7th sea Wiki

Welcome to the 7th Sea Wiki
7th Sea is a swashbuckling and sorcery themed tabletop role-playing game (RPG) set in the fictional world of Théah.

This Wikia details the basics of the world setting for the purpose of running a 7th Sea game. It is not a System-Reference Document (SRD) and therefore contains none of the rules for the game. Such rules are available from Alderac Entertainment in PDF. "7th Sea" and all affiliated work is propety of Alderac Entertainment Group

Pre-History
Before humanity crawled from the primordial soup, there were the Syrneth - beings of many shapes, with magic unlike anything the world has ever seen before or since. They shaped the world to their advantage and ruled for time unknown, until they suddenly disappeared, leaving their magic, technology, and cities buried in the soil of the world for any to find. No one knows what happened to them; some believe Theus, creator of the world, wiped them from it during the pre-Numan flood. Others believe the Sidhe ("Faerie Folk") were responsible. Others believe Theus and the Sidhe were the Syrneth. No one knows. All that is known is that they are gone, and their magic is there for the bravest or most foolish to claim.

Ancient History
The recorded history of Theah begins with the founding of the first human city: Numa. Located in what is present day Vodacce, Numa created the first Golden Age of humanity. Numa was a republic, with senators elected from the noble families. It brought about science and philosophy that all Theah still discuss and worshiped gods inspired by the visible planets. But, as with all nations, Numa became corrupt over time until, after 700 years of rule, the republic fell and the Numan Empire was born. In an attempt to preserve their power, four of the Senator families used artifacts from before humanity to make a pact with other worldly powers, becoming the first sorcerers. After years of bloody civil war, a truce was made, with each noble family claiming a province of the empire as their own and paying lip service to the Imperator (leader of the empire). For a while peace was restored.

Then, 50 years after the pact had been struck, the first Prophet appeared. He claimed to speak on behalf of an unknown god called "Theus", and preached that Sorcery was an abomination against Theus, the creator of the world. He argued that intelligence and free will were all the powers humanity needed. The Senators scoffed at his words, secure in their power, until his cult reach such a power that he became a senator himself. He preached his message on the floor of the senate for one day, before the families of the pact arrested the prophet and saw to his execution. The believed that enough to solve their problem. They were wrong. 2 centuries later, the cult had grown so powerful that the Imperator declared the church of the Prophet the one true faith, and banished the noble houses of the pact and their forces from the capital and to the outlying regions.

Eventually, the Empire again grew too large and too corrupt. 200 years after the senators were banished, the empire fell to the barbarians of the north and the "dark age" fell over all Theah (save the Crescent Empire and Vestenmannavnjar who flourished for the next several hundred years) It was during this time the Second Prophet emerged. Unlike his predecessor, the Second Prophet made war against magic in all it's forms. He started the first crusade - a plan that cost him his life. Still, his message was sown - magic was not only an abomination, but one to fight against with all your might. Many crusades were forged of this theory. The Third Prophet continued this trend, preaching of war against magic. He drew upon the power of the Vaticine Church and Theus himself to rid Theah of magic once and for all. He began in Castille, throwing the noble family who ruled there using their sorcery, out of power and riding the world of it's taint forever. He moved the base of the church from Vodacce (now corrupted by its own magic) to the newly liberated Castille, and began planning for his next conquest. He never needed to. The Vodacce, disgraced by the loss of their religious seat of power, rebelled against their noble families, stripping them of their power and the Montaigne fearing conquest or revolution, surrendered their magical tradition in return for maintaining their right to rule. The Third Prophet agreed, and the new pact was struck. With it, the four noble families were gone (the fourth having never survive the dark ages). The third Prophet reorganized the church, choosing the first Hierophant - leader of the church - as well as several other changes, then left never to be seen again, only foretelling that a fourth prophet would come, signifying the end of the world.

This however, is not the end of the story; not by far.

Nations
Avalon: The Glamour Isles (Real World Equivalent: Elizabethan England, Scottland, and Ireland)

Castille: The Seat of Theus (Real World Equivalent: Inquisition Spain)

Cathay: Jewel of the East (Real World Equivalent: Japan, Ming China, Vietnam, Korea, India and Mongolia)

The Empire of the Crescent Moon: 1001 Arabian Nights (Real World Equivalent: Arabian Caliphat, Turkey, and Persia)

Eisen: The Death-Soaked Fields (Real World Equivalent: Germany, Transylvania, Prussia, The Holy Roman Empire, and Austria-Hungary)

Montaigne: The Center of the World (Real World Equivalent: Pre-revolution France)

Sarmation Commonwealth: The Land of Golden Liberty (Real World Equivalen: Poland and Lithuania) 2nd Edition

Ussura: The Living Wilderness (Real World Equivalent: Pre-revolution Russia and Slavic nations)

Vendel/Vestenmannavnjar: Blood and Commerce (Real World Equivalent: Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark circa 1200s)

Vodacce: The Spider's Web (Real World Equivalent: Italy)

Numa: The Cradle of Thean Civilisation (Real World Equivalent: Greece, East Roman Empire) 2nd edition only, possibly replacing Numidia

Jaragua: (Real World Equivalent: Haiti)

Other lands
Several other lands may or may not exist within Theah. they are detailed below

The Midnight Archipelago: A series of Islands far to the West of Theah, found several centuries ago by Castille explorers looking for Cathay. They have provided strange luxuries from another world including a sweet bean called "Chocolate", a red fruit called a "Tomato" and a tuber called a "Potato". In addition, a new plant called Tobacco is proving to be useful crop to the upper crust of Theah society. Of course, the wealth the islands have provided have attracted significant piracy.

Numidia: Numidia is a continent far to the south, at least as large as Theah and largely unexplored. It's native population is largely unknown, though evidence suggests the Numan Empire visited there, as the northern area of the continent has the remains of (and some still existing) empires that show Numan influence, including an empire in the sand worshiping their "Pharaoh's" or God-Kings. Rumor has it there are empires overflowing with gold there, but there's little proof of this.

Occidentalia/Meadgard: Vestenmannavnjar legend tells of a land of plenty far to the west were the honey is sweeter then any in Theah. They claimed to have set up a colony there, before the sea grew too cold to reach it. Recently, rumor of a similar land has spread through the population. This story tells of a man named Christopher Gallegos, who set sail from Castille for Cathay, hoping to sail around the world to reach it, who never returned. Common belief is that man either died at sea a fool or stole the finances for the expedition and lived in luxury for the rest of his life in some remote corner of Theah. the new rumor however says he found a new land the Castille call "Occidentalia" that "overflows with gold". If this were true, it would be the greatest secret of the Castille nation. Few believe it, but those that do site a simple question: "Where does Castille get the money to fund it's war?" No one has a good answer for the question.

Oceania: Legend tells of an alien land beyond even Cathay, filled with strange animals and people the world has never seen before. It is little more then a faerie tale... or is it? Some believe it is a land filled with Syrneth ruins, others an untamed wilderness, and others Theus's Garden. What is true of course is anyone's guess.

Religions
The Vaticine Church - The largest religion in Western Theah

The Objectionists - A group of Vaticine faithful who broke away from the church

The Ussura Orthodox Church of the Prophet - a much older (and slightly modified) version of the Church of the Prophets

The Church of the Second Prophet - an older version fo the Church of the Prophets

The Aesir Pantheon - the polythiestic religion of the Vestenmannavnjar

Jing Heung (The Golden Soul) - a unique religious path from Cathay

Druidism - Nature "worship" from Avalon

Societies
There are several non-national groups to consider.

Die Kreuzritter (Knights of the Cross) - a group of holy knights destroyed in 1411

Los Vagos - a Castille based resistance group dedicated to protecting Castille

Sophia's Daughters - a political group who protects and advances the cause of women

The Explorer's Society - a group dedicated to the uncovery of past secrets (Numan or Syrneth)

The Inquisition - the Vaticine Church's anti-sorcery group

The Invisible College - a group of scholars hiding from The Inquisition

The Knights of the Rose and Cross - an apolitical order of knights dedicated to writing wrongs and the code of chivalry. They are friendly (if competative) rivals of The Knights of the Table (Elaine's knights)

The Pirate Nation - an alliance of the most powerful groups of pirates

The Rilasciare - a political group seeking freedom from everything

The Swordsman's Guild - this apolitical group is an organization of all the best swordsmen and women in Theah.

Magic of Theah
There are several kinds of Magic in Theah. The complete list is located here

Languages
There are many languages in Theah. The complete list is located here

Schools of Fighting
There are many schools of fighting. The complete list is located here