weather before sea journeys. It is rarely effective without a blood sacrifice.

How did you end up Beyond the Mist Wall?

  • Many Zhents are headed to Mistrheimr one step ahead of bounty hunters or debt collectors.
  • Some were offered exile instead of Purification for crimes.
  • Some Zhents leave willingly and see Mistrheimr as a chance at a new start, away from their corrupt homeland.

What if I'm Some Other Class or Race?

  • Humans are the most common citizen for any of the Three Powers.
  • Classes such as Fighter, Rogue and Ranger are fairly common for any of the Three Powers.
  • Druids are also known to originate from all three continents, though far less common on Ferronus.
  • Clerics hail from any of the Three Powers. Most worship one of the New Gods, typically one honored in their homeland, though the worship of Old Gods or Ideals is not completely unknown.

The Old Gods

Old Gods

For reasons unknown to mortals today, approximately three thousand years ago the prescence of the known Gods began to fade from Iridia. They no longer answered questions, nor accepted offerings from their followers. They still granted spells, but their clerics report that all prayers fall on deaf ears. Over time the old faiths weakened. Some still worship the old gods out of tradition, ever hopeful that they will return. Most believe that the old gods are now "far away" and will not return. In the old gods' absence, the worship of the three "New Gods" has become commonplace.

-Divination effects automatically fail if they rely on contacting any of the old gods or their servants.
-Worshippers of the old gods still receive spells, but prayers are never answered.
-Divination and Summoning spells that reach the Outer Planes cause casters to receive
1d4 levels of Exhaustion due to the effort of crossing the "cosmological distances" involved.

Exhaustion Rules here...

Affected Spells include:

Divination Spells
  • Contact Other Plane (5th level) – Allows you to connect with a deity or otherworldly intelligence on another plane, often the Outer Planes.
  • Divination (4th level, Cleric) – Contacts your deity or divine servants, usually located on the Outer Planes, for guidance.
  • Commune (5th level, Cleric) – Lets you ask your deity or a divine proxy three yes/no questions. Since many deities reside in the Outer Planes, this indirectly connects with them.
Summoning Spells
  • Conjure Celestial (7th level, Cleric) – Summons a celestial from the Upper Planes, such as a deva or other angelic being.
  • Gate (9th level) – Opens a portal to another plane of existence, including the Outer Planes, allowing entities to travel through it.
  • Summon Greater Demon (4th level, Warlock/Wizard) – Calls a demon from the Abyss, an Outer Plane.
  • Infernal Calling (5th level, Warlock/Wizard) – Summons a devil from the Nine Hells, an Outer Plane.

The Moons Aetun, Baetun and Charnun

Moons

The three moons of Iridia revolve both around each other and Iridia. The inhabitants of Iridia believe that the relative position of the moons reflect the ongoing struggle between the New Gods for supremacy. The moons are in a constant state of flux in the night sky. At times, one or two moons will be ascendant over the rest. During this time, it is believed that the powers of the New God associated with that moon are at their most potent and that their followers will be blessed. Each inhabitant of the world feels a resonance with one of the three moons, chosen at birth.

Characters receive inspiration each day if their chosen moon is ascendant.
This inspiration gives them advantage on one roll of their choice.
The blessing of their moon replenishes each morning at dawn.
This inspiration is use or lose and cannot be saved.
This rule also applies to NPCs.