This guide is designed as an aid for players of my third age campaigns. It presents a series of articles on important aspects of my world in a consistent format. Each topic is divided into three sections: Common Knowledge, Expert Knowledge, and Hidden Knowledge. These categories contain (respectively) information that a common man would know, what a skilled expert would know, and what a skilled expert could know if he had access to all pertinent works on the subject. A fourth category, The Truth, exists but is not mentioned in the articles as it is a fleeting and hard-to-establish beast.

Below, the topics contained in the handbook are listed in outline form. Each article covers a topic with a roman numeral and all numbered sub-topics under it. Note: Lines in italics indicate subjects that are not part of common knowledge.

Full Article: world

While the common man assumes the world to be flat, scholars are in agreement that it is, in fact, slightly convex. On the outer edge is "The Wall", an endless waterfall that stands (by most accounts) 1,000 feet tall. The oceans then flow generally toward the center of the world's disc, where they drain down a massive whirlpool known as "The Well". Why the seas flow “uphill” toward the center is cause for much debate, however, most who have studied the issue believe it has something to do with the flow of Mana, the energy that powers magic.

Full Article: places

There are three continents, known popularly as the Main, Eastern, and Northern continents – though their ancient names are Thentao, N'Galt, and Immenri. The Northern continent is primarily tundra and contains no population centers. The Eastern continent has on its western shore the great kingdom of Rota – which remains relatively unscathed from the recent world wars. The main continent has numerous population centers – though the northern shore kingdoms were either abandoned or destroyed during the wars.

1. Places
   1. The Northern Continent
      1. Pre-explosion
      2. Tundra
      3. Dark Bay
   2. Eastern Continent
      1. West Shore
      2. Plains
      3. East Shore
   3. Main Continent
      1. North Shore
      2. The Border Mountains
      3. The Southlands
      4. The West Shore
      5. The Dry River Basin
      6. The South Shore
      7. The Great Desert (The Sea of Sand)
      8. The Mountains (South and East)
      9. East Shore
   4. Miscellany
      1. The Spindrift Islands
         1. Lendore
         2. Midore
         3. Aldore
         4. Marshard
         5. Sabit
      2. The Island of Fire
      3. The Well
      4. The Lone Island
      5. The Grugach Islands
      6. The Paradise Islands aka "The Wall Islands"
      7. The Northern Ice

Full Article: people

1. People
   1. Humans
      1. “Civilization”
         1. Backbone
         2. Rota
         3. Spindrift
         4. Lowland
         5. Resh
         6. The Southlands
      2. “Savages”
         1. Plains Barbarians
         2. Plains Indians
         3. Sabit - Spindrift Islands
         4. Desert Nomads
         5. South Indians
         6. Dry River Nomads
         7. Marsh People
         8. Asians
   2. Dwarves
      1. Blanan
      2. Clangdun
      3. The remnants of Glekdin
   3. Elves
      1. Pleven (High)
      2. Larinday (Grey)
      3. Wisewood (Sylvan)
      4. Farflen (East)
      5. Aglarlad (Aquatic)
      6. The Underdark (Dark)
   4. Orcs and Goblins
      1. Northern Continent
         1. Before
         2. After the Massacre
      2. Spindrift Tribes
      3. Eastern Continent
         1. Mountain Tribes
         2. Plains Tribes
      4. Main Continent
         1. The Border Mountains: Twelve Tribes
         2. The Southlands Tribes
         3. The Desert Tribes
   5. Other Races
      1. Gnomes
         1. Riprap
         2. Eastern Continent
         3. Gnome Valley
         4. Glimmerland
      2. Hobbits
         1. Taurdin
         2. Eastern Continent
      3. Mermen
         1. Northern Continent
         2. Spindrift Islands
      4. Giants
         1. Frost - Northern Continent
         2. Hill/Mountain - Border Mountains
         3. Fire - Underworld

Full Article: languages

Full Article: economy

Full Article: history

1. History
   1. Pre-history
      1. The Tale of Time
      2. The Tale of the Heaven Spire
      3. The Tale of the Transgression
   2. The First Age
      1. The Calendar
      2. The Spire Kingdoms
      3. The Dark Mage and World War I
      4. The wizard Bar and the Great Map
      5. The Great Transgression
   3. The Dark Age
      1. Elves & Orcs: The gems of Corellon and Gruumsh
      2. Dragons: The orbs of Dragonkind
      3. The Immortal Wanderers
      4. The Barbarians
   4. The Second Age
      1. Repair of the Heaven Spire and the Dark Mage
      2. Demonwraiths and Kelva
      3. Arral and Mana
      4. Auren Ilay, the Dark Mage, and World War II
      5. The End of the World
   5. The Third Age
      1. Scardore, Lord and Backbone
      2. Rota and Lowland
      3. Colonization
      4. Trouble Brewing (my early campaign)
   6. Recent History
      1. World War III (The Good Party campaign)
      2. Shadow and Chaos (The Voyager campaign)

Full Article: religion

1. Egyptian
   1. Backbone/Edric
   2. Desert/Dry River Nomads
2. Norse - Rota
3. Celtic - Spindrift
4. Greek - Lowland
5. Other Human Religions
   1. Babylonian/Sumerian - Resh
   2. American Indian - Plains, Eastern Continent
   3. Central American Indians - Southlands
   4. Plains Barbarians - ?
   5. Marsh People - ?
   6. Asian(Chinese) Gods
6. Non-human religions
   1. Elf gods
   2. Dwarf gods
   3. Orc gods
   4. Gnome belief
   5. Hobbit belief
7. Unworshipped deities
   1. The Elemental Lords
   2. Demon Lords
   3. The Lords of Chaos
   4. Parádoxa, the Time Lord

Full Article: artifacts

1. Artifacts in possession of important people
   1. The Three Racial Weapons - Norwood, "Tari", & "Wak"
   2. The Trio of Might - Rathwyn
   3. The Three Disks and The eye of Odin - Cale & Strachan
   4. The Artifacts of Auren Ilay - Pelham
   5. Manabane - Karelia
2. Artifacts not owned
   1. The Heaven Spire (destroyed)
   2. The Goblet of Knowledge
   3. The Gems of Corellon and Gruumsh
3. Legendary people and places
   1. The Wall, The Well, and The Ferryman
   2. The Dragon Kragnor
   3. The Portals
   4. The Dragon Arral

Full Article: cosmos

1. Magic
   1. Spell Magic
   2. Rune Magic
   3. Voice Magic
   4. Psionic Magic
   5. Common invocations
   6. The Mana Flow
   7. Current State

Full Article: game

• Good Party (1981-1987, AD&D & Fantasy Hero)
• Evil Party (1981, AD&D)
• Summer Campaign (1982, AD&D)
• Micronauts (1983-1985, AD&D)
• Pioneers (First Age) (1984-1985, AD&D)
• King's Island Campaign (1986-1990) (Fantasy Hero)
• "Pelham Campaign" (Fantasy Hero)
• D'Hari Campaign (First Age) (Fantasy Hero)
• Voyager (2002-2007, D&D 3rd edition & 3.5)
• "V2" (2007-2009, D&D 3.5)
• "V3", aka "The Agents of Fortune" (2009-2012, D&D 4th edition)
• The Backbone Campaign, aka "The Great Retcon" (2015–2016, D&D 5th edition)

In addition to the campaign pages (above), I have a (partial) summary of many of my old AD&D adventures.

Full article: player characters

1. The Characters
   1. Player Characters
      1. The Good Party (aka “The Chosen”)
         1. Sorgul
         2. Lord Ozzie
         3. Sly
         4. Rana
      2. Karelia
      3. "Wizard"
   2. Non-player characters
      1. Associated people
         1. Queen Rathwyn
         2. King Norwood
         3. Edric and Tacey (deceased)
         4. Cale & Strachan
         5. Tarialaî Thoranna
         6. Wacarnelian Medibeard
         7. Claira/Mary, the Master Summoner
      2. Casual acquaintances
         1. King Galin of Rota
         2. The Council of Wizards
         3. Pelham, the Quiet Wizard
         4. Aladar and his family
         5. Sandra Middleham

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