Demographics: One Fae Breathes for Every Nine Farmen And a Half-Fae for Every Nine Hundred and Ninety-Nine
Population: Ten Million Souls Walk the Roads of the Hollow
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Plane Description: The Farfolken once lived in a green, damp place in the world of old, full of rain and fog and life, where will-o-wisps would lure away children who went unattended, and one sometimes spotted unicorns through the trees. But they were not the Farfolken then. They were men and fae of Gaia. They were born to a world of sun and clouds and stars.
When they left that fair birthplace behind during the Cataclysm, when they set foot on the other side of their Rift, their hearts sank. There were no stars in that new sky. No light at all, only pitch dark all around, so that you couldn't see your hand passing in front of your face. They waited hours for the sun to rise- though it felt like days- before they gave up hope of any sun existing in the place they had found. The ground beneath was like stinking mud that stuck to your feet, the air was unusually warm like the inside of a body, and every now and then, a chill breeze ushered through with a sound like a shuttering breath. Some asked if they had fallen into the stomach of a giant.
As the fairies wept for lack of sunlight and air, the men named this place what it was: Hollow.
Although the fairies strangely lost their power of flight when first they entered the Hollow, the men did not lost their tools, nor their curiosity- the two real strengths of mankind. The "giant's stomach" theory was dismissed when iron shovels broke the soft earth, finding rock and ore. Likewise, a wandering child found something akin to trees (nicknamed "velvetwoods," for their purple-ish color) growing all about. Their wood is both harder and more flexible than that of Gaia. Nothing edible exists, so before the Rift closed, the refugees-colonists brought over animals, seeds and farm tools. For a little while, things seemed on the up. But thinking such thoughts always leads to disaster in this place. The Rift soon did close behind them, and being truly alone in Hollow for the first time, they discovered something much worse than darkness and strange sounds.
History:
The fae felt something in the air.
The Rift had just closed, the people who would become the Farfolken were alone in the Hollow for the first time, and the fae felt something.
And they started to scream.
(OOC Note: This history is long! If you just want to get the gist of it, the first two sections are probably enough to understand the broad strokes.)
Three hundred people went mad the first night. It's not certain how many died.
Before the Rift closed, the early foundations of what would become the first city of Daithe had been laid. Sheep bleat and cows moaned, their smell polluting the air under coal torches. Drakins, simple-minded relatives to the drake, slipped through the streets and tripped up children. Daithe then looked more like a small town, not at all the imposing, sprawling fortress of black stone that it is today- it was only made from birch wood, beech, elm. Gentle colors. And it had no feytorches.
It didn't stand a chance when the light of the Rift went out and that pitch darkness fell. The mass of man of and fae realized then that something else lived in the Hallow with them, a Presence that they could feel now as if it had always been there, something heavy and dark that pushes inwards, like a shadow suddenly coming over your soul and whispering that it had been waiting for you all along. It was alive. It was everywhere. It wanted to know them. And this, dear readers, is when the fae began to scream.
You couldn't run from that feeling- whatever it was- but people tried. Animal instinct. They escaped from the panicking, elbowing mass of Daithe and sprinted into the empty-dark lands about it, until they came wandering back hours later, minds broken and gibbering nonsense. The ones who returned, at least: some of them didn't.
Inside the city, all the warning signs of a stampede. The throng jostled and pushed, shoved to find a place to hide from whatever it was they just knew was after them. A man slipped in the muddy ground and was trampled underfoot. Your whole body screamed to run, hair standing on end, but where was there to go?
A kirk- a church, a temple, a place-of-worship- had already been built in this early settlement, and the priests of it tried to calm the people. An eager, bright-eyed young woman climbed high onto the rooftop to sing a familiar song of praise to The Teinn- but just as she hit her crescendo, something like yellow lightning arced through the sky behind her, and she fell spasming and foaming at the mouth. Her body sunk into the soft earth.
This was their second hint at what they were facing: not just that it drove you mad, but that it understood who to strike at. There was an intention behind this. Any who raised their voice to calm the crowd was next to fall foaming, so that there was no release at all from the sheer panic staring to grip them.
So many got lost in the dark.
It could have been for hours that this went on. The thrashing in the dark, a sensation of pursuit, a scream in the night. Their salvation came in a strange way. A fairy child named Tyeir was pushed by the crowd into a barn, where she was alone without torches or light. And she was afraid of the dark. But fae are magical creatures, like anyone knows, and sometimes miracles happen when they most need them to. At only six years of age, Tyeir- without having the slightest idea how she did it- summoned a tiny flame into her hands. It was green like her favorite color. It was not only a flame, either, but something magical that became everything she needed it to be: it pushed back the darkness, it pushed back the Presence. It's flickering green light chased away the spiritual attack, made you feel warm and safe instead. The child realized what she had.
A century passed after that horrible night. Two massive cities now existed, Daithe and its new colony Tor, both lit always by "feytorches," the flickering green flames a fairy child accidentally summoned a hundred years before. Tyeir had ran out joyously from the barn and showed her fire to her friends, who also felt safer in its light. They showed it to their parents, and it spread from there. There is even a rumor that every feytorch was lit from that very first one she made, that nobody can really create a new one- and that if one day they should all be blown out, there would be no more defense against the Hallow.
But for now, the people stayed safe inside their cities. Torches were placed haphazardly every few feet. The whole sprawling mess was painted green by that light, from the markets to the homes to the kirk to the mansion of the mayor, down to the struggling farms that spun around the outskirts of it all. And those farms were struggling. Pushing back the darkness was a first step, but there was something else about the Hallow that made problems: it doesn't like to let things grow.
Maybe that sounds like anthropomorphizing, but it didn't to the early settlers. They actually went to the kirk and prayed against the Hallow's strange way of destroying good crops. They watched their food come out of the murky earth already sick, covered in poisonous purple sores that tasted like ash in your mouth. If they grew at all. Sometimes, a seed would be buried, watered, cared for and then simply... never sprouted. And when the farmer dug it back up again to see what happened, it would be gone, just as if someone had plucked it from the muck.
Starvation happened.
It's easy to imagine the excitement that was felt by a wealthy farmer named Cormac, when he thought he had found a way to fix it all. One of his lambs wandered too far, got struck against the face by a scythe in harvest. Its blood soaked the soil, and behold, next year's harvest was much better only in the spot the lamb had bled over. He went to tell the his local kirk that The Teinn had blessed him with an answer.
The priests of the Kirk nodded along with Cormac's story, to his surprise. They weren't shocked at all to hear this. In fact, they confided in him, they had expected something like this would happen soon. They had noticed the same trend a long time ago: the flowers always bloomed brighter around the headsmen's block.
"Do you mean that human blood works too?" he must have asked them. It did, and more than that, it worked better than animal blood did. The garden behind one of Daithe's kirk had been a testing ground for months, sprinkling some plants with goat blood and some with the priest's own. Those that had tasted human blood grew taller and more beautiful, totally free form the Hallow's touch. It looked just like everyone imagined the flowers of Gaia must have.
So the clergy had devised a plan: take blood from the people and put it into tithing bowls, then douse all the earth in it until the harvest was strong. They told Cormac this because of his reputation as a devout man, a beloved figure of the community who could convince the people to go along with it. But he was horrified- how could so-called servants to The Teinn embrace blood sacrifice?
Instead, he fled from the Kirk and tried desperately to warn the people. As the priests had said, he was indeed a beloved figure, and they believed him.
Riots broke out against the Kirk- and the Crown too, when the king at the time tried to come to the priest's defense. Daithe was the location of this unrest, and it threatened to consume the entire city. They sent messengers to request aide from Tor, but when they crossed the plains and passed the canyon separating the two, they found the gates would not open to them. The priests and High Clansmen of Tor had already heard about Daithe's trouble, and decided they didn't want any part of it. They also had plans to use human blood; they weren't going to risk the rebellion spreading to their city.
Tor stayed shut while its sister-city boiled over. Soon, the Daithe leaders had to give in to the demands of the populace: animal blood sacrifice could be used, but human blood was sacred. Tor went the other direction. This was the Split. Their Kirks also grew apart, when the Kirk of Tor began to bless blood sacrifices on behalf of The Teinn, and this was called the Schism.
After the Split and the Schism, another century passed without any great horror descending again on the people. Instead, their animosity focused mainly on one another: the city of Tor grew fast, far faster than Daithe. Human blood carried them along. One new practice, the "blood teind," meant that every male and female over the age of twelve was gathered together monthly, where they bled into little bronze bowls that were carried out into the fields to wet the soil. This was a necessary evil to the men of Tor, and an abomination to the Daithe.
The first war came after Tor established its fifth sister-city, Rutlin. They were no longer now a lone city, but a country which had Tor as its capital. It meant an entire nation that ran on human blood. And not all of it was voluntary: in the Torlands, executed criminals were not put down by axe or sword any longer, but by a slow process that drained every ounce of red fluid from their bodies and sprinkled it on the earth. Some of them Daithmen travelers. The people of Daithe (and it's three sister-cities) heard of these things, and boiled in rage.
Then the Hallow played a little trick on them.
There is a canyon that worms between the two main cities, circumnavigating the original site of the Rift. They aren't very far apart, nearly visible to each other- and the canyon is made from the same dark stone which the Farfolken had long been building from, a hard surface that echoes sound so easily. In the quiet never-ending night of the Hallow, Daithmen thought they heard screams coming echoing through the canyon. They could hear people moaning, and then a cry for help in their own accent. The dots were connected: the Torlanders are torturing a Daithmen, probably draining him for blood.
It was Yr. 223 After-Era when a hastily formed Daithe militia launched a surprise attack against Tor.
The men surrounded the enemy's gate, battered on the door with rams and even with fists. Progress was slow, for Tor was strong. But they made holy signs across their chests and swore that they would stand out in the darkness, torches flickering, until the gate fell and they could rescue their comrades. But there were no comrades; this time, the Torlanders really didn't have any foreigners prisoners.
It started to rain.
For the first time in the Hallow, out of all recorded history, it was raining. Little white droplets hit that moist and stinking earth, made it to flow like mud outside the walls of Tor. The people within marveled. Both at what they saw, and that not a single drop of it touched them; the liquid dissipated into steam as soon as it came near their flickering green torches. They had to watch the rainfall from atop their city's walls.
The mud started to move. It took shape, animal and insect, rising from the ground to become... life. Real, breathing creatures, things like deer or flies, but not quite deer or flies. Strange things that reminded the very old fae of the things they glimpsed in the forests of their youth. Now they watched these broken reflections of them stumble about outside the walls, on sets of two or three or five legs. With, sometimes, their internal organs made external, stomachs and veins trailing on the ground behind them. It wouldn't be right to call them "disemboweled" only because they were never truly emboweled to begin with- something had created them this way. Long had scribes and priests of the Errant Kirk expected that the Hallow was possessed by something intelligent, but now they were sure. Looking down from their towers at the horrors it wrought, they called this unknown god of the Hallow by a new name: Abomination.
The terrified yells of the Daithmen outside their gates reached the watchmen's ears.
Like his ancestor a century before, he did not open it to them.
The invaders vanished outside in the slurry of mud and horror, never returning home. This was the final straw between the two nations, and a reminder: that even as twin kingdoms fight each other, there is another enemy above them both.
Two centuries of war. Daithe always the underdog, but never soundly beaten. Men and fae fought at the gates and in the fields, in the Screaming Canyon that rounded the place where the Rift once was. Their blood purified the earth. They still fought even long after the White Rain first spurred them into conflict.
After a while, perhaps, war becomes its own end. Maybe it wasn't about how the war started, but about getting revenge for each new battle lost. Maybe there is no need for a greater motivation then "they killed your brother."
A few moments of peace did shine through. Forty years after the White Rain, a Torlander army laid siege to Daithe until- after thirty-six months- starving defenders opened the gates to them. The King of Tor at the time proudly proclaimed himself King of Tor and Daithe, Emperor of the Hallow, and called his reign the Second of the Farfolken (the First having been the time before the Split and Schism). But he soon fell foaming at the mouth on a risky journey between cities, and infighting tore them back apart again.
The Third of the Farfolken went in a similar manner. This time- strangely enough- it was the Daithmen who managed to route out the Torlanders, but just as they celebrated victory, disaster seemed to strike again on all sides. And the wars continued.
Some within both Kirks were now wondering: is the Abomination doing this? Is it intentional? What could it be gaining?
Others blamed something else. The problem, generals and soldiers said, was that the cities are getting to be nigh-impenetrable. A few generations of siege warfare and people catch on to the usual tactics. You can always just wait and try to starve them out- but that takes time and resources. Some men even took to riding on the backs of drakin, flying themselves into the cities, but there are never enough of them, and it's comically easy to shoot down a slow-flying drakin. These wars will drag on forever if you can't find a way to get past the walls a lot quicker.
Someone must have heard the soldier's prayer: because around this time, a Torlander scholar nicknamed "Dark Fionn" became the first Farfolken to unlock the secrets to creating golems. Not any golems, but specifically golems made from the strange mud that splatters the ground in all the Hallow. They were slow, stupid and almost blind, but they had one saving grace: what can kill mud? The only thing that seemed to really hurt them was fire- and, thinking of fire, the armies of Torland came up with a mad plan.
The Clay Rain: to literally catapult mud golems over the walls of a major Daithe city, armed with nothing but a moth-like instinct to seek out fire. They will find the feytorches that keep the settlement safe, throw themselves upon them, burn up and hopefully smother the fire in the process. And when all the flames have gone out, darkness will rush in and the Abomination can have them.
Two cities fell in a month. Nobody could say precisely what happened to the men and women inside, but none came out. The Abomination wasn't playing games anymore: yellow lightning arced triumphantly around the darkened towers, and rescue teams found only corpses littering the streets.
Another city fell. And another. It had all the makings of a genocide.
Tattered and pleading, Daithe finally asked for peace negotiations.
The result of the Clay Rain and the following peace negotiations is the Fourth of the Farfolken, a final reunification of Daithe and the Torlands. It was arranged by a marriage of the Tor queen with the Daithe king. It brought with it a rejoining of the Kirk into one ecclesiastical body. It promotes human blood-sacrifice, but only in those cities which are historically a part of the Torlands. It has lasted for forty years, three months and four days, and it will soon end.
That is what everyone believes, at least. Ask the poorest beggar on the streets of Tinlow or the richest Kirk priest, and you'll hear the same answer from them all: this union will end soon. The Fourth of the Farfolken, just like the Third and the Second all the way down to the First, will fall apart, leaving the twin kingdoms of the Hallow at each other's throat.
It shouldn't be this way, but it is. You see, the original plan was very clever: the king of Daithe was a human, but the queen of Tor at the time was a fairy. So long as they were married, they both ruled their respective kingdoms jointly. But a fae can live forever, not so human beings: eventually, the king of Daithe would perish from old age, and the Fae Queen of Tor would live to rule both kingdoms. It was a soft surrender on part of the Daithe- a way of giving up while making it look like an alliance, to save face.
What went wrong? Broccán came into the world. Thirty-five years ago, the half-fae child of the King and Queen was born crippled and disfigured in such a way nobody has ever seen. He cannot walk, he struggles to speak, his eyes wander about the room aimlessly and- here it is- he cannot ever have children. This new royal line ends with him. The scholars quickly poured over the genealogy, and all confirm it: when Broccán perishes, there will be multiple conflicting claims to the throne from relatives of both his parents, and a war of succession will certainly begin.
The only option would be for the Fairy Queen to simply live forever, never letting her broken son inherit the throne. It's too bad she was assassinated six months ago.
Long live the King?
Culture and Society:
When men and fae fled through the Rift, they had to leave much behind, and with it much of their culture. Only a few things remain of the people who would become the Farfolken: a tradition of clans, faith in a god called The Teinn, an instrument called the bagpipe, a dance called the reel.
All else of Farfolken culture formed after the Rift closed behind them, and they stood alone in the Hallow. It has emotional impacts, the Abomination does. It touches your mind. Fae feel it more strongly than humans do, and the weight of that dark god's touch has left them flightless. But the human mind also senses it, in a more subtle way: a slow depression in your subconscious, a feeling of sadness and heaviness that follows the Farmen about their lives. It makes one prone to introspection: compared to others, the Farfolken are more given to lengthy conversation, to writing and thinking, to philosophy and religion and alcoholism. All in an attempt to find an answer for that seeping dread at the back of their minds. If the government tracked it- and had something to compare it to- they would find that the suicide rate is higher than it should be. But the people of course do not realize this, because they have never been free of the Hallow's touch. They don't know what it is to feel otherwise.
This curse reveals itself in all the works of culture: music, art, clothing. The Farmen dress like mourners and play slow, weeping songs. Their paintings are never of springtime or sunlight, which they would not have seen either way.
There are bright spots. The cultural relics of the past we mentioned earlier, which have carried through the five centuries since the closing of the Rift, haven't yet lost their shine. An old, happy song can still be heard at the most ancient of festivals, passed down through tradition. Young women still wear old, bright clothes for dancing to them. These memories of Gaia provide relief from the world they inhabit today.
And, of course, many turn to their god for comfort.
An answer sent from a Daithe priestess in response to a young student's letter, circa Yr. 223 After-Era:
The question in your letter has caused me great disturbance, young student. Not because I do not know the answer to it- but because the answer is all too obvious, and the fact that you have to ask at all reveals something about you. I am not sure I like what I see.
You wish to know why we are called the Errant Kirk? I should ask you, child: what else would we be called? I presume your problem is not with the word "Kirk," our people's common word for "church" since even before the Cataclysm? No, it certainly isn't that. I can only assume, then, that you take issue with the term "Errant," a word that means having erred, being in the wrong, having gone astray.
Dear child, don't you see that this is precisely what we are?
The Teinn gave us breath countless eons ago, a time lost to even our well-recorded histories. He formed humanity out of His own two hands, gave us His own spirit as life, and gave charge of all the world to us. We were at once His partners in creation, the caretakers of Gaia. We were to honour it and rule the land in His stead.
Tell me, where is Gaia today?
You see it now, I am sure. Your teachers speak too well of you for you not to grasp this. As you read this letter, you are beginning to understand for the first time the sin we all bear: that Gaia was our charge, and we let it fall. That The Teinn Himself made us in His image- and we could not live up to it. It slipped from our fingers like water that is spilled upon the ground and cannot be gathered up again. Our residence in this world, the Hallow, is not the mistake some reckon it to be. Living here is what we rightly deserve. No, it is less than we deserve. Far less. Am I wrong?
We are but prodigal heirs to a legacy we could not keep. We have erred- so we name ourselves the Errant Kirk. Like all mankind must, we do not hide our sin, but proclaim it openly: so that The Teinn will hear us and forgive. Perhaps, one day, He will reopen the Rift and give us the chance to restore our first home.
The Errant Kirk is the current name for the church of the Farfolken. Earlier in history, it was simply called the Kirk, and then it was the Far Kirk, and then it was split into the White Kirk of the Daithe and the Red Kirk of the Torlanders. When reunification finally came, a new and neutral name had to be chosen- for reasons explained by our priestess above, "Errant" became the official title.
This fits with the Kirk's general themes and beliefs. They believe it is important to acknowledge the bad things within the world (disease, war, poverty, death) and then to acknowledge the bad things within one's self (envy, pride, dishonesty, shame). To ignore the bad within the world makes one a fool, and to ignore the bad within one's self makes one an arrogant fool. No sin nor wrong, the Kirk would tell you, has ever vanished without first being acknowledged. You must confess your sins. And then you can work to overcome them.
The Teinn is an aide in this. He is the one benevolent and all-powerful creator, separated from His creations only by their own choices. He gave His children free will, and they freely chose to walk away from Him. If they choose freely to walk back, He will again embrace them. He stands ready to receive you into paradise, and the only thing between Him and you is your own wrongdoings. You must vanquish them like you would your most hated enemy.
It should be clear: they are not a religion that assures you all is well even when all is not, but neither are they one which offers you no hope. The stereotypical image of a Kirk priest is a harsh judge, who will mercilessly pry out all your flaws and wrongs until, at last, you admit to them in tears, and then they will immediately offer you forgiveness. It is this tightrope the Kirk walks: condemnation and then mercy, judgement followed by absolution. How else can life be made brighter, if the darkness is not rooted out of it? This is an important part of their faith. As is saying the truth even when it might be painful: truth-speaking is a sacred act for the worshippers of The Teinn, and sometimes, so is secret-keeping. Knowing when to do which is part of a believer's duty.
And that, finally, feeds into the more scholarly branches of the clergy. With most of the population illiterate, the Kirk has taken it upon itself to keep records and fund magical studies. Almost all writers, historians, inventors and academics work directly or indirectly for the Errant Kirk. Just like their harsh philosophy, this is a double-edged sword: it means that knowledge is always being gathered, but also means that all of it is filtered through the priesthood.
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Governance and Politics:
Since the reunification of Daithe and the Torlands under a single throne, the politicking of the Farfolken has been dangerously unstable.
Well, that is a bit of an overstatement. The politicking of the Farfolken has always been dangerously unstable, and the reunification is but a tiny flame prepared to burn it all down.
Let's begin.
To start with, both Daithe and the Torlands have a divided power structure, split between the monarch and the religious clergy. All power technically flows from the monarch, but a king does not rule alone. And the kings of the Farfolken have been traditionally weak (for reasons you will see below), so that they especially rely on others for the work of governance. The Errant Kirk has taken over much of the administration: their many scribes and scholars represent most of the literate population, so that the king can scarcely hire a servant able to read unless that servant is from the Kirk. This gives the priests a lot of power over the day-to-day government. Certain scholars have even suggested that their clergy could have totally overtaken the monarchy by now, were it not that the people demand a strong king in times of war- and that the Farfolken have always been at war.
The Errant Kirk and the Crown therefore share power: each exert some authority over the other in some ways, but still bow in others. The Crown is able to select certain administrators for the Kirk, but the Kirk must approve those in positions of power close to the King. The few times the Errant Kirk has refused to bless an advisor or general of the Crown, he is later discovered to be criminal or inept. Always. The priesthood takes this as proof of their divine discernment, and often grumble that the Crown in turn should have any power over their organization, when it is so clear that The Teinn is on their side. At times when the king is especially unpopular, their complaints do not go unheard: even the High Clans will sometimes ally themselves with the priesthood, against the Crown, when they think they can weaken the King without weakening themselves. They often succeed.
Speaking of, most Farmen are part of a clan: a loose network of interconnected families that they are born into. High Clans are those wealthier, more powerful clans that have been granted special privileges by the Crown. They have members with places in the government, guarantees of royal protection when travelling, trade laws written explicitly to their benefit, etc., etc. Bribing the High Clans is one of the king's main moves to strengthen his position. Unfortunately, the Kirk also draws much of its members from the High Clans, so many clansmen have relatives in the priesthood. When the Crown and the Kirk squabble, they find themselves torn between them.
All other clans are Low Clans, and nobody cares what they think. They have a simpler sort of politics of their own, feuding with one another in the crowded city streets. The Malleries have been trying to kill the Low Flems for two hundred years. But other Low Clans will sometimes work better together, will sometimes even band into vast interclan unions that involve dozens of "lower" clans working as one, momentarily rivaling the power of their High Clan cousins. Momentarily. Always, some old feud or squabble will cause that union to fall apart, and the Highs have the last laugh. They have ruled over the poor for centuries.
There is really but one way out of the trap of poverty most Low Clans exist in, which is trade. The Highs have their power in pedigree and warfare and royal favor but, every now and then, a Low will rise up with the kind of cleverness that comes only from clawing your way up the totem pole. With the two kingdoms united and trade opening up, such men have formed a class of nouveau riche. They don't have the lineage of High Clans, but they do have money and growing influence. Not least because few people actually want to be merchants: travel between cities is dangerous under the constant threat of the Abomination. Those few who have braved the roads and been made rich by them are called "merchant princes" by the farmen, and "men of lucration" by the fae (who have a fondness for made-up words.)
So, putting it all together: power is divided between the king and the Kirk. Both have to compete for the approval and support of High Clans and the merchant princes, with the Low Clans or fae occasionally showing some smaller influence as well. The Kirk itself is divided between Daithe and Torlander interpretations of The Teinn, and the king is currently very weak.
This constant back-and-forth of politicking without resolution is how the Farfolken have existed for five centuries. Sound exhausting enough?
The king's sterility has not helped matters. You see, Daithe and the Torlands have slightly different rules regarding succession: when King Broccán dies childless, the Daithe will want the crown to move to his closest paternal relative, and the Torlanders will expect its movement to the closest maternal relative. If the King does not soon bear sons or even daughters- if he dies alone as the people fear he will- there will be two successors with equally valid claims to the throne. It will not matter then what the Kirk thinks, nor the clans nor the courts. Only civil war can follow.
Technology Overview Lately, a few signs of a new period of invention and discovery have been spotted. Plate armor has grown more common and more covering. There is news of a mixture of chemicals, involving saltpeter, that burns like hellfire when lit. Telescopes have been created, and (good news for many half-blind scholars in the Errant Kirk) the very first eyeglasses have also been invented.
OOC note here: Basically, the Farfolken are getting into the early renaissance, with the exception that they've only now rediscovered gunpowder.
Now, the Errant Kirk takes credit for all of these discoveries. And, truthfully? It isn't lying. With the constant war between the two kingdoms, with the fighting to survive in a plane that wants them dead, it is unlikely much of this research could have been done were it not for a religious body that donates so much of its resources into record-keeping, scholarship and literacy. Not to mention, of course, that the magics they use naturally lend themselves so well to study and invention. Speaking of...
Imagine a monk in service to the Kirk, meditating somewhere within the walls of a dark cathedral. A candle is lit in front of him- it's been lit for hours- as he watches the flame slowly burn, dripping wax like a drum-beat rhythm, pulling him into a trance. He keeps watching the flame. And he is the flame. He has left his body behind to inhabit the fire. This is an act of Soulwork.
The Crown and Kirk keep this particular magic on a tight leash, far tighter than the other two kinds. The fae's Whimsy, after all, they cannot control. And the results of Thaumaturgy are universally beneficial. But what other kind of magic than Soulwork would allow a man to see the world as an animal, or to leave his body behind and walk into unknown places?
That last one in particular is a popular, dangerous tool. A man who has become spirit can go anywhere he wants, past barred gates and into the private chambers of a king (or the king's daughter) to hear things he should not. It would be the ultimate weapon of a spy, were it not for the fae, who spot spirits like humans spot clouds. Soulwork has made the role of the "fairy watchman" a common posting in every area of importance. If you approach a general's tent during a long siege, you'll find a fae sitting outside of it, watching for spiritual spies.
As one delves further into this art, other strange knowledge reveals itself. Soulworkers gain power to craft souls like a potter does clay. They delve deep into a man's heart to relieve age-old agonies. They can recreate identity. Some claim to have spoken to demons from other Planes and seen the face of The Teinn- the Kirk has never been quite sure how to respond to them, and public opinion on this power has swayed back-and-forth over the ages. Only one display of Soulwork has been universally well-received: the mudmen.
Oh, what a strange creation. Mudmen are a recent innovation, formed only in the last century. The first was breathed life into by the mad scholar, Dark Fionn. It was a wild attempt to prove the Kirk’s creation story to be true: that The Teinn created mankind from mud mingled with His own blood, and breathed life into the first man. Dark Fionn reasoned "Life therefore can be likened to an alchemical recipe, the ingredients of which are mud, blood and spirit. And we already have access to all these things."
The first two ingredients were simple: Dark Fionn gathered together mud and cut himself over it. But breathing on it, obviously, could not stir it to life. Nor could leaving his body and walking into it as a spirit. It remained, despite great effort and decades of mystical expertise, only a pile of red mud on the ground. Many would have dismissed the idea then- except that Dark Fionn was something of a fanatic. He spent the next two decades in frantic experimentation, exploring esoteric and unknown avenues of magical research in a search for the answer of life. Roughly half of today's Soulwork can be rooted back to the investigations he made then, accidentally spawning endless new fields of research in an attempt to solve this one problem. Still, it alluded him. He created a dozen new spells; none of them created life.
History has lost exactly how, after 23 years, he came to his final answer. One dark day, Dark Fionn rushed into the Kirk carrying two glass vials, one empty, one swirling with a multicolored mist none had seen before. He said it was full of souls. Having some authority in the Kirk, he ordered thick mud spilled onto the ground and fashioned into the rough shape of a human, and ordered men to cut themselves over it. (He did not offer his own blood this time.) Some hesitated, some obeyed. Those who obeyed would fall dizzy and faint as Fionn unstopped the soul bottle and poured it into the crude mouth of the golem. All would stare with shock and disgust as he filled the other bottle with the mud from the creature in front of him, and drank it. He started to cough, choke, act as if he couldn't take a breath.
But the mud begin to breathe.
Dark Fionn recovered soon, and through his demonstration, mud golems or mudmen have become an almost-common sight in the century since. Whoever has ingested a bit of their substance (as Fionn did) forms a spiritual link with the creature, and can force onto it simple directives. Follow, get, fight, kill. They are indeed full of souls, but they have no mind; they a low kind of life to be treated expendably. The souls to create them are harvested from sacrificed animals, and they return to the earth when they perish.
Excerpt from "How I See It," by the half-fae scholar Dark Fionn, Yr. 381 After-Era:
"Fairy eyes aren't like ours." A common saying, that one is. "Fairy eyes aren't like ours." You hear it every time a fae seems to know something that men think they shouldn't. Sometimes they know that you're in a bad mood before you do. Sometimes they call out the name of whoever is at the door, before the knock has come. Sometimes they wink and imply that they somehow know that you and your secret lover are together, when you're both sure you haven't let any signs slip. Occasionally, they see spirits.
Then, always, out come the magic words: "Fairy eyes aren't like ours."
But it's not true.
My eyes are human eyes. I took after my father, two deep brown orbs in my skull. I don't have the unnaturally bright eyes of a fae. I didn't even want to have them because- as a child- I believed that those eyes were cursed: that they would make me see awful things. I prayed to The Teinn that He would never let me have "fairy sight." Alas, in His wisdom, He did not answer, for soon I begin to see the Connections. I call them this for I have no better word for it. I saw the natural links between things, so obvious yet so hidden, in a way that pure humans cannot. I perceived the bonds between my father and our neighbor's wife, hovering in the air as plain to me as butterflies or books or knives. At ten years old, I knew my father was an adulterer.
It was a hard thing for a child to know.
Another time: I visited the gravesite of my fae mother, found dead after some events. I noticed suddenly at her tomb the bond between her corpse and myself, saw like bright colors the love and familiarity that held us together still. I do not know what happened next. But in seeing that bond, in seeing the flashes of memory, I begin to see her, still alive. But not. I saw her spirit. We spoke that night. My father died the next day, and his spirit I never saw.
Why, Divine on the Other Side, do You curse me with this knowledge? Oh, how can I ever explain it?
My friends, the secret of Fae Sight is not at all in the eyes. It is in the mind. It is in the ability of a fae's mind to spot the bonds between things, and in seeing those Connections, see all. They- we, me- see the things that are already there, so obvious if you would just look. But you can't, can you? Your mind doesn't want to see it, does it? The human mind rejects the truth. But I stray from my purpose here, The Teinn forgive me. I only wish to convey a simple fact, another thing that you should see but you do not: Fairy eyes are just like yours. It is our minds that are different.
It is hard to define the magic of the fairy folk without slipping quickly into guess-work and analogy. Human scribes have tried to understand it for 500 years, and been mocked by the fae for that same length of time. It is an art, they say; you can't put it in a bottle.
What is understood is that it seems to exist in a shadowy somewhere between Soulwork and Thaumaturgy, the two magics favored more by the humans and their priests. But, unlike them, this is not a scholarly pursuit. Soulwork is born from the kind of focused concentration and meditation that would make a fae scoff, and Thaumaturgy demands a real knowledge of material things.
Compared to them, fae power is all innate and instinct. It is humorous, it is (as the name implies) whimsical- it is sometimes cruel. The powerful fairy Tyeir, the so-called Shadow of Mab, once turned a flatter's tongue into honeycomb, and sparked great (human) debate about just how she could do such a thing. When they asked about it, she claimed "I have only made his tongue as sweet as its words."
But how is it that she did so? She didn't know either. Only that- like Fae Sight- it had something to do with the connections between things: the way in which his tongue was already like honeycomb, the way that stars are like the sun, the way that a raven is like a writing desk. As in their Sight, therein lies all fae magic. If you roll your eyes at that mysticism, the fae would only roll theirs right back, and ask "You've never read a poem?"
Speaking of writing: names are important, as they confer identity. And spoken agreements are important, as they confer a pact. Fae never break promises. Fae loathe to tell strangers their names. Nicknames and half-truths are the order of the day. It is likewise wise never to tell a fae strong in Whimsy your name if you do not trust them: men have been known to wake up with a new one, and find none of their friends know them as the same person anymore.
But we could go on for many hours about the odd things fairies do. In the end, this power is like the fae themselves. Rarely useful for war or governance, strange and unpredictable, petty and playful. You could not decimate an army with it. You might just make a flower dance, though.
"Miracle-working," it means. Thaumaturgy is the science of miracles. "Science" is the correct term, too, as it requires true and intensive research. It is a magic unique to the Farfolken: old folklore traces it back to alchemical practices, but this is unlikely. A close study of the genealogy of famous thaumaturges reveals that every practitioner has fae ancestry, somewhere along the line. A great-great-grandfather, or a great-great-great-grandmother. This puts it in a similar category as Soulwork, then: a kind of magic given to humans by fae-bloodedness, but strangely absent in the fairy folk who walk today. The Errant Kirk counts it as a grand fortune that so many Farmen have a drop of fae in them- this thaumaturgy is a vital art.
Like the lost art of alchemy that it is sometimes confused for, thaumaturgy has an emphasis on transforming materials. It is said that the alchemists once tried to turn lead into gold. The thaumaturges have already accomplished this feat and, on the way, learned how to make wood into stone, how to make bricks soft like pillows, how to make steel flow like water, and how to fuse split skin back together. They reshape the world.
It starts with a rare substance, called flowsilver, which must be ingested by a would-be thaumaturge before she can perform her acts. It is a white, pale and light drink, tasting like rainwater, and its production is a closely guarded secret of the Errant Kirk. Nobody outside of the priesthood knows how it is created; thaumaturges buy it from their local clergymen.
Flowsilver purchased and consumed, a practioner will focus their eyes onto an object (a cloud, a cart, a person), and watch as it begins to "unravel" itself in front of them. In the external world, nothing happens. But to the thaumaturge's eyes, the entire makeup of the object is being splayed out visually: its elemental composition, its indivisible articles, every piece and component, right down to the core. The information is chaotic and useless to one who does not understand what they look at, but for a well-read scholar, it's more than comprehensive. They can spot the needle buried in a haystack, or the cancer in an old woman's bones.
In a strange way, it is all very akin to Fae Sight: but while the fae see spiritual truths, the thaumaturges see physical truths. And then they have the opportunity to change them. Because when you can fully understand an object, when everything about it is plain to you, then you will discover that you can will it into being something else. By magic backed with knowledge, they have the ability to transform things. This technique is how the thaumaturges heal a broken arm, or change lead into gold, or water into wine.
Speaking of: water plays a role. It's not necessary, but holy water does often help in the process of transforming one thing into another. A struggling thaumaturge pours water that has been blessed by a priest over the object she wishes to change, and lo, it is "softened," made malleable to her commands, made less resistant to changing. As with the flowsilver, nobody outside of the priesthood rightly understands how this works: combined with their monopoly of flowsilver, this gives the Kirk the last word on who performs thaumaturgy and for what purposes.
Military Overview:
Three centuries of war has honed the Farfolken's blades, and five centuries in the Hallow has made strange their ways of using them.
Siege warfare is, as the histories tell, the order of the day. With the Abomination ready to kill or drive mad anyone who steps foot outside without feytorch, large cities make up most of the Farfolken's economy, and capturing one is the most important act of war that can be made. Nothing else matters as much as the city. If it falls, victory. If it stands strong until backup arrives- or until a foul wind blows out your feytorches- defeat.
This has caused both kingdoms to build up their cities to a level of defensiveness that would seem bizarrely paranoid to someone from another Plane, essentially being massive forts. The plentiful strong stone of the Hallow is used to build towering walls, double-thick and mounted with jutting towers. Arrowslits pepper them, like a thousand eyes. Even the largest cities only have one or two gates along the entire wall, always with multiple portcullises and "murder holes" above. Boiling oil is poured down on invaders who break past the first gate.
Divisions within the cities are also common: each district of the compound being divided by an internal wall, so that an invading army that breaks into the gate has not always claimed the whole of it. They must then break into the next district, while resistance within the city tries to reclaim the gate from them. This back-and-forth, tug-of-war for control can sometimes go on for years, leaving the city in ruins until it is- ironically- hardly worth fighting over any longer.
All this means that one of the main goals of the Farfolken in combat is circumnavigating defenses. Here's where the mudmen come in: as in the Clay Rain of history, mudmen can be catapulted over the walls of a fortification, where they will cause havoc on the other side. And many High Clan cavaliers ride the drakin, little beasts related to dragons, which can fly over them. No city can be fully conquered by mud soldiers or a flying cavalry raid, but causing chaos behind enemy lines is always helpful.
But let's get past the siege for a second. Putting aside all the walls and the towers and the drakin, there are occasionally fights that really do happen in open spaces in the Hallow, no cities in sight. For the sake of safety from the Abomination, generals usually agree on these spaces beforehand, line up their troops in plain sight of each other, and clash honorably until one side falls or surrenders. Altogether, even with the emphasis on taking cities, the armies of the Farfolken are fairly tough in non-siege combat.
But... they aren't invincible.
They are, after all, adapted to a very specific environment: a place with little weather and no extreme temperatures. A place where you must carry bright torches at all times, and men walking alone are prone to going missing. They have no concept of guerilla warfare. A large group carrying torches makes for poor ambushers. They have even less of an idea of how to march in snow, desert, or heavy rains. The ideal fighting place for the Farfolken is an open field with hills to take a stand on, warned in advance of enemy approaches. They will have to learn to adapt to other Planes.
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Additional Info:
"Cattery" is a crime punishable by execution in both Daithe and the Torlands. I will not elaborate.
Dark Fionn is alive today.
Bottled thoughts, created by a combination of soulwork and thaumaturgy, are available for sell in public markets.
Main species - Dragons are majestic creatures known for their great size, long wings and of course, love of anything precious. Sae’senthe’ssis dragons are different from their brethren in most regards, a Sae’senthe’ssis dragon will grow up to 3 metres tall and 2 wide with tails that can range between 50cm to 1 metre. Almost always, Sae’senthe’ssis dragons have 4 legs with claws and 2 wings. They also have very long life spans with the oldest Sae'senthe'ssis dragon being 499 years old.
If it weren't for the Rifts, which eliminated many of the great Azure Dragons, the oldest one could've potentially remember the founding of Gaia.
Sae’senthe’ssis dragons will grow feathers, scales or fur depending on the type of dragon they are. Their color can range anywhere on the RGB spectrum but there are main types of dragon which is what determines their greatest weapon, their breath.
White Dragons - They are the most magically inclined of the Sae’senthe’ssis dragons. They are smarter, faster with no breath weapon of their own. Magic is what they choose to attack with when stalking for prey.
Black Dragons - They’re the biggest dragons of the Sae’senthe’ssis species. They can exceed 3 metres and grow up to 6 metres tall with very durable scales. Their breath sucks the life out of any caught in it’s blast if the target is organic in nature. Being very reclusive, it is not known how many they are.
Red Dragons - Medium sized for Sae’senthe’ssis, their greatest strength is their fiery breath which can burn up to 3000°C. Their claws are sharp and can easily pierce iron.
Blue Dragons - The benevolent dragons as they are called are known to live in water, feeding on fish solely. They can easily hold up to 500litres of water in special compartments in their throats while they can shoot with amazing speed at targets.
Drakes are a sub-Sae’senthe’ssis dragon species which appeared shortly after the Rifts opened. They are smaller, ranging between 1.7 and 2 metres tall with four legs but no wings. They also retain the long tails of the Sae’senthe’ssis dragons but with added mobility of said tail.
Population: 198k Sae’senthe’ssis dragons and 600k drakes.
Plane Description: Therm, the plane’s name, is a pretty standard plane (similar to pre-Rift Gaia) in many ways. Big land masses full of red grass, deep oceans full of fish and mountains.
The size of everything in Therm is massive, a normal flower will can grow up to 10 meters tall and trees can easily reach 50 meters.
The local fauna is formed mainly by insects that are all herbivores with the exception of the Twilight worms. All of the insects range between 1 and 4 meters tall, their chitinous armor/wings etc can be strong as steel.
The main difference is that due to the magical energies of the plane, there are certain stones which levitate. This effect causes the existence of floating land masses or even full-on mountain ranges which levitate in the sky.
Yet another difference between Therm and Gaia, is that throughout the plane there are bubbles of raw magic, anomalies as they're called by the Sae’senthe’ssians. It is unknown how they appeared and they cannot be closed by any means that were tried upon them. Upon entering one, a person can be spit somewhere randomly on the plane; be it underground, underwater or high up in the air. There hasn't been found a way to direct the teleportation to a given area and as such, they are viewed with contempt. As long as nothing goes inside of them, they look as bubbles that reflect the area behind them.
History: The Sae’senthe’ssis are the descendants of the great Azure Dragons of Gaia. When the Rift first opened, a couple of Azure Dragons were sucked in the Rift and brought to Therm where they’ve proven themselves as the Apex Predators. Over time, they’ve started breeding with the local populace of dragons and their offspring slowly became the Sae’senthe’ssis dragons.
With the apparition of different types of dragon, things turned bloody very fast, every type vying for dominance over the others, their food or their territory. Something had to be done and it took one White Dragon, a direct descendant of the Azure dragons to unite all the tribes. She took a challenge from all the types, her brethren included, with a promise struck by magic that if she wins, she will be their leader for eternity.
With her magic and her wits, she overcame all the challenges and took control of all the Therm Sae’senthe’ssis tribes.
400 years passed from that point and the Dragon Queen’s rule is supreme. None question her decrees, none question her rule and if one does, they are swifly dealt with.
Culture and Society: Sae’senthe’ssis dragons live in massive cave systems, forests, oceans and pretty much anywhere they wish to settle depending on their type. Most Sae’senthe’ssisans prefer to live close together with their kin. Their lairs are full of diamonds, gold and other materials they consider precious and depending on the type of the dragon, might mean the social status of one.
On the other end, the drakes submit to the will of the Sae’senthe’ssis and act as servants of their respective types. They are known to build nests, where at least 20 of them live together in close proximity, using whatever materials they can find.
One thing is valued more than most, family. A dragon's kin is everything for Sae’senthe’ssisan, a blood debt for a killed dragon can be carried over centuries.
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Governance and Politics: Sae’senthe’ssisans dragons are ruled by vassals of the Dragon Queen; each vassal chooses their own way of leadership as long as it follows the decrees of the Dragon Queen. How a leader is chosen depends on their type, from the Red Challenge where one has to fight the current leader to death to the White Challenge which involves a series of riddles.
The Dragon Queen is chosen via a contest of all Sae’senthe’ssis dragons, including the reclusive black dragons. Each type poses an impossible challenge to the pretender to the throne, be it a test of cunning, strength, dexterity or honour.
Technology and Magic: Technology wise, the Sae’senthe’ssis aren’t very advanced with no natural predators on the new plane, they’ve grown to rely on their hunting and investigation skills as the native creatures of the plane have long learned to hide from the Sae’senthe’ssis.
Magic flows within all Sae’senthe’ssisans but more in some than in others. The most magical active of all Sae’senthe’ssis are the White Dragons which are said to have inherited all the magical powers of the Azure dragons. Their magic is a combination of their natural breath and words of power. Each word releases huge magical energy within the Sae’senthe’ssisan which then he/she can chanell into an effect that they desire.
The most secret and sacred magical ritual that can take place between the Sae’senthe’ssis dragons is the Traehnogard in which two dragons give a part of their heart to the other, permanently linking one to another. Their magical power is doubled up but what one consumes, the other endures. If one dies, the other will as well.
Military Overview: Sae’senthe’ssisans have the status of Apex Predators on Therm and as such have grown complacent. The wars that plagued their society have long been terminated and the occasional border fight is considered to be training by most. Only the Red dragons are known to keep an active platoon of Sae’senthe’ssisans that circle their territory.
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Additional Info: One of the most common "animal" on Therm are the great Twilight worms. They were before the arrival of the Sae’senthe’ssis dragons the apex predators of the plane. They have since then been hunted almost to extinction as their gigantic bodies that can get up to 50 meters wide and 60 meters tall, are full of meat. Currently, most Twilight worms live deep underground towards the plane's core.
Athein was a challenging experience for the evodine population that came through the rift. Unlike their native lands, this plane of existence provided constant heavy rainfall and flooding year-round with overcast conditions. The swamp and marsh wetlands initially made farming near impossible until the invention of floating gardens. In addition, wildlife was comprised of creatures and plants completely foreign to evodines including mooses, snakes, ash trees, and poisonous lilies. But there were two creatures that provided to be combative. Known for its powerful jaw and loud snapping sound, the giant tortoise possessed aggressive territorial behaviors and attacked anything inside their territory especially evodines. And the swamp dragon wasn't as hostile despite its appearance but still considered a threatening predator willing to eat anything including both evodines and giant tortoises.
Despite its difficulties and challenges, Athein was quite captivating and colorful in spite of the overcast conditions. But, this plane allowed the evodines to thrive like never before in their existence on Gaia.
History
Upon the exodus for Gaia during the Cataclysm, the surviving evodines found themselves vulnerable to the wilderness of the strange new world. Within the first decade, the population rapidly plunged for a variety of reasons that came to be known as the Decade of Misery. But eventually, with profound inventions and strong willpower, the population recovered at the end of the century. It didn't experience growth until the start of the third century due to the harsh conditions on Athein making the average evodine's life challenging. By the fifth century, the population was close to nine hundred thousand with a number of cities and villages spread throughout Athein. And in the ruins of a forsaken city, a long-forgotten relic slowly starts flickering endlessly.
Culture and Society
Evodines lived in tight-knit communities as a means of survival for the harsh world of Athein. They also live close to each other to maintain barters and trades with other nearby communities. Merchants were well-paid for their services due to traversing in such dangerous circumstances and resided expensively. With their recent leverage in politics, the maritime republic was filled predominantly with current and retired merchants. And it helped tremendously that most of them were more than able to take flight. In fact, Evodines with functioning wings were privileged and possessed a sense of entitlement than those flightless in society. It didn't help that they were looked down upon and ridiculed by those that can fly.
For the evodines that were flightless or weren't merchants, their lives were a daily struggle for survival against the wilderness and the weather. Unlike their counterpart, they were compassionate and hardworking due to their formidable situation. And when it came to their families (blood or bond), it was amplified threefold with events that lasted for days with the entire neighborhood. Still, they were envious of the envious capable of flight and dreamed of taking to the cloudy skies. The resentment was bad enough that parents were openly resentful of their own children if they were able to fly. Those children often found themselves scoffed at by their community for the rest of their lives unless they moved away.
It was a similar problem within airworthy communities with children being flightless, but it was more hostile and callous.
Governance and Politics
Maritime Republic was only a recent development for the people of Athein that got its origins after exploration of the sea began. Several merchant families dominated the economy, society, and politics of Athein thanks to their coin. But nearly all of them never engaged in the political scene personally and instead sponsored politicians and government officials acting in their favor. There was still plenty that couldn't be bought out easily with coin and required additional incentives to ensure cooperation.
Technology and Magic
Athein, unlike Gaia, was never filled with magical energy that allowed spells to be performed. Of course, there were attempts to activate the mystical energy but none of them were successful. Theories emerged that the lack of constant sunlight was to blame for the absence of magic, while others thought the creatures of Athein were responsible. Regardless of who's at fault, magical energy will remind a story element for children to get excited about. Technology, on the other hand, advanced since the invention of floating gardens thanks to the evodine spirit. Stilt villages, levees, and land reclamation made conditions for the inhabitants better than ever before. The recent invention of canals gave birth to the golden age of sail since it allowed exploration into the surrounding sea.
Military Overview
Being isolated from any other intelligent lifeform made the idea of an army pointless. But, with the wildlife of Athein vicious, militias were established across several communities. Some militias represented several villages and frequently patrolled there while others focused on only one location. And as for the quality of training and supplies, it entirely depended on the amount of coin spent by the local administration.
The Rift through which the desperate column of refugees that would become Vershellen escaped led to a place quite unlike the old homeworld. The sky – luminous and lit with strange stars and streamers of incandescent energy that tugged and played with the mind – stretched off into sanity-twisting infinity. The land, by contrast, was reassuringly familiar, although shattered and scattered through the hostile heavens as though by some uncaring god’s hand.
Everything from lone mountains to continental landmasses, complete with cascading rivers, forests and rolling plains, all of it hanging suspended in the immaterial firmament. The air was full of raucous, alien calls and the land carpeted in unfamiliar plants.
More than that, though, magic roared through the plane. An endless torrent, a vast ocean needing but the faintest touch to leap to hand; every spellcaster found their power profoundly magnified. Spells that used to require days of ritual and many skilled participants giving their all now needed a word and flick of the hand from a mediocre practitioner, and wonders that previously defied conception were now within reach – if the refugee-colonists could survive long enough to make them.
Which was not at all a given; quite aside from the mind-bending luminous reaches of the endless sky that took more than one refugee into their endless grasp, sanity and reason erased by the poisonous light, practically every local life-form had some form of arcane power. Even the plants were infused with it, their powers and properties unlike anything the refugees had experienced. Gaia’s nature had been fecund and kindly, whereas their new home was an altogether wilder thing. Enslaver orchids, bloodroots, vampire thorns…and they were just some of the tamer flora the first unfortunate expeditions found. Even the more beneficial finds were, often as not, a double-edged sword, made so by the energy that infused them.
These days, the plane looks far different from that untamed wilderness – at least, in the nearer reaches. Skyships ply the trade lanes between vast and shielded island citadels, whilst the pleasure-palaces of the sorcerous aristocracy gleam, filigree-fragile, in the poisonous light. Cities bloom on the islands, the once-wild forests cut and coppiced into submission, and docks festoon the aerial coastlines.
Not all, though, is a triumphal sign of imperial prosperity though; in the far distance, visible on a good day from the Gate itself, a sullen abyssal wound bleeds purple, eye-searing unlight – the Black City. Once one of the most powerful and influential Principalities, back before the imperial unification, now an impossible ruin swallowed by the success – or failure – of their last experiment with Rift magic. Staring at the abyss for too long is unhealthy; it draws the eye in with tantalising glimpses – a spire here, windows ablaze with purple reflections, a colonnaded promenade there, a skyship dock with tyrian-scrawled pennons flying proud…enticing reminders of what the Black City once was, and drawing a perennial tithe of the young and the desperate to plunder the possible riches there.
None have ever returned.
Then, too, there are the arcane currents that rush through the endless sky; the squalling Rose-Wind, sweeping in from the western expanses, full of flowers and glass knives; the insidious Roaring Deeps that deafen with internal thunder, others.
History
Following their landing and the destabilization of the Gate which had brought them away from the Cataclysm, the refugee chain fractured into factions, each aligned with a sufficiently powerful sorcerer or sorceress able to protect them from the mind-twisting planar illumination and the magically-charged flora and fauna. Each group laid claim to an island of their own, and for a time there was the peace borne of a desperate need to survive.
The isles of Vershellen were, at that time, entirely wild and untamed. Forests of millennial growth dominated the largest islands, never having known the chop of an axe or the hum of a buzzsaw, nourished to truly gargantuan size by the plentiful mana. Lakes teemed with monstrous fish, the rivers ran wild and free, and powerful animals utterly unknown to the settlers roamed the plains and high mountain passes.
It was only through enormous effort and relentless application of arcane might that the settlers had any chance at all. Even the light of the plane was inimical, in time, the uncertain illumination of possible stars in the endless sky slowly warping unshielded minds to insanity and unprotected flesh to glass. Many of the oldest tombs in Vershellen are more like sculpture galleries than crypts, housing rank upon rank of exquisite glass statues.
Naturally, as the protectors and providers for the rest of the refugees, the mages rapidly assumed positions of power and prominence. Hard to gainsay the sorcerer whose power keeps you from vitrifying, after all. The islands, separate and isolated in the endless sea of stars, all went their own separate ways, raising stained-glass spires to the sky and digging deep into the flying bedrock. Towns and cities grew up under the glittering aegis of the mage towers, whole communities born and raised in service to their sorcerous overlords.
Magic flourished, too; more and more Vershellese developed the talent as time wore on and births began in a plane saturated by it. Many took up service with the princely Houses founded by the original magi, forming the start of the middle classes of Vershellen, but others found their skill and ambition too great to be satisfied with mere service.
There were plenty of other islands, new territories to be conquered and jealously defended; waves of explorers left the first isles on rudimentary skyships, heading for distant lands to raise their own banners, their own Houses.
Although the plane itself appeared infinite, no-one wanted to venture too far from the safe havens of established islands, too far out where skyships could fall prey to the myriad and undocumented horrors of the Deep Sky. Thus came the first true conflicts, first between pioneers claiming the same piece of floating rock and then, later and more seriously, between lesser scions of princely Houses seeking to expand their House’s power and prestige.
Thus did Vershellen settle into its Principalities; vast constellations of islands bound together and moved by magic, all under the rule of a sorcerous House. Each warred against the other, as often as not, with words and trade embargoes and sabotage, espionage, all-out warfare with skyships and landing marines and, at the last, with magic enough to split the skies and rip whole islands apart. Proud and fiercely independent, it seemed as though the seething, simmering cauldron of rivalry and splendid isolation would last forever, the Principalities expanding endlessly through an infinite sky, each one jealously hoarding secrets and lore, sorcerer-lords and ladies sniping with one another over arcane minutiae whilst their oathbound lessers spilled blood and treasure in their name.
No lore too dangerous, no arcana too forbidden; in the bright, mad heavens the ancient magi soared to dizzying heights and plumbed the very darkest depths. The catalyst for empire arose out of the internecine warring between the Principalities; the proud island-citadel of Scintillance, home and fortress since time out of mind for House Hellebore was assaulted by their enemies in a particularly brutal clash. For five days the colossal landmass wore a corona of weeping flame as the cities burned and the proud spires melted like candles in a furnace. Hurricanes of razor-glass butterflies scythed through the city streets, turning them into charnel ruin as hordes of summoned and bound monstrosities rampaged as they willed, wrecking years of painstaking spellwork in moments and letting the poison light pour down, untrammelled and untamed onto unprotected Hellebore citizenry. Skyships bristling with cannon and mortar tumbled aflame from blazing Hellebore docks, and in five Red Days the heart of the ancient and princely House of Hellebore was left a tumbling wreck. The other princely Houses – even those entirely uninvolved in the attack – were quick to capitalise on weakness, vassalizing and taking by main force what they willed even as Hellebore reeled in shock.
It was not a common fate, to be sure, but hardly unheard of in the Principalities. The older and larger realms had a gentleman’s agreement – now lying in tatters – but such upsets had occurred before, and life carried on as usual after a period of adjustment. However, the young ruler of House Hellebore was a sorceress of uncommon talent even amongst the Vershellese sorcerer-lords, and had no intention of taking the attempted extermination of her House lying down. From a hidden border citadel, she laid her plots and plans, carefully hoarding and husbanding her power and her intentions, all the while forming alliances, pacts, oaths of assistance and internal networks that spread all throughout the domains of the very Houses that had laid her own so low.
The final spark to the catalyst was an event as perplexing as it was catastrophic. It may, perhaps – and the imperial archives remain stoically silent on this – have been the result of a Hellebore saboteur, an infiltrating agent seizing their chance, but whatever the impetus the final result was undeniable. Megara was one of the original Principalities, ancient and vast and glutted with centuries of accumulated wealth. Its sorcerers were skilled, very skilled, and had for near a century turned their bright gazes towards the inactive Gate, working diligently at unravelling the mystery of mysteries – for the grand sorcery which had forged them and in so doing had brought an escape from their doomed world had been lost in the chaos of the evacuation. However expansive a cage – and to all intents and purposes, Vershellen was infinite – it was still a cage, and the lordly rulers of Megara could countenance no shackle or limit to their ambition. Thus, their mages laboured in libraries and laboratories throughout the great city-continent, working to unpick a dimensional puzzle few could even wrap their heads around.
Megara – and the loose association of Principalities it led, by default if nothing else – had been the primary instigators of the attack on House Hellebore. What the hypothetical infiltrator did – or whether it was supremely unfortunate coincidence – no-one can say, but one day the entire island conurbation…twisted. Millions of tons of rock and metal and glass shrieked a dreadful death-cry as blackness ripped its way into existence across the luminous sky, a voracious and hungry abyss that consumed the ancient Principality – and many of its closest attendant vassals – whole. The wound and the ruin – the Black City – remain to this day, a visible reminder of the dangers of Gate magic gone wrong (or worse, horribly right).
Into this power vacuum stepped the resurgent House of Hellebore. It wasn’t enough to regain their former status, oh no. Hellebore skyships were suddenly everywhere, and their immaculate envoys negotiated ceasefires, trade deals, alliances, sweeping up lesser Houses in a new and building movement. It wasn’t plain sailing; many and proud were the Principalities who wanted nothing to do with the frightening new thing the House of Hellebore was becoming. Those – with the characteristic ruthlessness of a Vershellen magister – were made examples of.
Skyships turned lesser strongholds to burning rubble with their cannons and spells, whilst the greater ones found themselves fighting an unending tide of metal. Golems, cast and sculpted like humans writ large, engraved with spelleater wards, unfeeling and unflinching and unaffected by the poison light. And all, to a perfectly-formed legionnaire, loyal to Hellebore and her dogs. Still worse were her spells, shatteringly powerful and breaking even the most potent shields like glass.
Before such puissance, the Principalities bowed or were destroyed, one by one.
At the end, from the smoking husk of the Vershellen Principalities, the empire was born, and has so far endured for two centuries.
Culture and Society
Vershellese society is defined by magic. Their home plane is almost explosive with it, the air and water and land all saturated with mana. Much of it was inimical to life as the refugees knew it, or at best indifferent when they first arrived, exhausted and afraid. The spellcasters who fled through the Gate, though, found their powers magnified manyfold. They were able to beat back the monsters and pacify the land with their arcane knowledge and, when that failed, through prodigious application of spellfire. Thus, the expedition coalesced around them, the first leaders who would go on to become the first sorcerer-lords and ladies.
Traditional lines of authority quickly eroded; old power and nobility and a line stretching back a thousand years didn’t matter, only the ability to shield against the invidious radiance that permeated the plane, and the powerful monsters glutted on unheard-of amounts of mana did. Those with the power and skill to do so were few and far between, prideful and insular in many cases; there was no one overarching authority that all acknowledged. The flying islands of the plane only enhanced that tendency to insularity; each wizard-lord and lady gathered to themselves a retinue of loyal – and terrified – retainers from the refugee train and struck out for the nearby islands in the sky.
Over time, each settled land developed into the personal demesne of a powerful mage. Spires soared up to the maddening heavens, even as castles and walls and defensive bastions were chiselled out of the living rock of the islands, along with colossal defensive wards and other ritual spellwork, channelling and amplifying the power of the attuned mage. Those first spellcasters founded the princely Houses of a sorcerous aristocracy, usurping within a single generation the powers and privileges of the nobility and elevating their power and control over their subjects to a degree undreamt-of. After all, they were the only ones capable of powering the wards and defences that leached the starry poison from the light and vaporised the monsters that regularly assailed the fledgling settlements.
In Vershellen, then, magic is everything. The overwhelming majority of the citizens have some ability to work it, to take the currents of mana which rampage through their plane and cast a good few spells, even without the centuries of arcane infrastructure which have been developed there.
The greater the ability to cast, or the greater the affinity for difficult forms of magic, the higher their status in Vershellese society. Indeed, to compare the regular citizen of Vershellen to one of the sorcerer-lords is akin to comparing a candle to the sun. Where the average resident might dabble in the arcane, the aristocracy positively swims in it, the planar magic changing them as much as they change the plane itself. Generations of people have spent their lives sheltering under the protective aegis of one magister or another; many Vershellese still think of themselves as sept to a particular House and Principality first, and a citizen of their empire second.
Magic both stratifies and levels Vershellese society; if you have powerful magic in Vershellen, you matter, no matter what background you have, and magic doesn’t seem to care about gender or sexuality either. If you have a mere dribble of talent, though, better learn some other useful skill and make yourself useful to a true magister.
The strange properties of the plane also influence their society in more subtle ways; magic is the sovereign defence against the sanity-stealing light and its poison glassy touch, of course, and so it is a badge of status in Vershellen to wear as little as is safe. Citizens and common mages may – and do – cover and cloak themselves, and vie for power and position in their own shadow-games that ape those of their betters through volume and colour and cut, but for the aristocracy nothing whispers power and wealth louder than skin bared to the poison light with no ill effects. What they do wear is fine, to be sure, rich and sumptuous and with all the decadence befitting their station, but no magister worth their title would ever stoop to cloaks and capes, to ermine robes and multi-layered ballgowns, to all the trappings of rank in other lands.
Governance and Politics
The Empire of Vershellen is ruled from the glittering stained-glass spires of the Whisper Palace in the grand city of Cynosure. The Court of Days dances attendance at the foot of the Constellation Throne whilst shadow wars play out between the House of Blood and the House of Commons in the opulent Parliament.
All bend the knee to the imperial throne; golems and skyships and island-shattering spellpower make sure of that, at least on the surface, but below the serene shallows the cutthroat political engine of Vershellen roars away unabated, oiled with blood and watered with tears. Princely Houses vie for position and power, new-minted magisters strike out across the infinite skies for pastures new, and everywhere the mages plumb the depths of the universe for knowledge.
Her Imperial Majesty Maia, of the House of Hellebore, Warden of the Heavens and Queen of Days, the effulgent Empress of Vershellen and her Principalities. Also called the Winter Empress, as much for the snows and blizzards driving in from the Deep Sky at her coronation as for her appearance. She looks like a young woman in the first flower of adulthood, and, unusually in this plane of fiercely abundant light, bears skin the colour of snow and hair a bare shade or two darker.
Her eyes are the clue that not all is quite as it seems; in an almost childlike and unlined face they sit, ancient, the pale and distant grey of a glacier, cool and calculating and remotely ruthless. Her smile, though, is bright with all the promise of summer and her body inviting, and that is enough for many, even those who really should know better.
She is, as with all the high aristocracy of Vershellen, a powerful sorceress. Long immersion in the torrent of magic which roars through the plane – and judicious use of the Days refined in the far reaches of her domains – have preserved her youth and beauty long past the natural human lifespan; quite how long it can be extended is one of the many unknowns. She is known to be skilled in the creation and use of golems, and is a particularly talented glassmage, too. She sponsors many types of arcane research in the universities and laboratories of her domain, too – not all of them under the aegis of House Hellebore.
Technology and Magic
Vershellen’s magic – and its princely magisters – is perhaps its most defining feature. It’s woven into the very fabric of their plane, their infrastructure wholly entwined with it; essence mills churn at every endless waterfall and mana collectors gleam on every suns-drenched hilltop, funnelling the raw possibility of creation into their owners’ grand workings. Miles of sorcerous ritual anchors honeycomb the great island citadels, crackling and snapping with cold fire as the ambient magic of the plane surges through them, hundreds of magical effects propagating from each enormous array.
Magic is as much a tool of peace as war; ploughshares draw life and nourishment through the soil as they go, whilst forges blaze to white heat at a whispered word, suckling greedily at the essence grid for the raw power to convert into flame. None of which is to say the mages of Vershellen have neglected violence, oh no. Some – like the empress – delight in golem legions, or armies of oath-bound servitors. Others, sheer arcane might manifest as the elemental forces of nature skewed to extreme violence, and every shade in between. Enchanters press skeins of power into the very artifacts they imbue; cannons roar with volcanic fury and spew magma in luminous torrents and swivel-mounted carronades scythe decks clear with barrages of razored glass.
Skyships.
Military Overview
Golems are one of the Empire’s greatest assets. Tireless workers, they toil in foundry crucibles in temperatures that would kill a human instantly. They labour wreathed in poison clouds, on new islands exposed to the venomous glassing light of the plane, in places where the tempo of production must never, ever cease. More than that, though, golems carved with spelleater wards and chains are one of the primary methods of warfare between the magisters of Vershellen.
There are as many varieties of golem as there are stars in Vershellen’s endless skies, of course, but the empire, at least, as part of an effort to simplify their own logistics, tends to a few archetypes rather than a dazzling specialist panoply of different variants.
The best and most enduring are the Brass Legionnaires, ensorcelled steel creations aping the human form, appearing as plate-armoured knights dipped in sorcerous brass, for better protection against the vitrifying glare of the plane. They are graceful and quick, belying their sheer mass, well-armed and supremely well-armoured, lavishly ornamented with scintillant arcane sigils. Forged in the great presses of Vershellen’s arsenals, the Brass Legionnaires are implacable, loyal defenders of the empire. Attended upon their creation by skilled animators - a well-respected and well-paid profession in Vershellen, ensuring the engines of industry thunder ceaselessly - they are fluid and adaptable and tireless, machines honed and improved down the centuries for slaughter. The Brass Legionnaires are the front-line soldiers of many an imperial island, fighting back the tide of arcane horrors birthed from abundant and untapped places of power and making sure that even the most humble Vershellese citizen sleeps safely in their bed at night.
The standard-pattern Legionnaire is armed with an enchanted longsword and a thick steel heater shield, emblazoned with either a princely or imperial coat of arms and impressed with enchantments for strength and protection both.
Legionnaires patterned for long-distance warfare, meanwhile, have superior vision and are more dextrous than their imposing forms might suggest, and can be found wielding a wide variety of ranged weapons. A favourite – beyond the standard crossbows – are shardstaffs, long polearms that project bursts of vitrifying radiance.
Some few Legionnaires are patterned for siege warfare, too; something of a rarity in Vershellen, where skyships and magisters can lay waste to an island in minutes. On occasion, though, such wholesale destruction is deemed unwarranted; perhaps there exist priceless relics or archives of lore whose destruction cannot be countenanced, or the island-citadel in question is desired as a strategic base. In those instances, Vershellen calls upon its siege golems.
Colossal in size, many times the height and bulk of a man, they are blasted out of the obdurate white granite so common to the isles, their forms refined and honed through flaying magic until a perfect colossus strides free of the quarry, shaking the dust of its creation from its enormous feet. Many bear catapults and ballistae on their broad shoulders, the pauldron facsimiles large enough to handle such weapon emplacements with ease, whilst others heft gargantuan battering rams or rely on the crushing power of their fists.
By far the vast majority of Vershellen’s skyships are traders, pot-bellied hulls of buoyant lufwood and spun-light sails, built as large as economics dictates to haul as much as possible through the skies between princely ports. Tea and spices, arcane reagents, sky-silver, gems, ore…the number and variety of cargoes is staggering.
Many of the rest are pleasure craft, toys of the nobility, elegantly crafted yachts of spun glass and crystal, fast and opulent. There can be no standardization of these vessels, not when lavished with magisterial attention, but they are vessels of pleasure and not of war. Reinforced and shielded they might be, to guard against opportunistic assassination, but they are no purpose-built engines of war.
Those that are are by far the rarest. Layer upon layer of brass and bronze-dipped steel, glittering with runework and reflected light. Slab-sided mountains of reinforced metal, scrollworked cannonry bristling at every opportunity, sailing the littoral of light as a potent reminder of just what power Vershellen can bring to bear, should it be necessary. The most powerful princely Houses have their war-cruiser squadrons, to show their flag and enforce their will on their far-flung holdings, but only the empress can afford the expenditure, both arcane and mundane, for a true sky dreadnought. The nascent Imperial Armada has each and every one of the bare handful completed so far, the empress’s mailed fist championed by the dreadnought Her Majesty’s Displeasure; an apposite name if ever there was one.
Maia is far older than she appears. Most of the aristocracy and some of the middle classes are.
Vershellen mines Days in the far reaches of their plane, where Time gets funny. This is not a fun profession.
Savrianoi (51%): The Addacian Empire’s hegemons, they are bipedal saurians with scales on much of their body and colors ranging from blue to green. Even though their hunched-over posture makes them only slightly taller than the average Human, Savrianoi are much larger, with a very developed musculature. Although omnivorous, they have a strong preference for meat.
Humans (12%): Like the Savrianoi, the Humans of Uboras are from Gaia. They primarily live in the Empire’s remote and wild areas as a multitude of nomadic tribes and are famed for being particularly sensitive to the seven Dharma, a fact seen as both a blessing and a curse.
Kentauroi (15%): A humanoid race that has what resembles a horse's body from the waist down. They are war-like and very competitive, which combined with their anatomy makes for a fearsome warrior/raider culture.
Lykonoi (22%): Bipedal wolf-like creatures. They have a strong pack instinct and thus live in extended friends and family cells known as clans, which can number a mere dozen individuals all the way up to hundreds of them. They have a very potent sense of smell and exceptional hearing.
Population: 9.5 million
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Uboras is a world of grassy plains, forests, mountains, rivers, lakes, deserts and marshes. At first sight, it could seem unremarkable, but nothing would be further from the truth.
Living beings are not the only entities present in Uboras. The emotions of sentient beings, past and present, linger in a very tangible way and affect the world as they are the source of the plane’s magic known as Dharma. If a specific emotion is present in too large amounts over a long enough period of time, it can create a zone of imbalance where reality is distorted in ways depending on the dominant Dharma; this affects the psyche of sentient beings inside the zone and produces visible changes on the environment. In some extreme cases, lava may surge to the surface from the depths of the earth, living things may experience extraordinary fertility and reproductive ardor, rocks and trees may be deformed into jagged and cruelly sharp spikes and blades, or other unnatural phenomena.
The Savrianoi’s arrival on Uboras was either never recorded, or the writings were lost to time. The earliest historical documents are about 430 years old, and at the time the Savrianoi were organized in a federation of tribes known as the Addacian League fighting to keep what land they managed to settle in the face of attacks from the neighboring Lykonoi and Kentauroi, the plane’s native inhabitants. Most of the Human slave population that the Savrianoi had brought along with them were freed during that time in exchange for assistance against the natives.
Humans brought with them an unprecedented understanding of the supernatural forces that govern Uboras, naming them Dharma and quickly proving that their mastery over these forces and the proportion of individuals capable of wielding them far exceeded that of their former masters and their enemies. Soon, several Lykonoi and Kentauroi tribes joined the Savrianoi and their human allies, either intimidated by the growing military might of the former or in awe of the arcane knowledge of the latter. More were brought to heel and subjugated by the Legions of the newly formed Addacian Empire.
The Empire continued to grow and expand through a tumultuous history of conquests and civil wars, enduring the test of time and establishing itself as the dominant power of the known world.
Addacian society is divided into three classes: the nobility at the very top have exclusivity on many government offices and have more rights and duties than the pleb, which is the second class of society. Plebeians represent the vast majority of the population and are expected to work in times of peace, and serve in the army in times of war. Finally, the slaves are at the bottom of the hierarchy. As they are property, they have little rights and are either war prisoners or people forced to sell themselves into slavery to pay off debts. Slaves do benefit from the status of Addacian citizens in a limited way, however, as slaves may not be killed or maimed by their masters. If a slave suffers an accidental work injury, their owner must pay them a sum of money depending on the gravity of the injury.
Additionally, the highest echelons of both civilian and military hierarchies are closed to all non-Savrianoi individuals.
Savrianoi are instinctively driven to stick together, which has perhaps been the most important factor as to why the several civil wars that the Empire suffered didn’t shatter it. To many, separatism is wrong in a way that goes against nature. Notably, Savrianoi also have a strong respect for strength and martial might, giving them a natural mindset for conquest and a pronounced taste for gladiatorial fights.
Humans are dispersed all across the Empire into a multitude of tribes who developed their own unique cultures over the centuries. Except for those who decided to leave their tribes to go live in the large cities, they share two common traits despite cultural differences: a nomadic lifestyle, and following the tenets of the Dharma’s Balance. The latter is a philosophy that endeavors to bring inner peace by balancing one’s emotions, striving to never let one overwhelm the others.
Kentauroi are known to have a penchant for extreme violence only tempered by a very special kind of sense of honor. Even though this isn’t true of most of them, their society follows a mentality of survival of the fittest and considers that might makes right. Few virtues aside from strength, skill and honesty are considered worthwhile. Mercy and compassion for an enemy earn, at best, condescending mockery.
Lykonoi clans are too numerous to list, as a clan can be as small as a single family. These clans often encompass the local settlement, be it a farm, a village or a town, although several clans may coexist in the larger cities. Lykonoi society is a complex network of loyalties, grudges, debts, and favors. A clan’s prestige reputation is entirely based on the integrity and achievements of its members, past and present. Thus, a small clan of twenty individuals may be more prestigious than one that numbers several hundred and consequently will be more valued by their peers.
There is a final major component of Addacian society that must be mentioned: the Dragon Guild, an ancient religious organization that worships Kotzolr, the Dragon God. Guild temples can be found in every city, along with banks and laboratories. Indeed, the Dragon Guild is not only made of priests and religious followers but also bankers and alchemists. Over the centuries since its creation, the Guild has become immensely rich and powerful to the point of being allowed by Imperial law to maintain armed soldiers to protect its interests. Like the mythical dragons it represents in its aesthetics, the Guild watches over its possessions with vigilance and ferocity. The Dragon Guild is so powerful that the Emperor may call upon its warriors to serve alongside the Legions in times of war, and the Guild wisely answers the call every time.
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The day-to-day decision-making necessary for the Empire to function is made by the Senate on one hand, and the Tribunal on the other. The former, made up of each Addacian noble family’s head, proposes, discusses and votes on laws and motions, while the latter as elected plebeian officials may veto any senatorial decision if they judge that said decision would be damaging to the pleb’s interests.
Above the Senate and Tribunal rules the Emperor as an absolute monarch: his word is law, and his power is unrestricted by any assembly or legal instrument. Even though the role of the Senate and Tribunal is also to counsel the Emperor, in the end his decisions have absolute authority, although wise Emperors take care not to overrule the Senate and Tribunal too often.
Emperors designate their own heirs: often their own children, although this is not always the case even if the current Emperor has living children.
Addacian architecture is remarkable for the beauty and quality of its works: magnificent temples, palaces and magistratures, aqueducts, fountains, stone bridges, sewage tunnels, and of course imposing curtain walls, towers and fortresses. Addacian cities attract the best craftsmen and metalworkers, profiting from the busy trade routes and growing rich from the production of high-grade weapons and armor, exquisite jewelry and colorful fabrics.
The Dragon Guild is perhaps the highest concentration of talented artisans, and the alchemic brews and salves that they sell in their temples have healed many Addacian citizens from otherwise incurable ailments. The Guild’s most notorious achievement is the substance known as dragon fire: a thick, viscous and extremely flammable liquid that sticks to any surface and is almost impossible to extinguish.
Magic on Uboras comes from within one’s self: more precisely, one’s own emotions. They fall into seven broad groups named Dharma. Some people, Human for the most part, are capable of feeling the presence of the Dharma to a greater degree than others. These people, through lengthy training, may become Dharma wielders, capable of consciously producing more Dharma from their memories and transforming it through meditation into a reserve of usable magic that can then be employed for spells thanks to specific hand gestures and glyphs that one draws in the air.
The nature and effects of these spells depend heavily on which Dharma is used to produce them. Dharma wielders can only hold so much Dharma inside them, depending on their affinity with them and their experience. A Dharma wielder who spends all of his reserves may not use magic until he can take time to meditate in order to process more Dharma.
Harad: The Dharma of Anger. Its main attribute is Strength. Kietsu: The Dharma of Joy. Its main attribute is Creativity. Yûku: The Dharma of Suffering. Its main attribute is Time. Inyo: The Dharma of Lust. Its main attribute is Vitality. Nintai: The Dharma of Patience. Its main attribute is Preservation. Aikô: The Dharma of Love. Its main attribute is Dedication. Kyô: The Dharma of Insanity. Its main attribute is Luck.
The Addacian Empire maintains a standing army to control its vast territory and combat banditry, patrol its dangerous borders and garrison fortresses in tributary states to ensure their loyalty. A number of full-sized Legions are also maintained in order to be able to respond quickly to attacks by neighboring kingdoms and tribes.
The Legion is the largest Addacian military unit, which always possesses a hard core of Savrianoi regular troops. In addition, between one-third and half of every legion is comprised of auxiliary units from tributary states and vassals, providing flexibility and specialization to each Legion according to its needs.
(Only a few auxiliary units are listed below as examples, as there are too many to list them all.)
Savrianoi Legionarii: Heavy infantry serving as an army's main fighting force, wearing half-plate armor and armed with halberds, round shields strapped to their left arm, and swords. They do most of the fighting, taking advantage of their physiology and discipline to overpower their opponents.
Savrianoi Sagittarii: Using longbows and armored with chainmail hauberks, the archers provide ranged support for the army. They carry a sword for close-quarters defense.
Savrianoi Velites: Light infantry unarmored save for a helmet, they carry a shield and an axe along with javelins. Their speed makes them useful for screening, harassing the enemy, and attacking vulnerable units.
Savrianoi Equites Legionis: A cavalry unit equipped with Legionarius armor and shields, long spears, and swords. They guard the army’s flanks, intercept enemy cavalry and pursue fleeing foes.
Kentauroi Praedatores: Lightly armored, they use bows and spears to great effect in combination with their mobility. They are invariably the swiftest unit in an Addacian legion.
Kentauroi Custodes: These warriors are hand-picked to serve as the noble ruling class’ bodyguards. On the battlefield, they serve as an elite cavalry force, proficient both at range and in melee combat with better armor than the other warriors.
Lykonoi Venatores: Skilled bowmen, the hunters serve both as scouts thanks to their superior senses and as archers during the battle. They wear no armor, preferring to stay out of reach of the enemy.
Lykonoi Pedites: Wearing helmets and padded armor, the ferocious Lykonoi warriors use two-handed axes or hammers to tear the enemy apart as shock infantry. Their light armor and lack of shields make them vulnerable to projectiles.
Dragon Guild Spearmen: These soldiers are responsible for guarding the Dragon Guild’s property, watching over banks, laboratories, and temples. Equipped with spears, square shields, and bronze scale armor fashioned to resemble dragon scales along with a helm made to look like a dragon’s head, they can be a front-line formation in battle.
Dragon Guild Swordsmen: Armed with two-handed curved swords and the same dragon-like armor as the Spearmen, they are the elite warriors of the Guild, entrusted with small clay pots filled with dragon fire that they throw at the enemy before closing in.
Dragon Archers: On par with the Swordsmen as an elite force, the Dragon Archers wear an open version of the helm used by other Guild troops. The arrows they shoot have a small amount of dragon fire applied to them, which allows the Dragon Archers to deliver volleys of very effective fire arrows.
Duchy of Soshus: Composite Monarchy Kingdom of Astrad: Feudal Monarchy Driorian Confederation: Elective Monarchy
Demographics: Humans (53%): Self-explanatory, I hope.
Haelfgoder(2%): The Haelfgoder are the descendants of the offspring of mortals and quasi-divine beings from Gaia. Due to a mixed mortal ancestry, they look like humans with traits of other races like Dwarves or Elves. Some of the Haelfgoder even possess angelic wings which they can use to fly. Their divine ancestry, which used to give powerful magics back on Gaia (although this is no longer possible on Zokution), causes these beings to receive powerful visions and to hear voices which guide them to greatness, as well as the capability to do most things better than humans can. It is therefore no surprise that many famous and important figures from Zokution’s history have a divine ancestry.
Swamp elves (15%): Elves that live in the swamps and bogs of Zokution. The Swamp Elves are highly independent and do not appreciate strangers in their lands. Fortunately for them, the fact that they live in remote marshes and swamps has made it difficult for outside authorities to subjugate them.
Haxris (30%): Natives of Zokution, the Haxris are humanoid, though that’s where the similarity with humans ends. While they have the same body plan as the humans or the swamp elves, the Haxris are far taller than your average human, though they are relatively thin, with long limbs. Their skin, which is stone-like, comes in shades of brown, grey and green, which helps to camouflage them in the forests.The Haxris are very communal, although they don’t like outsiders much. In recent times they have been willing to cooperate with the Knights of Drioria to get rid of the Vremden.
Population: 6 million
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Plane Description: The plane of Zokution is naturally unstable and volatile. In fact, the only reason why it can be called a plane of existence at all is because of the latent rift, which through some unknown process projects a bubble of reality around itself, making life on Zokution possible. In order to do so, however, it needs to be powered with magic, and so all magic that occurs naturally or enters the plane is drained into it. This means that no magic is possible on Zokution, which has forced the former inhabitants of Gaia to adapt. The habitable area of stability, the edge of which is called the Frontier, has waxed and waned over time, and has been known to grow or shrink abruptly, sometimes in a matter of seconds.
Interestingly, Zokution’s Rift can be found on the sea rather than on land, which proved to be a challenge to the first colonists/refugees. This leaves the plane’s currently habitable area to be a relatively small sliver of coastline along the north of the continent of Efora, and includes a large and a number of small islands. This small sliver of coastline is mostly made up of various types of wetland that are prone to flooding in the southeast, and large, ancient mixed forests to the northwest. There used to be more inland, but the shrinking of the Frontier has made going there impossible.
Zokution is populated by a number of native creatures, many of which are eerily similar to beings that once lived on Gaia. There are giants, dragons, and many other such beings. Despite their looks, these creatures have proven to be quite indifferent to the arrival of Gaian refugees, and have not been a danger to them. The most dangerous creatures that can be found on Zokution are the Vremden. These entities are what’s left over of those who cross the Frontier. They appear as ghostly figures that glow with a white or blue light, and are incredibly hostile.
History: When the refugees from Gaia first entered the Rift that would lead them to the plane of Zokution, they found themselves not on land, but on the open sea. This proved to be a difficult challenge, and many considered giving up on the whole endeavor and going to a different Rift. Some, under the leadership of a number of Haelfgoder, decided that they’d rather risk drowning on their new plane than dying in the Cataclysm of Gaia. And so, they built small boats, carried them through the Rift, and set sail to find their new home.
Many of these initial expeditions didn’t make it, but soon the island of Astrad was discovered, and it was here that the first settlements were made. Astrad was a rich and fertile land, and in mere decades the population boomed. The Haelfgoder, with their innate capabilities for leadership, became revered kings and leaders, and when the population grew too large expeditions were sent out once again, discovering the continent of Efora.
Efora was a vastly different environment than Astrad. Where Astrad had rich grasslands, the Eforan coast was a confusing mixture of swamp, islands and rivers. Where Astrad had rolling hills, Efora’s northern coastline was low, flat and prone to flooding. The settlers from Astrad soldiered on nonetheless, and soon the wetlands were drained, the woods were cleared and the land was tamed. The plane’s natives, the Haxris, were soon discovered but with Astrad’s leadership a stable peace was maintained and the colonies on Efora thrived.
Then, the first Waxing began, and as the Frontier expanded more of Efora was uncovered, and a new continent was discovered to the north of the Rift. This new continent, Hypugisor, was even more rich and prosperous than Astrad and was chosen to be the new home of the Haelfgoder. With Hypugisor, Astrad, and soon the entirety of Efora under control, the plane of Zokution experienced a golden age that lasted a hundred years. Great technological strides were made during this time, and the people of Zokution even tried to look into ways to expand the Frontier further.
This golden age was not to last. The first Waning, heralded by the appearance of a blood-red comet, began. In mere days, the Frontier shrank drastically, cutting off more than half of the available land. The continent of Hypugisor, where most of the Haelfgoder now made their home, was lost entirely. The continent of Efora fell into chaos as mass numbers of Vremden appeared on the frontier and migrated north. A dark age descended upon Zokution.
However, the might of the Haelfgoder proved itself once again, as a man named Scuvo Dubhuun proclaimed himself King of a small corner of northeast Efora and managed to reconquer the entirety of eastern Efora, an act for which he would be forever known as ‘Scuvo the Great’. King Scuvo even created a number of chivalric orders in order to combat the mass amounts of Vremden that still plagued the land. Upon his death, his kingdom was split amongst his children, and conflict and disunity ruled once more.
For much time, these kingdoms, with their vassal dukes and counts, fought but also traded with and lived peacefully alongside one another. The Frontier sometimes expanded and shrank again, though never as abruptly as the First Wanining. The Eforan wetlands were drained and dams and levees were built to prevent more flooding. In southeast Efora, the House of Soshus began marrying into families that owned counties in the north, from which would eventually come the Duchy of Soshus. The various orders of knights worked together to conquer the Driorian lands and establish the Confederation. In Astrad, merchants began to venture south and trade with the Eforans once again.
The center of power and trade now firmly lay in the Eforan north, which was fortunate as another Waning began. This time, however, the Frontier shrank to more than half of its radius in a matter of hours. Millions of people were unable to make it and perished. The original territories of the Duchy of Soshus were lost in the disaster, leaving only its northern possessions. The only other two states to survive were the Kingdom of Astrad and the Driorian Confederation.
Culture and Society: Kingdom of Astrad: Astrad’s society is feudal: that is to say that every social group has legal and sometimes military obligations to one another. There exists a large peasant class, part of which are serfs and part of which are free peasants, which is ruled over by a warrior aristocracy. Land is given in fief by a lord to their vassals, who are obligated to provide military service and pay taxation in exchange for the land.
This system of reciprocal relationships goes all the way from the King to local lords, though via a slew of other titles like dukes and counts. Each lord has their own domain, lands they personally own, on which work large numbers of labourers who work the land to provide for themselves as well as their lord, and which can be called up to serve in the military. There is generally little social mobility, though there have been examples of individuals who were able to climb the ranks through skill, cunning and luck.
The fact that it used to be the center of civilization has left quite a mark on Astrad. There are still many crumbling ruins which can be seen in the countryside, signs of a once great kingdom. The Haelfgoder are still venerated, and many find themselves pushed into positions of power even if they do not want that power. In an ironic twist of fate, this has led many of the Haelfgoder to conceal their identities. There are a great many legends, most of which are passed through oral tradition, which tell about the ancient civilization which used to be present on the island.
Astrad’s economy primarily relies on agriculture, particularly wool, which it sends towards Efora where it is processed into cloth. Astrad is also rich in mineral resources, which it trades with Efora as well.
Duchy of Soshus: The culture of Soshus is shaped by its geography. The maintenance of the various canals, mills, dikes and locks is so crucial to prevent flooding that everyone is forced to handle them with care. This also means that finances have been carefully controlled in order to make sure there is enough money for maintenance, which leads to a very rational and sober mentality among the people. Rules and regulations are generally adhered to very well, which also happens to be important for trade and bureaucracy.
The northern lands of the Duchy of Soshus are highly urbanized, a natural result of high population growth, increased infrastructure and booming trade. As it became clear that the drained northern wetlands were not as optimal for grain production as the lands in the south, these crop fields were transformed into pasture for animals. This required less labour than farming, which drove more people to the cities.
This urbanization led to increased tolerance, as many people from different backgrounds lived next to one another and realized they were not so different. Cities also need many raw goods, like grain, salt, timber among other things, and so this led to booming trade with Astrad and Drioria. This trade would lead to a mercantile, even proto-capitalistic outlook.
The mercantile outlook and the need to adapt to an environment without magic have turned the Soshusians into explorers and made them inquisitive, leading to many important advances in science and technology, as well as the founding and the promotion of several universities.
Lastly, while the Soshusians might overall be rational and sober, the dukes of Soshus are anything but. The house of Soshus came from the south and its members are used to lavish parties and showing off their wealth, which is directly opposite to the attitude of the common people. Numerous conflicts, especially with more autonomous towns have already happened over this and will likely continue to happen in the future.
Driorian Confederation: Since Drioria is a confederation of chivalric orders, the ideals of chivalry are highly regarded there. That includes ideas like loyalty, generosity, honour and other such ideas. Drioria is also highly militaristic, which is entirely necessary due to the high concentration of Vremden which constantly pass the frontier. The knights live in stone castles, each belonging to an order, which protects the land around them, and the road between these castles is well-maintained for communication.
The Knights are trained from an early age, and expected to live their lives according to the code of chivalry, as well as to maintain their physical prowess and combat skills in order to maintain combat readiness.
Those are not the only things worth mentioning about Drioria, though. The majority of the Driorian population is actually Haxris, who live in small, tight-knit tribal communities. The Knights and the Haxris mostly leave each other alone, despite the latter having been conquered by the former, and have even been known to help one another out in times of need.
In recent times, Haxris chieftains and chivalric orders alike have begun to invite settlers from other parts of Efora in order to colonize the sparsely populated land. This has led to the spread of particularly Soshusian culture, as well as Drioria becoming the breadbasket of Zokution, sending large amounts of wheat east- and northwards.
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Governance and Politics: Kingdom of Astrad: The Kingdom of Astrad is a feudal monarchy. While the King technically has absolute power, in reality their authority is mediated through vassals which own their own lands, and which also have their own vassals. In general (although not exclusively), the vassals perform military service to their lord in exchange for the land, although there are examples of non-military service as well.
Duchy of Soshus:The Duchy of Soshus is not one singular state, but rather a personal union of different territories led by a Duke. Though the original Duchy of Soshus was lost following the most recent Waning, it still carries the same name. The provinces that make up the Duchy do not share any common legislation, although there are a number of common bureaucratic institutions that help the Duke govern their territories. The autonomy of the various territories governed by the Duke varies greatly, with cities particularly having higher autonomy.
Driorian Confederation:: Drioria is really the territory of a number of chivalric orders that have conquered the Driorian region in the northwest of Efora. While traditions between the different orders may vary, the heads of the various orders form a council that runs the state. The leader of the Confederation is the Grand Master, who is elected by all members of all the different orders.
Technology and Magic: With a complete lack of magic on their plane, the peoples of Zokution have had to adapt by heavily investing into the development of new technologies. The people of Northern Efora have become masters of water management, using systems of dams, canals, dikes, water mills, windmills and hydraulics to drain the wetlands and prevent flooding. Water is also used to power a variety of industrial mills which produce goods like paper, sugar, timber and many other products.
Gunpowder was invented during Zokution’s golden age, and finds important military applications as siege cannons, fire lances, fire arrows and even has limited naval use. Also of note is the use of flamethrowers on ships, which spew out a flaming liquid that is sticky and even keeps burning on water. Advanced metallurgical techniques combined with hydraulic engineering to produce metal ensure a steady supply of weaponry and armor.
Other important inventions include: double-entry bookkeeping which has led to the rise of bureaucracy to govern both states and private businesses better; the movable type printing press which has allowed for a quicker and more efficient spread of information; the nautical magnetic compass, which is incredibly important for trade ships that ply the seas, and there are also other inventions like the armillary sphere.
This is just a small overview of the technological advancements made on Zokution, as to give a complete overview would take up more space than necessary.
Military Overview:
Kingdom of Astrad: Astrad’s army is mostly composed of peasant levies which support a small group of knights and a variety of trained men-at-arms, each of which hand-picked by their lord to suit their preferences in warfare.
Duchy of Soshus: Soshus’ military is the most advanced one on Zokution. The Dukes of Soshus have managed to create a professional, well-trained standing army rather than relying on feudal levies to fight its wars. This army is mostly made up of the urban poor, who gladly join the Duke’s military in exchange for pay. Its armaments include gunpowder-based weaponry such as fire lances, fire arrows and siege artillery, though there are also the more traditional medieval weapons, as well as cavalry.
Given that most of the plane is made up of water, Soshus also has a strong navy. This navy exists mostly to protect the shipping lanes from piracy. Naval warfare relies primarily on boarding, though flamethrowers for ship-to-ship combat are also used, and there are even experimental cannons.
Driorian Confederation: Much like Astrad, Drioria mostly uses Knights and levies to do all the fighting. Unlike the Kingdom, however, Driorian Knights are far better trained, and there are a lot more of them, allowing them to be used as heavy infantry and cavalry alike. Driorian levies are primarily composed of the Haxris, although they generally only volunteer in times of crisis. Given that the Haxris are far taller and stronger than mortal men, they have not dared to force them to serve in the military.
Demographics: As of now, Vivesper's sapient population is completely human. Though elves existed earlier in the area's history, there was a long history of mutual bad blood between the two species, and elves were wiped out to the very last in the final stages of the Vivesperian Empire consolidating control of the realm.
Population: Approximately 14 million humans
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Plane Description: As of now, the overall appearance of the plane differs drastically between areas near settlements and more isolated areas. Most of the land was initially barren, but, through a combination of land development and magical advances, the general fertility of many areas was increased. Fortunately, the weather provides for plenty of precipitation, and droughts are rare. This precipitation is most notable in the winter season. In addition to the more regular snowstorms, blizzards are common, and have often ground military actions to a halt throughout Vivesper's history. Much of the infrastructure of cities is designed around resisting blizzards. Phoenixes are a species hunted for their feathers and ashes, often dwelling in the harsher environments. The land has a wealth of mineral resources, most notably high-quality iron. Though this includes a high supply of precious metals, there has not been much effort previously to excavate them due to the lack of parties who would give them significant value. As the Empire has stabilized, there has been some growing interest in precious metals.
History: Though the population of Vivesper is much than its lowest point, it's drastically lower than it was after going through the portal. In addition to humans, the population initially included the less populous elves. The land was initially named Vacacia, so barren was it at the time. Many people died of starvation, and the previously unified people fragmented as they sought out the most survivable areas. With elves already having a strong reputation for arrogance and bigotry among humans, they split up into their own groups Fighting for resources was a way of life initially. As people split up more and stabilized, however, war didn't become less frequent so much as it became more organized. After awhile, various major territories were established, and two eventually developed into kingdoms. Though the two kingdoms were at a stalemate for awhile, one eventually conquered the other through major breakthroughs in technology and magic. Those advancements were the development of phoenix steel, a steel alloy which, contrary to most metals, insulated against heat, cold, and electricity, rendering knights virtually invulnerable to most opposing offensive magic; and major improvements in tunneling magic, which permitted larger, deeper, and more stable tunnels, allowed one to circumvent castle defenses, and allowed attacks to be pressed underground when blizzards rendered surface movement dangerous. The Empire of Vivesper was established shortly after the conquest, named after the territory previously known as Vacacia that would now be known to the Empire as Vivesper to reflect its ability to make the land work. In the time that followed, the Empire rapidly grew in size, with most human territories choosing to pledge loyalty to it and gain the advantage of stability from being under its umbrella, rather than wasting lives and resources delaying what was seen as inevitable. As the Vivesperian Empire grew, the idea of uniting the entire land under one authority gradually changed from concept, to aspiration, to objective. The elves refused to give themselves freely to human rule. The Empire used a major smallpox epidemic that originated from a human settlement close to elvish territory as casus belli for a punitive war against elvish territories - elves were accused of conducting a targeted attack with a horrible disease known only to infect humans, motivated by their bigotry, though specifics regarding those accusations were lacking. Having made it clear after a few battles that elves that didn't surrender would be slaughtered, the bloody affair went on for a very long time, before remaining territories surrendered. Seeing elves as an obstacle to a unified Vivesper, however, the Emperor ordered every single elf in the realm slaughtered. It was nearly impossible for the remaining elves to put up any meaningful resistance after their territory was already under control of the Empire. What would have been seen as the most depraved sort of affair imaginable instead became seen as a marker of a once divided people being made whole again, with much emphasis being placed by the Empire's historians on the reactionary ideals of the elves, their hubris, and their crimes against humanity.
Culture and Society: Culturally, the realm puts major focus on unity, loyalty, obedience, and knowing and fulfilling one's role in society. Propaganda posters frequently reiterate the importance of these values. Working long hours is frequent for many. The culture of fulfilling one's role in society leads many to become highly devoted to their sociological niche, taking pride. One's profession and position in society is second only to their name as far as personal identity goes. People are more reluctant to explore different fields overall, which potentially leads some to squander potential they had elsewhere. Phoenixes are a national icon. In addition to their ashes being the basis for phoenix steel, their ability to survive in harsh areas is seen as symbolic of the resiliency of the people, and their legendary reincarnation is seen as iconic of the people themselves rising from the ashes. Vivesperians do not bury their dead in a traditional sense. Instead, the dead are processed into compost. A fruit tree is often planted with some of this compost in honor of the dead individual; much like the phoenix, such a gesture is symbolic of life from death, and allows one to continue to serve their fellow man even after death. With there being universal literacy (albeit to different levels of proficiency), many libraries have been established in Vivesper. Though much of the writing within these libraries is practical or historical, there are also many fictional stories. Mythology, by nature of its invocation of religious ideas, is not found within libraries. Works directly critical of the Empire, or that portray its actions or ideals in a bad light, are very difficult to have approved, though some more clever authors may get around this through use of allusions. There is a stigma against ostentatious displays of wealth, though this stigma has been weakening over time as the Empire has stabilized. Though peoples' clothing reflects their social status, nobles rarely wear jewelry at anything other than the most important ceremonies of the year. The most major holiday of the year is Founding Day, the anniversary of the Empire's founding and the coronation of the first Emperor. Though usually held on the actual day, the festivities in an area are postponed if there is bad weather. Alcohol, though it isn't rare or scarce, is more limited than in other places due to the lower amount of arable land; Founding Day is one of the biggest times for drinking it. There are usually many games to be had, with archery competitions being some of the most popular.
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Governance and Politics: The Vivesperian Empire has relatively high taxes. It is often emphasized in propaganda how paying one's taxes is an important part of fulfilling your due to society and helping your fellow people survive. Religiosity is banned by mandate. It is regularly emphasized that gods forsook the people of Vivesper, and that the continued survival of the people comes from the strength of its people, and their strength alone. Punishments for many things are often draconian. Beyond the crime itself, criminals are seen as opposing the very foundation of the Empire itself, that being the mutual cooperation that allowed its people to survive in spite of the land itself trying to kill them. Public executions in many places are frequent, with criminals being executed in ways that make their death slow, painful, and showy. The people revel in seeing an end to those who are seen as being a danger to their survival. Prisoners are often allocated to dangerous jobs, and frequently die as a result of misadventure during those jobs. At least per the Vivesperian mandate, the role of children is seen as learning and developing into the future of the Empire. Education for young children is mandatory; this policy was highly unpopular when initially invoked, as it meant fewer hands for things like farm work. It has mainly survived because none of the emperors have been of any other mind, despite the concerns of subordinates. Though criticizing the Empire isn't a crime in and of itself, it is a crime to attempt to challenge or subvert the Empire's authority. How this gets interpreted is generally based on whoever is enforcing the law.
Technology and Magic: Magic is something that takes a thorough understanding of both physical and metaphysical laws in order to use, at least with any degree of proficiency. Thus, magic is often associated with higher education, and, by extension, with privilege. In military matters, mages serve as specialists; they're not used as general agents of lethality, but to perform a specific action that cannot be done with more traditional tools. Though one might be able to use basic spells of various types, one often has to specialize in a particular type of magic to get the most out of it. A major technological advancement was phoenix steel. It is a steel alloy which derives its carbon content from phoenix ashes. It can only be forged at extremely high temperatures, temperatures that can only be sustained and survived with the aid of magic.
Military Overview: Currently, with stability as opposed to constant wars, the Vivesperian Empire's standing army is much smaller than it was at its peak. It is composed of knights, mages, and other elite men-at-arms. The majority of those in the standing army are under direct command of the Emperor; this makes potential rebellion a difficult affair, as one cannot outnumber the Emperor's professional army with their own professional troops even in the unlikely event that every other noble with professional troops offered their support. Beyond the standing army, the Empire also requires every man of fighting age to own and be proficient with a weapon of their choice, with other potential arrangements based on the Empire's needs. These men can be drafted as needed for either local militias or the main army. In addition to traditional cavalry, the Empire breeds wyverns, and trains wyvern riders. The advantage of flight is particularly significant in many of the areas of rough terrain. Given the value of wyvern riders, however, they are rarely used in situations in which enemies are holding firm; they are often used to pursue disorganized enemies in routs, to attack divided groups of enemies, or to take out high-value targets.
Demographics: There is only one people who call Revelation their home, and that is the Ojir Amaun. The People of the Oasis. Though they might once have been simply Human, the Ojir Amaun have adapted to their home in the centuries since the rifts first carried them to it. The unending day has seen their ability to see in the darkness all but disappear, and more visibly the harsh sands have made their skin tough and waxy. Of course, it is not common to see one the Oasis inhabitants showing much skin at all. Though uncommon, sandstorms wash over the Oasis on occasion, violent winds carrying sand that has spent decades baking in an endless sun. Given the alternative few don’t cover up, just in case.
The People of the Oasis still look Human, at least mostly. Small details like thicker, longer eyelashes, thinner lips, and smaller noses are usually enough to distinguish them from their ancestors, however. And that is without considering the odd sheen of their dry skin. Yet there can be no doubting what the People of the Oasis were for they are not that far gone from their Humanity.
Population: Some hundreds of thousands call the Oasis home.
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Plane Description: Before the Rifts, there can be no discussion of Revelation. How can one discuss what is not? That which is without space, time, or magic, but still is? If there is a word that exists which could describe what it might have been in those days, it would be potential. A plane of potential. One which sat patiently, content to be nothing, until it was given greater purpose.
None know the name of the soul that first stepped foot in Revelation. They are forgotten, but for the knowledge that their bones are among those that litter the desert they created. For when that first soul gazed into potential itself they saw only what they most feared they would: the very thing they’d fled from. An ocean of sand, in every direction, forever. A day which never ended illuminated by a light without source that cut through any shadow. Through any reprieve. Revelation was what they, in their heart, believed it would be before they ever saw it.
It was a fear that killed more than could be imagined. The Bone Garden stands as testament to the horror that followed the shaping of potential into a reality. Skeletons beyond counting turning miles of sand into a forest of bones. What the People of the Oasis know today is that none of the ones who were meant to survive did so. Only those most accustomed to deprivation endured, and of them only the barest fraction rejected death beyond the point that their minds failed them.
Madness. In a world of potential alone, where faith was all that mattered, it was the ultimate solution. Where the sane saw sand, felt sand, and cursed sand, the mad saw an impossible oasis in the distance and believed in it more than they had ever believed in anything in their lives. It would only be later generations that came to revere that moment as the Revelation itself, when all that was unknown became clear. For those maddened, dying, dregs? It was an imagined oasis that they plunged their hands into and drank from, only to find it had always been real.
An Oasis they knew would grow. Faith, against reality and all its illusions, kept the Oasis alive and allowed its expansion. After that? It no longer took the mad, for the sane had seen it. Potential cared only for the truth of the soul, and so the truth of the Ojir Amaun became the truth of the world itself.
History: It is said that that the Ojir Amaun’s ancient ancestors, when they still lived on the Birthworld, were known as the Ojir Vara. The People of Dusk. Those who forged an empire at the end of their world, where the mythical sun set last upon a people who commanded countless leagues beyond their sight. Or at least, that is what is said. Surely there lie the bones beyond counting in the Garden, the remains of a vast migration, but who is to say what tales of the past are the truth? History since after the Arrival has been scarcely recorded in the Oasis. Of ancient days? Legends, myths, and old tales passed down among generations and distorted by the repetition are what remain.
What is known is that fear and doubt created Revelation, and that madness saved the few who clung to life amidst that first grave error. More than madness, faith. It is that which has been taught to every generation, and that which is the foundation of Ojir Amaun’s history. As for what happened after the birth of the Oasis? Other survivors came, surely, and time passed. How much time is an open question, for in a world without any way to track such things beyond what can be devised it took time before its passage was even marked. One hundred and forty-six thousand turns of the Timeglass in the Hall of Celebration ago the Ojit Amaun began track the passage of time in Revelation.
One hundred and twenty thousand turns ago the Oasis grew, and there was discovered enough new land for a thousand families. One hundred and ten thousand turns ago there is the first record of a Thirstless One, the monstrous remnant of an ancient migrant so deeply lost that they have imagined themselves a part of the desert which devoured them. Fifteen died returning that lost soul to the cycle of rebirth. Another would not be seen for sixteen thousand turns, when the Oasis again expanded. That time there was space enough for three thousand families. The rest of recorded history reads much the same, the Oasis grows, and at times things come from the sands. Manifestations of fear, or ghosts from the past, sometimes worse. Sixty-five thousand turns ago a family afflicted by Mind-sickness fled the Oasis. A thousand turns later the result of their illness, unchecked and alone, came back and killed at least five hundred before vanishing again into the desert. It has not been seen or heard of since, though little was recorded of it and in the generations since other horrors have found their way into the Oasis and perished.
Though, it must be noted that such events are rare. That they are recorded in the formal history in the Hall of Celebration at all tells that they eclipsed all other issues of the day. The vast majority of Revelation’s history, before or after the Timeglass, has passed unmarked. Tens of thousands of turns without a single record. The People of the Oasis live simply, they resolve what issues they have on their own, and they prefer to share what stories they have among each other. The Oasis grows, life is good, and they are ever prepared to safeguard themselves and their people.
The past has never been the concern of the Ojir Amaun. Rather, as a people they look as one to what they know to be a bright future.
Culture and Society: What do a people become, five hundred years after ever needing to fight one another? Moreover, what happens if the ancestors of those people were almost entirely common folk and not artists, priests, or architects? The answer is they create something of their own, from what little they know, which belongs to each and every one of them. Equally. The Ojir Amaun are fiercely independent, and yet tremendously generous.
They have never shied away from coming to the aid of their people, but neither have they waited for orders from on high. What government burdens the People of the Oasis serves less as a source of direction and more as a distraction for those less inclined to tackle problems head on. If one of the people desires a home, they build it. If they want food? They farm it. Or they remain in their familial homes and take on other chores, if they please. Even then, none can force them into such an arrangement.
The Ojir Amaun are steadfast in their faith and in their freedom. Should there be any hint of coercion in the community, threats or blackmail, it is all but expected that the community itself deal with the problem. If one is not free, none are. Moreover, why does the Oasis grow if not for a better future for all? For these reasons it is not uncommon to see those who feel compelled to leave their family or village provided for one community or another until they can build their own home and farm their own land. The people share not just a desire for their own personal freedom, but a deep bond with each other and their community.
From that bond comes their commitment to the defense of their self and the greater whole. There may be no enemies in Revelation but for mistakes and ghosts beyond the Oasis, but it is folly to presume these things would never approach. They have done so before.
So, all the People of the Oasis carry arms. A wooden club, a bow and arrow, an ancient sword, or some new dagger forged from metal recycled over centuries. Whatever the implement, they stand ready. All are armed, always, for the safety of everyone. It is, however, not something often spoken of.
By and large the population of the Oasis is one content to see the day through and retire to comfort. As there is no shade from the light of Revelation, no darkness but that behind one’s eyes, the Ojir Amaun spend much of their time indoors among their friends and family resting. Each household has its own morning and night, as such things are a foreign notion to the people of Revelation, only syncing its hours of rest and work with close friends or neighbours.
Within those homes is great humor and closeness. There is no real concept of propriety among ones own kin, that being anyone close enough to be invited into the home, among the People of the Oasis. Generations ago they huddled together because they were few and precious, and now? They would say that it is just the better way. When all are aware of who is doing what with who and why, or who is feeling sick, or who is in need, peace tends to win out. Friends help friends, and issues get worked out willingly or not.
It is not a universal means of living, and plenty of the Ojir Amaun live alone or in insular communities, but it is not an understatement to say that these exceptions are not common. Perhaps, in part, because the faith of the People of the Oasis is practiced with others. From a young age the people’s children are taught what all know to be true: that the Oasis grows, that they have a soul everlasting and ever learning, and that they have lived before and will live again.
The People of the Oasis see themselves as the conscious mind of their very reality, and their souls are the living memory and will of that reality. They believe that every one of them has lived before and will live again, their souls going from life to life and accumulating knowledge and experience that will enrich reality itself. For this reason they are always seeking out new experiences, and creativity is a beloved trait.
Of course, as the truest belief of its inhabitant’s hearts is the only reality in Revelation, the People of the Oasis live knowing that their faith will be rewarded. They have, through ritual and magic, communed with their past lives and do so whenever the knowledge of elder generations is needed. While it is taboo to mention it, there is a caveat. Those that perished in the migration, before belief in the cycle of rebirth was universal and strong, have not ever been contacted. Not once, among all attempts ever made.
It is a terrible loss, but one most are keen to forget. They would rather focus their thoughts on the future, whether that be a new crop, a larger home, or a great party. With long hours inside to fill the Ojir Amaun are a people accustomed to revelry. They celebrate life most every night, and every hundred turn of the Timeglass? They gather in the Hall of Celebration and commemorate the occasion for as long as they wish. If there is one thing Revelation has in true abundance, it is laughter.
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Governance and Politics: The Ojir Amaun, more commonly known as the People of the Oasis, lack a sophisticated form of hierarchal government. Rather, they engage in government by consensus. From the days when they numbered in the bare hundreds, to now when they are hundreds of thousands, the People of the Oasis have not centralized nor formalized their decision-making process. When there is a need for widespread agreement the people come together and craft it. In the past that might have meant every living soul coming together. Today? Government in the Oasis is conducted by families, villages, friends, and any other notable groups working out some opinion on whatever the issue of the day is. When they come to that they choose one among them, by consensus, to present that opinion to other designates. These appointed few gather at the center of the Oasis, at the Hall of Celebration, and come to a consensus of their own.
If that seems informal, convoluted, and prone to getting nothing done? Well, most of the Ojir Amaun prefer it that way. It is rare that serious difficulties trouble the Oasis, and when such things have happened in the past? They have always been resolved long before any edict could be proclaimed from the steps of the Hall. Beyond tolerated, such action is encouraged. If anything is taught universally among the People of the Oasis it is responsibility to the self, and responsibility the whole. Those men and woman among the Ojir Amaun who feel otherwise are always welcome to talk, but for most? When there’s a problem, you fix it. And if there isn’t one, why worry about it at all?
Technology and Magic: Not one survivor of the migration knew more about magic that the fact of its existence. None attempted to revive it until it was a distant memory. Those who succeeded? They practiced what they knew, what old tales had taught them. Great rituals, absolute devotion, magic required above all else will, the commitment to change reality in as sure a way as true faith could.
Perhaps it was so on the Birthworld, perhaps not. What matters is that magic has returned to Revelation in the generations since its ‘demise’. Sorcerers and Sorceresses gather in houses of wisdom built by their parents and predecessors recording all magic that has ever worked and how it worked. They experiment without end, always hoping to either discover a ancient truth or will a ritual into existence purely on the power their belief and the strength of their argument in convincing their peers.
The magic of Revelation is, consequently, wildly varied, massively complicated, and usually conducted in the least subtle way possible. Of course, that is not to say it is weak. Faith is a great thing, and faith in magic? That was ironclad among even the first unfortunate migrants. Now it is a truth as certain as the bright future all Ojir Amaun pursue.
Government Form A Clanship is a type of tribalistic society in which the people follow their chieftains by choice, and every clan leader follows a greater Prime chieftain who leads every smaller clan. Although the Gruall do not have to follow the set leaders, they primarily enjoy following one with great strength and natural physique.
Primera A land of dense jungles, arid fields, vast steppe, and sprawling swampland… Primera, better known as ‘The land of Beasts’ is hot and humid, very reminiscent of Earth’s Jungles and rainforests. Other regions are beset by even hotter conditions, and far less rainfall, resulting in vast rolling dunes. In almost every corner of Primera lay some kind of beast, creature, or great monster; from the rather unremarkable Skreever to the mighty Thistledrake; and worse… Primera, however, did not have a native race inhabiting it, leaving the land completely untamed and untainted by civilization. Resources are plentiful, and land is fertile; there is much to gain from such a land, and much to lose… Only the most hardy, macovelliant, and enduring of races and nations will be able to survive Primera and its harsh ecosystem… Oddly though, the nature of Primera is confusing and strange; often accelerating the rate at which species adapt to its biomes, and vastly increases the rate of evolution from thousands of millions of years, down to a few generations; leading to mass genetic diversification in the span of a few hundred years. History The Gruall arrived in Primera as a desperate people, once a simple, isolationist tribal society living on Gaia, now reduced to nomads, weary travelers, and foraging clans. Faced with the dangers and horrors of the unknown lands of Primera and the unforgiving jungles it offered them, the Gruall were horribly slaughtered. The remains of their people were collected together and founded the basis of their new society and culture, living off the land and warding off the beasts of the Jungles. Eventually, their people began to diversify and spread out, forming subraces, adapted variants of their species to overcome the various environments and ecosystems Primera offers; now scattered as dozens of independent and organized tribes, packs, and clans. Many Gruall have kept their isolationist ideals, isolating themselves from each other, leading to the vast technological gaps and cultural variations all across Primera.
Culture and Society Gruall culture and society is very diverse and variant; primarily due to their widespread nature and adaptive subraces… The Dune Gruall, are a scrawny, fiendishly thieving variant that lives in the deserts and arid plains, often taking up nomadic lives at best, and banditry at worst. They often live within giant moving caravans, continuing to move from place to place; hunting, scavenging, stealing and foraging for whatever they need. The Swampland Gruall live within the swamps and marshes, maintaining stationery lifestyles; the Swampland Gruall were the first Gruall to discover the methods of agriculture, learning how to grow the strange and unfamiliar crops of Primera around the swamplands. The Jungle Gruall are perhaps the most common and abundant subrace. They are the most diverse and variant of the others, ranging from nomadic packs to completely stationary tribes; though they all follow a general aesthetic theme and style. Finally, the Primal Gruall are a more feral, primalistic variant of Gruall… Their environmental pressures pushed them to adapt extra strength, size, and endurance, and to invest in physical attributes, though pushing them away from more intellectually demanding processes. Primal Gruall usually live in traveling or stationery packs, functioning more like beasts than an actual society, though their sentience bridges the gap between animal and people. Although some Gruall worship a variety of different deities, none are strongly religious or zealous, and do not show severe relationship or connection to these deities…
Governance and Politics Generally, Graull follow the largest, strongest of their kind; respecting strength and prowess in battle. Most Graull believe the strongest of their kind are the most capable to rule; each clan is ruled by chieftains, while the Primarch clan is ruled by the Primarch Chief, the supreme ruler of the Clanship… The Clanship is not a single body, but rather, thousands of smaller clans ruled by one massive ‘Primarch clan’... Together, they all collectively form the Clanship itself.
Technology and Magic Surrounding Primara is a type of magic source known as Primal Magic… Here, most types of other magic becomes chaotically warped and changed, with Primal Magic itself remaining nearly as chaotic and uncontrollable… Mages and Shamans harness the chaotic energies of Primera, and shape them into a specific form of spell and direct it to a certain location; but it is up to the Primal Magic itself what happens next. Primal Magic is much more powerful than some other types of magic, but it is difficult, and sometimes even nearly impossible to control… This factor makes Primal Magic very dangerous, but very beneficial to use.
Military Overview Almost the entire Gruall population, save for the old, sick, and young, are capable of some level of combat… Although there is a dedicated military force within every clan, nearly every Gruall is taught and able to fight, even if not professionalized… Most Gruall have a very strong warrior/hunter culture and structure, many learning how to fight as early as possible, as the harsh and unforgiving ecosystems of Primera house great beasts and terrible monsters that threaten the lives of the Gruall peoples. As such, the Gruall have formed their societies and warrior castes to combat them. Most Graull armies are led by Shamans and Chieftains.
Known among their own kind as the “Asu’rai” (Asu = ‘people’, and rai = ‘divine’; more specifically in context being ‘of the divine’), they are a former race of Gaia whose history before the cataclysm came about with a…rocky start.
The Asu'rai are a race that was once embroiled in endless tribal wars among their own, living in an area of fertile and vast plains defended naturally from the north and west by great mountain ranges. Those plains have been soaked in more Asu'rai blood than any can hope to recall or count, and the fight for resources and competition for dominance kept them embroiled despite pieces of peace existing here and there in their home territory. Still, the race would come to be one with the arts of war and would hone their own crafts and tools of it to match. They would ride large, six-legged beasts called “Gir’thru” (Gir = ‘beast’, and thru = ‘swift’; contextually as in ‘as swift as the wind’) and could wield multiple weapons in their six arms. Their three faces would be used to keep an eye on the world around them with acute observation, and their stature places the females’ average height in turn as being 5’9” to 6’0” tall. Females trend toward being taller than males until they reach adulthood, where males will overcome them right about the time they reach adulthood.
The race is also highly resistant to fire and heat, whilst also having notably redundant bodies and the ability to regrow lost organs and so forth over time (yet slowly, like a natural healing process). Further, the skin of male Asu’rai reddens with age, starting off a pale caucasian white, whilst females start a light pink and become pale caucasian at a young age before remaining so for the rest of their lives.
(Males)
(Very Old Elderly Male)
(Female)
((More Could Be Added Later))
The majority race of the Kil’vush (kil = ‘scaly/rough’, vush = ‘islands’) Isles, which are called the“Volrest Isles” by the locals. In the Rolvfen tongue the name means “Royal Isles”, or “The Isles of the King”. Also a race that exists on the mainland within the bounds of the Empire’s territory.
The Rolvfen themselves are a humanoid race with tough draconic scales, two arms, and two legs. Their heads are dragon-like in shape, with eyes whose pupils are round in the daylight and become a bestial-looking slit in the dark (or when they are very panicked otherwise). The species stands with the males having a taller-than-the-females average height of 5’5”-5’8”, and females’ average height being 3-4 inches below that. The scales on their bodies are able to withstand rubbing against even coarse substances, and are made to also help them get a grip when walking around on slippery surfaces. Those living on the mainland tend to have more earthy and simple skin tones as well as others like golden yellows (think harvest wheat) and blues (if their people live near enough to a big body of water like a big lake or the ocean). The skin tone changes based on where they live over the course of about three generations, reflecting it in a sense and passing on that heritage to the next generation. It is said in their most ancient legends that they were made like this to help them survive against predators in their own very ancient past. The race in regards to the mainland also has eye colors ranging from a crimson red to violet to verdant forest greens and earthy browns and golden yellows and so forth.
Yet in terms of skin tone those living on the Isles have only one of two: Red or White. In this case it does not matter where they live or for how long or how many generations, which is a major oddity among their kind elsewhere. They also stand out in that their eye colors range from gold to silver to various gemstone-like colors. This is also where their past history and strife comes into play, as the Reds and the Pales (as they call themselves) are said to be descendants of a pair of mighty and powerful dragons who once ruled the isles and led their people to them for sanctuary from a great disaster of some kind. The Reds possess a higher stamina than the Pales whilst having tougher-than-normal scales for a Rolvfen, whilst the Pales possess stronger senses and a notable resistance to magic instead.
Whilst those living on the mainland eastern coast were either semi-tribal or otherwise disorganized when it came to governance, at least before the Empire emerged and swept them in, those living on the Isles were far more distinct. They had kingdoms that warred against each other, using longbows and leather armor and scale mail chest pieces and a simple chainmail skirt and leather woven sandals for their soldiers. They had small straight shortswords, and petty grudges going back generations upon generations to when their benefactor-founders infused them with their blood and supposedly died in battle against each other over some matter or issue very much long forgotten by time. Like the other areas on the eastern mainland, and the Empire to boot, the Rolvfen of the Isles had to deal with the presence of dragons and at times would serve them or kill them or ally with them or so forth based on whatever was going on at the time.
Rolvfen in general have clutches of 2-4 eggs that are protected by the female and male in tandem, one protecting the eggs usually due to their instincts. After hatching, males tend to venture out and females rule the ‘nest’ back home as it were. Children are held as important enough that females with eggs are expected to protect them and have those egg-protecting rights respected in ancient Rolvfen law. Meanwhile females who do not have eggs can work in any other jobs the male Rolvfen can. Male Rolvfen whose mate has died are expected to step up or find another mate/wife to help by traditional law as well. However, in many but not all ways the imposition of imperial law by the Empire has changed the status quo after over a century of enforcement and revolt and other civil issues leading to the eventual reforms and certain grants and such being made to keep order on the Isles.
Mainland Rolvfen compose about half of the Rolvfen population of the Empire, whilst the “Isles Rolvfen” compose the other half of the Empire’s Rolvfen population. Differences in culture are easy to see, and despite the retained ability to have children with each other the two differing Rolvfen populations had been separated (prior to the Empire) for a very long and unknown amount of time as well.
((More Could Be Added Later))
(Example: A Young Faerur With Her Hair Grown Long On Purpose)
The Faerur are from the second biggest of the Volrest Isles, located to the northwest of the largest island that long ago housed the majority of the Isles Rolvfen population. They are beings that exist somewhere between a centaur and a fae of some kind, beings who have the grace and mystery and oddity of the fae and all of the body shape of a proper centaur. They all have silvery hair, with various eye colors that always appear in mismatched pairs with no reason or rhyme. A gold eye and a brown one, a silver eye on a green one, a chocolate brown eye and a blue one, and so forth are among the incredible range of eye colors they can possess. In fact, to find any two Faerur with the same color eyes is already an incredibly rare feat, and to find two with the same eye colors in the same specific eyes as each other is even more extremely rare. They also have fae-like pointy ears and unicorn-like horn on their heads. Their skin colors too are odd, ranging from pale whites and snowy light grays to oranges and soft reds and light pinks. In this manner the Asu’rai themselves saw a sort of distant kinship with them and tended to treat them somewhat more favorably in the initial years and decades after taking over the Isles.
Prior to the involvement of the Empire, the Faerur were a race usually picked on and pushed back by the Rolvfen over and over again as the latter tried to subjugate the former. At times this succeeded for a time, and at others the Faerur would push back and be free once more. Immediately before the Empire arrived and took over, the Faerur lands had been split in half with more of it subjugated than the Rolvfen had ever managed before. After this the Faerur found themselves in a more favorable position underneath their new overlords, with many moving willingly by themselves or Empire mandate to the mainland or taken Rolvfen land to escape the past and others remaining home.
Traditional Faerur culture would usually see them organized into groups, a kind of thing parallel to fae courts which they called ‘councils’. Such Councils would war against each other here and there, work together one day and be sabotaging each other the next, and would even sometimes target others in the Isles for actions or mischief or so forth. Only when the Rolvfen became more of a problem over the years did the Council begin to grow more in size and war less with each other than they did try to survive the enemy and toy with them all the same. When the Empire took over, many abandoned the old system due to the changing times having already begun to break it down by this point prior. The Councils system was then in final shattered for good within the smaller portion who stayed back in their homeland, though it would take a civil revolt of those last few Councils before they were crushed. Since then, the native population in the Faerur homeland has barely recovered to pre-Imperial-conquest levels as more immigrants were moved in and peoples were moved all about to mitigate potential rebellions all over the Isles.
Being natural mages in their own right, Faerur have an innate magical talent that can be honed through actual training. Untrained, their magical talent can at least do little whimsical things like hide things and switch the placement of things and small-level small-scale stuff like that.
((More Could Be Added Later))
The Gnomar, who call themselves the “Lepraus” in their native tongue, are very small, diminutive humanoids who began on the north part of the largest island of the Isles. Sharing their home with the Rolvfen, however, proved to be less than ideal to say the least. The race has an inborn talent to dig through dirt with their strong but small little hands, but would eventually come to live in hillsides and similar underground abodes that would be wrought to keep hidden from enemies and to keep one’s children and food safe from invaders. They became industrious people who came to be close to the earth itself, and whilst not tricksters they would come to embrace traps and holes and guerilla warfare from day one due to their short stature being a great disadvantage in regards to reach. Their bodies are dense and their skeletons are tough, and they can take a brutal beating for something their size. They produce a lot of heat in their bodies as well, and possess a natural and inborn green thumb that they can fiddle with. So too do they make good spies and agents, able to be hidden in things and getting into places anyone as large as a human would not be able to.
Of course, becoming known for hoarding food and other valuables they own in their hidden homes, they gained a reputation somewhat akin to dragons. It does not help this that their other inborn talent is for keeping track of numbers. Yet this secondary talent makes them good merchants to boot, albeit some break the mold through sheer personal…’lack of talent’ as they tend to carefully put it among Gnomar.
The race’s land has mostly been ever occupied by the Rolvfen, with minimal interactions with the Faerur save to trade or make deals with a Faerur Council near the coast. The ingenuity of the race led them to survive very well, but with the arrival of the Empire the occupation of their lands was generally ended in favor of taking a lot of them and the other races of the Isles and resettling them elsewhere all over the Empire. Even so, they’ve found more success on the mainland than they did alone back on the Isles. Likewise with the redistribution they can be found scattered all over the empire…even if they do still remain the smallest minority and shortest race in the whole of the Empire.
~Population~
20 million
((If That Number Doesn’t Work, I Will Negotiate @_@))
~Plane Description~
The name of this plane the Empire inhabits has been dubbed "Aiag", a reversal of a word in an old foreign tongue from a place far away from the original migrants' homeland back on their former plane of existence. A word both reversed and foreign, representing a new plane that was both familiar and yet foreign at the same time. A fitting thing in the eyes of the original Asu'rai. It possesses fertile valleys and titanic mountains, looming volcanoes and islands scattered about the seas, frozen wastes and icy depths to the far poles, rolling hills and verdant fields, great oceans and clear lakes, vast deserts and stretching savannas, and so forth in a mirrored but differing image of the "old world" recorded of in the Empire's most ancient and precious records. Yet this would not be all.
The Rolvfen sitting north of the grand area the Empire would be founded in would be brought into the fold first, and would be the first contacts of this new place. Disorganized and scattered, word and legend tell that more of their kind live far west of the pine forests and the northernmost boundary of the Empire. Rarely are some vaguely Rolvfen heads supposedly seen from those dense pines and the glint of nighttime firelight, and at times other ones that to the imagination seem to snarl back in the dark from afar. Rumor has it that a vast desert with jackal-eared humans lies far beyond to the southwest, ruling a vast nation and riding upon giant insects, but none remember for sure outside of the ancient mainland Rolvfen oral traditions and scant information or such tales that come from the rarely seen northern traders at most.
Yet to the north of the Empire, the frozen wastes and icy tunda and subzero temperatures and jagged rocky protrusions and so forth that act as home to host to life and beings that have been long honed to withstand and subsist in this place...and to survive the terrors that lurk deep underneath the layers of glacial sheets and soil of that horrific land. From this place the warrior-people of the north have long struck out invasions, sent raiding parties, and come against the Empire before being driven back. On rare occasions, however, traders arrive from this region and deal peaceably in goods and tales and stories of their homeland on the northern border. On other occasions, a dragon or other gigantic or even titanic shambling horror or mythical beast will emerge from the far north or northwest and threaten the Empire itself on their rampaging path.
To the east and southeast of the Empire's southern heartland, dubbed the 'Fertile Basin', are the vast, warm oceans that grow colder the farther north one moves. Yet from due east and northeastern directions, across the oceans, would come the occasional ship of oddly hostile island Rolvfen of a stranger sort, and even ships made of wood manned by myriad beastfolk or alternately floating etched stone platforms held aloft by magic and manned by avian peoples would come over to do trade after initial run-ins with exploratory groups in the past. Ships would be sent back in return, talking of vast lands of farms and myriad nations in wars with each other and vast stone keeps that stretched out for miles to keep hold of an area. Yet at other times such beastfolk or avian peoples would return as enemies under other banners or flags or designs made for their craft to distinguish them differently somehow, seeking invasions or the taking of goods, and would have to be repelled once more with more or less effort.
To the south, two kingdoms would border the Empire itself. One is a kingdom of demonic-looking treefolk and dryads and elf-like folk, a strange people of ancients and peculiar mannerisms who would be at on-and-off war with the Empire and their other neighbor to the south. The other kingdom, in turn, would turn out to be a kingdom of different elvish-like folk and frog-like beings and even bull-like people who would be usually a trading partner and at other times riding about on a warpath atop vulture-like beasts diving down onto their foes from the sky.
Such is what is known thus far of other inhabitants of Aiag, and with the securing of the Volrest Isles over a century ago the opportunity to seek out what else lies within this vast new world has become tempting. At the same time, however, the opening of the Rift once more has led to its own sense of awe and panic among those who know. For only the gods know what lies beyond that gate, and what other worlds and peoples and places and dangers might linger or lurk beyond that ancient magical veil...
((More Could Eventually Be Added Due To Events On Aiag Itself In The Future))
~History~
Over two thousand five hundred years ago, a great and powerful Asu'rai warlord managed to unite the warring tribes into one contiguous body. With the might of his arms, the wisdom of his brow, and the light of his brilliant spirit (as the folklore goes among the Asu'rai), he was also a literal reincarnation of the first Asu'rai and had been sent by the gods to lead them to victory and greatness. With bloody slaughter he purged the ill elements preventing their unity, as well as slaughtered their enemies nearby and afar. With great knowledge he organized the people and their armies into one great throng, and took over lands unseen and places unspoken and races yet unmet and brought them under the Asu'rai heel using diplomacy, military might, and other various measures. Due to him, in the literal sense, the Asu'rai forged a mighty empire that stretched farther and wider than their homeland ever could have imagined. He lived long enough to forge a succession as well, passing on the empire he founded to his oldest son.
Holding true to his bloodline, the second Great Ach’hak ('Ach' = 'mighty' (('like unto a mountain' in the context of this particular word)) and 'hak' = 'leader' ((a generic term for leader)) would make gains elsewhere and push the borders of the empire to their furthest by taking other areas and subjugating them. He would then turn more major attention to the internal affairs that had begun to backslide in his days, though his heir would die before he in turn fell ill and died along the way to his capital due to an unknown and mysterious disease From here the next ruler, his younger brother, would mostly focus on internal matters and barely maintain enough troops to keep the ‘core territories’ of the empire stable. The dramatic focus on the exponential issue of internal matters eventually led to unfavorable laws being passed to keep things in check, which would then lead to the leader’s fall to assassination by his younger twin siblings (half siblings themselves by another mother) after the loss of several periphery areas due to a lack of management. This duo took attention back to the military, pushing back out into certain lost areas and leading a purge in other internal ones to get rid of riotous elements. They would end up leading together until one died on the battlefield, and the other would become the victim of an assassination attempt he would survive but be crippled by.
By the time he died, the second twin (who was childless) had placed the only child of his twin brother on the throne and assigned the child’s mother as regent. Yet after a decade of regency on his behalf before he could come of age, the empire had been reorganized into a very decentralized form simply to try to hold itself together. In this time, however, it would also steadily crumble away to places forming into independent kingdoms and so forth on their own. It was under this last Great Ach’hak that the Asu'rai would make one last big offensive that would strike deep into trying to regain the past glories of the first Great Ach’hak. Yet with the ruler’s mother being the real power behind the throne, the current ruler being mostly a general with no political savviness, and the decentralization accelerating more and more over time, the empire of old would collapse into warring internal factions and attempted successor kingdoms and so forth.
By the time the Cataclysm came around, the most stable and long-lasting of these successor kingdoms that survived the times would become a hub of activity for many of the surviving Asu’rai once more. Refugees poured into this kingdom, with attempts to save sacred texts and old records somehow made along the way, and ultimately once the plans to make a Rift spread the move to construct one was made. Survivors were rallied underneath the last direct blood-relative of the former founders of the empire, a queen who took the throne with wisdom and grace said to have been bestowed on her by the gods themselves to ensure the survival of their people. It was under her enlightened rule in even these darkest of times that would bring the remaining population, at least those within her own lands by the time the Rift was completed, through the magical gateway and into a new home for their people.
…And what a home it would be. Great mountain basins/valleys filled with hills and vast open plains, as well as rivers weaving in and out and tributaries all over. All over there was fertile soil, with the vast mountains forming a rough terrain and a vast range protecting the western border stalwartly. To the east there was proper safe access to the sea, expanding out and moving gently downward to a sprawling eastern coastline and warm seas. A paradise that had been wrought from tumult or magic or whatever other forces of the world, but an area that would come to host the new rebirth of the Asu’rai race that was to come. The people would spread out over those titanic mountains and throughout the vast fertile mountain basins and valleys, and would fan out in time alongside the large and warm eastern coastline. They would reach from the top to the bottom, farming and mining and seeking a new future wrought from the ashes of the past. Also from this idea came the name for their homeland: “Ish’ull’rai”/Ishullrai (ish = ‘ash/ashes’, ull = ‘rebirth’, rai = ‘divine’). Rapid population growth from the plentitude of food, three civil wars, and numerous conquests (ones stretching in all directions) later, and the centralized Ishullrai Empire has become something of a powerful local force and very prosperous nation indeed.
Among the more notable conquests of the Empire throughout the last 500 years, the Kil’vush (kil = ‘scaly/rough’, vush = ‘islands’) Isles (called the“Volrest Isles” locally) in the colder seas to the northeast are among the more notable ones. Inhabited by three component races who have become part of the Asu’rai’s nation for the last 125 years, the area they live in is a land that has seen much war in and of itself as well. The treatment of the locals has changed over the years, depending on the ruler and other ongoing events, and immigration of Asu’rai to these islands and locals back to the mainland from the islands has been performed over the years to try to water down potential civil unrest to an effective point of success for the most part.
~Culture and Society~
~General~
The Empire enjoys a wide variety of festivals and celebrations, most being once a year ones held for deities or even ancient heroes. There are even specific festivals held to celebrate the harvest season and the start of a new year as the old one fades away. There are also feasts held to celebrate births, for those who can afford to put on one, and weddings and funerals more commonly so. At feasts for weddings and funerals one is expected to partake if they come to it, as it is to take in part of the bounty that symbolically represents the new life and joy the wedding rings in…or alternately the joy brought to the lives of others by the deceased whose funeral it is.
The Empire’s people enjoy the art of theater, with men and women participating, utilizing exaggerated gestures and masks and set pieces and songs. It is also a passion that began with the Asu’rai and became a general staple of the Empire in the end.
The smaller the theater the less the background pieces would be, leading to the idea of ‘simplified theater’ that focuses more on the actors. It is more dependent on the individuals, where actors can more splendidly shine individually but are relied on to tell the story of the piece/play. They go about being entirely minimalist in scenery and setting pieces, sometimes having nothing but a platform and seating all about to watch it in the most bare-minimal cases, by current times.
The larger and more wealthy the theater the more one can find, such as clockwork mechanisms and fancy backdrops and such, which in time has led to the idea of ‘epic theater’ that seeks to enthrall the senses and where the actors are a part of the fantastic scenes and so forth going on as part of the story. This form of theater can also make use of subtle details or such included in a scene, requiring one to have a keen eye to notice or best appreciate the occasional hints at the plot or little subtle cues and clues here and there which tie back into the story or help accentuate a scene. The fine details in both actors and the stage set apart ‘epic theater’ from the other form, and the use of clockwork karakuri-style dolls or such is also mixed into this form of Asu’rai theater.
People of the Empire also enjoy dance, which is common for certain festivals or celebrations such as one’s coming of age. Guests or not, one’s skill and accuracy does not matter when it comes to the dance. It is an expression of joy and jubilation and the fire of life when it is a public thing, though dancing in regards to a performance is a whole other thing requiring training and skill and grace to perform.
((More To Eventually Be Added))
~Religion~
A people who lived upon the land of their original home for longer than they have memory of back on Gaia, the Asu'rai were also religiously acquainted with the land. Mountains in their religion are seen as conduits to the divine, protecting them from harm as a shield from many foes and reaching up to the skies like a great pillar built up from the world itself. To live on one is to live upon or within a holy place, and to show proper respect to it. The eternal sky above stretches out like the ground below and also like unto vast bodies of water, and it is believed the gods/goddesses live beyond it and beyond a far more vast ‘sea of darkness and light’ which conceals their presence. During the night, this ‘sea of darkness and light’ can be seen if the skies are clear enough during that time.
To die is to be buried near the conduits of the gods, a mountain, or at least have a metal or stone-wrought mountain-like headstone called a “Rai’ach” (rai = “divine”, ach = 'mighty’ but ‘like unto a mountain' in the context of this particular word) to place over the grave to the same effect. ((This term is also the name of their chief deity, who presides over the endless sky that stretches out over all.)) The idea of this is of one’s spirit being transmitted out to the gods to either lay at rest with them if one was righteous, or to be cast down into a hellish realm of punishment if one was evil. Rebirth is also possible and seen as a thing, mostly being for those who are sent by the gods to again touch the mortal realm for some divine purpose or another. Evil people can also be reborn if their evils are weighted and judged as lesser enough to be given a ‘second chance’, in this leading them to hopefully live a new and good life so they may achieve rest within the gods’ divine realm. One might have to live multiple good lives to burn away the negative evils and sins of their first life, but it is a struggle the traditional Asu’rai faith holds to be an eternal one until all redeemable souls pass into the pure realm of the gods and those who remain purely evil burn away in the ashes of punishment.
((More To Eventually Be Added))
~Random Additional Cultural Notes: Asu'rai Linguistics~
Asu'rai language uses a constructive or 'building block' style of formatting to convey ideas. They use an apostrophe to combine 'simpler words/terms' into more nuanced and detailed 'complex words' that are chained together to make sentences. Individual context of these simpler words, as well as the order they are used in, will ultimately affect the end meaning when the language is either written or spoken. Misordering simpler words can make larger words mean wholly different things.
Likewise, very complex things or very alien/new things can result in very long and highly complex words needing to be used. This can be highly tedious for speakers or writers, but the Asu'rai language is admirably flexible enough for it at the same time. Very long complex words can also be the result if new simpler words are needed to describe things which don't already have a term or concept for them, resulting in new simpler words being made over time to adapt.
Further, multiple different simple words can all refer to and signify the same base concept (like 'strength'), but will each have different nuances attached. This is also important to understand when trying to write or speak their language, as these nuances can also very readily affect the meaning of complex words.
((More To Maybe/or/Eventually Be Added One Day))
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~Governance and Politics~
Has a breakdown of organization from the smallest to the largest: Local, District, Regional, and Provincial. Then there is a great senate/council of experienced and well-seasoned governing individuals, including in their ranks the most wealthy and influential people of the empire.
Officials are paid by the state and are made part of it, with state organizations for tax collection, census taking, and so forth being set in place. The bureaucracy formed from these officials all over is basically what forms the day to day machine of the imperial government, with governing individuals being chosen via examinations held to help choose fitting people for positions throughout the Empire. Even governmental organizations use these examinations as a rule of thumb, and being proven unworthy of the position or corrupt and not doing your job is not going to lead to a ‘good’ end to say the least...
The monarchy remains hereditary, but monarchs will have multiple children who are educated and raised and eventually take their own exams to test their mettle and strength and intelligence and so forth. Among them, the most qualified will usually be chosen by the monarch. Otherwise the monarch does choose who their successor will be among their children, though if they die before doing that then the great senate/council chooses from among them instead.
~Technology and Magic~
The Empire has also not been lacking in terms of advancements over the years.
Crop rotation is utilized in order to help maximize the fertility of the soil and production of food. These ideas began in the more mountainous and fringe areas, as well as in a few areas where fertility in the soil seemed to start dropping, before eventually coalescing together as the concept was pieced together and came to be adopted formally about 275 years ago. Since then it has become a big hit, with the scholar who brought up the idea in a book about farming he wrote being credited with it publicly.
Methods of preservation such as pickling, dehydration (such as sun-drying), some curing done by hanging meats and such in dry/salty air blowing up on mountain slopes closer to the sea, and even mountainous root cellars are the types of preservation utilized within the Empire. The people of the Empire also actively make use of certain kinds of oils to store some foods, weighing them down with chunks of salt in jars of oil (the jars being sealed with wax or beeswax or similar sealants) in order to preserve them and use them for cooking later. Sometimes heavier foods might be covered in a thick coating of preserving spices and salt before being buried in the oil as a precaution, which also flavors the oil in the long term. Both versions of oil preservation make a generally useful byproduct for cooking called “Chu’ihs” (Chu = ‘long’, ihs = ‘meal’) due to how they flavor the oil in the containers of preserved foods. Chu’ihs is useful for adding calories and fat to even dishes with little meat and substance to them, as well as imparting meaty flavors and so forth secondarily that might be more of a morale thing than not. In areas with not as much fresh food access year-round, such as mountains, making food with Chu’ihs is a very common and reliable staple indeed to stretch out one’s food stores and improve one’s meals.
Further, the Empire has most notably emerged into the creation of gears and clockwork-style automata/mechanisms. Both magical and non-magical designs exist, utilizing anything from mana-generating ‘magic cores’ to power them to a series of levers or manually-operated means. Bridges that can be lowered or raised using gear-based mechanisms to cut off access during times of war, palace and city gates able to be opened and shut with cool mechanisms, dancing automata in the richest theaters, and so forth have had time to proliferate throughout the Empire in its major cities and many smaller towns. Naturally this doesn’t mean such things exist everywhere within the Empire’s lands as a standard, as the most distant and fringe areas or generally rural enough places of habitation don’t usually see them at all unless traveling elsewhere. For such people and foreigners traveling in or through the Empire, the sight of such things is a fascination and novelty that brings forth gasps of awe and gazes of wonder to the forefront. These advances also have extended to the military to boot, with auto-firing ballistae operated using easy-to-spin wheels to fire ammunition from atop carriages or on the field, as well as things like enchanted self-assembling automata trebuchet and well-improved crossbow-cocking designs, have become integrated inherently into the military.
Windmills and waterwheels also exist as technology made use of within the Empire, far more commonly so in the simple running of mills and grindstones and such. These things are also far more uncommonly used to help move or operate certain clockwork mechanisms in certain places in particular.
In terms of magic, most of it is rather standard to the ideas of casting spells using mana and using one's own mana or from the environment itself. Spells that call forth elementals or other beings from alien planes to serve as familiars under a magical contract, the creation of fireballs and magic missiles, and so forth feature among the vast array of generally but not entirely standard fantasy-magic faire. Artifice is also a very major area of magic-craft within the Empire, creating items and automata and golems and tools and weapons and so forth to make use of, and is a very well-developed area of magic use within the Empire to boot. There is also the use of uniquely movement-based magic called 'Ahtma', which uses symbolic movements to cast spells by drawing on the 'meaning' of said movements and the content created by using various movements in sequences. Ahtma looks a lot like martial arts or yoga or other such things, with anything from simple movements to complex ones being utilized within it. However, Ahtma users must train in the arts of using it and bringing effects and understanding to those magic-casting movements themselves in order for it to function in the first place. Simply imitating Ahtma moves isn't going to work, as the art requires its own sort of education and training and learning and so forth to be grasped or acquired in order to make use of it.
~Military Overview~
~Professional Living Army~
The former has evolved from what was once a thing controlled by nobility and knight-like warriors into what a professionally-trained force paid for by the Empire and not any particular person or group elsewhere. The food production of the Empire is its biggest and most prosperous area of its economy, that much cannot be denied, allowing it to fuel and keep moving a large standing army even far away from its heartland However, having a lot of food does not make a big army pop into existence either. Garrisons of troops exist across the Empire, helping put down any unrest and rotating here and there during times of peace…and taking on any threats that arise within or without the Empire. Monsters, enemy invasions from the north and south and at times the east, bandits, and so forth have become the usual long-term problems of an empire that controls a very wide swath of land as the Ishullrai Empire does. Highways act as major transit routes as well in order to keep goods and troops and so forth moving in good order, usually with a ‘route only for troops and messengers’ and a ‘route only for all other civilian traffic’ being built next to each other to facilitate this.
Military academies in the capital and other great cities of the Empire fuel the creation of new officers and so forth, and the training of soldiers properly and the implementation of regular pay is something that has created a highly-disciplined and well-drilled force to be reckoned with indeed. Such academies also prepare military engineers, logistical corps training, and so forth to add support roles. Other supporting units include mages and clerics and herbalist healers, who can be brought in to help assist wounded after battles and so forth, as well as messengers whose job it is to assist in sending messages back and forth.
Crossbows are deployed as the far more common type of projectile armament of choice, useful in both open areas and closer spaces depending on the size of crossbows used. Greatbows are the lingering remnant of what was once the dedicated archery core of the Empire’s armies centuries ago, being giant in size compared to a normal bow and being fired with all six arms of an Asu’rai (three to hold, three to draw back the string to fire) and firing powerful arrows a rather far distance (think more handheld ballistae in a sense). Clockwork ballistae can be used to fire larger bolts or rapid-fire many much smaller ones, and larger trebuchet who sometimes incorporate a bit of clockwork are usually manually operated and put together or taken apart to help in greater sieges to boot. Gunpowder components are something that exist within the Empire’s lands, but outside of the schools of magic in the greater cities and capital tinkering with materials no one has really come across the concept at all in the first place. However, enchanted ammunition and things like somewhat hollow oil-filled siege projectiles that use a stored fire spell to set the unfortunate impact area alight have been invented among other attempts to be creative.
In terms of melee weapons, one-handed, curved scimitar-like blades with strong cutting blades are used as the standard infantry weapon to cleave through lightly-armored or unarmored targets as a standard. A secondary spear, also a standard weapon, is used to help deal with armored foes and cavalry. These are paired with a shirt of chainmail, plate helmet, treated leather pants, a cushioned leather ‘shirt’ with a soft cloth interior layer, boots, and a shield for all light infantry. Heavy infantry utilize the same armor and shield as light infantry alongside an additional plate cuirass, light plate pauldrons, and proper plate greaves. In this manner both heavy and light infantry can act as both an anti-infantry and anti-cavalry role depending on the battlefield and its needs. However, in return for the versatility there is a lack of proper specialization to boot outside of how heavily an infantry unit is armored or not.
Shock infantry are a rather small minority force in the professional army, rather small but having their potential uses against very lightly armored or unarmored foes and other less-protected targets. They utilize the same cushioned leather ‘shirt’ with a soft cloth interior layer, the same pants as other infantry, and a plate helmet. For a weapon, they make use of a small selection of weapons. A large two-handed blade able to cleave through beasts and people alike, axes, and flanged maces are weapons they utilize. These weapons are two-handed as a general rule of thumb, but one-handed maces or axes might be paired with a shield in certain scenarios. These troops are meant to slam into the enemy and deal damage, as much as possible as quickly as possible, before letting the other infantry come in and handle the rest of the battle with superior armor and tools for a drawn-out clash.
In terms of cavalry a similar level of standardization has been used. Light cavalry utilize lances and light armor, moving fast and well-protected from most lighter weapons and blows in key places. They charge into and fight vulnerable enemy units, charge into enemy flanks for hit-and-run attacks, and sometimes might be equipped alternately with crossbows and used as an effective moving hit-and-run mobile ranged detachment. Heavy cavalry, meanwhile, have more dedicated armor and less mobility but are far harder-hitting on the charge. They do not go as far as being cataphract-level armored, though do have extra frontal armor as a matter of note. The heavy cavalry are meant for charging into enemy lines decisively with a heavier but more lethal lance, before pulling their secondary swords as arms and engaging in extended melee. Fast-moving and light carriage-mounted ballistae might also be used in a battle, firing in on enemy formations and troops before skirting back and being protected by the light cavalry depending on the particular battlefield.
~Automata/Golems~
Kept and maintained in long-term warehouses during times of peace, and constructed as needed during times of war as losses are sustained, this army differs from the professional army in far more than just what it is composed of. It costs notably more to build up this so-called ‘second army’ as compared to the professional one, but to maintain it over time and make use of it is far cheaper and exceptionally easier than any living army in comparison. That is where this army comes into play best, able to be used to supplement and assist and fight alongside living forces as well as to alternately supplant living forces when the Empire is stretched out too much militarily. It can also be used as an elite gut-punch of a force, using raw force, the self-repairing automata, and the heavy-hitting golems composed of various elements or builds or such to attrition and hammer into the enemy to buy time or do so for other strategic reasons. This secondary army is just that, secondary, but its uses are made to be rather potent when they are brought into play. They’ve slain large dragons and great monsters alone or alongside other living troops, and the corps of magic who attend to them and work with them and so forth are very skilled and drilled and trained by the military to boot.
The automata are generally equipped with enchanted weapons ranging from swords to spears and more when it comes to melee weapons. They can also use crossbows that use magic to draw in more ammo from vast storehouses kept filled way back home behind friendly lines. They move incredibly fluidly and smoothly down to the minute level, far more than most average civilian automata in this regard at least, and this has been noted as ‘creepy’ and ‘disturbing’ by those who have seen them in action on either side of a battle. This is also because they possess a humanoid-style appearance, four arms, and a peaceful but stoic-looking ‘face’ on their heads. They can rebuild each other and repair themselves in the field, even scavenging materials for doing such and adapting them to their own bodies as needed, and can be sent on magically-automated patrols or such things without the need for constant supervision and guidance/care. Among their ranks are also automata cavalry as well as self-assembling automata siege weapons or ballistae and such.
The golems are similar, possessing two to four arms and having the ability to be used in battle and even sent on magically-automated patrols or such things like with the automata. However, their construction tends to vary quite a bit. They can be generated locally for a battle by the Empire’s military mages, allowing them to be crafted from the local area and local materials, and can be stored away for war as well to boot. They are usually crafted elementally, using water, fire, earth, air, and even wood or metal to forge their bodies into something powerful and mightily strong. For what they lack in sheer numbers, which the automata and even living armies better make use of, they make up for in raw, pure power. Earth golems creating stone barriers and collapsing nearby cliff sides, water golems engulfing enemy forces and drowning them, fire golems tearing a hot red scar through formations, metal golems throwing oversized javelins or metal chunks generated from their own bodies to hit enemy placements, and otherwise are not something to underestimate on the battlefield. They are few, which makes the loss of them bad for an ongoing battle, though they can be more easily recreated between or outside of battles (not during battles). They can also be armed with weapons, sometimes ones magically wrought from their own element, in order to try to give them another advantage. However, this is mostly seen as a waste and is set to the wayside.
The title and enduring nickname for this ‘secondary army’ is “The Silver Army”.
The humans who have made Estraphus their home have, over the centuries, been altered by it. They have obtained a resistance to mana that causes them to be unable to act as a channel for it, thus disabling their ability to utilize most forms of magic. This also means that most low and mid powered spells have little to no effect on them. Secondary effects from these spells, such as smoke or heat generated by a fireball would still affect an Estraphan human normally.
The Satyr race was created when humans who were undergoing changes due to the sheer amount of mana in Estraphus, was further changed through the use of naturalist magic. This resulted in a race of people who had the legs of a horse, goat, deer, or similar creature, horns, and retained the ability to act as a medium for mana. Satyr, while occasionally traveling to other regions, predominantly live in the Riftlands. They can live as long as a human, but Satyr over the age of sixty are fairly rare outside of the Riftlands’ few urban centers due to the inherent dangers of the region.
Like the Satyr, the Dryad race was created through the use of naturalist magic. Unlike Estraphan humans, Dryad have no special resistance to mana, in fact they use mana as a form of sustenance. They are powerful spellcasters, possessing a large internal reservoir of mana. In terms of appearance Dryad are similar to a human, except they posses some plantlike features and usually have either horns or antlers. Dryad do not die of old age, instead as they age they gradually become plantlike until, sometime after two-hundred years of life, they take root. Once they take root the plantification rapidly increases until they become almost visually indistinct from a tree or other similar plant. Eventually one or two new dryad will be born from the plant’s fruit or flowers. For some time the plantified dryad will retain its intellect and ability to use magic, but its consciousness will gradually fade away.
Population: 15 Million 14.1 Million Humans 750 Thousand Satyr 150 Thousand Dryad
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Plane Description: Estraphus is a world filled to the brim with life and magical energy. On Estraphus, unlike other worlds, mana isn’t uniformly distributed. Instead it flows and pools, almost like water in a sense. Places that have comparably low amounts of mana one day can the next day be the center of a massive pool of mana, brought in by a storm.
Life on Estraphus has adapted to make the most of its excessive mana, gaining sustenance from it like plants do sunlight. Forests are a common sight on Estraphus and are a visual indicator as to where mana rivers and pools are. Where mana is especially dense, jungles will appear. Massive creatures roam the forests and jungles of Estraphus, dwarfed by the titanic primordials that follow and feed off of the mana storms of Estraphus.
Even precious metals and gems aren’t left untouched by Estraphus’ abundant mana. Soaked in the mana of the plane, these precious items, called mana crystals, have come to store mana and, given the right techniques, can be made to release said mana so that it can be made use of.
Regions of the Empire The lands occupied by the Empire and immediately surrounding it are divided into three regions: the Riftlands, the Imperial Core, and the Eastern Reaches. The Riftlands in the west are where the Rift and heartlands of the old Aprellan Empire can be found. It is a mixture of mana-saturated forests and jungles, occupied by massive and ferocious beasts. The Imperial Core is made up of a mixture of forests and plains; it is notable for having very pleasant weather year round. To the east of the Imperial Core lays the Eastern Reaches. The Eastern Reaches are plains broken up by the occasional marsh, with mountains to its north and further east and a coastline to its south.
History: The refugees who fled to Estraphus were three things: diverse, hardy, and pragmatic. When they arrived in Estraphus, they saw a world of abundant resources, but also one that could be hiding dangers as well. It was with this mindset that the people agreed to band together and form one country, thus the Aprellan Empire was born. Emperor Soren I was a beloved and forward thinking ruler. Under his leadership cities were built, new paths in the forests cleared, and the reach of the Empire expanded ever outwards. Emperor Soren I’s one flaw as a leader was that he left his empire with an heir unfit for the post.
Fifty-one years after the formation of the Aprellan Empire, Emperor Soren II inherited the throne. Soren II was a well meaning, if not weak willed, man. Within a few years the old advisors of Soren I had been steadily displaced by greedy men who sought only their own gain. Within five years the people had begun to chafe under an ever increasingly corrupt imperial government. Within ten years the empire had disintegrated into numerous independent realms. It did not take even a year after the dissolution of the empire for these now rival realms to begin warring with each other.
In the year 200 of the Estraphus Calender (200 years after the refugees arrived in Estraphus), what had come to be known as the Warring Era was coming to a close. The Republic of Lyncia, the now hegemonic power of Estraphus and the country that controlled the lands around the rift, was increasingly using its power to deter war instead of pursuing it. Wars still occurred, especially on the periphery of what had once been the Aprellan Empire, but most people agreed that they were at the cusp of an era of peace. They were wrong.
The Republic of Lyncia and its immediate neighbors by a massive storm. Strong winds and rain pelted the land for over a month. And with the rain came mana in amounts unimaginable to the people. The mana pooled in the area, staying long after the storm had left. And then people began to get sick.
The amount of mana in the region proved too much for many people, their bodies simply unable to deal with the sheer amount of magical energy in the air. Mana sickness, the Drowning, and Mystical Inebriation were just some of the names given to the mana caused illnesses that began to ail the people. Some people felt the excessive mana begin to change their bodies, those that didn’t died.
And as if the Mana Sickness wasn’t bad enough, the excessive mana affected the flora and fauna of the area as well. Forests grew nearly overnight. Cities struggled to keep the trees and vines from tearing apart their walls and buildings. Animals became bigger, stronger, and faster as well. Leaving the city walls soon became a life endangering endeavor; when the plants, or an especially ornery animal, tore damaged a city wall the city itself would become a hunting ground. And then the Primordials arrived. Truly massive creatures, even the smallest of the Primordials towered over city walls. More than one city fell simply because a Primordial couldn’t be bothered to go around it.
The Republic of Lyncia and its neighboring states were abandoned; it proved too difficult simply to survive the area. Fearful that the forests and monstrous animals encroaching on their lands as well, the nearby countries formed the Aprellan League. The League quickly grew, soon coming to encompass almost every territory of the old Aprellan Empire, save for those near the rift and on the outskirts of colonized land.
It was around this time that the mages of the Aprellan League noticed a decreased ability to utilize mana. They found, in fact, that all humans in Estraphus were either becoming resistant to mana, thus losing some ability to use magic, or were being altered by the excessive mana in the environment. Terrified at the thought of losing magic in an environment that could, almost overnight, turn hostile, the mages tried to halt these changes. Soon, however, it became clear that they could not change them. Every human in Estraphus would soon become resistant to mana; those who were not resistant would become something else. So instead of halting these changes, the mages of the League instead chose to control them. Trial and error resulted in roughly a third the population of Estraphus changing into the Satyr and Dryad. These two races of demihumans would soon prove to be much better suited to living in the mana soaked areas around the rift than any normal human ever could hope.
In the year 300 of the Estraphus Calender the countries of the Aprellan League jointly declared that it was past time to retake the holy land of the Rift. By this time the League had, in terms of territory, doubled in size and was in the midst of an agricultural boom as slavery had been largely replaced with serfdom. Despite this the Aprellan League was weak, ununified and without clear leadership. The League was abolished and replaced by a new empire, a greater empire. Thus the Acra Aprellan Empire was born. Unlike the old Aprellan Empire, the leader of the Acra Aprellan Empire would be voted onto the throne by the Empire’s strongest and most important countries so that there would be no second Soren II.
Almost immediately the Acra Aprellan Empire set its gaze upon the old Aprellan territory lost to the forest and fauna. By this time the mana in the area, although still markedly denser than in other areas, had fallen to a level that made the recolonization of the area a possibility. An imperial army was mustered and sent into the forest and jungle around the rift. Only to be forced back by disease and fauna a few months later. Several years later a second attempt was made, only to end the same way. Then a third attempt. And then a forth. Each attempt failed, but the attempts weren’t made in vain. First, it became clear that the satyr and dryad had little issue living in the region, even when humans became ill due to the mana. With each attempt to recolonize the region, more satyr villages and towns formed. These villages and towns quickly discovered that metals and gems mined in the region were soaked in magical energy. Once these metals and gems started to make their way into the greater imperial economic, the economy boomed.
As the Acra Aprellan Empire was benefiting from its economic boom, the new satyr villages and towns were unified into the March of Xoskea. This new country was tasked with being a type of buffer state between the Empire and the mana dense region as well as colonizing said region.
Culture and Society: The Acra Aprellan Empire is a political union of numerous countries that stretches over a wide area, thus it comes at no surprise that it is culturally diverse. Although still quite diverse, the three regions of the Empire do tend to have enough similarities to allow some generalities to be made.
The Imperial Core is the most established of the three regions; it is the most developed in terms of economy and technology. The people of the Imperial Core live in numerous walled cities. These cities are home to a growing middle class of merchants and craftsmen. Although they typically aren’t permanent residents of the Imperial Core’s numerous urban centers, mercenaries are also growing in number and are largely considered to be part of the middle class. Despite the grow of the meritorious middle class, the upper classes of society are still dominated by the aristocracy.
The Eastern Reaches is most easily described as dominated by towns and villages; in contrast to the Imperial Core, where walled cities are the norm, the walled cities in the Eastern Reaches are sparsely sprinkled throughout the region and exist as independent city-states. The Eastern Reaches are the breadbasket of the Empire, the vast majority of its people are serfs, its tiny middle class consists mostly of merchants and mercenaries.
The Riftlands is perhaps the most distinct of the three regions. For starters it is where the majority of Satyr and Dryad live. Most of the settlements in the region are towns and villages, with only a handful of walled cities and castles in the entirety of the region. Tribes are common in the region and the relationship between these various tribes and the developed countries in the region are varied and fluid in nature. Women are viewed much more as equals in the region, although somewhat paradoxically poligamy is common amongst the middle and upper classes despite this. Riftland diets are also much more meat focused than the other regions. Many individuals view and worship the Primordials as gods.
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Governance and Politics: The Acra Aprellan Empire is neither a true empire nor country, but instead a coalition of independent states that have united together in order to deal with the issues of defense, internal trade, and expansion of inhabited lands. The various countries that make up the Empire have near absolute power within their own borders, with a few key exceptions. Where the Imperial throne does possess power is in relations between its constituent states, external threats, and the expansion of its borders. The power of the Imperial throne can change drastically depending on politics in the Empire and the political strength of the Emperor, but it is important to note that as a general trend the Imperial throne has been steadily gaining in power.
To become Emperor of the Acra Aprellan Empire, the ruler of one of its constituent states had to be elected. The five most powerful states in the Empire served as electors, these states being: the Kingdom of Acitha, the Kingdom of Siphonia, the Duchy of Kohnia, the Duchy of Musea, and the March of Xoskea.
Technology and Magic: The Empire has two generalized schools of magic: Naturalism (Naturalist magic) and Runism (Runic magic). In theory the difference between the two schools of magic is whether the mana used to power any given spell goes through the caster (naturalism) or a rune (runism). Because of their resistance to mana, Estraphan humans cannot cast naturalist mana.
Naturalism is most commonly used to alter and control living beings. This doesn’t mean that naturalist magic can’t be used to throw a fireball at someone, just that doing so would generally be ineffective against anything a naturalist mage might encounter in Estraphus. Naturalist magic is what was used to control and guide the changes made to some of the human population when they first arrived in Estraphus, allowing for the creation of the Dryad and Satyr raises. It is also commonly used to speed up the domestication of wildlife or temporarily control wildlife. It can also be used to control and accelerate the growth of plants. Naturalist magic draws its mana from either the environment or the caster’s internal mana pool, because of this its commonly considered to be more powerful in regions that have a lot of mana in the environment.
Runic magic is both an important school of magic as well as the basis for a lot of the technology used in the Empire. The way runic magic works is that a rune is used as a medium to channel mana so that it may be used to cast a spell. The mana can be drawn from the environment, but usually a mana crystal is used to provide the mana supply. These runes are very complicated; all but the most basic of runic magic requires runes that can take hours, if not days or months, to draw. Because of this professional artificers will etch the runes into a hard material that usually also serves as a housing for the mana crystal. Runic magic can, and often is, used to create clean water and lights. It is quite common for wands, staves, and even swords to be used as mediums for runic magic, with some of these devices even having multiple runes etched into them allowing for them to produce several different types of spells.
Technology within the Empire can vary widely between the three regions and even between two different countries within a single region. As a general rule of thumb the Imperial Core is the most technologically advanced region. Aqueducts are largely unnecessary within the Imperial Core as runic magic is used to create water-producing wells and fountains. Many homes in the Imperial Core have a primitive form of air conditioning: built into the walls are pipes that can have water pumped into them, cold water to cool rooms and hot to heat them up. Runic powered furnaces and smelters are also common in this region.
The Eastern Reaches tend to be somewhat similar to the Imperial Core, except it has less access to runic magic based technology. Water and windmills are a common sight in the Eastern Reaches. The Riftlands are the least technologically advanced region. About half the region could be considered to be approaching technological parity with the Eastern Reaches while the other half are closer to a primitive pre-iron age level of technology.
Military Overview: It should come as a surprise to no one that the Empire’s military is unified and highly varied in nature. When called to military action by the emperor, each of the Empire’s constituent countries are expected to raise their own forces and rally under the emperor’s banner. Rivalries, political schemes, and simple differences in quality of troops and tactics all diminish the Empire’s military capabilities. Even so the Empire has a lot of experience fighting wars; its constituent countries are seemingly always at war with each other. As a general rule of thumb Imperial troops tend to be hardy, disciplined soldiers.
While there is some variation between every single country in the Empire, there are some observable regional trends. Countries in the Imperial Core tend to field a core of heavily armored infantry and cavalry, augmented by pike levies. Landsknecht troops (formations of soldiers equipped with two-handed swords, crossbows, and pikes) have become an increasingly core component of most Imperial Core armies. Aerial cavalry, such as pteranodon riders, serve as scouts, messengers, and increasingly as skirmishers.
The countries of the Eastern Reaches in turn opted towards lighter armored, less expensive troops. Shield and axe or mace bearing troops act as the frontline, while ranged troops provide most of the offensive potential. Bow cavalry are common in the Eastern Reaches, with even the heavy cavalry of the region bringing ranged weapons into battle.
The Riftlands have the least organized armies of the Empire and are geared for fighting in rough terrain such as forests and against the fauna of the plane. The Riftlands are the only region where the sword is used as a primary weapon. Even more unique is the swords themselves, the falcata, which acts like a hybrid between a sword and axe due to its forward curving blade. The Riftlands are also unique as they employ large numbers of domesticated Estraphan wildlife in combat. Riftland raptor cavalry are employed not as shock cavalry, but as scouts and sustained-melee cavalry.
Mercenaries are a common sight throughout the Empire and will make up a significant portion of any fighting force in any given war. These are battle hardened troops who have the wealth necessary to pay for the highest quality arms and armor, even if they may not be entirely dedicated to the cause.
((Information about specific types of units, their armaments and armor, and tactics will be added at a later date))
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Additional Info: (Anything else you want to include that there isn't a spot for up there. Little factoids about your nation are both amusing and welcome.)
Dunmar is ruled by an Emperor who’s dynasty has lasted for thousands of generations, even before the time of the calamity. The current ruler is Ulrik Longbeard. He has a number of retainers and advisers that are heads of their own dwarven clans who in their own right have followed the Longbeards for as long as they remember.
Demographics: The Dominion is mostly made up of Dwarves and enslaved goblins.
Population: They are an empire of Dwarves that number around 2.5 million in population. Disincluding enslaved goblins.
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Plane Description:
The planes of Ruhk are mountainous, harsh, and desolate. However, for the people of Dunmar it was home. The underground biomes of glowing forests, rivers, and rich soils. This was however, also home to their enemy who had followed them through the rift - the Goblin menace. For hundreds of years, the brutal back and forth between the savage goblin tribes and the armies of Dunmar have continued above the surface and deep underground.
History:
The Dunmar made the most of Ruhk, however their way of life has not changed. They stubbornly retained their way of life and adapted it to this harsh environment. The only thing that has changed is the number of dwarves and which Longbeard sits upon the imperial throne.
First was the establishment of Scibriz, the capital of Dunmar. Then was the expansion of their territories and the establishment of thirty more settlements. There were no natives to this land and if there were, they were long gone.
It was only when they met their Goblin foes again did they experience troubles. The long wars with their green foe had pushed them to become more militaristic. Their brutal purges against their goblin settlements have been the mark of every settlement after the first thirty. They still continue to this day to fight for territory, for resources, and for survival. Indeed - Dunmar has learned to live with less and turn it into more.
Culture and Society:
Dunmar culture hasn’t quite changed. They still hold large festivals that worship their gods of fortune, innovation, and war. They also are surprisingly unbiased in terms of gender roles. They have a saying, “If you can do it, no one can say you can’t.” From this it is clear that they value strength and integrity.
There are many dwarven clans, some very highly renowned, some less so. A number of these clans are favored by the Emperor and serve as the overall governors of Dunmar’s expansive territories. Clan Strongarm, clan Ironhand, and clan Swordsworn are three of the Emperor’s most successful clans. There are plenty more. Each clan has their own doctrines and ways of life. Clan Ironhand for example usually have the best equipped fighters, they pride themselves on their craftsmanship. Clan Strongarm have some of the best slingers, capable of throwing heavy lead shot so strong as to dent or peirce heavy steel plate at range. Clan Swordsworn claim to have the best fighters in the dominion. There are plenty of other clans like clan Hammerfist, clan Earthensong, clan Firebeard, clan Greatmane, and many more. These clans all come together and share their knowledge and expertise to make Dunmar as a whole united as one people.
Dunmar has a martial tradition in which even the young must learn how to fight. Often as one would walk through a Dunmarii street, one would see a child learning how to fight on one occasion and another learning how to craft and cook on the next.
Despite their martial nature they still have artisan virtues towards their stonework and steelcrafts. This is reflected in their architecture and the meticulous designs that they put on their weapons and armor. They also take very careful attention to their appearances, often grooming their beards or braiding their hair. Their clothes are simple and practical, pouring more time and effort not in their tapestries, but rather their utensils, their plates, their pots and pans. Only the more wealthy clans care about such things.
Aside from this, there is something new they developed as part of their society and culture. They have made mounts of the very common mountain lizard they call grumak. These are large, feisty lizards the size of three adult human men. They take their eggs and train them from a young age as brutal warmounts that they ride into battle. The ones they could not tame they hunt for sport. Grumak riding has become a staple of the Ruhk plane. They can ride long distances, assist dwarves on the hunt, and are excellent beasts of burden. However, their meat isn’t exactly the best of quality. It’s gamy, tough, and hard to chew through. Other animals of Ruhk are better farm animals than the Grumak. Nevertheless, grumaks have become a part of Dunmarii culture and, like most Dunmarii traditions, that is unlikely to change in the near future.
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Governance and Politics:
The Dumar dominion is expansive. The emperor alone cannot realistically keep his empire together. He allows some control over his chosen retainers who are given their own lands to govern and become great clan leaders. Clan Longbeard, clan Ironhand, clan Strongarm, and many more. They are given some autonomy, but are ultimately subject to the Emperor’s will - Ulrick Longbeard.
When there are several clan leaders in one place, authority will usually default to the region's governing clan. If it cannot be resolved this way, they will default to the eldest, and if not in that way it will default to the one with the most strength. An arm wrestling match is usually how one would settle such a thing. Less commonly it could also be settled by who could hold their drink better, it's more common in times of peace or during less urgent matters. However, if the Emperor is present, he is the one with the final say, he is the one in command, all other clans respect this arrangement.
If the Longbeards should fall, the clans with claims to the throne are clan Strongarm and clan Ironhand. Clan Swordsworn are named such as they swore an oath to follow the emperor's will, therefore they cannot lay claim on the imperial throne unless the emperor himself wills it so. Other clans may have a claim to the throne, however, they recognize the strongest claims lie on either Strongarm or Ironhand.
Technology and Magic:
The Dunmar used to be miners, engineers, and most of all professional soldiers. Before the great cataclysm the dwarven kingdoms that made up Dunmar united in order to fight the goblin hordes that came to raid them in large numbers. A great campaign was headed by the first great Longbeard who led several successful crusades against the green scourge.
To do this, Dunmar developed their siege equipment, their weapons, their armor. They’ve even developed a way of fighting using earthen magic to create walls and fortifications. They call it the crawling offensive. It takes a considerable amount of energy to push and sustain these walls as they approach their enemies. They then use this earthen magic to create ramps or bust holes into their enemies' fortifications. In close range engagements, their above average strength and excellent equipment usually outmatch most opponents.
The Goblins however counter this with alchemical concoctions, simple fire spells, and overwhelming numbers. This is why the war against their green foe has never been resolved.
Military Overview:
As they are always at war with their goblin foe, they have several large regional armies. Some of these regional armies are mostly comprised of that region’s clansmen. They all have their own orders of battle, but they all do so in the name of the Emperor and to fulfill their vow of exterminating the goblin scourge.
Their usual order of battle is to use a main body of heavy infantry and pikemen that will make up the middle. The flanks will be watched by grumak riders. In front of the main body will be the light infantry that will skirmish with crossbows and slings. This is their standard formation. The skirmishers will initiate as the main body marches forward. In the chaos the grumak riders with their sturdy mounts will tear apart the enemy formation from the flanks. The main body will then break off into smaller sections led by a dwarven captains to exploit the gaps created by the skirmishers and the grumak riders. Sections of grumak riders will break off to finish off any routing enemies.
The dwarven doctrine is to apply steady pressure and exploit the mistakes the enemy makes under this pressure. Most dwarven regiments are stubborn enough to fight towards near annihilation. This tendency to fight till they die is ingrained into dwarven culture - "Those who run from battle are bloody cowards and a disgrace to their bearded clansmen!". However, this steady formation has been beaten by their goblin foe by simply throwing more numbers and using more chaotic tactics to break apart the well coordinated dwarven lines. Goblins have also learned to kill high ranking dwarven leaders in order to further cast the dwarven ranks into disarray. This has made it so that Dunmar now has a complex order of ranks from highest to lowest so that even when a leader is killed, dwarven ranks will remain in tight order.
Dunmar has experienced war. Most citizens know how to fight from an early age because of the constant threat of large goblin raids. The goblins that they fight multiply faster than they can kill them and so they must continue to train each generation from a young age so that they can fight even when their armies fall. It is better to fight and take a few of the inbred scum with you rather than surrender and die a tortured death.
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Additional Info:
(I would put a theme song here but none of them feel genocidal and dwarven at the same time)
The Most Holy Confession Of The Dead And Undying God (or, informally, the Dead God's Church).
Government Form: Theocracy. The highest leaders of the Church are the twelve immortal Necrosaints. Below them, the precise leadership structure varies between congregations, but the unifying principle is that those who have descended furthest into the bowels of the God Who Is It’s Own Tomb (and returned capable of some form of leadership and communication) are those who are emplaced within the high offices of the Dead God’s Church.
Demographics: 5% human, 95% skeleton servitor.
Population: Human reproduction is not an easy task in the Tomb. The living population hovers at around one million. The skeletons of their ancestors, however, are in bounteous supply, eager to provide their labor, and number in the tens of millions.
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Plane Description: Some entities are too vast to die all the way. Some gods cling to their flesh long after it is dead. The Church is nestled within the vast, incomprehensible remains of what was once a god.
The scholars of the Church divide the Corpse That Is The Tomb into nine layers.
Epidermic: The external surface of the plane, covered in yards-thick black-grey skin, with which fungi and other forms of necrosis are slowly having their wicked way. The sky above is utterly black, and the temperature is typically close to freezing. Skeleton servitors, charged by their creators with farming edible fungi, dot the landscape, but humans are rarely seen.
Dermic: Beneath the exterior layer lie the turgid and semi-living cells of the dermal layer. The remaining biological activity of God here keeps the temperature at a liveable- albeit chilly- level. Blood vessels provide accessible corridors, while households make their residence in bone-lined abscesses within the skin tissue. The majority of day-to-day activities of the residents of the Tomb occurs here. People here experience intrusive thoughts from the Undying God, and dream of worship-rites and dead stars, though only visitors to the plane are likely to think these things are unusual.
Subdermic: The subcutaneous fat found here surrounds cavernous veins and arteries, upon which pilgrims set out to seek communion with God deeper in It’s tomb-body. Here, visions of the Undying God press constantly in on the edges of your vision, in a vague half-awareness of flitting shadows. This is the deepest layer most people can endure extended contact with, and holds many of the Tomb’s necromantic workshops and places of worship.
Muscular: Behold! The eternally-spasming muscle of the Body of God. Feel how it twists beneath you! Within these ever-shifting walls you shall find monasteries and waystations for pilgrims. Caution is advised- the twitching of the muscles has been known to snap veins shut on the impious, unwise, or simply unlucky. The monks who dwell here claim that close attention to the frequent audiovisual hallucinations will guide you in evading this fate. Certainly, the advanced age of many of them supports the truth of their claims.
Skeletal: You walk upon and within the bone of god! Here is the deepest any permanent communion of the faithful has set itself. Here is the final destination of many a pilgrimage, to chip away a precious piece of the holy skeleton, to carry for the rest of their lives, until their bones come to serve the Tomb. Does the roar of the Holy Voice in your ears not satiate you? Let the visions seen here be etched upon your eyelids! Open your mouth! That is the taste of god’s slowly burning flesh upon your tongue. Do not question when your hands act without your assent, for your tendons and muscles do the will of the Dead God.
Organotropic: The hissing of sacs, the wheezing of many-chambered hearts whose blood has long ago fled, and the pulsation of indescribable agglomerations of flesh whose purpose you do not know. When did you last sleep? Your body does things and you know not why. Each organ’s sound and sight brings a flurry of memories that are not yours- memories of consumption, worship, dread, and the slow, cold death.
Nervous: The lightning pulses beneath you. If it catches you, it will rise into your brain and drag the soul from your body as it passes. You step from axon to dendrite. Is this your will? You do not recall why you came here.
Nootropic: You are a thought in the mind of God. Hold this truth in yourself, or the mind of God will purge you as a disease. If you wish to return, remember also that you are more than a thought. You step upon an invisible web of rotting divine gnosis.
Barathron: HERE LIE THE SECRETS KNOWN ONLY TO THE NECROSAINTS.
History: In the beginning, there was the corpse of God, and there were many who had fled to It. They wept bitter tears, for the Tomb was a hard place to live, and many died.
After many years of suffering, one among them announced his intent to travel deeper into the Body of God. He was the First Necromancer. Together with his eight disciples, he journeyed to the heart of Tomb, what is now called the Barathron. There, they plead with the soul of God for their people, and It answered them.
The First Necromancer’s disciples returned to his people, who had become desperate, and began eating their dead. They commanded the bodies of the fallen to serve, and they rose, and the labors of the newly faithful were carried out by many pairs of hands, that they all might partake of the blessings of the Dead And Undying God.
Culture and Society: The residents of the Corpse and Tomb are universally obsessed with their home, the consequence of living with the thoughts of a dead god eternally intruding on your head. Expressing the precise manner of that obsession- usually, but not always, through some form of necromancy- is the primary focus of their lives, as all labor necessary for the physical sustenance of the living population is carried out by numberless undead servants. The basic unit of social life in the Corpse is the congregation. This consists of a number of the faithful who have found themselves (mostly) in agreement as to how to conduct their service to the Dead God. A congregation is typically led by an individual charismatic pilgrim who has journeyed particularly deeply into the Tomb (at least to the skeletal layer)- but the Church as a whole does not have a formal system of ordination per se. Any individual who feels called to preach, and can convince others to listen, is eligible to start a congregation. Congregations are marked by particularities in the sacramental skull face-paint worn by their members, and any pilgrim can spot another’s primary theological position by glancing at such.
In practice, however, the majority of congregations have a formal leader as a result of affiliation with one of the Necrosaints. Each Necrosaint is served by a small horde of hand-selected lesser clerics, who in turn guide a hierarchy of congregational leaders- nevertheless, oddball ‘unaffiliated’ congregations do exist, and make up about 10% of the population.
Congregations live communally, typically spending most of their waking hours engaged in such art or study as appropriate to their particular philosophy (see magic section). Currency is rarely used, as the principal resource in the Tomb- undead labor- is so readily available as to invoke little competition. Where disputes arise- over such exciting topics of who will make use of a particularly shapely tibia in their latest project, or whether the nootropic layer ought properly be considered part of the nervous layer- they are traditionally resolved by appealing to either the congregation’s leader, or a peer who is understood to be more progressed in their understanding of the Corpse That Is The Tomb (as evidenced by having made pilgrimage further into its depths.) If the dispute proves particularly intractable, it will be settled by necromantic duel. Often, this consists of seeing whose undead construct can destroy the others first- but it frequently takes other forms, such as a judged test of who can conjure the most aesthetically pleasing monstrosity, lift the heaviest weight with a necromantic creation, or present the most interesting novel necromantic theorem. Disputes between congregations are rare, but are settled similarly between their leaders (or, in the congregations that practice council or communal leadership, a nominated champion) if a higher authority cannot be agreed upon by both.
Critical to the society of the Tomb is the concept of pilgrimage- the notion that by traveling to the deeper layers of the Body, one can achieve a better understanding of it. Indeed, the universal term for ‘a member of the church of the dead god’ is ‘pilgrim’. The most worthy achievement in life is to dive deeply into the Body of God. Returning intact is a pleasant bonus, which confers social status, temporal authority, and necromantic power. Just about every pilgrim will journey to one of the monasteries of the muscular layer at least once in their life. Pilgrimages beyond the muscular layer carry drastically greater risk of death (either by the physical hazards of the Tomb, or by divinely-inspired suicide) or insanity, but many attempt them. It is common for aging pilgrims to set off on a pilgrimage towards the Barathron, knowing full well they will not return.
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Governance and Politics: Nominally, the head of the Church of the Tomb is the First Necromancer- however, he has not been seen since he set off for his fateful pilgrimage the dawning of necromancy. Instead, the Necrosaints- those blessed few who have traveled to the Barathron, the deepest recess of the Tomb- function as the heads of government. They select their own subordinates, who exercise day-to-day governance in their names, issuing instructions to the congregation leaders that report to them to ensure that the needs of the populace are met and that God’s will is carried out. Disputes across the hierarchies of Necrosaints are settled interpersonally where they arise. This is definitely a congenial, well-thought-out process. Reports that the Lady Of White Glass And Fire got into a slap fight with Most Patient Keeper Of Skin-Bound Tomes are heresy and probably false, anyway. See ‘Schools of Necromancy’, under Magic, for details on the congregations of the necrosaints.
In all the hundreds of years since the opening of the rifts, of the generations of pilgrims, only twelve have reached the Barathron and returned to tell the tale as immortal Necrosaints- and eight of them did so in the company of the First Necromancer. Each abandoned their former name, and took a title to replace it. They are:
The Testament of Flesh Made Steel
The Gilded Skull With Jeweled Eyes
Lady Of White Glass And Fire
Most Patient Keeper Of Skin-Bound Tomes
Warden Of Revealed Truths
The Bloodstained Rose Of Holy Martyrdom
A Burning Soul Hurled As A Spear
She Who Kneels Among Ash And Bones
The Princess Crowned With Many Crowns
Cold And Silent Longing
Speaker of Controversies
Ivory Star Of Cancerous Bone
Technology and Magic: Every single pilgrim is a necromancer. Not all of them are talented necromancers, but given a corpse any pilgrim can have it standing and doing basic manual labor inside of an hour. More powerful necromancers can raise a host of skeletons from nothing more than a few chips of bone, channeling necromantic power- termed thanergy- into the husks of cells and stimulating their ultra-rapid division according to their genetic template. Within the Tomb, thanergy is effectively unlimited in the subdermal layer and beyond, and still plentiful above it, as the Body of God produces it at an astounding rate. Outside the Tomb, thanergy can be stored in godbone, or harvested from the death of living tissues. The rate of thanergetic production is proportional to the size, youth, and complexity of the tissues destroyed. In practice, this means that a slain rat produces less thanergy than a slain cow, which produces less energy than a slain human. As a rule of thumb, one dead adult human will fuel a necromantic adept for fifteen minutes of intense work, though this can be extended by particularly talented practitioners.
Necromancy is used for everything by the residents of the tomb. Light is provided by reanimated clumps of phosphorescent cells. Textiles come from racks of sheepskin stimulated by thanergy to rapidly produce wool. Meat produced by stimulated muscle cell division, however, is not suitable for human consumption, and as a result the typical diet in the Tomb is almost entirely plant-based. These plants are primarily edible decomposers that are tended by skeletal servitors in the dermic and epidermic layers.
Tomb necromancers are capable of reactivating not merely entire corpses, but any function of dead tissue, down to the cellular level. In practice, exercising more complex instances of these functions requires significant anatomical and medical knowledge plus necromantic enlightenment. A novice necromancer can prod a tibia to grow into a skeleton that fits it’s own genetic template. A master can turn a few chips of bone and a few scraps of muscle into an acid-spitting beast the size of a house.
‘Necromantic enlightenment’ is a catch all term for the practical understanding of thanergy that comes with pilgrimage into the depths of the Body of God. Although hard study can elevate a necromancer’s abilities in principle, it becomes dramatically easier to work complicated necromancy- and therefore to get the hang of complicated necromancy in order to use it later- in the deeper layers of the Tomb. Anyone seeking to hone their necromantic talents is therefore likely to travel at least to the skeletal layer.
In principle, necromancy can also affect ‘living’ flesh (there is much scholarly discourse on where, exactly, the line between living and dead tissue lies). However, this requires intimate knowledge of the particulars of the subject. In practice, the only living flesh most necromancers can manipulate is their own, or those of close companions who they have spent a great deal of time studying.
Methods of Necromancy
Each of the eight original necrosaints developed their own approach to necromancy. Although other techniques have enjoyed brief popularity at various times, the social and political power of the necrosaints has ensured that their methods have always formed the backbone of necromantic life. These methods are simultaneously magical and social institutions, tied intimately to both particular beliefs about ideal faith, and particular exercises of necromantic power.
“Necromancy is an act of self-discipline” -The Testament of Flesh Made Steel The Cavalier’s Method focuses magically on manipulation of one’s own living flesh, and that of others for more skilled practitioners. It’s adherents believe in following the Dead God by making a temple of their own bodies, steel-hard and unconquerable. They are unique in this, as most other necromancers lean towards the sickley. Their sacramental skull-paint leans towards the blocky and geometric, and may depict helmets or scars.
“Necromancy is an act of creativity!” - The Gilded Skull With Jeweled Eyes The Aesthetic Method focuses on the creation of new and exciting forms of unlife. New and unlikely arrangements of limb, bone, and muscle are prized as pleasing to the Undying God. They are particularly talented in the manipulation of fat and flesh, as it offers a wider range of aesthetic possibilities. Their sacramental skull paint incorporates colors outside the traditional black and white, and often barely resembles a skull at all. The Princess Crowned With Many Crowns is an adherent of this method, but her tastes run towards the vicious and sadomasochistic.
“Necromancy is self-invigilation.” - Lady Of White Glass And Fire The Inquisitorial Method is the smallest of the major methods, a result of it’s focus on one of the most difficult tasks in necromancy- the manipulation of neural tissue. This allows for the creation of pre-programmed- or even highly intelligent- constructs, and at the highest level the imposition of artificial thoughts and the reading of intention and emotion in others (though the reading of particular thoughts is beyond all but the Lady herself.) It is rumored that the brains of fallen followers are devoured by the Lady, and that this is how she has gained such unrivaled knowledge of it’s particulars. Her followers are vicious in their pursuit of perceived heresy, and their skull paint is painstakingly anatomically accurate.
“Necromancy is the keeping of debts to the dead.” - Most Patient Keeper Of Skin-Bound Tomes The Traditional Method focuses on the exercise of pattern and the maintenance of traditions. It’s congregation is the only one with a formalized judicial code distinct from holy books (crime is rare in the Tomb), and has the most well-codified hierarchy. It’s necromantic specialty is spirit-calling- conjuring ghosts to inhabit dead flesh, or simply to communicate with. Their sacramental paint is simple and reasonable.
“Necromancy is an exercise of reason.” - Warden of Revealed Truths The Method Of Reason points out that some faculty of reason is retained even by those deep in the throes of pilgrimage-madness. On this basis, they turn their scalpel-edged minds to the task of necromantic mastery. They maintain rigorous records of experimentation and results, and maintain dedicated cables of animated neural tissues to expedite communication between their congregations. They wear minimalist sacramental paint, when they bother to do so at all. They lack a specialty as a group, with each congregation focused on pushing the frontiers of a single extremely narrowly-defined field of specialty. Speaker of Controversies practices the Method of Reason, though some people think she just likes starting shit.
“Necromancy is an act of passion.” - The Bloodstained Rose Of Holy Martyrdom The Passionate Method holds that necromancy and worship are both ecstatic, transcendent experiences. They channel these emotions into fleeting performance arts- dance, poetry, and the animation of blood. Blood is one of the harder necromantic workings, as due to it’s largely non-cellular nature it cannot be permanently animated as a servitor, instead requiring the continuous attention of a necromancer to manipulate. Their sacramental skulls are painted in blood, instead of black and white pigment, and are overlaid in lines to accent the wearer’s face rather than to hide it. Rumors circulate that the Rose is jealous of the Gilded Skull’s mentorship of the Princess, and seeks to elevate a protege of her own to the status of Necrosaint.
“Necromancy is unshakeable fervor!” - A Burning Soul Hurled As A Spear
The Method of Fidelity exults in burning religious passion. Their constructs tend towards the fleeting yet impressive, for their speciality is nudging tissues to produce interesting chemical reactions. In theory this is turned towards productive ends, though in practice the (predominantly younger) members of the Method of Fidelity enjoy a good show. Practitioners of this Method hurl themselves into pilgrimage with reckless abandon. It’s very common for younger necromancers to spend time in Fidelity congregations before drifting to more reasonable methods as they age. Their skull paint tends to be slapdash and haphazard, but applied with great enthusiasm at every occasion.
“Necromancy is unstinting devotion.” - She Who Kneels Among Ash And Bones The Method Of Devotion emphasizes calm and absolute faith. Their congregations reside deeper in the Body of God than any other method- the majority of the method’s devotees reside in cloisters in the muscular and skeletal layer. They occasionally establish cloisters in the organotropic layer, but they inevitably vanish within a decade, a fact that does little to deter the followers of She Who Kneels. Their necromantic speciality is the working of bone- in particular, the Method of Devotion teaches the manipulation of the godbone found in the skeletal layer, which allows for the creation of regenerating skeletal constructs of surpassing speed, power, and durability. It is rare to find this skill outside the Method of Devotion, as mastering it requires an extended stay in the skeletal layer. Cold And Silent Longing is a student of this method.
Ivory Star Of Cancerous Bone adheres to none of these methods. She practices what she refers to as the Method Of The Tumor, and claims she is not yet ready to teach it.
The Powers Of The Necrosaints
The Holy Necrosaints can perform necromancy on an entirely different order of magnitude from their disciples. Each of them has an unlimited internal reserve of thanergy, extraordinarily rapid regeneration, complete morphological control over their own body’s tissues, and profound difficulty dying (Some pilgrims of reason have proposed that total incineration of a necrosaint’s corpus would be sufficient, but experiments have yet to occur). They augment these abilities with a century or more of practical experience (safe for Ivory Star, who was only exalted five years ago).
Military Overview: The Church Of The Dead And Undying God has no formal military whatsoever. It does, however, have a population profoundly talented in the creation of all manner of necromantic magnificence, and thoroughly motivated to defend their home. Any invader would also have to contend with the considerable physical and psychological hazards of the Body of God. Spend a few months conquering the Dermal Layer and you might find your soldiers start to come around to the Church’s way of thinking…
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Additional Info: They wear lots of skull face paint! Not all the time, though, mostly. They wear it for religious ceremonies, important parties, and so on. Think of it as the socioreligious (and non-gendered) equivalent of a necktie- some people wear them all the time, but most don’t.
Government Form: Unusually progressive for a Gaian nation due to the unique circumstances of its existence as a wildly cosmopolitan nation founded by intellectuals, Astralus is, in a word, anarchist. There is no government with overriding authority, but rather a group of the highly educated making decisions by vote and consensus, sharing power among themselves - even the 'military' is in effect a fully voluntary military, officers elected by vote.
Demographics:
All inhabitants of Astralus, virtually without fail, have been permanently touched by their environment. Faint glows and unusual eye, hair, and skin colours are the most typical changes, but far from the only ones. Some fire mages end up spewing flame with their breath, for example, while those who manipulate souls often end up emotionally cold and physically lifeless.
Potentiates are those most heavily changed by the plane, known as the "Font" to locals, so consumed by the energy of magics that they lose physical form entirely. Many such people simply dissipate into nothingness, but some are so strong of will as to maintain sapient, though rarely human form as beings of raw magical energy.
The most notable feature of Astralus is, in essence, the high diversity of its population, and its willingness to accept - and teach - nearly anyone, given the absence of visibly negative intentions.
16% Elves
4% Dwarves
15% Humans
15% Sentient constructs
30% Mixed
18% Various other ancestries, including handfuls of summoned creatures
2% Potentiates
Population:
Roughly 1.25 million citizens, plus large numbers of summoned entities and golems.
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Plane Description: The Font - the plane inhabited by Illuminatus in the floating city of Astralus - is an immensely potent source of power for mages. Floating islands dot the skies, waterfalls literally infused with life falling from them from seemingly nonexistent sources, streaming down into the landscape below. Mountains walk, crushing stampeding herds of effervescent chimera beneath their towering bulk when they settle. Screeching bird-things knock their prey unconscious with bursts of sonic energy, only to be laid low themselves by spell-spitting serpents arcing through the clouds.
In other places, desolate plains of broken rock and magical radiation dominate the landscape, where even gravity seems to oscillate into inscrutable, nonsensical patterns. In yet more, roiling spirits of magma do battle with living waterspouts.
In essence, the Font is many things at once, but there is one constant: it is a place of wild extremes, fueled by magic and the extreme lengths to which life goes to survive in it.
What exactly made it this way is unknown to the mages of Astralus, and they are unsure they will ever know. It could be a world so devastated by a war between mages as to be uninhabitable, some natural focus point of arcane power shaped by the dreaming minds of mortals or the spellwork of Gaia's mages, or even simply a random occurrence with no cause at all.
What the mages of Astralus have done, however, is stabilize the realm around the rift, accommodating their mobile city. The enormous stone steps surrounding their rift, and the towering statues around it, are in reality a complicated network of arcane defenses designed to protect the city from incursions. Each statue is a dormant golem, each glowing lamp post an emitter of one spellwork or another, nearly plant a soldier ready to be animated by the organization's chloromancers. This is only true of the areas surrounding the rift, however, for even the mages of Astralus cannot fully control the Font, nor have they saught sapient natives of the realm for fear that doing so may cause their destruction.
History: Long ago, Astralus was nothing like it is today. Centuries in the past, even before the supposed death of Gaia, it was no country.
It was the domain of a cabal of powerful archmages, its people their slaves and pet projects, kept in their chains by spellwork, constructs, and an army of well-paid mercenaries that recaptured or killed anyone that escaped, nearly regardless of where they fled to. Overseers, the favoured collaborators of these mage-lords, directed the slaves, themselves accompanied by powerful magics and bodyguards of their own.
For eons, the people that would become Astralus suffered under the Yoke of the Mage-Lords. By the time of Gaia, freedom was a memory so distant many of its people had simply forgotten that it was a possibility in the first place, their perceptions so warped and twisted by their torment and the strict information control of the Mage-Lords.
When the death of Gaia came, the Mage-Lords took their slaves with them. Thousands upon thousands died in the transition, both due to the abuses of their masters and the chaotic nature of the Font. Magically-charged beasts devastated the slaves and the resources of their masters, slaughtering them en masse where the random portal storms around their entryway didn't, often swallowing up the unprepared or spitting out demons and devils.
The Mage-Lords pressed them forward, thought, until they found a site suitable for settlement - a massive, raised plateau upon which the less tolerable devastation was less common, outting their power magics to work and their hordes of slaves to hard labor to complete their great works. The loss of Gaia, they realized, may have been a blessing - with the raw power of the font at their disposal, was there anything they couldn't accomplish?
Great edifices, of course, were erected to their glory, as were powerful defenses, but the deaths continued. More slaves died. Overseers and lieutenants, increasingly difficult to replace, were picked off by the utter Chaos of the realm, which adamantly refused to bend to the will of the Mage-Lords despite all their efforts. No matter what they did, breaking the Font was utterly impossible, and in the face of their constant failures, dissent slowly began to grow, the facade of unstoppable oppression slowly but surely crumbling.
Few saw it, much less lived to tell of it, but if their supposedly perfect masters grew frustrated and angry at mere beasts, could they really be called perfect? If they tried, failed, tried, and failed again to put a stop to the portal storms that routinely say their most favoured servants destroyed or mutated beyond belief, could they really be called infallible, especially when they routinely threw childish tantrums in frustration at their continued failures?
Despite all the efforts of the magelords, it was impossible to completely crack down on the spread of rumours, especially when nearly everyone they were being hidden from bore witness. Dissent swelled as more and more people realized that their masters *could* be defied; that they chains might not be truly unbreakable, and there was little the Mage-Lords could do outside of slaughtering them all. Their own delusions, however, allowed them to believe that they were too perfect to fail, and so revolutionary sentiment continued to grow until it finally reached a breaking point.
Two hundred years ago, in an act of largely spontaneous defiance, the slaves rose up.
The precise trigger for the general uprising is hotly debated, but something all Astralan scholars agree on is that it spiraled out of control in a matter of days, news spreading quickly thanks to the use of telepathic messaging.
Thousands upon thousands were slaughtered by the masters in the death throes of their evil empire, but the sheer weight of the many overwhelmed them, with each of the mages cut off from their magic and beaten to death by the enraged mobs of the oppressed.
And then, suddenly, it was over. With the fallen masters dead, there was nothing and no-one to command their armies of constructs, and so the people of what would become Astralus set about building a new civilization from one starting principle: never again could such hierarchies of power as those that allowed them to be enslaved be allowed to exist within their nation. For this reason, Astralus has established a robust tradition of extensive education, ranging from the mundanity of politics to the arcane sciences, which it maintains to this day, and which was instrumental in its rapid rebuilding and construction of a large defensive force to protect against the wildlife and continuous portal storms where conflict with the nature of the font couldn’t be avoided. In general, though, in stark contrast to their masters, the people of free Astralus avoided disturbing the world around them wherever possible, going so far as to construct a floating city with their magics, flying high above the land below.
In the years since, Astralus has focused primarily on further developing its civil infrastructure, and maintaining its defenses, for fear that the Font might spawn something terrible they cannot harness, or, worse, that the portal to Gaia might open and greet them with something that destroys their new home.
Culture and Society: Despite the fact that it’s been completely isolated from contact with other civilizations for five centuries, Astralus maintains an extremely diverse culture, to the point that the largest demographic unit aside from Elves consists of citizens of mixed ancestry, in many cases including ancestries otherwise wouldn't be able to interbreed if not for the intervention of a society of largely skilled mages. Such inter-ancestral reproduction is widely accepted, and even intellectually encouraged in some causes. The culture of Astralus, in essence, is dominated by the belief that diversity is its greatest strength, in the same way that a mage who studies only one 'school' of magic will be left helpless by someone who understands his weaknesses without his comrades to back him up.
This attitude extends to nearly all facets of society, especially the intellectual, hence Astralus's both wide and deep understanding of many methods of practicing magic. Even in the home, Astralus is diverse, with family dynamics ranging from the highly traditional to the unusually diverse, and societal roles being constantly shifting, never static things. Citizens are allowed and encouraged to develop themselves in a wide variety of different ways, with few restrictions outside of proscription of violence among citizens. Typical ideas of tradition and gender roles, even, have practically vanished from the wider zeitgeist, and while their magic is used to construct civilization, schooling emphasizes striving to work with the world around them rather than aggressively imposing their will upon a reality that fights back.
There are disagreements, however, but they rarely come to blows, and the relatively fresh memories of brutal civil violence among mages - and the tyranny of an unchecked state - keep them relatively in check, not to mention thew extremely high levels of education in the population.
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Governance and Politics: Astralus’s government, if it can even be called that, is extremely limited, built on the principle of providing a platform for Astralus’s people to express their concerts and aid each other. There is no monarch, or even a leader to speak of - only an assembly where people meet to discuss the ever-changing needs of the vast city’s people.
Occasionally, however, people are chosen, usually by vote, to direct research in various fields. Theoretically, the same could be done to represent them in foreign affairs, but such an eventuality has yet to occur.
Technology and Magic: As one might expect for a nation of scholars and mages, Astralus's understanding of both magic and technology are highly advanced, even if their population is too small to deploy either on an enormous scale. Most every facet of life is dominated by either, or often a combination of the two - stoved are 'fueled' by sentient flames that draw upon the natural magical energy around them, airships are held aloft by arcane engines and conjured air currents, and transport across the city is frequently accomplished by runed teleportation magic rather than actual movement between two points. Even the grand city itself is sometimes carried into the sky by massive networks of telekinesis runes, shielded by translucent, one-way walls of energetic magic, flying golems, and arrays of spell-cannons.
This is not to say that their understanding of either field is complete, nor even 'better' than every other possible civilization. Each technology is geared toward one specific purpose, after all: the flourishing of the city, and nothing more. If nothing else, Astralus completely lacks the will or knowhow to sustain a continent-spanning empire.
Perhaps their most valuable knowledge, however, at least to their survival, is their experience in directing and working with the flows of magic rather than dominating them entirely. In a duel between spellcasters, after all, few skills are more valuable than the ones which allow you to unwind a foe's spells like thread or potentially even consume their magic like a hearty meal and repurpose it for your own use.
Military Overview: Although its standing army is relatively small, even tiny, simply due to the difficulty Astralus has in producing new soldiers, it is capable of otherwise wondrous feats of shock and awe due to the outsized number of mages protecting the city. In terms of offensive capability, they are best suited to ambush and surgical strike (thanks to the fact that a large number of their sentient officers are essentially highly mobile artillery pieces) in which their ability to teleport whole units into advantageous positions and their potential for rapid destruction can be best utilized, or in advisory roles to states with the material might to mobilize a truly large army. The voluntary nature of its 'military', likewise, promotes battlefield innovation, and lacks the ability to conduct extended campaigns, even if they did have the manpower and logistical support for it.
Perhaps their most valuable tool, however, is their ability to use spells to turn the environment against the enemy and cripple their logistics, whether it involves spoiling large stocks of food or conjuring powerful storms.
Golems make up most of the 'infantry', also, usually led by highly capable battlemages serving in a similar role to officers, elected by their comrades rather than in the traditional manners of promotion and aristocratic titles.
Official Name: Nilunbergseidgenossenschaft Alternate Names: Nilberg Confederation, Nilberg, Zeignobund Government Type: Confederation Governing Body: Tagsatzung (Federal Diet) Capital: Rhone City, Drachenfel Canton Population: ~850,000 Dominant Species: Zeignons (goattaurs, ~95%)
The Nilberg Confederation is a relatively young nation formed in the mountainous lands of Nilberg. It involves 19 Cantons, effectively an autonomous city state each. They have the misfortune to neighbor some of the largest empires on the continent yet they staunchly maintain their independence. Nilberg is a region of fine craftsmen yet after gaining their independence they became better known for something else, mercenaries. Nilbergian sellswords were becoming a common sight across the continent and this somehow became the nation's main export.
Plane Description
Much of the world is yet to be discovered but Nilbergians are very familiar with the continent of Ardonai. The region's climate changes depending on how far North you travel or whether you're seaside or inland. Compared to Earth there are many strange creatures, some of them with magical abilities. Monsters are powerful creatures which threaten civilization. They reside in the hidden and less visited corners of the lands but they can periodically emerge to terrorize villagers or cause other kinds of mayhem. Militia often fights them, some major monster incursions may even call for state armies to respond. Yet before that it's fairly common to ask one of the many adventuring mercenary groups to deal with them. Be it a tiny groups of elites or a company of seasoned soldiers these adventurers act as problem solvers to many issues, for a price of course!
Nilberg Region Nilberg is a mountainous region in the temperate zone. The land is surrounded by tall snow-covered mountains while Central Nilberg is a plateu covered in beautiful greenery. Many describe Nilberg as almost picturesque and in the past it inspired many painters. The mountains help maintaining a comfortable climate all year. The recent surge of militarism also helped to deal with eons old nests of monsters which makes Nilberg seem almost idyllic. More than troubles within the country has issues with his neighbors. Nilberg is officially neutral which is further helped by said neighbors' constant dependence on Nilbergian mercenaries. Yet the fact remains that great empires eye Nilberg as a price, dreaming of making it their crown jewel once more. With the emergence of the Gate the situation would only get worse. Will the gate save them or destroy them?
Nilberg’s region is divided into 19 Cantons which are: Drachenfel, Aulenbruck, Transestein, Hallefels, Bersewald, Rauchberg, Elsebach, Allenheim, Reseberg, Wallefeld, Frauenhofen, Beneberg, Kiosseland, Ackerhöhe, Kuching, Sandakan, Altena, Beligrod, Unterland
History Overview
The Zeignons have multiple origin myths but the most popular one is the following. During the ancient times before history dragons of unspeakable might ruled this continent. Rasvimba (currently the western portion of Nilberg) used to be one of the numerous lands declared as their sanctuary. Once upon the time a group of adventurous dwarves from Clan Yngveth did not heed these warnings and began to exploit these mountains. They found tin, silver and gold and quickly made a fortune. A year passed and Clan Yngveth acquired wondrous riches yet their luck was about to run out. Unknown to them the dragons put a curse on them in vengeance, infecting the local goats with a magical disease. As a consequence dwarves who consumed this cursed meat had their offspring kill their mothers and become the first Zeignons, the goat-folk. By the time they realized it was already too late and the once prestigious Clan Yngveth died out completely. Being benevolent the dragons did not smite the goat-folk and instead gave them the task to protect these mountains. Built on the culture of the now extinct Clan Yngveth the Zeignons prospered in isolation. The nine mountain peaks of Rasvimba served as the region’s namesake, becoming known in the modern times as Nilberg.
For a long time the existence of Nilberg was only regarded as legend. Zeignon wandering merchants and scholars did travel the continent but nobody knew where they came from or what their dwelling place was actually like. Zeignons were akin to folk tale creatures, they showed up in a village to help the locals and then left. Their hermit-like existence came to an end when the Aechadian Empire invaded them. Unprepared for warfare the Nilbergians were swiftly conquered and subjugated by the rising titan. The next century saw brutal oppression, dispersion as slaves and other unspeakable deeds. Yet over time the Zeignons earned respect and Nilberos (Aechadian name for Nilberg) earned a small bit of autonomy. Aechadian only directly controlled a fraction of Nilberg with the rest only maintaining a vague vassal-like status. Yet thanks to the Aechadian prosperity the region of Nilberg underwent rapid development and soon became one of the more industrious places within the Empire.
About 250 years ago the Nilberg Rebellion broke out. Previously Aechadians made numerous measures to prevent the Zeignons taking arms and uniting but their efforts were washed away by a mysterious vision shared by all goattaurs. Seeing the visage of the All-Father in their dreams the Zeignon population as a whole rose up. Slaves escaped, auxiliaries deserted and the local authorities in Nilberos suddenly lost control. Of course the Aechadian Empire was undeterred by these events, confident to restore their rule. During this time the Zeignons were viewed as an inferior alternative to centaurs, poor cavalry chiefly used for scouting. The mighty legions of Aechadian were mobilized, ready to paint the towns of Nilberg red. Yet the seasoned soldiers met their match in the Sacred Band led by Töbe Eichenberg. Though outnumbered they used the mountainous terrain against their opponents, halting their advance dead. Meanwhile hordes of Zeignon deserters and townsfolk received expert drills, training them to become a fearsome army. After the fourth year of confrontation the two armies faced off against each other in the Battle of Mordsenke. There Töbe Eichenberg encircled his enemy and massacred five legions, leaving no survivors. This put an end to the war and Aechadian attempts to control Nilberg.
The first decades of Nilbergian independence were trying times as Aechadians refused to acknowledge them. Nilberg was overall considered a pariah state and Zeignons were viewed with suspicion. Yet instead of collapsing the confederacy of Nilbergians held up and even strengthened. Of course living in the mountains the region could not hold large populations and as thousands of Zeignon youth were left in poverty the intensity of Nilbergians wandering out only increased. With their fresh military traditions this resulted in the first mercenary bands. Nilbergian soldiers soon became a well sought after commodity between nations and while these troops are past their golden age they still enjoy a massive reputation.
Social Overview
Government: Nilberg’s is a form of Eidgenossenschaft (oath pact alliance, loosely translated as confederation) between 19 Cantons with each representing an old clan of Zeignons within the region. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that rather than a single country the region of Nilberg is divided into 19 independent states. Each Canton has their own form of government, customs and local laws. Every month each Canton’s representatives, delegates (occasionally even the governors themselves) are set forth to the “capital” city of Rhone to participate in the Diet. During these gatherings the Diet holds discussions about current events, status of each Canton and holds votes on deciding the confederacy’s future. Overall thr Diet has fairly weak power compared to the cantons' autonomy.
Demographics: Nilberg’s population consists almost entirely of Zeignons. The Nilbergians are rather reclusive within their homeland and aren’t too welcoming of foreigners. Most of the non-Zeignon population are kobolds with only tiny enclaves of humans living in Nilberg. This region is unforgiving with lots of mountains, varying climate and relatively little arable land. The locals chiefly subsit from animal herding while importing the rest. As such swarms of Nilbergians chose to leave their country behind and travel across the continent. Overall many thousands of Nilbergians are living outside their country. They can range from traveling scholars to merchants and more recently outright bands of mercenaries. Nilbergians and by extension the Zeignon race are well-known travelers.
Zeignon are a type of “goattaur”, outwardly possessing a humanoid upper body and a goat’s lower body. At average they are 5 feet tall and their lower body extends for about 3 feet. Zeignons might seem to be a hybrid of humans and goats but in reality they are radically different. Zeignon organs tend to be huge and often doubled. For example they have a pair of hearts which fully occupies their chest cavity and beats in alteration. Lungs and intestines on the other hand are in the belly portion of the lower body. Physically they are stronger than humans and could run like a horse while possessing great stamina. On the other hand they consume 2-4 times as much food and they need more living space. Contrary to popular belief the Zeignon don’t have horns although they occasionally wear such as part of their fashion.
Less known fact is that Zeignons have 3 distinct main breeds and uncountable sub-breeds. Cursores or “runner-breed” goattaurs are the lightest type, built to be lean and fast. Cursores are often only about 150lbs in weight and sometimes they can sprint up to 45mph. In contrast the Ergates are a type which is built short, stocky and enduring. As the “worker-breed” they have the best ability to haul weights but they are comparably slow, at average 250lbs weight and small legs only allow around 15mph. The largest and most powerful breed are the Antares, the “warrior class”. These deertaurs have a lean and strong body ideal for combat. They can run at 32mph in spite of weighing in the excess of 300lbs. Antares of course require the most food and given their value as fighting elite, they often get it.
Economics: Nilberg is curiously enough rich and poor at the same time. They have rich cities with some of the continent's finest craftsmen yet overall the country is poor compared to their neighbors. Some may say that using empires as a measuring stick is wrong but given the subtle rivalries this isn't something to be avoided. In fact ever since Nilberg switched over to animal herding there are thousands who were left without work. This is where the ongoing mercenary business kicks in. Many youths are rounded up by mercenary groups who then journey across the continent looking for price and glory. Smaller groups might help villages to slay monsters while a more decently sized company is often reinforces a king's campaign forces at war. Cantons took control of organizing these mercenaries and now it's a significant portion of their revenue.
Technology and Magic
Technology: Nilberg is an industrious region with many craftsmen. The region is especially renown for their clockmakers but most goods manufactured in the region are a cut above what their neighbors produce. Of course this is in part deliberate as Nilberg has no means to match the volume of major empires' ouput. But also because Nilbergian tradesmen often have traveled across the continent at least once. Some also point to the immensely high quality iron ore found within Nilberg's mountains. Springs in particular are made out of this ore. Nilbergian springsmiths and watchmakers know a remarkably lot about spring physics which are kept secret from the rest of the world.
Long story short, Nilberg is technologically advanced. Although their small country and dominance of smaller workshops over giant manufactories means they won't produce anything large. They have fair access to gunpowder but manufacturing giant cannons is beyond their ability. They use high quality steel arms and armor.
Niustav: A type of polearm/pike which has a sheet metal covered upper half ending in long spike. The entire structure is reinforced by large rivets that slightly protude outwards, turning the weapon into something almost like a mace. Indeed the weapon combines the properties of a mace and a spear/pike. Typical military variants are 9 ells (~ 5.5m) long and weigh around 15 kilograms. They are obviously not meant to be handled by humans. Handlier 4-5 ell long versions are used for personal combat and those end up fancier and more nimble. Niustavs in military formation instead are meant to fight other lines of troops and they do fairly efficiently. The ruggedness and simplicity of use is often lauded for these weapons. They are significantly more expensive than pikes but they are also more versatile. Campaigining mercenaries don't need to buy different weapons to fight large monsters, for example. Niustav production and distribution is usually handled by the Cantons and it's rare to see them being used outside of Nilberg's forces.
Alstav: Effectively a long club/spear hybrid, Alstav has its own history. They were actually called "Niustav" about 300 years ago when Zeignons first took up arms to rebel against the empire. They are basically just a thick wooden pole with a metal cup affixing a spike. Due to their simplicity they could be made by almost anyone and they were mass issued during the finally successful revolution lead by Töbe Eichenberg. Alstav is about 3-5 ells long (~2-3m) and nowadays the top portion tends to flare out and widen compared to the bottom, giving it a slightly conical shape. They are very cheap and still very reliable weapon. They are just outmatched in open warfare compared to the weapons Nilbergians actually refer as the Niustav now.
Kralledag: Also referred as "Nilbergian long knife" this is a side arm often carried by mercenaries. By common sense it's a sword, yet because it doesn't have a tang but a knife-hilt this can be produced by metalworkers of any kind. That being said mercenary groups are selective of the guilds they purchase from so they have certain qualities to share. As their name imply the blade is somewhat talon-shaped with a broad blade until the two-thirds point after which it suddenly drops down to a spike. Said spike is in line with the hilt thus the weapon is surprisingly effective at stabbing. As for the rest the blade is single edged and slightly curved, making it a very easy cutter. Most of these swords had blades approaching 2 ells (~1.2m) yet they were designed as single handed weapons. Drabants in the first and second line often carried these.
Bolzer: Originally developed as a type of siege engine the Bolzer style ballistas disappeared after the imperial conquest and ban on Zeignon's carrying weapons. During the revolution they resurfaced and became common for Zeignon soldiers. Bolzers are described as limbless crossbow but in fact they are neither. They are a handheld ballista using clock sprinfs to accelerate short limbs. They can use both arrow/bolts and sling bullet type projectiles. They are wound back by either winch or lever mechanism. They are versatile but especially good at shooting lighter projectiles at high velocities (in excess of 100m/s). Their drawback is that acquiring the right springs would be very expensive for anyone outside Nilberg.
Zeignon armor: Being goat-taurs the Zeignons had to develop armor schemes independently from others. Inspirations from personal armors and horse barding both taken to get their own armor types. Generally the upper torso and lower torso both got their own type of armors. Padded aketon armors are of course cheap and affordable, making them the most common. Yet when a merc looked for more potent armor they had three options: maile, brigandine and plate. Maile is often leftover from past eras or produced for special customers. With better steelmaking techniques maile is workhour intensive and expensive in comparison. Its place was taken over by the stylish yet affordable brigandine, basically metal plates riveted onto durable cloth. Leg armor is often neglected and the same can be said for the underside of a Zeignon, both for economics and for practical reasons. Only the more thoroughly armored individuals looked out for those so in contrast these are always good places to hit a typical soldier. Of course this is where plate can come in. Helmets, pelvic plates and back plates are relatively easy to access in lower qualities. But some Zeignons have the wealth and need to wear full suits of plate. Nilbergians often refer to people like that Eisenhaut and they are the closest their culture has to knights and men-at-arms.
Magic: Many of Nilberg's neighbors have massive religious structures and fostered spellcraft for centuries if not millennia. Nilberg never had anything as robust. Their faith is vaguely defined in their belief in the All-Father and respecting their ancestors. Most Zeignons then adopt a specific religion from somewhere else as their main faith. So Nilberg doesn't have strong magical traditions. Since the last century though they made some progress in this matter. Ancient runecraft and runesmithing is resurrected while foreign mages are invites to Nilbergian colleges. The neccessity also bore innovation and while Nilbergian magic is less powerful they embrace pragmaticism.
Nilberg has ancient dwarven roots which may not be obvious to the common onlooker yet when talking of magic this relation can quickly become clear. Nilbergian runes don't share the figures with the dwarven craft but certainly closer than human and other races' usage of runes. Runes are often used for protecting territory, imbuing high-quality items with magic and in many forms of divination. When it comes to battle mages though the Nilbergians...had to improvise.
As said, Nilberg doesn't have millennia of spellcasting culture. Many magic schools were tried but never really stuck with Nilbergian magic users. Ultimately it was on the cities of Nilberg to develop their own brand of combat magic. What did they do? Rather than conjuring up awesome elements and creating spectacles on the battlefield, they turned to the ordinarily stationary defense oriented runes and decided to use them as weapon. Rune stones are carried by mages that are already carved up with symbols to impose a set of rules on territory nearby. Whatever is within that territory can be influenced by a Krieghexer. This can range from enchanted projectiles, buffs to allied soldiers or perhaps a barrier which helps protecting those within. The effects are not that awesome compared to typical runic defenses but they certainly work. Runes can also set up as traps to curse enemies or cause changes to the environment. This in turn makes Krieghexers far more subtle in their actions and expects of them to think flexibly on the battlefield.
Military Overview
Nilbergians have a reputation of being fierce warriors. Compared to mightier races a mere goattaur may not seem threatening yet combined with their tactics and discipline the Nilbergian mercenaries are a force to be reckoned with. They are reputed for their discipline, aggression and overall morale. Of course this has more to do with their organized nature and growing martial culture than some kind of special training or other secret. Since they are goat-taurs they also have some unique strengths and weaknesses in war. They are natural cavalry yet they aren't so massive as their genetic siblings, the centaurs. They can fight in formation fairly effectively and have more strength than the average human. Yet they still suffer to fight in narrow spaces where they large flanks are easy to expose. Nilberg being a rather developed nation who are famed for their precise craftsmanship they often can afford high quality equipment and are one of the earliest adopters of gunpowder. That being said they don't have the great foundries of empires so their cannons tend to be on the smaller side in general. Think smart rather than large could very well be their motto. Their supply wagons double as improvised fortifications on the battlefield, a tactic inherited from the great Töbe Eichenberg. Depending on their canton the flags and symbols of the mercenary outfit can change. Certain famous units have their own flags, even. Yet alongside these they also brandish a yellow cross shaped symbol. This is the so-called Sacred Band, often mistaken for a religious sign. The united Nilberg flag also features said symbol in the center. The Sacred Band is the universal symbol of Nilbergian mercenaries but beyond that a proud display of their independence.
Drabant: The common soldier forming the main bulk of Nilberg's mercenary forces. They usually start as commoners given nothing but their weapon and a helmet. Yet over the course of campaigning they acquire wealth and loot, some ending up in better gear than the aristocratic knights. Their main weapon is the Nilustav (see technology section above) and they often take up formations 3 lines deep. The front rows tend to be experienced soldiers with the best armor. The flanks are covered with elites wielding special weapons. The middle has the commander and the drummer, alongside with an elite force acting as their protection.
Hartschier: Ranged specialists acting in support of the main force. They carry bolzers, Nilberg's unique take on the crossbow (see technology section). They are often forming the back lines of a typical formation, providing fire support to the company. But they can also break away and act as skirmishers. Larger mercenary groups may even have entire companies of Hartschiers.
Korsar: A light troop type specializing in scouting and raiding. They are well-regarded for their aggression and flexible maneuvers. They typically carry both melee and ranged weapons, switching between them as needed. Their bolzer is of lighter draw, operated by a lever underneath instead of a winch. They also frequently have Krieghexers to cast spells.
Schwarze Reiters: Elite lancers used as shock troops. They are called "black riders" for their full plate armor blued to be more resilient. Also because they use surprising amount of black powder. They always carry grenades, throwing them to cause discord in the enemy formations. They also have a Feuerlanz, a type of weapon which causes loud noises and spreads fast flying pellets in the process. This makes them a very difficult enemy to face head on. In addition they are some of the best soldiers which combined with their high-quality gear already makes them a force to be reckoned with.
Kriegshexer: Battle mage of Nilbergian origin, taught in the runic arts. They are the magic casters chosen to accompany armies in combat, in contrast to Lagerhexer (camp mages). While the latter provides medical care, spiritual support and other services the Kriegshexer use their spells in battle or at least in direct support of the army.
Kröte: A short and small cannon with relatively large bore diameter. Some may call it a small bombard but unlike those the Kröte is meant to be portable. Usually pulled by two soldiers and another group pulling a small carriage with ammo the weapon can be transported virtually anywhere. While it can shoot stone balls the weapon is chiefly filled with many small pellets to act as a giant shotgun. The weapon is usually deployed at closer ranges than typical artillery where the spread of shots can break an incoming charge of soldiers. But this is far from its only uses. The Kröte is beloved by Nilbergian soldiers for its cheapness and versatility.
Drakon: Can be described as a relatively small-bore cannon with heavy reinforcement. They are kind of heavy for their size but for a good reason. They have a large powder chamber, too. These fire extremely long wooden darts, more than twice as long as the barrel length. Said darts have metal fins sticking out in the middle, just before the bore of the cannon when inserted. Of course this makes the projectiles slow but they fly accurately and with immense hitting power. The darts are commonly described as embedding in castle walls. Some also refer to them as "Dragon Slayers", cannons that may fell an imperial dragon. Of course this has yet to be tested but their sheer reputation is said to have kept the beasts at bay.
While there are many flags that fly in Nouveillie Machauex, the one that is most at the center is the L' Bannier d'Parlement d'Machauex, the flag of the central organ of government. Though it is the flag of the Parlement as an organ, it is also not often the flag of the 'nation' and many of the royal standards of the realm may serve in its stead; often the flag of the highest ranking nobleman at that event, or the most prestigious among his peers.
Government Form:
Knight's Republic
Demographics:
Human Elven Pony (Equestrian, Unicorn, Pegasi) Griffon Beast-folk
Population:
11 Million
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The Neveau d'Epiune
Plane Description:
Neveau d'Epiune or The Plane of the Horse is a land of great verdant fields, dramatic mountain ranges, wide gently flowing rivers, and great waterfalls. It has immense rolling deserts, and rolling dark seas. Its skies are blue, and filled with any manner of noble and ignoble beast. And most striking of all: it was inhabited before the opening of the rifts.
The whole of the world that the rift-walkers stepped into was much like that which they had left to escape cataclysm, were it not for the talking beasts.
The previous inhabitants referred to the world by a number of names. They had established societies and politics, all of which were disturbed and changed forever when the new inhabitants arrived.
History:
Prior to the cataclysm, the principalities of Machauex were relatively small. Their ancestral lands, as promising and vibrant as they were sundered by political feuding and the movement of dynastic politics. No single entity ruled the entire region permanently for any length of time before one way or another the Comtes, Marquis, and Dukes would invariably break it apart in the pursuit of personal glory and filial satisfaction. What arose from Machauex were kingdoms renowned for their knights and strength of their men at arms. The imposition of feudalism and serfdom made all the more rigorous by the centuries long warring states period that had persisted since the ancestral empire of the realm retreated and dissolved.
When the Cataclysm arose over the world, the princes of Machauex had just begun to be again unified under the wizard King Gourard l'Mainx, who had managed to assemble around him a court of diligent ministers and priests of the Three Fold God. Gourard l'Mainx had begun a system of reform in his principality to turn over the old authorities of the knights that continually propelled the realm into further war by bringing them centrally to court and occupying their jealous time in other pursuits. But the tearing apart of the world and the opening of the great Rift Gates threw the king, and much of the people in world's beyond to seek respite and shelter from what foul hell was being visited upon their home. For his efforts thus, and misfortune to have to throw his people beyond the known world he became known by two names, The King of Misfortune or The King In Two Places. Gourard would not survive the travel between the universes, and would thus be trapped forever in limbo between the two worlds. His son, Dagdeux l'Mainx would pick up the pieces.
Stepping beyond the gates the people of Machauex would be greeted by a world familiar, but all the more stranger than their own. Deposited upon a great empty island, they would go half a decade without learning of the world beyond their shores as they set upon building their new home. What they built would be the now sepulcher ruined yet holy city of Isle d'Gourard, a site of pilgrimage to their primordial gate in the centuries to follow to recite poetry dedicated to the homes they had been cast out from, and of the glories and conquests their heroes will surely have in resettling the castles and ravines of their ancestors. But until then, a city needed to be built.
The island they found was well stocked, at least for the initial duties. The ministers of Gourard confided in Dagdeux that they believed there would not be enough supplies to feed the entirety of the people as-was for three years. While the island could be parceled out, farm lands set aside and timber lands cleared they did not have the seed to set about in agriculture. The forage on the island may not last a year, the grass not much longer than the year after, before they are reduced to starving on the crumbs of wheat, barley, and livestock they had before succumbing to cannibalism. Dagdeux wisely took the warnings serious, and called a parlement of the surviving nobles and of significant persons to charter a plan. The deliberations took place in the shelter of Dagdeux, who was put up in a cave high up over the great rift, now dead and ashen. There they dined together, drank together, and deliberated for forty days and forty nights. At one point in frustration, when it seemed the egos of the nobility would get the worst of them he called off all rations, save for breakfast and rain water that if this is how the nobility intended to behave he would sentence all the survivors to eat and drink this way until they all died, or the situation stabilized. A faction of nobles sought to call his bluff, and entered into a game of stamina and tolerance with him that last near twenty days of the proceedings; at the end five died of ill-health, chief among them the leader of the anti-Dagdeux faction the Comte D'Aoir Lacel Ijon. This satisfied the rebel faction, and they complied and even swore themselves to service at level of peasant if it meant they might finally eat.
What came out of the cave was known as the Charter of Caves, and outlined the settling plan and the development of their future as far ahead as man could see. It outlined a strict duty of labor, and that from this moment until the future there was full abandonment of noble privileged. For the first year, the people were permitted a diet of only the fish caught off the shore of the island, and a rationing of the cooked supplies that had followed them through the gate. Through that year, there would be consumption of farmed grain, and would be merely recycled into the next year's seed crop. Theft of stores would be punishable by death, and save for the insects of the earth and of the trees every man and woman would be permitted two meals, save for pregnancy where the woman would be fed thrice. Families would be expected to raise only two children into adult hood, exceptions could be pleaded to Dagdeux and his court, but any birth of additional children when there were two already surviving would be killed, or the mother forced to abort. The forests would be strictly managed, no private quarters would be observed, the people must bivouac in the caves and the wood farmed from the forests would be put into ship building. The demands and the laws went on, but they were horrifying. But stricken in their own way by agony, to challenge the sword of the king Dageux was more terrifying than facing up to the gods and they were followed.
The years to come were hard and terrifying. There was no pleasure trapped in their desert of the island but the land was tamed to the will of man and the farms expanded. Instead of wood, the people made huts from mud and rock, strapped together with moss. They began to resemble wild men, naked except for their skirts of grass and wool. As they too spread out over the island and developed it the true scope of the island's resources became known and the Charter of Caves could be relaxed and reconsidered as before the court Dagdeux was presented with the signs of plentiful flax and metals and fine wild animals. And while things were terrible and trying, the people survived even though there was not a day without bodies to be fed to the birds in terrible, rank burial to the sky. A small rocky butte off the coast became known as the island of crows, as the birds flew so thick over it in waiting of bodies it was cloaked in black and screamed all day and night.
On the fifth year a great sigh visited upon the exiled islanders and it terrified and hypnotized the people. Flying high in the sky above them a winged horse, a pegasi as orange as fire circled about them seeming to observe the inhabitants of what it must have thought was a once emptied island. Many stepped out to gaze at its shimmering wings as it flew about the island, as many cowered in their shelters in fear of it. It's visit was only brief, and as suddenly as it had appeared it disappeared into the sunset. Dagdeux and his ministers were summoned by the people for guidance, and they could not answer. The week after it appeared again, guiding several more who appeared clad in barding. They persisted only for a while, and also disappeared before those angered at them came with their spears and bows directed up at them. Puzzled by their appearance Dagdeux took to the mountains at the island's heart to meditate and seek his father's distant spirit and wisdom in the either between the worlds. There he was spotted by a lime-green pegasi who landed tentatively near him, keeping a distance, it watched the strange visitor in intelligent eyes and pulled back away from him if he drew too close. On the ground it was that Dagdeux noticed the creature was small for the all familiar horse of his people, just larger than a small dog. He spoke to it, and he found it recognized language, but did not recognize the language Dagdeux spoke. In a fury of emotion, he rose to demand of it if it understood, where it was they were, and what the plan of the Three Fold God was. The sudden outburst frightened the creature, and it retreated high into the peaks, but Dagdeux persisted in his efforts and made to encamp in the mountains until it returned.
And return it would. Night by night it would come to Dagdeux's camp and listen to him as he spoke slowly to establish a rapport. He told the being the names of nature around him, the name of himself and the names of man and elf. The people worried, because for months their king remained in isolation on the mountain. At the end of three months, the pegasi's eyes seemed to light on an idea, and without a word it took flight, and flew out over the island to whence it came. Having the impression that his efforts were over, the king left the mountains and returned to his people and informed them as to what happened.
It would not be another several months that the flying horse would be sighted. In the mean time it began to be suspected that the creature and its kin were of no harm and talk began that they were in the realm of the Three Fold God, and that the creature they witnessed was, or related to the stead that pulled her chariot: Eponeux. Whether it was the whole race, or any one of the four that they had seen did not matter. They began to call the name Eponeux in song at night, and ritual returned to the island as joy did. Idle men and craftsmen began to carve icons of winged horses in the soft stones they found and they were taken as personal idols. A proposal to carve for Dagdeux a large statue of a horse was made, until he reminded them they still had yet to survive, the harvests were still insubstantial, winter still claimed many lives and it would not be wise to go into such things until the first houses could be built and the matter was settled. But the people called him de l'Eponeux; Dagdeux de l'Eponeux l'Mainx.
When the Pegasi returned, the people were much left aggressive towards it. On its back it carried a satchel. And above the people it cried, “Day-doo! Day-doo! No harm! Day-doo, I, go!”
The spectacle was taken as a sign, and those who were near to the cave of Dagdeux rushed to watch the strange beast land and stand before the king, and with an agile twitch of its head produce for the king a long cotton sheet, deftly embroidered to cover his naked form, otherwise clad in rough linens like a primitive man from the oldest of times and bid him to ride on its back. And with a flury of the winds, the pegasi with strength surprising everyone there took off into the air and stole away the king before the eyes of many.
Dagdeux's journey over the sea took him out over vast dark oceans, not empty of life, and clutching dear to life onto the main of the horse he looked down at the seas and saw the teeming life, the whales and great shoals of fish the size of cities and all the schools of marine life he had not reference for. And as they went he saw the ships, the great wooden cogs and galleons of kingdoms unknown that to his notice were crewed by equines and other strange beasts that resembled animals in their form. With the speed of the wind in his ears, they passed over to land, where the coasts were cut by delicate and idyllic roads, there were limitless orchards and farms. Small towns with caravans passing between them, and the many great dramatic sights of the land to the mountains at the country's interior, where he was delivered to a palace in the mountains, and deposited before – and he could have no been so surprised – a court of unicorns.
With they in their palatial uniforms, and imperial armors, and he in his rags before them he was subjected to terse interviews, a clarifying of words more than what the green one had brought. He was stolen away from his people again for a month on a month, and then months until the snows began falling. They exchanged their words until an understanding could be had, and he was sent home on a great chariot, with supplies of food; oats and barley, apples and pears, so much cloth the chariot was a shooting star in even mid day. He had alcohol and water, tools and instruments. And he came back home with assurances of their survival and he landed with fanfare and questions and most important of all: knowledge of the world beyond and alliances with the inhabitants.
Dagdeux had been delivered to the Court of Afternoons, the seat of the Mayflower dynasty, the local royal house that rules the Central Maritimes. They were not hostile benefactors, and learning of the mystery on the uninhabited islands in their waters peaked their interest. The court promised the newcomers to their realm survival and prosperity into perpetuity so long as they declared their loyalty to them, and Dagdeux seeking for such survival agreed.
As the relationship with the mainland deepened, the island developed. Soon it was able to develop to exchange, and the metals of the island were brought forth and forged for their benefactors. A word arose to describe them, the Equinites of which they drew distinction between three: the Equine, the Pegasi, and the Unicorn. Under the tutelage of the Equinites, the Isle d'Gourard became a prosperous settlement, visited by merchants of the mainland. The people of it rarely leaving. Long after Dagdeux died it was believed that the rifts would open and they would simply walk home. But the time never came. Dagdeux's sons, of the family l'Mainx became known as the L'Mainx D'Isle family, and they ruled the island with the parlement of the former nobles, though as the years went on the members of the parlement changed as the old noble distinctions became unfamiliar.
It was however in the twilight of the Mayflower Dynasty that the men of the island would make themselves known at large. When peace fell in the realm and war came upon their shores in what became referred to as the War of the Twilight Crowns the men of the island took to the high seas in piracy and raiding for their benefactors until they slipped entirely from the scene. To the ancient nobles of the island, swashbuckling on the high seas became their own avenue to reclaim their heritage as Nobles of the Sword and they took out their fathers' swords and went to war once more, but upon galleon and caravel.
The centrality of the L'Mainx D'Isle family would itself fade in this era as noble families took to the sea and expanded their activities from simple petty raiding of rival ships and navies, to full scale war and they mounted an invasion of the mainland in their own way and their own adventurism. These pirate kingdoms recruited their forces from any number of places, from displaced levees of defeated noble-equines, or griffon and beast mercenaries from beyond. But their settlement allowed for the race of man and elf to spread out over the region, into the various “pirate kingdoms” that emerged on the mainland. But for them, the Isle d'Gourard was a special, spiritual place to them and every other year the nobles and their retainers would return to the parlemen at the rift gate, and from their exercise a form of unity across the seas and lands.
The dark age wrought by the dissolution of the Mayflower dynasty would only last short of a hundred years. During this time the complete loss of political unity on the mainland would serve as more an opportunity for the foreigners whose colonies expanded and formed their own strong political entities all the same. In this time the wisest storytellers and troubadours began to sing warnings of a return to the old ways. But the years of survival and influence of the Mayflowers had eroded and changed the barbarous spirit of the Machaoir. Dynastic power flowed much more civil, there were new heights of development, not least of all: that the minor nobility that came to inhabit these new lands of Nouveillie Machauex developed a taste much more aligned with labor.
And while the the old martial spirit never fully dissolved, still persisting in dueling societies, sport, and adventurism the activities of the nobles turned more to the development of one's gardens. Here they deployed their equine surfs to cultivating the finest of orchards and fields, to fill the table with the best food that can be prepared. What war there was was sparse and small, momentary settling of conflict not resolved by the parlement. The weight of humanoid society shifted from the Isle d'Gourard and to the mainland, and besides ritual purposes the island became sparsely populated by man; given over to only a few farming villages and their chateaus. This was the 278th year.
The political climate would shift again however, when the Duke d'Maretime went to war against the Marguis d'Doir, Jacque Darcan Simlioux. Marquis Simlioux had been elected in the year 352 of their arrival to lead the parlement and opened preceding with what he declared was a matter of most enlightened significance. Declaring that all species of Equinites were equal to that of man, and deserving of their own noble liberty in the realms that the body move to illegalize what had been since the fall of the Mayflowers a system of racial serfdom, where Equinites – and especially rival Equinites – were pressed permanently into a status equal to peasant across the realm, and denied privileges to property due to it. The Duke d'Maretime, Simon Riclou took offense to the proposal, claiming it offended his honor and standing and lead a spirited but ultimately failed attempt to block the proposal. When his faction was inevitably force out, he returned home and sought to over turn the decision by force and overturn what he considered “a heretical sect in the aristocracy” and immediately invaded the lands of Jacque.
The war was violent and bloody, and had not been seen in the lands since the dark ages after the Mayflowers. But in over seventy years of war, the forces of Simon Riclou were resoundingly defeated and for his victory the grandson of Jacque Darcan Simlioux, Charles “the Great” Simlioux was elected the first king of the Machaoir and the Equinites. The reign of Charles was marked by a great shift in social reform where the ranks of the people were shortened and remodeled. Titles of nobility of merit were enacted, granted a chance for upward mobility of anyone of any race of Equinite or Humanoid. The races of Griffon and Beast-folk were still however discriminated and tinged with a reputation of support for the Maretimites.
The liberal spirit of Charles reforms would not last for long however, and during the reign of Charles II the allocation of nobility by merit became much more a matter of cash money. Suddenly considerable rank could be gained by bringing money into the coffers and an era of raiding and piracy returned to the region. While Nouveillie Machauex was itself not raided by itself, the actions of crown sanctioned pirates earned the disrespect and ire of many of the kingdom's neighbors and war soon began again with the era of the Anti-Pirate Wars. Nouveillie Machauex would have its losses in one part of the world and its victories in another. In contemporary histories it is not regarded as a particularly advantageous period for the people politically. Any gains made in one front was lost in another. They were not wars centrally fought, and were ultimately lost as such with much censure. In the end, Charles II died. The cause of his death was highly suspected to be a curse or act of black magic from within his own castle.
The Pirate Wars would come to end as titles of merit no longer were issued. By Charles II's death the title of king was also not looked upon fondly and political prestige shifted again to the eternal parlement. While the office of the king still existed, it was reduced in its stature and forced to answer to the noble parlement. The chief factions that arose in the parlement in the post-war period was that of the Sword and that of the Purse. All members of the parlement were recognized as being knights of the realm at minimum, and would even routinely enlarge to encompass more. The factions of the parelement would even enlarge it in a bid to attract more Knights of the Purse or Knights of the Sword. The balance of power in the royal legislature was never permanently satisfied by such reform.
In the end, balance in the parelement would not be disturbed from its own games, but from outside the expected realm of politics. In the 400th year parelement member and minor legislature Honorable Sundown Horizon, a unicorn from the Commune Cille in the county Maretime was performing idle experiments when he described the functions of heat on a fluid, in particular mercury. In the end he wrote that a rise in heat was proportional to the volume of the liquid mercury in a vessel. The writing was submitted to colleagues at his local salon and forgotten about. But from the salon the experimental device would be passed around and in the 416 would find itself in the hands of brewers and winemakers the realm over that found it helped them perform a much more consistent work at their craft, and not only that but perfected the quality of their beer and wine. Brewing and winemaking in Nouveillie Machauex experienced a Renaissance and the streets of the realm were flooded with high quality drink. Wine houses and public houses opened all throughout cities and the local grain and the markets almost collapsed as the price of drink on the streets reached hitherto unknown lows and the prices of grains and fruits skyrocketed as they were purchased en'masse by the multitudes of new brewers. Forced to act in an emergency session, the parlement attempted to remedy the situation by enacting a series of price controls, pegging the price of alcohol at a higher rate than food, and lowering the price of grain artificially so that the peasants may eat. But this sudden attempt to control the market only collapsed it further, and forced to stave off famine direct government control had to be declared, far beyond the current capacity of the state. A period of famine engulfed Noveillie Macheaux and a series of civil disturbance rocked the country side known as The Great Fear, The Beer Wars, The Cider Wars, or The Great Grain Gone.
This turbulent period saw no central forces as was during the Pirate Wars, though the chaos was opportunistically sprung upon by romantic knights who pretended to sally forth across the country to do battle with just about whatever peasant army they might come across. Peasant militias often fought with each other, and the parlement and king fought over central control. In the end after a four month long “war” within the greater civil war the forces of the king were defeated by the parlement and the legislative body assumed total control of the ship of state. In a move to reform the body and increase efficiency of the parlement the 4,578 strong body of nobles voted to shrink itself down to a more managed 601. The hence retired nobles would take on the role of ministries with the mission of restoring order to their departments. And in the 443rd year the realm was deemed pacified and the situation returned to normal. Extensive infrastructural improvements were made to the realm to improve the flow of grain and fruit and alcohol to the cities and thus the brewers, but a strict limit on the total volume of alcohol in the realm was set and to be enforced by inspection. The amount of production was capped, though well over the dictated limit. This excess alcohol produced in realm was to be distributed abroad, and Nouveillie Machauex beer acquired a world renowned following and fetched high prices. Brewers and merchants who moved the goods made off well in foreign markets and money once again flowed into the realm as it had many times before, the economic crisis entirely forgotten.
Between the Brew Laws of 440 and the present moment, the limits have been steadily lessened. It has been realized that money made off brewing could be made off imports of foreign grains, and thus leaving native food stocks less important to the alcohol brewing. As such it's becoming more and more acceptable by the Knights of Parlement to consider abolishing the price controls on grain, although the move is unpopular among the commoners who consume it. And in the 500th year: the gate reopened. Songs of Gourard l'Mainx, of Eponeux, and the old country are being sung again. Pilgrims and spectators go to the gate to observe it from a distance, wondering what realm lies beyond its oblivion, and if the king of legend will stumble out of it, no longer lost in its limbo.
Culture and Society:
Nouveillie Machauex as a nation is dominated principally by the Macharoix, a demonym for both the elven and human migrants that escaped their ancient home from the tongues of the great cataclysm that destroyed their world. They stepped instead into a strange new world inhabited by sapient animals separated into Equinites and Beast.
Equinites simply and obviously refers to the inhabitants of an equine character, unicorns, pegasi, and seemingly normal horses. This race is differentiated from the contemporary horse by the range of color they take on, their intelligence, and anthropolic character; like the Macharoix they speak, dress, and otherwise act as the humanoid does just on four legs instead of two.
The other caste set aside is that of the Beast, who are likewise as intelligent as any of the rest but often less respected. These include griffons who often have a mercenary character to the Macharoix, and the Beast-Folk which encompass a large and diverse set of characters best considered “underground” or on the same level of the peasantry of old, if not even lower in some select cases.
The Macharoix initially came into this world as being scattered warlike nations, though even before the gates opened they were not entirely violent. Renowned in the ancient times as skilled crafstmen and artists their linens and pottery were sought after as well as their bronze and ironworks in their region of the “Low Lands”, though today none really remember what those lands ever were and may never remember. But while they have lost the barbaric edge they once had, the spirit persists in the romanticism and often rubs off onto the other races of the realm, especially in times or turbulence where any moment that permits it will rise the spirit of bored princes and their entourages to take up the sword and seek adventure, near or far.
The Macharoix also have an affinity for poetry and song, troubadours are a cultural institution from before the gate, and have always been present in court or along the roads and has even been enhanced and developed further by their Equinite peers that have the same or similar spirit.
They are also renown for their alcohol.
Governance and Politics:
Nouveillie Machauex is ruled primarily by the Parlement, the Speaking Body as it were. This singular body elects the ministers of government who run as an executive council. While the activities of the parlement are public knowledge, they are not freely elected and are composed of a rotation of members from the nobility, who since the defeat of the King during the Great Fear has been capped at Marquis. But even below a diverse range of noble title exist, and titles are issued by election of confidence and competence for when a citizen of the realm performs a feat of respect, or more often brings in considerable coin.
The chief member of the ministry is known as the Duke of State, and his second hand – or hoof – man/stallion/woman/mare is the Marquis of State.
Technology and Magic:
The relative technological state of Nouveille Machauex can be considered “late medieval”. I don't feel like getting into the weeds.
The practice of and theory behind magic to the Machavoix as adopted from the Equinite beliefs is that all creatures have inherent magic to them, reflective of their capacities as a living creature and development of an individual. Applied among the Equinites, it serves as sweeping generalizations of how each sub-set is how they are, giving unicorns their magical abilities besides simply levitation or the capacity of pegasi to fly despite their weight-to-wingspan rations being often "Bumblebee" in character. The humanoids who passed through the gate either carried with them the same 'element' of magic, or adopted it when they arrived to the plane. And while for all known intents and purposes everything possess magic, not all are able to fully realize it, let alone hone it for practical use purposes, and further train it to specific ends; pegasi and unicorns may perhaps be the only two races to at minimum realize their most basic magical capacity as fact of life.
Military Overview:
In general, Nouveille Machauex operates still a levee system of military recruitment. When and if needed a selection of service-aged males will be drawn from the population, given rudimentary training, and armed with one of two weapons: the pike or the crossbow. Additional armament is up to the individual leveeman who may purchase additional armor. Sometimes through the wealth and generosity of the nobles brigandine armor and barding may be set aside for the levees.
There is also throughout the realm a system of personal and Parlement Levees, who act as the standing regular and professional men at arms and hoof at arms of the state. These units are often small, but far better armed and armored than the levees through the purses of their lord or the state funds itself. The equipment set aside for these units can range from brigandine of a much higher and heavier caliber than that of the levees, or full plate armor and any matter of weapons from the long bow, war hammer, sword, lance, or mace.
Les Supplementals
Home-Plane Map
Additional locations will be added as I invoke them
Cities and Localities
Claimoinx - The Capitol of Nouveillie Machauex, where the Parlement d'Machauex meets and the ministries reside. The city is spread between five baronies, controlling several districts each.
Chateau d'Bagouyne - The seat of the House Bagouyne, see further down. Many orange groves.
Isle d'Gourard - The sacred island where the Macharoix entered into their plane. There they resided for several generations under the protection of their nominal unicorn overlord until the decline of that equine's royal house. During the period of decline the Macharoix invaded and conquered the mainland. In the successive centuries the island declined in population until it became the home of only a few villages and chateaus, usually owned by families now living on the mainland as their claim to the legacy of history. The island is special for Macharoix spirituality and is often a site of pilgrimage, since the ancient gate there still stands and acts as a religious ruin to many who honor the Three Phases of the Three Fold God[dess] (Birth, Life, and Death respectively).
Here the Old Gate serves as memorial for the island's namesake, King Gourard who disappeared into the aether between planes. A vast tomb also stands for his son, Dagdeux who lead the Macahroix through the harsh formative years on their rocky, unfamiliar island encampment.
Cherbourg - A northern territory, dense with hills and butting against the mountains. Heavily forested.
Ville-de-san-Sable - A small village in the middle of Cherbourg
The [Major] Royal Houses Named thus far
House Bagouyne
The Bagouynes are one of the oldest royal families in Nouveillie Machauex. Dating their legacy back to ancient marriages with the sons of the legendary Dagdeaux, if even before then. Ascending to power as one of the five barons of Claimoinx, the capital of Nouveillie Machauex. Known for thei apples. The family head, Baron Clarion is also the second man of state, or the Count of State.
A Machauphonic family of Equestrian nobles, primarily unicorns, who are one of the power players in the capital of Claimonx. Presently, the head of the family is the Duke of State.
After the cataclysm, the people of Byzantium arrived in the plane of Calth, a lush and deadly jungle world. Calth’s exterior beauty is misleading however as the jungle below is full of predatory beasts and plants. Both the jungle canopy and the floor below is dominated by a multitude of predators, who are adept at hunting and surviving in the jungle. Carnivorous flora is also abundant amongst the canopy and jungle floor. These plants have evolved over generations to hunt the same predators that walk and fly above the jungle.
Huge lumbering bipedal beasts slowly stalked between the trees walking on all fours. These animals were walking tanks whose skin feels like rock. The Ungoro, as the people called it hunts by chasing its prey down and beating it to death before eating its broken corpse. Other beasts, like the “ Saahgento Muurl” in the common tongue are ambush hunters. They walk amongst the branches and stumps, camouflaging their shimmering skin as they move from tree to tree.
The beasts of Calth are only matched by the horrid plants that live on this plane. Some are hunters of opportunity and stealth, like the coffin leaf or “ Collogur riga”, which waits for its prey to rest on its outstretched leaves on the jungle floor. The walls of the leaves then start to emit a slimy mucus before starting to curve around its prey, making it more difficult to escape. After prey is cocooned, the interior of the plant swells the lock the prey in place as it secrets a very corrosive acid to eat its prey live.
The Byzantines were lucky enough to bring a large number of beasts of burden with them. Horses, cows and over livestock thrive in Calth, but are also easy prey for the predators of Calth.
These are simply the apex predators in an entire ecosystem of deadly predators and flora, nothing in Calth is truly harmless and some species have not been seen or documented before.
History: The people of Byzantium were not prepared for the cataclysm or the pain and destruction it would ultimately cause them. After fleeing to the plane of Calth, the misfortune was compounded as the peaceful nature of Byzantines was met with the harsh reality of unforgiving survival.
Before the cataclysm, the people of Byzantium were dominated by magic, and used it to fulfil all needs. Work was abolished and the society became a collection of magical artisans and entertainers. Growing comfortable with their new way of life a decree was made that no destructive magic would be taught or practiced inside Byzantium. This was first met with skepticism but was then embraced as new forms of magic were researched and more needs were being met strictly by magical means alone. The Byzantine over generations became staunch pacifists, and stayed out of conflicts, preferring the power of economy and diplomacy.
The Cataclysm destroyed Byzantine society and their great magical cities. Forcing the population of artisans, entertainers and diplomats into the unknown gateway to flee the death and destruction of their realm. Upon arriving on Calth, the people were relieved for a moment, only to realize the horror of the jungle. At first only a few people would go missing, vagrants, children and the elderly. As the society grew in size and area, workers and hunting parties started coming face to face with the monsters of the jungle. Large swaths of workers, hunters and civilians began going missing and the predators of Calth began hunting during the day in the middle of population centers. Beasts would sneak, or fly into villages and drag 10 to 20 villagers back to their deaths at a time. Entire cities were destroyed and reclaimed by the jungle.
The Byzantines were not accustomed to this new violent life and were being exterminated by the jungle. Society was broken, the once proud, magic wielding people of Byzantium now lived in fear, huddled in caves and under crude jungle shelters. They were helpless, to what was happening to them, unable or rather unwilling to defend their lives. A breaking point was ultimately met and the highly magical byzantines used their skills for defense. At first, it was just rudimentary destructive magic, but this quickly spiralled into more complex and more destructive magics. The artisans, entertainers and diplomats of Byzantium, became ambush hunters, brutish sorcerers and ruthless strategist amongst the beasts of Calth. Over generations, society was rebuilt and grown around these new principles, magic was still the focal point of Byzantine society. Formerly, this magical skills was focused on improving the quality of life, entertaining and magical goods. The harsh reality of Calth, changed this focus towards, death, destruction and warfare.
The Byzantines have rebuilt their society in a new light, unrecognizable from the former empire. Magical artisans still exist, but they no longer make instruments and architectural works, the artisans of Byzantium are expert weapon smiths and enchanters. Diplomats and entertainers have become patient and cunning hunters, feared by the beasts they hunt. Others have become shrewd but efficient strategists, culling the population of jungle beasts at alarming levels, fighting the jungle as if it was an invading army. The cities, once adorned with golden spires and colorful alleys, have been replaced by grey drab stone structures, heavily reclaimed and camouflaged with moss, shrubs and others jungle flora. The citizens prefer to walk around armed and armored. Grey and green tunics made of a light material keep them cool against the oppressive heat of Calth. The new Byzantines were cut by their environment and forged in the adversity of survival.
Culture and Society:
Byzantines are a laconic people, who are comfortable in their isolation or neutrality. Many would describe a Byzantine as brooding and quiet, both would be accurate without knowing Byzantine culture. To the outside, Byzantines seems cold, calculating, and quiet, however this is just a suspicious reflex upon seeing something new that isn’t trying to kill them. Seeing death on a near daily basis has made them resistant to making new connections quickly. This does not mean they are hostile to outsiders, simply apathetic to those passing by.
Trusting another citizen or person is the biggest complement and sign of friendship a Byzantine can give another person. When the very environment you live in is trying to kill you at all times, you need to be hypervigilant all the time. Removing weapons, drinking, sleeping and general revelry are all signs of trust that are hard earned by outsiders. This coldness extends to other Byzantines from other villages or cities as well, as Byzantines are very clannish by nature.
Large swaths of public infrastructure were needed to ensure safe trading and travel between villages and cities. Large stone roads have been, and continue to be, built. These roads are constantly patrolled and guard posts are equally spaced along the routes. Travel by private citizens is still rare however, due to the danger of traveling even on the patrolled roads.
Magical attunement amongst Byzantines is high, most Byzantines have some level of magical basic skill ( ie. Boiling water with magical fire, using magic to sharpen your sword for you), but large amounts of training and education is required to safely use more complicated and destructive spells and enchantments. There are only a handful of truly powerful sorcerers in the Byzantium capable of vastly devastating spells. Most daily tasks, cooking, cleaning, writing, etc are still completed by magic so autonomous brooms and scrolls with quills are common.
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Governance and Politics: Byzantium is a loose monarchy; the king holds power over all cities and villages in Calth but does not exercise absolute rule. Due to the difficult nature of force projection in Calth, management of villages and cities is largely left up to local leaders and the villagers themselves. Taxes are collected and pleas for help are answered but the cities are largely autonomous.
Technology and Magic:
Byzantium is neutral warlike state that specializes in destruction magic and enchantments. Most magical studies, records, tomes and schools are based around destruction magic. Minor tasks, cleaning, heating water, writing, etc are done via magic. Things like water purification, medicine, architecture, etc are done via simple machines and tech.
Some of the best schools ( So far in this RP) for destruction magic are based in Calth Weapons artisans and enchanters can enchant weapons and armor at any forge. Only Byzaantine weapon and armor smiths have access to and can make specialized forges that allow for specialized Byzantine enchantments to be made ( At least special for this point of the RP). These specialized enchantments allow spells to be channeled and sometimes amplified through weapons and armor. Armor may have been a barrier for magical energy before but, with specialized Byzatine enchantments, the armor or weapon can act as a conduit to channel magical energy through.
Other disciplines of magic do exist at a basic or intermediate level within Byzantium. For example, hunters use basic illusion magic to bend or stretch shadows as they stalk prey. The study of these magic disciplines are at a very basic level however.
Military Overview:
Byzantium has more of a town guard/ police force than a formal military. Large amounts of people are required to patrol the roads and villages for deadly predators, but these are rarely offensive forces. The common road/village/city guard has a brass cuirass with his shins covered with a similar brass greaves. The tunic or tunic and pants are worn under the armor. Usually road guards carry a 12ft sarissa, sharpened at either end for utility. En masse, these pikes are good at driving away charging beasts and safely cornering them. When broken, or shorter range is required, a gladius is always ready at the hip. The 8ft spear is another common weapon for city guards, were a shorter spear is needed for cramped city streets. The aspis is the main issues shield for city guards, while road patrol guards commonly carry small bucklers on their forearms to carry the sarissa with both hands
Fixed emplacement weapons or siege craft is rare, except for whats called a “spread scorpion”. A torsion machine that shoots canisters of 10-20 bolts in a shotgun like spread in front of the machine. Mainly used in city walls and guard post defense, these machines can be picked up and set up for use in other places. ---
Additional Info:
- The Byzantines are to busy fighting the beasts of their plane to wage offensive war elsewhere. ( More will come as this Nation develops)
