PC List:

Important Groups:

The Rangers - Acknowledging that the original invasion of The Fallen was, at its core, the result of human corruption, the two largest human nations - Azderan, and later, after its reformation, Zalaer - agreed to grant the Rangers the right to act as an impartial police force throughout the world of Tymora.  Although the Rangers were forced to make certain concessions regarding their own independence in order to guarantee they remained impartial, they were given authority over local security forces, thus placing them above and beyond any possible corruption or bias in their ranks.

Covenant of the Phoenix - In modern times, most Paladins can be put into one of three factions. The most prevalent, are those that have joined the Covenant of the Phoenix. These paladins have taken on a near ascetic lifestyle, in a hopes of becoming more in harmony with the universe. The second group is the errant, or as the Covenants call them, the "Unfound". These paladins have taken up a form of self training, and are uninterested in joining the Covenant for reasons their own. The final faction, are the "Oathbreakers". These are ex-Covenant Paladins that have forsaken the Covenant's teachings and it's beliefs, and have sought out their own path to follow. Disturbingly, some Oathbreakers turn to the negative side of the universe, becoming Blackguards, and for that reason they are rightfully feared. However, for the most part, one Oathbreaker will aid another, as they are generally hunted by the Covenant for their "crimes".

Acolytes of the Infinite Eye - Dragon Disciples are humans with Draconian blood - either through being the descendent of a Dragon Disciple, or purposely ingesting Dragon blood.  Dragon blood is a heavily regulated product with powerful healing abilities, used only in extreme medical situations, but that does not prevent those who wish to become Dragon Disciples from getting a hold of it.  Not everyone reacts to Dragon blood by developing draconian characteristics - some unknown element present only in certain Humans reacts in that manner.  Those who do, however, tend to exhibit improved strength and charisma, and in more extreme cases, they have been known to develop the ability to super-heat the air in front of them and even, very rarely, develop wings.  Those who are the offspring of a Dragon Disciple are destined to share a similar fate - whatever trait brings about Draconian features is almost certainly genetic.  Most Dragon Disciples are members of  the Acolytes of the Infinite Eye, who believe the dragons to be gods sent to protect the world from the Fallen - either because they purposely ingested dragon blood for the sake of being closer to their gods, or because they were born with the traits and their family raised them with the teachings of the Acolytes.  There are a few Dragon Disciples who are not members of the Acolytes, some because they reject their Draconian heritage, and others because they reject the teachings of the Acolytes.  In some cities, mostly in Azderan, Dragon Disciples are viewed with great respect in awe, in others, they are met with suspicion and fear.  Dragon Disciples are a playable race, and can be played by selecting the Dragon Disciple prestige class.

Important NPCs:

Sera Lyonset - The head of the Rangers, and a practicing Paladin.  A former member of the Covenant of the Phoenix, they consider her an Oathbreaker, which has increased tensions between the Rangers and the Covenant.

Ranan Tane - The second-in-command of the Rangers, and a half-dragon.

Riol Kurgh - Kurgh is the one of the few Half-Orc member of the Rangers in history.  He is in charge of the Ranger recruits, and holds the rank of 3rd in the Ranger chain of command.  Beyond being a skilled warrior, Kurgh is also a very talented smith, who has the ability to enchant standard weapons and armor, among other things - although he will only do so for members of the Rangers.

The Fallen:

Little is known regarding The Fallen, the namesake of the campaign, althrough they are a bit less of a mystery than they were 500 years ago.  It is known that they are an organized army of demons from outside our own universe, who have waged a war against our own universe for countless millennia.  Undead are also counted among their ranks, although they are not part of the 'race' per say, but are rather corpses from our universe, corrupted and revived using negative energy magic.  It is not known how or why The Fallen exist, or why they wage an unending war against life in our universe.  The dragons speak of them as though they are an 'infection' in our universe.  Perhaps the only reason that all worlds with sentient life have not already been overrun by The Fallen is that they cannot enter our universe at will - the sudden rush of 'positive energy' from our universe would kill them instantly.  Someone from our universe must open the door for them - which, unfortunately for us, is easier than it sounds, as minds can be easily corrupted by the thought of power.

Geography of Tymora:

Tymora, the homeworld of the human race, is divided into two main continents - Azderan in the north, and Zalaer in the south.  There are several small islands, including Pelgrinde Island, home of the Rangers, which is between the two continents.  You can see the map of Tymora here.

History of Tymora:

Much of the history of Tymora before the First Great War has been lost.  However, it is known that, nearly a thousand years before the current campaign, a group of mages in the Zalaern city of Ne'Zuel were experimenting with negative energy magic and were gradually being manipulated by visions of the power that the Fallen could bring them.  Finally, believing they could control the vast armies of The Fallen, they opened a gateway between Tymora and The Fallen.  Before anyone really understood what had happened, permanent night, both literally and figuratively, had come to Tymora.  Within 5 years*, humanity had been pushed back to one surviving city - the capital city of Azderan in the north.  Before The Fallen could overrun this final haven, however, humanity had found a way to stop them - a positive energy barrier, generated by four magical orbs in the four corners of the city.  Although the world of Tymora and all life on it was devastated, humanity had managed to survive.

Over the next half-century, humanity remained huddled together in their sanctuary.  Life was not quite as terrible as one would think, although conditions obviously became more and more cramped.  For the most part, the fighting had stopped - there was no point, in many people's minds, to fighting The Fallen any longer.  A few individuals, however, had left the barrier and begun their own private, if hopeless, war against their invaders.  The movement, which became known as the Rangers, grew over time, and eventually did enough damage to The Fallen to incur a response - a massive army swept towards Azderan, destroying everything in its path and killing many of the Rangers.  For half a year, the massive army stood outside Azderan, terrifying the citizens and reminding them of why they lived in their self-created prison.  After this incident, anyone who refused to give up the ways of the Rangers was banished to life outside the barrier. 

Five hundred years after the initial Fallen invasion, a small group of Rangers under the command of three great men - Cain, Loriander, and Garon - gave the world the first hope it had seen in half a millennium.  First by thwarting a Fallen attempt to invade Azderan's weakening barrier (the barrier was weakened by traitors within Azderan) and later by traveling outside the barrier to gather the pieces of a never-finished portal, designed during the First Great War as a hit-and-run weapon to use against The Fallen.  With the portal completed, and the Rangers' ranks bolstered by countless new recruits, the Second Great War had truly begun.  Although the small group that had assembled the portal had to face many obstacles - most notably the Shanla'ok, a race of elite demon-warriors sent to crush the Rangers once and for all - and the heroic deaths of the paladin Max Ericson and the warrior Corin Grey - they were eventually able to lead a strike into the ruined city of Ne'Zuel and seal the portal The Fallen used to enter our world - although not before venturing into the home dimension of The Fallen.  With The Fallen cut off from reinforcements, the light of the sun finally restored, and with the Ranger's ranks bolstered by their new Orcish allies (the Orcish homeworld was discovered during the search for the portal pieces), humanity was finally able to crush the main Fallen army, despite their last-ditch attempt to capture the barrier orbs of Azderan and turn into weapons of great destruction and the addition of General Kelton Hurst, a former Ranger converted into a demonlord by the Fallen.  When the dust finally settled, General Hurst and the leader of the Shanla'ok, Sumedocin, had escaped, but The Fallen were scattered and defeated, hiding away in small corners of the world.  These were the events chronicled in the first campaign of The Fallen.

Current Political Situation:

In the 499 years since the end of the Second Great War, most of humanity's time has been spent re-building that which was lost.  Plants have begun to grow again and animals have even returned to the wilderness, in part thanks to 'animal imports' from the Orcish homeworld of Dra'nar.  The Rangers assumed a new role as an impartial group of peace-keepers who would use their training and the portal from the Second Great War to ensure that humanity remains safe, both from The Fallen, and from itself.  All cities in Tymora have agreed to recognize the authority of the Rangers in legal matters, sometimes to the annoyance of the local authorities.  The Rangers still control the only known controllable magical portal, a relic from the Second Great War, and this fact makes more than a few people uncomfortable.

Azderan, in the north, contains over 2/3rds of the population of Tymora, mostly concentrated in the capital city of Azderan and the city of Port Loknar.  There are other scattered settlements, most notably the island city of Wendaria, home of the Acolytes of the Infinite Eye, a near-religious group of Dragon Disciples who believe that those with the ability to become half-dragons are superior to regular, mundane humans; Vowel, the city containing the portal to Dra'nar, and the fortress-city of Polet, home of the Covenant of the Phoneix, a group of Paladins devoted to destroying anything they deem 'unpure'.  The continent of Azderan is ruled by the Council of Azderan, with one member from the city of Azderan, one from Port Loknar, one from Wendaria, one from Vowel, one from Polet, and a sixth, impartial member chosen by the other five.  It is not unusual for this person to be a Ranger, or a former-Ranger.  Azderan no longer has a barrier around the city, since, shortly after the end of the Second Great War, it was decided that the potential to corrupt the barrier orbs into weapons was too great, and they were locked away deep under the city.  Since then, barrier orb magic has been considered illegal.

The rest of the population lives in the southern, desert continent of Zalaer, mostly in the capital city which shares the name.  Most of the other settlements in Zalaer are small towns that exist on the main road from the northern coast to the capital city.  Life in Zalaer is much different than in the north - the upper-class almost entirely consists of wizard and sorcerers, it is legal to own non-magical wielding citizens as slaves.  The continent is ruled by a wizard-Sultan, typically the most powerful magic-wielder in Zalaer.  The ruling family has changed at least a dozen times in the last half-century, mostly due to 'mysterious deaths' that are typically given nothing more than cursory examination by Zalaern law-enforcement.  Sorcerers are viewed with somewhat higher-esteem than wizards, due to their natural ability with magic, although oddly enough, for the first time, a wizard family, rather than a sorcerer family, holds the throne.

Races of Tymora:

The only sentient races are humans, native to Tymora; Orcs, native to the world of Dra'nar, some of which have decided to settle permanently in Tymora; Half-Orcs, the very rare result of human/Orc breeding; dragons, nomads of the universe whose homeworld was destroyed long-ago by The Fallen; and half-dragons (or Dragon Disciples), humans who have ingested dragon blood and have since developed draconic traits.  All races except dragons are playable.

Magic:

Magic in The Fallen is, quite simply, the manipulation of the inherent 'energy', or 'ether', in the universe - either through natural talent as exhibited by Sorcerers or Bards, or intense study, such as that done by Wizards.  Natural talent for manipulating Ether seems to be linked towards the ability to become a half-dragon.

Another type of magic, positive energy-magic or 'divine' magic, comes from the inherent 'energy' within sentient creatures.  For this reason, it is sometimes called 'magic of the spirit' or 'magic of the soul'.  This is the type of energy manipulated by Paladins, Clerics, and Monks. 

Negative-energy magic is the perversion of positive energy, and its use in Tymora has been outlawed, as it is heavily associated with The Fallen, who are believed to be creatures of negative energy in the same way other races are creatures of positive energy.

Ranger Laws:

The Rangers have a set of laws that all their operatives are expected to follow:

1. Never take the life of another non-Fallen sentient being unless it is the only way to prevent the loss of your own life or those around you.
2. Always respect local laws, unless they directly conflict with Ranger laws or mission directives.
3. Do not go where you have not been ordered or requested.  Our presence in the lands of others is a privilege, not a right.
4. The operation-leader, designated on a by-mission basis, has the final say.  Discussion is welcome, but when a decision has been made, all are expected to obey.  Objections can be raised to superiors after the mission objectives have been completed.
5. The Ranger portal is, under no circumstances, to be used for personal, non-approved travel.

Ranger Equipment:

Beyond standards weapons and armor, two relics of the Second Great War are assigned to every Ranger, due to their proven usefulness.  One is a portable grappling hook known as a "hook shot", the other is a signaling crystal used to signal the Rangers to open the nearest portal to the crystal's location.  This is the only method of return-travel for Rangers, as there is no way to open a portal from the destination-end.

Campaign Start:

As the campaign begins, your character will be entering the last phase of Ranger training, in which the Rangers are divided into their 'unit' before their final test.  The PCs likely have a passing familiarity with each other, but any relationship beyond that is not expected (unless two players wish to work with the DM to create such a situation).  The prologue session will revolve around their assignment and initial meeting, followed by the first session, which will be their final test.

* - this is a change from the original fiction.  After some thought, I decided a 50 year war simply did not make sense, given the size of Tymora and the power of The Fallen