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Yo

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Ok so that's the best I can do without your story; but maybe consider running several plots in an episodic way, like a TV show

Long ago when the Earth was at peace, both land and water was working together side by side. Despite their peace, no water creatures set foot on land due to human harassment of the more narrow minded. This was a great anger to the world of water, since humans were coming and going from both land and sea, taking the sea’s resources for their own and not allowing the creatures of the deep to harvest anything from their land. This bitter hatred grew decade by decade, resulting in a thin layer of piece that could snap at any second from the tiniest of actions from either side.

One land however was still peaceful, the Land of Blossoms. It stood in the middle of the Vast Ocean and was the founding place of all land creatures. Long ago, all land use to be connected to this one island, but eruption caused the land to separate into four separate land masses. At the top of the world was the Land of Ice, supporting humans and creatures of ice such as Yetis and the Polar Bear Tribes. This land was one of the smallest and every creature there was use to the intense winters. The east side of the world contained the Swamp Lands, a home to humans and swamp beasts, like the lizard men and Insectoid Tribes. This land was the largest of all the land masses and was the only land to support water based beings. The land to the west was the Land of Flames, supporting very few humans, but vast amounts of tribes that could survive the heat, like the Scorpion men and Naga tribes. This land was only dwarfed by the Swamp Lands in size, being the second largest land mass on the planet. It also held many deserts and tropical jungles due to its extreme heated weather. The last land was far to the south at the bottom of the world, the Land of Night. Its times of daylight were shorter than any other piece of land, a perfect home to creatures of the dark such as the Bat and Driddler tribes. Humans in this land had evolved to suit the darkness, becoming nocturnal creatures that fed on the blood of others for nutrients. Each piece of land, though separate from the Land of Blossoms, was linked.

Each land possessed a tree that gave the land life, each tree being different based on its environment. The Land of blossom was the center piece of these new lands, A giant blossoming cherry tree... the grand center of life for the whole planet. It was the only place with peace on the world, having great beauty and clean waters. This place was sacred to humans and was placed as the creation of all life. The creatures of water were not born from the tree however, but from their own tree of life deep in the sea. It was first known by the Land of Ice that the trees were vital for land, without them, no land could exist. This was soon discovered by the creatures of water and a war campaign began to destroy each tree. The forces of water were too much for each land, and they eventually fell

Soon every land excluding the Land of Blossoms was sunk into the ocean after it's tree was killed. Tribes from every part of the world that survived moved by sea to the Land of Blossoms to defend it from the remaining water army. The army of water was numerous and the government decided that the remaining numbers would all they would get in order to destroy the final piece of land. Both sides shared equal numbers in army count, thus creating a stalemate between the two sides. The creatures of land now fight the creatures of water to defend their last home, the last hope for survival for every creature that walks on the Earth.

It’s been thousands of years since that war and it still is on today, but less extreme due the stale mate created by both sides. Tribes now live in separate sections of the circle-like island that is the Land of Blossoms. Each tribe having a separate property equal to its neighbors, but some smaller tribes like the White Tiger Tribe, is forced to share with their cousins, the Tiger Tribe. Rare tribes are also forced to share and as population rise for the whole island. Soon it would be overpopulated after a decade. One answer was discovered at the Temple of Life that could solve the problem. The High Priestess of the temple had discovered the Tree of Life could make seeds and these seeds could in turn create new land if planted on small pieces of land, creating mass islands. However, the creatures of water would not let the creatures of land plant a single seed, resulting in a new spark for conflict among both sides once again.

The present is a time of conflict as the land creatures try desperately to plant New Life Seeds on pockets of land on the sea. The sea creatures try at every turn to stop them from achieving this goal. Some sea creatures sympathize for the creatures of land, joining them in their struggle to create land. These rebels often life in the Lake of Allies, specifically designed by the High Priestess for those willing to aid the cause. Humans take the land in the middle of the island being the most technically advanced tribe among all others. The other races that had human qualities were in separate pockets all across the land, but most of the Land of Blossoms was covered in wild forests of great beauty, filled with deadly creatures such as dragons and the uncivilized trolls. A few trolls had begun to form a tribe, but it was only starting out very small. Each race contributed to the army of land, despite the hatred between some tribes.

Possible plotline:

The water creatures gain a foothold onto the Land of Blossoms, which turns into them conquering a good deal of the outside of the island. They are moving in on the humans and their technology who guard the Tree of Life. The humans in response gather a group of champions from all over the island to fight the water creatures back. They fight from the center of the Land of Blossoms out to the coast. Then they set out on a ship to another piece of land. They must fight off horrors of the deep on the voyage. Eventually they are sunk, but the champions swim to a nearby piece of land. It is one of the remnant fragments of the desert continent, with a few staunch tribes still remaining on it. They have built a seawall around the continent, thinking that it would keep out the water nations. Secretly, however, the water creatures have been boring a hole through the center of the island, and as the adventurers arrive there to plant the tree they find a small lake. They go to plant the tree by the lake, but the saltwater in the lake kills the seedling. Then the water creatures emerge from the lake and try to destroy the island. The adventurers are fought back to the edge of the island and then must flee in an airship made by the human tribes of the desert island with the last remaining tribesmen.

This airship brings them to another island, which is a remnant of the ice continent. Due to the frigid temperatures, neither the water nations nor the inhabitants of the fire tribe can disembark, but the adventurers can. They find a few inhabitants left in this land. The yetis, however, have become possessed and fought the human inhabitants of the land, driving them away from the center of the island. As the characters try to fight to the center of the island they find that a wizard of the deep is controlling the yetis and lives in a freshwater lake in the middle of the continent (which is mostly frozen over). They fight and with much difficulty kill this wizard and then they are able to plant their next seed, which grows and begins to restore land.

I can't really think of any other kind of campaign, as you have two sides (land and water) which are opposite in every way. Because land creatures can't breathe underwater, they can't do much to fight the water creatures. It's not like there are two warring nations which are fundamentally different but still similar enough that espionage and other methods that aren't conventional warfare can be used. Your setting is very creative, but it's also extremely limiting.

Still there's nothing to do underwater as you can't plant the tree there because of the salt.

But THAT is the thing. Even though it is magical it DOES have to abide by natural laws to create verismilitude. That's what will keep your players from finding the land too fantastic. In the roleplays I create I make magic either a) a part of the laws of nature by creating specific types of "magic particles" similar to gluons or gravitons or what have you or I make magic affect laws of nature to achieve an effect. When magic loses its magic, people are interested in it.

See "On Magic in Roleplaying" for details, which I posted in the Setting & Story Development section.

It is not an excuse; it is a method. That is the point I am trying to make.

Magic is perfectly capable of, and prefers to make sense, it just makes different sense, Dollars vs Euros, they both do the same thing, just differently.

If you want to have magical underwater trees I say why not! Or you could just grow some Mangroves


Verisimilitude, truthlikeness, how real something appears to be. A magic system such as lord of the ring that is well thought out with rules and balances seems more realistic than say, DBZ where everything happens because Goku wants it to; even though they're both completely fictional. Since LotR magic seams more real it's more immersive to the reader/viewer/player, which A. helps keep them involved, and B. helps spur them to create greater quality content in their own playing.