What makes Skies different from other settings? The world will change and grow as I talk about it here on the blog, but it's good to have a starting point. I’ll start by dropping the intro paragraphs from the player's companion I made for my friends.

In my opinion, the best D&D campaign setting is Eberron, which I mentioned in the touchstones. Eberron dealt with magic in a really interesting way. Instead of being stuck in a medieval era, the world was allowed to grow, and we got to see what would happen as it progressed. Warforged, airships, and lightning trains, along with wand-slinging cowboys, all make an appearance. And who could forget the dinosaur-riding halflings? Eberron also incorporated monstrous races and made them more three-dimensional. Early versions of the Skies of Mor-ladron were basically Ebberon reimagined as only floating islands. 

Soon, Skies started to take on a life of its own as we played and made choices about how the world worked. You will still see threads of Eberron throughout the lore. 

Lore Time! 

During the Catastrophe, rifts and tears formed between the realms, allowing demons and untold horrors to pour into Mor-ladron. The gods fled, fearing either what had been unleashed or the mortals who had the capabilities to cause such horror; it is not known. Any who pray are met with silence. Some celestials rejected their masters and joined the mortals in their fight against the unending hordes. Most died, but a few remain, and quite a few cults have sprung up, worshiping these powerful beings.  

These days, few in Skies think of the hordes below, except the tough dwarves and fungorians who fight an unending battle against them among the roots of Mount Ancora. The rifts that trouble the world now open to realms of unending skies that can swallow a sailor, who may not even know they left their world. Many who set sail are never seen again. Other rifts open to the elemental realms or the realm of the undead. That realm grows fuller every day, as there is no longer a divine afterlife for the living to ascend to. Many other realms also bleed into Mor-ladron, but they are rarer, and their tears are more temporary. 

Powerful mages known as Magi arose from the Catastrophe and saved many of the major cities that remain. Four such cities act as major players in present-day Skies.

• Empyrean. A magical utopia for those who can afford to live there. A conclave of powerful elven Magi rules the city. Many come to try and learn the high magics, but the Magi do not teach; instead, supplicants are put to work as artificers, those who use the lesser magics to make people's lives easier (usually the lives of the ruling class). 
• Hilen. A duchy of cobbled-together islands ruled by Lady Tristessa, who wields powerful magics of undeath. She is ruler of the city and its church, where her followers treat her as a goddess. Her most devout have a chance to be “blessed” by her powers.
• Shipspire. A tall, narrow island filled with caves and tunnels found on the outskirts of the expanse. Shipspire is far enough away from the other powers that it’s not often bothered. Most of the island's surface is made up of ships that have docked and decided to make it a permanent home base. This island is the home of ruffians and pirates. If you need something, someone here can get it for you—for a price. 
• Mount Ancora. The tallest mountain in the world that was, and the only remaining connection to the land below. Mount Ancora is under constant attack by demon hordes. Only through the efforts of the Frozen Dwarf King and the few remaining dwarves, along with their allies, the fungorians, are these forces kept at bay.  

Artificers keep this world spinning, creating the magitech that enables ships to float and many of the items that people use in their everyday lives. Artificers are also responsible for creating arcane weapons that the cities stockpile in case of war. Firearms—powered by arcane runes etched into the weapons and ammo—keep the merchant lanes safe. Of course, these same weapons also arm the pirates who distress the merchants. 

Empyrean, Hilen, and Shipspire have an uneasy truce. World powers have focused on survival for decades, but tensions are rising as each blames the other for not curtailing the pirate problem. Each city needs to mine more and more islands to keep up with its populace's desires. 

The cities’ rulers vie for power via magical artifacts and knowledge. Each city has its version of a Relic Hunters’ guild. Members of these guilds, called Hunters by the general populace, sail out into the Shattered Skies to look for old magics and bring them back to the Guild Masters, who lock up their artifacts so that none but the city's rulers can use them. Master Artificers are kidnapped or killed to prevent a rival city from gaining an upper hand. Growing tensions have led to a few unsanctioned skirmishes in recent years; only time will tell how long this fragile peace will last. 

Mount Ancora spends its time looking inward and downward, battling against the dark forces from below. The dwarves and fungorians mine and trade with the other cities to support the war effort, but they otherwise keep to themselves. 

Worrisome rumors are spreading from the inns and taverns near each city’s ports. Sailors tell stories of people with the power to control the very winds and storms themselves. They call them the storm scarred. Sailors speak of these figures with both fear and reverence, for a ship with one such as this would definitely be a ship to reckon with. Faster hauls mean more money… But what if the pirates find one first? Hence the fear. 

The cities’ rulers do not fear pirates or care about individual ships, but they do fear rivals to their power, and so the bounties go out. 

What’s Next? 

Now you know where the world currently stands. Next time, we will talk about what races have inhabited the skies across its multiple revisions. Then, we will move on to classes before we tear it all down and start anew.