The land of Lexoria had suffered greatly under the harsh rule of King Luther Lexorien. The outer cities were slowly withering as he taxed them mercilessly and forced all of their young men into his legions, and despite his old age he had shown no signs of dying, some even whispered that he was immortal. Among those who whispered was Drasesus Selest. Drasesus was a warrior of great renowned, and yet unlike the other legionnaires in service of the kingdom, he also showed a charitable heart. He confessed to disliking the king and his policies, and the people loved him for it, so when he called for a crusade against the tyranny of King Luther, when he demanded that the people rise up and overthrow him and his corrupt regime, they followed him.
The civil war was brutal, and many lives were lost, but Luther was slain and Molora fell to the Hero Drasesus, and it became his new seat of power when he took the throne, and the people changed the name of the nation from Lexoria to Selestial, in the hopes that their dark past would be forgotten to time. The people rejoiced under the rule of their new savior, but then he became the monster he had destroyed. He seized control of the gold trade, and began taxing all of the other trades, becoming rich as prices rose for the poor. Molora became the beacon of power and prestige, all the wealthy lived there and the city was beautiful. While it rose though, all of the other cities fell, their poverty and unemployment became more and more severe, children begged for scraps of bread in the streets, mothers abandoned their newborns because they could not feed them. It was all Drasesus’ fault, and there was no shining hero to save the people from him.
Fortunately they did not need a great savior, Drasesus fell to the enemy that no man can slay, time. When his son Jorlan took the throne the people were afraid. Would he be the same as his father? As Luther? Their fears were justified, he spent even more money making Molora beautiful while the kingdom starved, the people of the city reached a new height of lavish waste. The poor begged at the very walls of the city, but those that did not starve waiting to be let in were shot by guards for sport. Meanwhile the nations of Drestel and Jalthor made an alliance, Drestel sold their finest wares to Molora, soaking up the wealthy citizens gold. If you did not have Drestelan rugs, or Drestelan lamps, or one of various other Drestelan items you became a nobody. At the same time Jalthor began launching coastal raids and hired pirates to loot shipments. The economy began its slow descent, magnified by something neither Drestel or Jalthor could predict, the Kingdom of Selestial ran out of gold, their mines went dry, and no matter what they did they could find no more. The citizens of Molora began trying to sell all of their lavish possessions, but the only people with money were Drestel and Jalthor, and they weren’t buying. Jorlan began to realize the mistake he and his father had made, they had spent without building a solid base for their wealth, and now they would suffer for it. The people of Molora, the rich elite, began trying to kill the king. To spite them in his final hour Jorlan committed a violent suicide, when they found his body there was a wide smile on his face. This is where our story begins, will the new King, Jorlan’s nephew Artemis Selest, be able to counter the nefarious plans of Jalthor and Drestel and bring the Kingdom back from the brink of annihilation, or will they fall further into darkness.
Let me note that I am not the GM, I am posting this for a friend.
