Post by Arto on Mar 6, 2016 18:32:48 GMT
Disclaimer: The following notes are lightly edited and previously disconnected from Riven Holt before the board started. This isn't an attempt to establish a common 'canon' but just ideas that have been floating around in WordDoc that I thought might be helpful to the little world we're building. I encourage the materials to be taken with a grain of salt, or salvaged by anyone interested, or just ignored in the interest of better ideas.
-The Continent(?): The 13 kingdoms of the west. In decline following fifty years of war. It's a land of poverty, disease, famine, hardship, and horror. Undead and animal alike roam the countryside. Conflicts are fought between mercenary companies and rival assassin guilds. A world of swords and shields and knives. Of bows and bolts and arrows. Of poisons, war engines, of a world that was on the cusp of greatness before dragged to hell by conflict.
-The Fangzhan: immense peaks running the length of the world, cutting the continent practically in half and separating Wesland from the eastern portion of the lands. Venturing into the climbs is strictly discouraged; tradition stands they are the tombs of evil gods, or haunted by dark, malicious things.
-Nekraliz: The world beneath the world. Where someone can be sent to live out their lives in the horror of a hellish realm, doomed to eventually perish by any of the unknown denizens stalking its grotto's. Once a place where condemned prisoners were exiled, until one returned to pen the Nekrolich: an autobiographical account of their escape from Nekraliz.
-The Brass City: A legendary metropolis supposedly situated on the other side of the Fangzhan. Purported as a realm of constant invention and technological wonder. Regarded by most as a myth.
-The Alder Roads: Sets of ancient roadways spanning the continent. Thought to have been built by a great empire many centuries passed, before it disappeared seemingly overnight.
-Ys: Called the 'First City', a mythical destination that housed the world's greatest wonders before she disappeared. Certain tales hold that it can be seen flitting over the vast sea, like a mirage in the clouds. Many explorers have sought Ys out, only for their expeditions to end in failure or tragedy.
-Death: An immense, soundless giant covered in a skin of shadow. With eyes like dead suns, it walks the lands as a titan of inevitable demise, destroying cities it comes across. No one knows precisely what created it; Death emerged at the end of the fifty year war, and seems intent on finalizing Wesland's long demise.
-The Red Whale: What some have called an ocean going deity, to be sure that it's presence and inclusion in some of Oceania's most foul iconography is a matter of suspect record. If records are to be believed, the Red Whale is well over a thousand years old, possibly much, much older, and possessing an alien intelligence coupled with telepathic abilities that have been rumoured to drive humans insane.
Shuck:
A tiny, unrecognized nation inhabiting the coastal vales and wind valleys lying along the sea-ward borders between Isceald and Sceotan. The Shuck originated as a semi-nomadic collection of herders and hunter-gatherers in the lower mainlands, until their refusal to acknowledge the ascending nobility in Vojivode and Gledwyg bought them persecution by militia. Similar difficulties plagued them as they wandered north. After three centuries of hardships, the Shuck eventually settled into the remote territories of the heavily forested north, utilizing the wilds to conceal their homes and villages. They're content to remain isolated, tending to farms, hunting, and preserving old customs and a way of life that is now represented by less than a hundred survivors. The most recognizable features are sets of archaic garb, short swords, and a lineage trait of overgrown canine teeth and premolars. Some recognition and infamy was gained in the summer of the 49th year in the War of Bones. When a contingent of fleeing Sceotan companies trying to outrace destruction by enemy forces happened upon their villages, and attempted to subjugate the Shuck into obeisance. Nine months, 2800 lives later, the raiders were scattered to the shores, where pirate gangs hunted them as slaves for the rowing galleys. What few that fled south through the central countries spread tales of an implacable foe, enemies that gave no quarter and were fiendish destroyers with a taste for blood and destruction. Shuck are now regarded by some as remnant savages of the continent's bygone age. What fewer are even aware of are the outsiders struck first: a village of some fifty souls was raided, man, woman, child, elderly, all butchered, their larders stolen. Afterward, the Shuck decided to return the favour: absolutely no quarter given nor asked.
“The Shuck preferred not to play any part of the war. Mostly, they went into voluntary exile, retreating to their traditional territories running across the farthest northward kingdoms, along the border of Isceald and Sceotan. Only a handful ventured down through the continent as the War of Bones raged. It was said you could find no finer scouts than the Shuck. Peaceful stock, if truth be told, but volatile when their blood got hot. Impossible to control. Poor soldiers... but fine warriors.” - Sergeant Abriel 'Able' Sonjers, 10th Bergtun Pikers
Law & Court:
The few courts still having power to preside rest in only the most prosperous population centres. Mainly Awestan, Bywan, Caedri, and Vojivode. However, their roles are collared to affairs within cities and townships with the infrastructure to support a legal system. The 13 Kingdoms share common laws set by a script called the Hadrian Principles, divided into two tiers: the Domicile Courts (responsible for small crimes and lesser disputes in the peasantry and common folk), and the Noble Courts (responsible for serious crimes ranging from murder to rape, burglary, and feuds between royal houses, and the mercantile elite. Originally, the 13 Kingdoms were to be held under common law according to the ancient Hadrian Pact, but over the many centuries, elements of the Principles were modified, discarded, revised, or abandoned altogether by individual kingdoms and cities. Often, it is the ruling monarch or gentry that set the rules of law, and the majority of the western Continent subscribes to mob rule and lawlessness in the wake of war time devastation.
The 13 Kingdoms:
Coastland:
-Isceald: Capital: Ashmer
-Freo: Capital: Roga
-Bywan: Capital: Norlumbard
-Fiscere: Capital: Brodznia, Kala, Threewaters
Interior:
-Awestan: Capital - Dreynburg,
-Gledwyg: Capital: Helgarn
-Bergtun: Capital:
-Caedri: Capital: Aurelia, Calleigh,
-Sceotan: Capital: Dohnlird
Mountainside (Eldlande):
-Nachthelm: Capital:
-Glengan:
-Vojivode: Capital: Chernograd
-Gedraeg: Broke Wood
History:
-1353 of the Age of Doves: Queen Hedriss of Awestan is assassinated. Later, the Crowned Court convenes to ascertain national guilt. When Lars of Isceald and Lara of Caedri are found guilty, either nation withdraws from the court. Allies are drawn as war is declared. What is unknown is the machinations of the Guild of Assassin's, unsatisfied with peace time stagnation, manipulating the political atmosphere until war is fermented. The first year sees immediate results, and the assassins are in high demand for their services.
-1354: As conflict spreads, the Guild of Assassin's undergoes schism.
Antagonists:
Borja Sennex, Baron of Dreynburg
Commonly known as the architect of the Continental Peace, an accord that brought an end to fifty years of consecutive war. However, wearied by decades of endless strife and the excesses and cruelty of both nobility and peasantry, Sennex now works to bring the western world to a total end. Empowered by eldritch energies, driven to nihilism by exposure to the horrors of an infinite cosmos, Borja believes the greatest kindness he can bestow on the people is blissful, unknowing death. His agents are a legion of prepared soldiers loyal to his call. His cadre are almost inhuman operators bestowed with powerful noeticism. But to most, his exterior is that of a charismatic if tired grandfather, working to keep Awestan afloat as external and internal forces eat away at the populace.
Qharad
The Broken Host:
An army. A secret horde of other worldly soldiers, hidden in the demon vaults of the Fangzhan. Known in only the most blackest tomes, and often described as either a metaphor or a vague description of living death. No other accounts exist save for the fevered nightmares of drugged madmen, who somehow steer their consciousness through the dead world inhabiting the cursed mountains. At their head rides a single Queen, said to be more terrible than all the host combined. It is she they answer to, and it is she who will lead them to a final war at the appointed time.
William Casper/Black Vermilion
Veckhardt
Gefaer
Shae Janis
A professed native of Gledwyg, and an alumni of the Assassin's Guild. Shae claims to have never lost a contest since first wielding a sword, a brag that may have some merit in light of his formidable skills. He affects an image of a pseudo-aristocrat, using his earnings to commission expensive kit and armour. Behind his cool blend of aloof contempt and unshakeable confidence, some would say arrogance, is a host of private issues. Impulses bred by feelings of insecurity and fear, alongside the pressures of the Guild, have led Shae to adopt self-destructive tendencies, including suicidal risk-taking, alongside caustic behaviour, drug recreation, and general thrill seeking.
Assassin's Guild
A shadowy consortium of the land's most talented killers, forming the basis of the western continent's premier and exclusive political assassination cabal. Founded some five hundred years before the outbreak of the 50 Year War. According to guild records, it existed in one form or another for another two thousand years prior, eventually maturing into six rival institutions. They wedded together after threat of extinction following a gruelling cold war with several kingdoms, becoming the modern organization now operating in the current dark age. Guild operations are overseen by several divisions, answering to the Spectrum Council, a symbolic body composed of six assassin masters that guide it's missions. They are the foremost architects of the 50 Year War, having perpetuated it's carnage to ensure regional instability, all the while ensuring the Assassin's Guild was never out of work. Characters met from the Guild have often been described as being arrogant, conceited, contemptuous, driven by ego. With the war come to an end, some members are disarmed by the notion of peacetime, while their elders ensure they will not be without contracts. The Spectrum Council holds allegiance with the Baron of Awestan, ________, aiding him in his quests so as to be bequeathed with forgotten powers and ancient weaponry.
Stenwulf
A Sceotan northerner, and legendary warfighter. Bred, born, and raised in the hallowed warrior lodges of the vaunted north, and of the opinion that if you're not a child of the Kurrat blood, then you're not worth a breath or thought. A diehard traditionalist with aims to build his own warband, to become a tribal power to wrest control over the north. - ? Note: Old character, probably best suited as an NPC of some sort. Actually, an attempt at adapting old RP's into a working short story. This is a remnant of that effort.
The Lodge of Shade
The ancient sect of weaponsmiths and obscure engineers that comprised many posts across the courts of the 13 Kingdoms. Coming to prominence once more during the long 50 Years War, the Lodge saw to most pieces of legendary war engines, all the while jealously guarding their secrets from eyes in the nobility. They are notoriously aloof, arrogant in their noetic mastery, deflecting blame for their part in many massacres and controversies. What very few realize is their role in the creation of the Death God, an out of control being constructed out of malevolent souls. Now, they rush to try and bring it under control, coming into a shadow war with _________, who seeks to utilize it's destructive powers for his own ends.
The Body of Infinite Eyes, or The Indigo Bridge
Previously, the Church of Eyes was a minor sect clinging to existence in the backwater wastes in the northern provinces. As the 50 Year War progressed, it saw recruits from refugees displaced by conflict, traumatized by horrors witnessed. It especially attracted radicals seeking validation for their extreme leanings. Their message is a preached amalgamation stemming from many older religions, promising its converts clarity of mind, enlightenment to the universal mechanics, and a chance to shed old identities, old wrongdoings, and achieve redemption. Now, the Church of Eyes or the Indigo Bridge can be found with parishes and converts across the Kingdoms. It's presence is usually associated with an antagonistic troubles, as the church seems to foster a contempt of those uninitiated. Iconography: An All-Seeing, Watchful, Knowing Eye, with noetic symbols and prayers in unknown scripts.
The Ink Thieves
Under pen and quill is a language within language. An encoded set of metaphysical parameters that govern the laws of written word. How those laws are access, used, or manipulated and changed are best known to the Ink Thieves, a guild that came to prominence in the service of the Vojivode spy services. Through their strange art, they can see into other remote manuscripts, from parchments to scrolls to virtually anything with a written language. However, it must be done to paper or an otherwise supple material. The words cannot be deciphered if writ to stone or other hard surface. Note: Originally an elven art thought lost, then resurrected.
-The Continent(?): The 13 kingdoms of the west. In decline following fifty years of war. It's a land of poverty, disease, famine, hardship, and horror. Undead and animal alike roam the countryside. Conflicts are fought between mercenary companies and rival assassin guilds. A world of swords and shields and knives. Of bows and bolts and arrows. Of poisons, war engines, of a world that was on the cusp of greatness before dragged to hell by conflict.
-The Fangzhan: immense peaks running the length of the world, cutting the continent practically in half and separating Wesland from the eastern portion of the lands. Venturing into the climbs is strictly discouraged; tradition stands they are the tombs of evil gods, or haunted by dark, malicious things.
-Nekraliz: The world beneath the world. Where someone can be sent to live out their lives in the horror of a hellish realm, doomed to eventually perish by any of the unknown denizens stalking its grotto's. Once a place where condemned prisoners were exiled, until one returned to pen the Nekrolich: an autobiographical account of their escape from Nekraliz.
-The Brass City: A legendary metropolis supposedly situated on the other side of the Fangzhan. Purported as a realm of constant invention and technological wonder. Regarded by most as a myth.
-The Alder Roads: Sets of ancient roadways spanning the continent. Thought to have been built by a great empire many centuries passed, before it disappeared seemingly overnight.
-Ys: Called the 'First City', a mythical destination that housed the world's greatest wonders before she disappeared. Certain tales hold that it can be seen flitting over the vast sea, like a mirage in the clouds. Many explorers have sought Ys out, only for their expeditions to end in failure or tragedy.
-Death: An immense, soundless giant covered in a skin of shadow. With eyes like dead suns, it walks the lands as a titan of inevitable demise, destroying cities it comes across. No one knows precisely what created it; Death emerged at the end of the fifty year war, and seems intent on finalizing Wesland's long demise.
-The Red Whale: What some have called an ocean going deity, to be sure that it's presence and inclusion in some of Oceania's most foul iconography is a matter of suspect record. If records are to be believed, the Red Whale is well over a thousand years old, possibly much, much older, and possessing an alien intelligence coupled with telepathic abilities that have been rumoured to drive humans insane.
Shuck:
A tiny, unrecognized nation inhabiting the coastal vales and wind valleys lying along the sea-ward borders between Isceald and Sceotan. The Shuck originated as a semi-nomadic collection of herders and hunter-gatherers in the lower mainlands, until their refusal to acknowledge the ascending nobility in Vojivode and Gledwyg bought them persecution by militia. Similar difficulties plagued them as they wandered north. After three centuries of hardships, the Shuck eventually settled into the remote territories of the heavily forested north, utilizing the wilds to conceal their homes and villages. They're content to remain isolated, tending to farms, hunting, and preserving old customs and a way of life that is now represented by less than a hundred survivors. The most recognizable features are sets of archaic garb, short swords, and a lineage trait of overgrown canine teeth and premolars. Some recognition and infamy was gained in the summer of the 49th year in the War of Bones. When a contingent of fleeing Sceotan companies trying to outrace destruction by enemy forces happened upon their villages, and attempted to subjugate the Shuck into obeisance. Nine months, 2800 lives later, the raiders were scattered to the shores, where pirate gangs hunted them as slaves for the rowing galleys. What few that fled south through the central countries spread tales of an implacable foe, enemies that gave no quarter and were fiendish destroyers with a taste for blood and destruction. Shuck are now regarded by some as remnant savages of the continent's bygone age. What fewer are even aware of are the outsiders struck first: a village of some fifty souls was raided, man, woman, child, elderly, all butchered, their larders stolen. Afterward, the Shuck decided to return the favour: absolutely no quarter given nor asked.
“The Shuck preferred not to play any part of the war. Mostly, they went into voluntary exile, retreating to their traditional territories running across the farthest northward kingdoms, along the border of Isceald and Sceotan. Only a handful ventured down through the continent as the War of Bones raged. It was said you could find no finer scouts than the Shuck. Peaceful stock, if truth be told, but volatile when their blood got hot. Impossible to control. Poor soldiers... but fine warriors.” - Sergeant Abriel 'Able' Sonjers, 10th Bergtun Pikers
Law & Court:
The few courts still having power to preside rest in only the most prosperous population centres. Mainly Awestan, Bywan, Caedri, and Vojivode. However, their roles are collared to affairs within cities and townships with the infrastructure to support a legal system. The 13 Kingdoms share common laws set by a script called the Hadrian Principles, divided into two tiers: the Domicile Courts (responsible for small crimes and lesser disputes in the peasantry and common folk), and the Noble Courts (responsible for serious crimes ranging from murder to rape, burglary, and feuds between royal houses, and the mercantile elite. Originally, the 13 Kingdoms were to be held under common law according to the ancient Hadrian Pact, but over the many centuries, elements of the Principles were modified, discarded, revised, or abandoned altogether by individual kingdoms and cities. Often, it is the ruling monarch or gentry that set the rules of law, and the majority of the western Continent subscribes to mob rule and lawlessness in the wake of war time devastation.
The 13 Kingdoms:
Coastland:
-Isceald: Capital: Ashmer
-Freo: Capital: Roga
-Bywan: Capital: Norlumbard
-Fiscere: Capital: Brodznia, Kala, Threewaters
Interior:
-Awestan: Capital - Dreynburg,
-Gledwyg: Capital: Helgarn
-Bergtun: Capital:
-Caedri: Capital: Aurelia, Calleigh,
-Sceotan: Capital: Dohnlird
Mountainside (Eldlande):
-Nachthelm: Capital:
-Glengan:
-Vojivode: Capital: Chernograd
-Gedraeg: Broke Wood
History:
-1353 of the Age of Doves: Queen Hedriss of Awestan is assassinated. Later, the Crowned Court convenes to ascertain national guilt. When Lars of Isceald and Lara of Caedri are found guilty, either nation withdraws from the court. Allies are drawn as war is declared. What is unknown is the machinations of the Guild of Assassin's, unsatisfied with peace time stagnation, manipulating the political atmosphere until war is fermented. The first year sees immediate results, and the assassins are in high demand for their services.
-1354: As conflict spreads, the Guild of Assassin's undergoes schism.
Antagonists:
Borja Sennex, Baron of Dreynburg
Commonly known as the architect of the Continental Peace, an accord that brought an end to fifty years of consecutive war. However, wearied by decades of endless strife and the excesses and cruelty of both nobility and peasantry, Sennex now works to bring the western world to a total end. Empowered by eldritch energies, driven to nihilism by exposure to the horrors of an infinite cosmos, Borja believes the greatest kindness he can bestow on the people is blissful, unknowing death. His agents are a legion of prepared soldiers loyal to his call. His cadre are almost inhuman operators bestowed with powerful noeticism. But to most, his exterior is that of a charismatic if tired grandfather, working to keep Awestan afloat as external and internal forces eat away at the populace.
Qharad
The Broken Host:
An army. A secret horde of other worldly soldiers, hidden in the demon vaults of the Fangzhan. Known in only the most blackest tomes, and often described as either a metaphor or a vague description of living death. No other accounts exist save for the fevered nightmares of drugged madmen, who somehow steer their consciousness through the dead world inhabiting the cursed mountains. At their head rides a single Queen, said to be more terrible than all the host combined. It is she they answer to, and it is she who will lead them to a final war at the appointed time.
William Casper/Black Vermilion
Veckhardt
Gefaer
Shae Janis
A professed native of Gledwyg, and an alumni of the Assassin's Guild. Shae claims to have never lost a contest since first wielding a sword, a brag that may have some merit in light of his formidable skills. He affects an image of a pseudo-aristocrat, using his earnings to commission expensive kit and armour. Behind his cool blend of aloof contempt and unshakeable confidence, some would say arrogance, is a host of private issues. Impulses bred by feelings of insecurity and fear, alongside the pressures of the Guild, have led Shae to adopt self-destructive tendencies, including suicidal risk-taking, alongside caustic behaviour, drug recreation, and general thrill seeking.
Assassin's Guild
A shadowy consortium of the land's most talented killers, forming the basis of the western continent's premier and exclusive political assassination cabal. Founded some five hundred years before the outbreak of the 50 Year War. According to guild records, it existed in one form or another for another two thousand years prior, eventually maturing into six rival institutions. They wedded together after threat of extinction following a gruelling cold war with several kingdoms, becoming the modern organization now operating in the current dark age. Guild operations are overseen by several divisions, answering to the Spectrum Council, a symbolic body composed of six assassin masters that guide it's missions. They are the foremost architects of the 50 Year War, having perpetuated it's carnage to ensure regional instability, all the while ensuring the Assassin's Guild was never out of work. Characters met from the Guild have often been described as being arrogant, conceited, contemptuous, driven by ego. With the war come to an end, some members are disarmed by the notion of peacetime, while their elders ensure they will not be without contracts. The Spectrum Council holds allegiance with the Baron of Awestan, ________, aiding him in his quests so as to be bequeathed with forgotten powers and ancient weaponry.
Stenwulf
A Sceotan northerner, and legendary warfighter. Bred, born, and raised in the hallowed warrior lodges of the vaunted north, and of the opinion that if you're not a child of the Kurrat blood, then you're not worth a breath or thought. A diehard traditionalist with aims to build his own warband, to become a tribal power to wrest control over the north. - ? Note: Old character, probably best suited as an NPC of some sort. Actually, an attempt at adapting old RP's into a working short story. This is a remnant of that effort.
The Lodge of Shade
The ancient sect of weaponsmiths and obscure engineers that comprised many posts across the courts of the 13 Kingdoms. Coming to prominence once more during the long 50 Years War, the Lodge saw to most pieces of legendary war engines, all the while jealously guarding their secrets from eyes in the nobility. They are notoriously aloof, arrogant in their noetic mastery, deflecting blame for their part in many massacres and controversies. What very few realize is their role in the creation of the Death God, an out of control being constructed out of malevolent souls. Now, they rush to try and bring it under control, coming into a shadow war with _________, who seeks to utilize it's destructive powers for his own ends.
The Body of Infinite Eyes, or The Indigo Bridge
Previously, the Church of Eyes was a minor sect clinging to existence in the backwater wastes in the northern provinces. As the 50 Year War progressed, it saw recruits from refugees displaced by conflict, traumatized by horrors witnessed. It especially attracted radicals seeking validation for their extreme leanings. Their message is a preached amalgamation stemming from many older religions, promising its converts clarity of mind, enlightenment to the universal mechanics, and a chance to shed old identities, old wrongdoings, and achieve redemption. Now, the Church of Eyes or the Indigo Bridge can be found with parishes and converts across the Kingdoms. It's presence is usually associated with an antagonistic troubles, as the church seems to foster a contempt of those uninitiated. Iconography: An All-Seeing, Watchful, Knowing Eye, with noetic symbols and prayers in unknown scripts.
The Ink Thieves
Under pen and quill is a language within language. An encoded set of metaphysical parameters that govern the laws of written word. How those laws are access, used, or manipulated and changed are best known to the Ink Thieves, a guild that came to prominence in the service of the Vojivode spy services. Through their strange art, they can see into other remote manuscripts, from parchments to scrolls to virtually anything with a written language. However, it must be done to paper or an otherwise supple material. The words cannot be deciphered if writ to stone or other hard surface. Note: Originally an elven art thought lost, then resurrected.
