Setting

 The entirety of the Legend game line is set within one shared setting known as the Legend Setting. This is one galaxy named Creation. Creation is nowhere near the Milky Way galaxy and the two of them will never meet. Creation is also spherical unlike the Milky Way and it’s galactic arms. Creation is home to several settled regions containing uncounted numbers of individuals. Always the core rule is that everything is living, everything is part of a larger whole and everything is capable of informed consent.

The Astral

The Astral is one of the most densely populated regions of the galaxy Creation. It’s a nebula. One, vast nebula. It’s full of small worlds that are mostly flat and all have just enough gravity to hold onto an atmosphere, water and the weather for farming. The smaller islands don’t have a blue sky above them but are still used for trading posts and towns. The air in the Astral is breathable and due to innate magic the region has. Tallships and sailing vessels float while people and living things sink. All of the 40 worlds mentioned here can be reached from one another by ship. This is new knowledge to the people here and they’re just beginning to explore their vast and beautiful homeland.

There are no elves, dwarfs or orks in the setting. I couldn’t get the racial enmity and conflict out of them enough to feel comfortable including them in a mostly anthro setting. Those races were done properly by Tolkien and really he used them up. Everyone since Tolkien has used them up more. I wanted something new so I invented several new races that are detailed in Legend – Astral and futher in the rest of the game line. There are still normal humans in the setting and they are common in some nations while being unheard of in others. There is no racism or poverty in the setting ever by my rules. Creation is in general a nice place and there is something worth saving or fighting for if something actually goes wrong in the galaxy.

Ascala – The City at the Centre of Creation

Ascala is the nation that handles most of the Astral’s economy. Most of the goods and money the Astral has pass through there on a regular basis. The name Ascala refers to both the continent and its largest city. They have technology like ours but they’re about two decades behind us. Their reference point is 2001 era Canada, particularly Toronto. I went there on a vacation in college and the city just built itself for me and named itself. I’m not kidding, it picked the name Ascala for itself.

Tamaril – The Eternal Empire

Tamaril has always been the hardest setting to build and continues to be a challenge in both a technical and in a creative sense. A challenge I value greatly. It’s theme is the JRPG genre, particularly Tales of Vesperia. Tales of Vesperia lacks a setting in some ways so I built what would happen to that landmass ages later after all of the cities unified. It is wizard themed and used crystal to power its vast array of magical technology.

Chandesh – The Compass of Iron

Chandesh is my take on the steampunk genre. Divided starkly into the Iron West and the Untamed East, its theme is the battle between technology and nature. You can see some retro steampunk RPG games as inspiration here but most of it was made up from scratch.

Chryshalla – The White City

Chryshalla (pronounces kri-SHA-laa) is a vast continent spanning city state named Wrencrest. Wrencrest is self building and since ancient times has been governed peacefully by a union of wizard orders. Each of these uses a different variety of magic and serves a different job in their government or economy.

Maliden – The Dawning Age

Maliden is a land that almost died and is quickly recovering from 20 years without sunlight and with constant monster attacks on settlements. The ten nations of this land survived in their own ways and have only learned recently that the Long Night was caused by a mortal in the eleventh nation trying to steal godhood from a god. It’s the home of the pantheon known as the Dragon Gods who actively helped the other ten nations survive. The eleventh nation was lost and is now known as the Lost Nation. It’s generic high fantasy themed.

Eudanin – The Thousand Fiefs

Eudanin was once ruled by a great continent spanning empire known as the Mytonian Empire and also as the Empire of Many Names or the Nameless Empire. The Mytonian Empire fell violently a short while ago and the remaining member nations are fighting over the land and resources left behind by it. It’s themed after the works of Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings movies.

Zarethall – Throne of the Tyrant

This is the point in the release order when the settings stop following normal fantasy conventions and genres and begin relying on common furry fandom conventions for inspiration. Zarethall was once ruled by a single nation that was mired in constant civil war. A species from outside the nation arrived with the intention of conquering them using dark magic and mind altering technology. Instead of a war, the old ruling nation recognized a chance to survive and end the war and its people willingly signed up for enslavement and foreign rule. It’s themed after mind control.

Bastian – Rise of the Machine

Bastian is the setting’s second steampunk themed nation. The various nations here are themed after metals and all use powerful technology to enhance their own people. They are all large bodied and incredibly strong. Their theme is weight increase and muscle mass.

Qua’Jain – The Merchant Princes

Qua’Jain is inhabited entirely by the immortal and profit minded race known as djinn. The djinn here are all associated with vast Houses that each have a favoured element and profession. Each House occupies one of the rare and valuable oasis states and the nation as a whole is one of the wealthiest in the Astral. They are themed after the ancient Arabic world and the Medieval Islamic Enlightenment.

Repia – Hearth Known Well

Repia is a vast and fertile land of monsters and tiny cottage villages. It’s the lowest technology nation in the Astral but compensates for this by dabbling in every other variety of magic and doing it safely. Its quiet culture hides a thirst for knowledge and a love of the arcane. They refuse to innovate but are never at war. It is themed after real life spiritual traditions including Wicca, Paganism and kitchen magic.

Fennhiem – Domain of the Rune

Fennhiem is an icy land littered with the bodies of ancient gods and their world ending weapons. It is inhabited by the race known as jotun. These smaller relatives of true giants are larger than most other races and are both immortal and unkillable. They are found outside Fennhiem but not in large numbers. Jotun are war loving and Fennhiem has seen constant battles for its entire history that win nothing and kill no one. Recently one of the nations rediscovered the ancient knowledge of the runes and is rapidly growing in power and prestige. It is Norse myth themed.

Irellia – The Shattered Land

Irellia recently suffered a vast cataclysm that severed the nations from one another and destroyed most of their technology and cities. Now brave hunters strike out from settlements in search of valuable resources and lost technology from the previous era. It is post-apocalypse themed but filtered through the lens of high fantasy.

Paradia – The Land of Enchantment

Paradia is a peaceful land that most of its inhabitants consider to be an earthly paradise. Crafted for them in ancient days by a team of gods, the land has seen war often and is currently in the middle of one. The war is over 100 years old and shows no signs of ending soon. Still the people enjoy music, poetry and tales of the long gone Age of Heroes. It is themed after modern day Europe.

Thandria – The Heart of All Worlds

Thandria is the homeland of most of the Astral’s humanoid animal folk. Commonly known as animalia, half-animals, beast folk and their individual species names, these peoples saw a catastrophic war in ages past and around half of them left their homeland after their nations were destroyed. They are one of the most common ethnic groups in several other worlds who welcomed them in after the loss of their homeland. They bring with them several breeds of larger animal folk known as behemoths who act as normal members of their families. Ascala in particular relies on their honesty and humility at all times to run its economy. They are themed after the indigenous peoples of North America.

Myrra – The Rising Dark

Myrra is the other world mostly composed of animal folk. Unlike Thandria their time of trail is still in progress. The Dark Incarnations are on the rise and the Incarnations of Nature are finding willing mortal allies to side with them in battling the oncoming dark. They cannot afford another Long Night but few are willing to lift a sword or help out. Their theme is animal instinct and loyalty.

Keldra – Those of the Mist

Keldra is home to several breeds of the strange beings known as Astrals. These creatures are humanoid with animal features and are born in the Astral itself out of the mists. The Astral is not the only region of space where Astrals are born. They are unique creatures made of pure energy and the colony they run here is young and brash in a way it shouldn’t be. All of them have innate magic abilities. They are themed after the Pokemon franchise.

Arkad – Oceans of the Pearl

Arkad is a strange land of endless oceans and vast island continents. Their landmasses are unstable and new islands rise from the sea and fall back into it on regular cycles. Only one of the magic pearls can hold a landmass stable for long enough for a nation to exist on it and farm. One of these was recently stolen by pirates. It’s Polynesia and Caribbean themed.

Kyllen – The Poet’s War

Kyllen is a war torn world led by several nations whose entire population are part of the military. They see long periods without warfare but are always ready to defend their homeland. The people live strictly regimented lives including their use of magic and their relationships. They are themed after the magic of rank and discipline.

Moorsbec – Lords of the Dark

The dark and gloaming land of Moorsbec is home to strange monsters and shadowy species that dwell in the shadows and gather in pale cities. Many breeds of monster dwell here including vampires, werewolves and witches. They are a parody of the horror genre where the monsters are the protagonists and the humans sided with them long ago.

Shonohe – Sword Cuts Like Wind

Shonohe is a land of honourable warriors amid sprawling cities of spires and technology. Despite their mastery of technology their land is mostly rural and steeped in ancient warrior tradition. They are themed after real life Japan.

Karad – The Kingdom of Darkness

Only monsters and mythic beings live in Karad. A land steeped in corruptive and transformative magic, Karad is a nation without laws and without any understanding of restraint. The people there serve dark gods and use darker magic. It is themed after the concept of magic turning people into living inanimate objects, which its magic does to everyone who lives there.

Faena – The Traveller’s Hold

Faena is a new land that was recently settled by a team of Travellers. It now serves as a rest stop along several busy trade routes and also as a place for sailors to retire to when they have enough gold to buy land and set themselves up as gentry in this newly made country. It’s themed after Pioneer Era North America.

Drakeholme – Throne of the Dragon

Drakeholme is the homeland of most of the Astral’s draconians. Draconians are born at rare red lay line nexus and do not actually have parents. They are all born young and grow up in a competitive environment where they pick their own names upon adulthood. Most of them do not have surnames. This nation is themed after anthro depictions of fantasy dragons in art.

Nyvarr – The Steel City

Nyvarr is a city where people are made into machines and carry out their lives at the behest of robotically enhanced overlords. Led by augmented Lords who own the city and its people, it is a dark land that often sends expeditions to other lands seeking to colonize and make more of itself. It is themed after the concept of robotic assimilation.

Archaos – Way of the Ancient Ones

The rocky and windswept islands of Archaos are home to several competitive island states. They venerate a vast array of the Astral’s gods and pay homage to several darker entities as well. Their people are strong, hardy and war loving. They are the Astral’s take on the myths of ancient Greece.

Koss – The Sovereignty

Koss is a cold land inhabited by cold people. Their lives are dictated by the needs of the nation and the constant industry it runs. Rife with monsters and danger, its people combat the darkness of the land they live in with combat and magic. It is themed after real life Medieval Russia.

Khamet – The Twin Rivers

Khamet underwent a magical cataclysm a couple hundred years ago that converted the entire population into dark furred canine folk known as corrupted. These corrupted are mostly lacking in free will and the few of them that can hold onto some measure of selfhood have established dynasties to rule over the rest. They are based on real life Ancient Egypt.

Lyywain – The Endless Forest

Lyywain (LIE-wain) is a vast endless forest that cannot be mapped or reliably navigated. Its dimensions and geography are in constant flux and most people who live there travel over branch roads and mountain passes rather than touching the ground. It is inhabited by the noble and graceful Fair Folk. These beautiful animal folk have horns and run the bureaucracy that nature relies on to keep the seasons in order and the earth good for farming. It is based on the myths of my own ancestors, the peoples of ancient Scotland and Ireland.

Luxi – The Heart of Industry

The most technologically advanced world in the Astral is Luxi. This ambitious and ever expanding world wants all of the other cultures nearby to be processed by it into its machine people and turned into living products for its economy. It is themed after the genre of sci-fi and the furry fandom concept of mass producing identical people.

Enclave – Return of the Ancients

Long ago another race called the Astral home. These long gone people are known to modern day scholars only as the Ancients. Nothing of their lives or culture remains to be studied and no one knows where they went or what happened to them. One of their vast magical experiments was a city-ship the size of a world that contained a self evolving ecology. This ship’s robotic inhabitants eventually gained sentience and started being born with souls and now their nation, dubbed Enclave by them, is looking to find its place in the world. They are themed after the furry fandom concept of robot people.

Vajrayana – Spokes of the Wheel

Far away lies the land known as the Dreaming. The Dreaming is a region of space where all sentient mortals go when they dream and then come back from at dawn. The region is inhabited by a noble and powerful race known as Eidolon. These Eidolon are divided into different breeds by colour and have established a colony in the world known as Vajrayana. It is themed after the myths of Ancient India. (Pronounced vaa-REE-ya-NAA).

Yusha – City of the Gods

Yusha is hard to find. In no fixed location and known to very few Travellers, it finds people when it wants them to meet its inhabitants. The vast floating is said by many Travellers to glitter in the distance and then vanish. Those few who land on its shores describe a city island made entirely out of precious gemstones and metals and inhabited by only tall and horned beings who invite them in and offer to trade them something in exchange for an errand or piece of knowledge. What the city actually does, and what happens to those invited to stay there, is unknown. It’s themed after the fantasy concept of a city inhabited by divine beings.

Carthia – Five of the Heavens

The other largest population of draconian in the Astral is Carthia. These draconian live here in a vast and ancient land alongside noble and powerful beings known as elementals. These two species group themselves into large extended families based on elemental association and together run a peaceful and wealthy nation. Elementals are common in other parts of the Astral but are a major political force here. They are themed after the myths of Ancient China.

Chiaroscuro – The Glittering Host

Chiaroscuro makes sense to few people. Inhabited mostly by angels, with every other population there having been invited to live there and worship them, the vast steppe and scrubland seems impossible. The sweeping alien vistas and strange, glittering cities remind people of the rare few prophets who have ever glimpsed the afterlife. Whatever the angels are doing running a world no one knows. They are themed on the myths of the ancient Mesopotamian world including Ancient Sumeria and Ancient Babylon.

Reach – The Demon’s Grasp

No one likes it when Hell involves itself in the Astral’s affairs. Hell doesn’t seem to much like it either. A couple of decades ago a group of portals opened in a number of small worlds in the distant Amethyst Sector of the Astral. Within a week all of these worlds were owned by vast numbers of Fallen. The Amethyst Sector took another year to notice that their trade partners were now the property of Fallen overlords. Strangely the common folk there seem to be enjoying their new slavery. The land is know simply known as Reach. It is themed after the fandom’s depictions of demonic and infernal characters.

Exterio – The Made Gods

Immortality is a hard thing to obtain. There are very few ways to get it and most of them involve trafficking with dark powers best left unnamed. The one reliable route is robot augmentation. This process slowly strips the free will and invidivuality out of a person but leaves them both magically powerful and literally unkillable. Many people take this bargain and enjoy their newfound eternal existence. One entire nation known as Exterio did this to themselves thousands of years ago and now are seeking to do the next impossible thing, become living gods. This setting is based on the furry fandom idea of robot conversion, except in this case it is an entire continent.

Avandra – The Winds of Freedom

Avandra is a strange land that sees few visitors. The reason for this is clear. There is no sea or main landmass here, just endless floating islands that drift in the wind. The bird folk and noble hearted avian beings travel between them on wing and on ship. They invented some of the cartography techniques that the wider setting relies on still to chart the mists between worlds. Otherwise their lives are quiet. This setting is made bespoke by me out of one of my favourite fantasy concepts, the floating island.

Boreala – The Kingdoms of Winter

The ever cold arctic and tundra of Boreala is coated in deep snow in winter and sees a brief growing season in summer. The hardy folk who live here see great beauty in the winter winds and summer rains of their harsh homeland. They are honest and deeply poetic in a way that they themselves often forget. They are themed after the Arctic.

Jorash – The War of the Suns

Jorash is a wealthy merchant nation ruled by multiple noble families each associated with one of the land’s six coloured suns. It’s a hot and temperate land that grows some of the best wine grapes and fine spices the Astral has in it and exports both in large quantities. Currently the land is in a state of civil war between the families but this will not stop its exports. It’s themed after Medieval Europe only if they were all nobles.

Anteli – Land of the Prophets

And then the last in the list. No one likes talking about Anteli. In ages past they caused the war that shattered Thandria and left the people of Thandria to seek a new homeland. Now most of their own people have left to go live elsewhere and the remaining nations are desperate for more people. Their only goal now is to reproduce fast enough to ensure their culture’s survival and even their many gods have told them that they need to breed and do nothing else.

Spheres

Creation does not contain the phrase solar system in any of its languages. Instead, solar systems and other inhabited regions are called spheres. The Astral counts as one sphere and each sphere has an association to one gem colour from the Quantum card game line. The Astral is gold coloured. 

Sunrise

This is the homeland of the immortal merchant folk djinn and their larger elemental cousins. Sunrise is five solar system sized planetoids with atmospheres orbiting around the Maelstrom at the centre of Creation. These planetoids are also the bodies of their five gods the Primordials, the eldest of the gods. They are themed after fire, water, earth, wind and metal. Its colour is ruby.

Triad

Triad was the first sphere settled after Heaven fell in the cosmic disaster known as the Fall. The giants and their younger kin the jotun left and found a trinary star system immediately below Heaven at the top of Creation. They settled it, broke into three Clans, warred with each other, abandoned it in favour of being wandering mercenaries and are now trying to reclaim it hundreds of thousands of years later. Its colour is amethyst.

Eternity

The steampunk themed region Eternity is a single sphere within the region of Creation known as the Dreaming. This is where mortals dream and its citizens are formed out of dream matter. These are Eidolon and the larger winged saints known as Avian. Eidolon are a young race and in their rush to industrialize they have invented the potent magic of summoning and also started countless wars. Its colour is sapphire.

Nebula

Gods can make mistakes. Long ago, a cosmic disaster known as the Fall shattered Heaven and many of the gods took to wandering. Eight known as the Eternals founded a nation amid a vast nebula and named it Nebula, leaving their leader the Emperor to rule it. In an act of hubris the eight inadvertently caused the Second Fall and gave rise to the Dark Gods. Their interstellar empire is mostly composed of the form-shifting energy beings Astrals and their larger cousins the Incarnations. Its colour is quartz.

Hunter

In the wake of a destructive ecological disaster the gods intervened to save the planet Hunter from extinction. In the process they granted animalia and behemoth traits to all of the mortal races and nations. Now unable to burn coal due to the allergy the gods gave them to pollution, this early industrial union of nations is struggling to recover from the long Winter and endless darkness they themselves caused. Its colour is topaz.

Symphony

The Fair Folk are a strange race who can turn others in the their monstrous servants the satyr. Their original homeland is the city-planet Symphony and its Ten Courts. It is opposite Hunter on the outer rim of the centre of Creation. These Courts run the seasons, the nature of music and any odds and ends of documentation the gods of Heaven are too busy to see to themselves. Their leaders are the eight Archfae, a set of job titles that grant godhood to anyone holding the title but not once they retire. Its colour is emerald.

Heaven

The original homeland of all souls is the immortal and peerless beauty known as Heaven. Here the gods all have their original homelands and all souls may find rest between lifetimes. Based on real Earth memories and depictions of the afterlife across all cultures and historical eras, the land is boring and had better remain that way. Its native citizens are the angels, who keep watch over concepts by naming themselves strings of poetry describing their jobs. The gods also bless some mortals with immortal servitude as Avatars to be sent to their followers in times of need. Its colour is alabaster.

Eclipse

Eclipse is a number of highly industrialized and technologically advanced planet-states directly opposite Eternity around the outer edge of the galaxy’s centre. The immortal android and robot inhabitants have learned the secrets of the gods’ technology and aim to make a paradise for themselves while still composed of mortal flesh. Its colour is silver.

Nocturnal

Serving as the planet immediately up from Hell, Nocturnal is the Underworld and is home to the Wight Kings. These are the gods of the corrupted and their alchemically engineered brothers the Monstrosities. They keep Hell at bay and also trade with it to keep it informed of the wider galaxy. Their domain of darkness is a vast industrial city full of corruption and dark desire. Its colour is onyx.

Hell

In the aftermath of the war in Heaven after the Fall one third of the angelic host were cast out along with their leaders the nine Watchers. These beings went as far away from Heaven as they could and settled an asteroid belt around a dim star at the very base of Creation. Naming their home Hell they became the Fallen, all black creatures made of living charcoal and basalt. They are joined often by new souls. The strong ones become Fallen by claiming their forbidden knowledge as their own while the weak ones are tormented and then coated in brass to become living furniture for all of time. They are joined by the monstrous hellspawn, the asteroid belt’s native life, who can convert others into their species through physical contact. Its colour is basalt.

Sigil

The spirit world is its own region and bears no colour. Composed of landscapes and citizens who are echoes and embodiments of mortal life, the spirit world can be reached through both dream and meditation for a skilled practitioner of any magic style. Its proper name is Sigil and it is based on real Earth depictions of the spirit world throughout history. The Akashic Record, the Dreamtime and the Near Astral of various mythologies are all here. To reach it one must simply be at rest and imagine walking backwards up a staircase.