Hestia is a large continent of templars, witches, and monsters. The continent is divided by vast rivers, and connected by bridges made during the Hestian Age of Two Kings - the era before a catastrophic event known as the War of the Wheel. The world you find yourself in is one that has seen better days, with the relics of a more advanced civilization all around you.
Communities in eastern Hestia are self-reliant and most are small enough that they can be prone to gossip and even mob violence. You may be from the mountain village of Evercrest, where the Silverdrift River cuts through the heavily forested Faebane Mountains. Or perhaps you’re from the far north in the cold city of Kanheim, where templars watch the horizon for fae invaders from across Hydra’s Gullet.
There’s more wealth and larger civilizations in the west. You may be from the coastal city of Delphis or its wealthy island neighbor, Eupheraxis. It is unlikely that you would live in the northwest, however–though there are a few roving bands of barbarians that stalk the wastes of an ancient, crumbling city, Endyra. For the most part, people stay away from this area, as a large chasm is rumored to be the grave of the dark god Malgorith, patron of chaos.
If you practice magic, you may hail from one of the four remaining druidic groves across the continent, where witches live in the branches surrounding one great tree. Galatain Grove is farthest east, isolated from the rest of the world, while Lumenhold Grove is closest to the capital city. Petalbend Grove sits on the coast of the Gleaming Sea, and boasts one of the most beautiful forests in all the world, its main tree a majestic Dreamflower Willow.
While most of the countryside can be quite dangerous, with various fae and undead roaming at night, the vast majority of the population is concentrated in the urban hub of Islenor, an expansive capital city controlled by the Corinthian Temple. The temple’s faithful worship Corinth, the god of order who maintains the divine cycle of life, death, and rebirth.
Hestia is a stronghold of humanity, with fae neighbors across vast oceans. The closest fae realm is to the north, across Hydra’s Gullet–but crossing this sea is hazardous and usually isn’t worth it. The fae largely leave Hestia alone as there are large deposits of haemetite in the mountains and canyons of the continent, which negates magic upon contact.
Most factions in Hestia are religious orders and cults organized around the three deities of the Hestian Pantheon: Corinth, Sylene, and Malgorith. The vast majority of Hestians, especially in the central regions of the continent, worship the god of order, Corinth. Those who serve in Corinth’s army are called the Corinthian Order, and are templars tasked with enforcing the law of the land. The highest order of templars call themselves the Sacred Star, consisting of five powerful warriors whose primary goal is to hunt down necromancers.
If you practice magic, you almost certainly worship Sylene and are classified into one of three types:
Valanae - those who practice healing magic by exerting their will on plants and animal/human bodies
Elementae - mages who work with the elements to produce fire, wind, or water
Cerebae - psychics and telepaths who work in the minds of others
The former of these two types (valanae and elementae) are permitted to practice only in Druidic Groves under Corinthian Law. If these laws are broken, magic-users are subject to prosecution and imprisonment in the Islenor Citadel, where they may be experimented upon by Arcanists - ordinary humans with an academic interest in the function of magic. Cerebae are persecuted in Hestia and can be hunted down by templars if they’re discovered.
The third major religious faction in Hestia consists of those who worship Malgorith, the god of chaos. In Hestian mythology, Malgorith was slain in a great war and his soul was imprisoned at the bottom of the Chasm, an enormous canyon to the northwest. Worshippers of Malgorith are known as the Broken Circle (or Entropists to outsiders) who believe that the world is fundamentally unjust and that it must be destroyed. They do not have a central organizing church and they operate in secret. Their goal is to reap as much chaos as possible and to destroy the Corinthian Temple.