D&D 5e
Estemor: The Karelian Highlands
It is the 909th year After Sodality. The eastern hills known as the Karelian Highlands are considered the edge of the world to the people of Estemor. A dry no-man’s-land home to unchecked beasts, nomadic tribes and clandestine organizations from across the realm, there are still brave or foolish individuals who choose to trek through such a dangerous land. Those in search of fame and fortune scour the Highlands for traces of the Fallen Yore, an ancient civilization that kept their treasures and technology nestled underneath the mountains. Will you brave the wilderness in search of these secrets or will you be another lost soul claimed by the wastes?
Long ago, the continent of Estemor was united under the Civilization of Yore. Through feverish research and devotion to the Old God Antedoros, they achieved a level of technological advancement and prosperity that is now a distant dream. The children of the Antedoros, half-god, half-human themselves, grew divided over how to best lead humanity. This resulted in the devastating conflict between those who shepherded humans towards freedom and those who clung to the old ways along with the Antedoros. This conflict, later dubbed the Saints’ War, led to the devastation of Yore and plunged Estemor into a Dark Age for untold centuries.
The Dark Age finally ended through the efforts of the human Amertus, who dedicated his life to traversing Estemor in search of the surviving Saints. With their guidance, he united the fragmented peoples of Estemor, creating what would become the Empire of Amertus. After thirty-five years of travel, the small Karellian village where he finally decided to return home would forever be known as Journeysend.
The unification of the land and the founding of the Empire was known as the Sodality with the newly-adopted calendar using that event as a reference epoch. Estemor was united for roughly 400 years before religious differences caused the northwestern territories to break away, forming the Principality of Dullac. When Dullac invaded the Karelian Coast 200 years later, the locals managed to repel the invaders as well as fight for their independence against an increasingly corrupt Empire, thus creating their own Republic. In the 300 years since then, the Empire has made great strides to regain its place as the heir to all of Estemor, seeking to return to the ways of Yore. Political tensions across the land are at an all-time high.
The Highlands itself has been a largely desolate wasteland since the Dark Age, with only the woodlands around Journeysend providing any sort of respite for settlers. While the land is formally claimed by the Karellian Republic, it is largely undeveloped. In part because of this, both the Empire and Principality have each laid claim to the region at times, though for very different reasons. Independent tribes of Wild Elves from the neighboring land of Tuatha often cross the Warden Peaks into the Highlands as well, another indication that the region is untamed by any authority whatsoever.