The world

1) The world of this game does not take place in a universe like the one in which we exist.
2) The universe of this game is cylindrical, but very large.
3) The universe is divided into 4 sections going from the top: Fire, Earth, Air & Water
4) Segments of the other elements drift into adjoining sections.
5) The game will take place in the air section on a small island of Earth that has broken off from above and is slowly drifting down towards the massive ocean below.
a. Then islands reach the water, they slow down very much from the speed they had been “falling” at. But, eventually, they do disappear beneath the waves.
6) The common belief is that “strings” of elemental energy thread through the universe in bundles.
a. The strings are bundles of the 5 elements: fire, earth, air, water and life.
b. There are some bundles that lack one or more of the elements.
c. The islands drift down these strings that provide some of their element to the island in
question.
i. Each island connects with at least one bundle. The larger the island, the more likely to
connect with more than one.
d. Each bundle has slightly different proportions of the different elements.
e. Pulses of elemental power move down the threads from above. This results in the seasons,
large storms, earthquakes and such as variations in the thread are hit.
f. The threads are invisible, but there are people who claim to be able to see, predict and control
them.
7) Light comes from interaction with the island and the fire thread. Energy rises and a glow starts off to one side, becoming a visible ball of light that moves around the island and then passes below on the other side. Top side and bottom side of an island might not have the same day/night cycle.
8) Gravity of the universe pulls from fire to water, but can be locally changed.
a. Any object above the size of a house or so will generate its own gravity when not in the field of
a bigger object.
i. Gravity is binary. It is there or not. There are no other levels of it.
ii. Volume of an object is what determines if it has gravity, not mass.
b. The islands are big enough that they have gravity on both sides.
i. At the interface zone things get pushed away from the center.
c. Ships can be made that can fly using magic and generate their own gravity.
d. Balloons and gliders also work.
9) “Falling stars” are islands, or parts of them, that broke off from their bundle and fall quickly towards the ocean below.
10) Generally, more advanced civilizations are near the ocean and less advanced ones are up near the stone zone.

GEEM

1) The island of Geem is more or less the size of Rhodes Island.
a. It is vaguely circular with a lake near the center. The lake is deep enough to go right through, but is bigger on top than bottom. There is a mountain shifted off center towards one edge.
2) The island is descending at approximately 6” a day and is around 20 miles from the ocean. This gives it about 578.23 Terrestrial years before it contacts the ocean.
3) The top side is a fairly standard agrarian human feudal society. The land is small enough not to support any dukes, earls or kings. There are three counts each with a county. Each has at least one baron reporting to them. The counties are divided by what they produce. One grows corn. One grows wheat. One is forested that produces wood. Theoretically the counts are vassals of a duke on the large land below who is vassal to a king. Even the counts have never seen the duke they report to as he has never visited the land. He does send representatives and people to collect grain and wood. The king is even less well known. He lives some where on that big land 20 miles below. No one in the land has ever seen him, and only a few scribes even know his name.
a. Theoretically the duke or king could request the counts send soldiers, but this has not happened in centuries.
4) The bottom side has clans of dwarves, hobbits and a few gnomes. No over all structure outside of the clans, but they trade well together and have a tradition of helping each other. Once in a while trading groups come through from other lands and trade with them, but there is no formal trade system. Most of the bottom side is grass land with smaller gardens and lots of sheep. The hobbits tend to live on the surface, the dwarves in the ground, but both do both. The gnomes do both as well.
5) The top and bottom trade with each other fairly often, but without any formal method. Most metal work is done on the bottom side by the dwarves. Most wood work on the top by the humans. That is the biggest trade between the sides. There is some of different food and produce as well with more fruit grown below and grains above. As the wood is the biggest trade item from the top side, that county has the strongest ties to the bottom side.
6) Neither side of the island has much in the way of cities. On the top each of the counts lives in a town by the lake. None of the towns are overly large. The bottom side has many villages and a couple of small towns, but no large towns.
7) On the surface of the ocean below is a much, much larger island with a very large civilization.
a. As it has reached the water, its drop rate has slowed by a factor of 100. (2” a terrestrial year. 18 feet per terrestrial century.)
b. It has trade with the islands near it, including the home one of the players.
c. There is a strong government on the large land, with kings, dukes, earls and such.
d. There is no known plan for dealing with the big land sinking.
e. Coins come from trade with the big island below.
i. There is plenty of metal trade on Geem, but no coins are made locally. Barter is common and credit can often be had based on an individual’s reputation.
8) There are no other islands very close.
9) Elves visit from time to time. Some half elves happen on the human side, but it is fairly rare.