A Kiwi GM's Campaign Setting
WELCOME TO THE REALM OF SALMICHAEL
Where the cold mists cling to the North Downs and the hammer rings eternal against the anvils of the Runeclad Hills, the Realm of Salmichael stands as a defiant bastion beneath a silent sky. It stretches from the jagged peaks of the Savior’s Wall to the dark eaves of the Jackal Woods, and from the fertile Sal Vale to the shimmering, mystery-laden depths of Lake Leloria. This is a land of hard-won stability: fortified Castras guarding vital trade roads, quiet villages bound by the Great Honour, and a frontier where the laws of the old world have been replaced by the raw necessity of survival.
Born of catastrophe and sustained by grit, Salmichael is more than a collection of maps and borders. Its people, humans, elves, dwarves, and halflings, are survivors of a cosmic displacement, bound together by the Hammer-Mark and a shared identity forged in the fires of the Transference. The air carries the scent of mountain pine, the iron tang of the forges, and the smell of turned earth from the Gabrial Downs. Across the realm, the steady rhythm of the guard’s march and the hushed prayers in roadside shrines weave a tapestry of a people who refuse to break.
A Realm Forged in the Transference
Only twenty years ago, the sky went silent. In an event now known as The Transference, the entire kingdom was torn from its ancestral home and set down beneath stars no astronomer recognized. The people awoke to alien horizons, uncharted wilderness, and a world that felt fundamentally "wrong." In the chaos that followed, the Stewardship rose to lead, anchoring the displaced populace with the Great Honour, a social contract where privilege is earned through service and every soul has a duty to the whole.
In the two decades since, Salmichael has transitioned from a panicked refugee state to a resilient power. We have seen the "Years of Ash" where we learned to farm this new soil, and the "Defence of the Wall" where we proved our steel. The history of Salmichael is not found in dusty ancient tomes, but in the calloused hands of its citizens and the unwavering vigilance of those who walk the Savior’s Wall.
For the Game Master
The Realm of Salmichael is architected for grounded, high-stakes storytelling. Its heart is the capital of Sal Michael, but its lifeblood flows through the hillforts of Nor Castra, the dwarven ingenuity of Anvil’s Rest, and the resilient settlements of the Northwoods.
Each region offers immediate narrative tension: political friction between those who wish to find a way back and those who want to build anew; frontier villages threatened by the strange, predatory things of the Jackal Woods; and the lingering "Shifted Weave" of magic that makes every spell a calculated risk. Trade is measured in bitts and crowns, but the true currency of the realm is Reputation. Every contract offered and every monster slain ripples through the social fabric of the Great Honour.
For the Player
This is a realm where your actions carry the weight of memory. Ruined towers are not just "dungeons", they are the remnants of what we managed to bring with us, or the strange artifacts of the world we now inhabit. In the taverns, elders speak of the "Old World" with tears in their eyes; in the markets, scouts sell maps of lands that didn't exist yesterday.
Whether your character is a Warden of the roads, a Verdant-Speaker of the wilds, or an Oath-Keeper seeking to settle a debt of honour, Salmichael will demand your best. Here, a promise is more binding than a chain, a shield raised for a stranger is the highest form of worship, and a single act of courage can ensure the realm survives another twenty years.
Words from the Stewardship:
"We are a people of the hammer and the heart. We have crossed the void between worlds, faced the silence of the gods, and still, we stand. Our banners do not fly for vanity, they fly as a signal to the darkness that we are here, and we are not leaving. In Salmichael, you will find bread for the hungry and work for the willing, but know this: the Great Honour is not a gift, it is a weight. Carry it well, and the realm will carry you."
THE DISPLACED KINGDOM
Players Guide and Journal