Gemworld

Gemworld was one of the first realms carved out by the First Gods who occupied the nascent Demiurge after the collapse of the First Firmament.

It is the home of the Lords of Order and the Lords of Chaos. Careful détente ensures neither faction of Elder Gods can dominate the landscape. Proxies and intermediaries are used in a game of cosmic chess to vie for control. A series of noble houses named after gemstones are the day-to-day rulers of Gemworld.

Nabu is one of the Lords of Order. He quit the realm of Gemworld millennia ago to walk among mortals in a human form. This has left Gemworld significantly more chaotic in recent millennia.

Hank Hall and Dawn Granger are empowered as ideologues for the Lords of Order and Chaos, respectively.

History

With the cataclysm of Ragnarok and the death of the Demiurge, the flow of magic across all of Yggdrasil rapidly waned. The Atlantean sorceress Citrina forged a pact with the Lords of Chaos for one of their realms; the world of Nilaa. With the bargain struck, the Great Exodus began. Nilaa was populated with all manner of wizards, witches, fae creatures, and magical beasts fleeing the ever worsening conditions on Earth. Following the Great Exodus the links between the two worlds were severed and there has been almost no contact between the realms for thousands of years, such that the 'First Home' of Atlantis faded into the stuff of legends on Nilaa. Crossings from Nilaa to Earth were extraordinarily few in number.

Government formed on Nilaa. It was in the hands of twelve Great Houses of self-appointed nobility, each represented by a Gemstone that served as a badge of office for the head of the family. A number of Minor Houses rose in service to the Great Houses, much like the Italian houses of the late Renaissance or the Zhou dynasty of China.

The stones themselves held great power and the different mystical clans each adopted one that harmonized well with their magics. The Great Houses were Amethyst, Ruby, Emerald, Diamond, Sapphire, Topaz, Aquamarine, Moonstone, Opal, Sardonyx, Garnet, and Turquoise. The houses have always been ruled by one Royal House that stood above the others. First this was House Ruby, though in time it passed to House Emerald, and eventually House Amethyst.

In time, a newly-appointed Lord Opal went to outright war with the other Houses. He made sinister pacts with dark entities from other worlds, monstrosities of tremendous power that the other houses were unable to stand against. Some sided with Opal out of desire for power, some out of fear; some reluctantly bowed their heads, and the others were left in ruins or destroyed completely.

The ruling House Amethyst was among those decimated by Opal. The King and Queen refused to yield and were slain, but not before they entrusted their only daughter Amaya to the Witch Mother Citrina, in the hopes she would be safe from Opal until she was ready to return to Gemworld and serve as champion against him.