Dreamroot Setting
The setting of Dreamroot is a fantasy world where spirits are common and the level of mana of the world flows through 100 year cycles, with 80 Awake years of higher mana and 20 Dormancy years of lower mana.
While this Awake phase is the world's standard with mana, that isn't to say that the Dormancy is completely bereft of mana. However the spirits and mana infused elements are much rare to spot during this time, and the personal use of mana is harder to develop or use from slower regeneration.
This game takes place at the end of the 20 year cycle of Dormancy, when the villagers are caught off guard with the Waking phase as it comes a few years earlier than expected and they have to smooth the transition and mana flares as the mana 'wakes up'. Which is both a well walked road historically, and new to this generation due to the length of the cycles as they try to catch up.
The settlement itself is set in a forested mountain reigon with a culture that blends europe and asia, nested in the ridges rather than in a valley, with an older settlement no longer in use farther up the mountain.
Now to nerd out a little:
I had a lot of fun choosing influences and researching the native flora and fauna, geography images, architecture, clothes, crops, common livestock, and recipies of the areas.
The core of the idea when I got started at properly looking into a setting as a map for the location was 'forested mountain', as I knew I wanted to try something away from the standard valley or coastal town.
This slowly evolved to more precise criteria such as 'eurasian mountains within the usda 5-6 hardiness zones, mid elevations at 2300ft (700 meters) with cool temperate montane forests' to research references for to make it feel more real and alive. I ended up with a good blend of choices, but am focusing in on the Carparthian mountains and Altai mountains as the major influnces to lean on. A few other influences include the Alps and Tian Shen.