The World
Callar
The world in which all of my games are run is referred to in my notes as Callar(kay-lar), though I have never revealed this in any of my campaigns. The origin of Callar is not known to any of its inhabitants, nor will it be revealed to the players if there is one.
Callar is a globe with three layers, its middle layer, where most stories are told is slightly larger than earth. The vision for Callar is to be a fantasy world comprised of many parts, just as our real world is comprised of many parts. One day I hope that people from all kinds of ethnic backgrounds can make contributions to the world of Callar so it can represent interconnected fantasies of many cultures which I myself do not belong to. Some of these projects are in the works already like the Indaari Kingdoms, Vianesh, and Xerexes.
Planes
The Mortal Planes
Callar is made up of many different axis, where different planes sit. There are three mortal planes, the surface, and the deep share the same axis and are connected to each other spiritually, but the third mortal plane, the outer cluster axis, is disconnected from its siblings.
The Liminal Planes
There are 9 liminal planes, the wilds of beast and fae, the reaches of giant and dragon, the depths of psychic and shadow, the vigils of fate and judgement, and the plane of the observers. These planes each have two forms, the greater plane, and the minor planes that bridge the lands of Callar and the greater planes. The connections of the bridge planes help create the spiritual fabric of the lands of Callar.
The Elemental Planes
There are 9 elemental planes, light, dark, cosmos, fire, freeze, air, metal, earth, and water. The deep, surface, and outer cluster axis all have different relationships to these planes. Where freeze and earth are more common in the deep, water is more common in the surface, and cosmos can only be seen from the outer cluster axis.
Light, dark, and cosmos are permeating planes, meaning they are not contained, and permeate through all other planes. The cosmic plane being the most far reaching.
The Divine Planes
There are 5 categories of divine planes, infernal, abyssal, celestial, absitian, and unovscient, which do not follow the pattern of 9s. Each of these planes has a relationship to mortality and morality. The infernal planes seek to corrupt mortals through corrupting their beliefs and rationality. Abyssal planes call mortals to succumb to their emotions. Celestial planes seek to uplift mortals, and improve their lives. Absitians abstain from engaging in morality to create structures for all to use. Unovscients do not see themselves as moral or immoral, but just powers, like forces of nature.
The divine planes did not always exist, each plane required a god to ascend into a domain to create its plane. Each god ascends from more or less mortal form when they embody a fundamental truth of the cosmos. When gods ascend, they ascend 9 at a time over the course of a year.
The Cradle of Life
At the very centre of the cosmos, between the greater liminal planes, is a mysterious plane known as the cradle of life, from which it is thought all life emerged and disseminated to all of the planes and lands.
The Lands
Boundaries between lands are created by the elemental planes intersecting and crashing into each other, causing each land to be a distinct entity, almost its own plane. Each land then has a bridge plane to one of the 9 liminal planes.
A lands relationship to its elemental parents and liminal bridge help create a base spiritual fabric, which mortals adapt to.
Spirit Lands
The lands remember the things experienced on it through all that lives, and these memories can be accessed in a place called the spirit lands, itself a living memory, sharing space with the mortal plane.
The Godlands
Lands on the surface have a powerful connection to spirit and meaning, which creates complex cultural fabrics that produce powerful demigods and a series of extraplanar afterlives called the godlands. The godlands and demigods emerge from the beliefs and meaning created by the inhabitants of a land.
Calendar
Each month except Zothadus has 42 days, divided into six weeks. There are seven days in a week.
The days are as follows; Irstur, Illtur, Yintur, Galletur, Enitur, Willitur, Fosetur.
Zothadus has 48 days, while still having six weeks. There is an extra day, Zothatur, which is the eighth day of the week during Zothadus.
Gardus - The First Month
Start of the summer
Willyndus - The Second Month
Gjalldus - The Third Month
13th of Gjalldus, start of fall
Ithiidus - The Fourth Month
Iyadus - The Fifth Month
25th of Iyadus, start of winter
Gochdus - The Sixth Month
Zothadus - The Seventh Month
Extra day in the week for each week of Zothadus 39th of Zothdus is spring
Wuedus - The Eighth Month
Deiudus - The Ninth Month
Final Month
Perpectives
When entering this world for the first time you must remember to adjust your perception. In our real world, we have limitless access to our position in the world relative everything in existence. Similarly when we enter a fantasy story, there are thousands of hours of video essays, wikis, and fandom conversations allow us to know the deepest secrets of these worlds.
Our characters know very little. We do not know the other lands and their histories, or even the histories of our own lands. A character will be naive about the world, not knowing much history before their birth. They only hear rumours of things happening outside of their community. They will be susceptible to misinformation. They will have a few cultural touchstones important to them, which could change from community to community.
This world is extremely vast, with dozens and dozens of gods, hundreds of setting with different collections and absences of gods. Then each setting has dozens of demigods and spirits, none of which is any character supposed to have a relationship with. Entities in the world are to be thought of similarly to an owner of a store in the real world. You may go into a store every day, its products might be an integral part of your life, but you likely don’t know the name of the owner, and the how and why they run their business. Similarly your character may see the effects and byproducts of gods and demigods, but not know their names or intentions.
Each setting in this world has its own flora and fauna, only one setting has regular animals. One setting. It’s probably not the one you’re in. What is a horse? What is a cow? What is a chicken? Your character will not know. There is nothing more important than this information.
Games in the world are run largely as post cultural divisions by race, when we form our opinions, our characters are not thinking about races in the context of a culture but in the context of a physicality. Orcs are tall, elves are long lived, dwarves are hard skinned, halflings are short.