Credit for the map goes to @Duck, though all world building is my own.
Crescent Mountains: Central in the lands, and largely inhabited by the Gray Orcs, though their settlements are all on the Western side. To the east of the mountains is the Human Domain, where there is no central monarchy, but lands are instead governed by a handful of Lords from their keeps. West of the Crescent Mountains is called the Lawless Lands. It is something of a misnomer, as there are certainly rules upheld by whoever holds power in a given area. Unlike the Human Domain, however, law isn't centralized, and nobility is a concept held with disdain by the Lawless.
Northwatch: The keep on the northernmost tip of the Crescent Mountains. The Sully family once held power over the entire Human Domain, as well as places beyond the Mountains. Their harsh and tyrannical rule of old saw them overthrown by a coalition of other Lords and their knights. The family was forced into an oat to protect the Northern border of the Human Domain, which they have done for generations now. But the family is gone, with the recent passing of the last patriarch, widowed and without a male heir. There is now not only a power vacuum, but a a hole in the Domanin's defenses as lesser Lords and their knights are free from the oaths they had kept with the Sully family for centuries.
Southwatch: The Kendal family rules the lands between the two forks of the Lun River, at least in name. The Inscrutable Wood is generally considered impassible by humans, and is the land of the Wandering Folk. The Kendal family, like the Sully, have sworn a sacred oath to guard the Southern border of the Human Domain. Unlike the Sully family, however, they keep the oath as a noble and worthy duty.
True Watch: The True Watch is a sacred order of knights, all who hold the power of prophecy. It is thought that this power comes to those humans who have the blood of the Wandering Folk in them, and that this is the reason they are most common around Southwatch, close to the Wandering Folk's forest home.
The True Watch have no official keep, but are known for meeting in tents outside or, less commonly, in the halls of families who have invited them to stay. Their mission is to foresee threats to peace, and stamp them out ahead of time. Their vision is not infallible, though, and they've been known to miss things, or predict impending doom only for nothing to happen. They say that time shifts, and that it isn't always easy to follow.
River Folk: The Fulgar River, which branches out south and west from the Crescent Mountain, has a boat bound civilization of mixed races, though mainly human. They trade precious metals and stones from the Gray Orcs, hides and leather from the gray, and more civilized commodities from the humans of the Domain. Though there is no love between the Human Domain and the lands beyond, the humans of the River Folk create an economic bridge between the two.
Elves:
The "Wandering Folk" live on the wooded island south of Alliance land, right on the border. They are so called, because their homes, veritable palaces, move by magic throughout the forest. Though if you were to stand upon the roof of one, you would look over the tops of the trees, their palaces can't be seen from the outside of the woods, or even from the air. They also cannot be reached on purpose, but can only be arrived at by accident. Even the elves cannot set out to go home once they leave, and have to wander through the forest until they happen upon it. The elves, however, being eternal tend not to be bothered by the extra time it takes to travel, and are quite adept at the mental gymnastics that are required to avoid intentionally seeking the place that they want to go.
The Wandering Folk are prideful, but nonsensical. They are easy to slight by humans, because they take offense seemingly at random. It is not clear to humans whether they want to be offended, or their social cues are so complicated that outsiders step over their manners on accident.
It is said that humans have a high capacity for reason, but a low capacity for magic, and that the Wandering Folk are quite the opposite.
Orcs:
Mountain Orcs: Ranging from five to six feet tall, Mountain Orcs are stocky and powerful. They have the same upturned nose, pointed ears and tusk-like bottom canines as the neighboring Plains Orcs, but are distinct with their thick gray fur that protects them from the harsh mountain climate. They dig their strongholds into terraces in the side of the mountain, with timber walls reinforced with packed ice and snow. They live in low longhouses inside these walls, each house holding an entire family. Tribes from different strongholds can war with each other often, and very occasionally they have been known to cross the summit into the Human Domain. Prodigious armor and weapon smiths, Mountain Orcs have a special process for their steel, and Orcish steel is known to be stronger than any other, but at the expense of great weight.
Plains Orcs: Distant kin to the Mountain Orcs, they range from six to seven feet, and are of similar weight. Their skin is in various shades of green, their hair thick and black, but constrained mainly to their head. Unlike the Mountain Orcs with their strongholds, the Plains Orcs are nomadic, with a sort of yurt that can be packed up easily when the hunting gets slim and they feel the need to move.
Magic: Sorcery is complicated and dangerous, and most non-elves don't bother with it. There are, however, those who are gifted with magical traits, like the ability to talk to animals, or shape shifting or telepathy. These traits, though much more limited than the powers of a sorcerer, are innate and come quite naturally.
Story: With the final extinction of the Sully family, Northwatch has been all but abandoned. Winter kept the passes difficult, but spring is coming and there is a fear that the barbarians and beastfolk from beyond the mountains will encroach on human lands.
You are on your way to Northwatch. Maybe you were sent there by a Lord as a knight, to defend the realm. Maybe you hope to make your fortune as a sellsword.
Maybe you're from the other side, an orc or barbarian from the plains coming to raid and settle the fertile lands of the Domain.
If you have any questions, get to asking. If you'd like to add a race to the world, run it by me first.
CS:
Name:
Age:
Race:
Appearance:
Equipment:
Special Abilities:
Background:
