[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/hfIsANN.gif[/img][/center][hr][hr][center][h1][b][color=8B0000]T H E   B L I G H T E D   K I N G D O M [/color][/b][/h1][/center][hr][hr]
[color=8B4513][b][sub][sup][h2]P R E M I S E:[/h2][/sup][/sub][/b][/color][hr][indent][i]Vassidia is a plagued land.

The people are not unfamiliar with sickness; under the Garland lineage, the kingdom has already suffered and survived the Wailing Death, the Red Plague, the Ursine Pox. The cities know how to quarantine, how to detect, how to treat and experiment with cures. Vassidia is not unfamiliar with sickness; but this is not a mere sickness.

The citizens see it every day; cracked statues, eery in their accuracy of form, mottled ruby chunks bursting from cracks than run across their entire surface. They depect agony, despair, rage and resignation. In the first weeks, before word spread and knowledge grew, the rubies were stolen, chiselled, even thought to be lucky. Now, with wisdom of terrible truth, they are avoided, demolished, known to be cursed. The statues are no depiction; they are the last living moments of those victim to the Stone Blight, captured forever in petrified rock.

Across the continent, beggars and barons alike are developing blisters and boils that burst into encrusted maroon gemstones, fat and dewy rubies that begin to spread lethargy and dullness as quickly as they do a crached, hard black skin rash that grows to encase the victim as the metamorphosis continues internally. Nearly every resource the kingdom possesses is now dedicated towards a cure for the accursed blight that has seized the kingdom. 

The High Lord Jocun is running out of hope, and his subjects moreso. From his seat, he has called for adventurers, mercenaries, academics, peasants, nobility - anyone willing to travel the continent in search of answers. Many have departed; few have completed their journey. Fewer still have returned. 

Vassidia is a plagued land. How will you fare against the blight?
[/i][/indent]

[COLOR=8B4513][B][SUP][SUB][H2]M A P   O F   T H E   R E A L M:[/H2][/SUB][/SUP][/B][hr][/COLOR][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/U3t4IVz.jpg[/img][/center]
[COLOR=808080][B][I][U]VASILIUS, THE SEAT OF THE KING[/U][/I][/B][/COLOR]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/HWr0prf.jpg[/img]

[INDENT][i]Vasilius is unquestionably the kingdom's capital city, and the center of the realm for all major trade, academics, and political players. A vast and proud city, its streets and boroughs stretch forth from a focal point at the High Throne, which stands at the very center of the royal palace within the Garland Citadel. From here, High Lord Jocun presides with his wife, Queen Vesindra, his infant son, Prince Dahtun, and his many advisors, chief among them the Royal Warlock, Aborran.

Jocun is the fifth of his bloodline to rule the realm, and while many would admit him to be a strong and fair king, many others would question his conflictingly brazen and mysterious manner, some even citing arrogance and a blasé nature due to his family's long-uncontested rule.

What everyone can agree on, however, is the sheer toll that the Stone Blight is taking on the kingdom, with swathes of dead across the continent, and the psychological damage to the citizens by the unassuaged dread. Whether Jocun and those close to him are near a cure or not, no one can say - but every day that passes with the palace's silence is another day of growing unease across the kingdom at large.[/i][/INDENT]

[COLOR=808080][B][I][U]EERUM, THE ARID BURG[/U][/I][/B][/COLOR]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/7XCl9Fd.jpg[/img]

[INDENT][i]Eerum, far south and deep within the Sychan Desert, was the first city to be discovered and assimilated into Vassidia and the kingdom of the Garland Lineage, rather than settled by Vassidian citizens proper. Originally a simply shared camping grounds and makeshift marketplace for the few aboriginal tribes of the desert, the tribal identity of the natives was worn away as trade routes and supply lines were opened, feeding barons and couriers into the desert, and allowing Eerum to become a township proper, rather than a few tents propped up around a vital spring of water.

Life in Eerum remains not without its hardships: the heat scorches the ground, making farming exceptionally difficult; trade routes bear caravans rarely, as few are capable of or willing to brave the desert, and fewer still make successful enough journeys to justify the expenditure versus the profit; water is scarce, and the single spring of freshwater that lies within Eerum's central square seems to run lower than ever. Those that 'make it' out here are barely more successful than a modest farmer in the mainland, and those than don't are beggars, dying beggars, or dead.

There is a growing unrest in Eerum - an anger in the people that surpasses anything felt in Vassidia proper. The palace has promised more frequent supply caravans, but the Stone Blight takes its toll on the kingdom, and Eerum is far from the only suffering community in need. The Sychan Desert, it seems, is set to swallow the city whole, like many before it - if the Stone Blight, or Eerum's own citizens, don't spell its downfall first.[/i][/INDENT]

[COLOR=808080][B][I][U]KAFAARA, HOME OF THE PIOUS[/U][/I][/B][/COLOR]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/U6xXMA7.jpg[/img]

[INDENT][i]Kafaara is the seat of power for the kingdom's dominant religion: the Barbed Church. Believers that the world, and all that inhabits it, are children of a great font of Magick, their first priests settled here long ago and built their first altar, which soon grew to a village, a town, and eventually an outright city centered around what was now a great cathedral. 

For those who do not subscribe to the lessons and sermons given by the Church's many ministers, including their chief Pontiff Silvene, the First Thorn, and her Circle of Barbs, their practices can seem cultish, violent, and taboo; but for the Church's many followers, the rituals involved are a harmless, day-to-day appreciation of life and those who live it.

Kafaara is a wealthy city - no small thanks to the numerous donations made to the Church - and rich in culture, with many foreign followers of the Church making pilgrimages at least once in their life. It is a center for research against the Blight, though recently far more has been going into the city than has been coming out...[/i][/INDENT]

[COLOR=808080][B][I][U]FERROS, THE IRON CITY[/U][/I][/B][/COLOR]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/V8EPwep.jpg[/img]

[INDENT][i]Ferros was first settled by a prolific blacksmith who discovered rich iron veins in the hills behind, and quickly seized the opportunity to begin a mining operation and become the early kingdom's nearly sole source of quality forged iron. Eventually the blacksmith's settlement grew and grew, and the iron was used to turn a hamlet into an armoured citadel, with great iron walls and gates and watchtowers.

The great iron city became a beacon for all ambition and enterprising individuals, many would-be entrepeneurs trying - and often failing - to begin their fateful climbs to Vassidia's capital heights. The day-to-day proceedings of the city are guided by the Iron Council, a select group of rich and powerful individuals who lend a steady hand to the city's - and through it, the kingdom's - economy.

Recently, however, a usually booming hub of commerce has closed its gates and shut its markets - and more worryingly, its mines. The Council remains stubbornly silent to envoys and messengers, and the King grows impatient...[/i][/INDENT]

[COLOR=808080][B][I][U]MARISMA, HEART OF THE MARSH[/U][/I][/B][/COLOR]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/tU02AIA.jpg[/img]

[INDENT][i]Marisma was founded by a small sect of zealous druids who has exiled themselves out of disgust for what they viewed as 'hedonistic excesses of man's machinations'. They traveled deep into the far south-west of the continent and had discovered there a sprawling marsh that encompassed an entire county's worth of land. It was in the heart of this marsh that they constructed their first homes amongst the trees and the swamp, many of them fashioning living spaces from huge, naturally-formed hollows with the trees themselves.

In the present era, Marisma is a naturalist's paradise, never really moving on from its forest-worshiping roots, and its inhabitants enjoys a straight-forward, if at times meager, living; simple survival within one of Vassidia's largest natural wonders. The people are friendly, provided you respect their beliefs and rules, and understanding of those who choose a life beyond the borders of the Great Marsh - though they still spurn most modern advances in smithing, economy, and agriculture.

There are rumours of a resurgence - perhaps reappearance - of those ancient druids, and more presently of unexplained disappearances. The Marsh feels thicker and more cloying than eever, and its previously open citizens grow more paranoid about each other and more fearful of the swamp every day - though everyone still staunchly refuses to leave...[/i][/INDENT]

[COLOR=808080][B][I][U]MORNFELL ON MOUNTAINSIDE[/U][/I][/B][/COLOR]
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/DGg92vM.jpg[/IMG]

[INDENT][i]Mornfell-on-Mountainside is potentially the oldest city of Vassidia, perhaps even out-dating the capital; although such rumours are easy to spread, given its relatively recent discovery on the far side of the Eastern Border Mountain-range, and difficult to quell, given the city archivists' reluctance to share their history with 'foreigners'.

Unquestionably the most inhospitable city of the kingdom, it owes its ruthless reputation to both the brutality of its mountainous location, and the xenophobia of its people. At its core is a towering, colossal bonfire - sustained by massive quantities of fuel and closely-guarded magick - out of which the city proper spirals its streets, channeling the fire down its main causeways to be siphoned into homes and buildings to supply the people with the heat vital to their survival. Many in the city blame their misfortunes on the opening of their gates to the rest of the kingdom - blame they do not spare the Stone Blight of either.

Lately, an already icy city has grown colder still, and its gates - once open in defiance of its people - are now closed in defiance of its High Lord. Still, scouts consistently report that its fire burns hotter, larger, brighter than ever, and many are left to wonder who remains within the mountain to tend to the flames.[/i][/INDENT]

[color=8B4513][b][sub][sup][h3]N O T A B L E  P E R S O N S  O F  T H E  R E A L M:[/h3][/sup][/sub][/b][/color][hr]
[COLOR=808080][B][I][U]HIGH LORD JOCUN GARLAND[/U][/I][/B][/COLOR]
[INDENT][i]High Lord Jocun is the fifth of his bloodline to preside over Vassidia, and most citizens will say his rule thusfar has been fair, and his abilities as a leader and adjudicator unquestioned. However, the Stone Blight sweeps the kingdom with an unknown brutality, and Jocun has been accused of arrogance and apathy in the face of an unprecedented disaster. The palace passes each day silently, with nothing to say about work on a potential cure, and the citizens grow more unruly.
[/i][/INDENT]

[COLOR=808080][B][I][U]QUEEN VESINDRA[/U][/I][/B][/COLOR]
[INDENT][i]A relative unknown before her engagement to the High Lord at a young age, it was clear that their marriage was born of two simple, but vital qualities: an unparalleled and unquestionable beauty, and a cunning political mind that outpaced even the most shrewd and ambitious nobleman. It can be argued that she has played a strong part in propelling Jocun to such admirable heights during his rule, as he himself lacks the charisma of his predecessors; although some believe that Vesindra's maneuverings have been in her favor only, and Jocun's good public image is an unintended side-effect.
[/i][/INDENT]

[COLOR=808080][B][I][U]PRINCE DAHTUN[/U][/I][/B][/COLOR]
[INDENT][i] The infant heir to Vassidia’s throne, Dahtun was born little more than a year after Jocun and Vesindra’s vows were taken, and symbolised the secured future of the kingdom under the Garland rule. Now, in the face of the Stone Blight, he has been secreted away from the public eye as the palace has closed its doors, but to many people still represents the innocent children and victims of the ongoing crisis - unknowing, unwilling, and yet his future defined and irrevocably altered by the disaster happening around him. [/i][/INDENT]

[COLOR=808080][B][I][U]ROYAL WARLOCK ABORRAN[/U][/I][/B][/COLOR]
[INDENT][i]Aborran is perhaps the foremost scholar of the kingdom, and controversial or not, he is the first man turned to when Jocun needs a consultant of magical knowledge, and often of other knowledge besides. Aborran is a strong proponent of the cautious approach to magick, often quoted "better to know magick well enough as to know not to use it", but his abilities with magick are well-respected and feared in equal measure regardless.
[/i][/INDENT]

[COLOR=808080][B][I][U]SILVENE, THE FIRST THORN[/U][/I][/B][/COLOR]
[INDENT][i] The current Chief Pontiff of the Barbed Church, Silvene was raised within the boundaries of the cathedral at the centre of Kafaara and has been a devout member of the church since birth. Her skin is covered in the sacred scarring from the church’s rituals and she spends much of her time sequestered within the cathedral’s inner-most cloisters, and her own personal chamber of worship. She is a highly respected and revered figurehead within the kingdom, and often liaises with the palace as a spiritual advisor.[/i][/INDENT]

[COLOR=808080][B][I][U]JAERN, THE IRON BARON[/U][/I][/B][/COLOR]
[INDENT][i]One of the two original founders of the settlement that would eventually grow to become Ferros. A keen mercantile mind helped him turn a cave system with unusually rich iron ore veins into a large-scale independent mining operation, and then turn that into the kingdom's primary source of iron and ironwork. His partner, a blacksmith who kept his name from the history records, was happy to work his craft and leave Jaern to the administrative dealings. Unfortunately, Jaern's greed got the better of him as he sought to overthrow the palace, and when his plot was discovered he was executed, his blacksmith partner self-exiling in shame.[/i][/INDENT]

[COLOR=808080][B][I][U]ORR, THE FOOL'S MARTYR[/U][/I][/B][/COLOR]
[INDENT][i]At one time a fairly well-respected wizard, who studied magic for many years under the previous Royal Warlock before Aborran's appointment. He eventually departed Vasilius and travelled north, making his home in the midst of a rich forest. He accrued a good reputation and reverence, but eventually his hubris swallowed him whole - an unknown magical spell, or ritual, or experiment, broke out from his tower and laid waste to the entire forest, razing the region to the ground. Nothing has grown there since. The region has come to be known as Orr's Meadow, and Orr himself as a terrible reminder of what happens when man's ambition outstrips his wisdom and actual ability. [/i][/INDENT]

[color=8B4513][b][sub][sup][h3]N O T A B L E  F A C T I O N S  O F  T H E  R E A L M:[/h3][/sup][/sub][/b][/color][hr]
[COLOR=808080][B][I][U]THE KINGSGUARD[/U][/I][/B][/COLOR]
[INDENT][i]The protecting army of the Palace, high-ranking and elite soldiers of Vassidia's military nominated by their commanders and hand selected by the High Lord and his Queen. They are indefatigable warriors and noble knights, put forward for exceptional loyalty to the crown and superlative martial ability, and swear undying fealty to the palace, whom they will serve until death.[/i][/INDENT]

[COLOR=808080][B][I][U]THE BARBED CHURCH[/U][/I][/B][/COLOR]
[INDENT][i]The dominant religion of the kingdom, and the one officially recognized by the palace. The core belief of the Church is that magic, a mystical force as fundamental as gravity or time, began as the great Font that all life sprang from, and now from the Font flows the River, through all living beings, imparting its essence and allowing the great miracle of life to continue. Thus, the church worships the Font and the River, as they gift the world with life. The church got its name from its worshipping practice of ritualised bloodletting, under the belief that the magic within their blood flows back down the River into the Font, and in this way reparations are made for the gift of life, and the Font refills so as not to run dry.[/i][/INDENT]

[COLOR=808080][B][I][U]THE CIRCLE OF BARBS[/U][/I][/B][/COLOR]
[INDENT][i] The eight high priests and priestesses hand picked by Silvene for their devoutness to the Barbed Church and seniority within the congregation. They spend much of their time in active worship within the church, but are also the face of authority to the people of Kafaara, dealing with much of the day-to-day political and administrative proceedings of the Church and the wider city. They each deliver wisdom and instruction directly from Silvene to the people, but much is still left up to their initiative.[/i][/INDENT]

[COLOR=808080][B][I][U]THE IRON COUNCIL[/U][/I][/B][/COLOR]
[INDENT][i]A group of the wealthiest and most powerful men and women in Ferros, the Council was originally created as an advisory group for the founders of the city, but since Jaern's disgrace, they have become the de-facto political leaders of the city. They guide the city and its day-to-day trading with the kingdom from their chambers at the heart of Ferros, and their personal fortunes, the wealth of the city, and their proximity to the capital city and the palace have all anchored them as the foremost economic leaders of the land.[/i][/INDENT]

[COLOR=808080][B][I][U]THE MOUNTAIN-BRAVE[/U][/I][/B][/COLOR]
[INDENT][i]The Mountain-Brave are the revered elite of Mornfell-on-Mountainside: select men and women who have come of age and chosen to undertake an ancient mountain trial, a tradition long held by the city. When they succeed and return to the city, they are inducted in a ceremony and receive certain garbs and privileges that are not afforded to the standard citizen. The eldest living Mountain-Brave acts as a representative for the people of Mornfell, although they are not an official leader.

The Mountain-Brave's trial is a voluntary challenge open to any native citizen of Mornfell-on-Mountainside. The tribute leaves the city with minimal supplies: merely the clothing on their back, one weapon of their choosing - that they must forge themselves, using the heat of the bonfire at the heart of the city - and a pouch containing a single day and night's worth of rations. They are tasked with ascending to the peak of the Mourning Mountain, the most difficult and deadly climb of the eastern mountain-range, and pick a rare flower that grows only upon that peak. They must then descend the mountain and find a hidden cave at its base, which contains a sacred spring. The flower must be dipped into the water of the spring, changing the colour of the petals, and then the tribute must return with this flower to Mornfell. Failure to return with the flower, abandonment of the trial, death, or, in rare cases, returning with a flower that has changed to the wrong colour once dipped in the spring waters, all result in the tribute becoming Mountain-Spurned.[/i][/INDENT]

[COLOR=808080][B][I][U]THE MOUNTAIN-SPURNED[/U][/I][/B][/COLOR]
[INDENT][i]Men and women of Mornfell who attempted the mountain trial and failed. They are marked physically by the city and mentally by their failure. Many leave Mornfell in disgrace, but those who stay are second-class citizens at best, and barely-human dregs at worst.[/i][/INDENT]

[COLOR=808080][B][I][U]THE WARDENS[/U][/I][/B][/COLOR]
[INDENT][i]Soldiers manning the watchtowers that span the borders of the Sychan Desert and the Eastern Tundra. Formed of men and women from Vasilius, Ferros, Eerum and Mornfell, the Wardens are a politically neutral force, pledging no one regional alliance and forsaking themselves of a true home in favour of keeping a true defense between the established kingdom and the two regions that were assimilated rather than settled.[/i][/INDENT]
[hr]
[hider=CS][CENTER][h1][color=slategray][b]P R E F E R R E D   N A M E[/b][/color][/h1][hr][h3][sup][sup][color=silver]B I R T H N A M E   [color=slategray]◼[/color]   B I R T H D A T E   ( A G E )   [color=slategray]◼[/color]   S E X   [color=slategray]◼[/color]   A L L E G I A N C E  [/color][/sup][/sup][/h3][center][IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/uTL_K3nza-NkcF5kQM3Ip61FYFjn3Nx9_lp6XtHdODy1wW9a_e8w_mXVJbYw_DpbD-jWzCs3opOObG2GPkCwaIKCfdwjzzSsjDNe5Cwes-IDiySc-ykinz_dSx1-c2FPCEZWhOFDqQ[/IMG][/center]
[sup][color=silver]"Character Quote"[/color][/sup][/CENTER]
[COLOR=SLATEGRAY][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]▼ A P P E A R A N C E:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][indent][indent][i]A written description of the character's appearance. Keep in mind that appearance isn't only limited to their physical make up, but the style of clothes they wear, they're body language and in general how they present themselves.[/i][/indent][/indent]
[COLOR=SLATEGRAY][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]▼ B I O G R A P H Y:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][indent][indent][i]This is the story of your character's life, their defining moments and how they made it from the womb to where they are now. You can include as much other details as you think is necessary but don't go overboard and spell everything out. Sometimes its best to show through the IC than to tell in the CS.[/i][/indent][/indent]
[COLOR=SLATEGRAY][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]▼ C H A R A C T E R  G O A L S:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][indent][indent][i]A brief summary of your character's primary goals and motivations in answering the High Lord's summons for potential saviors.[/i][/indent][/indent]
[COLOR=SLATEGRAY][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]▼ S K I L L S:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][indent][b][color=CADETBLUE]//SKILLS AND ABILITIES:[/color][/b]
[indent][B][COLOR=SILVER]◼ TBD |[/COLOR][/B] [i]Test[/i][/indent]
[b][color=CADETBLUE]//FEARS AND WEAKNESSES:[/color][/b]
[indent][B][COLOR=SILVER]◼ TBD |[/COLOR][/B] [i]Test[/i][/indent][/indent]
[COLOR=SLATEGRAY][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]▼ N O T E S:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][indent]
[b][color=CADETBLUE]//PARAPHERNALIA[/color][/b]
[indent][B][COLOR=SILVER]◼ TBD |[/COLOR][/B] [i]Test[/i][/indent][/indent][/hider]