Iskavell

The world beyond Iskavell is broken. Rifts split the land, seas rose and swallowed the coastlines, nations fell to fire and famine. Most places are uninhabitable but Iskavell endures: a brutal shard of ice and stone at the edge of the world, unforgiving yet alive with old powers. For many, it is the last refuge and a fragile beacon of hope.

Life here is far from safe. Rifts continue to tear at the island, bringing instability and strange energies. A powerful natural force spreads across the land, reshaping it in ways no one can control. Forests twist into unfamiliar forms, waters sour, and the dead will not lie still. Some whisper that it is the land's defence, others that it is punishment, and a few claim that it heralds the awakening of something imprisoned deep beneath the ice.

Those rumours speak of an entity bound below, a seed of creation, a destroyer of worlds, or perhaps both. None agree on what it is, but all agree on thing: if its prison fails, the fate of Iskavell and perhaps the rest of the world will be decided.

Amid these dangers, five factions compete for the future of Iskavell. Some hold to old vows, others seek change, and all believe their path is the one that will ensure survival. Their struggles are as much a part of the island as the rifts and the spreading blight.

The Wardens of the Endless Watch of the Endless Watch are an ancient order who bound themselves to seal away a great power. Now awakened once more, stirred by the rifts and the spreading corruption, they are unyielding in their purpose. To them, the seal must remain intact — no matter the cost. Many whisper that the price of their eternal vigil was paid not only in their own sacrifice, but in the drowning of whole peoples.

The Drowned Court dwell in the deep waters around Iskavell. Once washed away in the Wardens’ great sealing, they have returned to reclaim what was lost. To them, the force beneath the ice is a power that once sustained their people, and its release will restore balance to a broken world. Where others see rifts as calamity, the Drowned Court see a long-denied renewal breaking through.

The Rift Chasers are explorers, inventors, and opportunists drawn by the strange energies that bleed from the rifts. They hunt for Rift Essence wherever it appears, a volatile substance said to be pure chaos itself. Dangerous to harvest and deadly to mishandle, it must be stored with care, but it offers warmth, power, and strange magical potential to those daring enough to claim it.

The Emerald Dawn are isolationists and visionaries who have bound themselves to the land. They preach the promise of renewal, believing that through struggle and sacrifice the island can be remade into something greater. To them endurance is more than survival, it is a sacred path toward transformation, and they guard their vision fiercely against all who doubt it.

The Stormbreak Settlers took their name from the first ship that carried them here. Hardened seafarers, pirates to some and survivors to others, they arrived on battered vessels and refused to turn back. They cling to the coasts, building homes and communities with salt and steel, determined to carve out a lasting place in Iskavell no matter the cost.

You will arrive in Iskavell by ship. The seas you cross have already swallowed nations, and there is no turning back. Each of you has a reason for making the journey, whether safety, survival, or something else. You may already have ties to one of the factions, or know others making the voyage, but most step onto Iskavell with little understanding of what truly waits there. Most who come here travel with allies or companions, and few arrive as strangers to everyone around them.