The size of provinces has been increased from the standard average of 1000 square miles.

A province is now approximately 50x50 miles, averaging 2500 square miles. This change means that the Heartlands now are approximately the size of France; the West Coast the size of the British Isles and Cerilia is the size of greater Europe.

I think this change is quite significant; the area covered is still not too large, but to me it gives a much butter feel than the tiny Cerilia TSR released.

Population figures have been increased proportionately. Overall Cerilia is relatively sparsely populated when compared to medieval Europe, except for central areas of Anuire, Khinasi and Brechtür.

This is largely because Cerilia is such a dangerous place – in addition to the various non-human realms there are also dragons, giants, trolls and other hazards.

This means that people tend to band together, leaving more wilderness to adventure in ;-)

The Map of Anuire

The change that may appear the most radical is the one involving the map of Greater Anuire (covering Anuire, as well as bordering realms in Rjurik, Brechtür, Khinasi, and Aduria).

v     Province terrain has changed in some provinces. In general, all provinces on the BR map shaded light green have been labeled “woods”, which is more rugged and has more vegetation than plains, but which are not as rugged as hills.

v     Most provinces also are listed with “secondary terrain”. A forest province may have “hills” and “river” as secondary terrain for example. Some provinces have other features noted as well, such as “capital” (indicating a realm’s capital province).

v     Province of Eastmarch added to the Erebannien part of Aerenwe. This province has been magically warded by HMA for many centuries, and its location or even its existence is known only to a very few.

v     The Spiderfell is now composed of 3 provinces, all of which have province levels and holdings (all controlled by the Spider of course). Would-be invaders must think beyond a few thousand square miles of hilly forest; why is it that this vile goblin-infested forest thrives in the heart of Anuire after two millennia of human settlement?

v     Mount Deismaar never blew entirely up. It still lies southwest of Bliene and is considered a holy place by most. Pilgrimage is common, especially among the worshipers of Haelyn and Nesirie.

v     The West Coast looks a bit different, primarily in southern Boeruine, Taeghas, and Brosengae. This was done in an early BR campaign I ran, to allow Boer and Avan to have a little extra room for fighting, and I’ve stuck with the change since.

v     The Western Isles is a large group of islands a few days sailing due west from Boeruine’s capital of Seaharrow.

The two major islands are named West and East Island (they have other, local names as well).

The Lostern and Tontier Islands are unconnected to the main bulk of the Western Isles, lying between them and the mainland.

The islands are populated with the descendants of early Andu and Rjurik settlers. West and East Island also have a small fey community. The islands are nominally under Boeruine’s rule.

v     There is a realm on the Adurian Coast called Tenouire. It is populated with Anuireans who secretly clung to the worship of the old gods during the years of the Anuirean Empire. Now they openly worship Brenna and Masela and generally keep to themselves.

v     Several Anuireans are establishing minor colonies on the Adurian mainland, for the fist time in centuries.

v     Elinie is considered to be part of the Eastern Marches. By virtue of its location, geography, and the mindset of its rulers (Khinasi) it has a distinct eastern orientation.

v     The Island of Caelcorwynn is an almost mystical place. Few sailors can claim to have actually seen the island, and none can claim to have set foot there and returned. The island, when it can be located at all, is always shrouded in mist and surrounded by treacherous reefs.

v     Old Aduria is not some mystical place devoid of life. If players want, they can establish colonies there. But be warned, there are reasons people do not live here already.

The World of Aebrynis

Aebrynis is the name of the world upon which the continent of Cerilia lies.

v     The world of Aebrynis is known to be round by scholars – to most commoners this distinction is quite meaningless.

v     Aebrynis has a single moon, much like Earth’s moon. The Khinasi, who are skilled astronomers, know of the presence of other stellar objects in the heaven besides the stars (the other planets of Aebrynis’ solar system). But to the rest of Cerilia they are just a few more stars (much like Venus, Mars, and Jupiter were known on Earth).

v     There are many other continents besides Cerilia. To the south lays the great bulk of Old Aduria from whence the Andu (and the other human tribes as well) once fled. Far to the east, beyond the Sea of Dragons lies Djapar, the ancient homeland of the Basarji.

v     Countless leagues west across the Sea of Storms lies the fabled Far Shores (Tollanar), but they are more a myth than a fact, for no man from Cerilia has set foot there in a thousand years. To the far south are the mysterious lands of the Oriental BR setting, but there have never been any contact between it and Cerilia so it’s a complete unknown.

v     At the height of their Empire the Anuireans traveled far and wide, far beyond the borders of Cerilia, and discovered many lands on far shores. There is no longer any great contact with these places, although some traders still venture forth and return with rare goods.

v     For reasons unknown to the commoners of Cerilia, Aebrynis’s sun varies in luminosity over a 27-year interval. The period when the sun is at its dimmest is often marked by chaotic weather and cold winters, while the opposite is true when the sun shines the brightest. Priests and scholars know that Avani the Sun Goddess loses strength when Cuiraécen the Sentinel wanders too far from the gates to the Winter Witch’s realm, allowing the servants of the goddess Kriesha to slip into the world.

v     The sun was at its furthest during the winter of 1520 HC, and the years around 1530HC will be marked by long summers and mild winters. The next time the Winter Witch is free to roam Cerilia will be in 1547 HC. In game terms this means increased growth and prosperity during the long summer and the opposite during the long winter.

The Shadow World

The Shadow World is the strange parallel world that lies so close to Cerilia, yet is so difficult to reach. According to legend the Daylight World and the Shadow World was as one at the dawn of time.

For some reason the world was split in two, one called the Daylight World and one called the Shadow World. At the time the Shadow World was not a place of darkness and corruption, but rather of enchantments, spirits and faerie folk.

Following Deismaar, the Shadow World slowly changed character; eventually becoming the dreaded place it is today.

To the commoners the Shadow World is little more than myth, a place of living shadows, wicked fey, terrible demons and the restless dead.

People rarely speak of it, for to do so is considered bad luck, and in some places knowledge of the Shadow World is forbidden and punishable by death. Some may even doubt its existence, but on the Eve of the Dead all gather before their candles and offer fearful prayers throughout the night.

The terrible thing is that the common folk are right; the Shadow World is indeed home to all those things and more – and the Shadows hunger for the light…

Cosmology and magic

The average inhabitant of Cerilia, including commoners, craftsmen, nobles and priests, know nothing of how the world is ordered, except a few “facts”.

They know that there are forces of good and evil, and that there is a heavenly afterlife for those who honor the gods and eternal damnation in the netherworld for those who do not.

High priests, hierophant druids and scholarly archmages may catch glimpses of what lies beyond, but not even they fully understand how it all works. They may know the Hundred Names of God, or be able to describe the Hierarchy of the Seven Heavens, but that is the extent of their knowledge.

Keep that in mind if you are tempted to use this information.

v     The RoE game uses the Manual of the Planes as a starting point for its cosmology, choosing the standard DnD Great Wheel (and therefore an alignment-based cosmology) as a basis.

v     Unless otherwise noted, things are as described in the MotP, although things always have a strong Birthright flavor.

If you go to Mount Celestial for example, you will enter the Seven Heavens of Haelyn, where the Just and the Good spend an eternity basking in the glory of their god, and not some strange mountain filled with alien gods.

v     The Inner, Outer and Prime Material planes are rigidly separated. It is far more difficult to move between them than it is under normal Wheel cosmology. Internal movement between similar planes is less restricted.

v     Only astral projection and gate spells can breach the boundaries between the three groups (Inner, Outer, and Prime) of planes.

v     The Outer Planes are the home to the Gods. It is here that they maintain their divine realms, and where the souls of the deceased go after death.

v     The upper (non-evil) planes are generally referred to as the Heavens, while the lower (evil-aligned) planes are called the Netherworld. The Heavens are generally thought to be somewhere above the sky and the stars. The Netherworld is through to be placed somewhere deep below Aebrynis’ surface.

v     This barrier also applies to divination spells, but rather than being completely blocked, they are made more unreliable. For example, the DM may allow your scry spell to give you some glimpses of Hell if you persist in looking but it will likely not reveal much useful information.

v     Augury, divination, commune, and similar spells do work, but they are even more unlikely to provide straight answers.

v     Commune requires special note. The gods are very real and immensely powerful, yet they are neither omnipotent nor omniscient.

Haelyn is going to have next to no information about the affairs of the Abyss, since he has no way to gather intelligence there.

v     It must also be noted that the gods dwell on the Outer Planes and have the same troubles reaching the Prime Material plane as the other way around – Nesirie doesn’t really know that much about what is going on in Cerilia. That is what her priesthood is for – doing her divine work in the realm of mortals.

v     It is not normally possible to go to the Astral Plane and stay there; the astral projection spell briefly lets you stay in this no-place between everything, but you are quickly whisked to your destination and are rarely able to interact with whatever may reside there. The gate key makes a shortcut, so you don’t even perceive the nothingness.

v     Plane shift works normally, but can only move you from one adjacent plane to the next. For instance, you could move from Inner Plane of Fire to the Plane of Ash, but not directly to Air or Water. On the Outer Planes you can go to either the Outlands or the two adjacent Outer Planes. The spell cannot move you to or from the Astral Plane.

v     The Daylight World, in which Cerilia lies and the game takes place, is separated from the Shadow World by something called the Veil. The Veil is in fact the Ethereal Plane, and the only way to reach the Shadow World from the Daylight World (or vice versa) is first step into the Ethereal and then cross the Deep Ethereal to reach the Shadow World. Once on the other side a traveler can exit the Ethereal in the usual ways.

v     Navigating the Deep Ethereal is impossible under most circumstances, which is why the Daylight World isn’t swarming with undead right now. Oh, it is always possible to try to find a way across, and some might even succeed, but the vast majority that tries is lost forever. Plane shift doesn’t help a lot either, you can use it to enter or exit the Ethereal Plane, but it won’t allow you to cross the Deep Ethereal.

v     It is, however, possible to cross directly between Daylight and Shadow under the right circumstances. Sometimes the Veil grows so thin that the Daylight World and the Shadow World become adjacent and then plane shift can be used to step directly between the worlds. The Veil may even grow so thin that the two worlds merge, and then any man or creature can make the journey without magic.

v     This also means that spells like shadow walk are a bit restricted in their use, as it can only be used to enter or exit the Shadow World at places where the Veil is thin.

It does, however, give the benefit of choosing where you arrive (unlike plane shift which deposits you quite randomly).

In game terms it can be used normally except in direct sunlight or in areas where the Veil is especially powerful.

v     Spells with the darkness descriptor and shadow-based spells (such as shadow conjuration and shadow evocation) work normally in the Daylight World, but are enhanced in areas where the Veil is thin and diminished in areas of direct sunlight or areas which are otherwise far removed from the Shadow World.

v     The Shadow World is essentially a composite of the Spirit World (but note that only primordial magic is enhanced), the Plane of Shadow and the Plane of Faerie.

In general, the Spirit World should be used as a basis (though there is precious little left these days). Areas under fey influence are much like the Plane of Faerie, and the ever-growing deadened areas are akin to the Plane of Shadow.

v     Spells that allow instantaneous transportation (such as dimension door and teleportation) still exist, but they work a little differently. Any reference to the Astral Plane is not applicable; the spell still has the same effect, but instead the spell manipulates the Veil and the relationship between the Daylight and Shadow World.

v     Casting time for any teleportation type spell is increased to 1 minute (10 rounds) for short-range spells like dimension door and 10 minutes for long-range spells like teleport. Travel is near instantaneous in the former case, but in the later the transit time is about 1 hour per every 100 miles crossed.

v     A result of “Similar Area” means that the caster is deposited in the Shadow World instead. A result of “Mishap” means that the caster takes damage, is “Off Target” and is dumped in the Shadow World, where he is immediately attacked by some nasty SW creature(s).

v     Invisibility gives you a +20 circumstance bonus to Hide. You’re pretty much invisible, but it won’t make you completely undetectable (like Bilbo in the Hobbit). The greater version of the spell makes you impossible to Spot (but not automatically silent) but it does end it you attack.

v     Creatures without wings can’t normally fly, so any spell that give wingless flight has reduced effect (if you polymorph into a bird instead, this rule doesn’t apply – birds are flying creatures).

Fly, overland flight (or similar spells) still works normally, but duration changes to Concentration/Maximum X (where X is the spells old duration). If the concentration is broken or the spell otherwise ends, the caster falls normally (he does not drift slowly to the ground).

v     Raise dead, resurrection and similar spells function normally, except that casting time is now extended, there is an XP cost, and the time the person can have been dead is counted in days instead of years.

v     Reincarnation functions normally, except that casting time is now extended, there is an XP cost, the time the person can have been dead is counted in days instead of years, AND the person will always be reincarnated as an animal. He will retain his basic personality, but he will not be the exact same person anymore.