Arcanis

Arcanis is the fictional world for the Arcanis campaign setting, created and supported by Paradigm Concepts.

Arcanis is a D20 System campaign setting designed for use with the Dungeons and Dragons role playing game. The setting was launched in 2001 and is known for its odd twists on the fantasy genre, as well as its wide member approval and community-based design and construction.

Arcanis is set on the continent of Onara, where a crumbling Coryani Empire (reminiscent of the Western Roman Empire) struggles with newly created nations such as Milandir (reminiscent of the Holy Roman Empire) or Canceri (reminiscent of Russia during the Middle Ages).

Races of Arcanis
Arcanis as a setting differs from other Dungeons and Dragons campaign settings, with its take on the traditional races of Dungeons and Dragons.

Dark-kin are those born with demonic traits. They are usually born from human parents, and rarely sire Dark-kin children.

Dwarves are still hardy craftsmen, but with a big twist. Once Giants, Dwarves were assigned the task of protecting mankind. When they begun to lord over man, the king of the gods, Illiir cursed them, making them short. They cannot die, and are cursed to try to make the perfect item, which drives most dwarves to eternally, obsessively work on crafting such an item. The god Sarish, god of oaths, promised to the dwarves that should they make such an item, he would end their curse and make them giants once more.

Elves in Arcanis are called Elorii, and they differ from traditional Dungeons and Dragons. They are actually being immortal like the Elves of Tolkien. The Elorii are made of the traditional Greek elements: Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. Elorii are divided into different subraces based on their elemental ancestry, adding another subrace, Life Elorii or Ardekenes. The Elorii were created by four very powerful elementals in conjunction with a "life spirit" called Belisarda. They originally imbued a dead orc with this power, which also explains why Elorii have fangs. These elemental spirits are worshipped by the Elorii as gods; they despise humanity because four of the human gods "absorbed" the four Elemental Lords, leaving only Belisarda. They eventually rebelled against their creators.

Gnomes in Arcanis are ugly, short half-breeds. Unlike traditional Dungeons and Dragons gnomes, these Gnomes are not an independent race, but considered to be a 'aberration' race, a cross between Dwarves and Humans. This mix causes Gnomes in Arcanis to be disgustingly deformed, as the curse applied to dwarves applies equally to the stature of their offspring.

Humans in Arcanis mirror their real world archetypes, just as they always have in Dungeons and Dragons. Most of humanity are latecomers to the continent of Onara (where most of the current story takes place), but at least one group, the Pengik, predate the Ss'regorean Empire, who have the oldest recorded history.

Val were created during the God War as the elite warriors of the Gods and thereafter, as the caretakers of Mankind. In their stead, every god sent his servants, the Valinor, to mingle with the populace, and create a semi-divine family capable of aiding mankind. Every Val has a bloodline, which is tied to a specific god; they are gifted with divine powers which they may improve; these are related to their bloodline. For example, val'Ossan are tied to Yarris, god of the sea, and can gain Bloodline Powers such as walking on water and controlling sea creatures. Val are also the only people in Arcanis who can be psionically active. Val always have steel grey eyes, unless they are psioncally active; in psions, the iris turns clear, leaving the eye entirely white.

Ss'ressen are lizard-men and a major component of the Ss'regorean Empire. This empire consists of many races, many of them serpentine such as Naga and Yuan'ti. They are the oldest civilized group on the continent of Onara, and at one point had conquered most of it. They are well known for their strange magics and were responsible for the creation of the Elorii. Originally, they worshipped the gods Kassegore and Ygg, but with the rise of the Naga to a ruling position, they now worship gods known as the Varn. (Originally, they worshipped slaadi, but with the removal of these beings from the Open Gaming License content, Paradigm Concepts was forced to change this.)

The Black Talon ss'ressen rebelled against the Ss'regorean Empire and fled. They had come to worship a god known as Fire Drake. They live in a swampy area of the nation of Milandir. The Ashen Hide ss'ressan broke off from the Black Talons, deciding that Fire Drake was secretly the human fire god, Nier.