History
Once there were three kingdoms in the country of Naril: on the eastern shore lay the human nation of Bael Turath, nestled in the northern mountains was the dragon ruled empire of Arkosia, and in the eastern forests was the kingdom of Norath, an aliance between humans and elves. However, the three nations could not last, the greed of the Turathi leaders and legendary avarice of dragons drove two of the kingdoms to seek expansion and conquest, war inevitably followed. Norath could not stand before the approaching conflict, but rather than bowing to the two greater nations, the king of Norath sent word to those people with no nations to join Norath and stand against Arkosia and Turath both. At first he was rejected, often violently, but as the war escalated, the so-called savage races joined forces with Norath, and even managed to win the war in the name of this motley coalition.
Modern Day
At the end of the Nations' War, the possibility of the coalition crumbling and falling back into the chaos that spawned it loomed high, but rather than allow that, the king of Norath dissolved the alliance himself, along with his nation, declaring all people could claim citizenship in the new united nation of Naril. Today that king's grandson presides over a council of many races, and the united nation is alive and well. With no need to worry about every orc tribe or goblin warren, an age of exploration has begun, with bands of sellswords and explorers declaring themselves adventurers and trying to find their fortune. You are all members of one such group, adventurers for hire.
The Details
Sources allowed: i'm willing to allow any published sources except playtest articles, anything that comes out between now and when the game actually starts will be available at first level, as well. if you're not sure how something might fit in the setting (such as material from a published setting book), fell free to ask.
Races: all races welcome, including those in MM1, MM2 and bladelings. also, if any monster race has been fleshed out as a player race, use the player stats please. if you don't have the book or (more likely) a DDI account, i can provide the updated race info.
houserules and homebrew: i'm willing to allow it or am going to do it to get monster races on par with player races, as many are under or overpowered, and only one even has a racial feat. if you intend to play a half-elf, orc, duergar, kenku, bugbear, or bullywug I have some in mind you might care about before character creation. i won't bother with it if no one cares though, so let me know.
Character creation:Start at level one, 22 point buy as detailed in the PHB for abilities. Backstories will be encouraged but not mandatory. exp will not be awarded for them, but an appropriate magic item might be if i like it. Plus i'd like to incorporate them into the campaign story, if I can which everyone can enjoy. How and to what extent you know each other is up to you all to decide, but it's at least well enough to go into business together. If you want your adventuring company to have a business name, that's also yours to collectively decide. and lastly, i'm looking to have a five-man party. i like keeping it middle-of-the-road like that.
finally, just fyi on how the campaign will probably work, it'll be rather episodic to start, but a story will emerge about halfway through the heroic tier, and it should be pretty story-driven from there. assuming I don't suck.