Introduction
An Intro to Epicca
Once upon a time that was, is, and always will be, there existed a world not unlike our own. This world, Epicca, was fashioned not only of the physical elements of space, but also of the creative elements of the mind.
Epicca is a world of perhaps infinite1 bounds, made up of many peoples and nations - divided not by physical borders and social problems, but by philosophies. Epicca is a world where men and women struggle for truth and peace, where wars are solved through diplomacy or - at worst - on a gameboard, and where the alchemies of not only lead and gold but of existance are questioned daily.
The central part of Epicca is made up of the world's six largest kingdoms, and is collectively referred to as the Mouth2. The kingdoms of the Mouth, which surround a grand ocean called the Sea of Contradiction, include the Jacks (a nation of roudy bandits who live in a mountain range of the same name, all of whom are royalty in their own houses), Truphle (a rainy city-state and tourist attraction), Pithia (a city of philosophers) and its sister city Eklisi (a city of alchemical wizards), the Jotdu (a curious collection of silent hermits who live in the middle of the Sea), and Paired Pears (the largest of the kingdoms, built on the edges of the Divra Jungles).
The Philosopher's Stone is an encyclopedia, if you will - a great tome that documents all of the happenings, great and small, that happen in and around Epicca's Mouth and beyond. Here you will find information about this most curious land, where humans actually tend to get along, where alchemy is logic and philosophy is magic, and where those faerie creatures of childhood do indeed exist.
1. This is debatable, but of course, nearly everything on Epicca is. Noone has ever seen the edge of Epicca, and similarly, noone has ever tried to walk all the way around it. For that matter, not many even know if the world is round.
2. A common creation myth about the world of Epicca holds that the goddess Epicca (after whom the world was named) died, and the world grew up around Her. Others say that She lives yet, and the human populous of the world acts with Her, flourishing on her body like a cosmic, living evening dress (just the sort of thing to attract sun gods, for sure). In any case, following from this belief that the world is built on her body, it is also believed that the Mouth is actually Her mouth. This helps explain, in part, why so many cultures of such varying opinions and beliefs and customs have all sprung up around it; Epicca herself was a queen of rhetoric and debate, so it would make sense that from the depths of the Sea of Contradiction (her tongue and lips and gums and teeth, to carry the mouth metaphor) would flow her arguments with the universe. Upon hearing these arguments, it is said, humans generated their philosophical bends.
See: Pithia, Truphle, The Jacks, Paired Pears, Eklisi, Jotdu