The people of Hollow World worshipped different Immortals and magic behaved differently than on the surface. the remnants of the ancient Nithians, which were similar to ancient Egypt, and strange elves. Still, it was unique and in Hollow World you could find many different cultures, e.g. The setting was written by Aaron Allston and used many elements from the Known World. The Hollow World was a setting within Mystara, which took place inside the Mystara planet, building on real-world legends of the Hollow Earth, and published in 1990. Though TSR and later Wizards gave up on publishing modules with CD’s, I can’t help but admire their willingness to experiment and for trying to expand the ways of conveying module material to players. Night of the Vampire and Hail to the Heroes. TSR published many modules for Mystara which relied on the use of CD’s, e.g. Using a CD, containing tracks with background noises and NPCs talking, when playing modules was introduced in the First Quest boxed set. It also included a couple of short modules, that took place in the small village Threshold, sheets with pregenereted characters and a CD. In 1994 TSR published the boxed set Kingdom of Karameikos, which included a campaign setting book on Stefan Karameikos‘ kingdom. When AD&D replaced D&D Mystara didn’t get much attention from TSR for a few years. You could find your campaign a place in it, whether you wanted Arthurian knights, Arabian themes or Mongols. The Known World was therefore accessible and easy to use. Thyatian Empire was based on the Byzantine Empire, Glantri resembled medieval western Europe and the Northern Kingdoms had much in common with Scandinavian kingdoms. Many cultures and nations were influenced by Earth’s history, e.g. But for most parts, the Known World was a Tolkienesque, high fantasy setting which was had much in common with our world. The Savage Coast, which was a long coast line west of the Known World, where swashbucklers and pirates ruled. Many parts of the Known World became legendary, e.g. TSR got many different authors to write the Gazetteers and one could say that Schick’s and Moldvay’s ideas of the shared universe came to fruition, for all the work published in the Gazetteers was later compiled, blended and combined, creating the fantasy setting Mystara. The Known World was expanded in many modules and source materials, especially the Gazetteer, in which the setting was referred to as The D&D Game World. The Known World is first mentioned in the module X1, The Isle of Dread, which many older players probably remember. Thus The Known World became the standard D&D setting. Lovecraft and his aspirations of creating a shared fiction universe, as Schick’s and Moldvay’s setting was meant to be expanded upon by other gamers. The setting was heavily inspired by the works of H.P. When Schick and Moldvay, both game designers for TSR at the time, were told that they could not use the Greyhawk setting for their material, they appealed to TSR to use The Known World, a setting they had created for their own games. Patera on the other hand was invisible and it’s inhabitants had a culture similar to medieval Japan. Matera is a moon similar to Earth’s moon, where the Immortals, Mystara’s deities, lived in a city called Pandius. Two moons govern Mysara’s night sky, Matera and Patera.
The old Blackmoor setting was also retconned to have existed in Mystara’s past, though perhaps many true Mystara fans don’t see that as canon. Early 90’s TSR published the Hollow World, which was a campaign setting set in The Known World. TSR published much material for Mystara in the 80’s, especially setting material in many Gazetteer books, focusing on different parts of the world.
You had all the standard D&D races elves lived in Alfheim, dwarves in Rockhome and halflings in the Five Shires. There were three different continents, Brun, Skothar and Davania, and a large archipelago called Alphatia. Mystara, developed by Lawrence Schick and Tom Moldvay, was a diverse and interesting setting. Originally Mystara was called The Known World and is probably of all the D&D settings out there that has most things in common with Middle-Earth. It appeared first in the module Isle of Dread, which probably many players remember and was published in 1981. Mystara is one of the oldest D&D settings.