Making a setting for my Daggerheart campaign. Please ask me things so I can flesh it out

Lore

The body text is a loredump. In addition to answering questions, I'm also willing to accept feedback on things I already have

Creation, Dreaming, and Waking: The world of Circadia is split into Dreaming and Waking. The Prime Dreamer created Waking in Its divine slumber and the first creatures to dwell therein, including primitive humans and animals. Humans are set apart from other animals by the spark of creation that exists within them. In sleep, creatures of Waking reshape the topography and fauna of Dreaming through their Dreams, manifestations of inner desires, fears, and ideas. In turn, new creatures are thought into being by the Prime Dreamer based on human consciousness.

Religion: The main divinity in this setting is the Prime Dreamer, the mythical being who dwells in Dreaming in eternal slumber. Though many different sects of its worship ranging from Lucidic to non-Lucidic (believing in conscious creation vs unconscious) hold their own beliefs, nobody understands Its true nature besides a small amount of scholars dedicated to Dreaming, and even they offer only guesses. Because the Dreamer's worship offers no answers as to a concrete afterlife, many find solace in different faiths. These gods and their divine messengers manifest in Dreaming from the essence of mortal belief.

Ancestries: Orcs manifested from primitive fear of the savage, of rival human tribes, and the desire for physical strength and protection. Halflings arise from the essence of human humility and care for nature while Drakona manifest from human arrogance, greed and desire for conquest over nature. Meanwhile, Elementkin are made from fear of nature, fear of the storms, of the winter and the deep. With mortalkind's evolution, Dwarves and Elves both emerge with the desire for greater enlightenment beyond base primal urges.

Dwarves are the first species to harness fire and the forge. They build metal bodies called Clanks and will them to life and consciousness as automaton servants powered by Dreaming. Meanwhile, Elves, immortal and ethereal, are the first creatures to become enlightened to reality's true nature as a product of the Dreaming plane and channel the spark of creation into magic, becoming sorcerers capable of reshaping reality. Elves build towering cities, monuments to magical knowledge powered by Dreaming, and surpass their peers to become the most advanced and powerful civilisations on the face of Circadia.

From the wild corners of Dreaming (analogous to the Feywild), Elves summon Faeries, Fauns, and Gnomes as magical familiars who make up their cities' servant class. Faeries are domestic servants and travelling companions bound to their masters, Fauns serve as scouts, messengers, and sometimes court jesters, and Gnomes tend to their masters' gardens.

Fall of Elven Cities: Endeavoring to prevent the introduction of new species that would threaten their power, Elves lead a rebellion against the Prime Dreamer. A small force of expeditioners venture into Its realm and successfully sunder it from the spark of creation. In the process, the entire Elven race lost their ability to sleep and all magical power with it. The magic that powered their cities was lost. Those who could not learn to rest through other means soon went insane, becoming feral, cannibalistic ghouls. Pharrus, the most diverse in terms of ancestry and least reliant on magic is the only city that still stands amid the ghoul-infested wrecks of its contemporaries. Meanwhile, the creatures of the wild corners are free from the magic that once bound them to the Elves' service and able to choose their own paths.

Posted Mar 2, 2026, 4:03 PM UTC

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