Detailed below is a short overview of the Herofest LARP world and how Herofest fits within the campaign. This is an extremely detailed campaign world that has had hundreds of hours of work put into it. However, the depth of your knowledge of the Herofest larp campaign will have no impact upon your larping enjoyment on each Herofest event. Each live role playing Herofest event will be set against the background of this rich and varied campaign world with its own unique political, economic and cultural environment. There are no pre-determined outcomes; the player’s actions often have far reaching consequences! We believe that it is fundamental to the enjoyment of live-role-playing that players at all levels may have an influence on the world in which they live, if they so choose. Each time you attend an event more of the campaign knowledge will become available. Also when you join a particular larp faction you will gain more background information on that tower.
The Herofest LARP campaign world is called Orin rakatha; a land originally devised and built by the mysterious Mystics of Old. It is a self-contained world surrounded by impenetrable Mists. However the mystics have been opposed by the mistweavers since the world began. The mistweavers created their own creatures to serve as their forces, these are called hordelings and come in the form of goblins trolls ogres and similar creatures. The mystics invited the first peoples from another plane to fight for them, these were the Shadowsfall. The war that followed lasted for generations and during this time many other peoples came to Orin rakatha and became embroiled in the war and in conflict with each other. With the whole land in danger of being devastated by the constant conflict the mystics and mistweavers met and agreed that full scale conflicts had to end. To avoid further wars, the Mystics constructed a series of towers which were allocated to communities of adequate size (number and strength of their followers). The Towers are now the backbone of civilized life in Orin Rakatha, and are self-contained demi-planes in which communities can exist in safety. Areas are set-aside in the Towers for farming and the other mundane aspects of life, and as such, they represent a safe haven for a community's continued existence.
In addition, the Mistweavers unleashed the power of the mists that surround the world and which occasionally wash over the lands and can turn anyone not protected by a Tower, or by similar means, into Hordelings. Hordelings are disfigured, almost mindless creatures that believe that if they die in combat they will be reincarnated as bigger, more powerful beasts. They are attracted to groups of people, the larger and more powerful the group, the greater the number and strength of the Hordelings that are attracted. They will invariably fight to the death. The introduction of the Mists and Hordelings has prevented communities from waging large-scale war against their neighbours for fear of creating armies of Hordelings. Therefore, all business, politics and communication in Orin Rakatha tends to be performed by smaller groups, known as factions. Over the years time has shown that if the factions are kept to a maximum of twenty in size then hordelings are almost never attracted and this has become how life in Orin rakatha has evolved.
There are more than twenty known Towers in Orin Rakatha, inhabited by a wide range of creatures and peoples of many different types and beliefs. Every conceivable race resides upon Orin Rakatha and a history of all Elements of Magic and worshipping of a variety of faiths can be found. Each Tower has its own system of Laws and beliefs and contains numerous different Guilds and abilities. Some Towers specialise in certain skills (for example the Dymwan - a Tower of Necromancers, or the Wizards Consortium - who are responsible for the majority of magical research on Orin Rakatha), whilst others are more generalist (like the Kalid or the Kern Valley, both of which have access to a broad range of skills and abilities). There are also Towers that contain one racial type (Annach Morannonil - the Drow Homeworld, or the Thissessin Tower - home of the Lizardmen). You name it, and it will probably be found upon Orin Rakatha. Towered groups are quite distinctive and are required by the Laws of Orin Rakatha to wear a distinctive emblem or type of clothing in order to be correctly identified; this is known as the “Tower Colours”.
Those that do not reside within a Tower are classed as “Towerless” and are not afforded any type of protection; either from being persecuted by “Towered” folk, or protected from the Mists and Hordelings. Only those who reside within Towers have any rights. It is possible for other races to obtain a Tower upon Orin Rakatha, provided that they are of sufficient size and have enough followers/subjects. Orin Rakatha contains the remnants of many races of people who have fled from their original Homeworld.
As previously mentioned, Orin Rakatha is separated from other Planes and it is difficult to travel to and from. The only means of transportation between Planes and Orin Rakatha is by a device called the World Window. This device is how new peoples travel to the world of Orin rakatha. However when you first travel to Orin rakatha you will not be a member of a tower. You are granted mercenary rights and status and can travel the lands in relative safety for a year and a day.
Interaction between Planes and different groups has become more common with the introduction of the annual Interplanar Fayre held upon Orin Rakatha. This is generally hosted by whichever faction won the right at the previous years fayre. This allows meetings, agreements, treaties etc and for trade to be conducted, between residents of Orin Rakatha and other Planes. To enable effective interaction a fairly large area is normally established and warded in a similar fashion to the inside of a Tower, where no combat works. This area is called the 'Aura of Serenity'.
Each tower suffers losses over the course of each year and at the end of every year there is a recruitment time when each tower sends out a faction to recruit from those who have mercenary rights.
Role Playing in the Herofest Larp campaign World
All players coming to Herofest for the first time will be considered mercenaries either from another world or from one of the currently unused towers. This allows you to fully enjoy the larping experience with no prior knowledge of the world or the game. Once you have been to an event or two you will be able to find out more about the towers the factions and more and at the next recruitment can join the faction of your choice.
