@Not Fishing Sadly Dwarves do not exist. Well, they could exist, but they'd be very much semi-legendary beings that almost no man has ever seen, and deliberately hide their existence from humans. Unless you mean a Tyrion Lannister-style dwarf. As in, a human with a growth defect. I can see that working and the effect would be more-or-less the same to playing an actual Dwarf. To playing a real dwarf I have to say no, but to playing a growth-defect dwarf, that's quite alright. What Tribe or faction have you got in mind?
As for the Pirate Path / Baltian privateers, i'd say 12 ships, and approx 1000 men. There was another guy going to play as Eodaen mercenaries, but i've not seen him since the interest check.
Don't worry about background freedom. Go wild writing the backstory, and if some of the things break the lore i'll talk to you about it over PM. Add as much flare as you wish (so long it doesn't become a Gary Stu).
@Not Fishing 1: Preferably, but if you want to be something else, that is entirely possible granted you let me know what it is. 2: Not really. Though there are some non-human roles that I planned on playing myself, but if you wish to take the reins of one of them, that actually sounds like a pretty darn good idea too.
@Narcotic Dollie Perfect. Perfect! Post 'er up in the CS. We should expand a little bit on her relationship with her half-sister, since we didn't bring any of that up yet. ...I need to write up her sheet rather soonish.
For the record everyone; you don't have to write Character Sheets the length of @Archetype Zero. Nevertheless, accepted!
@Wernher@Oraculum As said over PM, your characters look excellent. Post 'em up in the Character sheet section. @Narcotic Dollie As I said over PM (again lel) I will look forward to what you turn up with!
The OOC is up! Unfortunately I've been invited to a party, so I won't be back until tomorrow. ;D I'll look forward to all your sheets. I appreciate the interest.
The young King is lean and tall, donning shining scalemail and a mantle. He is outfitted like any other Chlotar Noble or Paladin would avoiding over-embellishment, the difference being that into Cauroman's spangehelm is forged an iron crown to denote his kingship, and a set of iron wings to denote his piety. From under his helmet strands of long blond hair fall over his shoulders and back, with a similarly coloured short and trimmed beard covering his chin and jawline.
Kingdom Allegiance: Ruler of Chlotaringen
Tribe: Chlotar
Background: Though Cauroman himself is from the Chlotar Faramundian Dynasty, the quest he inherited from the Udosian Hierophant has elevated him to the heavens, assigned to be God’s Hand-On-Earth. He is to be more than just a King. In the name of God, he will conquer Visandza and unite Humanity into a single Empire.
The Chlotar princeling grew up in his father's capital of Aaixen during the afterglow of the Chlotar Brother War -- a civil war fought between his father and three uncles. Cauroman was the younger of two brothers. Even as children the brothers Cauroman and Dagobert would quarrel relentlessly. Their father, Carlovech, dreaded the sight of it, for his war with his own brothers once started with similar petty quarrels, that over the years just kept escalating and escalating to the point the brothers all despised one another. He would force Cauroman and Dagobert to swear a solemn oath to him, to God and to each other, that never they would raise swords against their brother.
A year ago, King Carlovech was invited by allied King Aethelbehrt of Eodaland to dine with him, as to celebrate Carlovech's victory against his brothers. However through a foul act of Eodaen treachery there was poison smuggled into Carlovech's cup... Following the death of late-king Carlovech, the Kingdom of Chlotaringen and all its conquered possessions were divided between the brothers to become two separate kingdoms. The Kingdom of Cauroman in the north seated in Aaixen, and the Kingdom of Dagobert in the south seated in Lorhavren. On his deathbed, Carlovech accused King Aethelberht of Eodaland for his demise by breaking the sacred tradition of hospitality. And worse, by killing a King not in fair battle but through cowardly poison. The first act of the Kingdom of Cauroman and the Kingdom of Dagobert -- as a display of their royal authority and to avenge their father -- was to march a large army north to the land bridge connecting Eodaland with Chlotaringen. In a demonstration of bravado, the feisty King Cauroman was mortally injured after he dueled King Aethelberht in a fight to the death. Cauroman’s force of personality is greater than that of his physique – brave and zealous he may be. Miraculously however, King Cauroman slew his opponent, though mortally injured in the process. Broken many ribs, bloodied and battered, and struck fatally on his temple after his helmet had been struck off, and this injury caused the young King to slowly go blind. Approaching death, his retainers made all haste to deliver his broken body to the Holy City of Udos for healing. Only the Hierophant's blessing can invoke the power to restore his eyesight. He was transported to the great harbor of Lorhavren, where a ferry of Udos awaited him.
As he was carried into the Udosian Inner Sanctum, the most holy place in all Visandza, he met the Hierophant who proposed a divine Pact. In return for God recovering his eyesight and restoring him to full strength, the Chlotar King was to become the Holy City’s protector, to come to their defense whenever called upon. He is the only man in the world who can hope to stand against the King of Lampertei, Dalgiserius... The Vestal Institution's very existence is at stake if the Lampert King and his powerful army succeed in their conquest of Amalia. It was quite a bargain; for long the Chlotars had tried to invade Lampertei, but never gained a permanent foothold. The Lamperts are a mighty people and certainly no pushovers.
Cauroman could not be brought to agree to a vow that great and demanding. And so the Hierophant sent forward one of her Priestesses to coerce him into agreeing. She was originally a Baltian Princess, the true-born daughter of Orso's older brother and his wife, Adacharista. As befitting her dynasty she had a mind-warping aura to her, and hers was persuasion through seduction. Cauroman being such a stiff element of God had never experienced sincere affection for a woman prior to then, and he was brought to consider her words carefully.
Originally her name was Eulalie, Princess of the Balti Dynasty, and she told the Chlotar King the story of ‘her’ people, the Tautans, and their state of degeneration. She told him exactly why the faithful must rise up in defense of God in this crucial turning point of history. Because it is not just the Lamperts who rage against God, but the denizens of Tautom-City also. All over Visandza there is an unholy pact happening against God -- the Chlotars are the only faithful race left. Cauroman learned the Baltian plot to deliberately kill God and ultimately set the prerequisites for an apocalypse, the scheme that Eulalie’s family is perpetrating. For underneath the decadence and depravity of Tautom is a genuine committed effort to weaken and ultimately destroy God. Tautom city and her uncle Orso are its unknowing perpetrators, used as a playground experiment by dark powers to wantonly rip more and more splinters out of the essence of God. As a consequence of God's weakening, the climate is changing and the tribes of Visandza will be increasingly at each other’s throat. There will be no hope of divine interventions as the world winds down, and humanity will be truly lost.
‘’You are the only one who can stop it, my good King. For all of us.’’
Besides a genuine desire to do good, it was moreso Cauroman’s lust for glory and fame that got the better of him. A chance to be a truly legendary hero to be sung of in folklore for the next thousand years. After talking to Eulalie, he finally made the solemn vow to the Hierophant that he’d do everything within his power to save God, Visandza and the Holy City, if she would only return him to full strength and restore his eyesight. And so it came to pass.
It is a battle against time; if Udos falls, God may never be able to recover and the world would be left to deteriorate until it falls into final oblivion. But possibly even worse, to Cauroman's mind, he would never be able to save and marry Eulalie. And Cauroman's efforts to save Udos and ending the tyranny of Dalgiserius are largely motivated by him white knighting for the princess. He'd never admit that of course.
Cauroman wields the holy sword Halogan, etched with a rune wherein Cauroman’s oath to the Hierophant, and specifically Princess Eulalie, is preserved. Its metal’s durability had been sanctified in Udos. ---- As Cauroman's health recovered and departed Udos, Dagobert's health declined. When the younger Chlotar King returned to Chlotaringen he took the reins of his brother's half of the Kingdom until Dagobert's eventual recovery. But whether Dagobert will recover from this mysterious disease cannot yet be said...
Name: Autchar der Herstal
Appearance: Autchar is sturdy and broad-shouldered, with long brown hair and a brown beard. His war-gear is austere, and one wouldn’t normally guess he is a Paladin. This is, by his own saying, to be more approachable for foot soldiers. Someone has to stay on their level. And this way he can bring the concerns and worries of the men directly to the King's ears.
Kingdom Allegiance: Chlotaringen
Tribe: South-Chlotar
One of the twelve Paladins of the Chlotarian King. Autchar is only a recently-anointed Paladin, new to the royal brotherhood. He started out as the sword-bearer of the King’s father, Carlovech. And after that the devoted confidante and bodyguard of Cauroman’s brother Dagobert, before the King fell to an evil disease. Dagobert is not dead, however, and so long the dying monarch continues to draw breath, Autchar will battle in his name. He defends Dagobert’s claim to his share of the Kingdom as per late-king Carlovech’s dying request. Per Dagobert’s request he has now pledged his sword to his younger brother, Cauroman.
Key Lampert Characters
Name: King Dalgiserius of Skadan Appearance:
The Lampert King sports a long dark beard kept in place with a bejeweled bead, with strands of grey hair. While being in his early 50s, he maintains a physical dynamic and vigor unbefitting his age. Tall, broad-shouldered and strong built with the physique of a bear -- more emphasized by his large mantle, made from the pelt of a black bear which he himself hunted. His tanned reddish face is complemented by two intense icy blue eyes... in which a lustrous gleam reflecting his perpetual madness. Lampert Kings wear a large iron cone-crown, and a horned lamellenhelm in battle. His teeth have gone brittle and are half broken from all his enraged teeth-grinding. There aren't many good dentists in the Dark Ages.
Kingdom Allegiance: Ruler of Lampertei
Tribe: Lampert
Background: Hate and wrath. That is not always what defined him, but over the years and by God’s dark power, Dalgiserius as a man has been rendered a caricature of such. By his divine power of wrath King Dalgiserius becomes so fierce and terrible in battle that even disarmament won't slow his rampage. He will slay men with his bare hands. It is believed by his subjects, whether true or imagined, that when Dalgiserius grows hungry and has no food he will eat enemy soldiers captured in battle.
He was not originally the designated heir of the Lampert Kingdom. Dalgiserius started off his career as a soldier and celebrated officer in his father’s guard, distinguished in his successful raids against the Chlotar vanguards whom his men ambushed as they crossed the Rudines. He was a warrior before he was a ruler. Throughout his early life, Dalgiserius' dynasty had been the target of dark powers. His father Cunincprand was the first to succumb to it. He fell mortally ill and passed on the iron crown to his eldest son, Aistulfus. Yet within the same week of his coronation ceremony, his older brother died of a malevolent skin disease. One brother after another perished in the span of a few years. It seemed initially to be a dynastic feud where one of Dalgiserius’ brother tried to claim the throne for himself – but than his old aunt, his mother’s sister, died as well. It became gradually clear that the cause of their deaths was no mere power struggle; it was an existential attack on his kin. The Lampert Loremasters observed it eerily resembled the origins legend of the Lampert Tribe – exiles doomed by God. The situation rang too familiar. To them it was an omen – God will return to impose his yoke on Visandza yet again. The final battle is nigh, and Dalgiserius will sound the charge in the war against God.
Prince Dalgiserius raised a small force of men into an investigative force to track down the precise cause for his kin’s deaths, a form of Lampert ‘inquisition’ known as the Farigai. Now Dalgiserius had never been a spiritual man, much rather a forward and brutish one. He suspected the reason he had not been affected by the doom befalling his kinsmen was his distance from God. Those kinsmen seeking God’s protection were precisely just those that kept dying. When it was Dalgiserius’ turn in the line of succession to wear the Iron Crown of Lampertei, he was the first King not to sanctify his coronation at the Vestal Mountain Temple that the Alboinids had been using for generations. The New King and the Farigai accused that very Temple of conspiracy against the Lampert Crown. On the pretense of going there for his coronation, King Dalgiserius and the Farigai instead climbed the Mountain Temple in search of proof of their conspiracy for the death of his kin. Dalgiserius and his Lampert retainers tore the place apart, stone by stone, sacking the temple into disrepair, drove out the Vestal Priestesses… but found nothing. Rather than admitting that he was wrong, Dalgiserius doubled down on his beliefs. When his kin sought out God, God killed them. God declared war on the descendants of Alboin. It was all too clear to him then; much like in ages past, God is again behind humanity’s doom. Fate determined the destiny of the Lampert tribe is to oppose and ultimately defeat God and drive him from this world. From Lambertar being exiled for his rejection of Him, to Alboin slaying God’s armies -- the Divine Locust. Now that same mantle of defying the Yoke of Heaven has fallen on Dalgiserius to finish that which his ancestors had long ago begun.
For the past 20 years the vindictive Lampert King has ruled supreme with all acts of wickedness and ruthless suppression of all those faithful to God, riling his subjects up to move deeper into Amalia and uproot any worship of God. Dalgiserius vowed to rid Visandza of the divine yoke, and smite all who deter him from doing just that. With the Alboinids being a nearly extinct dynasty-- and their dynasty falling in God's sphere of wrath --all the combined wroth of the Alboinids is now manifested solely in Dalgiserius. This has rendered his aura of fear unimaginably potent, stronger than ever has been witnessed in living memory. A caricature of rage and the manifestation of God's wrath. A perpetual stormy cloud over Skadan castle …literally. His court is numbed in his presence. The Lampert Courtiers – the Gastalds, have been largely rendered yes-men who can never speak out against their King and often slavishly carry out his will. He is, while being incredibly hostile to God, himself more God than he is a man.
The Royal Seat of Skadania has become a dark and brooding place where most of the townsfolk stay inside, especially after nightfall. Because once the King’s tireless nighttime ranting and raving commences, the sky itself starts to crackle as if to answer the King’s maledictions. And he curses and damns to darkness all who defy, which is to say, literal and actual curses and condemnations.
Dalgiserius despises his wife, Nanperga. And his wife despises Dalgiserius in turn. They have a terrible marriage, never out of love but arranged by their parents, to link Nanperga into the Alboinid dynasty. Dalgiserius has always found her unworthy, offended that he had to marry a lowborn Vestal Virgin birthed in the hay. Because he never wants to see her, Dalgiserius exiled the queen far away from his court to a castle in the remote south of Lampertia, a castle watching out over the southern ocean. Together they had two children, a son and a daughter. After their son died, Dalgiserius accused Nanperga of his death. Thereafter they never attempted to produce another male heir -- such is his loathing for her. And perhaps that was a wise call on Dalgiserius’ part, because having such a treacherous queen means she would have inevitably spurred on their son to instigate rebellion. After he exiled the queen from his court, Nanperga started affairs with several men from the Lampert Nobility out of spite. This resulted in a few illegitimate princelings of her own. One of which Dalgiserius has embraced and adopted as his own, the princess Antonia, anointed as Gastald of Skadan. Though the king doesn’t seriously consider giving her real authority. He merely uses her to spite the queen, a means to blackmail her from plotting against him.
Surprisingly though, he harbors a great pride and love for their only daughter. Enough so that he named her after himself; the Princess Dalgiserata. As his only biological child, and ever wary of the attempts to kill off his kin, Dalgiserius forbids her from leaving his court at all times. And she's certainly never permitted to see her queen-mother! Dalgiserata seems to be born of the only goodness harbored within the king’s heart. An aspect of his soul. And as such, when she was born the King became even more deprived of goodness...
Like her father, Dalgiserata is feared, because the King is so protective of her that any man wrongly looking at her is surely condemned -- regardless of status. Men quickly and instinctively look away whenever the Princess is seen approaching.
Name: Dalgiserata of Skadan, the Dalgisdaughter
Appearance:
Where Lampert women are known to be hardy, strong and a bit bulky (in some cases even more than their men), the Lampert Princess stands out. For while she carries herself strongly in typical Lampert fashion, she also retains a courtly feminine grace and enthralling one would expect of a Princess. She is short, with long dark hair braided over her shoulder and inherited the icy blue eyes of her father. She also has the same face-paint around her eyes as Dalgiserius does, a royal Lampert tradition to denote kinship.
Kingdom Allegiance: Scion of Lampertei
Tribe: Lampert
Background: Dalgiserata, informally known as Serata, is the only biological child of Dalgiserius. In essence she can be regarded as a gender swapped Dalgiserius junior – though that is to say, minus the madness. Particularly after the death of the actual Dalgiserius junior, her elder brother who died an infant death. When Dalgiserata was born, the Lampert King imparted that same role on his daughter as he would a son, in an interesting break of tradition. Hence her name; Dalgiserata.
The King’s daughter is borne of the only goodness left in Dalgiserius. When she was born, the Lampert King became even more vindictive. He despises his wife, he despises most of his subjects -- but his daughter is the only person in the world for whom it can be said Dalgiserius actually holds fatherly affection. The princess and her father are two parts of the same coin, splinters of God, with Dalgiserius being the rage and vindication and Dalgiserata being his wisdom and justice. At least in theory. Her power contrasts that of the King, as her divine power has a calming effect on his rage. She assumed the role of structure of her dynastic sphere. This is done by being a source of peace and stability by ensuring her father’s chaotic outbursts do not blow everything out of order. She is not by nature such a compassionate person, but in the face of everyone else being worse, and the abuse the Skadan household regularly has to endure, the Lampert princess has shouldered the responsibility of being perhaps the only moderating source that can be found in Skadan. Enough so that she is the only one who can stand up against her father on behalf of all those he has abused and damned to darkness. And what’s more, she is so intone to Dalgiserius that she is known to be able to lift his curses. Despite seeing the very obvious flaws of her lord-father, Dalgiserata never gave up hope that one day he will make a recovery to the man he once was.
The Lampert Princess, taking on the duties her brother would have had, often rides out from the castle in man’s clothes and armor with a bearded mask, to oversee the domestic strains Lampertei is going through with her father’s decreed persecutions staged by the Farigai.
Because of her gender, she cannot be the heir of the Kingdom should the King return to God. The next King, as many Gastalds already presume, would be whoever attains her hand in marriage. And many of the Gastalds are already plotting in the shadows to see this through -- even spilling the blood or rivals. And hoping that Dalgiserius will not take notice of the hidden plots to marry his daughter.
Name: Raditschs the Damned
Appearance:
Raditsch appears aged and worn, but he is only somewhere in his 30s. His old looks come not from age but from misfortunate after misfortune, the world has not been kind to him. His skin is covered in blotches of diseased grey and burnmarks from the perpetual pestilence that afflicts him, yet is never fatal enough to completely immobilize him.
Kingdom Allegiance: None, the only allegiance is to himself and whoever can redeem him.
Tribe: Lampert
You can spot him coming from miles away, for where Raditschs walks, a dark stormy cloud always follows. To the locals around the Rudines his coming is a sign of doom; none will harbor him for the despair his presence brings to their homesteads. Ever since Raditschs has been branded by the fell hex of Lampert King Dalgiserius, Raditschs has been a Damned Soul through and through… It is only through the curse’s intervention that he survives at all. He lost count of the number of times birds defecated on him, or over how many stray pebbles he tripped. He misses the days where bandits still dared mug him, for at least this way he had some human interaction. Today even the bandits steer clear.
Background Once Raditschs was a Gastald -- the royal administrator of Bressenra. He was to play an integral part on the renewed Lampert attack on Udos and the remnants of Amalia. As Lampert raiders encroached onto the outskirts of the city, Raditschs was among them, however he had -- in an act of empathy -- warned some of the locals and Shrine Maidens of their coming that they may get away with their lives and livelihoods. But his warning was in vain, for as soon as the Amalians were captured by the King’s raiders, Raditschs’ part in their escape became apparent. He was brought before the King, and after Dalgiserius broke his nose with his fist, Raditschs was assigned to helm the first wave with a chance to clear his name by dying in battle.
The Gastald loyally carried out the order. As soon he and his unit were onto the walls they fought to the last man, but were themselves decisively cut down. Through a miracle however one of the escaped people from the countryside was fighting among the defenders, and he recognized Raditschs as the man who had warned them. Owed to his intervention the Udosian garrison spared his life, and Raditschs was instead taken into captivity.
Following weeks of battle without headway, and repeated divine interventions obstructing the Lampert’s various schemes, the siege of Udos ended in a disastrous failure for Lampertei. Dalgiserius’ army retreated, with the King opting to impose a crushing tribute and embargo on the city. Nevertheless, the Holy City was saved. The Udosians were overjoyed enough that they released all the Lampert prisoners.
Raditschs was offered the chance to remain with honorary citizenship for the good will he has shown, however as a Gastald, Raditschs was bound by oath, and returned to the King’s mountain hold in Skadan. Already seething with anger from the failed assault, Dalgiserius was livid at the sight of Raditschs entering his domain. He damned the Gastald to oblivion, stripped his lands and titles and exiled him into the mountains with unending misfortune on him and all his family. His fate is a fate worse than death -- the curse is to keep him alive to prolong his misery unto the end of days.
Key Eodaen Characters:
Name: King Badastan Horsa
Appearance:
Badastan is not ‘grotesque’ or fat, he is just a bit chubby. Badastan is of robust physique and sports a bushy mustache. There’s a perpetual sly twinkle in his eyes. In battle Badastan dons a Sutton Hoo Helmet he had personally made in the shape of a Squirrel’s head. All will know, fear and/or love him as the Squirrel King.
Kingdom Allegiance: Ruler of Eodaland
Tribe: Eodaen
Background: Willfully deceptive, endlessly lying and shamelessly opportunistic… With Badastan there are always schemes and intrigue abound. He is a ruthless politician with no qualms against betraying his own bloodkin in pursuit of personal gain, that all-the-while manages to keep up the façade of a kindly middle-aged man who gets merry, has a good sense of humor, cracks jokes, regularly drinks beer with the lads and is affectionate towards children and animals. On the surface there is little reason to dislike him. Being from the Horsa Dynasty he exercises a divine influence much like his three rival Kings. His power is one that instills extreme irrational trust in his subjects. This is demonstrated when Badastan convinced his countrymen to start worshipping Squirrels of all things. And was powerful enough that even his brother, the king, was not really onto him. His ability is a powerful tool indeed when harnessed by a total sociopath as Badastan truly is.
He is the younger brother of late-king Aethelbehrt. For most of his life he had been a regional leader and a prominent chief in Cantaware. Though the throne could not be his, he never gave up and he certainly never sat idly by. Behind his brother’s rule he passed his time setting up his own cult of Squirrel-worship. A theological visionary – of bushy tailed rodents. From the surface people often took him for a funny and witty man, his schemes no more than harmless pranks, but underneath that was a sincere and cunning politician. It was more than just a practical joke – it was a means to an end… Though it was to some common knowledge that Badastan was a scheming bastard from the start, his brother Aethelbehrt never wished to see him as an enemy. To Eodaens the bond of brotherhood is sacred.
Nevertheless for the past 6 years Aethelbehrt had been ominously losing his sons and heirs until only Alric, his third son, was left. Somewhere Aethelbehrt must have understood Badastan’s true nature, though was never willing to address it until it was too late.
Name: Aelfgar of Westerburh
Appearance: Aelfgar is a skinny man. He has proportionally long legs, a pointy nose, long curly red-brown hair and a groomed stubble beard. Because of his legs he is nicknamed ‘longshanks’. Looks however can be deceiving, for Aelfgar is much stronger than he appears, and it is his inconspicuousness why he’s so frequently employed as Badastan’s ‘armed muscle’. In battle he has been distinguished insofar he obtained the right to don a Sutton Hoo Helmet.
Kingdom Allegiance: Eodaland
Tribe: Eodaen
Background: Thane of Badastan, devout Squirrel acolyte and sacred warden of the Golden Acorn. Aelfgar was one of the King’s earliest and ardent supporters. He was never a religious man, but found himself ensnared by the serene music that was Badastan’s words. For nearly a decade Aelfgar had been in Badastan’s service to carry out the covert operations only he could be entrusted with. As a reward for some of his early successes, he had been made Badastan’s personal thane. He owns 5 hides of land in western Eodaland near the land bridge to continental Visandza. His homestead is the fortified settlement named Westerburh from which he hails.
Key Tautan/Baltian Characters
Name: King Orso Balting the Tautan
Appearance:
Gaunt, frail, mostly undressed and radiating patheticness. He has short dark hair, balding in parts, and has been cursed with a perpetually stoned gaze. He has facepaint on one half of his shaven mug, a left-over of a royal Viigoc custom of old. Lastly; he has gold nipple piercings. That's not really based on any culture save that of Tautom City itself.
Kingdom Allegiance: Formally King of all Baltian possessions and Ruler of the City-State of Tautom
Tribe: None, considers himself Celesean by blood and by culture, though is of Viigoc descent.
Background: Believe it or not, but his presence is the only stabilizing factor keeping the population of Tautom from sinking into total lawlessness and anarchy. His divine aura works like a drug on his people, keeping them satisfied with his lazy, incompetent rule and suffering through the corruption and slow decay of the city.
He grew up the eldest of several brothers and sisters. Many have not survived. Though to be fair Orso didn’t get along with any of them particularly. The Celesean Sages, as to preserve Odovakre’s divine bloodline, endorsed Orso and his siblings from a young age to sire many princelings to ensure the survival of the dynasty. And out of all of them, Orso has surely done the best job at it. One of his several sisters, Anaceaia, is considerably more chaste by contrast. To Orso’s mind this is largely owed to her marriage to Belisar, who he regards as an overly serious, stiff and joyless man, but who Orso naively trusts regardless as a devoted and loyal subject. The man just needs to be able to take a joke!
For at least the past decade, Orso has been confined to his royal palace (for his own safety, it is said) where he lives a life of unrepentant debauchery. He is a relatively young king, but already has a seraglio of at least fifty wives with whom he has sired up to a hundred children, and at this rate there will be a hundred more added to that. Of all his many royal offspring, only little Prince Icaeas stands out as Orso’s designated heir of the Baltian Kingdom, for he and Eulalie are Orso’s only spawn that are children of Adacharista – Orso’s first wife and originally a refugee Princess of Amalia, whose family has been largely wiped out. In the darkness of Tautom many a princeling of the Balti dynasty had disappeared under suspicious circumstances or outright been assassinated in the ongoing power struggle. Orso, in a uncharacteristic show of concern, deemed Tautom City unsafe for children and sent Prince Icaeas to the safety of Syrome under Doux Belisar’s protection, while Princess Eulalie was sent to Udos to be a Vestal Virgin and a life of chastity, out of reach of power-hungry suitors and intrigues. King Orso either does not notice, or simply does not care, that his rule is rendered as being a ceremonial figurehead. It is the Douxes and their factions that do the real governing in Tautom and the Baltian island territories. Though at the same time the King’s overarching authority is the only thing that can control the untamable beast that is Tautom’s population. The Douxes who conspire against him know that everything hinges on his blessing, and as such he is best not dethroned… Yet.
Name: Abadactus Rogan, Grand Domesticus of the Royal Demesne, Captain of the Palace Guard and Marshall of the Sacred Band of Tautom
Appearance: Abadactus appears in his early thirties, he has long wavy dark hair with a handsome face. He is built slender and muscular, and while quite buff, not as robust as most other Palace guards. (Nor as undressed.) He has a cross scar on his forehead. Abadactus insists this scar was obtained in the crucible of battle, but everyone knows it was self-inflicted to appear more intimidating.
Kingdom Allegiance: Kingdom of Baltia
Tribe: None - Celesean
Background: The men of the Rogan family had been captains for the elite bodyguard of the Baltian Royal Family for generations. Each leader of the family was named Abadactus, and the current Abadactus is the seventh in a long and proud line of royal protectors. Abadactus, sometimes called simply ‘Seven’ as to not confuse him with his forefathers of exactly the same name, is commander of the Sacred Band of Tautom, the most elite and powerful warrior squad the City has to offer. Each of the members comprising the band have been drilled their whole lives, and specifically selected from families of warrior bloodlines. As part of the process of making the Sacred Band the most powerful group of warriors in the known world, each member is state-enforced into homosexual relationships with the other. Therefore each member of the Sacred Band is lover of the other, which has made their unit cohesion the best in all Visandza. They are indomitable warriors. And to top it off, they are each blessed personally by the Baltian King to ward off doom, putting enemy warriors in a significant disadvantage when faced with the Sacred Band.
Note: We are open to new players if you'd like to join. You won't have to read every IC post, I can just give a summary on what has happened so you can dive straight in.
Ancient History: The beginnings of humanity at the dawn of existence was in a primordial kingdom under direct guidance of God. A civilization known as Celesea. God loves his creations and so ensured the Heavenly Kingdom had a wealthy surplus of food and resources to sustain itself. As a consequence humanity began to take its prosperity for granted, and rapidly overpopulates the continent to the point it became unsustainable -- even with God’s help. God takes the food away to encourage humanity to learn to adapt and become self-reliant. Having lost the favor of its creator, the Heavenly Kingdom is determined to survive by whatever means necessary. The Celeseans were soon compelled to spread out across the world to establish colonies as to sustain its massive population. For resources, food and also slaves to sacrifice to God in a bid to win back his favor. As a consequence the Heavenly Kingdom of Celesea transforms into a merciless maritime Empire with no equal, tyrannizing all of creation.
To stop the power of Celesea from oppressing the world, God understood he had to destroy the Empire, that creation could be freed of its yoke. …He had to destroy what he created, and this was the first big blow to his psyche. He unleashed unto Celesea plagues and calamities. Culminating in the spawning of a vicious Race of Locust that attacked the Heavenly Kingdom’s home continent, and devoured every last bit of green, carrying desolation, triggering massive famines across the world and engulfing the Empire in war for survival of apocalyptic proportions. The Empire went down a brutal and grisly end. This wasn't as God willed it, and he was overcome with regret and pity for the humans of Celesea. To stop the Locust Race from wiping out all humanity, God smote the continent in half. The Locust Race was isolated in the East on the ruins of the Empire, and the surviving humans on the west. The two broken landmasses were separated by a wide ocean of God's tears. 'The sea of tears'.
This last event proved to be one divine screw-up too many, and God lost faith in his own ability to salvage creation. He figured it would be better for the world if he were to withdraw altogether, and avoid another cataclysmic screw-up. From four fragments of his own essence he sent down the Four Champions to the western continent of Visandza, to lead and protect the Tribes of humanity in his stead. The Champions and the Tribes they championed drove the Divine Locust out of Visandza, and an era of relative peace fell on the western continent. The reign of God was over, the continent was divided by four Barbarian Kingdoms and the Locust were confined to the east, separated by a great sea.
As each Champion lorded over their respective kingdoms as the Four High Kings of Visandza, they established dynasties and spawned various heirs and offspring. More and more Splinters of god were ripped from his essence to became the Royal families of Visandza. And by time God lost so much of himself by relinquishing those splinters that he became powerless, depressed, a ruin of his former self; stopping him from acting in the world altogether. Visandza slowly sank into a dark age. Without the flame of God a growing chill is taking hold of the world, a climate change against which there is little hope of divine intervention. Triggering southwards migration, triggering famine, triggering war. What follows is that the Royal families inevitably turned on each other. Now Visandza is again torn by war at the hands of one expansionist and belligerent barbarian tribe advancing south and east; the glory-seeking Chlotars. The goal of their new King, Cauroman, himself a part of God, is to revive the world to the state of antiquity by restoring power to God. The Chlotars seek to bring about the submission of the other tribes through fire and sword, and sacrifice all other Splinter Dynasties to God in order to quell his dark depression. In the Chlotar pursuit of Empire, hopefully history will not repeat itself.
The Tribes are obsessed with bringing honour, fame and glory to their people through heroic deeds. Years come and pass but bravery will last.
-To get the basics straight: This is a Character Roleplay
-It's a fantasy setting based on the 'Dark Ages'. Modeled after the Barbarian Kingdoms of the early Middle Ages. The humans are expies of Germanic Barbarians and Romans.
-It takes place on a single continent called Visandza.
-Your character is part of one such Barbarian Kingdoms or Roman Rumpstates (mostly Barbarian Kingdoms) of Visandza, and your character will work to further that Kingdom's goals. But how loyal your character is to the King is entirely up to you. You have the freedom to go traitor.
-Your characters are all retainers of the Royal Family. High Positions. This can mean Household guards, Sword-bearer of the King, Stable boys, Shield maidens, Priestesses, the royal standard carrier, a nephew/ distant relative of the King, Princelings… any role placing your character in proximity to the faction royalty. Think of the characters as Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
-Magic in the D&D sense isn't really a thing, but the supernatural certainly is. Witch magic exists (turning humans into animals, brewing potions, summoning spirits of the dead) There are non-human races outside Visandza, and blessings and curses are very real and functioning things.
-The setting doesn’t take itself 100% serious and certain aspects are a bit comic-relief and memezy. You’ll probably be able to tell. Doesn’t mean you should take it unserious, however. But playing pompously or as a caricature character is perfectly fine and even somewhat endorsed.
-Making long and detailed posts is fine if you want to, but doing so frequently for months on end just drains too much energy and I’ve seen RPs die that way. Therefore preferably make your posts concise and direct. Avoid dragging out and take it easy. It's fine. If you insist on writing to the best of your ability, I bequeath you all needed strength and vigor.
-By the blood of god, we are going to FINISH THIS RP TO THE END. Therefore if you feel like retiring due to business or work-stress, try to plausibly kill off your character in IC first. You can always have them be struck by a sudden meteor or bitten by an ultra-venomous serpent. Just out of the blue really.
MAP OF VISANDZA
Map of the known world
The four key factions of Visandza to pick from:
West: The Glory-Seeking Chlotars
The most famous (or infamous) of the Barbarian kingdoms. The Chlotar people are industrious and belligerent. The Kingdom they built and conquered is united in common purpose; to topple God’s splinter dynasties and sacrifice them to God in order to quell his sadness, and thereby hopefully save the world. Ending God’s dark depression is the only chance of averting the impending ice age that is driving the tribes to migrate further and further south. As the Chlotar homeland is in the northernmost tip of Visandza, the Chlotars have much to lose if they fail to avert this climate change. Only God can save their ancestral lands now. In the past century the warlording Chlotars have invaded, annexed and absorbed several of their rival tribes during the conquests of King Clodovech. At present their Kingdom has been inherited by Clodovech's grandson, King Cauroman. However already the new King sets his sight on the next target for conquest; the ungodly Tautans to the east who the Chlotars have hemmed in during their recent conquests. Though they are but a diversion, for their end-goal is to wipe the God-hating Kingdom of Lampertei off the map for good and all. Depose their malevolent King, sacrifice him and his kin to God and install a monarch who is properly Godfearing!
South: The God-Hating Lamperts
It’s all in the name. But obviously not every Lampert hates God -- some Lamperts love God! However they cannot come to the public light with their secretly-held convictions, for the stigma is immense. In the Kingdom of Lampertei the hatred of God is of utmost conformity; those who stray from the norm or show open dissent from God-hating orthodoxy are outcast, shunned, mocked… sometimes lynched. Do not underestimate how serious the Kingdom of Lampertei is on their stance of enmity towards God. Even before the Lampert Tribe conquered the southern peninsula of Amalia, they were rivals of the growing Chlotar confederacy of tribes, who in a time long forgotten exiled their ancestors from the north. It was encroachment of the Divine Locust paired with the allure of seizing the fertile, depopulated lands it left in their wake, that drove the Lamperts to migrate southward. The Lampert people’s beef extends beyond the rival Chlotars and is more directed against God himself. They are not driven by paganism or atheism -- the Lamperts are genuine misotheists. It’s not a matter of religious difference as it is a matter of actual God-hatred. Twenty years ago with the ascension of King Dalgiserius the relations with Chlotaringen has soured further (if that was even possible) and the two powerful Kingdoms are at the brink of a great war the likes Visandza has never seen -- one that could forever alter the continent’s history.
East: The Depraved Tautans
Orgies. There, I said it. Let’s not shy around it. I am only saying what everyone else is already thinking at the mention of the City State of Tautom. Debauchery, decadence, depravity. That is all there is to them. God damn them, and damn God for not smiting these ungodly people. Sure, they have good merchants, skilled artisans, the world’s finest cuisine and cunning alchemists to help further humanity and the like, and surely the capital of worldly pleasures. But their virtues do not make up for their vice, no way. The Tautans will lure you into darkness. Every night at the plaza, they hold festive orgies. And they have a squadron of men skulking the street to defile and debase any newcomer or gullible foreign visitor to their city. To corrupt them into adopting their uncouth perversities and ambiguous practices… Keep your daughters and wives away from the Tautans. And probably your barnyard animals too.
North: The Conniving Eodaens
God is outdated. To the Eodaens anyway. When God is too depressed to be a force in the world, you simply create your own god! As such King Badastan presented his court and people with Xeaxaenot, the Golden Squirrel-demon. All of Eodaland turned to Squirrel-demon worship, and this seems to have revived the slumbering spirit of its people. Those that refused to embrace this new idol, remaining loyal to god, were exiled. Fools don’t understand that squirrels are the future. The Eodaens are actually keeping mostly to themselves as a dormant third power, waiting to exploit and benefit from the impending war between Chlotaringen and Lampertei. Cunning foxes as they are, the Eodaens will most certainly side with the winning-side to reap the benefits. Only a few years ago Eodaland nearly came to war with Chlotaringen, and they are anxious to provoke the numerically superior and battle-tested Chlotar armies on their own. Depending on how well the Chlotars will fare against the Tautans and Lamperts, the conniving Eodaens may side either with them or against them.
Let's keep it simple!
Name:
Appearance:
Kingdom Allegiance:
Tribe: (Unless Celesean. There are five known tribes; Chlotars, Lamperts, Viigocs, Eodaens, Radbouds.)
Background: Include at least where your character came from and what his profession is, and how this came to be.
I encourage you to make more than 1 character. My suggestion is make 1 main character and one or two secondary characters as the first character’s shield or sword-bearer. What is essentially a Dark Age squire. If your character is a traveler or a warrior, they should never be alone and are in the company of others.
Note: being ‘noble’ or from a noble family in this setting means you hail from a family descending from a famous warlord, heroes or subjugated royalty – or you became through your own merits a sword-brother of the King.
Each faction has a unique role for Champions of the Tribes and otherwise ‘minor leaders’. Chlotars have Paladins, Lamperts have Gastalds. Eodaens have Earls. Tautans have Douxes.
Cauroman’s Paladins The Paladins are the retainer Household Cavalry of the Chlotarian Kings. Being a Paladin means you are one of the most elite warrior in not just Chlotaringen but all Visandza. They are often scions of noble families or started out as common foot-warriors that by their own merits distinguished themselves through valor. The Chlotar Paladins are a solemn brotherhood handpicked for bravery in the field, unwavering loyalty to God and King, and martial prowess. Choosing to be a Paladin, while giving your character free rein to be perhaps the greatest of warriors and horsemen in history with access to the royal arsenal and the finest of armor, also means you can under no circumstance betray Cauroman and the Chlotarian Kingdom. You are honor bound to carry out any royal decree. A Paladin cannot return to the King before he has either carried out the order, or died trying. Paladins are also the personal friends of the King. The King often consults them for advice or suggestions -- they dine together, they ride together, and in general the Paladins seldom leave the King’s side unless sent on a mission.
Dalgiserius’ Gastalds Similar to the Paladins, the Gastalds are the Lampert King’s personal henchmen and agents. A collection of Warrior Nobles headquartered in Skadan Castle in direct presence of the Lampert King. Other than being warlords they also have civil and judicial power with free rein to scheme behind the King’s back, should they so wish it. However some Gastalds are unswervingly loyal to the King. And you do not know which ones are and aren’t. There are double, and even triple agents abound… And a terrible tension dominates the halls of King Dalgiserius. The King himself, though, seems to pay little heed to his subjects as he is generally occupied feuding with God. Some Gastalds actually play a part in the King’s ungodly war, as Dalgiserius invidiously sends his Gastald agents out to harass and extort God’s servants on Visandza; the Clergy of Holy Udos that has been hemmed in by Lampert power. While in the past the Lampert army had besieged Udos before – they were beaten back by the Udosians and their protection from God. Having licked their wounds, Dalgiserius and his Gastalds are plotting a renewed assault -- by finding ways to thwart God’s protection of the city by means most unholy and sacrilegious... Playing as a Gastald can go from being a Wormtongue-schemer and infiltrator to a rogue-ish bandit robber baron, a spy, a diplomat... They act in the defense of the Lampert people, in Visandza’s greatest bastion against God and the World.
Eodaen Earls Earls are Eodaen chieftains; essentially captains of a band of warriors and/or village leaders of a select commune. They tend to act independently from the King, and not all Earls are strictly King Badastan’s therefor. But most of them are involved in the Great Gold Squirrel Controversy that perpetuates the segregation of Eodaen society. As many have gone rogue, or were simply exiled for refusing to embrace Xeaxaenot the Golden Squirrel-Demon, they have sought out new Kings or warlords to pledge their swords to. Many Earls fell into the service of Doux Belisar, King Orso or King Cauroman. And yet more have seized this as an opportunity to make a lot of money by serving the highest bidder. Visandza’s first form of Mercenary Bands, previously an alien concept, was born! So sure, while the idea of Earls as simple village and community chieftains still applies in Eodaland itself, abroad they are unruly adventurers in search of flame, glory, prestige, wealth or wenches. Whatever motive, wherever there are problems to be solved or wars to be fought, the Earls are at your service.
Baltian Douxes The Baltian/Celesean Douxes are politicians first and military commanders second. In the darkness of Tautom there is a constant power struggle happening right under King Orso’s nose. Shadow factions are facing off for control of the City. The King is just a figurehead and little more. It is the Douxes that determine the faction’s politics. Unfortunately the Douxes do not really agree with each other, and the City is as polarized as ever. Tautom City is divided by various factions, and each is led by a Doux. Each faction seeks to depose the incompetent King Orso their own way, with each supporting one of Orso’s relatives as next claimant to the Baltian Throne. This way their faction can take over the reins of the City and save it from the abyss. But at the same time they’re all threatened by annexation & annihilation at the hands of the expanding Chlotars waiting outside of the walls. One Faction seeks to remedy this problem by being pro-Syromean, seeking to promote Celesean supremacy as a united front against the Barbarian usurpers of Visandza. Another faction seeks to address the Chlotar threat by appeasing or even joining forces with them. They understand that Chlotar hegemony is inevitable at this stage of development, and the best they can do is to surrender conditionally while they’re still in a position to argue the terms. Another faction is pro-Badastan, seeking to address the spiritual vacuum of the city by embracing Squirrel worship. I’m sure they probably come with a lot of other useful ideas as well. There is a fourth faction however, one that is more ominous. They have been continuously behind the assassinations of some of Orso’s royal children. Rather than trying to take over the city themselves by placing one of Orso’s children on the throne, they seek to bring about the collapse of the Balting Dynasty entirely and bring a state of total lawlessness to the city…
You are allowed to make slight variations to each of these names. Just make sure they sound somewhat authentic. For instance, I made the name Cauroman up. The original Frankish name I based it on is Carloman.
The Nations of Visandza
‘’The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God.’’ -Psalm 9:17
Kingdom of the Chlotars, or Chlotaringen
and to some cheekier people the Chlotarian Empire. Capital City: Aaixen
From the Dynasty of the First Champion; King Cauroman of the Faramundian dynasty
A young King burning with ambition. Cauroman is raring to start trouble, as young men so often are. To bring honour to God, his people and ancestors. Now that the wounds have healed from the civil war between his royal father and uncles, there is nothing the mighty Chlotar Kingdom can’t do. They are the mightiest Kingdom Visandza has seen since the fall of the Heavenly Kingdom of antiquity. The time has come to expand its borders and seize new lands. To establish an Empire the likes the world has never seen! And if anyone can see this done, it is King Cauroman. Of all four barbarian kings, beware this one the most. He is more than just the next link in the long Faramundian Dynasty, for Cauroman has been distinguished with the blessing of the Hierophant of Udos, and selected by God specifically to usher in a new era. The establishment of a universal order and the unification of all tribes of humanity. He won’t just live up to the deeds of his ancestors… he will exceed them.
Chlotar Characteristics: Mentality: Chlotars are disciplined, strict , zealous in their worship of God with no patience for fine garments, trinkets or any kind of luxury. They insist on a rigorous military tradition and a simple lifestyle. They are as such by default hostile towards pretty much all their neighbours. The Lamperts for their outright hostility to god, the Tautans for their ultra-decadence and hedonism, and the Eodaens for being honourless schemers embracing false idols. The Chlotarians regard themselves as God’s chosen, and that is probably because they are. They are driven by a prophetic purpose to unite Visandza into a single order, and determined to overcome, persevere and smite down their many enemies. Not just for God’s sake, but for survival’s sake. The Chlotars are convinced firmly that humanity needs God in the age of trials ahead.
Visually: Chlotar warriors tend to wear scale armor, spangen-helmets and a cape or an animal pelt serving as cape. While scale armor is expensive and harder to obtain, even the footman Chlotar is distinguished by an obligatory cape with a basic tunic. Their dress code, even in battle, is rather austere. Chlotar men often have long shoulder-length blond hair and sport long drooping mustaches. In battle the Chlotars are renowned for their throwing axes, which the warriors throw prior to hand-to-hand combat with the aim of splitting shields and disrupting the enemy line. In melee Chlotars commonly employ spatha swords and lances. Like the men, Chlotar women commonly have long hair, always braided and sometimes going as deep as their waistline. Where men wear capes covering only the back, women wear long cloaks covering up their whole bodies. While in ancient times there were such things as Chlotar female warriors (particularly in battle against the Locust), when it came to wars between human tribes that role has mostly eroded -- except for rare cases for the daughters & sisters of chieftains.
Chlotar History: Chlotar history began in the deep north inhabited by a mighty tribe ruled by two brothers; Chlotacher and Lambertar. A legend goes that this particular tribe was struck by an evil disease killing off all its youth. To resolve it, Chlotachar knew the tribe had to turn to God to cure the blight. But Lambertar’s refusal to do so caused the disease to persevere unchallenged. After a heated dispute, the tribe fractured indefinitely. Those loyal to God joining the clan of Chlotachar’s, and those that refused to submit to God joined the clan of Lambertar. When the hateful Lambertar left, the disease was at last lifted from the north.
Chlotachar’s clan was to mark the beginning of what later grew into the Chlotar tribe. Though for long after this they were an insignificant and weakened tribe amongst many. Until the Divine Locust, an evil race bent on annihilating all mankind, was approaching. To shield the fractured peoples of the north, God sent a Champion, a splinter of himself. His name was Pharamond, a mighty warlord tasked to champion the northern tribes and unite them into a confederacy of tribes. And together they repelled the Locust from the north. Following this victory, the confederacy named itself after the tribe that brought the most sacrifices and fought the most valiantly of all; the tribe of Chlotachar. While few of the original clansmen of Chlotachar survived this battle, it marked the beginning of a closely allied barbarian confederacy which collectively named its members ‘the Chlotars’ in honour of their sacrifice.
In a vision, Pharamond was foretold the inevitable doom that awaits the new continent without the revival of a New Heavenly Kingdom to govern it under providence of God. The Celeseans had proven themselves corrupt and evil, now alienated from God. Only the much purer and noble Chlotar peoples could embark on this divine mission. As such Pharamond set the Chlotars on the path of conquest and empire building, inviting Celesean scholars to the north and drawing in neighboring tribes seeking Pharamond’s protection against the spreading Locust. The conquests of Pharamond’s descendent, Clodovech, are responsible for the present borders of the Chlotarian kingdom. It was through belligerent expansion into every direction with scores of impressive victories in battle, primarily at the expense of the Tautans. The Viigoc armies that served Tautom were ultimately disillusioned with their own inept King and saw in Clodovech a True Warrior King they could relate with. As per ancient Chlotarian custom; when the King dies his Kingdom will be divided between each of his sons. Clodovech had four sons, and as such four Chlotarian kingdoms emerged following his death. After two decades of infighting, one of the royal brothers eventually came out on top; King Carlovech, father of Cauroman. Through blood, sweat and tears and various vicious crucibles against his own kin, Carlovech ultimately reestablished the same boundaries that his father’s kingdom had, but at a price. As to not repeat the mistakes of the past, King Carlovech vowed to ensure the transition of power towards his two sons would be one without suicidal infighting. Following a visit to allied King Eathelbehrt of Eodaland, who supported Carlovech’s claim against his three brothers, he was unexpectedly betrayed by the Eodaen host with poison… in an attempt to cripple and divide the Chlotar Kingdom once more. On his deathbed, Carlovech summoned the two princelings Cauroman and Dagobert with the revelation he had been hexed by the treacherous Eodaen King and their pagan magic. And they were to vow on their forebear that they unite to punish the Eodaen King. To avenge their father, the two Chlotar kings marched their armies north to the land bridge dividing Eodaland from mainland-Visandza, where King Cauroman challenged King Eathelbehrt to single combat. There Cauroman slew the Eodaen king and avenged his father, but was mortally injured in the process. Afterwards Eathelbehrt’s brother, Badastan, bought King Dagobert and the Chlotar armies off with a great sum of Eathelbehrt’s gold, jewelry and other possessions, thereby avoiding war. Carlovech was avenged and the dispute was settled… For now. Though suspiciously only Badastan seemed to have benefitted from Carlovech’s death.
After healing in Holy Udos, King Cauroman has recovered while King Dagobert mysteriously fell ill, leaving Cauroman control of the whole of the Chlotar Kingdom. While recovering in Udos, Cauroman heard the plight of the Udosian people and their Hierophant against the aggression of the ruthless Lampert King Dalgiserius and his encroaching hordes… Looting temples, attacking pilgrims and committing all manner of sacrilege against the worshippers of God. The Hierophant fears Dalgiserius is now eyeing Holy Udos itself as to complete the Lampert conquest of the Amalian peninsula. Cauroman pledged her that he would return with his army to defend the Holy City against Dalgiserius. Udos can now find a true ally in King Cauroman, and at present Chlotaringen prepares for war against Lampertei…
Lampert Patrol dispatching a Chlotar interloper
Kingdom of the Lamperts, or Lampertei for short
Capital City: Skadania, with Skadan Castle as royal seat.
From the dynasty of the Second Champion; the reign of King Dalgiserius of the Alboinid dynasty
Dalgiserius hates God. That very three-letter word makes the bile rise in his throat and his teeth to grind. The very mention of God has his skin boiling red with wrath. Every night, King Dalgiserius ascends onto Skadan’s castle roof to curse, challenge and insult God with the spewings of dark heresy, curses of treachery and chants of heretical wizardry. This is in fact routine and comprises the greater part of his daily activity. Beyond the desecration of temples, the iconoclasm of idols and the violent persecution of the faithful, the battle against God is a deeply personal vendetta. For the king stands personally on the roof of the highest tower of his royal castle, (a tower which he had constructed for this purpose, in fact!) raving, ranting and cursing at the overcast skies with a sonorous voice thundering through Skadania, striking the citizenry numb – torn between the wrath of Dalgiserius and the wrath of God, which the folly of their King might any day incur… He keeps at his court a glorified band of warrior-nobles known as the Gastalds, who serve him out of fear. His first and only daughter, Princess Dalgiserata, (named after her father) is the only person that still loves her lord father. The Princess knows that the current Dalgiserius is a vicious caricature of who he once was. She works diligently to protect the King from those who seek to bring about his downfall, but especially to protect the king against himself. It is clear to many that the king is growing increasingly erratic, utterly consumed by the hatred of God that spawned in him. Though none, not even his dear daughter, could say what has transpired to make King Dalgiserius the way he is.
Lampert Characteristics: Mentality: Lamperts are known for being a bitter and brooding people keeping mostly to themselves. Mistrusting to all foreigners, each of them more sinister than the other. You will find few Lamperts outside of Lampertei, even when their current King is an absolute vindictive tyrant. Even when the Lamperts have every reason to move away, tribalism and loyalty to blood is so deeply ingrained in their culture that they will not. The Devil-you-know is still preferable than the lordship of a foreign alien. Their most hated rival tribe are the Chlotars. Though out of all the tribes, the Lamperts and Chlotars are the most alike, with both boasting a proud warrior-tradition and shared origins in the distant north. The key difference is that Chlotars are on the offensive, ambitious and ever outward looking, while the Lamperts are on the defensive, paranoid and inward-looking to their own affairs. Fear and suspicion to outsiders paired with hatred for God is what resonates strongly with the Lampert.
Visually: Lampert warriors are distinguished by their unique use of lamellar mail, a military dress code they adopted(robbed) from the Amalian Celeseans. They have no rules concerning facial hair, and as such Lamperts often come sporting long dark beards. The trademark weapon of the Lampert is the Hellbeard, or Halberd pole-axe, and spiked metal clubs, a crude form of mace from their barbarian heritage. Lampert women meanwhile are known for being plump and similarly sturdy as their menfolk, often accompanying them to battlefields as shieldbearers and nurses -- and in rare cases getting involved in the fight themselves. If they wear armor, it’s never lamellar but a hauberk, and even may use goats’ hair to cover their faces with fake beards.
History: Lampert history began in the far north of Visandza, a land said in ancient legend to be ruled by twin chieftains; Lambertar and his brother Chlotachar. After God sent an evil plague to kill the children of Lambertar and many others, Chlotachar scorned them; stating this was punishment from God for their neglect of Him. Then when Chlotachar demanded Lambertar renounce his leadership of the Tribe a brother strife followed. In the end Chlotachar exiled Lambertar and all the others that lost children to God’s plague. The bitter northern exiles joined Lambertar’s migration southwards. The two chiefs and their split clans grew to become the Chlotar Tribe and the Lampert tribe respectively, and both tribes have long since forgotten their common ancestry to become the bitterest of enemies.
A century later, as the Heavenly Kingdom was devastated by the divine locust and the world broke, the Lamperts seized the opportunity to move further south into the depopulated lands of the Celeseans, going as far south as the Rudine mountains. There they built their first permanent settlement; Skadania. It was to be their staging ground from whence to raid the Heavenly Crownlands. But when the Lamperts were themselves cornered by a horde of Divine Locust, God sent the chieftain Alboin to champion the Lamperts, and under his leadership a coalition of Lamperts and Celeseans drove the Locust out of southern Visandza in four victorious battles. To reward the Lampert tribe (and quell their relentless raids), the Heavenly Kingdom ceded them land in northern Amalia, a rich peninsula in the south of Visandza. However Alboin and his followers were not satisfied with the less-fertile and rugged terrain of northern Amalia, and steamrolled southwards to seize the rest of the peninsula as well. The Heavenly Kingdom was too fractured to put up effective resistance and was itself on the verge of collapse. The Lampert conquests in Amalia were to be the foundation of the Kingdom of Lampertei, with Alboin as its first King. The Lampert tribe finally ended their migration and settled down to work the lands and build a new nation. The Champion Alboin founded a royal dynasty that endures to this day; the Alboinids. However the arrival of the Lamperts displaced the Amalian natives, who were themselves driven deeper south in the lands around Udos, where they vow vengeance on their barbarian oppressors...
There’s an oral legend passed from generation to generation in the Lampert tribe, speaking of a final battle with the tribe of Chlotachar where once again humanity will be tested. The outcome of which shall determine the survival of Visandza.
Kingdom of the Eodaens, or Eodaland for short
Capital City: Cantaware
From the Dynasty of the Third Champion to enter the world: King Badastan of the Horsa dynasty
It is only a year ago that the usurper Badastan became King of Eodaland. And you might have heard that this new King worships a Squirrel. To that it must be added that it’s not just any Squirrel but rather a magnificent Golden Squirrel-demon by the name of Xeaxaenot! Also Badastan is not a usurper, you clearly misread that – His Excellency King Badastan Horsa is rightful claimant of the Eodaen throne. But while he has the support of many of the Earls that budged to the worship of his squirrel idol, he was likewise met with opposition loyal to ‘God’. Particularly from the loyalists of his deceased elder brother Aethelberht. In the eye of some Earls, Badastan has unjustly usurped the late King, going so far as to claim that it was Badastan that was responsible for the assassination of Carlovech and by proxy also set up Aethelberht’s demise... As only a Splinter of God can kill another Splinter of God, the number of possible culprits can be counted on one hand. Needless to say Badastan is a bit of a shady figure, and the Earls are not fully unanimous in their support. Aethelberht still has a son, and some of the Earls are secretly vouching for him to take the throne. There is division in the realm of both dynastic and spiritual nature. Though the King’s cunning did spare Eodaland an invasion from King Dagobert by coercing him with a sum of money his henchmen plundered from Aethelberht’s estate, in compensation for Cauroman’s mortal injuries and Carlovech’s death. Badastan has with this act all but consolidated his Kingship over Eodaland. At this point the son of Aethelberht will be powerless to challenge his uncle.
Soon afterwards, however, King Dagobert fell terrible ill… leading some to suspect the Squirrel King’s treachery is once again at work.
Eodaen Characteristics: Mentality: Eodaens are solution oriented, utterly pragmatic, always open to negotiation to settle disputes, seeking compromise, and not nearly as stubborn and single-sighted as all their neighbors. This works to their advantage. Particularly as they do not have the number of manpower in their population to rely on aggressive expansionism alone. But don’t mistake their diplomacy for weakness, or their craftiness for cowardice. Eodaens are adventurous and like to put their sticky paws in the honey of others. By which I mean to say; Eodaens like to be involved in affairs abroad. Wherever there is something to gain, whenever something interesting happens; they want their people to be represented. Eodaen sailors, merchants and sell-swords can be found in every major international hub. Eodaen traveling adventurers tend not to travel in just groups of marauding men, but bring their women and families with them with intent of eventually colonizing new lands.
Visually: Eodaen warriors tend to wear long hauberks and cloaks, with their leaders wearing Sutton Hoo helmets. They also have their own brand of blade unlike those on the mainland known as the Seax. Today Eodaens come with squirrel-themed idols and acorn trinkets around their necks and waists. Eodaens associate hair and facial hair with social hierarchy. Only old men, Earls and squirrel-priests may have long beards, whereas young men and warriors either shave or keep their beards short. Mustaches are fine. Eodaen clothes are largely tunics and animal skins, and jackets of sheep wool. They have the same custom of wearing capes and cloaks as the other tribes do, but for Eodaens it’s less a fashion & cultural statement and more out of necessity to stave off the ocean wind.
Eodaen women aren’t known to be pretty. Don’t tell them this. Due to the relatively scarce population of Eodaland (partially due to the climate change that is gripping the northern coasts), the women have assumed some of the work and manual labour the men would normally be doing. This includes sailing, but not soldiering.
History: Long before the world broke, the Eodaens were a collection of tribes that lived at the far northern coast of the world-continent, territories originally tied to the mainland. Following the breaking of the world and the invasion of the Divine Locust, the Eodaen territories were torn from Mainland Visandza to become a group of islands, one of which Eodaland. The Eodaens started out as a sea-faring confederation of tribes that grew to a regional power in the then-newly formed Sea of Tears. There are some related groups and tribes on the Visandzan continent south of their island/peninsula that are culturally aligned to the Eodaens, but never joined their north-sea confederacy, such as the Radbounds of Dorestead. The Fourth Champion that God sent to humanity was Hengist, spawned amongst the Eodaens. He was originally a corsair that defended humanity against the Locust races in alliance with the Viigoc refugees of the east, and helped ship many of them to the safety of Visandza. When the Heavenly Kingdom collapsed, so too did its renowned maritime armada. Hengist shouldered the responsibility of being humanity’s naval power in its stead, absorbing the remnants of the Celesean fleet to keep the Divine Locust contained in the east. Normal human weapons and the archaic spears, seax-swords and arrows of the Eodaens were largely insufficient to deal with the Locust. Hengist knew the greatest weapon to be employed in defense of the new western continent was the secret weapon of the Old Celesean; the Mirror Towers scattered on islets in the Sea of Tears. Thus the Eodaens skillfully manned them to fire light-beams at the Divine Locust until at last they dispersed. To this day, the Eodaens pride themselves as being the defenders of Visandza and the greatest maritime power post-antiquity. However centuries of peace and Locust-dormancy have made them complacent, and the Eodaens of today are hardly as valorous and prestigious as they once were. The majority of the Eodaen navy are nominally of the same ‘fleet’. But in truth, the Eodaen sailors are largely all rogues, having turned to petty piracy and with no qualm seeking employment by foreign lords and different kings across the known world. Their allegiance is no longer to the descendants of King Hengist, but the highest bidder. Eodaen mercenaries (mercenaries being a new and revolutionary concept in this world) and acolytes can be found in just about any corner of the world. More of the Eodaen fleet is pledged to the Celesean Island-state of Syrome than it is to the King of Eodaland. A smaller number of them, particularly those that were exiled for their rejection of the Squirrel-Demon, are in the employ of King Cauroman in laying the foundations for a Chlotar navy.
City-state of Tautom, with its oversea possessions colloquially the Kingdom of Baltia
Capital City: Tautom
From the Dynasty of the Fourth Champion: the reign of King Orso of the Balting dynasty
Universally referred to as simply a King, rather than a High King as the Kings from the other 3 dynasties, for the Balting Dynasty has lost the power and prestige it once held to the expansionist Chlotars. Orso and his fathers believe that in a world without paradise, man must create its own paradise. As such the troubles afflicting the rest of the world, long since overrun by barbarians, should all be shut out. Orso believes the best way to deal with the Chlotars… is to simply ignore them! Those primitive Chlotar party crashers with their fetish for violence and conquest don’t have the navy to seize the Baltian islands, nor the machinery to breach the walls of Tautom! And those perpetually angry Lamperts? What a bunch of hate-filled dumb brutes. And don’t even get Orso started on those pretentious Eodaens, they’re nothing more than a glorified pirates bay. None of their types are welcome in Tautom lest Odovakre’s quest for reviving the Heavenly Kingdom be truly squandered. Within these fortified confines and inconquerable walls of Tautom City, life is paradise. The people of Tautom live worlds apart from the outside world. Forget the rest of Mainland Baltia – Cauroman can have it. Hopefully he is happy with it. The Tautans didn’t need those fertile lush green fields and rolling hills anyway. Meanwhile King Orso will continue to entertain his great seraglio of wives while savoring casks of rich flowing wine imported from the finest plantations of Syrome.
Tautan Characteristics: Mentality: Tautans are wanton and free, shamelessly so. Any absolute authority has hitherto failed to bind them. They have no tolerance for tyrants and will defend their personal rights and freedoms -- which King Odovakre had won them -- with a passionate zeal. Due to their self-serving nature there is never a lasting unity in the Tautan people. Their quest for a benevolent society is through the happiness of its people… Achieved through worldly pleasures. The only times when Tautans unite, it is in defiance of autocrats, be that from outside or within. This is often perceived as an inherent disloyalty to their own faction’s leadership, but Tautans themselves do not see it as such. Because in times when need is great, surely the Tautans will come together under the King’s banner and fight to the last. Yet whenever there is no apparent immediate threat, they will resume their complacent lifestyles.
Visually: Inside the walls of Tautom, the civilians and warriors alike tend to only wear sandals and single-piece garments, such as loincloths and togas, often a combination of the two. The warriors make sure to oil their abs as to make enemies insecure in their own manliness for not having such magnificent and athletic bodies. Or at least, that’s the general idea. There is a tendency for Tautan men to shave, particularly on their body, for how else will they make those abs glisten pure in the radiant sun? And if they do have beards they must keep them trimmed. Due to Viigoc influences some of the more sensible in the Tautan garrison still come adorned with more practical chainmail and scalemail, much like the warriors of the barbarian kingdoms. Some of the more elite men and generals wear breastplates in the style of antiquity. And their assortment of weaponry is a lot more diverse and exotic than anywhere else. Rule of thumb: if it exists, Tautom probably has a pair lying somewhere. In Tautom nakedness isn’t particularly frowned on. In the warrior class the only things that have to be covered up are the face and the junk. And I kid you not when I say there are Viigoc warrior-women wearing chainmail bikinis. They probably understand that the armor is useless and fetishistic, but they presumably do so to make statements of bravado much like the men with the oiled abs do.
Viigoc Characteristics Not to be confused with the Tautans. Where Tautans are the citizens of Tautom, regardless of ethnicity, the Viigocs are a Barbarian Tribe that have for long served and inhabited a district of Tautom City and make up much of the city garrison. Of all Barbarian tribes, the Viigocs are the most integrated into Celesean culture, and arguably the most ‘modern’ therefore. But the Viigoc tribe is dying and divided into three groups: those that defected to the Chlotars are the Baltavigocs, those integrated into Tautan Culture are the Tautovigocs, and those few Viigocs remaining true to Odovakre’s legacy are the Syrovigocs, named after the island of Syrome which they settled. Each of these Viigoc groups are distinct from the other, with the Syrovigocs wearing Celesean lamellar mail and following Celesean dress codes and norms. They are skilled, loyal and the most elite household troops of Doux Belisar. The Tautovigocs are largely similar to those of Syrome, however lack their skill and discipline. Many of the Tautovigocs are corrupt and slothful, and usually little more than a glorified militia that like to throw wrestling matches and flaunt their muscles. The Baltavigocs are the largest Viigoc group. They are the remnant of the Baltian continental military that have in last decades defected to the Chlotar King’s banner, and returned considerably more to their Barbarian roots. Baltavigocs despise Tautom with a passion, for they have seen firsthand the evils and depravity within those walls.
History: Originally a rumpstate of the Heavenly Kingdom of Antiquity, the Realm of Baltia was positioned in the east of Visandza with many holdouts and cities along the coast and islands in the Sea of Tears, as a bulwark against the races of Locust. More than any other nation of Visandza, Baltia is a kingdom that is a mishmash of barbarian and Celesean. Following the breaking of the world the continent of Visandza was settled by droves of refugees from the Eastern continent, most notably the Viigoc tribe and their King Odovakre, the Third Champion. The Viigocs are a fierce tribe, with a history of alliances and rebellions against the Celeseans, yet during the apocalyptic war against the Locust fighting back to back and side by side. After the world broke, creating the Western continent of Visandza and the eastern continent of Ostrapathia, the Viigocs were the last humans still remaining in Ostrapathia. Unable to escape, they were doomed to die on their own. But in this hour of need God recognized their strife, and answered by sending the Viigocs the Third Champion; Odovakre, the only man capable of taming and riding a mammoth into battle. The Heavenly Kingdom promised the stranded Viigocs ships to ferry them across the Sea of Tears to the safety of Visandza. For days the Viigocs awaited sails on the western horizon, but the Celeseans never came. All the while the Divine Locust were creeping in on the stranded Viigocs… The tribe would have given up all hope, but Odovakre inflamed the spirits of the despairing Viigocs to brace manfully for the imminent assault. After seven days of relentless fighting, Odovakre used his Holy Sword, Weihshairus, to slay the Locust King in single combat. After which the Locust assailants relented at last, and the Viigocs lived to see the new dawn. Finally Ships from Visandza arrived, not of the Heavenly Kingdom, but of barbarian sailors from Eodaland and their King, Hengist. The Eodaens ferried Odovakre and the remaining Viigocs across the sea, after which the Viigocs and Eodaens vowed eternal friendship between their tribes. Unfortunately there was no room for Odovakre's mammoth, and he remained behind. Gone but not forgotten!
Arriving in Visandza, Odovakre learned why the Heavenly Kingdom did not fulfill their promise of help; their capital had been annihilated. What the Viigocs found was a ravaged Celesean rumpstate, where the surviving Celesean lords bid Odovakre be their new King. And so the Kingdom of Baltia emerged, and on the ruins of the Heavenly Capital was built the City of Tautom. It was a Kingdom with a Viigoc army and King, and a Celesean government structure and population beholden to the new barbarian overlords. Later when the Lampert hordes migrated southwards to invade the Celesean rumpstates, the Viigocs on the frontier withstood their eastern advance, but were stretched too thin to thwart the Lampert invasion of Amalia.
Overtime the royal Viigoc lineage was bred out through marriages with members of the old Heavenly government, who sought the blood of God’s Champions that ruled Visandza after antiquity. That it may link it to its own ancient dynasties, and the Baltian Kings of today long since embraced a Celesean identity. After three centuries of neglecting their frontier defenses, most of Odovakre’s Kingdom was lost at the hands of the other Barbarian kingdoms. Clodovech, King of the nascent Chlotar Kingdom and grandfather of King Cauroman, invaded Baltia with an army comprising many tribes and barbarian races, and in a disastrous turn of events the bulk of the Viigoc army defected to him. The Kingdom of Baltia lost all its mainland possessions and has been reduced to the confines of its capital city, henceforth mockingly named the City State of Tautom. The southern Kingdom of Amalia suffered much the same fate; having been reduced to the Holy city of Udos. While the Tautans themselves might blame the loss of their continental holdings to the aggression of the Chlotars and the treachery of the Viigocs, the more self-conscious will attribute the downfall of Baltia to the complacency of Odovakre’s descendants and inept leadership of the royal senate. The Tautan people, those that are paying attention to the doom at their doorstep, understand that in these times they will need a hero to save them from their impending annexation or annihilation… And they can certainly not expect to have the same freedoms and way of life under Barbarian rule. What good are their freedoms if they are not willing to protect them?
Capital City: Nova Syrome
Technically outside of Visandza, Syrome is an island province formally aligned to the Kingdom of Baltia but only in name. They are by all means an independent realm ruled by the Doux and Despot Belisar, who pays very little heed to the overlordship of the Baltian King in mainland Tautom City. Not that Belisar would have to though, for Orso is barely politically engaged and makes no effort whatsoever to boss Belisar around. Orso, rather naïvely, is quite fond of Belisar and trusts he ever works only to benefit Greater Baltia. His lack of engagement in the affairs of Syrome is aspect of the philosophy the Baltian royals are brought up in by the Celesean sages. The Tautan King fundamentally believes that his subjects should be free to pursuits of self-governance and liberty. As a self-styled successor state of the Heavenly Kingdom, the Celesean states are structured on a higher, more enlightened set of principles and ethics. So they pride themselves.
Unlike Tautom however, in Syrome that statement actually rings closer to truth. Ever since the breaking of the world the rulers of the Syromean archipelago have followed a committed effort to revive the guiding philosophies and sciences of antiquity, and to renovate the ruined structures that the Heavenly Kingdom left behind across the islets of the Sea of Tears. Even the household troops of the Syromean Doux are actual career warriors in a fashion not seen since ages past -- well equipped, outfitted and drilled. …A standing army to match that of the King of Tautom, and perhaps even surpass it. Though they do not number in many, one Syrovigoc or Syromean cataphract fights with the prowess of five continental warriors. Supposedly.
The Sea of Tears has for years been plagued by a severe pirate problem affecting Baltian waters and, to a lesser extent, Chlotaringen and Eodaland as well. Though any ship waving the Syromean flag seems to strangely get a free pass and traverses unassailed. Rumors sparked that it is Belisar who is in collusion with the pirates all along. There has been no evidence to substantiate this claim, however.
Syromean Characteristics Mentality: The Syromean people are in contrast to their Tautan cousins, guarded and snobbish, and maintain a traditionalistic nostalgia and stubborn pride for the old days that the Tautans have overtime forgotten. While they too have a self-serving nature and adhere to the utilitarian principles of Odovakre and the Celesean philosophers, the decline of Celeasean civilization and the barbarian conquest of Visandza has seen the Syromeans become increasingly militant and irreverent to Tautan’s liberties. A growing majority of Syromeans and other islanders have taken on the belief that, to secure a benevolent society and happiness for its populace, they must return to the absolutism of the old empire -- and the pleasures of the world be held with a steady yet iron first. Syrome as such is a rebellious divergence from the social norm of Tautom, as they reject complacency for the sake of ‘restoring order’. Which is to say; going on the offensive against the Barbarian Kingdoms. Fueled by the threats to their society, revanchism and their ruler Belisar’s imperial aspirations, Syromeans are perhaps the very autocrats their Tautan cousins fear.
Visually: Syrome and Tautum are both successor cultures of the Heavenly Kingdom, but it is the former that considers itself the true heirs of the Celeseans. The flowing white robes and dresses of the Heavenly Kingdom are back in vogue after so long being a remnant of the distant past. Clean shaven faces are considered more civilized to facial hair, with only some senior Syrovigocs having facial hair, and always well groomed. The Vigocs of Syrome have always been known for their discipline and military pragmatism, so are nearly always found in full military gear and armour, often Celesean scale, chain and lamellar. Though Syrome is not entirely separate from Tautan culture; the loincloths and togas can still be commonly found, and while public nakedness is not a taboo, it is reserved only for formal events. For example, warriors are expected to fight naked in certain gladiatorial combat or in athletic tournaments.
History The Syromean Archipelago had been occupied by a city of the same name since time immemorial. But back then it was a landlocked place central of the continent. Only as the world broke did Syrome become an island, and sustained great damage in the process. More than half of Old Syrome was swallowed into the ocean of the Sea of Tears. The City of Syrome today, while doing a good job in renovating the remains of the sunken city, is but a bloody stump of what it was. The Syromean archipelago was visited by Odovakre and his Viigocs as the Eodaen Fleet ferried them across the sea, where they have built a permanent settlement outside of the broken walls of Syrome City, joining the local Celesean survivors in trying to salvage what was left of it. This was to be the foundation of Nova Syrome, with the settlement the Viigocs built becoming the Viigoc Quarter of Nova Syrome.
As Odovakre and the Viigoc Army continued to the mainland, they established the Kingdom of Baltia which also claimed ownership of the islands in the Sea of Tears. From then on the various pockets of Celesean rumpstates that the Kingdom of Baltia absorbed were beholden to the Viigoc King and the Balti Dynasty. Nevertheless the Celesean Despots largely rules autonomously from Baltia, granted they paid their annual tributes to the Court of Tautom and presented themselves before the King whenever called upon. However while the continental holdings fell into decay after centuries of Baltian rule and mismanagement, Syrome was only growing in power. Their roles had reversed. Today the Despot of Syrome arguably wields more power than the King in Tautom, especially after the Chlotars deprived Baltia of all its holdings save for only the capital. By now it would’ve been easy for the Celesean island states to break away from Baltian rule, and many Douxes were already displaying rebellious intent. Yet due to the Pirate problem they are still dependent on the Baltian navy for protection. However many of the islands would sooner turn to Syrome for protection than Tautom these days, which only comes to show who wields the true power in the region. And Syrome insists on maintaining allegiance to Tautom City as to not relinquish a united Celesean claim on mainland Visandza.
The Holy City of Udos
Capital City: Holy Udos
Holy Udos is a city and independent theocratic state with ownership over a few isolated towns and villages in southern Amalia, to the south of Lampertei. Much like Tautom and Syrome it started out as a rumpstate of the Heavenly Kingdom of antiquity. It has become a religious center and sanctuary, with legendary walls under providence of God that the God-hating Lamperts have hitherto not breached. The inner sanctum of Udos is domain of the Hierophant, a Matriarchical religious ruler and highest spiritual authority on Visandza. She is the headmaster of a multinational women’s order known as the Vestal Virgins, the clergy of the Udosian Sanctum. The inner sanctum is forbidden to men, though rare exceptions are made for truly ‘special’ individuals. Cauroman was one of such.
The Vestal Virgins tend to the fires of Udos, braziers in every corner of the inner sanctum. God promised the people of Udos that, so long the fires were lit and attended, the city would be under his protection. Furthermore it is said the priestesses of God, the Vestal Virgins, have supernatural powers. Though only when they are indeed virgin maidens. They will lose their blessed powers if they are ever made impure, adding reason to the prohibition of men.
The Vestal Virgins serve as bridge between God and mortals. They're in communion with God more than even the Kings, even though those are technically part God themselves. In contrast to Kings, the Vestals are more a medium communicating with God directly. And God communicates to them not so much with words as he does through mental images and visions. Their Supernatural abilities, beyond being divine mediums, also cover medical and ceremonial fields. They are known to be able to cure disease and heal trauma and injury. A Vestal Virgin has the power of sanctifying wellsprings and imbuing objects and charms with their protective blessing. They also fill ceremonial functions for a royal coronation or marriage by ritually sprinkling holy water – actual holy water -- ensuring the people that God’s approval rests on this day.
Presently the sisterhood is going through hard times. Once they were represented in every nation of Visandza, but since the decay of God they have been ousted from all lands save those held by the Chlotars. Even Tautom, which once housed one of their key Vestal Institutions as a fellow successor State of the Heavenly Kingdom, has in recent years abused and rejected them. And worse was yet to come. Because now with the growing threat of Dalgiserius at their gates, this once mighty order's very existence is at stake...
Amalian Characteristics Mentality: Of all the Celesean successor states, the Amalians had always been the odd-balls among them. For one they have a considerably matriarchical and ascetic culture with an increasingly theocratic government system, going back to the days that God ruled the Heavenly Kingdom directly. In stark contrast to the ultra-promiscuity of the Baltian Tautans, the Amalians are very chaste. During antiquity the Amalian peninsula was the religious capital of the Heavenly Kingdom, with a culture that increasingly idealized femininity as a model for purity and pacifism -- hence the formation of the Vestal Virgins. This aspect of their culture hasn’t changed much since antiquity. As a culture that shunned violence, gladiatorial spectacles were abolished and the military was neglected. However when the central authority of the Heavenly Kingdom collapsed, on whose armies the peninsula depended, it rendered Amalia easy pickings for the warlike barbarians of the north, who were their polar opposites in idealizing heroic masculinity and the glory of war. The Amalians were never in a position to seek quarter with the Lamperts. Violence is the only language those savages respected. The Amalians scorned the use of weaponry as a means of protection, for the truest shield was faith in God. And when the barbarians butchered them, God would surely recognize that the moral victory was theirs for abstaining from war and violence.
That said, following the Lampert conquest of northern Amalia, the southern Amalians became increasingly militant and hardened, with its own standing army to keep the Lamperts at bay (with varying degrees of success). However even now the Amalians look to outside powers to be their protectors – and that role has been passed to Chlotaringen.
Visually: Amalian dresscode is quite distinct from that of the other Celeseans. While all Celeseans have the trademark one-piece garments, the Amalians wear them much longer, often as robes that cover up the whole of the body, and scarves to cover the neck and back of the heads. Women often cover their hair too. The Amalians have a long tradition of chastity and self-denial as a means to stand in deeper communion with God. This applies to women more than men however, as the clerical profession has become gendered and exclusive to Amalian women, which the other nations of the world eventually emulated. The men also wear long robes, be they civilian or sage, and often accompanied with beards in ascetic fashion, particularly for old men. Facial hair is considered a show of humility and spirituality rather than authority or masculinity as it is in the barbarian kingdoms. Amalian warriors wear lamellar cuirasses, accompanied with shoulder plate, greaves and rivetted helmets to cover their necks and throats. The distinct Amalian lamellar design is what the invading Lamperts largely based their own armor on. These are accompanied by short shoulder capes and leather leg and arm protection to offer flexibility.
History After the breaking of the world and during the collapse of the Heavenly Kingdom, Amalia had already become an independently functioning state that broke off from the Capital’s overarching authority. However they were severely weakened by mass migration and years of apocalyptic warfare with the Divine Locust.
The Kingdom of Amalia, as it was initially called shortly after becoming an independent state, was at this time ruled by a royal family -- a branch of the Celesean imperial dynasty. The new Kingdom was but a few years old when already it was threatened with collapse. They had survived the first wave of Locust, but it had cost them dearly. Amalia was too exhausted and drained of manpower to continue the battle much like the other Celesean states. Fortunately their old Lampert foes in the north were embroidered in much the same conflict. And so the King of Amalia made an alliance with King Alboin in return for a promise to cede them land. The Lamperts agreed, and the combined Lampert and Celesean forces drove the Locust out of southern Visandza. And at last, the great enemy of humanity was defeated. But peace did not return. As soon as the Locust were gone, the Lamperts demanded double the land they were initially promised for doing most of the work in defeating the Locust. And when this was not forthcoming, the Lampert armies moved southwards to seize the Amalian peninsula by force.
Amalia remembered this wicked turning point as the ‘Lampert Betrayal’, the betrayal of the alliance. Since then the Amalians were driven south, ever on the defense, and maintained a remnant of the old Kingdom in the southern tip of the peninsula with a new capital centered in Holy Udos. The authority of the Amalian Kings was broken, and the Hierophant of Udos came to be the effective ruler of the remnant-nation instead, transforming it from a kingdom to a theocratic state. This Amalian state in the south came to be known as the Udosian Creed of Amalia thenceforth. The native Amalians were allowed to cling to that land in return for annual tributes paid to the Lampert King.
For the next three centuries of appeasement policies there was an uneasy peace between the Lamperts and Amalians, with periodic border skirmishes, but never full blown war… Until King Dalgiserius, who for the past 20 years has been seeing to the full Lampert conquest of the Amalian peninsula once and for all. The remnants of the Amalian royal family, largely wiped out, fled to Baltia, Tautom and the islets of the Sea of Tears. The last survivor of the Amalian royal line was Adacharista, the first and 'official' wife of King Orso.
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To start with; every Godsplinter has a passive supernatural influence on the people around them, who can innately sense their Kingliness thereby. What powers a Godsplinter has is often unique to that person, and depends on the dynasty they are born into. Each of the Four Dynasties has a different area of supernatural influence on their surroundings. Another thing to understand; each Godsplinter and King has a degree of Plot Armor. Plot armor is something that is actually in-universe acknowledged. It’s called the ‘Providence of God’. A God Splinter is a fragment of God, and thereby protected from doom.
Blessings: A King can transfer this Providence onwards to some of his favored subjects through a blessing. Being blessed means that they are mostly safe from stray arrows and would-be-mortal injuries, or birds randomly pooping on their heads. A King can only bless a Subject through some form of ritual requiring them to be in his direct presence. Curses: On the other hand, a king can also curse a subject when they displease him, which spells doom for them. Not only will they suddenly find themselves constantly being pooped on by birds and tripping over random pebbles, but they are also more inclined to meet a sudden and violent end. This is why it is important to stay in a King’s good graces.
Other princelings besides the King, and his Blessed subjects, also have these benefits, though for them it is considerably weaker -- more watered down. Only the Godsplinter that actually occupies the station of King is acknowledged by God to a greater portion of his power to act on his behalf.
To Kill a King: Due to the Providence of God, a King cannot be killed by a regular mortal. And only sometimes – if God wills it -- by a Blessed Mortal or a Godsplinter. This is the reason why the Kings of Visandza have a tradition and history of challenging each other to single combat, as King Cauroman does. Because only a King can slay another King. This adds to the reason why subjects must learn to tolerate their Kings, for the Kingdom hinges on his protective blessing in this age of where God is no more -- and their wrath is best not incurred.
When a King or Godsplinter dies, that Splinter’s powers returns to God.
------------------------ Examples of powers by the Kings in this story Cauroman fills his court with confidence and inspires them to a higher set of ideals. When he leads an army onto the field of battle, that army is instilled with courage and heroism, not afraid to die and determined to victory.
Dalgiserius fills his court with dread, which is from the surface a bad thing, but has also numbed their senses. Now his Gastalds are truly fearless and psychopathic, unafraid of death or God – for no dread in this world is more potent than that of their King. When Dalgiserius leads an army into battle, the enemy army may rout at the mere sight of the Lampert King.
Orso fills his court with an intoxicating merriment, dulling their senses. This isn’t a very good thing in and by itself, particularly in times as desperate as now. However, this power is essential in keeping the untamable beast that is Tautom’s populace from turning to total lawlessness and anarchy. If Orso were to lead an army into battle -- which will surely never happen – both armies could soon lose the spirit to fight and desert the field of battle.
Badastan fills his court with trust in their King. While in his presence, they will believe anything he says. They may even worship him for a God. He can tell them things most insane and from out this world, and convince them with all their heart and mind that Squirrels are in fact holy animals to be worshipped. Is that a good thing? For Badastan it surely is. On the battlefield, the mere sight of King Badastan will give the enemy a certain craving to collect acorns. That’s all really.
- The determinator of a Godsplinter’s abilities depends on their dynasty. To get a rough idea of what aspect of God each dynasty represents:
Chlotar Royalty: Faramundian – Sphere of Determination: Belligerence, Purpose, Ambition, Honor, Drive (downside; war, aggression, single-sightedness) Lampert Royalty: Alboinid – Sphere of Order: Wrath, Structure, Honesty, Chastisement, Discipline (downside; oppression, persecution) Baltian Royalty: Balting – Sphere of Benevolence: Mercy, Joy, Defiance, Freedom and Salvation (downside; corruption, dysfunction, decadence) Eodaen Royalty: Horsa – Sphere of Wisdom: Creativity, Charisma, Compromise, Caution, Alliance (downside; treachery, opportunism, Machiavellianism)
They are a mysterious and evil race created for the sole purpose of annihilating humanity. They answer directly to God. Fortunately they are mostly dormant now since God's retreat from the world. They awaken only when God’s ire is incurred at the state of the world.
Imagine them like a swarm of huge man sized bugs. They are a deliberately vague enemy. And even though they are largely dormant, to this day the Eastern continent of Ostropathia is unsafe for human life. The Humans of Visandza have called Ostropathia the ‘Locust Empire’. There are few adventurers that have gone there and lived to tell the tale – but it is certainly possible to survive an expedition there.
The Radbouds are a minor barbarian tribe and small independent coastal Kingdom on mainland Visandza, south to Eodaland. The Radbouds are related to the Eodaens and had long established ties with them. Some, in fact, consider them to be an actual Eodaen offshoot that simply never joined the Confederacy of the other coastal tribes. Radboudy is ruled by King Poppo, who is himself not from a Splinter Dynasty and thereby not one of the ‘4 Great Kingdoms’. It’s a peaceful sea-faring nation that seeks only to protect its sovereignty and its trade, moreso than it seeks to expand. While they maintain amiable relations with the Chlotars and Eodaens, they do grow increasingly suspicious towards both their encroachment. Should either try to annex them, the Radbouds will fight. King Poppo’s son and heir, Aldgillis, is married to Eodaen Princess Sunniva.
It has not been explicitly mentioned yet, but naturally the different factions each have their own heraldry to distinguish them by. Probably semi-important to know.
Chlotaringen, after the Faramundian Dynasty, is represented by the Lion Lampertei, after the Alboinid Dynasty, is represented by the Black Bear The Eodaen Tribes are represented by the Wyvern The Viigoc Tribes (though they are divided and without a nation) is represented by the Mammoth, which was native to their lands of ancestry in the hyperborean domain of north Ostropathia Baltia is represented by the Eagle Syrome is represented by the Cobra Amalia is represented by the Evening Star, the only nation that does not use an animal for heraldry
The setting is, as you all know, set in the dark ages. Hence the population of Visandza is sparse. This is owed to the destruction of the Heavenly Kingdom and the Divine Locust that nearly wiped out humankind some 4 centuries ago. The humans alive today are descendants of the survivors, both indigenous to Visandza and refugees from Ostropathia like the Viigocs and many Celeseans. Humanity today consists of some 6 (conservative) to 7 (at most) million people. This affects the scale on which wars are fought. At one point a kingdom simply does not have the manpower to sustain prolonged all-out war. Most of Visandza consists of wildlands untouched by humans. Particularly for Chlotaringen; for as much land as they have laid claim to, most of it is virtually unpopulated to this day. For this period of time an army of 10.000 (like the one of King Cauroman) is considered enormous, as ordinary field armies, even royal ones, tend to comprise 2000 to 3000 men.
Chlotaringen – the bulk of continental Visandza - has approx 3 million in population.
The Amalian peninsula is a denser part of the world, divided by Lamperts in the north and Amalians in the south. There's some 1 to 1,5 million Lamperts and 500k Amalians. So up to 2 million people total in the peninsula.
Eodaland has the lowest population of the established Kingdoms, with only some 300k of those squirrel lovers in existence.
The Viigocs are the smallest tribe. Their population had been decimated during the migration from Ostropathia. There’s a total of some 100k Viigocs in existence, of which 20k are Tautovigocs (urban city dwellers of Tautom), 20k are Syrovigocs (integrated Celesean-Viigoc Islanders) and 60k are Baltavigocs, who have lived predominately in pocket communities at the eastern fringe territories of Baltia, and are a very rural group thereby. Due to their segregation, the Baltavigocs have retained most of their original tribal and barbarian characteristics lost unto the other Viigocs.
Tautom City houses a tremendous population unlike seen anywhere in the world. It is Visandza’s sole sprawling megalopolis to remain in the style of antiquity, with a staggering population from 100k up to 200k people. Contrast this to Chlotaringen's capital of Aaixen, which has only roughly 10.000 inhabitants, and even that is considered a major city. The vast majority of people in the Barbarian Kingdoms live a rural lifestyle away from cities.
The Syromean archipelago has an estimated 60k in population. For all their wealth and resources, the islander population supports not nearly enough manpower to draw an army from, therefore much of their military consists of foreign sellswords.
--- Of note: The Chlotars aren't the same tribe but emerged as a confederacy of many different tribes and therefore comprise varying different cultures and Barbarian ethnic groups with their own dialects and sometimes distinct languages. Similarly goes for the Lamperts, Eodaens and Viigocs. In the case of the Chlotars, they are united only in piety and servitude to Godas. The original tribe of Chlotachar is only small and as a distinct identity from the other Chlotars largely died out (by the mandibles of the Divine Locust centuries ago).
With a population this sparse and the various difficulties deriving therefrom, why don’t rulers just press their population for a baby boom? Well, they do. But these are dark times, and infant mortality rates have always been rather high. Of any 10 given children only 3 or 4 or them grow up to adulthood. And once they are adult, the world is still pretty violent and unforgiving. Many of them do not get the chance to leave offspring of their own. Often entire family branches just go extinct. For the past centuries the growth of the population has increased only very slowly, and in parts remained more-or-less the same.
On Visandza humans are not the sole inhabitants. Monsters truly exist, but are even more sparse than humans are. The Barbarian kingdoms refer to them as ‘the Darklings’. They are beings of the night, who lurk in the dark corners of the world where humans dare not tread.. Only at night do these monsters come out of their corners. It is for this reason that the humans of Visandza are wary of darkness, and wisely resort to travel only by day.
The Darklings come in many forms, and often possess forms of supernatural powers not unlike the Human Godsplinters. Their powers are not understood, but some speculate that they too are splinters of God, perhaps in God’s attempt to rid himself of vice and evil. That evil was reborn in the mortal coil in the form of the Darklings. The only known monsters (as seen in IC) so far is the Shapeshifter demon from Nevelholt and the Nightbird from Crow Valley. Both of these attacks occurred when it was dark outside. You too are free to introduce a monster should it add substance to your IC. Dragons also exist, but they are not majestic creatures, but rather large, wingless and malevolent.
In ancient times before memory, a Celesean cleric unwittingly trespassed on Chlotachar’s hunting grounds. Chlotachar’s men captured the interloper and brought him before their chieftain, who demanded to know the reason for the cleric's interference with his hunting. The cleric answered that he wasn't aware that he was trespassing. At this point, Chlotachar noticed that the cleric was Celesean, and he said that "a dog is worth more than a Celesean." The cleric responded, "Yes, if we had not faith in Godas, we should indeed be worse than dogs." Puzzled, Chlotachar ordered the cleric to explain "Godas". Up unto this point the hyperborean tribes were unaware of the concept of gods, their closest form of worship being the reverence of totem animals, woodland and ancestral spirits. On that day Chlotachar obtained the first seed of knowledge of God, however still angry at the trespasser, he went on to mock the cleric. ‘’Your Godas does not ride the horse, wield the sword, or ride to protect our people as our ancestral spirits do.’’ Declaring he had no need for a passive ‘God’. ‘’All the being and all deeds of your ancestors have their utmost origin in Godas.’’ As Chlotachar perceived this remark as an attack on his ancestors, added to the cleric’s trespassing, severe punishment was upon him. Chlotachar would have the man killed. However a seed of doubt was planted, and instead he opted to make him his thrall – a slave. An appropriate punishment while also an excuse to keep the cleric and his esoteric knowledge close by. Chlotachar understood him to be a sage.
That night – it was said -- Chlotachar’s deceased mother appeared to him in a dream. She told him that she was not his mother, but one of the faces of God. While the mother begets the children of the world, God is the Mastery, the very process of Creation itself.
At this point Chlotachar began to reconsider the words of the enthralled sage. He understood that he serves the Originator of divinity directly, instead of through ancestral placeholders as the hyperboreans do. An unspecified time thereafter, Chlotachar was said to have embraced God and introduced God-worship to the tribes, whom his tribe dubbed Godas. The Celesean Cleric was released from thralldom, yet given freedom, he opted to remain as Chlotachar’s willing thrall.
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