The creation of the world of Nyvon is a story of good intentions gone wrong. It began with a conversation between three of the gods of Golarion as they looked upon the world and wondered if it could ever be redeemed. Shelyn, Sarenrae and Erastil had long worked to restore some manner of balance and peace to Golarion but every victory seemed to be met with new destruction. While trying to decide on a new course of action, it was Erastil that suggested that they might start again. When the two goddesses questioned what he meant, he spoke of spending time out among the stars of the great dark beyond. While out there he had seen countless stars, some with other planets around them. Erastil suggested it might be possible to find another world that might support life, that they might take life there and try again. To try and make a world that would be free of the corruption that held so tightly here.
The goddesses agreed to be part of the making of a new world and set about gathering volunteers among their followers while Erastil set out in to the great dark beyond in search of somewhere they could call home. Those that would come to this new world were gathered in secret, in an effort to keep the new worlds existence from those that would corrupt it.
Erastil set out in to the great dark beyond in search of somewhere that might be home to their new world. For more than four years he passed among the stars, finding countless wonders. Some worlds were gaseous or massive, some were barren or tiny. Some were trapped between stars, constantly scorched by the burning light. Some were constantly bombarded by debris, nearly destroyed and reformed by powerful gravitational forces. Eventually he came to a small system, out on the edge of the material plane. It held three planets, orbiting a small red star. The closest planet to the sun was a tiny desolate ball, the furthest was a smooth icy sphere. Between that was a planet of a similar size and shape as Golarion, at just the right distance from the star. Two small moons orbited the world, one silver, one blue, spinning silently about the planet’s clouded surface. Descending below the clouds Erastil found…nothing. The surface of the world rose in to mountain peaks and low rolling plains, dark oceans stretched between landmasses but the ground was burnt. The oceans were empty and lifeless. Ruins dotted the landscape, but of what he could not tell. Whatever had once been on this world had been scoured away by some great burning, leaving nothing but faint traces of what once was. He sensed no magic here, no evil, just emptiness.
Erastil immediately set about the task of bringing life back to this barren world, calling forth plant life of all types, creating jungles, deep forests, grasslands, even bringing life to the ocean depths. Returning to Golarion, he began gathering animals of all types. Creating a gateway between the two worlds, he brought with him the creatures he needed to create a functioning ecosystem on a planetary scale. Once satisfied, he returned to Golarion once more to see how Shelyn and Sarenrae had fared in gathering those who would help start the world anew.
In the years that Erastil spent among the stars, Shelyn and Sarenrae worked in secret to gather those that could help create their new world. Anyone that would work toward that goal was welcome, with an incredibly diverse assembly ready to leave at a moments notice. Once ready, a gate was created at what would become the largest city in the new world. The gods were able to send anyone willing to go directly to what became know as the Light’s Gate. The various peoples spread out and began exploring the new world and over the course of five decades spread across the lands of what they called Nyvon (New Hope in Elvish).
Things changed when a seeming act of kindness from an unexpected source lead to the discovery of this new world by the forces of darkness. A cleric of Shelyn was attacked by thieves while traveling alone, only to be saved by two clerics of Zon-Kuthon. Bound to not harm or let harm come to a cleric of Shelyn, they saved the young cleric and were swept away with them to Nyvon as Shelyn responded to her disciple’s pleas for help.
These two clerics revealed the existence of Nyvon to Zon-Kuthon as well as the location of the gate that tied it to Golarion. Zon was enraged by this and immediately began bringing forces through Light’s Gate to claim it as his own. Dark creatures of all types poured forth from the gate, overwhelming those that lived around it and spreading out in to the world. Defenses were quickly raised and a battle raged for more than a month as the people of Nyvon attempted to save their new home. In the end Light’s Gate was destroyed and Nyvon was cut off from the outside world. Zon-Kuthons forces scattered and spread out to find their own homes as Nyvons peoples began to rebuild.
That was 700 years before our story.
Nyvon is a smaller planet than Golarion, roughly half the size of the world it’s inhabitants came from. It has two small moons that are locked in a oppositional orbit, meaning it has very little tidal movement for it’s oceans. It’s year is divided in to ten 32 day months with four seasons for most of the lands that make up its total mass. It’s main landmass is divided in to seven total countries, with smaller provincial divisions within those. It has no kingdoms, the peoples that came weren’t prepared to recreate the hereditary rule they left. There are a few different forms of government but all seven powers currently are participating in a loose coalition to deal with the state of the world.
There is no homeland for the various races of Nyvon but some people gravitated toward places that reminded them of home. You might find more elves in the forests and dwarves in the mountains but most cities are home to all different types. Racial tensions are not unheard of but the shared history of those that came to Nyvon have had a way of creating a point of understanding that everyone can relate to.
The darkening began roughly two hundred years ago, though it is impossible to say with certainty exactly when or where it began. Nyvon had been a magical place, with arcane and divine magics being a daily part of life. When the darkening began, users of the divine found themselves separated from their deities by what appeared to be a veil. A slow fading in the connection between gods and the mortal races, something seemed to be separating this world from the other planes of reality. The gods themselves have been unable to explain or reverse this process, much to their frustration. Over the last century, magic has become unpredictable and weak. As magic has faded, the alliance has worked to find ways to fill the void leading to many new technologies.
The event that brought the alliance in to being was the destruction of the city of Qanias, in the largest country of Malum, by a force that still has yet hasn’t been discovered. Twenty five years after the first effects of the darkening had been found the city of twenty thousand people was seemingly scooped up from the land and erased from reality. On that bright spring morning, travelers heading into the city reported seeing arcs of green and pink arcane energy erupting from a random building and sweeping across the city. The energy cut through everything in its path, apparently without targets or purpose. A horrible screaming noise was heard immediately before a blinding flash left a crater where the city once stood. No survivors were found on site.
This event pushed the creation of the alliance among the seven states as well as the creation of the Investigative Bureau of Order or The Bureau for short. The bureau is an organization whose purpose is to find and reverse the cause of the darkening as well as prevent events like Qanias from happening again. While it is well funded by the seven lands, it is still currently over extended while trying to follow every possible happening in the whole of Nyvon. The bureau is located in the capital Bellcea, which is also in Malum not far from the site of Qanias.
The Seven Nations of Nyvon
Malum
The largest of the nations, in it’s center is it’s capital Bellcea. Bellcea functions as both the national capital and the home of the loose coalition between six of the worlds nations, as well as the headquarters of the Investigative Bureau of Order. It is built around the remains of the Light’s Gate and is home to nearly 70,000 people. Malum has a varied landscape, with vast forests, low mountains in it’s north and open plains sloping down to the inland Magus Sea. Small farming, fishing, and mining communities dot it’s landscape and it is bisected by the Nyvon Transcontinental Railway, leading to Dun Thandol to the north and Cordova and Ludo to the south. The trunk line east leads to the large port city of Onett, the main route to the island nation of Ashterra. A web of road also crisscross the land, As this was the landing point when people were coming to Nyvon nearly all races settled here to some extent.
Dun Thandol
Spanning nearly the entire top of the continent, Dun Thandol is almost entirely covered by mountains. Forested valleys can be found between the snowy peaks of this land, known mostly for mining and lumber. A large group of dwarves made their way here in the early years of Nyvon, drawn to the land that reminded them of home. The capital Khaz’borim sits inside the largest mountain deep in the countryside. At the beginning of the Darkening the whole of Dun Thandol became blanketed in deep snow and storms that carried on for more than a hundred years. This time was known as the Long Winter and lead to most of the population that lived outside the capital to flee to Khaz’borim or to the lands to the south. The capital was cut off completely more than once by the snows but was able to sustain itself with stockpiles and deep underground mushroom farming. In the last few years the snows have finally begun to recede with some former residents returning to restart their former resource camps, although the majority of those that fled remain hesitant to return for fear of things becoming worse again.
Ulyiax
The smallest of the seven nations, Ulyiax is mostly dark forests and high cliffs along the northern seas. Fishing villages dot the coast and the capital Ayrith primarily deals in moving goods from the remote villages to the rest of the world. The peoples of this land want little more than to be left alone and to live their lives in peace, a task that is becoming harder by the day.
Cordova
Cordova contains the largest forests in all of Nyvon, with most of its land covered by dense woodlands. Deep in the forest are ruins that were here when Nyvon was settled, many explorers come here to study them although little headway has been made on who or what created the ruins. Many druid and cleric organizations make their homes here as the tranquil forests give much comfort to those that seek it. The capital of Ivyspring rises from the forest with great stone towers built by the followers of Sarenrae, their windows filled with shining stained glass.
The forests have become more dangerous since the Darkening began, some dark parts of the woods seem to be responsible for groups of researchers disappearing with no explanation as to why.
Ludo
Often referred to as “The Breadbasket of Nyvon”, the wide plains of Ludo are home to many farms. Orchards and vineyards surround its costal capital of Antaceris, which is well know for it’s ales and wine. In the northwestern hub of Sirius’ Crossing many tradesfolk work out of the railyards that build and maintain the trains that connect the lands of Nyvon. Weapons, inventions, all types of discoveries are made in the workshops that surround the grand train station that the town was built around.
Estax
Estax continues the rolling plains of Ludo, leading to low hills along the southern shore. The main trade of this land is shipbuilding and animal husbandry. The capital Wanore is home to horse races that are talked about the world around. It can a rough town as the gambling houses that operate there combined with the ships coming and going, occasionally with goods that might not belong to the trader bringing them in can make nights in Wanore dangerous if you don’t know the lay of the land.
Cindergrain
This southeast nation is mostly desert, hot and dry. The coastal capital of Sence sits at the mouth of the Nipalam river, a green snake through the scorching sands along which many of the best spices in the world grow. The Cindergrain desert is also dotted with ruins from the times before Nyvon. These bring many expeditions to Sence, while many spices are shipped out from the same.
Ashterra
The most troubled nation of Nyvon, Ashterra is an island nation in the north of the world. While in the north, it is a warm and fertile land owing to the large dormant volcano at the heart of the island. Hot magma flows within the slopes of the mountain, warming the area and making the soil rich for much of the land. It is know for its pipe leaf and
Early Frost Warning 