Introduction

The name of a thing is the whole of a thing...

The world of Shem is a high-magic setting. Everything is magic. It exists in a part of the universe called the Spirit Realm, for it is part of the cosmos where legends and stories come alive. To the people living there, it is simply the world they are from, a world of wonders that have been rendered almost mundane in how common those wonders are.

Shem is the fourth planet from the star Sol Angelos. It is one of sixteen planets in a large system. It is a twin planet to the ocean world Salit, which can be seen large and blue in the sky. Shem has three moons - Green, Grey, and White - which are populated and magical as well. It is said that all of these worlds have existed in different forms before.

Continents

On Shem there are nine continents, six of which form a ring:

• Cassaru: a small continent around the north pole, from which grows the World Tree, a massive tree that reaches into the cosmos.
• Gyrah: a floating continent high in the sky that orbits the World Tree, floating around a parallel of 60 degrees or so.
• Ansulym: a large continent in the northeast, home to vast empires that dominate most of the world.
• Wymmera: a large continent south of Ansulym, mountainous on one side and open and flat on the other.
• Mahad: a smaller continent at the center of the ring of continents, mostly desert and tropical forests.
• Dabusen: the southeastern continent, huge and varied in landscape.
• Taggarus: the southern-central continent, close to Mahad and Dabusen, with great variation of landscape.
• Palhur: the largest continent, dominating the west. Its southern reaches touch the south pole; its northern reaches are tropical.
• Fasune: in the northwest and north-central, the land of Faerie.

All of the continents in the ring are connected via an Island Bridge that spans thousands of miles.

The empires of Ansulym dominate the world and exploit most of it ruthlessly. These empires are part of a group called the White Crown Concordance.

Oceans

There are six oceans that form amidst the continents:

• Borean Ocean: around Cassaru and the north.
• Aurul Ocean: between Ansulym and Fasune.
• Wyren Ocean: the central ocean within the ring.
• Palhuric Ocean: the ocean outside the ring to the west and east.
• Great Southern Ocean: the ocean south of the ring.
• Red Ocean: between Wymmera and Dabusen and Taggarus.

Each ocean is populated by merfolk, fish people, and other aquatic beings.

Subterra

There are also beings who live below ground in the Subterranean Realm, which has ten layers:

• The Lithosphere: caves near the surface, an elemental layer.
• The Grottos: isolated caves further down.
• The Hollow: a vast, open cavernous area held up by massive pillars, the fey layer.
• The Hypogaeum: a series of huge tunnels and caverns below the Hollow.
• The Low Mines: metal- and mineral-rich region being mined by the empires above, an elemental layer much colonized by imperial and industrial powers.
• Shadowdeep: an area where no light reaches, an elemental layer.
• Voidbarrens: an area where magic is negated, the unaligned layer.
• Barathrum: a sea of magma where only the most dangerous subterran beings dwell, the infernal layer.
• Stagnum Ignis: a lake of fire around the core.
• The Inner Core: a place of peace.

The People of Shem

Shem's conscious species number in the hundreds. Many are small populations living in hidden places, but some dominate the world. They fall into several categories, some of which overlap with one another:

• Akhoata: species of all-female assigned beings, such as nymphs, muses, and valkyries.
• Aliens: beings from other worlds.
• Animal Folk: anthropomorphic animals.
• Constructs: species constructed by other mortals.
• Deneg: smaller spirit folk and terata.
• Dragons: big lizards.
• Elementals: beings who embody part of nature.
• Fungals: anthropomorphic fungi.
• Illittum: beings descended of inmortals.
• Inmortals: extremely powerful beings who do not die of old age, including Divines.
• Insinsi: mystic beings who are attuned to study and observation.
• Insubstantiates: beings with gaseous or energy-based bodies.
• Metahumans: human-like beings with magical powers.
• Plant Folk: anthropomorophic plants.
• Spirit Folk: beings based in legend or folklore.
• Terata: spirit folk with more "monstrous" forms.
• Undead: the unliving who corrupt life.

Spirits, animal folk, and metahumans are the most common species around the world.

Magic

The magic of Shem is broadly split into five categories:

• Elemental or aetherial: magic of nature and the elementas.
• Infernal or imperial : magic coming from power, control, and harm.
• Fey: magic coming from stories and legends.
• Unaligned: various forms of magic unconnected to the above-listed magics, including powers of faith, conflict, paradox, and powers deriving from the identity of a person.
• Supernal, common, or popular: magic coming from the people, from acts of protection, kindness, or resistance. Often forbidden.

Unaligned Magic

There are four types of unaligned magic:

• Ambrosial or faith: magic derived from belief or faith. There are aligned versions of many of these.
• Nommic: magic derived from identity, from the body, mind, emotion (heart), or soul of a being. There are aligned versions of many of these.
• Paradoxical: magic derived from paradox, from the contradictions of the universe. There are aligned versions of many of these.
• Shebvic or neutral: magic derived from various forms of conflict or neutral concepts. There are aligned versions of many of these.

Names

The name of a thing is the whole of a thing...

A True Name is a concept, a power that encompasses everything that a person, place, thing, or idea is. A True Name has enormous power. The universe is called the "Book of Names", because a book containing all True Names would contain the whole of all things. Nommic magic derives from a True Name and its component parts - mind, body, heart, and soul. There are infernal, elemental, celestial, and fey True Names as well.

Faith

A person's faith, if felt and believed strongly enough, is powerful. Belief in a Divine being can give a person power if the Divine gives them favor, but belief in non-Divine beings may also give power if the being worshipped is powerful enough. Furthermore, faith in concepts has power. There are many who believe in a concept called "mortalism", which is the belief that though Divine beings exist, they do not deserve worship, and mortals can function without them. Religion on Shem is complex and varied.