World & Player Primer

The Concord of Flavors • Calorum • Candia

Safe for every player. Contains only common knowledge among educated folk of the Concord, especially those connected to the courts.

The Continent of Calorum

Calorum is a living land of flavors. Every major realm is defined by the food-folk who call it home. After the devastating Ravening War roughly twenty years ago, the realms bound themselves together under the Pax Concordia (the Concord of Flavors). The peace is real but fragile — held by treaties, trade in flavors, mutual fear of another all-consuming war, and the office of the Concordant Emperor.

Official map: maps/Calorum.webp (the definitive reference for geography and travel).

The Six Realms

Realm	Theme	Capital / Key Places	Character
Candia	Candy & Sweets	Castle Candy, Great Stone Candy Mountains, Gumdrop Grove	Magical, glittering, underestimated. Home of the Sugar Weave.
The Meatlands	Meats & Savory	Carn, Chili Sea	Martial, blunt, proud of strength.
The Dairy Islands	Dairy & Cream	Lacramor	Wealthy soft power, trade-focused, layered diplomacy.
Fructera	Fruits	Uvano, Comida	Vibrant, seasonal, passionate.
Vegetania	Vegetables	Brightgarden, Greenhold	Stoic, agricultural, patient endurance.
Ceresia	Grains, Breads & Pasta	Pangranos, Butter Lake	Steady, bureaucratic, foundational.

Candia sits near the center of the continent. Its purple crystalline mountains are visible from neighboring lands.

Candia — The Candy Kingdom

Candia is ruled by House Rocks from Castle Candy, nestled in the Great Stone Candy Mountains. Its people are living confections — gummies, chocolates, licorice, hard candies, marshmallows, pop-rocks, and more. The kingdom’s unique magic is the Sugar Weave: the living network of sweetness that runs through Candian land, architecture, and many of its folk.

Court life is glittering and cutthroat beneath the sugar coating. Candia is magically potent but often viewed by other realms as decadent or soft — a perception House Rocks has spent decades trying to correct.

Key locations for the current gathering:

Gumdrop Grove — Wooded clearing and paths in the gumdrop forests on the lower slopes of Castle Candy. Because the emergency left no time for grand preparations, House Rocks has raised a cohesive tent-and-pavilion festival here under the candy trees: colorful canvas, sugar-lanterns, open-air stages, and the bustle of a shortened succession.
Peppermint Bailey — The principal outer bailey of Castle Candy: a broad ceremonial courtyard with peppermint-striped battlements and a pale peppermint-marble dais where the formal presentations and crowning rites will take place.
Castle Candy — Seat of House Rocks and heart of the Sugar Weave.

More detail on these places lives in player/lore/locations/.

Recent History Every Courtier Knows

The Ravening War

An empire-wide conflict that nearly consumed every realm. It ended with the creation of the Concord and the election of the first Concordant Emperor.

The Pax Concordia

Twenty years of peace maintained by treaties, flavor embassies, the influence of the Sugar Throne, and the steady hand of the Concordant Emperor.

The Late Emperor

Emperor Harlan of House Loaf (Ceresia) was elected at the end of the Ravening War. He was widely regarded as a steady, foundational figure. He has just died after contracting an unidentified illness that court physicians and healers could neither diagnose nor cure. Official cause: “natural causes / sudden illness.” Quiet rumors speak of poison, sabotage, or something “sour,” but no public proof has been presented. The investigation was still incomplete when the emergency succession was called.

The Emergency Grand Concordant Coronation

To prevent the fragile Concord from fracturing, the realms agreed that a new Concordant Emperor must be elected and crowned immediately. House Rocks is hosting at Castle Candy and has put forward their own candidate: Lady Amara “Sugarheart” Rocks. Other realms have likewise presented candidates. The gathering includes festival events in the Gumdrop Grove followed by formal presentations in the Peppermint Bailey. The entire future of the Concord may be decided in the next few days.

Candidates & Succession Law (Public Knowledge)

Concord succession law: No successor may be chosen from the same realm as the previous Emperor. Because Harlan was Ceresian, no Ceresian is eligible this time.

Figure	Realm	Role & Public Reputation
Lady Amara “Sugarheart” Rocks	Candia	Candidate & host. Measured, idealistic yet pragmatic. Diplomacy, magical soft power, careful strength.
Lord Thane Ironhide	Meatlands	Candidate. Blunt, honorable, physical. Believes the Concord has grown soft; only strength and decisive action can hold it.
Lady Clotted of House Valois	Dairy Islands	Candidate. Calculating, soft-spoken, three steps ahead. Trade, prosperity, stability through mutual interest.
Prince Zest of House Brightpeel	Fructera	Candidate. Passionate, impulsive, charismatic. Calls for a more vibrant, less rigid Concord.
Rootmother Deepsoil	Vegetania	Candidate. Stoic, patient, deeply grounded. Slow growth, deep roots, caution against rapid change.
Lord Knead of House Loaf	Ceresia	Imperial Court Representative (ineligible). Steady, procedural, quietly grieving. Insists the investigation into Harlan must be finished.

The Sugar Weave & Rumors of Souring

The Sugar Weave is the living magic of Candia — the network of sweetness that flows through the land, the crystal architecture of Castle Candy, and many Candian folk. It is both a source of power and a cultural identity.

In recent months (and especially since Emperor Harlan’s illness), quiet rumors have spoken of souring: places or people whose flavor and vitality seem to fade, grow bitter, or decay in ways that resist ordinary healing. Most folk treat these stories as superstition or leftover trauma from the Ravening. Court physicians have no confirmed public diagnosis that unites the reports.

What is certain is that the emergency gathering is taking place under a cloud of unresolved grief, incomplete investigation, and the knowledge that the Concord has never been more fragile.

What Your Characters Know

As people with strong ties to Candia’s court (retainers, advisors, champions, foreign envoys, investigators, or long-term guests), your characters:

Understand the basic political map and the personalities of the major candidates.
Know that House Rocks is hosting and has a great deal to lose if the succession goes poorly.
Have heard the official story of Harlan’s death and the circulating rumors.
Are present (or immediately available) for the formal presentations in the Peppermint Bailey.
Feel the weight of the moment: the next few days may decide whether the Concord holds or begins to crack.

Everything beyond this — personal secrets, hidden agendas, the true nature of any threats — is for you to discover in play.

Rules Philosophy (Player Summary)

This campaign uses Savage Worlds Adventure Edition (SWADE) with a small set of house rules collected in the central rules/ folder.

Custom engine: Wild Cards roll Skill die + linked Attribute die and keep the highest. Success on 5+, Raise on 9+. Snake Eyes (1,1) = Critical Failure.
Derived stats use base 3 for Parry and Toughness.
Candy / food Trappings are mandatory for powers, Edges, and significant gear. Creative descriptions earn Bennies.
Full homebrew details live in rules/. Everything else uses the core SWADE rulebook.

A one-page desk card with the numbers you need at the table is available as the Quick Reference in this same folder.

Character Options

You may:

Choose a complete pregenerated character (light customization welcome).
Claim a partial concept and finish building it.
Build from scratch.

All characters begin as Novice Wild Cards with strong reasons to be near the action.

Full roster of 8 pregens + partial concepts → ../characters/example_characters.md
Gear → ../../rules/05_Armory.md
Building rules → ../../rules/

Welcome to Candia. The sugar is sweet. The stakes are not.