Notes about Arvan (original fantasy worldbuilding)

[Karlov]

I decided to use this site to publish my own ideas for a fantasy setting, which I work on in my free time. I have accumulated a huge number of notes on this setting, on its various parts, on societies and cultures, and I am trying to force myself to structure them. And perhaps my ideas will be interesting to someone. For now, I will start by listing the main principles on which I build the setting, so that it is roughly clear what it is about.

I have been working on this setting for quite a long time, more than a year, trying to create a sufficiently comprehensive and well‑developed setting so that I would like it myself. So I hope that it will arouse your interest and perhaps certain questions.

Tone

• Arvan was conceived from the outset as Nobledark in tone, and it is partly why I am publishing this on this site.
• The world is far from modern morality for many reasons. It leans more toward equality than our world in the early Modern Era, but it is far less just than the contemporary world. Oppression by gender, race, culture, religion, and social status is regular and varied. Likewise, colonialism, slavery, and similar phenomena are facts of life in this setting, as in real history.
• There is no objective morality, and some cultures have rather questionable practices. Gnolls have their own moral justifications for cannibalism and demon‑worship, for example. Those answers make sense to them, but others do not necessarily agree.
• The world is Dark because it is dangerous and unjust. But the setting is Noble because changing something is genuinely possible, unlike in Grimdark. Your victories are unlikely to change the whole world, but leaving your mark is realistic. Moreover, that mark can be left not only by heroes but also by villains.

On religion and the divine

• I dislike classic D&D‑based fantasy for its approach to the divine. Morality in the universe is objective, and the conditions for reaching Heaven are relatively clear. In such a world, there is little reason to be a villain given the certainty of punishment and the accessibility of communion with higher powers.
• Instead, in my Arvan setting, divinity is undoubtedly real, but there is no clear information from the gods, and there is no objective morality. The gods do intervene at times, but their actions often allow alternative interpretations; hence even within a single religion there is no full unity of opinion.
• Religion in this world remains a matter of faith—whether you believe the priests' words and their truth about the gods' stance in the world. This is intentional on my part: no one knows the whole truth, though many believe they do.
• Mythology and stories of the divine often share an obvious common origin or plots, yet many details contradict one another. Consequently, as in the polytheism of Late Antiquity, many hold that the gods of one land are alternative interpretations of the gods of another. Moreover, some believe that all tales of the cosmos's ancient history contain a certain share of truth, but no religion can claim a complete understanding of the nature of existence.

On inspiration from the real world and the level of technology

• I have always wanted to create a setting that would at least make a certain amount of sense to me, as a person who has studied history, demography, and geography. And I had problems with this when studying most TTRPGs based on D&D, as they have very big problems with numbers. I try, as much as I can, to make the setting make sense from a scientific point of view.
• I originally conceived the setting as geographically resembling Earth, but with some changes. Thus, individual regions on the planet have their own inspirations from real cultures. I do not intend to deny this, but rather to try to make them cool.
• The setting is in the era of the very end of the Middle Ages and the early Modern Period, the exact era depending on a specific area on the world map.
• At the moment, the possibility of training mages has restrained the development of firearms in many parts of the world. This does not mean that they do not exist, only that their active use is localized. Plate armor is still in use in some places, while in others there are arquebuses.
• Magic is a powerful tool, but it is not omnipotent and does not replace ordinary means. In most of the world, magic is expensive and accessible only to the aristocracy and other comparable individuals. It cannot scale to universal accessibility.
• At present, the world is undergoing a technological revolution due to the development of arteficiery— attempts to achieve magical effects through items created by non-mages and usable by non-mages. At the moment, the potential of this science is obvious, but it is still too complex and unstable for mass use. This is a matter of technological limitations. Give the locals a century, and arteficiery will outshine both magic and conventional firearms.
• The world has already entered the Age of Great Geographical Discoveries. The New World has been discovered and is gradually being colonized, but local Australia is still extremely distant and almost nothing is known about it. A distinct and active world trade system is gradually taking shape.
• At the same time, for various reasons, the scale of colonialism has taken on a smaller aspect in terms of huge colonial empires. This world is still inspired by classic adventure fantasy, so many colonies in the New World are organized not by colonial empires but by free settlers. Likewise, as a departure from the real world, the local Europe never had an overwhelming technological advantage over the rest of the world.

On sources of inspiration from fantasy

Overall, my sources of inspiration were several major settings, which I will list in order of increasing importance. I love them all and hold them in high regard for their various elements.
Warhammer Fantasy Battles

• This is the most clearly expressed aspect of an alternate Earth among all the presented options.
• In addition, it is relatively the closest setting to mine in terms of my desired tone and technological level.
• Among the aspects of the setting I absolutely adore I would include: Skaven, Ogre Kingdoms, Ulthuan, Vampire Counts.

Pathfinder

• Arvan was conceived by me primarily as a setting specifically for this tabletop system, and therefore I created it focusing on the various races and other aspects available in the setting.
• I have rather complicated feelings towards Paizo's work, as for me it is a relationship full of both love and hate. Their work has made me fall in love with certain concepts with incredible intensity. But at the same time, I dislike the fact that in their pursuit of mass popularity, Paizo abandoned any provocation and darkness in their work. I agree that many early concepts were dark for the sake of darkness, and the new content also possesses interesting depth, but in my opinion, abandoning all controversy was excessive.
• I do not particularly like their setting from the standpoint of realism. The numbers barely make sense, as does the history.
• On my list of favorite concepts from the setting: Cheliax, Mwangi Expanse, Impossible Lands, Rahadoum, Kelesh, Numeria.

Anbennar

• A setting of great depth, created as a modification for EU4, which I respect immensely. The authors at least do not hide the dark aspects of real history, and I can respect them for that.
• In terms of correspondence to real history, there are only a few things I dislike in this setting: the absence of a clear Byzantine analogue, and also Japan. These are the only two major cultures I feel are missing.
• At the same time, I deeply respect the setting for many of its ideas: the development of gnolls beyond mindless destroyers; the realms of sun elves as an analogy to the diadochi states; Command and Escann; and much, much more.
• Essentially, my setting began as an attempt to rethink and create something based on Anbennar with several differences. The main difference is time. Anbennar covers four centuries of the Modern Era and gradual historical change, while Arvan is a setting in a single moment, with a backstory but open to the future. In addition, Anbennar is built largely around entire states, leaving fewer opportunities for the exploits of small groups. To this I also wanted to add many things I loved from Pathfinder and simply interesting elements from the real world — and thus Arvan gradually came into being.

Brief introduction to history:

• Humanity became the dominant civilization in the world of Arvan when, in ancient times, the young human civilization of Amantis, with the support of numerous allies, crushed the serpentfolk and established its colonies on both sides of the Sunset Ocean.
• Centuries of relative peace and prosperity later, the people of Amantis undertook a magical project that ended in the catastrophe of the Descending, which devastated Amantis itself and destroyed their civilization. The Descending was named so because, in the first years, the inhabitants of the world believed that the gods themselves had descended into the world and destroyed Amantis, given the scale of the destruction.
• During the chaotic times following this catastrophe, a great hero and archmage of Amantis, Amandar, appeared, helping the survivors and becoming a deity. His cult became the most powerful force in the analogue of Europe, Irimon, over the centuries rising to the head of local polytheistic cults. When speaking of him, think of a mix of the Emperor of Mankind and Aroden.
• The centuries after the catastrophe were spent recovering from it by the former colonies of Amantis and the civilizations of other peoples. This era is known as Antiquity; during it, at least partial functioning of magical infrastructure was maintained.
• Antiquity ended when several powerful dragons united against the continent's civilizations and almost destroyed them. As a side effect, they also triggered a great migration of barbarian peoples, which led to the collapse of the old empires and the creation of relatively small barbarian kingdoms relying on feudal nobility and militias, rather than on legions and city mages.
• The age of barbarian kingdoms drew to a close when a powerful wizard, who went down in history as the Witch-God, began his campaign of conquest across the continent, crushing kingdoms with the horrors in his service.
• To stop him, an elven fleet led by Latariel Dawn's Glory arrived to aid the continent — political exiles seeking to establish their own states. Through joint efforts, the Witch-God was defeated, and the elves settled on the continent, founded their own states, and intermarried with the human nobility. The influence of elven culture and philosophy refined the barbarian cultures of the continent and pushed technological development forward.
• In 1914, the world was gradually recovering; however, without any obvious reason, Amandar, the god mentioned earlier, disappeared. This caused mass religious hysteria across the continent, the start of civil wars, and an orcish invasion that took advantage of the continent's discord.
• Out of the chaos of the war with the orcs emerged the heroine Alaria, who managed to stop the orcish invasion and eventually ascend to godhood. Think of Corin, Iomedae, and the general archetype of Joan of Arc.
• A few years later, the inhabitants of the continent received a prophetic vision of a conflict between three gods for the role of protector of this world, a role previously fulfilled by Amandar. Alaria was one of these three gods.
• A couple of years after that, a battle began in the heavens across the world between various gods. Only a few participated in the conflict, but the consequences were still frightening. The most notable result was that the god of war, Brennus, was killed in this conflict. His divine ichor rained down upon the world, leading to various strange effects, even in regions where Alaria and the other claimants to the role of world protector were unknown.
• Thus the world entered its modern stage. In Irimon and many other places, the religious vacuum was replaced by religious tension, and entire countries now stand on the brink of large-scale religious wars, while the consequences of the War in the Heavens affect many other regions of the world. What only a few decades ago seemed like the beginning of an era of peace and prosperity is gradually turning into a new era of great chaos and strife.