FRANGERIA RISING A Storyworld Bible (Integrated Canon Edition) Parts I–V (Compiled) FRANGERIA RISING A Storyworld Bible (Integrated Canon Edition) PART I OVERVIEW Frangeria and its island neighbor Orlia once stood as twin pillars of stability in a volatile world. For centuries, free trade, shared maritime routes, and mutual defense agreements allowed both nations to flourish. Frangeria developed as a loose confederation of allied nation-states bound by commerce and shared military obligation. Orlia, wealthier and more centralized, fielded the largest standing army in the region. Peace ended not with invasion, but with blood. The Bastard Prince of Orlia overthrew his uncle, King Touran, in a coup defined by ritual murder and forbidden magic. The prince—Dam’an Northcut—did not merely seize the throne. He remade himself, trading his humanity piece by piece to eldritch powers older than the world. In time, he would be known only as the Crimson Emperor. What followed was not war in the conventional sense, but systematic annihilation. Kingdoms were absorbed, their ruling families crucified at their capital gates. Entire populations were broken, enslaved, or stripped of individuality altogether. Orlia became a horror-state: a living empire driven by hive-mind control, ritualized violence, and industrialized corruption. Frangeria resisted longer than most. It paid for that defiance in blood. This is the story of a world pushed to extinction—and the violent, unlikely rebirth that followed. ORLIA: THE HORROR EMPIRE Orlia today is not a nation. It is a machine of domination. Approximately 70% of Orlia’s population exists under some degree of psychic control. Individual will is stripped away and replaced with a distributed hive-mind, maintained through a layered system of biological and arcane relays. The Control System - Officer Units act as localized psychic nodes. - These officers are linked by flesh-link transmitters—grotesque living conduits surgically fused into their bodies. - All transmitters ultimately route back to a corrupted ruby, the size of a large boulder, embedded at the lowest level of the Crimson Emperor’s dungeon-fortress. This ruby is not symbolic. It is functional. If the mental hold on an enslaved individual is disrupted, the subject dies immediately. Their mind has been torn apart so completely that independence is fatal. Ascension Humans not immediately mutated by eldritch exposure are used as chattel labor, cannon-fodder infantry, and industrial slaves. Those who prove loyal, violent, and obedient are granted “Ascension.” Ascension is not elevation. It is rewarded mutilation. The subject’s body is reshaped into a more beast-like form: enhanced senses, increased strength, heightened aggression. The cost is absolute: loss of individuality, loss of empathy, permanent integration into the hive-mind. Ascended troops form the backbone of Orlia’s shock forces. They are faster, stronger, and utterly expendable. THE CRIMSON EMPEROR Dam’an Northcut The Crimson Emperor was not born a monster. He was made one—slowly, deliberately, and willingly. Dam’an Northcut was the bastard son of Duke Fullton of Scrage, a psychotic warmonger and serial rapist, and a young farm girl assaulted during one of the duke’s campaigns. When the truth threatened exposure, the duke discarded the child. Dam’an’s mother, desperate and broken, sold him to a traveling merchant who masqueraded as a magician for hire. The man was cruel. Dam’an was not merely a ward. He was property. The merchant abused him physically, mentally, and sexually. Much of the abuse coincided with experiments in the dark arts. Pain was ritualized. Violation became instruction. Over years, Dam’an’s sense of humanity eroded—not shattered, but hollowed out. At fourteen, Dam’an began spying on his master’s most secret rituals. He learned. He practiced. He endured. Eventually, he made a deal. A demon offered power—real power—but demanded blood in exchange. Blood for blood. Dam’an spent a year crafting a dagger, imbuing it with eldritch residue drawn from the mists behind the veil. He rehearsed the murder for two years, mapping wards, traps, and sigils until he could bypass them blind. One night, he stood over his sleeping master. He hesitated. Not from mercy—but from confusion. Hatred and affection twisted together, the same way captives learn to love their jailors. Then he struck. He stabbed the man again and again until he lost count. The enchanted blade burned the body from the inside out, rendering flesh and soul alike. It was slow. It was agonizing. Dam’an Northcut climaxed while standing over the corpse. Power flooded him. Ecstasy followed. The boy who stood there afterward was no longer fully human. He spent years afterward doing exactly what his master had done—selling trinkets, posing as a magician, manipulating nobles. People were tools. Toys. Fuel. When he learned his true bloodline, he set his coup in motion. By the time he murdered King Touran, Dam’an was already deeply corrupted. His final transformation came when he turned to the Old Gods—entities beyond reason, beyond mercy. They did not trick him. They rewarded him. At the height of his corruption, the Crimson Emperor resembles a fusion of Voldemort’s cold calculation and the Crimson King’s unhinged cosmic madness. He rules Orlia not as a king—but as a conduit. THE FALL OF FRANGERIA The Invasion of Valecourt The invasion of Frangeria was swift, silent, and surgical. Orlian forces infiltrated Valecourt’s docks before dawn using puppet merchant vessels. The operation unfolded in phases: 1. Initial Infiltration - Six ships docked under false colors. - Three contained assault troops who secured the port. - Two carried archers and shock troops as a second wave. - One acted as rear security and signaling command. 2. Fleet Concealment - The main Orlian fleet waited offshore, concealed by an artificial fog maintained by a dark sorcerer. - A single skiff remained outside the fog as a visual relay. 3. Signal & Flood - A dockside operative launched a magically-chemical flare. - The skiff sounded a horn. - The fleet advanced under unnatural wind. - Small boats flooded the port. Within two hours, the docks were lost. By mid-morning, the castle fell. The ruling family of Frangeria was crucified at the gates. By week’s end, nearly 400,000 Orlian troops occupied Valecourt. The Long Collapse Frangeria resisted fiercely. Its people were resilient, patriotic, and deeply stubborn. But the confederation’s fragmented military structure limited its ability to project power once Valecourt fell. Kingdom after kingdom collapsed: - Valecore fell first. - Thatchers Forrest was sacked. - Sandakar was crushed, its desert population nearly driven to extinction. Refugees fled south and east toward Meridian, the last viable stronghold. MERIDIAN AND DESPERATION Meridian survived because geography favored it: - Impassable seas prevented naval invasion. - Overland approaches forced attackers through The Wilds—territory hostile to outsiders. For nearly two years, the Wilds slowed Orlia’s advance. Native entities tolerated Frangerians but rejected Orlians—until blood mages arrived and eradicated them. At last, Meridian stood surrounded. The Orlian army to the west, north, and south. The Orlian navy offshore. The end was inevitable—unless the unthinkable was attempted. THE FORBIDDEN DECISION The mage council voted—narrowly—to employ a forbidden art. The ritual required Axiomite: - A finite, irreplaceable element found only in the Croncass Mountains - Impossible to synthesize - Slowly consumed when used For a week, the mages prepared. When the Axiomite forge was lit, every mage poured their power into the Grand Mage. He shaped the molten element without touching it, chanting for leadership, for violence in service of light, for salvation. Golden-blue lightning tore through the chamber. The tower went dark. Nothing appeared. As the Grand Mage collapsed, he whispered only: “It is done. We must wait.” PART II — THUNDER AND FIRE THE THUNDER WARRIORS The summoning ritual did not bring saviors into the mage tower. It brought them into the world. During a multinational maritime training exercise off the coast of Australia, a U.S. Marine Corps Force Recon platoon under Gunnery Sergeant Ryan Champion maneuvered Zodiac craft through a fog bank that should not have existed. Satellite conditions were clear. Sea state was stable. No weather systems were present. The fog swallowed them anyway. When they emerged, the shoreline was wrong. The stars were wrong. The air was wrong. The platoon—twelve Recon Marines, one Navy Corpsman, and their Gunnery Sergeant—made landfall along the southwestern boundary between the Croncass Mountains and the Sandakar Desert. Communications were dead. GPS was meaningless. No satellites. No bearings they recognized. Gunny Champion made the call immediately: - Establish security - Inventory weapons and ammunition - Move inland - Head north They were not lost. They were displaced. FIRST CONTACT Three days inland, the platoon discovered the burned husk of a city—its defenders butchered, its civilians crucified, its gates marked with Orlian sigils. They did not have long to process it. Orlian forces attacked before dawn. What followed was the first time Orlia encountered modern automatic fire. Grenades detonated among tight formations. Fireteams maneuvered with speed and discipline unknown to the Orlian army. Coordinated suppression and bounding movement annihilated the assault force in minutes. Survivors fled screaming. Those who lived spread a name in whispers: Thunder Warriors. The name reached the Crimson Emperor within days. For the first time in decades, he hesitated. MERIDIAN Weeks later, the platoon encountered a convoy of refugees fleeing south toward Meridian. There was no shared language—but desperation communicates clearly. The Marines escorted the convoy. Twice, Orlian strike forces attempted interdiction. Twice, they were destroyed. By the time the refugees reached Meridian’s gates, the Thunder Warriors were legends. The mage council summoned them to the tower. There, the truth was revealed. THE BRAND The Grand Mage explained the ritual. The waiting. The cost. To bridge the language barrier, he applied a translation brand to each Marine’s right wrist: - Spoken language is heard in the listener’s native tongue - Speech is projected back as the speaker’s native language - Meaning is preserved; accent is not The Marines understood everything. They were told they were summoned to save a dying world. They did not hesitate. They agreed to fight. AXIOMITE Axiomite is not fuel. It is possibility made solid. - Finite - Irreplaceable - Unsynthesizable - Slowly consumed when used Axiomite is the only material capable of: - Trans-dimensional summoning - High-order material replication - Bridging physical law sets The mages used it to: - Resupply Marine weapons and ammunition - Summon heavier weapons systems - Support operations that magic alone could not sustain Axiomite was never used frivolously. Every use shortened the future. THE SIEGE OF MERIDIAN Orlia came in force. The Crimson Emperor intended to end the war in a single night. What he encountered instead were 120mm mortars. The bombardment shattered the assault before it reached the walls. Orlian formations broke under indirect fire they could not comprehend. The attack began at sunset. By sunrise, the Orlian army was retreating into the Wilds. It never attempted a direct assault on Meridian again. LYRIUM Lyrium is not Axiomite. Lyrium is waste. A magical byproduct once discarded, it was discovered—through Gunny Champion’s insistence—to possess immense industrial potential. Refined lyrium: - Is clean - Is stable - Produces no residual corruption - Can power engines, factories, weapons, and cities Unrefined lyrium: - Warps ecosystems - Mutates life - Creates dead zones Frangeria learned this lesson a century before the war in the Wilds. Gunny Champion learned something else: Lyrium could replace magic as labor. And that would change everything. THE FIGHTING FIRST Over the next year, Axiomite was used to summon: - Rifles - Ammunition - Mortars - Explosives The Marines asked for volunteers. Meridian offered everyone. But the Marines only needed a Few Good Men. Gunny Champion selected only those who could be trained. Over four months, the Thunder Warriors trained the First Frangerian Marine Corps Battalion. They called them: The Fighting First. Fireteam tactics. Marksmanship. Discipline. Aggression under control. They were no longer militia. They were Marines. THE CAMPAIGN City by city. Region by region. Orlia was pushed back. Frangerian forces advanced under artillery support previously unknown to the world. The regular army adopted bolt-action rifles and gothic artillery resembling crude howitzers. Gunny Champion refused to storm Valecourt. Instead, he ordered it destroyed. A scorched-earth bombardment leveled the city. Infantry secured the port amid brutal, close-quarters fighting. Of fifteen Orlian ships that fled, three survived. The war was broken. Not ended—but broken. MYTH AND LEGACY Of the original twelve Thunder Warriors: - Nine survived - Three died in battle Statues were raised in their honor. The survivors became the first Drill Instructors of the Frangerian Marine Corps. They were not worshipped. They were remembered. PART III — STEEL REPUBLIC AFTER THE WAR The war did not end. It froze. After the fall of Valecourt and the destruction of Orlia’s naval power in Frangerian waters, neither side possessed the capacity—or the will—to launch a decisive campaign. Skirmishes continued. Raids occurred. Spies died quietly. But no banners advanced. Frangeria used the silence wisely. REPOPULATION DOCTRINE The war had killed millions. Entire bloodlines vanished. Cities stood half-empty. Farms lay untended. Lord Gunny proposed a policy that shocked the remaining councils: Civic Replenishment Duty. - Every citizen was expected to raise five to six children - Churches and civic institutions provided support - Housing, food, and education scaled rapidly - Parenthood became a cultural ideal, not a burden It worked. Within two generations, Frangeria’s population rebounded beyond pre-war levels. The country became young again. THE LYRIUM REVOLUTION Lyrium changed everything. What began as improvised power sources became: - Steam-driven factories - Steel warships - Rail networks - Electrified cities - Mechanized production Refined lyrium proved: - Clean - Stable - Cheap - Renewable Frangeria industrialized at a pace that defied belief. Magic was no longer required to build. It was required only to enable. THE NEW REPUBLIC The monarchy was gone. No one wanted it back. The people—war-scarred, armed, and politically awakened—demanded representation. Frangeria reorganized as a Republic: - Tripartite government - Civilian supremacy - Regular elections - Strong constitutional protections Most of the old noble class was already dead. The middle class inherited the future. LORD GUNNY’S ROLE Lord Gunny refused the crown. Instead, the Constitution granted him a single, terrifying authority: Absolute override power in matters of national defense. No authority over civilian law. No taxation power. No religious role. Only war. He almost never uses it. Frangerians trust him precisely because he doesn’t. THE BIRTHMARK Every Frangerian citizen bears a five-point star birthmark at the base of the neck. It functions as: - Proof of citizenship - Psychic ward against Orlian control - Biometric identifier Lyrium-powered streetlamps silently scan for it. Those without it are noticed. Orlian infiltrators rarely last long. THE MODERN MILITARY Lord Gunny reorganized Frangeria’s armed forces along U.S. doctrine: Branches - Frangerian Army – Ground forces, heavy artillery - Frangerian Marine Corps (FMC) – Elite expeditionary force - Frangerian Navy – Sea control and emerging air power Ranks mirror U.S. structure exactly. Doctrine emphasizes: - Fireteam autonomy - NCO authority - Combined arms - Logistics supremacy THE FRANGERIAN MARINE CORPS The FMC became the soul of the Republic. Standard Loadout - Lightweight steel helm (Kevlar-analog) - Lyrium-infused green chainmail blouse - Dark green modular cloak - Leather MOLLE-style LBV - Sig-Cow semi-automatic rifle (7.62×49mm FMJ) - GatLock .45 revolver - Pineapple grenades - Entrenching tool, rations, firestarter Organization - Fireteam: 4 Marines - Squad: 3 fireteams - Platoon: 3 squads - Company: 3 platoons + weapons - Battalion → Regiment → Division It works because it’s simple. ORLIA ANSWERS The Crimson Emperor adapted. Firearms could not be replicated. So he turned inward. In a blood ritual that shook the veil itself, he sacrificed 10,000 elite warriors. Their bodies fused with horrors from behind the veil. They were reborn as Degari. THE LEGION OF THE PIT The Legion of the Pit is not an army. It is a biological weapon. - Siege beasts - Living battering rams - Terror incarnate Orlia no longer seeks conquest through numbers. It seeks annihilation through fear. The cold war will not remain cold forever. PART IV — A WATCHFUL PEACE FRANGERIA TODAY (45 YEARS AFTER THE WAR) Frangeria stands whole. Its cities burn with electric light. Trains scream across steel rails. Factories run day and night. Airships and early aircraft patrol coastlines once ruled by sails and superstition. To outsiders, Frangeria looks victorious. To Frangerians, it feels temporary. The war has not ended. It is merely waiting. CULTURE AND IDENTITY Frangerian society is divided not by class—but by memory. Two Generations - The Remembered Those who lived through the fall, the crucifixions, and the retreat to Meridian. They are quiet, guarded, and intolerant of weakness. - The Republic Born Those raised after the war. Confident, civic-minded, proud, and restless. They believe the Republic is permanent. Both generations love Frangeria. Only one knows what it costs to keep it alive. CIVIC DUTY Citizenship in Frangeria is not abstract. It is visible. The five-point star birthmark is applied magically at birth. It is painless. Permanent. Inviolable. It serves three purposes: 1. Citizenship Identification 2. Psychic Shielding against Orlian domination 3. Internal Security Verification Citizens accept it without question. Those who object are quietly watched. FAITH AND THE ALL-FATHER Religion in Frangeria does not center on salvation. It centers on responsibility. The All-Father is not worshipped as a savior—but revered as: - The source of moral law - The embodiment of stewardship - The witness to human choice There is no Christ figure. No absolution without accountability. Churches provide: - Food - Shelter - Childcare - Education - Veteran support Faith is practical—or it is rejected. ECONOMY AND LABOR Frangeria’s economy is aggressively middle-class. - No income tax for the lower majority - Taxes focused on: - High earners - Trade - Industrial profit - Universal employment is the cultural expectation Gun-making, metallurgy, rail work, shipbuilding, and energy production are prestigious trades. Unemployment is viewed not as misfortune—but as failure to contribute. TECHNOLOGICAL CHARACTER Frangeria resembles early 20th-century America: - Jazz-inspired music - Mass media - Print propaganda - Industrial aesthetics - Free expression Technology level includes: - Early automobiles - Steam-electric hybrids - Experimental aircraft - Lyrium-powered infrastructure Magic still exists. It simply no longer commands. INTERNAL SECURITY Frangeria is not paranoid. It is experienced. Lyrium-powered streetlamps scan for: - Birthmark absence - Psychic anomalies - Arcane contamination Counterintelligence is silent, ruthless, and invisible. Orlian infiltrators are rare. Those discovered are never seen again. LORD GUNNY AND THE THUNDER WARRIORS IN THE PRESENT DAY Lord Gunny and his marines have aged nine years in forty-five. Lord Gunny lives simply. He holds no public office. He attends no ceremonies. His presence alone keeps the peace. Frangerians do not worship him. They do something more dangerous: They trust him. The Thunder Warriors continue to train fledgling marine recruits, but they sit as more of a commandant position than an actual Drill Instructor. Awaiting the day their weapons bark once more. ORLIA IN THE SHADOWS Orlia still exists. Its borders are sealed. Its population controlled. Its armies mutated. The Legion of the Pit grows. The Crimson Emperor no longer seeks territory. He seeks revelation. THE WORLD HOLDS ITS BREATH Frangeria prepares quietly. Factories expand capacity beyond civilian need. Military drills are constant. Every citizen knows where to go when sirens sound. Children are taught marksmanship. History is taught without romance. Peace is treated like ammunition: Stored carefully. Used sparingly. Never wasted. TRANSITION: THE NEXT GENERATION This is the world that produced Flynn Taggart. A Marine not born of desperation—but of inheritance. He does not fight for survival. He fights to ensure the past never repeats itself. PART V — FLYNN TAGGART CHARACTER PROFILE: LANCE CORPORAL FLYNN TAGGART Basic Information - Name: Flynn Taggart - Age: 24 - Gender: Male - Species: Human - Rank: Lance Corporal - Affiliation: Frangerian Marine Corps (FMC) - Billet: Rifleman - Height: 6’0” - Weight: 187 lbs Appearance Short-cropped blonde hair, blue eyes, pale Frangerian complexion. Sharp facial features and a squared jawline hardened by exposure and fatigue. His build is lean, functional, and scarred in places that suggest training accidents rather than battlefield wounds—yet. Flynn looks young. He does not move that way. SKILLS AND APTITUDES Gunsmithing Flynn possesses an intuitive understanding of firearm mechanics. He disassembles, modifies, and tunes his Sig-Cow obsessively. His weapon is never “issued condition” for long. Armorers trust him. Officers tolerate him. Eagle Eye Flynn’s marksmanship borders on the abnormal. His vision is unnaturally precise—able to detect reflections, distortions, and micro-movements at extreme range. It is unclear whether this ability is genetic, magical residue from birthmark application, or simply an evolutionary byproduct of Frangeria’s war culture. He does not question it. He uses it. Perception Flynn reads terrain, sound, and posture instinctively. Crowds make sense to him the way maps do to cartographers. He notices what others miss—and is often unsettled by it afterward. WEAPONS - Sig-Cow: Semi-automatic, gas blowback rifle chambered in 7.62×49mm FMJ. Flynn maintains tighter tolerances than regulation allows. - GatLock: .45-caliber revolver. Six-shot cylinder. Reliable. Honest. - Combat Knife: Standard FMC issue, kept sharper than necessary. - Grenades: Two M67-style “pineapples.” He dislikes using them indoors. LIKES AND DISLIKES Likes - Dark chocolate - Rare steak - Strong ale - Sleeping when permitted - Stars and open water - Fighting—not for violence, but for clarity Dislikes - Liars - Thieves - Spiders - Rapists - Snow - The Orlian Kingdom, in all its forms PERSONALITY In Combat Flynn is decisive, aggressive, and frighteningly calm. He trusts doctrine, his team, and his rifle—in that order. He is confident to the point of arrogance, but never reckless. Among Comrades Loud. Charismatic. Sarcastic. Keeps morale high through humor that borders on cruelty. He thrives in shared discomfort. Among Strangers Guarded. Polite. Cold. He speaks only when necessary and watches constantly. Trust is earned slowly—and lost permanently. Internal Conflict Flynn fears insignificance more than death. In a Republic built by legends, he worries he is merely maintenance—not history. BACKSTORY Flynn Taggart was born into a stable, unremarkable middle-class household—by design. His father was a factory foreman and a wounded veteran of the Battle of Dire’s Strait, a naval engagement against Messian pirates flying Orlian colors. His mother was a naval nurse who saved his father’s life during that battle. Due to his father’s injuries, they were only able to sire one child. They were older when he was born. They knew time was short. They raised Flynn with discipline, affection, and uncompromising patriotism. Both parents died of natural causes when Flynn was seventeen. He buried them alone. Weeks later, he enlisted. The Frangerian Marine Corps did not make him whole—but it gave him structure. SERVICE RECORD Flynn excelled in marksmanship and fieldcraft. He struggled with swordplay and close-quarters melee early on, compensating through positioning and fire discipline. He graduated near the top of his class. He remains “green” by institutional standards. His squad mocks him for it. They trust him anyway. PRESENT DAY — WASHED ASHORE During a naval operation intercepting Messian pirates operating under Orlian banners, Flynn’s ship sustained catastrophic damage. Against doctrine, the captain attempted pursuit. Something else intervened. A storm rose with unnatural speed and violence. Whether summoned by Orlian warlocks or born of hostile fate remains unknown. The ship broke apart. Flynn woke coughing seawater onto black sand. His uniform was shredded. His body bruised. His rifle intact. No orders. No radio. No reinforcements. Only training. Only instinct. Only a country that taught him what happens when vigilance fails. CANON FUNCTION Flynn Taggart is not a chosen one. He is not exceptional by prophecy. He is dangerous because the system works. If Frangeria survives the next war, it will not be because of miracles—but because men like Flynn exist in numbers.