Sundered Empire

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Godwar is the commonly accepted name - at least amongst those who remember it - for the setting of the 2002 version of Chainmail, a Dungeons & Dragons warband game sharing the namesake of the medieval wargame that ultimately gave birth to D&D in the first place.

Godwar is called this for two reasons. One, the setting is dominated by the Godwar. Two, no other name was given for the world that the game took place in, so might as well call it what it is.

What's the Godwar?

In the finest of D&D traditions, the Godwar started when somebody had a noble idea that ended up fucking things up for the whole world. The one in question was an elf, but whether or not that directly affected things is unclear.

In this world, the local God of War was a douchebag named Stratis, who liked to come and visit the mortal world from his home in Ysgard, just so he could enjoy it as people went insane from his presence and flew into mindless conflict for no good reason. Needless to say, a lot of people weren't very happy with this, and finally, an elf from the western lands named Marinn decided to do something. Marinn went to many other races, arguing that if they could slay Stratis, they would end war itself, and nobody would need to fight anymore. This was a noble-sounding idea, and so Marinn became head of a veritable army of heroes from many different races. Gathering up the most powerful artifacts in the world, they waited for Stratis to come along and then jumped him.

Stratis might have been an asshole, but he wasn't a pussy; in the end, only Marinn and two other of the god-slayers survived the battle, but ultimately, they managed to kill Stratis. As Marinn drove an elven blade into the god's heart, Stratis used his dying breath to invoke a curse:

“You think your people will be free? You think you have escaped me? You mortals will have nothing but war, not a moment of peace until a new God of War rises to replace me.”

He then shot up from the battlefield like a meteorite, scattering his weapons, armor and blood across the world. His weapons empowered many beings to rise up to claim his position, whilst his blood tainted the air and filled the mortal races with untameable bloodlust. Soldiers can't gather in numbers because, once free from the presence of their direct commanders, they fall into mindless savagery. As such, warbands from all of the different factions now spearhead the search for the Panoply of Stratis; only by ascending a new War God will the slaughter end, but who would dare trust the benevolence of another race to claim such a position?

And so, the Godwar will rage on and on...

The Factions

Seven major factions compete in the Godwar, with mercenaries making up an impromptu eighth power.

Ahmut's Legion

An army of the undead commanded by the mad lich Ahmut. Three centuries before the slaying of Stratis, Ahmut was a human nomad chieftain who amassed a great army and sought to take the fight back to the tyrannical elves of Ravilla. For this, the Ogligarches set upon him their most dreaded assassin, Prisca, who slew him with a magical blade that entrapped his conscious spirit within his corpse, leaving him incapable of moving on to the afterlife even as his followers mourned him and buried him within a hidden grave. Needless to say, when Stratis' Spear landed in his ribcage and broke the elven curse enough for him to reanimate, Ahmut was not feeling particularly charitable towards the living. Especially those damn elves...

Drazen's Horde

Once a mighty hobgoblin chieftain in his own right, Drazen found himself propelled on the road to godhood when he witnessed and was first to retrieve the Axe of Stratis. Butchering any rival, he has subjugated huge hordes of goblinds, orcs, ogres, trolls, and beasts, forging them into the mightiest army of their kind ever seen.

House Kilsek

A drow noble house defeated in the civil wars of their kind, Kilsek holds none of the Panoply of Stratis, but believes that collecting these divine relics will allow them to restore their place in the Underdark.

Mordengard

A century ago, a particularly cruel and deranged dwarven tyrant provoked his people into an uprising so fierce, they chose to throw down age-old traditions, evolving into something distinctly communist. They believe that if they find the Panoply of Stratis, rather than allowing one dwarven warrior to become a new God of War, they can control this divine magic, allowing the Worker's Council to direct its power to the good of their people. Armed with noble intentions and mystical magitek weapons, and backed by elementals, Mordengard has launched itself wholeheartedly into the Godwar, ignoring any hypocrisy in their actions.

Naresh

The last of the factions to claim part of the Panoply of Stratis, Naresh is a savage nation of gnolls and their demonic allies. With the Flail of Stratis in his hand, Jangir, half-fiend son of Yeenoghu and Priest-King of Naresh, seeks to harness the powers of the God of War to topple the elven empire of Ravilla, allowing him to rip open the Abyssal Gateways that Yeenoghu may claim this world for himself.

Ravilla

Arrogant, cruel and gloriously self-centered, the Elves of Ravilla were charged by Corellon Latherian with guarding the Abyssal Gateways that remained after the Demon Wars centuries ago. Constructing fortified cities around each gateway, the Ogligarchs decided that the best way to carry out their stewardship was to crush any and all other nations and powers that might potentially threaten elven supremacy and thus, supposedly, risk opening the portals. Throughout the eons, they have invaded, betrayed, sabotaged and dominated every other faction and power on the planet. Which has come back to bite them; Ahmut and Jangir have a particularly hatred for the elves of Ravilla, as do the drow of House Kilsek, whilst even their nominal allies in Mordengard and Thalos utterly despise them and would see them wiped out. Only the clouds of bloodlust have kept their long-stretched cities from falling to siege. And, unbeknownst to the Ogligarchs, whilst the Sword of Stratis has fallen into the hands of an elf named Tarquin, he is not necessarily an ally to those who have held onto power for so long and at the expense of so many others.

Thalos

An island nation of humans united in their flight from the conquering elves of Ravilla, the former slaves defeated an elven armada to secure their independence centuries ago. They have never forgotten, nor forgiven, the elves, and as they worship the Shield Mother, the divine parent of Stratis, the Godwar is one of holy vengeance against the elves, whom they blame (not incorrectly) for starting the whole damned mess in the first place. Devout theocrats whose sincere devotion has not only filled their ranks with clerics and paladins, but also earned them both angelic allies and a significant population of aasimar, powers further compounded by both the imperial school of wizardry and the unique mechanical golems created by their gnome allies.