Welcome to the Shattered Realm

>[!QUOTE] ><bdi style= font-size:18>"Should you choose to believe in Legend</bdi>, this Realm, as we know it, was once far more vast and terrifying than you or I can comprehend. In my travels, I've discovered evidence that would seem to suggest that instead of the untold thousands of fragments that make up the Shatter, our Realm once consisted of less than a dozen enormous celestial bodies. Staggeringly larger than even the largest fragments of today, these titanic masses were referred to as "Worlds" (spelling?), and were the homes to the many peoples and creatures of the Realm." > >"How society could have possibly functioned in such places boggles the mind. Imagine, if you will, how lawless these lands would have been; the number of people required to govern and protect such large swaths of territory. Wild beasts roaming the same rock that your home was built upon, and that your family lived. Food, while assuredly abundant in some areas, would have been difficult if not impossible to grow in others, and the magnitude of distance between any two locales would have made trade unfeasible." > >"Surely if these "Worlds" existed, they would have barbaric, savage places, largely inhospitable and without the beautiful tapestry of culture that makes up the Shatter today. Perhaps more evidence will need to be collected in order to determine whether or not a Realm such as this could have existed. Perhaps one day I'll write another book, detailing those findings." > >"All of this preface is of course to illustrate just how fortunate we are to call the Shatter, as it exists today, our home. So while I may write about the Realm of old another day, today It's my absolute pleasure to write about our Shattered Realm, and the many wonderful things I have discovered within." > > > "Use my notes, go find legends— across this Realm and yonder. Perhaps one day, you as well will earn the title, Wanderer." > - Walderai ### What is The Shatter? The Shatter is an grand collection of micro-biomes, adrift across the void. Once, this realm was made up of 12 worlds that through a series of wars and catastrophes called "The Tear", have all been destroyed. Pieces of those worlds, called "Fragments" are scattered across the realm, each orbiting the star at it's centre. Fragments vary greatly in size, from as small as a pebble, to the size of countries. These fragments as a whole make up the Shatter. Survivors cling to fragments across the Shatter wherever they can, living off what little resources they can find. Still, in most cases, this is barely enough for survival, and so it wasn't long before the people of the Shatter developed means of controlling their fragments. For smaller fragments, this meant utilizing both magic and the technological wonder of "Aeos Crystals" to allow their fragments to move across the void, independent of gravity's pull. The led to the formation of "Clusters"; collections of fragments that would travel closely together to ensure trade and safety should something happen to a fragment. It is in these clusters that adventures within the Shattered Realm take place. Because of the free-forming and ever-changing nature of clusters, no two adventures will ever be the same. Across thousands of fragments and dozens of clusters at any given time, there is no end to the stories that can be told. Will your story be one of fortune or of tragedy? Will you make your mark on this Shattered Realm, or will your name too be little more than dust cast adrift in the void? Only time will tell, as your journey is about to begin. ___ ### Life in the Shatter I've tried many times to properly describe this setting, and the closest, most succinct way I've found is to call it a turn-of-the-20th-century, post-apocalyptic, aetherpunk, space-opera. If you're thinking, "what the hell does that mean?", good. I'll try to explain. Living on a rock, drifting through space is a challenge, and sometimes you have to do things to survive that might be looked down upon. Food is food, regardless of where is comes from. Salvage is necessary, regardless of where you get it. If you can trade, great, but if you can't, a use show of force may be your only option to get what you need to survive. Travelling across the Shatter is done primarily using fragments, as they are suited for long-distance travel. While there are ships, called Skiffs, capable of travel through the void, the amount of fuel required for such distances, combined with the volatility of said fuel, makes long-distance travel by Skiff dangerous and inefficient. While there are some skiffs of considerable size that are capable of travelling through the void safely, most skiffs are primarily suited for faster, shorter-travel around a fragment, rather than between fragments themselves. Before The Tear, the Realm was in the midst of a huge magi-technological revolution, brought about by Aeos Crystals; stones that resonate in unique frequencies that differ from magic, and can be utilized in powerful ways to interact with the physical world around them. After The Tear, much of the documentation behind such advancements was lost, however the tech itself remained for those who could find it. From this, the advancements of old have been sustained and become wide-spread across the Shatter, but not many have the resources to expand upon it. Depending on the fragment you find yourself on, the Shatter could look and feel like anytime between 1880s -1930s, although there may be fragments that fall outside of this range. Culture and technology are leaps and bounds ahead of most fantasy settings. For context, adoption of lightbulbs are wide-spread, and telegraphs are a prominent form of communication. In the most industrialized areas, short-range radios are growing in popularity, as are early automobiles. Religion within the Shattered Realm is complicated tangle of indifference and reverence. There are no Gods within the Shatter, only the Paragons; a powerful pantheon of beings that use the mortals of the Shatter as their playthings. Paragons primarily speak their will into those that would listen through Heralds, devout worshipers that claim to speak with the Paragons themselves. Rarely, a Paragon may even choose a Champion to enact their will on the Shattered Realm, but instances of this happening are incredibly rare. Crime is rampant across the Shatter, and in most cases, fragments can only really defend themselves from marauders with local militias. While larger cities may have a proper guard or military presence, many smaller fragments may need the protection of larger organizations or syndicates to protect them, for better or for worse. In most cases, this protection comes with a cost. >[!QUOTE] >"While the Shatter may be a beautiful and wonderous paradise to some, it can also be a savage and ruthless wasteland to others. I've seen plenty of both sides during my travels, as well as how easy it is to be trapped, or swayed by either." >- Walderai ___ ### Our Journey Begins Thank you very much, dear reader, for taking the time to read this. Building the Shattered Realm, this wiki, the VTT and all these new rules has been a labour of love of mine for the last 3 and half years. I'm so excited to finally be able to share this world and these stories with you all, and I'm so looking forward to seeing where the road ahead takes us. I won't make this too long, but I want to thank a few people for putting up with me while I have been putting all this together. To the players of The Realm, my first campaign, thank you all for giving me the inspiration to continue this wonderful setting. To the Pirate Pals, thank you for giving me support when I needed to complain. A massive thanks to everybody that helped with the development of the rules, especially Nate, I could not have done any of this without you keeping me on track. Primarily, I want to thank my loving family. My amazing wife, Sarah, thank you for listening to me ramble about everything and nothing, especially when what I was saying made no sense. Thank you for checking in whenever I would stare off into nothingness, lost in a train of thought. Thank you for putting up with me all the times that I had "just one more thing" to finish, and thank you for everything you do for the boys and I. To my sons, Luke and Ethan, thank you for filling my head with wonder. Your curiosity and passion about the world, as well as your love for the many games we play, inspires me daily to keep building upon this so that I may one day share it with you. All of this, every iota of creativity I pour into this, is all for you two, and I cannot wait until the day that we get to tell these stories together. To everyone, mentioned or otherwise, thank you. I hope you enjoy what I've put together, and I hope that at some point, in this game or the next, that I'll see you at my table to roll some dice. Cheers Jay