| Forged in Battle, scarred by evil, tempered by destiny. This is the Land of Arcana campaign setting for use with the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game. Enter a world of swords and sorcery flavored by dark fantasy. This setting is the result of six years of game design by its creator J. Jeffrey Yonosick. The features that set the Land of Arcana apart from the other campaigns are its tone and attitude.
This setting combines the traditional medieval high fantasy with aspects of science fiction, flavored with horror with an eye toward high action adventure movies. The Land of Arcana has a rich history and lore built on a constant struggle between the gods of Jamir and the Darklords of Quara. The land is in a dynamic state of change as kingdoms rise and fall in a blink of an eye. The wounds of war scar deep within the souls of even the lowliest peasant. In the wake of a heroic rebellion against the evil empire of Holmgard adventure, ancient mysteries and valiant adventures influence the continent of Jamir and its people. Evil soaks into the very fabric of the setting. Corrupting and spoiling the very soil in the land it�s self. Some people who are considered heroes in this setting would be considered villains in any other setting. Movies to Inspire Here is a list of movies that were used to help inspire the setting: The Dark Crystal Eragon The Labyrinth Legend The Mummy Underworld THE WORLD The fantasy setting of the Land of Arcana is a place of magic and monsters, divination and demons. The world was once a land of paradise a fertile garden which was torn asunder after thousands of years by an invasion of demonic forces which crashed to the ground as a shooting star. The Darklords of Quara were seven demon princes and devils each representing the seven deadly sins. The Darklords raised an army of demons and darklings and challenged the gods themselves for the souls of the mortals of Jamir. Heretics, priests of the Darklords rose up to convert the masses into worshiping the Darklords instead of the gods plunging the world into an Age of Darkness. After two thousand years of darkness light finally shattered the steel grip of the Darklords as a kingdom of light named Holmgard rose up and defeated the Darklords. Safely imprisoned in shards of the Quara comet and hidden deep underground the Darkstones were hidden all over the continent. Jamir entered a new Age of Order for over a thousand years of enlightenment and growth. The mortal kingdoms supported the gods once more and their society flourished. The riches and power of Holmgard grew to a point that the rulers had become corrupt. Prince Shanis of Holmgard suffering a bought of wounded pride after losing a battle against the orc kingdom of Barrackham became possessed by the Darklord of pride, Belyal. Belyal and Shanis collaborated in an assassination of his father King Graygor V. His sister Stephanie gained the throne but thanks to scandal involving her guardian Duke Helmsley of Estes her support was shaken and Holmgard split in half. As the most powerful nation in Jamir was split between the Prince and Queen supporters a massive assault by the orc nation to the north Barrakham struck with an army of ten thousand corrupted half goblin half orc creatures known as the Uruk-Hai invaded Holmgard and raided the country-side raping and pillaging all which stood in their way. Prince Shanis moved an order for an army of automations to be built to serve as warriors to fight the Uruk-Hai threat. The army was known as the warforged, they were men of steel and magic created by the wizards known as the Order of the Crystal Star. Contracts from other nations were taken to build the warforged as well and the Order of the Crystal Star was ordered to share the secrets of building warforged so that all nations on Jamir may combat the Uruk-Hai threat. Thousands of warforged were built in every nation on Jamir and were considered the last greatest hope to save the nations from the Uruk-Hai. This went all according to Belyal and Prince Shanis�s plans as he secretly ran a campaign of his own to recover the seven darkstones and had them fashioned into a crystal crown. When placed on his head Shanis gained control over all warforged. Waiting until the Uruk-Hai army was nearly destroyed and scattered to the four winds, Shanis made his move and took control over the thousands of warforged soldiers who obeyed him with out question. Every nation of Jamir was brought to their knees in one fail sweep as the armies of warforged decimated their opposition grasping the continent under the steel grip of Prince Shanis who was now made an instant emperor. The Emperor had his own sister imprisoned, and gained power like no mortal on Jamir has ever had. The tyranny of Shanis was unmatched in cruelty of any ruler since the Age of Darkness. The king of the dwarf nation of Hammerdale was publicly executed and the nation of dwarfs was targeted for genocide. Shanis was obsessed with creating a master race of magic infused humans he named the Illumians who he treated like slaves ordered to do his bidding. The atrocities piled up under the Empire�s grasp on the continent for 20 years until help came from a very unlikely place, deep within the underground. Refugee dwarves of Hammerdale discovered a new and powerful race of humanoids deep in the Hammerdale matrix of caverns known as the Goliaths and returned to the surface with a liberating army that ignited a rebellion. The grand rebellion lasted for 10 years as the mortal races of Jamir united once more to shatter the evil empire of Holmgard. The rebellion was almost crushed until a terrible storm from the west blew in a new race of flying warriors known as the Raptorians a nation from a western continent made an alliance with the rebels and tilted the war on the side of the rebels. The war came to a head at the battle of Evermoore, in which Emperor Shanis was beheaded by the elven hero Magnus of Estes. Once the emperor was beheaded, control of the Warforged army and enslaved Illumians fell and the army of Holmgard dissolved shattering the empire. As this campaign begins five years after the grand rebellion the continent of Jamir is emerging from chaos and beginning to heal its scarred land. Kingdoms for the most part are replaced by local governments struggling to rebuild once more from the grip of tyrannical evil. Today the people of Jamir rely on local authorities and governments rather than kingdoms to protect and serve. A new peace has spread across the land as ruling factions attempt to rebuild their once great kingdoms to their former glory. TEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 1) If it exists in Dungeons and Dragons it has a place in the Land of Arcana. Any monster, spell, race, or class from any of the core books exists in the Land of Arcana. 2) Tone and Attitude; this setting combines the traditional medieval high fantasy of standard campaign worlds with swashbuckling action and dark horror fantasy. It helps to have the following source books: Book of Vile Darkness, Heroes of Horror, and the supplement from AEG Evil. They all helped in setting the tone of this setting. 3) The land is infused with evil. Devils and demons left over from the Age of Darkness scatter the land and are quite common to encounter. It helps to have the Fiend Folio with this campaign for demons and devils are as common to this world as Ogres and Trolls in other settings. 4) A land filled with adventure. There is a rich history and many Ages of history which new societies often are built on the bones of old ones. Many cities have sprawling dungeons at the turn of any corner. This is the sort of setting which it wouldn�t be unusual for a corner tavern to have a dungeon in its very own basement. 5) The Empire is shattered, sort of� The grand rebellion lasted for 10 years and many alliances rose and fell within the continent of civil war. At the signing of the Treaty of Evermoore there was known that even though the Empire was shattered there are many, who are still sympathizers to the visions of the Empire and the Darklords. A legion of Heretics still spread the word of evil. Many who also seek the shards of Shanis�s crystal crown known as darkshards start conflict where ever they are found. 6) Four nations rose out of the ashes. Out of the conflict only four nations rose up out of the ashes of Holmgard. Destingard, the nation of Humans, Half-Orcs, and Illumians. Stonesdale, the nation of Dwarves, Gnomes, and Goliaths. Wilderdan, the nation of Elves, Raptorians, and Halflings, and Taurious the mixed nation of races who are protected by an undead army. 7) This is a Land of intrigue, the war is over but people look toward their local leaders of city states as the protectors. Brotherhoods and guilds are trusted more than nations, rulers and armies to protect and govern their people. 8) Dynasties, Aristocrats hold even more power than ever in the land as the division between rich and poor is further apart than ever. Many royal families hold as much power as local governments and it is getting to be very hard to control the flow of money and desperate times create desperate people willing to commit terrible acts that enforce the aristocracies� will. 9) The Darkshards of Quara, Emperor Shanis�s crown has been shattered and scattered to the winds by the victorious rebels. Many took home pieces as souvenirs of the spoils of war. Many great campaigns can focus around the protection or retrieval of the darkshards. Once a darkshard enters a location expect corruption, decay and darkness to follow. 10) New Races/Classes- In addition to the common core player races and classes, the Grand Rebellion has surfaced many new races and new specialized classes have been created in the war torn environment. Each of the optional races of Warforged from the Eberon campaign setting, Goliaths taken from the Races of Stone supplement, Raptorians taken from the Races of the Wild accessory and Illumians from the Races of Destiny accessory have all played a major part in the grand rebellion story. Any other race or class from a D&D or other D20 rpg are welcome and all should have a place in this setting. |
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Magnus of Estes, elf ranger/bloodhound victorious at the Battle of Evermoore, raises the severed head of Emperor Shanis in victory. |
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