Sundered Empire

The world was once whole, but it is no longer. More than three centuries ago, some event - it is not precisely clear what, but most believe it to be the result of magical backlash from a powerful ritual that went wrong - caused the very earth itself to shatter into several Shards.

Although the Sundering fragmented the world, the Empire somehow managed to hold itself together. Through the use of the Waystone network, trade, culture and communication was restored, and life returned to normal... with, of course, a few exceptions.

Oceans
The Sundering caused virtually all of the world's rivers and oceans to drain away, leaving freshwater lakes as the world's sole remaining source of marine life. Miraculously, however, rain continues to fall on every Shard, and water has not been as big of a problem as predicted.

Food
While most Shards maintain some degree of sustenance farming, food has nonetheless become a problem for most Villages, Towns and Cities. The cycle of the seasons has stopped entirely, and many food sources that were once staples of the Imperial diet began to die out completely.

While other crops - such as barley and seedgrass - have since been discovered to flourish in the new climate, as they only grow in certain biomes, many Shards have since become entirely dependent on trade for their continued survival. Should the Waystone Circle on a mountain City go dark, for instance, it is very likely that the entire Shard will starve to death within a few weeks.

Horses
Once their main food source died out, horses began doing the same; within two generations, the only horses to be found anywhere within the Empire were in paintings and statues. In response, Imperial artificers created mechanised carriages. Although the first iterations were essentially just conventional carriages drawn by horse-shaped golems, over time they began to take on design styles and aesthetics that were completely original.

Instead of being drawn by golems, the modern mechanised carriage is a two-wheeled golem that one simply mounts and enters for conveyance to a pre-programmed destination. Although they do take a while to get started, these sleek machines can reach top speeds that were previously only dreamed of.