Grimwell Studio · An Original Universe
Forty years ago
I wanted to know
what was outside
the dungeon.
I'm still finding out. Now so can you.
On the origin of Ævyndal
It started with hills. Then the mountains beyond those hills. Then a city on the other side of those mountains. Trade routes from that city to other settlements. Water near it — and then the source of that water, and more mountains beyond.
The world grew because I needed to know why. Why an NPC existed and had the attitude it did. Why a creature lived in that cave and not somewhere else. Why the land was the way it was.
Eventually I created not so much a universe as the founding principles beneath one — a system of physics on which everything else could be built. Today you can ask me anything about this place and I can give you an authoritative answer. Because I understand how it works. I've lived in it for forty years.
— SJ Kraus, Creator
The Eight Ages
One world. Eight epochs. Each carries its own genre, its own relationship to magic, its own version of what survival costs. The Fourth Age is open now.
The Worlds
Sythlia's creation spans more than one world. The ages run through all of it.
Thirty-Three Peoples
No elves. No dwarves. No borrowed mythology. Thirty-three original peoples in seven families, each with their own origins, their own history, their own relationship to the eight elements.
Community · What Opens Next
The world grows in response to its inhabitants.
Seven ages are locked. Two continents are waiting. You decide what opens next. Every sprint is driven by the people who live here.
You never have to start over again.
Ævyndal solves the experienced GM's grief over worlds that die with campaigns. Your characters, your communities, your stories — they persist here. Be here when the next door opens.
No noise. Only when something opens.