Introduction

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

History

Much of the history of the world is still unknown to the isolated inhabitants of The Valley. What is known is summarised in the World Timeline.

Coin of the realm...

In the valley and also in the wider world, debts are settled and purchases made with copper, silver and gold coins. More rarely platinum coins may show up, each worth 10 gold pieces, but most of these are locked away in vaults and hoards and few make it into circulation.

Many settlements mint their own coins with their own designs, but all are interchangeable. For example:

• The elves of Klippika produce coins with an eight-pointed star
• Coins from The Valley are marked with an oak tree
• Coins from the Fox people are marked with the name "Asteri" and show a fox and builder numerals
• The former nation of Sesseran issues coins marked with a ship's wheel.

For an overview of lifestyle expenses and cost of living, see Lifestyle Expenses on D&D Beyond.

Gods and Goddesses

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 Fourth Edition Player's Handbook, while the alignments are taken from the Fifth Edition Dungeon Master's Guide.

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.

Note: Evidence of Melora worship has been found in the small ruined settlement in The Quiet Wood that later became Aldalorna. The inhabitants of the Creller Pass have erected warding road markers, invoking Melora to protect them from the undead.

Moradin

Moradin is the Lawful Good god of creation and patron of artisans, especially miners and smiths. He is the maker of mountains and protector of the hearth and family. His symbols are the hammer, and the flaming anvil.

• Meet adversity with stoicism and tenacity.
• Demonstrate loyalty to your family, your clan, your leaders and your people.
• Strive to make a mark on the world, a lasting legacy. To make something that lasts is the highest good.

Pelor

Pelor is the Neutral Good god of the sun, summer and agriculture, and the keeper of time. He supports those and need, opposes all that is evil and is often worshipped by rangers, paladins and farmers. His symbol is an orange/red circle shaped like a stylised sun, with six radiating points.

• Alleviate suffering wherever you find it.
• Bring Pelor's light into places of darkness, showing kindness, mercy and compassion.
• Be watchful against evil.

Note: Pelor is worshipped by Kazkan the goblin who knows him as "Old Man Sun". He is also known by the elves of Klippika as Payla Light-Giver. He is often described in the world of The Valley as living in a house (or tower) of gold in the East.

The Raven Queen

The Raven Queen is the Lawful Neutral goddess of death. She is the spinner of fate and the patron of winter. She marks the end of each mortal life, and mourners call upon her during funeral rites, in the hope that she will watch over the souls of the departed. Her symbol is a raven's head, in profile.

• Hold no pity for those who suffer and die, for death is the natural end of life.
• Bring down the proud who try to cast off the chains of fate, and punish hubris where you find it.
• Watch for undead creatures and restless spirits and stamp them out wherever they arise.

Note: In the valley, legends say that the Raven Queen (or, "The Old Queen") rules over a city of the dead at the end of the Black Path in the West.

Sehanine

Sehanine is the Chaotic Good goddess of the starlit night, and the patron of autumn. She is also the goddess of trickery, illusions and love. Scouts and thieves ask for her blessing on their work. Her symbol is a tree, its branches hung with shining stars.

• Follow your goals and seek your own destiny.
• Keep to the shadows, avoid the blazing light of zealous good and the utter darkness of evil.
• Seek new horizons and experiences, and let nothing tie you down.

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. One legend in The Valley is that the Black Path is the road walked by the souls of dead on their way to the Raven Queen. Pelor, in the form of the sun is also said to walk the Black Path to bring back the dead and give them another chance at life².

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.

2. See "Surveying the plains from Kazkan's farm" on the Valley group - https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/thevalleyrpg/Fsz-7u1Fb8c