What is Chronicles of Yra?
Chronicles of Yra is a Wiki for The World of Yra, a campaign setting for fantasy roleplaying or storytelling. It is also the online home for the group that created, and currently plays in, the setting. Here you will find all of the information needed to explore or run your own roleplaying campaigns in this deeply detailed environment.
Originally the world was created and played in 3.5 Edition Dungeons and Dragons, however, the founding group is currently using the 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons rules. This does not mean that you must play D&D to experience Yra, it is easily adaptable to any RPG rules set. Upcoming campaigns will use a house hybrid of 4th Edition Dnd and Aria: Canticle of the Monomyth.
About the Setting
The world of Yra is a fractured realm of hundreds of kingdoms, borne aloft by tremendous elemental forces on thousands of airborne islands. The lands of Yra orbit a furious magmatic sun, and split the realms into layers of varying habitability by temperature, available light, and weather. Here, flight is the ultimate commodity.
Inhabited realms are in constant motion, both politically and physically. Rulers rise, falling just as rapidly. Conflicts between empires, personal interests, and ancient forces both malign and benevolent drive the shifting borders of political power and the characters themselves.
The Second Devaic War has come to an end after ten terrible years. A world-spanning conflagration between mortal nations, it was fought with the weapons of the First War, a war between the gods themselves. With Yra in shambles, and borders in flux, can new heroes save the world from itself?
Yra was written to give rise to a fantastic but internally realistic, politically charged, and character-centric RPG environment. After years of development, the creators hope to "let our baby loose". We hope that Chronicles of Yra will eventually become a network for many groups, sharing and shaping the world with their stories. For more detailed information on the world, navigate using the sidebar menu or START HERE.
We Were Here First
In 1991, (Yes, kids…) I was inspired to create Chronicles of Yra by the unlikely combination of two unusual sources: The Queensryche album "Queen of the Ryche", and the classic arcade game "Joust". Since then, many elements of the setting have changed, and many ideas I had for the world have made their way like all fine ideas into the popular consciousness. Some examples being the floating islands of "Avatar", Magic the Gathering's racially pure Elves of Lorwyn… but for what it's worth - We were here first.
Themes of 'Chronicles of Yra'
The image of the all-powerful, Monty Haul RPG party with its Vorpally laden, unlimited Vancian magic slinging, tomb raiding bunch of "do-gooders" is one that has been a part of the popular culture and especially the culture of Fantasy Roleplaying for well over three decades. The problem is, it isn't terribly interesting. You will find that the authors of Chronicles of Yra are far more influenced by George R.R. Martin and Joe Abercrombie than they are by Pratchett and Goodkind.
"Magic" is Rare and Dangerous
Tell the average commoner that you have seen a "Mage", and you will likely be met with blank stares or a look of disbelief at best, or find yourself banished from the town at worst.
There are two primary forms of arcane power. The first, Cryptomancy, is a rigorous and erudite mix of linguistics, cryptology, geometry, physics and alchemy. Liberated and adapted for human use from malevolent alien entities, Cryptomancy is a harrowing practice at best, and world threatening madness at worst.
The second source is the gods themselves. The Devas once strode upon the world, so legend says, and where they walked, titanic ripples in the fabric and nature of reality were left in their wake. A lasting legacy of the First Devaic War, the items and places named in the Logos of the Inheritances contain the power to remake the whole of Yra. And they have. On more than one occasion. To possess, or even to see, a relic of such power is to be indelibly changed forever. It is a tale that few tell, and those that do will tell the tale to their children, and their children's children.
Low Magic Roleplaying
Gaming in Chronicles of Yra assumes using the optional DnD 4E rules for low magic settings. More information can be found HERE.
Every Power Has a Price
The gods wield terrible, destructive, world-warping power. Cryptomancy was stolen from the Aberrations, and their eyes are on the upstart nations even now. Magic is a fixed resource, the use of which eats away at the unseen foundations that hold the world together. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The greatest king and war hero ever known is now viewed as an absentee, iron-fisted tyrant. Nothing in Yra is free.
History is Written By the Victors
The Marcelline have always held the throne. The Colournish Empire never fell. The Thousand Kings is destined to be unified. Praesal the Builder planned all of this.
These are fictions. Lies told to quiet a dissatisfied peasantry, or lies told by a government to itself. The real story is buried deep. Perhaps your characters will find the truth.
The Thin Grey Line
People aren't simple. Whole races aren't "evil". As for "Heroes", see above. Sometimes, dire circumstances force those at a locus of destiny to make decisions that aren't easy, clean, or pure. The most shining examples of heroism kill from the shadows, unrewarded and unknown, and the most oppressive tyrant is an unwilling puppet of forces beyond mortal understanding. There is no good and evil but what the individual makes from moment to moment. Yes it is grim, but it is important. If every paladin on a shining steed behaves like Saint Galiphon's Ghost, why should your character's deeds be celebrated?
Gods vs. Men
Not a Sandbox
In Development
We are currently erecting the basic framework that the wiki will use, and have created templates for most things that need to be added to the site, or expressed in game terms. Thanks for your patience, if you are out there at all. You can find updates here, or in the recent changes section.
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(by The Marcelline 22 Oct 2012 18:51, posts: 2)
(by The Marcelline 22 Oct 2012 18:45, posts: 2)