The World

[reefwood]

This campaign will take place in the Pathfinder world of Golarion. More specifically, it will take place across the Inner Sea region, which primarily consists of the northern continent of Avistan and southern continent of Garund. Here are links to info on all these places:

www.pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Golarion
pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Inner_Sea_region
www.pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Avistan
www.pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Garund

This world is hard to sum up, but in a few sentences... several advanced civilizations have risen and fallen over the ages. It is now just over a century into the Age of Lost Omens, which began when Aroden (man-turned-god nearly 5,000 yrs ago) was expected to return to the world, but instead, his connection to the world was lost. Storms wracked the Inner Sea region for weeks, an enormous and unending hurricane formed in the south, a planar rift erupted in the north to spew demonic monstrosities, and deities questioned their immortality. The current world is one seeped with magic and mystery and even traces of burgeoning technology. Revolutions have splintered empires and given birth to prosperous new nations, loose confederations, and all manner of governments - honorable and vile.

Also, the Pathfinder Society was founded more than 400 years ago by a consortium of adventurers and scoundrels fond of working together and regaling each other with tales of their exploits. As the group few and became more formalized, a governing council of 10 members was formed - the original Decemvirate. Venture-captains coordinate teams of filed agents who are expected to follow three primary duties: 1) explore the mysteries of the world, 2) report on findings uncovered in pursuit of the first duty, and 3) cooperate with other agents to ensure success of the first and second duties. Agents are charged with writing up detailed reports of their exploits to pass on to their venture-captains, who then forward the most compelling accounts to the Grand Lodge in Absalom for consideration by the Decemvirate. Periodically, the most worthy exploits are collected and published in new volumes of the Pathfinder Chronicles,which scholars and explorers find valuable for routes to treasure, secrets of magic, and other hints about how to navigate the far corners of the world.

Finally, this link has a short version of the timeline of the world. It does focus on the nation (Cheliax) and race (Dwarves) from the last campaign, especially the recent history, but it gives a pretty decent longterm overview too.

pdxnrd.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=thieves&thread=221&page=1#3601

[reefwood]

Days of the Week

Moonday - work, religion (night)
Toilday - work
Wealday - work
Oathday - work, pacts signed, oaths sworn
Fireday - work, market day
Starday - work
Sunday - rest, religion

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Months of the Year and Holidays

Most of the holidays are tied to deities or only celebrated by certain nations, and that info has been included in parenthesis. There are other holidays in the world, but these are the major ones and a few minor ones.

Abadius (winter)
Full Moon: Longnight – Tradition in which revelers defy the long winer nights by staying up all night to greet the dawn.
1st: Foundation Day (Absalom) – Commemorates Absalom's founding by Aroden.
20th: Ruby Prince's Day (Osirion) - Monarch's birthday.

Calistril (winter)
2nd: Merrymead – Commemorates coming spring with the distro of the last of the previous season's alcohol.
19th: Loyalty Day (Cheliax) – Marks the signing of the Treaty of Egorian and House Thrune's Rule.
Last Oathday: Batul al-Alim (Qadira) - Commemorates the birth of romantic poet of the same name.
29th: Leap Day – added every 8 years for calendar accuracy (AR 4704, 4712, etc)

Pharast (spring)
5th: Day of Bones (Pharasma) – Pharasmins parade the recent dead in a processin, then inter corpses for free.
13th: Kaliashahrim (Qadira) - Celebration of the Padishah Emperor's rule, and Qadira's allegiance to the empire.
21st: Firstbloom (Gozreh) – Celebration of the coming spring with fertility dances.
21st: Planting Week (Erastil) – A holy week marked primarily by hard work in the fields.
26th: Conquest Day (Nex) - Day of nationalism on which citizens renew their vows to one day destroy Geb.

Gozran (spring)
7th: Currentserve (Gozreh) – Solemn occasion on which families of sailors and rivermen pray for safe passage during the year.
15th: Taxfest (Abadar) – Clerics accompany tax collectors on their rounds, then host a public feast for all citizens.
16th-30th: Wrights of Augustana (Andoran) - Annual celebration of Augustana's shipyard and navy.

Desnus (spring)
2nd: Ascendance Day (Norgorber) – Norgorber's ascension.
13th: Old-Mage Day (Mwangi Expanse) - Celebration of Old-Mage Jatembe and his magical warriors.
Last Sunday: Goblin Flea Market (Andoran) - Market day of crafts, strange items, and games for costumed children.

Sarenith (summer)
3rd: Liberty Day (Andoran) - Marks Andoran's independence from foreign rule.
10th: Burning Blades (Sarenrae) – End of a month-long festival in which the faithful dance with flaming blades.
21st: Talon Tag (Andoran) - Annual aerial display by mounted Eagle Knights in Almas.
21st: Ritual of Stardust (Desna) – Night of song and bonfires in which Desna's faithful throw sand and powdered gems onto the embers to symbolize the stars while making proclamations of love and friendship.
21st: Sunwrought Festival (Sarenrae) – Celebration of the year's longest day with fireworks, kites, and gift giving, as well as reenactments of the Dawnflower's battle with Rovagug.

Erastus (summer)
3rd: Archerfest (Erastil) – Archery competition, livestock trading, and courtship of eligible women.
14th: Founding Festival (Korvosa, Varisia) - Festival featuring magical light shows celebrating the founding of Korvosa.
17th: Burning Night (Razmiran) - Annual festival at which heresies against the god-king are burned publicly - whether they be books or traitors.
15th-21st: Kiandi Festival (Garund) - Garundi gathering to display mementos of their travels, fortifying tribal histories and regional ties.

Arodus (summer)
6th: First Crusader Day (Mendev) - Honors the continuing crusade against the Worldwound.
9th: Day of Silenced Whispers (Ustalav) - Celebrates Ustalav's freedom from the Whispering Tyrant.
16th: Armasse (Aroden, Iomedae) – Day to train commoners in combat and learn from history.
Last Sunday: Silverglazer Sunday (Andoran) - Two-part fishing festival involving swimming contests and huge puppets.

Rova (autumn)
First Sunday: Silverglazer Sunday (Andoran) - Second half of the festival.
Second Oathday: Signing Day (Andoran, Cheliax, Galt, Isger) – Marks the day the nations broke from Taldor.
19th: Day of the Inheritor (Iomedae) – Marks Iomedae's absorption of Aroden's faithful into her church.
22nd: Harvest Feast (Erastil) – A holy week marked primarily by hard work in the fields.
22nd: Swallowtail Festival (Desna) – Day of feasting, storytelling, and public release of a wagonload of butterflies.

Lamashan (autumn)
Second Moonday: Harvest Feast – Celebrates the harvest and the end of field work for the year.
6th: Ascendance Day (Iomedae) – Iomedae's divine ascension.
27th: Jestercap (Andoran, Druma, Taldor) – Day of pranks and practical jokes; particularly favored by gnomes.

Neth (autumn)
5th: All Kings Day (Galt) - Commemorates Galt's Red Revolution and freedom from tyrannical nobility.
8th: Abjurant Day (Nethys) – A day of working together to shore up mutual defenses and train children in magic.
14th: Even-Tongued Day (Andoran, Cheliax, Galt, Isger) – Commemorates these nations' freedom from Taldor.
18th: Evoking Day (Nethys) – A day of fireworks displays and magical duels (mock and real).
23rd: Seven Veils – Celebration of brotherhood between all civilized races, marked by interracial masquerade balls.
28th: Transmutatum (Nethys) – Self-improvement.

Kuthona - winter
Second Week (Sunday to Starday): Winter Week – traditional feast; time for courting and spending time with friends.
11th: Ascendance Day (Cayden Cailean) – Cayden's divine ascension.
21st: Crystalhue (Shelyn) – day of artistic creation; traditionally a time for courtship and romantic proposals.
21st: Ritual of Stardust (Desna) – night of song and bonfires in which Desna's faithful throw sand and powdered gems onto the embers to symbolize the stars while making proclamations of love and friendship.
31st: Night of the Pale – night of morbid revelry, as people wait indoors for the ghosts of last year's dead to pass by their homes.

[reefwood]

CHELIAX

Infernal Cheliax (pronounced CHEL-ee-ax) remains, without a doubt, one of the most powerful nations on Golarion and it continues to maintain naval control over the profitable Inner Sea. Nevertheless, as important as the nation may be at the current time, it pales in comparison to its former Imperial glories. Today, in the eyes of most external observers in other parts of the Inner Sea, Cheliax suffers from extreme diabolism and a tyranny which prevent it from truly achieving its full potential. Internal observers, including the new nobility of Cheliax, firmly believe that Asmodeus and Hell serve Cheliax and assist in maintaining the power necessary for Cheliax to assume its rightful role among the leading nations of the Inner Sea.

When their patron deity Aroden died, some say the soul of Cheliax perished with him. The once mighty empire tore itself apart, and only through the power of three noble Houses, each steeped in deviltry, was order restored. The empire runs on the backs of fiends now, a perfect machine of hellfire and blood, where morality surrenders to the needs of law and order. It's easy to curse Cheliax as a nation of devil-lovers, but few can argue with the results of their fiend-binding craft. House Thrune, the greatest of its diabolic noble families, has brought the empire under control once more. Cheliax rises like a dark star, as strong as ever, despite the recent losses of Galt and Andoran to rebellious forces. Asmodeus proves as powerful a divine patron as Aroden ever did, shepherding his people toward glory and dominance of the Inner Sea. The Chelish always plan for a long campaign, and never trifle over today's skirmishes. In the end all will burn in hellfire. It is only a matter of time and calculated conquest.

Three-quarters of Cheliax's human population are ethnic Chelaxians, and the pale-skinned Chelish believe themselves superior to all other peoples. Their compact with great devils gives them power beyond measure, and no other nation of the Inner Sea can compete with their summoners and warlocks when it comes to trafficking with dark forces. Tieflings enjoy an unusual status in Cheliax, often seen as subordinate to humans by the Chelish diabolists. Slaves are an important resource of the Chelish as are artifacts of ancient power whose secrets are revealed to them by their timeless patrons. Even as Andoran revels in its newfound freedom, the tendrils of Cheliax's empire continue to expand. Arcadia lays open before them and Sargava is ready to fall under their hellish sway.

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DIABOLISM

Veneration of the Nine Circles of Hell
Alignment: LE
Centers of Belief: Cheliax
Associated Religions: Asmodeus, archdevils

The philosophy of diabolism is often misunderstood by thsoe who do not adhere to its tenents. It is easy to misunderstand, as the religion of Asmodeus and the various cults of the other eight archdevils inexorably intertwine with and support the philosophy. Yet at its core, the primary difference between these religions and diabolism is the simple truth that a diabolist isn't particularlary interested in serving one of the Lords of Hell. His interests lie in the underlying structure of Hell itself as a model for which such a society must be based. There cannot be ruler without the ruled, pleasure without the existence of pain and suffering, light without darkness. The argument that good is defined by evil and that kindness could not exist wihout cruelty is a favorite point of debate among diabolists. Many don't view their interest and admiration of Hell as evil, but rather as an honest and open appreciation of the simple fact that Hell is a necessity, and its rulers are to be respected, not reviled.

Diabolism is a philosophical interest in understanding, serving, and promoting the organizational structure of Hell. Diabolists do not venerate Asmodeus or his Archdevils in particular, preferring to come to a greater understanding of the hierarchies, structures, and philosophies which are the underpinnings of their interactions. As such, this ideology does not grant its adherents divine power, although devotees of infernal powers often arise from such cults, making the philosophy something of a stepping stone to infernal worship.

They believe that Hell is the most ordered and rational society in the Great Beyond and they wish to transform themselves and their surroundings to model this perfect structure: hierarchical systems of power, virtue of strong leadership, suppression of free will and the value of slavery. Diabolists understand the necessity of opposing forces, and – more often than not – seek to respect the powers that govern one of the best established hierarchies of lawful order in all the planes. Most do not see this respect as evil, simply as a necessity to maintaining functional order.