In another world, in another time,
Heroes fight for justice, seek treasure, and live for adventure….
This campaign-setting is called Jehan. It is set in the distant future. This page gives a general overview of (1) the history, (2) the three main character races, and (3) some alternate technology. Sub-pages provide maps , a more detailed Epic about the Khatari Zaman (Age of Danger), and other details.
Brief Background
There are three primary humanoid races: Orcs, Elves, and Dwarves. The Dread Plague wiped out Homo sapiens sapiens 61 years before. 67 years before that, much of the world was devastated in the Machine War. Thus, the present age is called Khatari Zaman, the “Age of Dangers”. Did Constructs (machine life) create the Dread Plague? Or a faction of Elves? Or was it part of an attempted alien invasion? Or was it the unintended byproduct of interpersonal conflict at some lab? We may never know…
The three humanoid races were created in the Solean Age, the “Age of Wonders” that followed the exhaustion of fossil fuels and the end of the “CarbonTech Era”. Dwarves were created at the beginning of the Solean, designed to withstand high forces and radiation, and gifted with a strong talent for machine design. Elves were created at the height of the Solean, to be ‘better than humans’: more beautiful, longer-lived, keenly attuned to biology and ecosystems. At the end of the Solean Age, Orcs were created to serve humans as soldiers and slaves. That backfired.
Jehan was also created during the Solean Age. It began as the planet Venus. Terraformers pushed the four Galilean moons out of the orbit of Jupiter, one after the other, to transform Venus. The largest, Ganymede, was moved into a very tight decaying orbit. As it fragmented and fell onto Venus, it gave the planet spin (24 hour rotation) and greater mass (almost exactly the surface-gravity of Earth). Europa was brought in to a 6-day orbit, defining the 6-day week on Jehan. Io was brought into a 30-day orbit, defining the 5-week months of Jehan.
Callisto was brought in to add water to Venus. Mostly this was successful, but Callisto broke apart unexpectedly before impact. Most of the mass of the ice-moon is now the seas on Jehan. Some formed an ice-ring around the planet resembling Saturn’s rings. However, some chunks flew off in different directions, posing a threat to both Jehan and Earth.
Many people objected to the risks taken by the Venus-terraforming project. The fragmentation of Callisto triggered armed opposition.Thus, the Solean Age is also known as the “Age of Hubris” especially by the environmentalist faction who opposed ‘playing God with the planets.’ Though some Elves developed the organisms used to covert Venus’ atmosphere into a breathable form, most Elves aligned with the factions who opposed the Jehan-project. In response, the terraformers recruited Dwarves to create intelligent machines to fight the eco-faction. The Machine War devastated both sides. The end of the Solean is therefore called the “Darkfall” period. The Darkfall period ended abruptly with the outbreak of the Dread Plague, which usually only killed humans and not their genetic creations, the humanoid dwarves, elves, and orcs. Since the machines had been designed to obey specific human chains of command, most machines withdrew and became dormant, awaiting orders that may never come. At least that is the best guess of the surviving humanoids.
The three surviving humanoid ‘races’ are actually distinct species: they cannot interbreed and produce fertile offspring. Half-breeds are very rare, and usually contract the Dread Plague after puberty. Since half-breeds actually look like humans, others fear that they will contract the Dread Plague which remains environmentally pervasive.
Three Human(oid) Races
Dwarves specialize in machine technology and alchemy, smithing, craftwork, and trade.
They seek to restore tech from the Carbontech Age (1707-2090) and the Solean Age (2090-2236).
Dwaves fly in airships and gliders, and build cities and infrastructure.
Their Heliograph network maintains long-distance communication, and their
Dwarvish Air and Sea-ships maintain long-distance trade.
Elves specialize in biomancy and biotech.
Elves ride Dragons and live in the mountains of Ayeraan and the forests of Gandara.
Elves created Dryads to protect forests and Nymphs to protect riparian habitats.
Elves might have created Trolls to survive the radiation-toxicity of the Chaos Plain.
Orcs farm, fish, herd, and labor; they produce sustenance for the others.
They seek a just society, and a just world.
Orcs ride Acrodonts and Camelots across the plains of Shamsya and the mountains of Zamindan;
and work as common laborers in the cities of Aqueon and Setaraan.
Alternate Technology
Industrial technology is called ‘CarbonTech’ by the peoples of Jehan. By this they mean two things:
1. The era of fossil-fuel dependence, which ended in 2090.
2. Tech that used explosives. MuffleMold now renders explosive compounds inert, and the mold is pervasive worldwide. Thus, no guns nor bombs. On the bright side, it makes hydrogen-filled dirigibles safer. What could go wrong? Surely an airship would not be attacked by a fire-breathing dragon!
During the Solean Age, many life-forms were created or modified, including variants on humans. Much biotech was devoted to replacing energy-intensive industrial technologies, such as ore-refining. A sampling of important Solean-Age species:
MuffleMold: suppresses chemical explosions (described above). Probably created by pacifists devoted to the ideals of Alfred Nobel.
Mineral Lichens: These extract metals from rocks. The lichens, when dried, burn hot enough to smelt extracted metals into raw ingots.
Blackfiber reeds: carbon-filament fibers from these wetland reeds can be spun and woven into backcloth, which is stronger than Kevlar.
Camelots and Doggers are tougher than their natural precursor-species.
Dragons are gene-modded avians. Unlike the mythical creatures, they only have four limbs: 2 wings and two rear legs. But the bigger, older ones do spit acid, or exhale poison-gas, or breathe fire.
[Horses were exterminated by gene-war at the end of the Protean Age.]
‘Faeries’ are weaponized, upgraded dragonflies created during gene-war. Quite dangerous.