Info about the world
In an age when iron is giving way to steel… who will you be?
When you take the Silver Road across Fortunata, the vast, mountain-walled basin connecting East and West? A wily Scout? An Element-wielding Mystic — perhaps a monk, perhaps a mage? A quick-fingered Thief? Or a Warrior with a destiny or a vendetta? Like most fortune seekers, you'll start at the City of Irongate, famed for its Library, and for the high walls that keep at bay the neighbouring Great Kingdom. But beware the city's factions… They will pay off a stranger with a knife in the back.
By which gate will you leave?
Not west! There are only poor pickings over the mountains, amongst the feuding rulers of the Great Kingdom. East? Only if you are ready -- brave and in good company. East takes you to the heart of Fortunata, the Desert of No Return. Once a verdant realm of sorcerer kings, now it's a cursed place of ruins that promise lost wealth and forbidden knowledge... but mostly deliver death. North or south is best, especially if you're part of a silver caravan. Both roads turn east to skirt a different mountain range: the Northern Route is plagued by bandits and gryphons, the Southern, by storms and floods and sometimes dragons. Either way, you'll spend two months trekking between oasis cities, encountering exotic cultures and cults… Finally, in Grenadyne, the outpost of the civilised Lestia Empire, you'll trade your silver for silk. The local religion, the Way of the Four Sages, will be familiar to you from the countless shrines and monasteries that have marked its spread across the basin.
Flung into this land of gods and myth, you must discover who you are and what you are willing to do.
This realm is the refuge of heretics and renegades, and where the bold can wrest power from the very landscape... ancient treasure... forbidden magic… lost relics.
And, on a moonless night when the stars are right, the Chronicle appears.
Dare you drink black tea by his fire and play a game of chance that crafts tales which feed the Hidden Gods... tales that may grant you remembered wealth and glory, or bring you enemies and tribulations beyond all measure? For the secrets of this world may lie in restoring the heroic stories that were lost…
Fortunata is a Sword and Sorcery/Martial Arts Adventure setting
Anime like Naruto and Avatar: The Last Airbender are heavily influenced by these roots, as well as stories like The Three Musketeers and Conan the Barbarian. Stories trace back to mythology, including classical epics like Homer's Odyssey, the Norse sagas, and Arthurian legend.
Military technology is roughly AD1000 and pre-handgun.
This is the age of mail and lamellar. Cataphracts yes, but no gothic plate. Crossbows but no handguns. Complex siege machines but nothing steampunk. (There are longswords, but nothing more advanced than Type XIII…)
Civilian technology is pre-steam and pre mass production.
Sophistication is possible, but it's either bespoke or niche, and never small. There are complex watermills, and public clocks, but no modern factories or fob watches.
Fashion is all about tunics, robes and veils, and above all fabrics.
Complex tailoring is rare and impractical.
Magic is a wondrous interruption to everyday life, not a technology
No magic cities, no cleaning golems, no broomstick mail. For now...