Ortho: Map Poll

Ortho was originally a prototypical D&D fantasy world, much like Oerth or Toril. In fact, it could have been either of those worlds if things had gone slightly differently in their history. Their pantheon was originally divided between gods of Law and gods of Chaos. I think there was a substantial population of chaotic evil elves (not drow) that helped inflame public sentiment against elven races, and a race of small, winged fey creatures like the "faen" of Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved.

That was 500 years ago. The chaotic gods are all outlawed and driven underground. The elves and fey are extinct or exiled to other worlds; some of them retreated to the Plane of Faerie and shut the door behind them. While there's still many different cultures on the world corresponding roughly to (though not directly mimicking) Asian, European, and other cultures on Earth, they all now worship the same group of Harmonium-approved gods and believe (more or less) in the same Harmonium rules and ideals.

Technology has advanced over the past half-millennium from a Dark Ages level to a roughly steampunk level, and spelljamming technology is well established. Many planar ideas have become part of Ortho's culture - various lawful planar gods like St. Cuthbert are popular on the world now, Guvners and Mercykillers may have a small presence on the world, and most people think of themselves as part of a "faction" - the Harmonium - even if not everyone truly understands what that means. They do know that by maintaining unity in their beliefs they help bring peace to the multiverse, and for the majority that's enough.

The major races are humans, orcs, dwarves, and beholders. The beholders of Ortho - every one of them covered in spiky red chitin - are as xenophobic as they are anywhere, but they focus this xenophobia into a fanaticism for the Harmonium ideals. They don't generally mix with other races, but they believe in the same ideals and vigilantly work to ensure their own population does not become "corrupt" or "wrong-headed." Every race is considered an equal under Harmonium law, and most of them mix freely.

Ortho is something like a combination of whatever dystopian novels you can think of - Orwell's 1984, Zamyatin's We, Thomas More's Utopia - with things like Imperial Victorian England and maybe a Warhammer/Iron Kingdoms approach toward fantasy steampunk, with the additional knowledge that this world is intimately connected to Arcadia and Sigil, even if travel is restricted. Ortho isn't good-leaning like Arcadia is, but it isn't a Baator-like pit either. At least, not quite. I see it as maybe a dark gray Mechanus; darker than Nemausus, but not in Acheron. It isn't perfectly orderly either - it's close, but there are pockets of resistance that, on the flawed Material Plane, the Harmonium just hasn't been able to stamp out.

There are also airships and spelljammers, and alchemy based on the four elements replaces the chemistry that our own world had at a similar tech level. Because this is D&D, gunpowder weapons are at a fairly low level of advancement, limited to muskets and the like. There are probably trains criss-crossing the country. Ortho isn't the only world the Harmonium have colonized, so there will be portals to other worlds on the Material Plane. Most Orthoans are literate, as most D&D characters are in general, which probably means printing presses.