Living Gods and the Old Empire
Kesh is one of the seven ‘living gods’ of the old empire – once-mortal deities that lived among their descendants and shaped the growth of human civilization. Each of The Seven had a capital, devoted to the principles of culture represented by the god.
Three generations ago, the empire failed—the gods weakened, and all but three fell into a fugue-state that may represent death. Communication within the empire (including the meta-physical transit paths they maintained, the Silver Roads) faltered and failed, shattering civilization as you know it int
ao seven isolated city-states separated by leagues of lawless wilderness ruled only by claw, fang and blade.
In the domains of lapsed, dead or sleeping gods, the cities associated with them grew degenerate and barbaric, falling into a ruinous condition that only vaguely represents the gods they once revered.
- Kesh: Law, Justice, Tradition, Bureaucracy. Realm: Dread Kesh (City-State)
- Baros: Agriculture, Healing, Domestic Duty, Animal Husbandry. Realm: Barovia (degenerate province)
- Isen: Refinement, Philosophy, Sciences, Wizardry. Realm: Isenthal (city-state)
- Ishl: Militarism, National Duty, Warfare, Fighters. Realm: Ishlok (city-state)
- Shanda: Midwifery, Family, Fertility. Realm: Shandara (degenerate province)
- Haln: Luck, Travel, Personal Duty. Realm: Halia (degenerate province)
- Ebir: Mystery, Invention, The Arts. Realm: Ebirian Principalities(degenerate province)
From left to right: Baros, Isen, Kesh
Silver Roads and the Worlds Meet
At the empire’s height, the seven gods established a series of metaphysical pathways between important locations within the empire – the Silver Roads. Using rituals lost to all but the priesthood of Ishl, blessed citizens could travel instantly throughout the empire.
The Silver Roads intersected at a legendary city that existed neither here nor there – outside of space and time: Worlds Meet. Worlds Meet was a construct of the gods, and the final resting place of their greatest servants. Legends have it that at the End of Days, when the last God has died, these great priest-kings will return from Worlds Meet to pass judgment and either set the empire aright, or destroy it altogether.
Beast Cults and Other Gods
None of the faiths described in the Player’s Handbook exist as written, although some might exist as post-imperial religious movements or cults. The average citizen of the empire either retains the worship of their city’s god, or has been subsumed by bestial animal-cults, barbarism and the rising tide of savagery.
Slave Races
When the Empire was at its peak, human civilization enslaved the “lesser” humanoids; orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds and others, and set them to tasks deemed too demeaning or dangerous for citizens. As the empire collapsed, the enslaved humanoids rebelled, and for the most part obtained self-determination.
In the case of the hobgoblin legions of Kesh, they also obtained all of the fortresses that control overland access to the city.