An Introduction to the Setting of Anesidora
Midgard by Siba Gasser
Anesidora takes place on a strange and alien world where days last months, winters test the limits of human resolve, and crashed spaceships known as Godcities are worshiped as mythological deities. Technology is treated as magic and priests commune with artificial shades in a digital realm known as Hades. Animals and people have been mutated into new and unique shapes by a force called The Change.
Adriana Cazador and Dan Steinberg
Society is split into 2 major factions. The Chosen live in and around the crashed Godcities and use their magic. The Exiled live in the vast wilderness, where they survive using ingenuity and whatever they can find. To survive, people live in or near towns and cities for shared protection and only travel in large caravans.
Most Chosen are Pantheists, worshiping the Godcities, while some Exiled worship Anesidora, the goddess of the planet itself. Others have chosen to devote themselves to other strange and powerful beings that exist on Anesidora, including the Titans, massive terraforming robots that live deep within the earth, can reshape the planet to their will, and have been corrupted to turn against their human creators.
During the day, the Unliving wander the wastes, drawing power from the sun. They are machines that once served humanity, but have now turned against them, driven mad by time and the corruption of the Titans. At night, people hide in towns and cities fortified against the elements and creatures that hunt in the dark.
The most direct influence of the magic of Anesidora on humanity is The Change. The Change is an ancient magical force that creates hereditary mutations, meaning that Anesidora has centaurs, elves, merfolk, and any number of people with recognizable mythological features, along with an endless variety of other Changes. The Change not only affects people, but causes animals to evolve at a rapid pace, forcing humanity to adapt to an ever-changing world with new threats appearing regularly.
Banshee by Siba Gasser
Next week we will be discussing a brief history of Anesidora.