The Exiled Abyss

The Exiled Abyss (or The Great Well), is a plane of existance that resides within The Material Plane.

The Exiled Abyss is a dimension that contains the banished continent of The Fairlands. The plane is enhanced to prevent regular planar magic from creatures leaving the abyss.

Origins of The Abyss
What we know of The Empire of Rythia has come from incomplete findings and obscure legends. All we are truly sure of is its fall from grace. One of the largest empires known. Its towers reached heavens, it’s cities rivaled mountains and it’s riches were unparalleled. Eventually, it’s territory consumed the small continent known as the Fairlands. However, no matter how great it was, it could not prepare for the end. For reasons unknown, the empire had angered a primordial force. One day, a hole opened from the sky and what the ancient gods call a Void Dragon appeared. Within a week, all life was either exterminated or evacuated. This massacre was heard all around the world and many prophets claimed that if this beast persisted it would be the end of the world. Armies from across the world met with angels to take down this worldly terror.

Even when the day was finally won, the corpse of the Void Dragon contaminated the earth with a substance known as Vire. It spread like a sickness in the world. Exposure to Vire caused a possibly fatal sickness that made the continent practically uninhabitable. For fear that Vire would spread past the content of Fairlands a coalition of the world’s strongest mages, clerics and warlocks banished the entire continent into a pocket dimension. Eventually, the upkeep of this dimension become cumbersome, but even more expensive to destroy. It was decided that this dimension would have a multipurpose of containing deadly criminals and exiles. The dimension would be known as The Exiled Abyss or The Great Well since you could see a hole in the black sky that peered outside into the overworld.

As the overworld grew many kingdoms suffered a population and resource crisis. Eventually, even the pettiest of crimes was a one-way ticket to The Exiled Abyss. Some corrupt rulers even began exiling small useless villages into the abyss to kill without consequence. Although exile to the abyss used to be a death sentence, the will to survive always prevails. Civilizations started to sprout within this post-apocalyptic world.

The Four Great Civilisations
The world of the abyss is hostile to new nations. From the existance of competitive nations, the hostile wastes of the abyss and the many roaming gangs, the fight for civilization is tough. However, there are four big civilizations that seem to have survived the test of time so far. Lyria, Ryevalene, Kywyn, and Storic Kye make up 78% of the humanoid population in The Exiled Abyss. Towns, city-states, or nations outside of these nations are either under their protection or are expected to fail or be conquered within a few years. Most of The Great Four lie near the edges of The Fairlands as the closer you get to the center the more Vire contamination there is.