Introduction

This page is the DM's "introduction to the world" for new and existing players.

The Gods

The Valley uses the "Dawn War" pantheon from 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons. The various gods and goddesses, along with their credos, are are listed below. Note that these descriptions have been cut down from the 4th Edition text, on the basis that some of the details may not fit the world of The Valley. The descriptions of the Dawn War deities are taken from the Forth Edition Player's Handbook, while the alignments are taken from the Fifth Edition Dungeon Master's Handbook.

Avandra

Avandra is the Chaotic Good goddess of change and luck. She is often worshipped by traders and travelers. Her emblem is three stacked wavy lines.

• Luck favours the bold. Take your fate into your own hands, and Avandra smiles upon you.
• Strike back against those who would rob you of your freedom and urge others to fight for their own liberty.
• Change is inevitable, but it takes the work of the faithful to ensure that change is for the better.

Bahamut

Bahamut is the Lawful Good god of justice, protection, nobility and honour. His emblem is a face in profile, keeping vigilant watch over the world.

• Uphold the highest ideals of honour and justice.
• Be constantly vigilant against evil and oppose it on all fronts.
• Protect the weak, liberate the oppressed and defend just order.

Corellon

Corellon is the Chaotic Good god of Spring, beauty and the arts. His followers believe that he seeded the world with magic and planted the most ancient forests. His emblem is a white eight-pointed star.

• Cultivate beauty in all that you do, whether you're casting a spell, composing a saga, strumming a lute or practicing the arts of war.
• Seek out lost magic items, forgotten rituals, and ancient works of art. Corellon might have inspired them in the world's first days.
• Thwart those who would blight or spoil the natural beauty of the world.

Note: Corellon is worshipped by a community of elves at Klippika, in the plains.

Erathis

Erathis is the Lawful Neutral goddess of civilisation. She is the muse of great invention, founder of towns and cities and author of laws. Her emblem is a clockwork gear.

• Work with others to achieve your goals. Community and order are always stronger than the disjointed efforts of lone individuals.
• Tame the wilderness to make it fit for habitation, and defend the light of civilisation against the encroaching darkness.
• Seek out new ideas, new inventions, new lands to inhabit, new wilderness to conquer. Build machines, cities and empires.

Ioun

Ioun is the Neutral goddess of knowledge, skill and prophecy. Libraries and wizard academies are often built in her name. Her symbol is a shepherd's crook shaped like a stylised eye.

• Seek the perfection of your mind by bringing reason, perception and emotion into balance with one another.
• Accumulate, preserve and distribute knowledge in all forms. Pursue education, build libraries and seek out lost and ancient lore.
• Be watchful at all times for those who would control knowledge and keep secrets. Oppose their schemes, unmask their secrets and blind them with the light of truth and reason.

Kord

Kord is the Chaotic Neutral god of storm, strength and battle. Fighters and athletes often worship him. He is a capricious god, mercurial and wild. His symbol is a sword with a lightning bolt cross guard.

• Be strong, but do not use your strength for wanton destruction.
• Be brave, and scorn cowardice in any form.
• Prove your might in battle to win glory and renown.

Melora

Melora is the Neutral goddess of the wilderness. She is both the wild beast and the peaceful forest, the raging whirlpool and the serene mountaintop. Her symbol is a wavelike spiral swirl.

• Protect the wild places of the world from destruction and overuse.
• Hunt monsters and abominations of nature.
• Live in harmony with the wild.

Moradin=

Sehanine

Note: Evidence of Melora worship has been found in a small ruined settlement in The Quiet Wood

Heaven...

This page may help visualise some of the descriptions in this section : A Handy Guide to Measuring the Sky

The world of The Valley is lit by an orange/red sun which appears larger in the sky than Earth's sun¹, covering around 4° of arc, or the width of three fingers held at arms length. It rises in the East and sets in the West, passing overhead at noon. The day (as measured from noon one day to noon the next) lasts 24 hours, though the length of daylight varies as it does on Earth, from around sixteen hours in mid-summer to eight hours in midwinter.

At night, the people of the world can look up and see a dark band stretching across the sky, where there are no stars. This band is known in The Valley as The Black Path, and is around 10° across at its widest point, directly overhead. It divides the night sky in two, stretching from East to West.

There are no known moons or planets in the night sky.

...and earth

The Valley has four seasons - spring, summer, autumn and winter - but these seasons are mild. The winters are not especially cold, and the temperature rarely falls below freezing. The summers are not especially hot, rarely rising above 25°C. Other parts of the world may have different seasons or wider ranges of temperature, but these have not been explored yet.

Nobody in the valley, even the elves, remembers a time when they lived anywhere else.

1. If anyone cares, the Valley's sun is an M0 main sequence dwarf. I know, nobody cares.