Civilization on the world of Sonuth has a short, but frequently chaotic history. Barely more than a thousand years ago, the ur-men had barely come out of their caves and started walking upright when they experienced the Tears of the Moon for the first time.
Now, people know that the Tears are a natural phenomenon caused by Sonuth passing through the tail of a comet that traces an ellipical orbit around the sun. During Tearfall, thousands of meteorites fall to the surface of the world and, where they land, the world changes.
These meteorites are made up mostly of iron, but some carry an element called manatite, which contains the essence of magic. Where they land, plants and creatures are transformed. Some of those transformations are transcendant and beautiful. Some are horrific. Most merely enhance the basic nature of what they touch. When ur-men first found manatite, it gave rise to the modern races. Within only a few short years, the peoples that would become known as humans and dwarves, orcs and goblins, halflings and beast-men would arise.
The manatite didn't just change people's forms, it also opened their minds and gave them access to the essence of magic. With that first Tearfall, cities rose and nations were formed. Those who touched or even possessed manatite became greater than had ever been possible before. Within a generation, small agricultural communities and tribes of hunter-gatherers saw their children grow to form renaissance empires and build great centers of learning.By the third Tearfall, those empires would go to war to possess the manatite that fell from the skies.
That third Tearfall was far more intense than the previous two and, over time, a cycle would emerge. Every twenty-two years, a new Tearfall would begin and last for fewer than sixty days. These were called the Tears of the Moon. Every eleventh Tearfall would be markedly more intense. These events were called the Tears of the Sun. Each brought dramatic upheaval and, while those who held power before Tearfall often worked to minimize the chaos, their efforts were frequently overwhelmed by the sudden influx of magical power to people and regions that had never experienced it before.
Sonuth's historians tend to split history into Ages based on Sunfall. The first age is all history before the first recorded Sunfall. Each subsequent age is roughly 232 years long.
The "gods" of Sonuth are not like the gods of Earthly mythology. While the ur-men had creation myths and beings they gave worship to, thos old pantheons are largely forgotten. Modern churches and nations usually follow the Ascendants - people who were once mortal, but who absorbed so much of manatite's essence that they transcended that mortality. Ascendants can grant magical power to their followers.
The greatest of these folowers are granted near-godlike powers and named as saints. The saints often go on to found churches, nations, and empires on behalf of their patron Ascendants.
Most hominid spellcasters have a patron saint. Some elect to follow an Ascendant directly. Some come by their spellcasting abilities naturally, but many of those choose to follow a saint or Ascendant as well.
This campaign takes place in a sub-equatorial region of Sonuth's global south, a hot, wet area most akin to the outskirts of the Amazon rainforest on Earth. Action starts in the early autumn of the year widely called 21, but more accurately named 21-10-5 or "year 21 of the tenth Tearfall of the Fifth Sun Cycle." The next Sunfall is expected in a little less than a year and everyone is preparing for the world to change again as it enters the Sixth Age.
Anyone who says there are two sides to every story has never been to Rio Saudade. In this city sprawling along the northern shore of the massive lake Lago Recurso, no story is worth telling unless there are at least five sides ready to draw each other's blood to get what they want.
The city's own story is at least that complicated and the crowd tonight at the Merry Widow Inn reflect much of that. In the front room, soldiers from both the Ailiyan Empire and the Syndicate of the Twelve Houses drink and carouse while waiting for another epic tale from the Tabaxi bard, Yowler. It might look like any other night at any other tavern, but the careful observer will notice that the two groups each keep to their own side of the room and everyone is armed. Both the Empire and the Syndicate claim this city as part of their territory and the treaty that allows each to keep a garrison here is tenuous at best.
Yowler and his sister Delicate-Flower-of-Violence represent a third faction in the city. Saudadade's foreign quarter is home to many different races, but increasingly common are the Tabaxi, ape-folk, boar-folk, and others driven from their northern homes by the ongoing sectarian fighting and the danger of horrors unseen lurking in the unexplored depths of the vast jungles of the Beastlands. These refugees aren't exactly welcome in Rio Saudade, but nobody has been willing to try to throw them out.
The owner and staff of the Merry Widow could be considered a fourth faction. Although they publicly claim neutrality, many still think of themselves as citizen of the Kingdom of Santa Althea. It was two Tearfalls and more than forty years ago that the empire and the Syndicate both invaded the Kingdom in an attempt to grab as many of the Tears of the Moon as they could for themselves. The Kingdom might have been able to fight off one or the other, but it couldn't survive the crushing force of armies flowing over its western and eastern borders at the same time.The kingdom fell and those who could flee came north. These lands too were part of the Kingdom, but the Tears didn't fall here and neither army saw these largely-rural areas as worth conquering when the power to become gods was on the line.
While those four factions gather in the front room, those of you who gather in the back courtyard have a different agenda. You are here to meet with a man who calls himself Manuel das Costas, but who you know to be Prince Joao, the rightful heir to the throne of Santa Althea. Born in exile, the Prince has dedicated his life to restoring what was lost when the kingdom was cruelly betrayed by its neighbors in their limitless lust for power. You are his agents, each representing a cell in his network of supporters that has been gathering followers, arms, and resources to allow the Prince to retake his father's throne. This is the first time you have all been in one place.
(Character introductions here)
Sir Iain Giltmore raps on the head table with a heavy stone, calling for quiet. Both the knight and the stone are a part of the Kingdom's history. Sir Iain was a trusted member of the Kingsguard during the Betrayal and entrusted with taking his pregnant queen to safety as the capital fell. The stone, small enough to be gripped in one hand, is the canon gift granted to Santa Althea by her Ascendant when she was first named a saint. It once contained a sliver of pure manatite powerful enough to allow Althea to cast some of the mightiest spells ever seen on Sonuth. While the manatite has long since been extracted, the stone still glows faintly with an otherworldly light and is said to convey a bless on Prince Joao, who accepts it from his loyal retainer as the crowd falls silent.
The prince holds out his hands in a gesture of welcome. "Friends, followers, subjects, we have never gathered so many in one place before, but the time for secrecy and caution has come to an end."
"The day of our final destiny fast approaches. In less than a year, the first Tears of the Sun will begin to fall and we will need to be able to move quickly to capture their power for ourselves before our enemies can swoop down and draw it into their grasping hands as they so cruelly did in the Great Betrayal more than forty years ago."
As the Prince speaks, a single shooting star flashes across the night sky as quick and sudden as a firefly. A murmur goes up from the crowd that this is an omen. Shooting stars don't come to Sonuth or bring power, but they look so much like Tearfall that the moment is impossible to ignore - except for Prince Joao who is facing the crowd, not the sky. "I know many of you have expended great effort and gone to extraordinary risk to prepare for this moment and your sacrifices will.... not... go... will not go..."
The Prince's words trail off as the whispering rises to a rumble and people begin to point. A second star shoots across the northern sky, then a third. After a few seconds of relative calm, two shoot across at once. As Prince Joao turns to watch over his shoulder, a half-dozen more flicker and vanish. As impossible as it should be, this looks less like a meteor shower and more like Tearfall.
Sir Iain leans in and whispers something to the Prince. Prince Joao stage-whispers something back and, while you can't hear the words, his hand gestures make clear that he's saying that what they see is impossible.
Before Sir Iain can respond, a low, heavy sound like rolling thunder comes down from the north and the ground underneath your feet vibrates hard enough to make your plates rattle on the tables. Prince Joao looks up, then spins around to face the crowd. "My people, as impossible as it seems, the day of our deliverance is at hand and providence has place an instrument of Santa Althea's vengeance close at hand. Who will take up arms this very moment and retrieve this blessing from the stars so that our enemies do not steal it away?"
(Characters volunteering and organizing)
When the party is assembled, continue.
"You will need to move swiftly. This Inn has a stable just past that wall. Steal some horses, but do leave the black one with the golden saddle."
(Characters get ready and start to go.)
Prince Joao: "Yes, go go! Time is of the essence. Fly, little birds!"
By the time the party is leaving town, Tearfall is in full effect with a steady stream of lights flashing across the sky every few minutes and more distance rumbles of impact - all from the north.