Tarred Skies is a setting that focuses on the City of Langhyrst and the surrounding regions upon the planet of Aerdeskol. The peoples that inhabit Aerdeskol have only in the most recent generations begun to look forward to possibilities of the future. In simplicity, it’s a Post Apocalyptic Weird West in 1922 with Magic, Dinosaurs and Horrors lying just beyond the horizon.
We are introduced to Tarred Skies at the point of their industrial renaissance, a golden age. Fantastic machines are crafted in laboratories behind mountainous walls, wielders of the Eldritch Arts stand atop the walls, vigil for threats as determined pioneers pour forth to claim the world that was once their ancestor’s. Populations that at one time would be hunted and feasted upon by colossal beasts now have a fighting chance and life slowly returns to the wastes. With exploration comes discovery, and places and trinkets from before the Shattering are found. Ancient curiosities and dangerous artifacts are a lucrative revenue of power and wealth for both private and public institutions, and entire corporation owned cities are built around the discoveries found deep within sealed sanctuaries of past life. More lies beyond the boundaries of solid land, cloistered by the frivolous shifting sand, giving and taking in a single breath.
The catalyst for this age of industrialisation is the mastery of the Etherflora, the product of worms of incomprehensible size that arrived in result of the shattering. Husk Worms feast on the Ley Lines that cross across the surface of Aerdeskol, and Skethic swarms burrow into their flesh, transforming them into mobile unstoppable hives. In their wake, be it forest, city, plains or wastes, a sickly black tar seeps into all it touches, and a forest of Etherflora grows. Each Etherflora specimen shares a similarity in the fact that it is formed with an organic crystal like structure, similar to a succulent like Aloe Vera. This structure is full of a toxic gel, that upon refinement becomes the fuel that runs empires and when imbibed becomes the catalyst for conventional magic within the world.
The Old Gods to some, now known as the Shattered Kings ruled the surface of Aerdeskol with a barbed grip. The entire planet was enslaved, systematically tortured and endured hardships, culminating in an event that was revealed to be the aim of the group all along. With their World Engine, powered by the restless souls of Aerdeskol, the Shattered Kings broke the bounds of space time, and ripped a fissure into the void, using Aerdeskol as the pressure point. Aerdeskol was changed forever, and what used to be a beautiful Earth-like planet was transformed into a seemingly desolate wasteland, infested by invasive species that did not belong. Eventually in time the plans of the Shattered Kings were foiled by, what some call the new gods, the Meta’ai. Fostering growth and recovery, the Meta’ai have lent a guiding hand in bringing a broken planet and it’s people back, though not without hardship, to a state of sustainability and independance.
Magic is real, and not just the murmuring of old shamans.
The gods walk among us, ruthless and determined to fulfill their purpose.
The age of steel and combustion has reached fruition, poisoned only by the threat of the Skethic and Huskworms preventing permanent infrastructure.
Tarred Skies is a Setting designed by Glenn Fredric with the help of a lot of friends based in a Dark and Apocalyptic environment on the Planet Aerdeskol.
The base structure of the game is designed to be used with Dungeons and Dragons 5e, and you should purchase their content to be able to use this setting correctly.
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Story Elements are Copyrighted, Glenn Fredric 2017, but feel free to remix within reason based on the Creative Commons license found below.
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Story, Setting and Flavour is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.