"Ees nom, no'un no. Ees hurt, no'un no also. No'un no eem ut ull. But we ull cull eem Black Bob." - the witch and widow Umandine ("Uma")
Worlds dot the lush jet of the outer void, their warm light absorbed by the emptiness surrounding all things. Within the radius of those worlds, people live and die while godlings squabble and the lands grow and erode. But in the hole outside that radius, the outer gods dwell, creating and maintaining worlds, often as hobbies, sometimes as something more serious.
One of those gods has a nasty personality. For convenience, we'll call It Black Bob.
Approximately 150 years ago, It created a new world as a patchwork quilt, taking sections from other worlds and laying them together in very malicious ways. The result has been, for Black Bob at least, "fun". For the denizens of these worlds, it is just short of hell.
Worlds are not wholly controlled, however, even by their creators. Worlds are created from primal ether, which is useful for making worlds for its properties of complex growth and change, properties which also make it more difficult to control. And mortals can be pushed, beaten, led, guided and manipulated, but anything complex enough to make an interesting people has free will. Worse, once created, these worlds can not be destroyed... only abandoned.
Heroes have begun to arise. And while a single hero may not remake the world in the image of good, a single hero can lessen the suffering for all by a great deal, giving hope room to flower and compassion an example to follow.
Except where stated, the Land follows basic Newtonian physics, and you can expect the world to "make sense". However, it is a fantastic reality, and much does not "make sense" to children of the atom.
Black Bob's world is a flat, patchwork land of Realms, collectively referred to as "the Land". Seen from above, it is somewhat round, but with a jagged circumference. At the edge of the world, the land ends in an endless cliff; falling off the edge of the world is said to end in starvation rather than impact. Gravity goes downward (the same direction as the cliffs) everywhere in the Land.
High above the land, an infinite blue-black "disc" rotates slowly. It is said that each star is the soul of a great person, waiting to be reborn. Each day, the sun slowly crosses the sky between the disc and the Land, bringing light to the Land.
Each Realm is bounded and separated from each other by vicious natural barriers. The specifics vary from border to border, but travel between Realms is always chancy. That the Realms have difficulty cooperating with each other has not helped this matter, and many Realms actually worsen the travel by building walls, forts, magical shields and such to keep others out.
Along the borders there is usually a zone uncontrolled by either Realm. These zones are often populated by those who prey on the unwary.
In addition to normal travel, there are Portals in various places within the Realms. These Portals are usually difficult to get to (deep within a drake-infested mountain; at the bottom of an incredibly deep lake; etc.) and lead to other Realms. In some ways, the Portals are a border within the Realm.
Magic works in several different ways. All Realms have available to them weak Quantum Magick, strong Auburn Magick, and the powers and abilities granted by the Realm's Lord (below). Quantum Magick can call on spirit entities, but virtually all of these are malicious in some form or another. Auburn Magick includes alchemical ceremonies and spirit usage. Although the magic is present in all of the Realms, it is not always in use, and many Realms use no magic of any sort.
Each Realm has a single Lord, who is favored by the Land. The Lord of a Realm has many powers, but the chief powers are a strong connection to the Realm and the ability to grant magical powers to others (usually minions). Among the minor powers are increased toughness and health, extreme longevity and various magical powers. While Lords are not always evil, they usually are.
The most technologically advanced Realms may have steam locomotives (although not horseless carriages), black powder revolvers and rifles, and TNT explosives. There is a fair amount of evidence that electricity does not work "properly", making a number of future technologies impossible, such as acuum tubes, transistors, power cables, telephones, light bulbs and efficient gasoline combustion engines. While a purely mechanical computer is possible, it is unspeakably complex and bulky, and is capable of only very limited functions.
Evil is palpable. It manifests as destructive urges, madness and loss of empathy. People have more than sufficient capability of these things on their own, of course, but the Land subtly tries to push them into it more strongly and more often. What might have been a latent tendency in someone anywhere else can bloom in the Realms. Further, as you do the actions that it pushes for, it gets more of a grip on you and can push you more strongly. This vicious cycle can continue until your descent into madness is complete. And it is far easier to become evil than the reverse.
Evil is palpable. It is not a description of certain patterns of behavior, it is a thing which exists. As such, it can be detected, analyzed, manipulated and protected against in similar ways to an energy form. Evil simmers like a water table beneath the surface of the Land (detecting this is relatively pointless; it is always and everywhere). In particularly vile places, it bubbles up, tainting the surface and twisting all life there. In particularly vile people, it can be detected magically as a shadowy bile beneath the surface of their skin, whispering to them and giving a push to their actions.