Seven Circles 2021 – Setting Starter

Setting: The Old Empire and The Borderlands

A Historical Overview

The Old Empire

- the empire was old
- the ‘old’ now refers to the fact that it used to be.
- fell 54 years ago and fractured in to many competing states/kingdoms

The Borderlands
- ancient monuments
- The Walls
- abundant resources
- some are the only sources of those resources

The Wyld Lands

- like a tear in the fabric of ‘reality’

- wyld zones and incursions

- wyld hunts

peoples and beings

- humans
- elves
- dwarves
- goblins
- trolls
- giants

- vampires (ancient, vamps, dhamps)

- ware (no large settlements)
- the fey (kings and queens, fairies, beastmen)
- undead
- devils and daemons

- the ancients

religions
- kinda canala
--- Order is meaningless without chaos. Chaos is meaningless without order. Balance is
meaningless without either. If any are missing, the others are indefinable. (common mystio-sophical
refrain / mantra)
--- Exact meaning is unclear and probably deliberately so. Are any of order, chaos or balance more
important than the others? If so, why? What is the nature of the difference between meaninglessness
and indefinability? Is there one and is it important? Is the last sentence just a repeat of those before
it, in order to reinforce the concept?
--- this gives you a pretty good idea of the sorts of thinking and puzzles/questions that go on.
--- nature of the gods: are the houses just one god spoken about in different ways (1 per house
exists), all of them are different existent entities collected together in houses around common
interest, focus or aims/goals (7 per house exist) or all the houses are one god but their sub or ‘lower’
aspects are individual and distinct (a bit in the middle, explains why the gods can be changeable,
vague and/or contradictory)

--- life and death: judgementalists and reincarnationists

Groups and Institutions

-
-
There are a huge number of groups and institutions in Phyralia, more than any single person or
group could ever actively know about all of them. Some are purely local while others span the
entire realm. The largest of these are The Imperial Guard and the network of Canalan Temples.
These two groups have obvious bases of operation all across the realm and their operatives are
among the most recognisable individuals that someone might come across. They are commonly
accepted and respected, being a member of these groups provides support and duty wherever they
travel. These groups also provide important services that most require and few would interfere with.
The following institutions are also commonly known about (or at least rumoured), and have a larger
scope than being purely local, but they are by no means the only groups of their type.

The Watchers
The Watchers are a group of agents and spies that are said to be separate from The Empire. They
protect the realm against the predations of The Wyld, mainly The Elder Beings. They are seen as
heroes and are a common subject of Bards songs and plays. Their sense of romanticism is increased
by their separation from The Empire and their (supposed) willingness to help independent states and
the common man. They are not against The Empire, however, and have been know to work
alongside them closely when it would benefit the realm. The Watchers are associated with positive
forces and commonly seen as a ‘good’ institution.

The Shadow Guild

The Shadow Guild are a similar sort of organisation to The Watchers, agents and spies, but their
public persona is less positive. They are often the foil to The Watchers and Imperial Guard in bardic
tales. They are believed to sell their information to the highest bidder, as well as organising
assassinations. They are seen as game players, fixers and agitants. How truly this conception
represents them is open to debate and any truth about them is even harder to find than that for The
Watchers (or Imperial S.O.O). Whether their reputation is deserved is also highly up for debate but
there is no indication that The Shadow Guild will do anything to prevent it from spreading.

7 Deadly Sins
‘The Sins’ are probably the most famous criminal organisation on Phyralia. They have a reach that
is realm wide and are one of the richest groups in existence. They have a finger in every pie they
can get their hands on but have particular control over drugs, protection and ‘hits’. They are run
on a mainly local, cell basis and the group’s ultimate leader is unknown. Every major city in the
realm will have a Seven Deadly Sins presence and they are rumoured to have a strong presence in
the Corinth district of Phiralia. They are also thought to have influence of various politicians/
political entities. Their name is a deliberate device to poke fun at the Canalan pantheon and
generally accepted power structures.

The White Crane Movement

This criminal group is mainly concerned with smuggling, fencing and ‘minor crimes’ such as
pickpocketing. The White Cranes, whilst a criminal entity, are sometimes seen as being ‘noble’
individualists and associated with the concept of ‘honour amongst thieves’. They are commonly
perceived as a far less dangerous organisation than The Sins, however this may just be a useful
cover. They have routes and houses all over Phyralia and make a wide use of their own specific
dialect of thieves cant to identify each other and safely move their cargo around the realm.

Society of Friends
The institution know as The Society of Friends is a bizarre and byzantine collection of groups and
associations. They come together to exchange knowledge and information in a series of ranks of
initiation that few outside the society have any verifiable information about. They are also thought
to exchange goods and services amongst each other as well as being able to exert some political
influence. This makes them a potentially very powerful networking group. Depending on who’s
talking about them, they could be seen as either a positive or negative force.

Band of the Spear

The Band of the Spear is the largest mercenary company on Phyralia. They number about one
hundred thousand warriors but are very rarely together as a single fighting unit. They are usually
found in much smaller units, numbering from around 30-1000 fighters. The company includes
soldiers, hunters/rangers and specialists. Whilst they might come in to competition with the
Imperial Guard this is rare and ‘The Band’ generally try to avoid this if possible. They do most of
their business in the borderlands and hinterlands.

Rapture Houses
The ‘rapture houses’ are not a combined institution of any sort but are a common sight across
Phyralia and all much a like. They might be independent or owned by some of the groups described
above. They are essentially a vice house; they can have booze, drugs, gambling and prostitution all
on one site. They may also have rooms available to stay in. They are believed to have been
established as it was easier to control all vice activities if they were in one place. This approach
didn’t necessarily work, let alone limit them to rapture houses. Various districts within the city of
Phiralia and states outside it make the majority of their income from ‘rapture tourism’.
-- Common recreational drugs: Spice (upper/haluc.), Petal (marijuana), Shroom (haluc.), Phoria

Various Local Guilds

Their are various commonly found but local guilds that may also form associations with other
nearby guilds. These are groups such as fighter/mercenary guilds, merchant guilds, artificer and
other trade guilds, as well as magic services guilds. They are all groups that provide services for
coin at the request of the common citizen and can also be somewhere that people can find
employment. These groups can be locally very important and powerful.

The Wyldlands – The Chaos of Creation

The Wyldlands, more commonly known simply as The Wyld, completely surrounds the ordered
realm. It is generally believed that beyond the bounds of the Hinterland the Wyld is endless and the
realm itself was born from the Wyld, via only the will of The Gods. Travel in to the Wyld is usually
considered madness. Tales tell of people leaving and coming back in the same place, coming back
on entirely different sides of the realm and/or in completely different time periods. Sometimes time
passes there more quickly, sometimes more slowly. Almost every type of beast, monster and fate
can be found within it. It is home to simple goblinoids and immensely powerful Old Gods. Good
and evil. Profound knowledge and insanity. To be ‘wyld touched’ is to be accused of being an
outsider and a potential danger, a chaotic influence disrupting the balance and order of the civilised
realm.

Much of this fear comes from the Wyld Incursions and Raids that will almost continually plague the
realm in at least one place or another. A Wyld Incursion is a process where the Wyld seems to
‘spill’ in to the ordered spaces of Phyralia, piercing the very fabric of its existence, and creates a
Wyld realm within its borders. This is the majority of the people’s most serious fear. It seems to be
capable of happening anywhere at any time, although it is more frequent the further you travel from
the Imperial Mountain. These incursions can last for generations (the Wychwood has lasted for
thousands of years, at least) and can be a base for the launching of Wyld Raids. The multitudinous
denizens of the Wyld, in maddening variety, march forth to harry the ordered world. If you’re lucky
it will just be roving bands of orcs and goblins. These raids can be beaten back. The only known
way to finally defeat them is to enter the Wyld incursion and kill or destroy the place or being that
seems to be acting as the focus and gate, the thing that keeps it as a consistent reality within the
ordered material realm. These things are usually known as Wyld Manifestations, a being or object
of considerable power, potentially up to and including a being equivalent (theoretically) to a god. If
ever one of The Elder Beings or a disinclined Old God were able to be the centre of an incursion, it
is debatable if anyone truly know what could be done about it.

It is believed that there are some ‘consistent’ realms within the Wyld itself, however if consistent is
the correct term is highly debatable. The two most famous are Estrella and Grindin. Estrella is the
home of the Fey Court; a place where the Spring Queen, the Summer King, the Green Man, the
Knave, the Lady of Change and the Cold Princess hold sway. They are understood to be the greatest
of the Old Gods, constantly celebrating and competing with each, usually at the same time. It is
home to every kind of fey being, living in impossibly shaped and intricate structures and systems.
Their champions are great warriors, artists, tricksters and lovers, depending on the needs and wishes
of their patrons. Sometimes all of the above. These champions are not to be trifled with and, at
times, they have been some of the most serious threats to Phyralia over it’s long history. The other
infamous realm is Grindin, The Abyssal City, home to all kinds of horrors and fiends. It is ruled by
The Elder Beings, malicious entities who’s only intent is to control and use in a constant
unquenchable quest to further their own power. It is a huge city, rumoured to be as large as the city
of Phiralia, made of looming fortresses and places of obsidian and basalt. The Elder Beings,
demonic royalty, bend in to their will at a whim whilst encouraging machiavellian games fought
among their subjects for the faintest whiff of acknowledgement. It is used to scare adult and child
alike with tales of torture and damnation, reminding everyone of the price that is paid for
indiscretion and bad behaviour. It is the citizens of Grindin that the people of Phyralia most fear,
should they every hold sway over this our realm, all would be doomed.

The Wyld Hunts

The calling of a Wyld Hunt is one of the main duties of the Emperox and its execution is one of the
main reasons for the existence of The Imperial Guard. A Wyld hunt is essentially a crusade against
chaos called when a significantly large and obvious threat has appeared. The calling of a Wyld Hunt
is one of the few places that the Emperox and Empire is expected to directly interfere in the daily
life and activity of local districts/states. When a hunt is called help and support for the Imperial
Guard by local governments is both expected and required. Multiple hunts can be in operation at
any given time.