Ethoria is a bleak, high-fantasy world forged in the aftermath of a cosmic catastrophe known as the Shattering. Long ago, it was a mundane land inhabited solely by humans, but without warning, reality fractured, manifesting massive Portals that bled magic and nightmares into the world. This event did not just bring monsters; it brought the “Others”—diverse races such as Elves, Dwarves, and Tieflings—who were pulled from their own planes into the wreckage of Ethoria. Today, the world exists in a state of pre-gunpowder, late medieval realism, where magic is viewed not as a wonder, but as an eerie and visceral threat to one’s sanity and safety.
In the wake of the Shattering, the world endured two millennia of absolute chaos before the rise of the current Empire. For the last thousand years, this brutal, militaristic regime has maintained a suffocating order, positioning itself as the only barrier against the horrors pouring from the rifts. Under Imperial rule, survival is prioritized over liberty; Inquisitors hunt dissidents and unsanctioned magic users, while the population is categorized by their utility to the state. Whether one is an embedded commoner working a trade or an exceptional individual capable of navigating the dangers of the wilds, life is defined by systemic oppression and the constant, crushing weight of survival in a world that is fundamentally broken.
The geography of Ethoria is divided into twelve distinct regions, ranging from the iron-fisted control of the Imperial Heartlands to the bioluminescent rot of the Duskfall Morass and the freezing desolation of the Frostbound Reach. Central to every region are the Portals—ever-shifting, labyrinthine pocket dimensions that defy conventional physics. These rifts are both a curse and a necessity, acting as the source of monster egresses while simultaneously serving as the only means to acquire the ancient relics and magical materials needed to sustain what remains of civilization. Scattered throughout these lands are Anomalies, lingering reality-warping effects that ensure the environment itself is often as lethal as the creatures that stalk it.
The stories of Ethoria are not of destined heroes or grand triumphs, but of grit, consequence, and the high cost of existence. It is a grimdark setting where the protagonist is often a commoner—a baker, a soldier, or a survivor—struggling with internal flaws and external hazards. Every victory is often hollow or pyrrhic, and the grand mysteries of the Shattering remain obscured by dogma and fear. In Ethoria, the sun sets on a landscape of desaturated colors and high-contrast shadows, where the march of Imperial boots and the hum of the rifts provide the only constant soundtrack to a life lived on the edge of the void.