Setting Vision
From Towers
I describe my vision for this setting as a combination of Themes and Elements.
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Themes
Nature is a powerful force
Natural forces will play a large part in this setting. Most people worship a Nature goddess and natural spirits or a pantheon of Sun gods. Elemental magic is well-established. Druids and rangers (and wardens -- a new D&D class) are some of the more prominent figures. Kings and queens bind themselves to the land itself with special rituals and become Scions. Wizardry is tied to nature and works through wands and staffs of wood or metal. Elves are well integrated with human society.
Duty
People in power have a duty to protect their charges.
Many figures in this world have sworn oaths to one cause or another, or have informally accepted responsibility in different ways. This setting will force the issue, making those people make hard choices about duty.
Rangers and druids and wardens protect the land and its creatures. Clerics and paladins defend their religious ideals. Monks will also protect and fight for their philosophic ideals. Fighters of all types (really, all fighting adventurers) will often be called to defend their people from invading armies and monsters and other threats. In the feudal society of the Towerlands, many heroes will be gifted with grants of land or other holdings with territory and people that they must protect. Scions must serve the land or lose their bond with it.
Elements
Towers and keeps
The Towerlands are named for the thousands of towers and keeps built to mark territory. The setting contains many lone towers, crooked spires, fat stone keeps, durable castles, and other tall and pointy structures built for defense.
Rugged pioneerism
The Towerlands are not chock full of grand cities with luxurious amenities. Its territories are peppered with many small villages and fewer large towns. The rare city is a dangerous and disease-ridden place, not an ideal metropolis. The people who live in the villages and towns of the countryside are usually warm and helpful, but tough and able to defend themselves. They work hard every day just to survive.
Feudalism
Complex and shifting hierarchies of power are the norm. Most of the world is ruled using a system of feudalism.
A few emperor-kings exert military force over hundreds of smaller kingdoms, and each of those smaller kingdoms pushes the burden of taxes and military support down on its baronies and so on and so forth. At the end, it is the millions of penniless serfs who break their backs working the land to feed the world. Most of society doesn't consider this a great evil or a terrible unjustice — just a way of life and the way things are. Everyone has his station.
The natural world
As mentioned above in the Themes section, nature is a powerful force that commands respect. Unnatural things like the undead and aberrations are considered "evil." The daily life of most people is kept in harmony with nature.
Ceremony, ritual, oaths
Ritual is a kind of magic. Many regular people have learned a ritual or two that helps them through life. Arcane and divine spellcasting are just highly optimized rituals. Ceremonies are official rituals used for various purposes in large groups. The setting is full of rituals and ceremonies that expose thematic elements of the world.
Oaths are a kind of ritual involving a promise with power behind it. People do not make these oaths lightly for nature herself may punish those who break them. Still, the right oath combined with the right ceremony can open doors to power to those who are willing to take on additional responsibility. Warriors often use Oaths to make then stronger and tougher while showing how dedicated they are to their lords.
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