A Grim Fantasy, High Magic Setting to Explore and Survive
Mix the eerie alien-ness of the deep ocean with a dash of grim survivalist exploration, and you have the Great Forests of Azvir, which is the main source of adventure in any game set in this world.
Travel the Shade Roads, defend against beasts from below, delve through the Dim and into the Black, seek out lost treasures, and bring back valuables both natural and magical.
Azvir
Beneath the canopy, the Dim awaits, and below that, the Black.
There are no oceans on Azvir.
Perhaps there were, in days past remembering. But today, there is only the Great Forest.
Standing on the edge of the Highlands is like standing between two different worlds— to one side, flatlands or forests or fields or a cityscape; on the other, the top of an endless canopy of trees stretching out to the horizon. Between those two, the Verge, a slope of no-man’s land that the trees of the Great Forest do not infringe on, but the creatures that live within that forest sometimes do.
For the most part, the people of the Highlands live out their lives doing all the things you would expect of peoples and nations; farming, crafting, learning, traveling, trading… But some —brave or foolish or even suicidal, depending on who you ask— venture out across the canopy, and beneath it.
Dirigibles, balloons, and skyships sail the air, and the Shade Roads, an interconnecting web of bridges and wide walkways, create paths through the uppermost branches of the Great Forest itself.
Winding down the Verge into the shadow of the Great Forest, the Deep Road leads between the massive trunks and roots and into the Black beneath the canopy, so far down that not even the faintest scrap of sunlight reaches there, and strange, twisted, eerie creatures stalk. Those who dare to delve that far do so in search of rare plants, unique creatures, the wrecks of long-crashed skyships, the remnants of long-lost parties, or rare forgotten ruins, all extremely valuable to the right buyer.
Treasures and darkness are not the only things to be found in the Black; both wonder and danger live down deep beneath the canopy. Marvels of magic and nature dwell down there, from phosphorescent fungi, to luminous animals and insects, to pools of water that react to touch with a splash of light and color. But beware, for peril also lurks unseen in the heavy blackness; patches of quicksand, venomous fungi, carnivorous plants, volcanic pools and geysers, and burning lakes await the unwary.
Courage and cunning, skill and strength… do you have what it takes to survive the Black?