The Ancient Realms Campaign
Introduction
Deep in the ancient history of the world is a secret: magic is, and always has been, a very real, natural element of reality. At one time, when human culture was young and simple, magical effects were wild, untamed, and readily familiar to those who experienced it.
As time moved on, the effects of magic became tangible, malleable, to the hands of those for whom an affinity developed. Perhaps such people were touched by, or decended of, the gods themselves. Perhaps they merely had a unique genetic talent for experiencing and manipulating the hermeneutic forces of sorcery. Whatever the case, as the force civilization advanced and developed, so too did the manipulative talents of those elite few who could master magic.
The earliest orders of magic herald back to Egypt, where the practiced skills were coveted, and shaped into a meaningful order which was kept within secet brotherhoods. As such, over time more such orders came into existence, and to jealously guard their secrets from other threats like themselves, an illuminated, conspiratorial nature set in to the ways of these cabals. Thus it was that mankind learned to hide true knowledge from the light of day, lest the exposure of it to the mundaneity of the common man or the every day world should somehow cause the secet knowledge to be proven false, or worse yet, make it a secret exposed and available to all.
One of the greatest such ancient Greco-Egyptian orders is the Order of Hermes Trismegistus, Hermes the Thrice Great. Thought by some to be a real individual, Hermes Trsimegistus is, in fact, the secret code, the signature, which marks the work and divnation of its select few members.
While it is certain the the order of the Thrice Great will progress well into the Middle Ages, it’s earliest incarnation is said to take root in the bowels of the Roman Aristocracy, and that within the time of Gaius Julias Caesar, the progenitor of the long legacy of Caesars, the Thrice Great Order found a foothold in the greatest civilization yet known to man....
Click on the following to learn more of this Campaign about the Roman Republic and the Illuminated Secret History of the World....
When you're done, go to the bottom of the page and vote on what historical material you'd like to see next.
A Timeline of that period in which the Triumvirate comes to a Rise and Fall
A Gazetteer of Roman Provinces in the First Century B.C.
The Syrian Province; some notable locations, and a short introduction to the City of Tyre
A Brief (to be expanded) Introduction to the Gods and Priests of the Roman Republic
Some ideas on adventuring in the Roman Afterlife
The Pirates of Drauga and other Fragments; scenario ideas for the Ancient Realms
Another Fragment: The Forgotten Priest Scenario
The Conversion Notes for D20 Ancient Realms
A Persian Map of the World, circa 44 b.c.
A Map of the World, circa 74 b.c.
A bibliography of recommended reading for gaming in the Roman Republic
Utlizing the D6 System to adventure within the Ancient Realms Campaign
Using Tunnels and Trolls in the Ancient Realms
