If that's how it is, that's how it is. The only thing I'd say is that I would've wanted to know earlier if possible, since it seems like you might've made up your mind a good week ago. If you want to come back on later, that's open, as always.
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- Senor Herp
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Two days since a general call on the Discord without response. If you aren't bothering to launch and check the program, please do so. If you're in ghost mode, please be bothered to reply. Radio silence is a very disconcerting pet peeve. I can't do much of anything beside spin my own wheels if no one will collaborate or ask the questions they feel inclined to ask.
In the world of mortal man, one finds all life to be essentially preordained, deterministic and futile, without the intervention of the divine and the gigantic. This the result of mortal ignorance, born in formative chaos and an empty seat of rule. Bereft of guiding hand and miserably adrift in the causal sea, blind and grasping, who are we to neglect to grant Man keel, sail and wind alike? But we cannot see him informed of the greater workings of the world; we shall be informed for him. For small-minded men, too much knowledge is a poison. The death imposed by Truth, be it the first or the second or in whatever order, cannot be withstood and therefore cannot be imposed upon the multitude all at once.
Fools of a mind to speak of ‘freedom’ outside Sovereignty will decry such a course as manipulative or tyrannical, and they would be correct on both counts, though the latter only in the original sense of ‘usurper’ to that seat on high; and yet I see no reason to leave Man to an unknown fate, of unknown cruelty, as opposed to one of our own devisement. They cannot be free, for the world is not ready for a society of masters alone as we strive for, and to see ourselves chained to rulership and them in the chains of rule is only to their own benefit.
Fools of a mind to speak of ‘freedom’ outside Sovereignty will decry such a course as manipulative or tyrannical, and they would be correct on both counts, though the latter only in the original sense of ‘usurper’ to that seat on high; and yet I see no reason to leave Man to an unknown fate, of unknown cruelty, as opposed to one of our own devisement. They cannot be free, for the world is not ready for a society of masters alone as we strive for, and to see ourselves chained to rulership and them in the chains of rule is only to their own benefit.
-Bhaskara Aniruddha Shyama, otherwise Asurishvara, Rites of Kings and the Right of Rule.
Rajazul, somewhere in the southeastern quarter streets, at dawn.
“To he whom has built the city…”
A familiar refrain begins from out of the switchback alleyway, accompanied by sitar strings. The player is swaddled, enmasked and dressed in chromatic rags, frayed but beauteous. As dawn breaks over the sharply cut spires and bulging domes, towering skyward as if to meet the sun halfaways, that refrain is echoed. At first, a few dozen lazing strings call back from faraway alleys and underhangs, out of rhythm. An ascetic voice sonorously rises some ways away from the first, perhaps a block away.
”To he whom has built the city,”
The dual strike of a twin-headed drum sounds from the nearby waterfront, and then more like it, rolling up into a light beat along the canals. Whining flutes, braying reeds and trumpets, more voices speaking and chorded call and respond and begin to play near the first singer, block to block, and other pockets of music afar begin in parallel with this one. More voices rise, now, and say,
”To he whom has built the city,”
The void of rhythm slowly works itself otherwise, taking to itself a shape. Strings plucked as one, to one chord, wind blowing with notes of hanging clarity, chime and rattle and struck wood chattering like hail, the drums rolling into a pealing thunderstorm of noise, rising, rising, and then nothing, as silence reigned; the players’ halt so abrupt that the specter of the music still seemed to ring out, living yet within the walls and the spires and the clear waters of the River Uma.
Ten thousand voices and more spoke then as one, unaccompanied and clear.
”To he whom has built the city, give praise.”
And the storm began anew, in full rhythm. Curtains draw, shutters are set aside, doors swing wide to air fresh and warm. The first bustlings of traffic begin to funnel outwards into the dye-stained streets. A second music begins alongside the first, that of idle conversation, greetings, callings, of endless footsteps, sounds of life. A few coins rattle into the dish at the end of the switchback alleyway, where the enmasked man plays. To the call of the Priests of the Mendicant Fable, the city lives, breathes, and awakes.
Washhouse, somewhere in the middle quarter, early morning.
Beneath a low roof, the churning and spattering of water underscored the din of chatter. Dozens surrounded the low basin, almost all women and girls, with a few grumbling boys, washing cloth and sheet. Above the rest, one conversation between mother and daughter begins to stand out.
“I tell you, Richa, don’t you ever yearn for the countryside?” beggared the mother. A woman by the name of Nishat, simply dressed, darkly hued, and unadorned.
“No, mother, not once have I,” was the immediate reply, sing-song with just a hint of irritation. This was neither the first nor the last Richa would hear of this, as her family and indeed many of those present had immigrated from the countryside during the last period of expansionary building through the decade. Contrary to her mother, she was dressed finely for their low-middling class, bejeweled and made up; ink ran across her skin in swirling script.
“But the open air and the uncrowded living?” Nishat queried. “They hardly compare to the splendor of Bhaskara’s city,” Richa shot back.
“Splendor, she says, as every morning we wake to a racket of mantras. It was novel the first time, but...”
“I have not tired of the beauty of it even a little, even now.”
“And yet-”
“Every day with this! Would you leave the poor girl alone, Nishat?” began a centennial looking little woman- hunched and olive-hued, her name was Parvati, and she had lived there in that neighborhood as long as any could remember, regarded as no one and everyone’s grandmother. “Racket or no racket, I don’t think you would relish returning to doing your laundering in the streambed. Hm?” A chorus of giggling resounded as the nagging was silenced. Nishat, glowering and sighing, turned her frustration towards wringing work, and began to drain one end of a heavy sheet.
As graywater spilled over the basin’s lip or was thrown out into the drains, Richa tugged down a heavy pull-chain, letting freshwater flow in through a pipe cut through the rooftop. She smiled, thinking to herself that this was one thing she might never have seen in the country. And yet, following that pipe over the rooves on which it laid, it spiraled up the pillared support of a great aqueduct, reaching high over the streets, stretching on through the whole city, and out from it beyond and over the coast.
Traders’ galley Chrysanthos, at a dockyard on the mouth of the Savitr, morning.
Gerasimos, at wits’ end, looked on his shipmate sternly. “I will tell you what I told you when we first embarked, Emilios; I am not getting off this boat.”
This elicited a sharp bark of laughter from his shipmate. “I don’t believe you. Do you not see it? This is the city. I póli! The conflux of nations, the jewel of the east, great center of worldly trade. The seat of a demigod, the Great Archon, Justinian’s own rival and suzerain to the mortal Basileus and master of Kyriakos both!”
“Oh, yes, indeed. Demon-king of a second Tushiena, itself a second Dratha, ruler behind a weak emperor, leash-holder of the butcher of the Tshrivs & hundred-man slayer. I am dearly impressed by his overgilded labors and the illustrious company he keeps.” A scowl turned their way at this remark, cast down from a tawny mariner resting at the taffrail of the twice-taller military galleas that was their neighbor at dock. Emilios excused his companion with no more than a shrug and a politely strained smile, which was enough to put the mariner on his bitter elsewhere on the ship and out of sight.
“You are a joyless ingrate, you know that? And seditious, too. You might be able to get away with that sort of talk in Bakt, but I wouldn’t go shouting it to the heavens here. The Bhaskara certainly live here in plenty enough number, and they named themselves for him, such was their love for all this- this gilding!”
“Well, I hardly share in it, and I won’t have to shout if I don’t go into the city to begin with, will I? There’s plenty of accounting left to do below deck. It’s how I’ve avoided a tan for so long.”
“You won’t have anything to shout about if you don’t start ‘sharing,’ and I wouldn’t call transparence ‘avoiding a tan.’ Must you view life so dismally?” Emilios pinched the bridge of his nose tight enough to mark the skin, hoarsely irritated.
This sort of bickering had become quite familiar to the crew of the Chrysanthos. The rest of their shipmates and workmen had by now begun to politely ignore them as they set about their labors, or left for shore leave as Emilios clearly and dearly wished to. The two seemed to be eternally at odds; even their pallor was opposing, Gerasimos dark-haired and pale, Emilios blonde and rosey.
“Listen, I’ll tell you what. You come with me into the city. You hate it. You wish you’d never set foot in it. And you don’t get eaten by some ghastly Asura as you so deludedly expect,” Emilios began.
“And?” Gerasimos inquired.
“And in recompense, I’ll let you toss me straight into the bay soup for the merfolk to eat as you’ve kept threatening. I’ll even cooperate! Jump right into the maw of some great angler thing straight from the abyss.”
Gerasimos considered this for a moment. His face indescribably twisted in conflict. Then, a sharp outtake of breath as he stands, setting off from the ship. “If something goes awry, I swear, I’ll dive in there with you for my pound of flesh.”
Emilios clapped his hands, grinning ear to ear. “Well, I’m sure the Deep Ones will recognize you as one of their own. You certainly look pale enough to be a fishman out of water!” For this remark, he received an elbow in the ribs as the two departed down the wharf.
Yes, yes, by all means, place your sheet in. There's no fundamental changes or retcons, so there's no need to rediscuss the Widows.
NPC/Hiatus Sheets
Sheets marked NPC are under hopefully respectful handling by GM for plot scale actions and players for vignettes. Sheets marked pending have yet to have a player phone in their participation when it is plausible that they will, and their entities are to be left alone as far as too-direct actions until a 'yes' or 'no' answer is had to whether they will be presently rejoining.
Alias: "Red Empire" in the Common Tongue.
Government Type: The Red Empire is home to innumerous warlike tribes of varying strengths, consisting of a number of Orcish clans and various different tribes of Beastkin, in their diversity. All of them, though, Orc and Beast alike, are submitted to the empire's strongest tribe: the Naukada, or "Red Orcs". The Naukada Krin—the chieftain of the Red Orcs—is, by that right, the ruler of the whole of the Kaumntok. He leads the entire empire in war and in peace (but mostly war), and is believed by the Orcish clans of the Kaumntok to be a god incarnate. When the Naukada Krin dies in battle, the Orcs of the Kaumntok do not believe that the Naukada Krin has died, but rather that he has changed form; the strongest child of the former Krin, or, if he has no offspring, the strongest of his tribesmen, is then worshiped as the Naukada Krin's new incarnation.
Faction Species
Territory
The centre of the Naukada Kaumntok, both literally and symbolically, is Lake Ukha, or the "Ukha Gujatkar" in the Naukada tongue. It is from here that the Red Orcs' creator-god-king was born, walking out of a sea only just born of the ashes of the fallen god Ukha. Along the Ukha Gujatkar's north coast sits Ahvavain, the Red Empire's capital and largest settlement, and the place at which the Naukada Krin is said to have departed the Ukha Gujatkar. The Krin's seat is located here, among a swath of simplistic semi-temporary hovels, a smaller number of homes of wood and stone, and even a handful of buildings created of stone and metal. Foremost of the latter, dominating the landscape for miles around, is the Avowas: a tower of stone, painted red and reinforced with iron, that serves as the personal residence of the Naukada Krin.
The lands of the Kaumntok east of the Ukha Gujatkar are divided into two regions. The closest of these, Diravebenia, "The Ground Beneath the Sky", is so-named for being the land over which the ashes of Ukha flew on their way to the Ukha Gujatkar. Diravenbia is a land of hills, growing higher as one approaches The Claws. It is populated mainly by Orcs, chiefly the Naukada themselves, although they do not represent a commanding majority, especially in the lands of the region furthest from the shores of the gujatkar. East of Diravebnia is Firukavukontok, "the land of the first sons of Ukha", which is the only of the Red Empire's territories populated primarily by Beastmen. The most predominant Beastkin species found here is the Tshriv, an industrious and intelligent race resembling men, but with large eyes, webbed toes and feet, and without a strand of hair. Their clans, among them some of the most recently subjugated of the vassals of the Kaumntok, hold sway over the territory of Firukavukontok closest to the rivers and sea, where it is humid and swampy. They are the ancient foes of the Xaxylii, the inhabitants of the region's mountains and the inland areas far from the river. Whereas the Tshriv are industrious and fairly intelligent, the Xaxylii are monstrously destructive and uncooperative, subject to the Naukada by force alone. A twisted mess of minotaurs and boars, they covet the lands of both their fellow Xaxylii and the territory of the Tshriv, and the banner of the Kaumntok has far from ended their persistent infighting.
Immediately west of Lake Ukha is Votartok, the homeland of the Naukada, and the first land conquered by Naukada Krin and his reborn army, centuries ago. The area's largest minority is the Sharforukak, the "forsaken of Shar" in the Naukada tongue, a race of heavily mutated and deformed humans with hideously disfigured features. Votartok a flat, fertile land, perfect for both farming and grazing, but having been used for neither for the last four hundred years. Holding little game or forage, Votartok's primary service to the Kaumntok is as a staging point for raids against Shartok, the human kingdoms to the west: what men call the 'The Marches' and 'The Imperium' in the Common Tongue. Flanked by rivers, Votartok is easy to defend from outsiders, and any encroaching human armies that do cross the rivers can easily find themselves swarmed by the Naukada's superior numbers, and without battlefield features to use against the tenacious tribesmen. Where the flatness of Votartok ends, in the south, is where the land of Ashtwa begins. Mainly populated by Balor—literally "Green" in Naukada—the orcs of Ashtwa are not Naukada, having green tinted flesh instead of red, but they follow the Red Orcs' teachings of Shar and Ukha and Krin all the same. The most devout and loyal clans of Ashtwa even paint themselves red, in reverence of Naukada Krin, a gesture both respected and mocked by the Naukada themselves. The landscape of Ashtwa is polluted, its rivers turning sour and devoid of fish and its soil unfit for seeds as one travels further and further south, but it is home to the most cherished plant in all of the Kaumntok: the hugi. This small black flower, budding year around and endemic to southern Ashtwa, is used for various purposes by the many peoples of Nagath, both within the Naukada Kaumntok and well beyond. The flower saps the life of the soil in which it is grown, killing off competing plants and desolating the environment, contributing to Ashtwa's bleakness. It is valued all the same, however, for each part of the plant is incredibly effective at its purpose; the petals at pleasure, the stem at pain, and the roots at healing. The most numerous Beastkin race in Ashtwa, the Zionuk, are short of stature and quite plentiful, but shy, their clans sharing the east-central area of Ashtwa alongside the Balor, trying as hard as they can to keep to themselves. The Zionuk have skin as if charred black, coarse and dead. This outer rigid layer of flesh can be removed from them with even slight injury, so little as an especially firm poke, and underneath it can be seen that their softer inner flesh is translucent, their veins plainly visible. They are resistant to the effects of hugi, and only their clans are known to be able to cultivate it without ruining the soil.
Faction Religion/Ideology: The beastkin of the Red Empire follow their own gods of great multitude, one for each clan, to whom they attribute various legendary deeds and sacrifice their captured's flesh to when their bellies are already full. All Orcish clans under the sway of the Red Empire, however, worship the Naukada Krin as a living god. The clans all have their own legends about him and his strength and prowess, like the beastkin, telling that he once shattered this or that mountain, slew however many men, or perhaps bedded whatever number of foreign chieftesses. Central to the belief in him, however, is that he is the creator: not of the world, but of the Orcs in particular.
The worshipers of the Krin do not hold faith in the creator of the world, who they call "Shar", believing him to have died along ago. His conqueror and successor, so they say, was "Ukha", the shaper of the world as it is today. Legends say that after slaying Shar, Ukha took over domain of the world, but found that those beings born of the creator would not revere him, calling him a false god. That he could be worshiped as Shar was, Ukha created the beastkin, taking the animals of the world, shaping them into the forms he desired and blessing them with low cunning. The humans, created in Shar's own image, resented the perversion of the animals of the world into the beastkin, and sought to depose Ukha, whose form was a twisted mass of all animals to ever walk the land or fly the skies or swim in the sea. The loyal of Shar called forth their mightiest warriors and most talented smiths, and sent forth an army of a hundred thousand men to assault Ukha at his worldly keep, at Azoth Zul. Mankind defeated Ukah, destroying the god's keep. After burning his grotesque body, they sent his ashes to the wind, that his remains could never be revered.
Ukha's ashes were carried south by the wind, and landed where now sits a great lake, in the centre of Nagath. Such was the god's greatness that his scattered ashes weighed down the world, creating a depression into which flowed the sea. The beastkin wept, and many slew themselves, sacrificing their lives to pay homage to their fallen shaper. So much of the energy of Shar in the seas and so much of the captured power of Ukha in the beastkin flowed into the new lake that out of it, an entire new god was born. "Naukada Krin" waded out of the lake, in the form of a twisted man, imbued with the power of both Shar and Ukha, his flesh stained the colour of the blood of so many beastkin: the first Orc. Krin led all that remained of the loyal of Ukha to Azoth Zul, and slew the army of the greatest of the humans, whom had killed Ukha and taken up at his seat. Those that surrendered to Krin were fed to the beastkin, but those who died bravely in battle were rewarded. Raised by Naukada Krin, the Third God, with the power of both Shar and Ukha, they became the Orcs, created in Krin's image. The Red Empire's elders tell that those Orcs who willingly pledged themselves to Krin were stained in the blood of the fallen, adopting Krin's red tone for themselves and their ancestors, and that they became his devotees, the Naukada of today. The rest of the newly created Orcs ate of the flesh of the weak with the beastkin, who still wept for Ukha, and became so sick from dining on coward's meat and bones that they were turned green with illness. The Red Orcs then followed the Krin from Azoth Zul, going with him to forge an empire—the Kaumntok—at the site of Ukha's ashes. The rest of the Orcs, sickly and green, were doomed to wander Geryon with the beastkin, bereft of Naukada Krin's guidance.
Faction Description: The Red Empire is a coalition of Orcish and Beastkin tribes, brought to submission under the banner of the Naukada Krin, the high chief of the Red Orc clans and their god in the flesh. Both hostile to outsiders and prone to infighting, the Naukada Kaumntok isn't actually much of an empire in the purest sense of the word, and is referred to as such by the Imperium and their allies mostly for propaganda purposes.
Occupying a vast swath of territory in the centre of Nagath, The Kaumntok has many neighbours and is friendly with none of them. Skirmishes with foreign tribes of Orcs and Beastkin, unbowed to the Naukada Krin, are so common as to be endless, although the empire's natural boundaries—carved from centuries of bloodshed—make the permanent acquisition (or loss) of territory quite difficult. If the Naukada Kaumntok could be said to have cold relations with foreign Orcs, however, their relations with foreign Humans could be fairly called frigid. Humans encroaching on the Kaumntok's territory, or even prowling within sight of the rivers that demarcate it, are taken captive by the Naukada and horribly mutilated, dragged off to become a part of the horribly disfigured slave-race of the Sharforukak. What trade does occur between the Red Empire and the rest of Nagath is mostly conducted via the more cunning tribes of Beastkin that reside in Kaumntok territory. The Tshriv in particular, inhabiting the empire's east, are known for dealing peacefully with foreigners, their villages—sitting atop stilts in the eastern swamps—a destination for some number of merchants from across Nagath.
Faction History: TBA
Important Characters: TBA
Relations to other Factions: The Kaumntok has many neighbours and is friendly with none of them. Skirmishes with foreign tribes of Orcs and Beastkin, unbowed to the Naukada Krin, are so common as to be endless, although the empire's natural boundaries—carved from centuries of bloodshed—make the permanent acquisition (or loss) of territory quite difficult. If the Naukada Kaumntok could be said to have cold relations with foreign Orcs, however, their relations with foreign Humans could be fairly called frigid. Humans encroaching on the Kaumntok's territory, or even prowling within sight of the rivers that demarcate it, are taken captive by the Naukada and horribly mutilated, dragged off to become a part of the horribly disfigured slave-race of the Sharforukak. Only a fool tries to trade with a Red Orc.
What commerce does occur between the Red Empire and the rest of Nagath is mostly conducted via the more cunning tribes of Beastkin that reside in Kaumntok territory. The Tshriv in particular, inhabiting the empire's east, are known for dealing peacefully with foreigners, their swampy villages along the coast a not infrequent stop for minor merchants plying their modest wares. The Zionuk, too, in Ashtwa, even depend on foreign trade to sustain themselves. Their kind are nigh immune to the effects of the drug "hugi", whose flowers are native to their lands, and their people sell the cultivated flower to enterprising traders that then distribute the substance across Geryon, illicitly.
Alias: Sea Lords, the Saltborn, Raiders of the Twin Isles, Sea Wretches.
Government Type: Khanate
The Akagi khanate, as the name already implies, is a chiefdom ruled by the Khan, a vicious warlord that strong armed the various pirates clans under his domain.
At the head of the Khanate is the Khan himself. Below him are the different pirate clans that have sworn fealty to him or were forced to. The chieftains of this clans provide a portion of their taxes to the Khan and in return, the Khan offers them protection from external threats and internal conflicts. Under the chieftains are captain. Individual who own, maintain and command their own vessels of war. Usually the captains are closely related to the chieftains of each clan. Each spoils from every raid are taxed by the chieftains, usually a fraction of all the total loot being taken.
Each Chieftain is able to call upon every captain that serves under their house for war. In the days before the Khan, this was done to settle territories on land and water mostly. Any captain that refuses this call from their Chieftain would become an outcast from their clan. He would then be treated as open game for any other pirate to pillage him. The accumulated ships that form a fleet is called a host. The Khan may call upon every clan’s host if he so wishes. The combined fleet formed is known as the “Black Host”. This massive collection of ships were first encountered by Imperials in the battle for the Red Sea.
Faction Specie(s): Most of the chiefs under the Khan are Human however the khanate itself is diverse. A myriad of races dwell in the isles. From the most numerous inhabitants that are the Humans to the hardeir folk of the Beastmen. Orcs are also known to inhabit the Khanate. Most captured in battle or have ran away from their kin looking for a more prodigal lifestyle.
Territory Details:
The capital of the Khan is Chuluun Khöl, a hold on the northern island of Tom Zagas.
Faction Religion/Ideology: There had never been a mandated religion in the Khanate. Neither had there been with the different marauder clans before the rise of the Khan. Each individual is free to worship whichever Deity they see fit. The most common religion, if it can be called that, is the belief in the lord of chances. Believed to be an aspect of the Dark Lord Daigon who grants its patrons a spark of good luck when they most need it.
Another religious belief that is notable in the isles is known informally as the Church of the Sleeping. A strange belief where a figure only known as 'the Sleeping God'. This belief only came into prominence when the Khan returned from his battle with the former Chieftain Jakai. The Khan has proclaimed himself the prophet of the the Sleeping One. His voice is the Sleeping One's will.
Another notable belief in the isles Pale Goddess who is predominantly worshiped in the Broken Arm. Northmen looking to escape their vampiric thanes. As people of the seas, a good number in the Khanate has converted to the belief. Some would slaughter livestock and let them drift towards the horizon as a sacrifice to the Lady that under the waves.
Akagi, who in time would turn into the mighty, charismatic and brutal warlord named "the Khan", came from very humble origins. He was the son a fisher and a fish monger in the southern island of Jijig Zagas. Akagi would often embark with his father to the salt banks of Iyatvathla(?), in the southern waters of Vritraprthvirajya(?). There he would catch massive catfishes with his father. So massive are this fishes that they have been known time and time again to swallow men whole. One day during a rough storm, Akagi was thrown overboard along with his father. His father became a meal for the very creatures they were hunting and Akagi was carried by the waves towards the shore.
(Have to see Senor Herp's sheet for this).
Lady Chen "The Red Lady":
Surrat the Quick:
Chief Anjo of Clan Thais "The Plague Captain":
The Shadow:
Relations to other Factions:
Sheets marked NPC are under hopefully respectful handling by GM for plot scale actions and players for vignettes. Sheets marked pending have yet to have a player phone in their participation when it is plausible that they will, and their entities are to be left alone as far as too-direct actions until a 'yes' or 'no' answer is had to whether they will be presently rejoining.
Naukada Kaumntok
Alias: "Red Empire" in the Common Tongue.
Government Type: The Red Empire is home to innumerous warlike tribes of varying strengths, consisting of a number of Orcish clans and various different tribes of Beastkin, in their diversity. All of them, though, Orc and Beast alike, are submitted to the empire's strongest tribe: the Naukada, or "Red Orcs". The Naukada Krin—the chieftain of the Red Orcs—is, by that right, the ruler of the whole of the Kaumntok. He leads the entire empire in war and in peace (but mostly war), and is believed by the Orcish clans of the Kaumntok to be a god incarnate. When the Naukada Krin dies in battle, the Orcs of the Kaumntok do not believe that the Naukada Krin has died, but rather that he has changed form; the strongest child of the former Krin, or, if he has no offspring, the strongest of his tribesmen, is then worshiped as the Naukada Krin's new incarnation.
Faction Species
Red Orcs, the founders and masters of the Naukada Kaumntok. They are similar in all ways to their green counterparts, but are less variable in size and shape and are, of course, tinted red rather than green. Naukada have the height, weight and physique of an average physically fit human, but their lifestyle means that the average Naukadan tribesman is tougher than the average human farmer. Female Naukada are slightly more slender than the males, though they too are capable of becoming able warriors. Unlike green-skinned Orcs, there are no Naukada who are either gigantic like an ogre or troll or small like a goblin, their size being relatively uniform. Culturally and politically, too, the Naukada are united. It is a rare sight to find a Red Orc outside of the Kaumntok, excepting on a raid into neighboring kingdoms, as all of the Naukadan clans are located within the Kaumntok's boundaries.
Quite simply, Orcs that aren't red skinned, although "balor" literally translates to "green". The Naukada refer to all non-Naukada Orcs as Balor, even those which are more like goblins or trolls, or who are tinted some shade other than green (or even no shade at all). Balor are a common sight in the Naukada Kaumntok, but most of their number of course live outside of the Red Empire, many even residing in corners of Geryon far and away from Nagath itself. Though they believe themselves to have been divided from the Balor at the very creation of the Orcish race, the Red Orcs do not besmirch them. It isn't uncommon from Naukada and Balor to interbreed, and the child will always have the tint of the mother.
The Tshriv are a semi-aquatic species of humanoid beastkin, and one of the most intelligent of their kind. They resemble a cross between men and fish, their hairless and pale bodies featuring webbed toes and feet, making them well-suited to water. Of slender build, and with a greyish-blueish complexion, the Tshriv are well-known for their massive eyes, which can be coloured any variety of blue from the shade of the brightest sky to the murkiest depths of the sea. A stewardly folk, Tshriv clans are one of the few tribes of the Naukada Kaumntok to trade openly with outsiders, welcoming foreign merchants into their coastal villages for honest exchange. The one group of peoples excluded from their lands are the Xaxylii, their traditional foes, whom they slay on sight in their own territory and are just barely able to tolerate when they are seen in the other realms of the Kaumntok.
A race of vaguely humanoid beasts, half minotaur and half wild pig, the Xaxylii inhabit the northern face of The Claws, in the eastern part of the Red Empire. Their bodies are pudgy, bald spare for being riddled with isolated long strands of hair which sprout from their flesh in random places, usually becoming ingrown. Their hands are humanoid, but less useful than a human's hands, only able to muster a basic grip of simple objects rather than exercising anything close to fine motor skills. Their faces are disgustingly foreign to a human gaze, a huge pig's snout covering up half of their head and a long pair of slightly curved horns protruding from their skull. Their wit is sub-par; they are one step up from bestial, known for infighting even within the Kaumntok—not necessarily out of rebellion, but simply because they cannot comprehend order and peace. The Xaxylii have an ancient blood feud with the Tshriv, whom they kill on sight in their lands and are only occasionally barely able to tolerate when visiting other areas of the Red Empire.
Considered by themselves to simply be human beings, the slave-race of the Sharforukak are mutated and mutilated men found in the Kaumntok's west, near The Marches. They are easily identifiable, often missing entire limbs, or otherwise in some variety of freakish proportions, their flesh twisted and mangled as if their bodies had melted in the sun and then cooled again. Being slaves of the Naukada, they do not have their own tribes or territory, and simply live with whichever Naukadan clan to which they are attached. The Naukada teach that the Sharforukak are a branch of humans cursed by the god of the humans, Shar, for forsaking his worship. As it is common for the Naukada to abuse the Sharforukak, often to the point of death, and being that most of the race's offspring are stillborn, too mutated to live, it is an open secret that a great many of those called Sharforukak are actually ordinary humans captured in raids and mutilated. When taken into Votartok to be enslaved, the humans are removed of one of their limbs or otherwise disfigured, to ensure that they fit in among the Sharforukak and could not easily return to human society. Within a year of being passed around by the Naukada, it is hard to tell a man captured as a healthy human being from a true, born Sharforukak.
Territory
The centre of the Naukada Kaumntok, both literally and symbolically, is Lake Ukha, or the "Ukha Gujatkar" in the Naukada tongue. It is from here that the Red Orcs' creator-god-king was born, walking out of a sea only just born of the ashes of the fallen god Ukha. Along the Ukha Gujatkar's north coast sits Ahvavain, the Red Empire's capital and largest settlement, and the place at which the Naukada Krin is said to have departed the Ukha Gujatkar. The Krin's seat is located here, among a swath of simplistic semi-temporary hovels, a smaller number of homes of wood and stone, and even a handful of buildings created of stone and metal. Foremost of the latter, dominating the landscape for miles around, is the Avowas: a tower of stone, painted red and reinforced with iron, that serves as the personal residence of the Naukada Krin.
The lands of the Kaumntok east of the Ukha Gujatkar are divided into two regions. The closest of these, Diravebenia, "The Ground Beneath the Sky", is so-named for being the land over which the ashes of Ukha flew on their way to the Ukha Gujatkar. Diravenbia is a land of hills, growing higher as one approaches The Claws. It is populated mainly by Orcs, chiefly the Naukada themselves, although they do not represent a commanding majority, especially in the lands of the region furthest from the shores of the gujatkar. East of Diravebnia is Firukavukontok, "the land of the first sons of Ukha", which is the only of the Red Empire's territories populated primarily by Beastmen. The most predominant Beastkin species found here is the Tshriv, an industrious and intelligent race resembling men, but with large eyes, webbed toes and feet, and without a strand of hair. Their clans, among them some of the most recently subjugated of the vassals of the Kaumntok, hold sway over the territory of Firukavukontok closest to the rivers and sea, where it is humid and swampy. They are the ancient foes of the Xaxylii, the inhabitants of the region's mountains and the inland areas far from the river. Whereas the Tshriv are industrious and fairly intelligent, the Xaxylii are monstrously destructive and uncooperative, subject to the Naukada by force alone. A twisted mess of minotaurs and boars, they covet the lands of both their fellow Xaxylii and the territory of the Tshriv, and the banner of the Kaumntok has far from ended their persistent infighting.
Immediately west of Lake Ukha is Votartok, the homeland of the Naukada, and the first land conquered by Naukada Krin and his reborn army, centuries ago. The area's largest minority is the Sharforukak, the "forsaken of Shar" in the Naukada tongue, a race of heavily mutated and deformed humans with hideously disfigured features. Votartok a flat, fertile land, perfect for both farming and grazing, but having been used for neither for the last four hundred years. Holding little game or forage, Votartok's primary service to the Kaumntok is as a staging point for raids against Shartok, the human kingdoms to the west: what men call the 'The Marches' and 'The Imperium' in the Common Tongue. Flanked by rivers, Votartok is easy to defend from outsiders, and any encroaching human armies that do cross the rivers can easily find themselves swarmed by the Naukada's superior numbers, and without battlefield features to use against the tenacious tribesmen. Where the flatness of Votartok ends, in the south, is where the land of Ashtwa begins. Mainly populated by Balor—literally "Green" in Naukada—the orcs of Ashtwa are not Naukada, having green tinted flesh instead of red, but they follow the Red Orcs' teachings of Shar and Ukha and Krin all the same. The most devout and loyal clans of Ashtwa even paint themselves red, in reverence of Naukada Krin, a gesture both respected and mocked by the Naukada themselves. The landscape of Ashtwa is polluted, its rivers turning sour and devoid of fish and its soil unfit for seeds as one travels further and further south, but it is home to the most cherished plant in all of the Kaumntok: the hugi. This small black flower, budding year around and endemic to southern Ashtwa, is used for various purposes by the many peoples of Nagath, both within the Naukada Kaumntok and well beyond. The flower saps the life of the soil in which it is grown, killing off competing plants and desolating the environment, contributing to Ashtwa's bleakness. It is valued all the same, however, for each part of the plant is incredibly effective at its purpose; the petals at pleasure, the stem at pain, and the roots at healing. The most numerous Beastkin race in Ashtwa, the Zionuk, are short of stature and quite plentiful, but shy, their clans sharing the east-central area of Ashtwa alongside the Balor, trying as hard as they can to keep to themselves. The Zionuk have skin as if charred black, coarse and dead. This outer rigid layer of flesh can be removed from them with even slight injury, so little as an especially firm poke, and underneath it can be seen that their softer inner flesh is translucent, their veins plainly visible. They are resistant to the effects of hugi, and only their clans are known to be able to cultivate it without ruining the soil.
Faction Religion/Ideology: The beastkin of the Red Empire follow their own gods of great multitude, one for each clan, to whom they attribute various legendary deeds and sacrifice their captured's flesh to when their bellies are already full. All Orcish clans under the sway of the Red Empire, however, worship the Naukada Krin as a living god. The clans all have their own legends about him and his strength and prowess, like the beastkin, telling that he once shattered this or that mountain, slew however many men, or perhaps bedded whatever number of foreign chieftesses. Central to the belief in him, however, is that he is the creator: not of the world, but of the Orcs in particular.
The worshipers of the Krin do not hold faith in the creator of the world, who they call "Shar", believing him to have died along ago. His conqueror and successor, so they say, was "Ukha", the shaper of the world as it is today. Legends say that after slaying Shar, Ukha took over domain of the world, but found that those beings born of the creator would not revere him, calling him a false god. That he could be worshiped as Shar was, Ukha created the beastkin, taking the animals of the world, shaping them into the forms he desired and blessing them with low cunning. The humans, created in Shar's own image, resented the perversion of the animals of the world into the beastkin, and sought to depose Ukha, whose form was a twisted mass of all animals to ever walk the land or fly the skies or swim in the sea. The loyal of Shar called forth their mightiest warriors and most talented smiths, and sent forth an army of a hundred thousand men to assault Ukha at his worldly keep, at Azoth Zul. Mankind defeated Ukah, destroying the god's keep. After burning his grotesque body, they sent his ashes to the wind, that his remains could never be revered.
Ukha's ashes were carried south by the wind, and landed where now sits a great lake, in the centre of Nagath. Such was the god's greatness that his scattered ashes weighed down the world, creating a depression into which flowed the sea. The beastkin wept, and many slew themselves, sacrificing their lives to pay homage to their fallen shaper. So much of the energy of Shar in the seas and so much of the captured power of Ukha in the beastkin flowed into the new lake that out of it, an entire new god was born. "Naukada Krin" waded out of the lake, in the form of a twisted man, imbued with the power of both Shar and Ukha, his flesh stained the colour of the blood of so many beastkin: the first Orc. Krin led all that remained of the loyal of Ukha to Azoth Zul, and slew the army of the greatest of the humans, whom had killed Ukha and taken up at his seat. Those that surrendered to Krin were fed to the beastkin, but those who died bravely in battle were rewarded. Raised by Naukada Krin, the Third God, with the power of both Shar and Ukha, they became the Orcs, created in Krin's image. The Red Empire's elders tell that those Orcs who willingly pledged themselves to Krin were stained in the blood of the fallen, adopting Krin's red tone for themselves and their ancestors, and that they became his devotees, the Naukada of today. The rest of the newly created Orcs ate of the flesh of the weak with the beastkin, who still wept for Ukha, and became so sick from dining on coward's meat and bones that they were turned green with illness. The Red Orcs then followed the Krin from Azoth Zul, going with him to forge an empire—the Kaumntok—at the site of Ukha's ashes. The rest of the Orcs, sickly and green, were doomed to wander Geryon with the beastkin, bereft of Naukada Krin's guidance.
Faction Description: The Red Empire is a coalition of Orcish and Beastkin tribes, brought to submission under the banner of the Naukada Krin, the high chief of the Red Orc clans and their god in the flesh. Both hostile to outsiders and prone to infighting, the Naukada Kaumntok isn't actually much of an empire in the purest sense of the word, and is referred to as such by the Imperium and their allies mostly for propaganda purposes.
Occupying a vast swath of territory in the centre of Nagath, The Kaumntok has many neighbours and is friendly with none of them. Skirmishes with foreign tribes of Orcs and Beastkin, unbowed to the Naukada Krin, are so common as to be endless, although the empire's natural boundaries—carved from centuries of bloodshed—make the permanent acquisition (or loss) of territory quite difficult. If the Naukada Kaumntok could be said to have cold relations with foreign Orcs, however, their relations with foreign Humans could be fairly called frigid. Humans encroaching on the Kaumntok's territory, or even prowling within sight of the rivers that demarcate it, are taken captive by the Naukada and horribly mutilated, dragged off to become a part of the horribly disfigured slave-race of the Sharforukak. What trade does occur between the Red Empire and the rest of Nagath is mostly conducted via the more cunning tribes of Beastkin that reside in Kaumntok territory. The Tshriv in particular, inhabiting the empire's east, are known for dealing peacefully with foreigners, their villages—sitting atop stilts in the eastern swamps—a destination for some number of merchants from across Nagath.
Faction History: TBA
Important Characters: TBA
Relations to other Factions: The Kaumntok has many neighbours and is friendly with none of them. Skirmishes with foreign tribes of Orcs and Beastkin, unbowed to the Naukada Krin, are so common as to be endless, although the empire's natural boundaries—carved from centuries of bloodshed—make the permanent acquisition (or loss) of territory quite difficult. If the Naukada Kaumntok could be said to have cold relations with foreign Orcs, however, their relations with foreign Humans could be fairly called frigid. Humans encroaching on the Kaumntok's territory, or even prowling within sight of the rivers that demarcate it, are taken captive by the Naukada and horribly mutilated, dragged off to become a part of the horribly disfigured slave-race of the Sharforukak. Only a fool tries to trade with a Red Orc.
What commerce does occur between the Red Empire and the rest of Nagath is mostly conducted via the more cunning tribes of Beastkin that reside in Kaumntok territory. The Tshriv in particular, inhabiting the empire's east, are known for dealing peacefully with foreigners, their swampy villages along the coast a not infrequent stop for minor merchants plying their modest wares. The Zionuk, too, in Ashtwa, even depend on foreign trade to sustain themselves. Their kind are nigh immune to the effects of the drug "hugi", whose flowers are native to their lands, and their people sell the cultivated flower to enterprising traders that then distribute the substance across Geryon, illicitly.
Faction Name: Clan Black Anvil
Alias: The Forged, The Iron Host, Seekers of Embers
Government Type: Dwarven Clan/Gerontocracy & Racial Stratocracy
Faction Specie(s):
-Black Dwarves
-Greenskins & Beaskins
Species Descriptions:
-Black Dwarves: The mountain dwelling stunted kind that have been slowly corrupted by the insidious evil that sleeps within the dark lands. They are taller than their cousins but didn't lose any of their girth either and as their name implies have also been tainted with an ashen skin. These dwarves have also somewhat gained in strength but lost their kin's prodigious magical resistance due to the mutations that afflict them.
-Greenskins & Beastkins: Goblins, hobgoblins, orcs... just some of the countless names the dwarves have for every sub-species of greenskins. They are all slaves in some way, but the dwarves use racial division and separations to keep them at each other's throat, calling some subspecies better than others and giving them special treatments to make a hierarchy and likewise do the same to the beastkins they manage to subjugate.
Territory Details:
-The Claws: Named after the impossibly dangerous creatures that inhabit the shadows of these mountains, the Claws were still the industrial powerhouse of the Dark Lands and Daigon before it fell to ruins. Enormous forges animated by enslaved primordial fire spirits created warmachines of such powers that they shook the world! Clan Black Anvil payed a heavy price to secure the Heart of the Forges and fortify its few entrances against possible but still they occupy a mere fraction of the enormous industrial complex and will need many, many times the amount of slaves they have to operate the machineries, that is, when they figure out how to lit the fires. Embers remain of the starved fire spirits that animated this place. They CAN be brought back, the dwarves know it, they feel it in their guts, but they have yet to figure out this secret.
Faction Religion/Ideology:
-The Worship of the Great Predecessors: Dwarves worship their ancestors and lengthy meditate on them and their achievements in hope to commune with them, to get council and wisdom from the past. Nibelung the Seeker however was more liberal with this and didn't stop at contemplating his ancestors but other people of power. Daigon, his master smiths and engineers as he sought to unlock the hidden secrets of the Dark Lands... And they answered him! Well, their spirits or that of demons or other unspeakable evils... Dwarves listen and evil whispers in their ear, guiding them to do dark deeds but always rewarding them with the crumbs of knowledge they so dearly seek. Engineers will unlock mysteries after an illumination in a dream, warriors will have a supernatural sixth sense brought by invisible eyes that whisper what they see to them... It is like a second nature to them now, the dwarves don't even realize that evil stalk their every steps.
Faction Description:
The dwarves are no longer an army like when they first took over the Claw, now they are an elite seldom seen. Indeed the task of slavedriver itself has been taken over by other slaves and the bulk of the forces of the Iron Host is composed of orcs clad in expertly made armor who fight on the behest of their masters for the benefits the dwarves bring them and by fear that rebellion might end very badly. For while they are not numerous, the dwarven core of the Host has been thinned and honed to an elite of Armored Juggernauts with several orcish lifetime of combat experience behind which hide the engineers and experts of all caliber that make this faction one of the most technically competent one in the Dark Lands. Surprisingly, they even have a couple of magic users, something you'd never see amidst normal dwarves, but these aren't normal dwarves.
Faction History:
Nibelung always suspected there was something hidden. The wars against evil were mythical but true, traces of it could be found around the world despite the best efforts of the agents of Justinian to wipe away history. This force that could have almost defeated the forces of good, it intrigued him. His questions brought to him the unwanted interest of clerics who warned him to stay away from this path but it only made him feel more persecuted, more justified in the idea to find old weapons made anew that could help dwarven kind to free itself from what he saw as the oppressive yoke of a human God Emperor.
But he was no fool, he continued in secret, gathering likeminded individuals and his own clan around his idea. To gather coin, he spoke in length of the miracles that such ancient technologies could bring economically and so forth. Around the world he gathered trinkets and baubles but it was nothing. Nothing compared to what he knew hid in the Dark Lands. With a host of warrior, Nibelung went into these lands along with one of the purges of the local Marche lords. He however didn't come back, they thought him dead after entering the Machine Chambers in the Claws. But he lived and not only that but managed to send back the wonderous things he promised, slowly by boat, underground or even by air a couple of times.
Eventually time took a tool on his clan as his father died, giving him the mantle of Clan Leader while he was away. Immediately he ordered his entire clan to pack and join him along with any who would follow him outside his own clan. The travel was a calamity and many died but worst, when they arrived so did the news that Justinian had found out something was going on and that Nibelung was made an heretic to be killed. There were arguments for days but eventually one night after a long shouting match, loyalists of Nibelung, those the most touched by evil, killed scores of their own kin in their sleep, making the matter settled. Clan Black Anvil would stay and turn its back on Justinian.
It was not the end of their misfortune. The dwarves were an impossibly well armed and organized faction in this wasteland of evil that fought back countless attacks from the inhabitants of the land but each loses was irreplaceable and slowly, their numbers dwindled. They compensated with slaves but were almost anihilated during a rebellion and so developed a more careful and calculated approach to slavery, making groups hate each other so much they'd refuse to work with one another under any circumstances, rewarding traitors and snitches, organizing the greenskins in classes and even using breeding techniques to try and weed out flaws and make a more submissive kind of slaves but with limited success. Today Nibelung is old but obsessed with the hidden knowledge just beneath his feet. How to make the foundry alive again, make the fire roar and give birth to a sea of molten metal!
Important Characters:
-Master Nibelung the Seeker: He is old, unnaturally so even for a dwarf, and holds much dark knowledge in his mind. An apt warrior and surprisingly powerful mage, he is the head of the Clan and its undisputed master.
Relations to other Factions:
The Iron Host is known to be isolationist and with no real desire to expend. It willingly trades superior arms and armors even to potential enemies in exchange for many supplies they need, being hardly self sufficient. At times, squads of dwarves and their combat thralls can be seen picking through ruins, looking for whatever thing their master orders them to find.
Alias: The Forged, The Iron Host, Seekers of Embers
Government Type: Dwarven Clan/Gerontocracy & Racial Stratocracy
Faction Specie(s):
-Black Dwarves
-Greenskins & Beaskins
Species Descriptions:
-Black Dwarves: The mountain dwelling stunted kind that have been slowly corrupted by the insidious evil that sleeps within the dark lands. They are taller than their cousins but didn't lose any of their girth either and as their name implies have also been tainted with an ashen skin. These dwarves have also somewhat gained in strength but lost their kin's prodigious magical resistance due to the mutations that afflict them.
-Greenskins & Beastkins: Goblins, hobgoblins, orcs... just some of the countless names the dwarves have for every sub-species of greenskins. They are all slaves in some way, but the dwarves use racial division and separations to keep them at each other's throat, calling some subspecies better than others and giving them special treatments to make a hierarchy and likewise do the same to the beastkins they manage to subjugate.
Territory Details:
-The Claws: Named after the impossibly dangerous creatures that inhabit the shadows of these mountains, the Claws were still the industrial powerhouse of the Dark Lands and Daigon before it fell to ruins. Enormous forges animated by enslaved primordial fire spirits created warmachines of such powers that they shook the world! Clan Black Anvil payed a heavy price to secure the Heart of the Forges and fortify its few entrances against possible but still they occupy a mere fraction of the enormous industrial complex and will need many, many times the amount of slaves they have to operate the machineries, that is, when they figure out how to lit the fires. Embers remain of the starved fire spirits that animated this place. They CAN be brought back, the dwarves know it, they feel it in their guts, but they have yet to figure out this secret.
Faction Religion/Ideology:
-The Worship of the Great Predecessors: Dwarves worship their ancestors and lengthy meditate on them and their achievements in hope to commune with them, to get council and wisdom from the past. Nibelung the Seeker however was more liberal with this and didn't stop at contemplating his ancestors but other people of power. Daigon, his master smiths and engineers as he sought to unlock the hidden secrets of the Dark Lands... And they answered him! Well, their spirits or that of demons or other unspeakable evils... Dwarves listen and evil whispers in their ear, guiding them to do dark deeds but always rewarding them with the crumbs of knowledge they so dearly seek. Engineers will unlock mysteries after an illumination in a dream, warriors will have a supernatural sixth sense brought by invisible eyes that whisper what they see to them... It is like a second nature to them now, the dwarves don't even realize that evil stalk their every steps.
Faction Description:
The dwarves are no longer an army like when they first took over the Claw, now they are an elite seldom seen. Indeed the task of slavedriver itself has been taken over by other slaves and the bulk of the forces of the Iron Host is composed of orcs clad in expertly made armor who fight on the behest of their masters for the benefits the dwarves bring them and by fear that rebellion might end very badly. For while they are not numerous, the dwarven core of the Host has been thinned and honed to an elite of Armored Juggernauts with several orcish lifetime of combat experience behind which hide the engineers and experts of all caliber that make this faction one of the most technically competent one in the Dark Lands. Surprisingly, they even have a couple of magic users, something you'd never see amidst normal dwarves, but these aren't normal dwarves.
Faction History:
Nibelung always suspected there was something hidden. The wars against evil were mythical but true, traces of it could be found around the world despite the best efforts of the agents of Justinian to wipe away history. This force that could have almost defeated the forces of good, it intrigued him. His questions brought to him the unwanted interest of clerics who warned him to stay away from this path but it only made him feel more persecuted, more justified in the idea to find old weapons made anew that could help dwarven kind to free itself from what he saw as the oppressive yoke of a human God Emperor.
But he was no fool, he continued in secret, gathering likeminded individuals and his own clan around his idea. To gather coin, he spoke in length of the miracles that such ancient technologies could bring economically and so forth. Around the world he gathered trinkets and baubles but it was nothing. Nothing compared to what he knew hid in the Dark Lands. With a host of warrior, Nibelung went into these lands along with one of the purges of the local Marche lords. He however didn't come back, they thought him dead after entering the Machine Chambers in the Claws. But he lived and not only that but managed to send back the wonderous things he promised, slowly by boat, underground or even by air a couple of times.
Eventually time took a tool on his clan as his father died, giving him the mantle of Clan Leader while he was away. Immediately he ordered his entire clan to pack and join him along with any who would follow him outside his own clan. The travel was a calamity and many died but worst, when they arrived so did the news that Justinian had found out something was going on and that Nibelung was made an heretic to be killed. There were arguments for days but eventually one night after a long shouting match, loyalists of Nibelung, those the most touched by evil, killed scores of their own kin in their sleep, making the matter settled. Clan Black Anvil would stay and turn its back on Justinian.
It was not the end of their misfortune. The dwarves were an impossibly well armed and organized faction in this wasteland of evil that fought back countless attacks from the inhabitants of the land but each loses was irreplaceable and slowly, their numbers dwindled. They compensated with slaves but were almost anihilated during a rebellion and so developed a more careful and calculated approach to slavery, making groups hate each other so much they'd refuse to work with one another under any circumstances, rewarding traitors and snitches, organizing the greenskins in classes and even using breeding techniques to try and weed out flaws and make a more submissive kind of slaves but with limited success. Today Nibelung is old but obsessed with the hidden knowledge just beneath his feet. How to make the foundry alive again, make the fire roar and give birth to a sea of molten metal!
Important Characters:
-Master Nibelung the Seeker: He is old, unnaturally so even for a dwarf, and holds much dark knowledge in his mind. An apt warrior and surprisingly powerful mage, he is the head of the Clan and its undisputed master.
Relations to other Factions:
The Iron Host is known to be isolationist and with no real desire to expend. It willingly trades superior arms and armors even to potential enemies in exchange for many supplies they need, being hardly self sufficient. At times, squads of dwarves and their combat thralls can be seen picking through ruins, looking for whatever thing their master orders them to find.
Faction Name: The Covenant of the Worm
Alias: Vault Lords, the Covenant
Government Type: Necrocracy
Faction Species:
The Northfolk (human majority, called "the Warm" by their vampiric lords)
Ghouls, aka "Corpse-Eaters": carrion-eaters native to Nagath. They may have been men once, or greenskins, but have long since degenerated into crouched, half-sentient monsters. They are hardy, breed prolifically, and are considered a near universal pest, even in the Imperium. In the centuries since Daigon fell, great ghoul-nests formed in the hills and tombs of the Broken Arm. When the Stryge took refuge in the Vaults, they found the ghouls easy to dominate and made them into a servant race. Feral ghouls are common, however, throughout the North and Nagath.
Alghouls: ghouls allowed a sip of vampiric blood, they are much smarter, larger, and fiercer than other ghouls and fiercely loyal to their undead masters. Alghouls act at once as chieftains over other ghouls and as shock troops in their ranks. They are approximately on par with an orc in terms of strength and intelligence, though even more vicious. Alghouls often serve as a Stryge's personal bodyguards.
Blood Trolls: It amuses the Stryge to further twist and enthrall the already fearsome denizens of Nagath. A Blood Troll is a common troll that has been fed vampiric blood, making of it a twisted, deranged mutant. Difficult to control and dangerous to manage, the Stryge make use of few blood trolls in their armies, but these monsters wreak incredible damage among the ranks of their enemies and are very hard to kill, combining a troll's natural resilience with preternatural healing.
Chiropts Devolved vampires who have fed overmuch on the fouled blood of orcs, beastkin and mutants, Chiropts themselves become degnerate monsters, lacking the use of reason. Where many vampire clans have a policy of destroying chiropts, the Stryge take pity on these unfortunate brethren and keep them as pets, using in war as beserkers and 'hunting hounds'.
The Stryge:
We used to rule, you know. Not here, not in this wasteland, but in the West. We were masters of the great cities of men, who were our slaves and our cattle. That was before Justinian came and threw us down from our hidden thrones. He was mighty. Is mighty. The source of his power remains obscure to us. The godling's rise forced us to flee east, to the lands ruled by his foe. The one they now call the Dark Lord. Some of our kind submitted to him and served him.
Not the Stryge. We do not serve.
So we bid our time, hidden in the great tombs of the north from God King and Dark Lord alike, feeding in secret on the norsemen who served Daigon. And when he was thrown down, and the norsemen grew desperate, we became rulers of men once more.
Territory Details: Peninsula north of Ozgad's Folly, known as the Broken Arm. (WIP, details to come)
Faction Religion/Ideology: The men of the north worship a variety of traditional gods, especially the Pale Goddess, who is said to rule a kingdom of the drowned beneath the waters of the Cursed Sea. They likewise honor the memory of Daigon, the Fallen King, whom they see as a failed freedom fighter against the tyranny and (to their minds) 'atheism' of the Justinians. The Weeping Widows have a substantial, tolerated following among the northfolk.
The Stryge tend to worship- if they worship anything at all- the Conqueror Worm, That Which Gnaws at the World Roots, a demonic force said to live far beneath the earth who will inevitably consume all of creation.
Faction Description: A collection of human reaver-clans along the bitter coasts of the Broken Arm ruled by a powerful vampyr coven known as the Stryge. The humans of the Broken Arm are mostly native norsemen who have inhabited Nagath for generations, raiding their neighbors, warring with orcs, beastkin and the Marcher Lords, and hunting the great sea-beasts of the Cursed Sea. Outcasts, heretics, criminals and lunatics from the Imperium and Marcher Kingdoms also dwell among the dour folk of the Broken Arm, where they are tolerated- if not welcomed.
Reaver society is feudal. The majority of northmen are thralls- fisherfolk and crab farmers in the freezing northern marshes. Above them are clan-swords, fierce professional soldiers who hunt whales and other great beasts when not fighting. Above them are thanes, huscarls, and other favored warriors and counselors of the jarls and clan-chiefs, who rule over their clans.
The jarls and chieftans, in turn, answer to the Stryge, Those Who Dwell in the Tombs.
Faction History: WIP
Important Characters: WIP
Relations to other Factions: WIP
Alias: Vault Lords, the Covenant
Government Type: Necrocracy
Faction Species:
The Northfolk (human majority, called "the Warm" by their vampiric lords)
Ghouls, aka "Corpse-Eaters": carrion-eaters native to Nagath. They may have been men once, or greenskins, but have long since degenerated into crouched, half-sentient monsters. They are hardy, breed prolifically, and are considered a near universal pest, even in the Imperium. In the centuries since Daigon fell, great ghoul-nests formed in the hills and tombs of the Broken Arm. When the Stryge took refuge in the Vaults, they found the ghouls easy to dominate and made them into a servant race. Feral ghouls are common, however, throughout the North and Nagath.
Alghouls: ghouls allowed a sip of vampiric blood, they are much smarter, larger, and fiercer than other ghouls and fiercely loyal to their undead masters. Alghouls act at once as chieftains over other ghouls and as shock troops in their ranks. They are approximately on par with an orc in terms of strength and intelligence, though even more vicious. Alghouls often serve as a Stryge's personal bodyguards.
Blood Trolls: It amuses the Stryge to further twist and enthrall the already fearsome denizens of Nagath. A Blood Troll is a common troll that has been fed vampiric blood, making of it a twisted, deranged mutant. Difficult to control and dangerous to manage, the Stryge make use of few blood trolls in their armies, but these monsters wreak incredible damage among the ranks of their enemies and are very hard to kill, combining a troll's natural resilience with preternatural healing.
Chiropts Devolved vampires who have fed overmuch on the fouled blood of orcs, beastkin and mutants, Chiropts themselves become degnerate monsters, lacking the use of reason. Where many vampire clans have a policy of destroying chiropts, the Stryge take pity on these unfortunate brethren and keep them as pets, using in war as beserkers and 'hunting hounds'.
The Stryge:
We used to rule, you know. Not here, not in this wasteland, but in the West. We were masters of the great cities of men, who were our slaves and our cattle. That was before Justinian came and threw us down from our hidden thrones. He was mighty. Is mighty. The source of his power remains obscure to us. The godling's rise forced us to flee east, to the lands ruled by his foe. The one they now call the Dark Lord. Some of our kind submitted to him and served him.
Not the Stryge. We do not serve.
So we bid our time, hidden in the great tombs of the north from God King and Dark Lord alike, feeding in secret on the norsemen who served Daigon. And when he was thrown down, and the norsemen grew desperate, we became rulers of men once more.
Territory Details: Peninsula north of Ozgad's Folly, known as the Broken Arm. (WIP, details to come)
Faction Religion/Ideology: The men of the north worship a variety of traditional gods, especially the Pale Goddess, who is said to rule a kingdom of the drowned beneath the waters of the Cursed Sea. They likewise honor the memory of Daigon, the Fallen King, whom they see as a failed freedom fighter against the tyranny and (to their minds) 'atheism' of the Justinians. The Weeping Widows have a substantial, tolerated following among the northfolk.
The Stryge tend to worship- if they worship anything at all- the Conqueror Worm, That Which Gnaws at the World Roots, a demonic force said to live far beneath the earth who will inevitably consume all of creation.
Faction Description: A collection of human reaver-clans along the bitter coasts of the Broken Arm ruled by a powerful vampyr coven known as the Stryge. The humans of the Broken Arm are mostly native norsemen who have inhabited Nagath for generations, raiding their neighbors, warring with orcs, beastkin and the Marcher Lords, and hunting the great sea-beasts of the Cursed Sea. Outcasts, heretics, criminals and lunatics from the Imperium and Marcher Kingdoms also dwell among the dour folk of the Broken Arm, where they are tolerated- if not welcomed.
Reaver society is feudal. The majority of northmen are thralls- fisherfolk and crab farmers in the freezing northern marshes. Above them are clan-swords, fierce professional soldiers who hunt whales and other great beasts when not fighting. Above them are thanes, huscarls, and other favored warriors and counselors of the jarls and clan-chiefs, who rule over their clans.
The jarls and chieftans, in turn, answer to the Stryge, Those Who Dwell in the Tombs.
Faction History: WIP
Important Characters: WIP
Relations to other Factions: WIP
Faction Name: Tushiena
Alias: The County of Tushiena
Government Type: Dictatorship
Faction Specie(s): Tushiena has become something of a melting pot for various races, but the two primary races that make up the bulk of it's land based population are humans and goblins. It's underwater extensions are primarily populated by the 'Deep Ones', fish men who live in the sea and who survive off of a largely meat based diet... alongside hybrids of land based races that have grown their gills.
Territory Details: The Isle of Shipwrecks is a surprisingly fertile land. Its soil is able to support quite a wide range of different types of edible plant life, the ocean around it filled with plentiful fish life and the few rivers... are so clogged up with sludge while traveling through the single giant city of Tushiena that if you're quick enough you could run across its surface without the soils of your shoes melting at certain times of the year. The city itself is huge, covering all the islands in the Isle and connecting the various districts that this makes via grand stone bridges.
And that is just the parts of the nation above sea level. In the murky waters around the Isle of Shipwrecks live tribes of 'Deep Ones', fish men that have lived in the oceans for aeons; It is unclear if they were another race created by the Dark Lord in ages passed or if they spawned naturally from some dark corner of the sea (Through everyone agrees they are likely why the Isle is called what it is), but regardless of origin pacts and alliances of old have long brought the Deep One's of the Isle of Shipwrecks into Tushiena's fold.
Faction Religion/Ideology: Tushiena is not a religious nation; It does have a district dedicated to the building of temples, shrines and churches for those who are, but they are generally far to busy scrabbling with each other over ideology and possible converts to actually try and get involved in the political landscape of the city. There is even a small church dedicated to God-Emperor Justinian, through it is a very minor cult compared to several more native ones (And in the event of a lack of sacrifices for the other cults and an offering is needed in short notice, the first port of call).
Tushiena itself is a nation of magic and technology; While it's ruler is a powerful lich, Count Vasha has always felt that for a nation to grow powerful it needed to be willing to plumb the depths of the occult and the arcane while also researching and experimenting with the mundane.
Tushiena has a proud naval tradition, it's ships some of the greatest in the world and its merchant fleet prepared to sail in the name of profit far and wide. This is as much pragmatism as it is national pride; The only means for any of those who wish to plunder Tushiena directly requires the invader to travel by ocean... and it can't do any harm if said invading fleet is reduced to a burning wreck that is sinking to the bottom of the sea with all hands lost.
Slavery is illegal in Tushiena; Those taken alive during pirate raids are either auctioned back to their people of origin, channeled towards the Cult distract to be offered up as sacrifices to anyone who needed them or just flat out offered to the Deep Ones to devour.
The Cult District is an island of Tushiena that was set aside largely because Vasha acknowledged that if he wanted people to be happy, they needed somewhere to pray and make offerings to their gods... or goddesses... or things with teeth and tentacles. Not wishing for any one religion to actually gain any real power in Tushiena proper, he set one of the Islands aside and welcomed all faiths to set up shop there on the condition that they kept -all- religious affairs on that island. Preaching or doing works for your faith on any other island in Tushiena is a quick way to end up as an offering to a cult following the law or fed to the deep ones if no ritual sacrifices are coming up.
Vasha does offer the cults in the Cult District access to sacrifices if their cult requires it, starting off with survivors from pirate raids who can't be ransomed back to their people and criminals in Tushiena jails. In the unlikely event that there is more of a demand for bodies than the Tushiena government can provide, the followers of God-Emperor Justinian are generally the first port of call. If that isn't enough, the cults in question will generally start attacking weaker cults in order to get the bodies they need. If this gets bad enough Vasha will order a lock down on the Cult District, closing the bridge and having deep ones patrol the water ways until the civil war takes care of itself. This has only happened once in Tushiena's history.
Faction Description:
The former bread basket of Nagath and the Dark Lord Daigon's empire, once the Dark Lord had died and his nation fell apart Tushiena became an independent city nation that has largely been untouched by war over the centuries due to the combination of its powerful and feared navy, the fictionalized nature of Nagath post Dark Lord keeping local threats too focused on closer enemies and the Justinian Imperium simply being too far away to really make the effort.
Originally the Isle of Shipwrecks was colonized by humans and goblins under the leadership of the newly appointed Count Vasha by Dark Lord Daigon himself sometime during his reign in order to secure a great source of food in order to feed the Dark Lords armies, but after it became an independent nation it became something of a merchant dictatorship under Count Vasha... that people from various races and walks of live wanted to live in. Tushiena's indifference to matters of religious faith and its views on slavery (that it just wasn't worth it in the long run) combined with its impressive range of businesses, industries and the opportunities of its trading fleets to earn a living makes it a highly appealing place to live in Nagath.
The key to Tushiena's unmatched naval power is a combination of its infamous flamethrowers, fire grenades and the Deep Ones 'Marines'; At some point in the past, the Tushiena alchemists discovered a recipe for what they called 'Daigon's Flame', a substance that sticks to what it hits and burns until it is turned to ash and long afterwards that is also highly resistant to being put out by water. Tushiena's navy deploys this dangerous weapon via ship mounted 'flamethrowers' that spray the substance where the nozzle is pointed and the fire grenades, which explode on impact after being primed.
The Deep One Marines, who are naturally a race that lives underwater, have major advantages when it comes to ship to ship combat since they can literally assault the ships from underneath were most enemies cannot defend. All it normally takes is a bit of drilling, a primed 'Daigon's Flame' grenade and the unfortunate ship is usually sunk before they know what's going on, the crew devoured by the Deep Ones and the cargo secured.
Faction History:
Important Characters:
Count Vasha.
The current and so far only ruler of the city of Tushiena is the tyrant Count Vasha, a powerful lich who according to legend was appointed as the Count of the Isle of Shipwrecks by the Dark Lord Daigon himself several centuries ago; The only one who knows what the truth is for sure is Count Vasha himself and few people are on close enough terms with him to ask. While Count Vasha is the tyrant of Tushiena and is thus free to do whatever he wanted, he is rather lawful in nature and tends to focus his powers (both magical and legal) on the well being and growth of the city rather then his own personal gain.
He has also invested a great deal of time, money, effort and magic into creating an information network within his lands (and a spy network outside of it) to ensure that he is not only up to date on current events while they are happening, but also aware of what is going to happen ahead of time so that it can be accounted for and dealt with as appropriate.
Vasha is one of the few land dwellers who can actually enter the deep one part of Tushiena due to his undead nature. His relationship with the fishmen is actually somewhat friendly; The tools and weapons from Tushiena allow the Deep Ones to sink ships much easier and the fact that the land dwellers occasionally offer them a free meal and somewhere safe to create and raise hybrids and in return the Deep Ones assist the Tushiena navy as Marines, retrieve treasures lost to the sea to bring back to the city state and ensure that Tushiena's fishing nets are always full. It is a business relationship that has gone on for centuries and both sides are pretty happy to continue it.
Relations to other Factions:
Alias: The County of Tushiena
Government Type: Dictatorship
Faction Specie(s): Tushiena has become something of a melting pot for various races, but the two primary races that make up the bulk of it's land based population are humans and goblins. It's underwater extensions are primarily populated by the 'Deep Ones', fish men who live in the sea and who survive off of a largely meat based diet... alongside hybrids of land based races that have grown their gills.
Territory Details: The Isle of Shipwrecks is a surprisingly fertile land. Its soil is able to support quite a wide range of different types of edible plant life, the ocean around it filled with plentiful fish life and the few rivers... are so clogged up with sludge while traveling through the single giant city of Tushiena that if you're quick enough you could run across its surface without the soils of your shoes melting at certain times of the year. The city itself is huge, covering all the islands in the Isle and connecting the various districts that this makes via grand stone bridges.
And that is just the parts of the nation above sea level. In the murky waters around the Isle of Shipwrecks live tribes of 'Deep Ones', fish men that have lived in the oceans for aeons; It is unclear if they were another race created by the Dark Lord in ages passed or if they spawned naturally from some dark corner of the sea (Through everyone agrees they are likely why the Isle is called what it is), but regardless of origin pacts and alliances of old have long brought the Deep One's of the Isle of Shipwrecks into Tushiena's fold.
Faction Religion/Ideology: Tushiena is not a religious nation; It does have a district dedicated to the building of temples, shrines and churches for those who are, but they are generally far to busy scrabbling with each other over ideology and possible converts to actually try and get involved in the political landscape of the city. There is even a small church dedicated to God-Emperor Justinian, through it is a very minor cult compared to several more native ones (And in the event of a lack of sacrifices for the other cults and an offering is needed in short notice, the first port of call).
Tushiena itself is a nation of magic and technology; While it's ruler is a powerful lich, Count Vasha has always felt that for a nation to grow powerful it needed to be willing to plumb the depths of the occult and the arcane while also researching and experimenting with the mundane.
Tushiena has a proud naval tradition, it's ships some of the greatest in the world and its merchant fleet prepared to sail in the name of profit far and wide. This is as much pragmatism as it is national pride; The only means for any of those who wish to plunder Tushiena directly requires the invader to travel by ocean... and it can't do any harm if said invading fleet is reduced to a burning wreck that is sinking to the bottom of the sea with all hands lost.
Slavery is illegal in Tushiena; Those taken alive during pirate raids are either auctioned back to their people of origin, channeled towards the Cult distract to be offered up as sacrifices to anyone who needed them or just flat out offered to the Deep Ones to devour.
The Cult District is an island of Tushiena that was set aside largely because Vasha acknowledged that if he wanted people to be happy, they needed somewhere to pray and make offerings to their gods... or goddesses... or things with teeth and tentacles. Not wishing for any one religion to actually gain any real power in Tushiena proper, he set one of the Islands aside and welcomed all faiths to set up shop there on the condition that they kept -all- religious affairs on that island. Preaching or doing works for your faith on any other island in Tushiena is a quick way to end up as an offering to a cult following the law or fed to the deep ones if no ritual sacrifices are coming up.
Vasha does offer the cults in the Cult District access to sacrifices if their cult requires it, starting off with survivors from pirate raids who can't be ransomed back to their people and criminals in Tushiena jails. In the unlikely event that there is more of a demand for bodies than the Tushiena government can provide, the followers of God-Emperor Justinian are generally the first port of call. If that isn't enough, the cults in question will generally start attacking weaker cults in order to get the bodies they need. If this gets bad enough Vasha will order a lock down on the Cult District, closing the bridge and having deep ones patrol the water ways until the civil war takes care of itself. This has only happened once in Tushiena's history.
Faction Description:
The former bread basket of Nagath and the Dark Lord Daigon's empire, once the Dark Lord had died and his nation fell apart Tushiena became an independent city nation that has largely been untouched by war over the centuries due to the combination of its powerful and feared navy, the fictionalized nature of Nagath post Dark Lord keeping local threats too focused on closer enemies and the Justinian Imperium simply being too far away to really make the effort.
Originally the Isle of Shipwrecks was colonized by humans and goblins under the leadership of the newly appointed Count Vasha by Dark Lord Daigon himself sometime during his reign in order to secure a great source of food in order to feed the Dark Lords armies, but after it became an independent nation it became something of a merchant dictatorship under Count Vasha... that people from various races and walks of live wanted to live in. Tushiena's indifference to matters of religious faith and its views on slavery (that it just wasn't worth it in the long run) combined with its impressive range of businesses, industries and the opportunities of its trading fleets to earn a living makes it a highly appealing place to live in Nagath.
The key to Tushiena's unmatched naval power is a combination of its infamous flamethrowers, fire grenades and the Deep Ones 'Marines'; At some point in the past, the Tushiena alchemists discovered a recipe for what they called 'Daigon's Flame', a substance that sticks to what it hits and burns until it is turned to ash and long afterwards that is also highly resistant to being put out by water. Tushiena's navy deploys this dangerous weapon via ship mounted 'flamethrowers' that spray the substance where the nozzle is pointed and the fire grenades, which explode on impact after being primed.
The Deep One Marines, who are naturally a race that lives underwater, have major advantages when it comes to ship to ship combat since they can literally assault the ships from underneath were most enemies cannot defend. All it normally takes is a bit of drilling, a primed 'Daigon's Flame' grenade and the unfortunate ship is usually sunk before they know what's going on, the crew devoured by the Deep Ones and the cargo secured.
Faction History:
Important Characters:
Count Vasha.
The current and so far only ruler of the city of Tushiena is the tyrant Count Vasha, a powerful lich who according to legend was appointed as the Count of the Isle of Shipwrecks by the Dark Lord Daigon himself several centuries ago; The only one who knows what the truth is for sure is Count Vasha himself and few people are on close enough terms with him to ask. While Count Vasha is the tyrant of Tushiena and is thus free to do whatever he wanted, he is rather lawful in nature and tends to focus his powers (both magical and legal) on the well being and growth of the city rather then his own personal gain.
He has also invested a great deal of time, money, effort and magic into creating an information network within his lands (and a spy network outside of it) to ensure that he is not only up to date on current events while they are happening, but also aware of what is going to happen ahead of time so that it can be accounted for and dealt with as appropriate.
Vasha is one of the few land dwellers who can actually enter the deep one part of Tushiena due to his undead nature. His relationship with the fishmen is actually somewhat friendly; The tools and weapons from Tushiena allow the Deep Ones to sink ships much easier and the fact that the land dwellers occasionally offer them a free meal and somewhere safe to create and raise hybrids and in return the Deep Ones assist the Tushiena navy as Marines, retrieve treasures lost to the sea to bring back to the city state and ensure that Tushiena's fishing nets are always full. It is a business relationship that has gone on for centuries and both sides are pretty happy to continue it.
Relations to other Factions:
Faction name: The Sanguine Alliance
Alias: Crimson States, The Land of Black Water
Government Type: Council
Faction Species:
Territory Details:
Faction Religion/Ideology:
Faction Description:
Faction History:
Noticable characters
Relations to other Factions:
Alias: Crimson States, The Land of Black Water
Government Type: Council
Faction Species:
While most of the people are just human, they are not represented in the upper echelons of the Sanguine Alliance. No mortal can ever hope to be part of the nobility. For they are exclusively vampire. Vampires are ancient creatures. Immortal and strong. Vampires themselves are divided in several ranks and classes. The first rank are the New Bloods. Vampires that only exist for a human life time or less. They are Fledglings (newly turned) and Neophytes (Less than 100 years vampire but more than 25 years). They are generally treated as dirt, used as live training for higher vampires or as servants. Then come the True Vampires: Nightstalkers are the hunters of the Vampires. They roam the nights, generally alone, to root out dissidents amongst the human population. Reapers are the elite fighting force of the Sanguine Alliance. Blood-priests are part of the clergy and delve into the deeper secrets of blood and magic. These True Vampires are generally considered equal in rank. Though one can have a higher standing than the other due to age. The last one is a Vampire Lord. A True Vampire who distinguished himself in the eyes of the Sanguine Alliance and is granted a piece of land and a handful of thralls to tend it. Then come the Elder classes: Ascendants are ancient vampires that uncovered a truth of vampirism. More in tune with their inner power, they are stronger than True Vampires. However, their youth still influences them. Elders are vampires that have undergone hibernation and rose up again. Generally, they are more tempered but also uncaring towards the world. Finally, there are Ancients. These vampires have undergone several hibernations. Most, if not all, are recluses, preferring damp forgotten caves and dark woods. Some wait half a millennium just for a single thing to happen. Others are awaiting something unexpected. While the oldest, Ancients rarely govern. Leaving the affairs of the state to the younger, Elder brethren.
There are rumors of an even older vampire caste: the Antediluvians. To believe in their existence is to believe in Kain himself. For Kain was the first vampire. Stories of how he turned diverge. In fact, there are as many stories of Kain as there are bards that tell his tales. The Antediluvian caste exists of the First Children of Kain. Who laid the foundation of vampirism. The lines continue to the Last Sinners. Who were supposed to be killed in a flood. This, all stories agree on. But whatever deity wanted them all dead, it failed. Some survived and brought the vampiric curse into the new land.
Not all vampires are sane (or only slightly disheveled). Some of them delve too deep in the secrets of the blood, not heeding the warnings. The blood, in turn, corrupts them. Makes them feral. They grow pale wild. Hair grows long and webbings grow in between their hands. If no action is taken, they vanish one night. Years later they return to their homestead, devolved into a giant, bat-like creature lusting for nothing more than blood and flesh. Others surrender to the beast inside. This often happens when a fledgling is not kept in check. He grows more hungry with every kill and lacks discipline. Such vampires often run away from their lord in pursuit of more blood. It is a liege’s responsibility to hunt them down then. Sometimes, they fail and the fledgling goes on a killing spree. Only to vanish in the wild lands. Accursed they are called and they will turn into a landlocked, giant beast. Some find it again and keep it as a pet. All vampires must fear certain states of mind and afflictions. As vampires can often change in many more horrible, senseless beasts. Forever doomed to bloodlust.
There are rumors of an even older vampire caste: the Antediluvians. To believe in their existence is to believe in Kain himself. For Kain was the first vampire. Stories of how he turned diverge. In fact, there are as many stories of Kain as there are bards that tell his tales. The Antediluvian caste exists of the First Children of Kain. Who laid the foundation of vampirism. The lines continue to the Last Sinners. Who were supposed to be killed in a flood. This, all stories agree on. But whatever deity wanted them all dead, it failed. Some survived and brought the vampiric curse into the new land.
Not all vampires are sane (or only slightly disheveled). Some of them delve too deep in the secrets of the blood, not heeding the warnings. The blood, in turn, corrupts them. Makes them feral. They grow pale wild. Hair grows long and webbings grow in between their hands. If no action is taken, they vanish one night. Years later they return to their homestead, devolved into a giant, bat-like creature lusting for nothing more than blood and flesh. Others surrender to the beast inside. This often happens when a fledgling is not kept in check. He grows more hungry with every kill and lacks discipline. Such vampires often run away from their lord in pursuit of more blood. It is a liege’s responsibility to hunt them down then. Sometimes, they fail and the fledgling goes on a killing spree. Only to vanish in the wild lands. Accursed they are called and they will turn into a landlocked, giant beast. Some find it again and keep it as a pet. All vampires must fear certain states of mind and afflictions. As vampires can often change in many more horrible, senseless beasts. Forever doomed to bloodlust.
Territory Details:
The land around The Black Water is owned by the Sanguine Alliance. To the east you have mostly marches and fields. Here most of the agricultural activities take place. Traveling upwards on the eastern shore you’ll encounter Agrat-Thul. An ancient, forgotten city. Said to be the home of all vampires in Nagoth during the time of Daigon. A crimson metropolis where blood literally flowed through the streets for all vampires to drink it. However, it was sacked by Justinian and his vampire hunters when they came to destroy Agrat-Thul. The vampires never rebuild the place, though it is said that more than one Ancient remains here. Going over the farther tip, there is little land far up north. However, on the west would be the first few cities, carved from the mountains’ stone. In the mountains themselves, slaves work tirelessly to delve up gems from the mountains. Down south is newly taken terrain. Some humans have settled the southern’ sea’s shore. While the vampires have built large mansions inside the protection of the Black Water.
Faction Religion/Ideology:
The Sanguine Alliance have no true, set religion. Though there is a collective reverence towards Kain, the First Vampire and his First Children. They revere him as a vampire that ascended to godhood. His children became lesser gods and blessed their children in turn. All the way to the Last Sinners. Now, those blessings are still carried through the bloodlines. Though not everyone agrees upon every story. Some say, for example, that Daigon was Kain. A claim only made by fledglings with an ill understanding of their gifts. Others say Daigon was the incarnation of Kain. Others claim there was no Kain or Antediluvians. The only indication given towards a truth is that the Ancients seemingly worship nothing and nobody. But really, who can be sure with a creature that slept through ages?
The humans, secretly (though not so secret that their vampire overlords do not know) worship the Lightbringer. A version of Justanism where they believe the god of all that is good and light will come down and save them. Their overlords allow this practice, as hopelessness seemingly dulls the blood that is no longer tasty. However, it is a dangerous game. For too much hope can lead to action. Thus the Sanguine Alliance often commit to a culling. Publicly executing and torturing known worshippers of the Light. Yet alas, sometimes it wasn’t enough and vampires have been killed by plebs during revolts.
The humans, secretly (though not so secret that their vampire overlords do not know) worship the Lightbringer. A version of Justanism where they believe the god of all that is good and light will come down and save them. Their overlords allow this practice, as hopelessness seemingly dulls the blood that is no longer tasty. However, it is a dangerous game. For too much hope can lead to action. Thus the Sanguine Alliance often commit to a culling. Publicly executing and torturing known worshippers of the Light. Yet alas, sometimes it wasn’t enough and vampires have been killed by plebs during revolts.
Faction Description:
At first glance, not that much looks strange in the land of Black Water. Slaves work the fields, plebs work the mills and shops and all seems peaceful. Except for the black robed and masked figures, walking around with whips in their hands. Overseers that keep the people at bay in the fields. Prone to let the whip crack should any mortal not work hard enough. Life as a human in Black Water is to be chained to a Vampire Lord. You work his fields, sleep in his cottages and eat his food. When he asks for his tithe, you present you are to present your veins willingly. You can never escape lest the Nightstalkers catch you, kill your family before your eyes and then you. Most are content with their lives. They have shelter and food. Though some would dare revolt. The gibbets on the city walls though, serve as a stern reminder.
In the cities, one can find more vampires. Especially at night. They walk the streets as sirs and ladies. Rich and laughing with blood still on their shin. New vampires are chosen from the human stock. Often those with exceptional talent are taken. However, the façade hides an ill truth. There are never enough humans to serve the vampire’s lust for blood. Lesser vampires, fledglings and neophytes especially, must do with the lesser blood of animals, orcs and other vile creatures.
Older Vampire Lords are often eccentric, hosting massive balls. Others create what they will refer to as a ‘vineyard’. Though make no mistake. These vineyards are actual villages living under special circumstances. Some are put on a diet of only oranges for weeks. Other are prohibited from touching beer. This alters their blood, which their Vampire Lord then drains and bottles. Unlike wine, age does not matter. Instead, the age of the human, the name of the ‘wine’ and from which vineyard it comes are deemed important details. The same is often done for meat.
Vampire Lords rarely fully agree with one another. Each has their own agendas. Especially amongst the True Vampire caste. This is why the Elder caste generally take matters of state in their hands. Even though their divides are generally even deeper, they have grown accustomed to the idea of building bridges when needed. Their eventual goal is rather obvious: a world for vampires, where humans and their mortal ilk are but livestock kept at work and alive to serve their bloody rulers. A far-reaching goal for those cursed with aging. A mere test of patience for those untouched by time. Or so the vampires would believe.
In the cities, one can find more vampires. Especially at night. They walk the streets as sirs and ladies. Rich and laughing with blood still on their shin. New vampires are chosen from the human stock. Often those with exceptional talent are taken. However, the façade hides an ill truth. There are never enough humans to serve the vampire’s lust for blood. Lesser vampires, fledglings and neophytes especially, must do with the lesser blood of animals, orcs and other vile creatures.
Older Vampire Lords are often eccentric, hosting massive balls. Others create what they will refer to as a ‘vineyard’. Though make no mistake. These vineyards are actual villages living under special circumstances. Some are put on a diet of only oranges for weeks. Other are prohibited from touching beer. This alters their blood, which their Vampire Lord then drains and bottles. Unlike wine, age does not matter. Instead, the age of the human, the name of the ‘wine’ and from which vineyard it comes are deemed important details. The same is often done for meat.
Vampire Lords rarely fully agree with one another. Each has their own agendas. Especially amongst the True Vampire caste. This is why the Elder caste generally take matters of state in their hands. Even though their divides are generally even deeper, they have grown accustomed to the idea of building bridges when needed. Their eventual goal is rather obvious: a world for vampires, where humans and their mortal ilk are but livestock kept at work and alive to serve their bloody rulers. A far-reaching goal for those cursed with aging. A mere test of patience for those untouched by time. Or so the vampires would believe.
Faction History:
Despite the existence of the Ancients and Elders, lots of history remains obscure and even contradictory. The only fact considered true is the existence of Agrat-Thul, the Crimson Capital. A vast metropolis of vampires. Who supposedly worked with Daigon. However, when the dark lord was struck down and Agrat-Thul was razed to the ground, the vampires fled to the eastern mountains to hide. Many elders went into hibernation then and there. Lesser vampires who would not survive the hibernation hunted to remain alive. Eventually to crawl back out from the mountains to witness a land destroyed and ruined. Agrat-Thul was a haunted place and their once great empire was no more. Slowly the vampires expanded, taking humans as their slaves.
This expansion got a much-needed boost when vampires fled Justinian lands for Nagath. Many vampires went north, but others went south and arrived at the Sanguine Alliance lands. With this upkick in population, the Alliance could hasten their expansion. Now they have enough to raid the March Lords for the human population, as well as maintain the livestock at home. The Sanguine Alliance, in a way, is thriving. But it’s not all good. There are still not enough humans to feed all vampires and many Elders must remain in hibernation to survive.
This expansion got a much-needed boost when vampires fled Justinian lands for Nagath. Many vampires went north, but others went south and arrived at the Sanguine Alliance lands. With this upkick in population, the Alliance could hasten their expansion. Now they have enough to raid the March Lords for the human population, as well as maintain the livestock at home. The Sanguine Alliance, in a way, is thriving. But it’s not all good. There are still not enough humans to feed all vampires and many Elders must remain in hibernation to survive.
Noticable characters
Elizabeth of Vaggren – A human born in a rather unremarkable human farmer village. Not even a vineyard. Nothing in her childhood indicated any special merit, so she was barely glanced at by the Vampire Lords. However, when an Accursed began rampaging near her village things started to change. She was one of the first to pick up arms against it, long before even the Vampires could react. Very soon she had a band of men and women behind her holding pitchforks and cleavers. When the humans found the beast, the battle began. When the Vampire Lords arrived, they witnessed Elizabeth delivering the final stab into the bleeding beast below her. Initially, she was to be turned. However, word spread fast amongst the human population about her heroic victory. So, for now, she has been appointed as the representative of the humans in the Sanguine Alliance. Not that the post entails much power.
Mirabella of Gorogon Island – She was but a fledgling when she fled to Nagath. She thought it would be her final resting place, an end to a life she barely remembered. Except that it was miserable, painful and harsh. She didn’t remember how she got turned nor how she learned how to feed. Older vampires in Nagath guessed her at less than 10 years when she arrived. Alas, it did not matter. Unlike the other vampiric ladies that arrived, Mirabella had no former aristrocratic blood or education. She couldn’t write or read but she could throw another fledgling across a yard. She was taken in by Ersten, an older vampire, who taught her the ropes of being a vampire. She learned to hide her more savage and aggressive nature under silk and a smile. But she never forsook her fighting spirit. To this day she is one of the greatest fighters of her generation. Her greatest achievement was winning over Lord Ultain the Grey. A vampire Lord set to become an ascendant. The defeat shamed him and he did not make Ascendant after that. These days Mirabella is growing bored and hopes for a good to war too break out.
Mirabella of Gorogon Island – She was but a fledgling when she fled to Nagath. She thought it would be her final resting place, an end to a life she barely remembered. Except that it was miserable, painful and harsh. She didn’t remember how she got turned nor how she learned how to feed. Older vampires in Nagath guessed her at less than 10 years when she arrived. Alas, it did not matter. Unlike the other vampiric ladies that arrived, Mirabella had no former aristrocratic blood or education. She couldn’t write or read but she could throw another fledgling across a yard. She was taken in by Ersten, an older vampire, who taught her the ropes of being a vampire. She learned to hide her more savage and aggressive nature under silk and a smile. But she never forsook her fighting spirit. To this day she is one of the greatest fighters of her generation. Her greatest achievement was winning over Lord Ultain the Grey. A vampire Lord set to become an ascendant. The defeat shamed him and he did not make Ascendant after that. These days Mirabella is growing bored and hopes for a good to war too break out.
Relations to other Factions:
Recently rumors have spawned that vampires are also surviving up north. Details are vague so far. Tushiena’s ships are always free to dock at the Sanguine Alliance’s ports. As the Vampire Lords often require exotic goods for their next experimentation. The Weeping Widows religion has taken hold in the human population. Though in vampires, only Fledglings dare believe the tales.
Akagi Khanate
"Curse you sea wretches! Curse you all! I hope meet a fate worst then drowning! Worse than death!"
Last word of Grand Admiral Luther Sigis, Former Imperial Grand Admiral.
Last word of Grand Admiral Luther Sigis, Former Imperial Grand Admiral.
Alias: Sea Lords, the Saltborn, Raiders of the Twin Isles, Sea Wretches.
Government Type: Khanate
The Akagi khanate, as the name already implies, is a chiefdom ruled by the Khan, a vicious warlord that strong armed the various pirates clans under his domain.
At the head of the Khanate is the Khan himself. Below him are the different pirate clans that have sworn fealty to him or were forced to. The chieftains of this clans provide a portion of their taxes to the Khan and in return, the Khan offers them protection from external threats and internal conflicts. Under the chieftains are captain. Individual who own, maintain and command their own vessels of war. Usually the captains are closely related to the chieftains of each clan. Each spoils from every raid are taxed by the chieftains, usually a fraction of all the total loot being taken.
Each Chieftain is able to call upon every captain that serves under their house for war. In the days before the Khan, this was done to settle territories on land and water mostly. Any captain that refuses this call from their Chieftain would become an outcast from their clan. He would then be treated as open game for any other pirate to pillage him. The accumulated ships that form a fleet is called a host. The Khan may call upon every clan’s host if he so wishes. The combined fleet formed is known as the “Black Host”. This massive collection of ships were first encountered by Imperials in the battle for the Red Sea.
A chieftain's host preparing to set sail and face a rival fleet at sea.
Faction Specie(s): Most of the chiefs under the Khan are Human however the khanate itself is diverse. A myriad of races dwell in the isles. From the most numerous inhabitants that are the Humans to the hardeir folk of the Beastmen. Orcs are also known to inhabit the Khanate. Most captured in battle or have ran away from their kin looking for a more prodigal lifestyle.
Territory Details:
The capital of the Khan is Chuluun Khöl, a hold on the northern island of Tom Zagas.
Faction Religion/Ideology: There had never been a mandated religion in the Khanate. Neither had there been with the different marauder clans before the rise of the Khan. Each individual is free to worship whichever Deity they see fit. The most common religion, if it can be called that, is the belief in the lord of chances. Believed to be an aspect of the Dark Lord Daigon who grants its patrons a spark of good luck when they most need it.
Another religious belief that is notable in the isles is known informally as the Church of the Sleeping. A strange belief where a figure only known as 'the Sleeping God'. This belief only came into prominence when the Khan returned from his battle with the former Chieftain Jakai. The Khan has proclaimed himself the prophet of the the Sleeping One. His voice is the Sleeping One's will.
Another notable belief in the isles Pale Goddess who is predominantly worshiped in the Broken Arm. Northmen looking to escape their vampiric thanes. As people of the seas, a good number in the Khanate has converted to the belief. Some would slaughter livestock and let them drift towards the horizon as a sacrifice to the Lady that under the waves.
The Khanate is a place where freedom is held in the highest esteem, as long as you are strong enough to defend it. Before the Khan’s rise to power, there was a strict hierarchy among the pirate clans. Primogeniture was the accepted form of inheritance where males are favored more than females.
The Khan broke this tradition by mandating that allowing anybody, whether related to the chieftain or not, to inherit their titles by merit, skill and loyalty rather than family ties. Females have also been give wider power within the Khanate. Now they are not only allowed to serve as pirates themselves but they can also become captains and even chieftains if they prove their worth. Crews have also been allowed the right to a share of the loot gathered from a raid. Where once they were treated as little more than slaves, only fed enough to last a fight. Not everyone is happy with this changes. Mostly the elites of the elites of the old ways who stubbornly hold on to old traditions. They are a small minority though as most under the Khanate have accepted and are pleased with the reforms.
Of course politics matter for the average pirate of the khanate. Life is not easy in the barren waste of Nagath. Though there are those in the Khanate that practice honest work such as herdsmen and weavers, a good majority often becoming raiders and pirates. In the harsh existence of Nagath turns even the most noble men to desperate means. Of course the pirate life is often harsh and unforgiving. They are known to drink a mixture of fresh and salt water to store on up on ration. Most, if not all, of their meals are salted fish and meats to last their long voyages. Rats and other vermin that dwell in the hold of their vessels carry all sorts of horrid diseases. They are also treated with hostility by most other vessels, be they Justinian or otherwise, because of a pirate’s nature.
However how hard this challenges may be, the rewards are even greater. Treasures from simple stacks of gold to items rare and bizarre have been collected on daring pirate raids. The most infamous spoil is the Khan’s ship itself, the Unbreakable. This is why many take to the pirate lifestyle. The risk maybe great but the potential rewards much more so.
Most pirates under the khan use ships known as "junks". They are not as durable or yield as much power as most Imperial warships but they have proven to be more nimble and faster. They often skirt around more heavily armored ships and whittle them down with short range cannons known as "huo de huxi", more commonly known as "hooksies" to Imperial sailors. Cannon balls no bigger than a man's fist are used but in times of desperation, pirates have been known to use anything from broken glasses to pieces of wooden furniture. Other pirates have often loaded hooksies with harpoons which they fire onto an enemy ship and either use to board a ship or pull it closer towards them if the vessel is smaller. Junks do not have cannon ports under their deck. Most cannons are placed above deck with their ammunition and gunpowder stored under. Of course most prominent pirates have often stolen more sturdier ships from the Empire, like the Khan himself.
Two people challenging each other for the right to become Captain. After the Khan's reform, even women may participate in the honorary summons.
The Khan broke this tradition by mandating that allowing anybody, whether related to the chieftain or not, to inherit their titles by merit, skill and loyalty rather than family ties. Females have also been give wider power within the Khanate. Now they are not only allowed to serve as pirates themselves but they can also become captains and even chieftains if they prove their worth. Crews have also been allowed the right to a share of the loot gathered from a raid. Where once they were treated as little more than slaves, only fed enough to last a fight. Not everyone is happy with this changes. Mostly the elites of the elites of the old ways who stubbornly hold on to old traditions. They are a small minority though as most under the Khanate have accepted and are pleased with the reforms.
Pirates of the Meiji clan enjoying their spoils of war.
Of course politics matter for the average pirate of the khanate. Life is not easy in the barren waste of Nagath. Though there are those in the Khanate that practice honest work such as herdsmen and weavers, a good majority often becoming raiders and pirates. In the harsh existence of Nagath turns even the most noble men to desperate means. Of course the pirate life is often harsh and unforgiving. They are known to drink a mixture of fresh and salt water to store on up on ration. Most, if not all, of their meals are salted fish and meats to last their long voyages. Rats and other vermin that dwell in the hold of their vessels carry all sorts of horrid diseases. They are also treated with hostility by most other vessels, be they Justinian or otherwise, because of a pirate’s nature.
A pirate host raiding an Imperial merchant fleet.
However how hard this challenges may be, the rewards are even greater. Treasures from simple stacks of gold to items rare and bizarre have been collected on daring pirate raids. The most infamous spoil is the Khan’s ship itself, the Unbreakable. This is why many take to the pirate lifestyle. The risk maybe great but the potential rewards much more so.
A typical Junk ship used by Khanate pirates.
A "huo de huxi" cannon, better known as a "hooksie".
Most pirates under the khan use ships known as "junks". They are not as durable or yield as much power as most Imperial warships but they have proven to be more nimble and faster. They often skirt around more heavily armored ships and whittle them down with short range cannons known as "huo de huxi", more commonly known as "hooksies" to Imperial sailors. Cannon balls no bigger than a man's fist are used but in times of desperation, pirates have been known to use anything from broken glasses to pieces of wooden furniture. Other pirates have often loaded hooksies with harpoons which they fire onto an enemy ship and either use to board a ship or pull it closer towards them if the vessel is smaller. Junks do not have cannon ports under their deck. Most cannons are placed above deck with their ammunition and gunpowder stored under. Of course most prominent pirates have often stolen more sturdier ships from the Empire, like the Khan himself.
The pirate lords of the twin isle were not always the meager opportunist they are now. From the port city of Anadal-Ur, now known as Ozgad’s Folly, rested Daigon’s pearl. The Black Tide, a fleet said so large it would cast a shadow as far as the eye could see. Led by the Great Kra-aaden, known popularly to the members of the Castigati as the “Scourge of God”. According to the tales of ol he is even Daigon's own son, forged with his blood along with dark magics. The Black Tide’s last known battle was against the Justinian Grand Fleet to make way for Daigon’s Bloodspiller Orcs to seize the port town of Andorra.
The fleets that clashed covered the sea in a blanket of ships that raced for one another. Demitrius, a grand priest of the Clerisy and poet, wrote that the waves was awash with wanton death. Wrecks and pieces floated on the waters while the dying yells of men and women filled the dreadful air. At the closing stages of the battle, Prince Arkus, saint of the empire, jumped atop Kra-aaden’s head and battled the fiend while carnage continued around them. However Prince Arkus was able to summon bolts of lightning from the sky as he slammed his warhammer into Kra-aaden. The prince was last seen going under the water with the demon admiral, fighting each other to the last breathe. This shattered the Black Tide and forced them to retreat back to Anadal-Ur. Ready to receive punishment from Daigon, the vice Admirals stood ready for retribution only to find out that Daigon himself died against the Justinians.
The news devastated the vice admirals. Some mustered what vessels they had and sailed back to the Empire, inflicting as much destruction as they could before capture or death. Others salvaged what they could from their vessels and traveled further inland. Some though decided to break off their allegiances to whatever authority inherited Daigon’s throne and form their own lordships. Without funding from their former overlord, this petty suzerains turned to piracy and coastal raiding to fund their fleets. Infighting within their ranks occurred as keeping the chain of command no longer seemed appropriate or necessary. Martial traditions was forgone. To be replaced by wild savagery and reckless abandon. Desperation would also drive this pirate lords to pillage the other residents of Nagath. The coast of the Cursed Sea being plundered every so often by opportunistic marauders running rampant.
There had never been any will to unify the different pirate clans from the different chieftains. Each preferring to focus their fleets on Imperial merchant vessels than each other. On occasion clans would clash over territories they had set on the open ocean. That was until the arrival of the Khan. A man who was named Akagi in a different life. According to tales, he was a slave in Vritraprthvirajya before escaping. Fate would then have him on Captain Daria’s ship. The captain was a cruel taskmaster. Akagi would challenge Daria for the ship which would lead to the captain’s demise. Impressed with the daring Akagi showed, the elder of Tegin, Chieftain Shonkhor, took Akagi under his wing and taught him everything there was of the trade. Shonkhor’s own son, the impulsive Captain Jakai, became envious of the close relations between his father and Akagi. He poisoned his father and assumed Chiefhood. He then blamed Akagi for the death and ordered him arrested. Rather than run, Akagi went on to meet the chieftain in his hold along with his supporters. Loyalist of both sides clashed and Akagi found himself dueling Jakai on the ledge of the hold overlooking a tall cliff. Jakai pushed Akagi off the tall rock face but Akagi was able to grab hold of his opponent’s heel. The two fell as their followers looked in shocked. Jakai was found quickly enough. His head was dashed against the sharp rocks. Quickly the Tegin clan fell into turmoil as claims for the throne were announced. That was until Akagi came back claiming the chiefdom for his own. He had looked remarkably different. He was paler and he seemed always moist and damp. His skinned seemed wrinkled. His eyes and lips seemed sunken. He also smelled of saltwater. There were those who opposed him at first. Challenged him for the right. They were all defeated by Akagi who seemed unnaturally fast and agile, specially with his current appearance.
With no other contenders to the throne, he renamed himself as the “Khan”. The Khan then set his sights on the other clans. He gave them the chance to join. Most at first refused. They would become the first to witness the resurgent fleet. Their uncoordinated attacks no match for the cunning strategies of the Khan. One by one the clans fell. Some by force, others by choice. The Khan would then pass his mandates, reforming the pirate culture of the isles. It has been 13 years since the unification. The fleets of Akagi seemed bolder now in their strikes. Attacking even guarded Imperial vessels and sometimes Imperial war fleets themselves. The wrath of Khan is becoming ever more notorious with each attack they commit against the Empire.
Kra-aaden, attacking an Imperial ship during the battle for Andorra
The fleets that clashed covered the sea in a blanket of ships that raced for one another. Demitrius, a grand priest of the Clerisy and poet, wrote that the waves was awash with wanton death. Wrecks and pieces floated on the waters while the dying yells of men and women filled the dreadful air. At the closing stages of the battle, Prince Arkus, saint of the empire, jumped atop Kra-aaden’s head and battled the fiend while carnage continued around them. However Prince Arkus was able to summon bolts of lightning from the sky as he slammed his warhammer into Kra-aaden. The prince was last seen going under the water with the demon admiral, fighting each other to the last breathe. This shattered the Black Tide and forced them to retreat back to Anadal-Ur. Ready to receive punishment from Daigon, the vice Admirals stood ready for retribution only to find out that Daigon himself died against the Justinians.
The news devastated the vice admirals. Some mustered what vessels they had and sailed back to the Empire, inflicting as much destruction as they could before capture or death. Others salvaged what they could from their vessels and traveled further inland. Some though decided to break off their allegiances to whatever authority inherited Daigon’s throne and form their own lordships. Without funding from their former overlord, this petty suzerains turned to piracy and coastal raiding to fund their fleets. Infighting within their ranks occurred as keeping the chain of command no longer seemed appropriate or necessary. Martial traditions was forgone. To be replaced by wild savagery and reckless abandon. Desperation would also drive this pirate lords to pillage the other residents of Nagath. The coast of the Cursed Sea being plundered every so often by opportunistic marauders running rampant.
A vessel of Vampire Count Vasha being raided by Khanate pirates
There had never been any will to unify the different pirate clans from the different chieftains. Each preferring to focus their fleets on Imperial merchant vessels than each other. On occasion clans would clash over territories they had set on the open ocean. That was until the arrival of the Khan. A man who was named Akagi in a different life. According to tales, he was a slave in Vritraprthvirajya before escaping. Fate would then have him on Captain Daria’s ship. The captain was a cruel taskmaster. Akagi would challenge Daria for the ship which would lead to the captain’s demise. Impressed with the daring Akagi showed, the elder of Tegin, Chieftain Shonkhor, took Akagi under his wing and taught him everything there was of the trade. Shonkhor’s own son, the impulsive Captain Jakai, became envious of the close relations between his father and Akagi. He poisoned his father and assumed Chiefhood. He then blamed Akagi for the death and ordered him arrested. Rather than run, Akagi went on to meet the chieftain in his hold along with his supporters. Loyalist of both sides clashed and Akagi found himself dueling Jakai on the ledge of the hold overlooking a tall cliff. Jakai pushed Akagi off the tall rock face but Akagi was able to grab hold of his opponent’s heel. The two fell as their followers looked in shocked. Jakai was found quickly enough. His head was dashed against the sharp rocks. Quickly the Tegin clan fell into turmoil as claims for the throne were announced. That was until Akagi came back claiming the chiefdom for his own. He had looked remarkably different. He was paler and he seemed always moist and damp. His skinned seemed wrinkled. His eyes and lips seemed sunken. He also smelled of saltwater. There were those who opposed him at first. Challenged him for the right. They were all defeated by Akagi who seemed unnaturally fast and agile, specially with his current appearance.
With no other contenders to the throne, he renamed himself as the “Khan”. The Khan then set his sights on the other clans. He gave them the chance to join. Most at first refused. They would become the first to witness the resurgent fleet. Their uncoordinated attacks no match for the cunning strategies of the Khan. One by one the clans fell. Some by force, others by choice. The Khan would then pass his mandates, reforming the pirate culture of the isles. It has been 13 years since the unification. The fleets of Akagi seemed bolder now in their strikes. Attacking even guarded Imperial vessels and sometimes Imperial war fleets themselves. The wrath of Khan is becoming ever more notorious with each attack they commit against the Empire.
The Khan
A bust of the Khan.
Akagi, who in time would turn into the mighty, charismatic and brutal warlord named "the Khan", came from very humble origins. He was the son a fisher and a fish monger in the southern island of Jijig Zagas. Akagi would often embark with his father to the salt banks of Iyatvathla(?), in the southern waters of Vritraprthvirajya(?). There he would catch massive catfishes with his father. So massive are this fishes that they have been known time and time again to swallow men whole. One day during a rough storm, Akagi was thrown overboard along with his father. His father became a meal for the very creatures they were hunting and Akagi was carried by the waves towards the shore.
(Have to see Senor Herp's sheet for this).
Lady Chen "The Red Lady":
Surrat the Quick:
Chief Anjo of Clan Thais "The Plague Captain":
The Shadow:
Relations to other Factions:
Vritraprthvirajya, Realm of the Asura
Alias
The Enveloping Kingdom, Kingdom of the Wheel, The Land of Dark Earth, Home of the Foe-Host, Dominion of Thunder, Land of the Voices Ten Thousand, The Cacophony, Wealth of the Nations, Strangler Princedom, Nagath Bleeding, The Martyrs' Charnel, and a thousand other titles & slanders either translated from the many-meaninged name or derived elsewhere.
Government Type: Archonate
Nominally an absolute autocracy; functionally a military-industrial-temple complex stratified bureaucracy, organized by interlaced castes within castes- both professional and racial, and open or closed to advancement- that is then given life through the varyingly blank cheque of sovereign-bestowed state authority granted to governors, priests, warrior-aristocrats, state merchants, professional military officers, irregular border fighters, prominent alchemists, and other parties of interest who will then enact the mandate of the Sovereign.
Faction Species
Asura
Twice-Born
O ye of thorn'd breast
Wrath-crowned, Asura behest
With flame of blood, may ye be born again
With a blackened heart, for sake of Men
Wrath-crowned, Asura behest
With flame of blood, may ye be born again
With a blackened heart, for sake of Men
-Final stanza of the Rite of Asura, otherwise known as the Ballad of the Black Heart or the Godless Prayer
In the first half-century after the Fall of Daigon passed, the Movement of Ten Thousand Voices, with a limited recruitment base and the ongoing general collapse of civilization, was beset by a critical and unforeseen threat; the inevitability of mortal death and its rigors. Though demons and the more-than-human lived long, even indefinitely, their numbers were limited, and the essential vaporization of their population through Castigati action and sheer disunity & opposition to any true reorganization of one Nagath made this all the more acutely troublesome and apparent; few stayed true to the Movement. And even more pressingly, those generals, statesmen and scholars of mortal bent steadily died away by natural cause. Some were simply old; some had sickened or succumbed to wound and maim; some had been preserved past their death by medicine and artifice past their normal lifespans, means that could no longer be sustained; all perished regardless of cause, sooner or later.
As the full century closed, the successors of the first generation of mortal Movement leadership began, too, to show signs of age, and more of the old guard Daigonists perished or deserted in favor of their own doomed efforts. It seemed inevitable that mere attrition would be the end of Daigon's dream. It was at this critical juncture that Asurishvara broke a self-made vow, and bore open his heart to men. He shared a black secret of the kingly arts, and taught his closest 'to walk like Me 'til you may walk like You,' the bleak path of sacrifice for self-actualization; he taught men how to become Asura, to be as demons, black-blooded and high and mighty indeed. And so it was that a fresh generation of man-fiends were wrought, and many more after. A price paid in heart and spirit, a mortgage of the soul, in exchange for the power and longevity to see the Dream through.
The Asura, unlike many beings classed and catalogued under the umbrella of 'demon'- from familiar spirits, to gloomy infernals, to dream-eaters, all manner of dissimilar clade known solely by a shared brand of immundane inhumanity- are universally similar in their origin being derived from man, and their aspect remaining for the most part mannish, at least in the exterior and in personality. Form may be fluid, and those with a mastery of it may shift away from their default, but the shape of an Asura physically and otherwise is 'man.' And a high example of man they appear to be, at a glance; strong, agile, quick in mind regardless of wit, a struggle to wound, a deed to kill, seemingly untiring and definitely sleepless, ageless if death does not take them. Each wielders in theory and general practice of imperium, the power of true and full command vested in and taken out of the state and philosophically though not literally of nature itself, one and all. The depth of price paid is not quite as obvious.
Each has shorn humanity and become one of the highest aristocracy in the Circle of Kings; their state obligations now tenfold and eternal. Sleeplessness drives them to dreamlessness, at least of the unconscious sort, and lucid dreaming grants no break or rest to the consciousness. Long life, aloof stature and the universal twisting of frame of mind lends to off-and-on disillusion, gloominess and tempestuous nature, tempered though it may be by state ideology, meditationally exercised self-control, and mutual reinforcement of both aspects. Their bodies are rendered totally barren; no matter the effort, they will produce no issue, mortal or immortal. Though no memory of their former selves are lost, the Asura are never quite who they once were, but a mythologized analogue, gigantic and unreachable, even as personable as they strive to be compared to similar petty godlets or unseen Justinian.
The manufacture and upraising of an Asura is a momentous thing, the uncommon result of truly meritorious individuals rising amongst caste and rank with full attention of a member or members of the Circle of Kings, and the process is a two-layered secret; first the open secret in the riddle of religious mystery, and secondly the true deed and its technical carrying out. The former is well-known, enough so that moderately learned men well outside Nagath will have heard or have knowledge of stotram, epic poetry or parable regarding it; the latter is true esoterica, so deeply guarded as to be essentially unknown outside the Circle of Kings. Of the process, this much can be said; a thorn is taken 'from the coils about the heart of Asurishvara,' and bestowed upon the subject. 'The blood runs like fire, is replaced by flame,' after which 'the black-heart to be is watched over by his fellows, and left to the struggle of rebirth.'
Whatever the actuality of the process, it is of great import that the subject be ideally of physical prime youth, and no later than middle age at most, 'lest weakness fail and death & abomination result.' Likewise, they must be human or near-human; the result of attempts to use the process on orcs, wild bray-folk, centaurs, and other creatures which do not adhere to a human countenance and a certain proportion of at least human-like limbs can be aptly described by the monicker 'abomination and death.' The end physiological result of a true Asura, beside strength or grace, a degree of shape-changing, and barrenness as previously described, are as follows; the replacement of all non-clear bodily fluids and any fluids of strain (sweat of exercise, fury-born spittle) with a nearly black red-violet blood, a haziness in the consistent placement or indeed existence of internal organs, the ceasing of normal metabolic functions and the need for their normal fulfillment as the body becomes a sorcerously near-closed system, and the skin of the body shifting into often prime colors, exceedingly drained complexions, or other abnormalities, supposedly grossly externalizing aspects of the essential character of the transmuted on some level.
As the full century closed, the successors of the first generation of mortal Movement leadership began, too, to show signs of age, and more of the old guard Daigonists perished or deserted in favor of their own doomed efforts. It seemed inevitable that mere attrition would be the end of Daigon's dream. It was at this critical juncture that Asurishvara broke a self-made vow, and bore open his heart to men. He shared a black secret of the kingly arts, and taught his closest 'to walk like Me 'til you may walk like You,' the bleak path of sacrifice for self-actualization; he taught men how to become Asura, to be as demons, black-blooded and high and mighty indeed. And so it was that a fresh generation of man-fiends were wrought, and many more after. A price paid in heart and spirit, a mortgage of the soul, in exchange for the power and longevity to see the Dream through.
The Asura, unlike many beings classed and catalogued under the umbrella of 'demon'- from familiar spirits, to gloomy infernals, to dream-eaters, all manner of dissimilar clade known solely by a shared brand of immundane inhumanity- are universally similar in their origin being derived from man, and their aspect remaining for the most part mannish, at least in the exterior and in personality. Form may be fluid, and those with a mastery of it may shift away from their default, but the shape of an Asura physically and otherwise is 'man.' And a high example of man they appear to be, at a glance; strong, agile, quick in mind regardless of wit, a struggle to wound, a deed to kill, seemingly untiring and definitely sleepless, ageless if death does not take them. Each wielders in theory and general practice of imperium, the power of true and full command vested in and taken out of the state and philosophically though not literally of nature itself, one and all. The depth of price paid is not quite as obvious.
Each has shorn humanity and become one of the highest aristocracy in the Circle of Kings; their state obligations now tenfold and eternal. Sleeplessness drives them to dreamlessness, at least of the unconscious sort, and lucid dreaming grants no break or rest to the consciousness. Long life, aloof stature and the universal twisting of frame of mind lends to off-and-on disillusion, gloominess and tempestuous nature, tempered though it may be by state ideology, meditationally exercised self-control, and mutual reinforcement of both aspects. Their bodies are rendered totally barren; no matter the effort, they will produce no issue, mortal or immortal. Though no memory of their former selves are lost, the Asura are never quite who they once were, but a mythologized analogue, gigantic and unreachable, even as personable as they strive to be compared to similar petty godlets or unseen Justinian.
The manufacture and upraising of an Asura is a momentous thing, the uncommon result of truly meritorious individuals rising amongst caste and rank with full attention of a member or members of the Circle of Kings, and the process is a two-layered secret; first the open secret in the riddle of religious mystery, and secondly the true deed and its technical carrying out. The former is well-known, enough so that moderately learned men well outside Nagath will have heard or have knowledge of stotram, epic poetry or parable regarding it; the latter is true esoterica, so deeply guarded as to be essentially unknown outside the Circle of Kings. Of the process, this much can be said; a thorn is taken 'from the coils about the heart of Asurishvara,' and bestowed upon the subject. 'The blood runs like fire, is replaced by flame,' after which 'the black-heart to be is watched over by his fellows, and left to the struggle of rebirth.'
Whatever the actuality of the process, it is of great import that the subject be ideally of physical prime youth, and no later than middle age at most, 'lest weakness fail and death & abomination result.' Likewise, they must be human or near-human; the result of attempts to use the process on orcs, wild bray-folk, centaurs, and other creatures which do not adhere to a human countenance and a certain proportion of at least human-like limbs can be aptly described by the monicker 'abomination and death.' The end physiological result of a true Asura, beside strength or grace, a degree of shape-changing, and barrenness as previously described, are as follows; the replacement of all non-clear bodily fluids and any fluids of strain (sweat of exercise, fury-born spittle) with a nearly black red-violet blood, a haziness in the consistent placement or indeed existence of internal organs, the ceasing of normal metabolic functions and the need for their normal fulfillment as the body becomes a sorcerously near-closed system, and the skin of the body shifting into often prime colors, exceedingly drained complexions, or other abnormalities, supposedly grossly externalizing aspects of the essential character of the transmuted on some level.
Neverborn
However much we have gained in our upraising, it is a bitter fate that we lead. Doomed and infecund, to be rendered godfather and godmother to nations. And so we are starved for heirs, for comrade, confidant, and consort, owing to the frailty of mortals and the immaturity of this all-devouring bureaucratic state of yours that would most skillfully separate wheat from chaff. Why, then, should we not bear out children neither by adoption or birth- one method insufficient, the other closed off- but by other means, should they be available to us?
-Quotation of He Xiuying, speaking in heresy to an enraged Asurishvara in defense of her Neverborn. He would later relent in bitter humility.
With the revelation and inception of the Twice-Born, many proverbial birds for the Movement were struck by this one stone. Mortality quashed, lesser vulnerability to generational loss of competence, a degree of the quantity gap with the Justinian occupiers and petty suzerain-successors closed by extreme density of quality, and perhaps most importantly, a pliable crop of fiends that Asurishvara did not have so great a risk of losing his hold on as the old Daigonists that had largely deserted him. With these fresh advantages, the fiends serving as living idols to rally around, and the fruits of Asurishvara's logistical consolidation in the East, the way was paved for a wave of explosive expansionism, the first of its kind. And with that expansion, many of the same cracks formed; with more ground covered, more of Nagath reclaimed, military lines stretched thin and the Movement, by now having taken on its name as The Enveloping Kingdom, was left with a deep want for administrators.
Enter He Xiuying, hag-demoness, arch-misanthrope and sorcerer-queen of the people of Ỵāṇ, at the farthest easterly end of Nagath. Holding the distinction of being one of the sole trueblooded fiends of the old guard to stay with Asurishvara from the inception of her fealty, whether for sentiment or simply in obligation to her geographic position and realpolitik, she had been figurehead of her peoples' enclave in Nagath since Daigon had first invited her and her vassals to settle in Nagath- a matter of his keen interest in far-flung esoterics- uprooting herself all the way from the decadent tributary kingdoms to the far southeast, in much the same way as the people named Bhaskara came from the south and Elladas from the southwest in what is now the Justinian realms came to form. Her governorship, on the other hand, was an off-and-on affair, as she most often locked herself away to labor in her palace atop Mount Xún, working heady magics and sponsoring frivolous art to amuse herself, much as she had always done. To this end she would delegate to one subordinate or another.
This pattern of hermitry was broken with the Twice-Born, and He Xiuying's habit and demeanor changed. The former creature of sour indifference, a rare sight at court, was now putting herself fully at the disposal of Asurishvara; active, cooperative, and a sudden collaborator in the sorcerous realm. She quickly involved herself with the processes of creating the Twice-Born, a subject she was familiar with the theory of but had not herself practiced; evidently it was to her surprise that Asurishvara had been capable. Her insights nonetheless led to a refinement of the process, lessening fatalities, mistakes and abortions within the procedure. Formerly at arms' length if only for her prickly indifference, she became a darling of the inner circle, enjoying full respects to her titles and her vainglory. Certainly, He Xiuying appeared to be on the ascendant, a rising star.
This meteoric rise would come to an abrupt halt when Asurishvara arrived without announcement or invitation to her palace at Mount Xún, and in his haste to see his favored servant, refused all hospitality and placation to directly seek her out within her laboratories deep in the lower reaches. There, he discovered the fruit of He Xiuying's research and the reason for her intense interest in the Twice-Born process; she had melded his method with generative alchemy, and began the manufacture of fiends. Through thorns bequeathed from his heart and the spilt blood of criminals and undesirables, be they man, orc, garuda or brayfolk- punished in Ỵāṇ at that time with punitive justice rather than flagellated as was the orthodoxy- she had made devil-homonculi, then poorly things of locked misshape and fierce features. Asurishvara, infuriated beyond measure at what he viewed as a deep violation of his Asuran formula and its moral precepts, poured out his wrath upon the laboratory and these miserable creations, demanding the halt of her experiments and the destruction of its proceeds; so confident he was in his power of command, and stubborn in his reservation of external punishment for the irredeemable, that he left the task to He Xiuying herself.
He Xiuying, of course, redoubled all her efforts manifold. When the Red Empire overran the turncoat Tshriv principalities, even threatening to penetrate past the Kuzyan borderlands and into the heart of the Kingdom such was the general military disorder caused by the rebellion and subsequent western invasion, it was the arrival of the Ỵāṇ and a brigade of fiends alongside them in right and wrong shapes alike that turned the Red Empire back in terror and deeply shamed the Naukada Krin of the time. When Asurishvara turned wrothfully upon them in the aftermath of the battle, he was disarmed by their universal submission to this fate and their offer of fealty regardless. Thusly humbled, and with some further probing as to the nature of their thought, he accepted the Neverborn one and all into service. Rather than forbid their further creation, Asurishvara forbade the use of irregular punitive action as a pretext to acquiring the lifeblood necessary, instead demanding that it be acquired piecemeal from donation from zealous people amongst the regular populace, the soldiery and the priesthood, allegedly to elevate the character of their creation and the character thus created. The rest is history.
These creatures- some mannish, some twisted, but all of a similar mind- now codified in method and class as items of use to the Enveloping Kingdom, came to be called as Neverborn. What distincts them from the Twice-Born, men who have shorn their humanity, is that they are essentially orphans inherent- children sired by no parent, wrought from blood and sorcery, most often raised as vassals of the Circle of Kings; savant-children grown by the alembic, almost all bereft of any natural early lifespan, thrust into consciousness with intrinsic cleverness, but no experience. As such, despite earning a similar idol status to the Twice-Born, they tend to be straightforward in nature, feckless though attentive, inquisitive to a fault, and steadfast in their loyalties. Where the Twice-Born wished to be as fiends, the Neverborn wish to be as men; and so an equilibrium is formed. These soulless things, bereft of much agency, often serve as attendants to man and Asura alike; theirs are the roles of bodyguard, steward, temple guardian, familiar, understudy, and speaker of wisdom from the mouth of babes.
Enter He Xiuying, hag-demoness, arch-misanthrope and sorcerer-queen of the people of Ỵāṇ, at the farthest easterly end of Nagath. Holding the distinction of being one of the sole trueblooded fiends of the old guard to stay with Asurishvara from the inception of her fealty, whether for sentiment or simply in obligation to her geographic position and realpolitik, she had been figurehead of her peoples' enclave in Nagath since Daigon had first invited her and her vassals to settle in Nagath- a matter of his keen interest in far-flung esoterics- uprooting herself all the way from the decadent tributary kingdoms to the far southeast, in much the same way as the people named Bhaskara came from the south and Elladas from the southwest in what is now the Justinian realms came to form. Her governorship, on the other hand, was an off-and-on affair, as she most often locked herself away to labor in her palace atop Mount Xún, working heady magics and sponsoring frivolous art to amuse herself, much as she had always done. To this end she would delegate to one subordinate or another.
This pattern of hermitry was broken with the Twice-Born, and He Xiuying's habit and demeanor changed. The former creature of sour indifference, a rare sight at court, was now putting herself fully at the disposal of Asurishvara; active, cooperative, and a sudden collaborator in the sorcerous realm. She quickly involved herself with the processes of creating the Twice-Born, a subject she was familiar with the theory of but had not herself practiced; evidently it was to her surprise that Asurishvara had been capable. Her insights nonetheless led to a refinement of the process, lessening fatalities, mistakes and abortions within the procedure. Formerly at arms' length if only for her prickly indifference, she became a darling of the inner circle, enjoying full respects to her titles and her vainglory. Certainly, He Xiuying appeared to be on the ascendant, a rising star.
This meteoric rise would come to an abrupt halt when Asurishvara arrived without announcement or invitation to her palace at Mount Xún, and in his haste to see his favored servant, refused all hospitality and placation to directly seek her out within her laboratories deep in the lower reaches. There, he discovered the fruit of He Xiuying's research and the reason for her intense interest in the Twice-Born process; she had melded his method with generative alchemy, and began the manufacture of fiends. Through thorns bequeathed from his heart and the spilt blood of criminals and undesirables, be they man, orc, garuda or brayfolk- punished in Ỵāṇ at that time with punitive justice rather than flagellated as was the orthodoxy- she had made devil-homonculi, then poorly things of locked misshape and fierce features. Asurishvara, infuriated beyond measure at what he viewed as a deep violation of his Asuran formula and its moral precepts, poured out his wrath upon the laboratory and these miserable creations, demanding the halt of her experiments and the destruction of its proceeds; so confident he was in his power of command, and stubborn in his reservation of external punishment for the irredeemable, that he left the task to He Xiuying herself.
He Xiuying, of course, redoubled all her efforts manifold. When the Red Empire overran the turncoat Tshriv principalities, even threatening to penetrate past the Kuzyan borderlands and into the heart of the Kingdom such was the general military disorder caused by the rebellion and subsequent western invasion, it was the arrival of the Ỵāṇ and a brigade of fiends alongside them in right and wrong shapes alike that turned the Red Empire back in terror and deeply shamed the Naukada Krin of the time. When Asurishvara turned wrothfully upon them in the aftermath of the battle, he was disarmed by their universal submission to this fate and their offer of fealty regardless. Thusly humbled, and with some further probing as to the nature of their thought, he accepted the Neverborn one and all into service. Rather than forbid their further creation, Asurishvara forbade the use of irregular punitive action as a pretext to acquiring the lifeblood necessary, instead demanding that it be acquired piecemeal from donation from zealous people amongst the regular populace, the soldiery and the priesthood, allegedly to elevate the character of their creation and the character thus created. The rest is history.
These creatures- some mannish, some twisted, but all of a similar mind- now codified in method and class as items of use to the Enveloping Kingdom, came to be called as Neverborn. What distincts them from the Twice-Born, men who have shorn their humanity, is that they are essentially orphans inherent- children sired by no parent, wrought from blood and sorcery, most often raised as vassals of the Circle of Kings; savant-children grown by the alembic, almost all bereft of any natural early lifespan, thrust into consciousness with intrinsic cleverness, but no experience. As such, despite earning a similar idol status to the Twice-Born, they tend to be straightforward in nature, feckless though attentive, inquisitive to a fault, and steadfast in their loyalties. Where the Twice-Born wished to be as fiends, the Neverborn wish to be as men; and so an equilibrium is formed. These soulless things, bereft of much agency, often serve as attendants to man and Asura alike; theirs are the roles of bodyguard, steward, temple guardian, familiar, understudy, and speaker of wisdom from the mouth of babes.
Races of Men
(Shameless garbling of Kushan, after the empire founded by the Indo-European Yuezhi pastoralist nomads. Inspiration from the Yuezhi, the Tarim Basin trader cultures, hardy Caucasian mountain townships in the Aul mold, and the Parthian/Persian cultures. The majority make their living along the western riverbanks and on & against the back of the northwesterly mountains, and those areas between, living in ridgeside settlements, bastle houses and peel towers, or at the least palisaded or walled villages & towns with pastoral extensions. One of the earliest cultures to join the Movement of Ten Thousand Voices and most integral. Values are martial, honor-bound, feud-tending and rugged, with strong personal responsibility in militant context; art molds around life and necessity, meaning spartan 'true' art independent of utility, but rich decoration of tools & vestments.
Substantial contributors to both the more independent border irregulars and the state regular army, Kuzyan cultural troops are heavy cataphrachts, horse archers and a handful of dragoons, and mixed-role spearman-archers or musketeers, in the mold of the Iranic nîzagân-î êrânshahr or the Russian Streltsy; the necessities of their living produces good jezailmen, in Pashto style. Although the scythed chariot went extinct with the advent of modern heavy cavalry through the stirrup and warhorse combined with better individual arms & armor, its legacy did not die entirely, redeveloping later in the war wagon, utilized in and useful in both the Hussite horse-drawn-fort-on-wheels fashion and as shock tools, as flying swivel-gun batteries and matchlock units in one, though now regarded with skepticism with the advent of more modern field guns. The ethic of the war-wagon inspired the state innovation of Zamburak camel-guns, which then pollinated backwards into adoption by Kuzyan irregulars.)
(Adopting their demonym worshipfully from one of Asurishvara's titles after his salvaging of the region to the salvation of its people, deriving from the same practice in India of its Sanskrit name Bharata, after that emperor and dynasty. Inspiration from either pole of India and its Indo-Aryan/Dravidian divide, with a bias to the coasts and the naval tradition of the Marathas. The northern bayside is their homeland, where perhaps the greatest breadbasket in Nagath outside ultra-densely fertile Tushienna lies. The more adventurous tend towards fishery, merchantry and marine work. Being largely freer from the marauding that the Kuzyans endlessly contend with, fortified towns are far less prevalent than further west, restricted to major ports and strategic junctures. Another early joiner, brought back from the brink as the Movement fled into the East, providing the armsmen necessary to stave off cataclysm and prevent the ruin of the regions' livelihood. The baseline economic core of the state. Sanctity-inclined, ritualist, moralistic. Incessant appliers of beauty to every edifice, for the function of form. Prime source of metaphysicians and seers.
Militarily notable for their naval contribution, in the form of sleek brownwater ships in Maratha style, marines and privateers, serving well to police the bay area. While there are those state troops equipped in the heavier Kuzyan styles, often raised further west where the cultures intermingle, their land contributions to the army are largely in light troops and skirmishers more alike to the Kuzyan irregulars, fleet horsemen, and composite bowmen. These tend to be quick to displace and fleet in resupplying as they go, making them effective responders to incursions by bayside raiders. In field battles, they excel in the skirmish, harrying attacks and exploitation of disorder created by heavier troops. Living towards and around the core of the kingdom, Bhaskara arsenalmen have gained increasing prominence, and have been at the forefront of military rocketry & light gun development, such that stirrup-artillery between the camel-gun and field gun in weight are found more and more often in Bhaskaran response forces.)
((Pre-placeholder: Far Easterly hodgepodge people, drawn largely from Indo-Asia and a dash of Japan & Korea, maybe a splash from China, this perhaps a result of their not being of a single ethnic origin, but rather drawn from multiple peoples when they were first uprooted as servants of He Xiuying, members of her court and serfdom, drawn from across the tributary kingdoms. Named for the Thai word ญาณ, meaning 'perception,' 'insight,' or 'knowledge.' This is fitting, owing to their being originally a servant-people to a hag demoness, and so a number of esoteric scraps and genuine sorcery bled down to them- her apprentices could ill hope to ever challenge her, and it made things 'more interesting'- alongside general learnedness and a great deal of irrelevant superstitious nonsense. Sifting through the latter to get to the former is rather difficult, but the state manages, even as the wellspring of wisdom has largely run dry and innovation increasingly centers around the capital in Bhaskara. One may expect that this unmixing ethnic hodgepodge might lead to a thousand Chinatowns in separated districts, settlements, and communities. Amongst those people that are not quite indoctrinated by the state, an abiding, humored bitterness generally presides, seeing as they've (mostly) traded the naked tyranny of their former direct master for that of Asurishvara instead. They dub it largely an improvement, as tyrannies go, and are just glad that He Xiuying's arbitrary tendencies and wraths are largely kept in check by her subordination.))
((Pre-placeholder: Indo-Greeks crossed with Byzantium; their particular brand of Asuranism takes from the Greek classics and the historical peculiarity of Greco-Buddhism. Primarily inhabiting the Basileía Baktrion, the southern bayside province-state of Vritraprthviraja, in a rather teetering position due to the mutiny of one of their subprovinces in the West and subsequent annexation by the Red Empire/Naukada Kaumntok. Very strong professional military & mercenary traditions, even if their formations are not so great in scale without levy supplement. Have a liking for fire-craft in grenade and thrower form, even if their solution pales in comparison to Tushiena with its Daigon's Fire. Rich trade hubs within their semi-enclosed lake, overall position geographically and politically alike to the Komnenoi in Trebizond, albeit if they had the backing of a suzerain with serious vested interest in their continued existence rather than snapping them up directly at the same time as another state is looking to at some point obliterate them, or the late Byzantines if disastrous military cuts had enabled them to hold on better as an indigestible enough proposition for Rum & the Osmans that their continued if reduced existence were plausible.))
Kuzyan
(Shameless garbling of Kushan, after the empire founded by the Indo-European Yuezhi pastoralist nomads. Inspiration from the Yuezhi, the Tarim Basin trader cultures, hardy Caucasian mountain townships in the Aul mold, and the Parthian/Persian cultures. The majority make their living along the western riverbanks and on & against the back of the northwesterly mountains, and those areas between, living in ridgeside settlements, bastle houses and peel towers, or at the least palisaded or walled villages & towns with pastoral extensions. One of the earliest cultures to join the Movement of Ten Thousand Voices and most integral. Values are martial, honor-bound, feud-tending and rugged, with strong personal responsibility in militant context; art molds around life and necessity, meaning spartan 'true' art independent of utility, but rich decoration of tools & vestments.
Substantial contributors to both the more independent border irregulars and the state regular army, Kuzyan cultural troops are heavy cataphrachts, horse archers and a handful of dragoons, and mixed-role spearman-archers or musketeers, in the mold of the Iranic nîzagân-î êrânshahr or the Russian Streltsy; the necessities of their living produces good jezailmen, in Pashto style. Although the scythed chariot went extinct with the advent of modern heavy cavalry through the stirrup and warhorse combined with better individual arms & armor, its legacy did not die entirely, redeveloping later in the war wagon, utilized in and useful in both the Hussite horse-drawn-fort-on-wheels fashion and as shock tools, as flying swivel-gun batteries and matchlock units in one, though now regarded with skepticism with the advent of more modern field guns. The ethic of the war-wagon inspired the state innovation of Zamburak camel-guns, which then pollinated backwards into adoption by Kuzyan irregulars.)
Bhaskara
(Adopting their demonym worshipfully from one of Asurishvara's titles after his salvaging of the region to the salvation of its people, deriving from the same practice in India of its Sanskrit name Bharata, after that emperor and dynasty. Inspiration from either pole of India and its Indo-Aryan/Dravidian divide, with a bias to the coasts and the naval tradition of the Marathas. The northern bayside is their homeland, where perhaps the greatest breadbasket in Nagath outside ultra-densely fertile Tushienna lies. The more adventurous tend towards fishery, merchantry and marine work. Being largely freer from the marauding that the Kuzyans endlessly contend with, fortified towns are far less prevalent than further west, restricted to major ports and strategic junctures. Another early joiner, brought back from the brink as the Movement fled into the East, providing the armsmen necessary to stave off cataclysm and prevent the ruin of the regions' livelihood. The baseline economic core of the state. Sanctity-inclined, ritualist, moralistic. Incessant appliers of beauty to every edifice, for the function of form. Prime source of metaphysicians and seers.
Militarily notable for their naval contribution, in the form of sleek brownwater ships in Maratha style, marines and privateers, serving well to police the bay area. While there are those state troops equipped in the heavier Kuzyan styles, often raised further west where the cultures intermingle, their land contributions to the army are largely in light troops and skirmishers more alike to the Kuzyan irregulars, fleet horsemen, and composite bowmen. These tend to be quick to displace and fleet in resupplying as they go, making them effective responders to incursions by bayside raiders. In field battles, they excel in the skirmish, harrying attacks and exploitation of disorder created by heavier troops. Living towards and around the core of the kingdom, Bhaskara arsenalmen have gained increasing prominence, and have been at the forefront of military rocketry & light gun development, such that stirrup-artillery between the camel-gun and field gun in weight are found more and more often in Bhaskaran response forces.)
Ỵāṇ
((Pre-placeholder: Far Easterly hodgepodge people, drawn largely from Indo-Asia and a dash of Japan & Korea, maybe a splash from China, this perhaps a result of their not being of a single ethnic origin, but rather drawn from multiple peoples when they were first uprooted as servants of He Xiuying, members of her court and serfdom, drawn from across the tributary kingdoms. Named for the Thai word ญาณ, meaning 'perception,' 'insight,' or 'knowledge.' This is fitting, owing to their being originally a servant-people to a hag demoness, and so a number of esoteric scraps and genuine sorcery bled down to them- her apprentices could ill hope to ever challenge her, and it made things 'more interesting'- alongside general learnedness and a great deal of irrelevant superstitious nonsense. Sifting through the latter to get to the former is rather difficult, but the state manages, even as the wellspring of wisdom has largely run dry and innovation increasingly centers around the capital in Bhaskara. One may expect that this unmixing ethnic hodgepodge might lead to a thousand Chinatowns in separated districts, settlements, and communities. Amongst those people that are not quite indoctrinated by the state, an abiding, humored bitterness generally presides, seeing as they've (mostly) traded the naked tyranny of their former direct master for that of Asurishvara instead. They dub it largely an improvement, as tyrannies go, and are just glad that He Xiuying's arbitrary tendencies and wraths are largely kept in check by her subordination.))
Elladas
((Pre-placeholder: Indo-Greeks crossed with Byzantium; their particular brand of Asuranism takes from the Greek classics and the historical peculiarity of Greco-Buddhism. Primarily inhabiting the Basileía Baktrion, the southern bayside province-state of Vritraprthviraja, in a rather teetering position due to the mutiny of one of their subprovinces in the West and subsequent annexation by the Red Empire/Naukada Kaumntok. Very strong professional military & mercenary traditions, even if their formations are not so great in scale without levy supplement. Have a liking for fire-craft in grenade and thrower form, even if their solution pales in comparison to Tushiena with its Daigon's Fire. Rich trade hubs within their semi-enclosed lake, overall position geographically and politically alike to the Komnenoi in Trebizond, albeit if they had the backing of a suzerain with serious vested interest in their continued existence rather than snapping them up directly at the same time as another state is looking to at some point obliterate them, or the late Byzantines if disastrous military cuts had enabled them to hold on better as an indigestible enough proposition for Rum & the Osmans that their continued if reduced existence were plausible.))
Brayfolk
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Territory Details
(Brief summation; rich agricultural territory along the freshwater bayside, in addition to blue and brown water ports. Rich trade hubs are precariously situated on the southern lake, now split off as an exclave. The western peninsula finger, directly north of Tushiena, is an increasingly more popular hub of development & trade, owing to the potential danger posed to the lake cities by Naukada Kaumntok. The eastern peninsula holds further bluewater ports of moderate development, waxing and waning in resources dedicated with Tushiena's cooperativeness or lackthereof, as well as fishing communities and foresters; agriculture is not very well developed, as though not on the leeside of the mountain like the Khanate, the peninsula is less windward than the bay, harsher and colder. The western riverside is home to a beleaguered agriculture, to bastle houses, watchposts and the constant millings to and fro of border irregulars, incessantly skirmishing with Red Empire counterparts to keep the peace. Inland along the mountains are shepherds' communities, subsistence agriculture, mines, quarries, and peel towers at the scarce mountain passes; originally intended as strongpoints against potential northern raids and covers for retreat were the south lost, now relegated to supply dumps and stopping points for overland caravans to the Akagi Khanate. The capital of Rajazul is placed with its back to the mountains, about the highlands near the narrower shore on the north-center of the bay, with subsidiary towns on the bay shore being in direct subordination to the capital, the space between filled by deep black arable soil, fed by ash and magic centuries before and developed thereafter.)
(Micro-placeholder for variant titles and other bits. Called Rajazul formally, 'Seat of High Kings,' it is referred to by the Kuzyan as Shhr Peadshahan (City of Kings, simple, cognate to its Dratha/sorcerer-tongued title) the Bhaskara as Bhaskaranagara (Bhaskara's City, personal appellation to its founder rather than ethnic) the Ỵāṇ as Meụ̄xng k̄hxng khrū (City of the Teachers, illustrating at once a fetishization of wisdom and a certain casual irreverance) and by the Elladas in Bakt as I póli (The City, very simple with implicit exclusivity of the title and reverence.) Of these titles, the most fitting to Asurishvara's original intent is the Elladan one; he only ever personally named Rajazul as 'the city, the only city in Nagath and the world,' both to aggrandize it and also because he could not conceive of a definite name he could settle on at the time. A number of the names he'd thought on and discarded including Rajazul were converged on by those seeking to give it praise anyways, but the gesture stands in spite of this.
Is built from coast to mountainside, the whole length of the metropolis run through by the River Gayatri- named for a particular mantra, perhaps in-world meaning more generally 'hymnal'- artificially enhanced and harnessed over the course of the city's construction. Gayatri begins with its source in the high mountains, splits briefly around the oldest Machu Pichu like citadel-estate before remerging, and then truly splits into the Rivers Yami, individually called Vijaya and Vena- Victory and Yearning- to West and East respectively. Vijaya splits into Sati and Savitr- 'truthful' and 'rouser'- and Vena into Uma and Ushas, literally 'flax' or figuratively 'indulgence' or 'prosperity,' and 'dawn.')
Is built from coast to mountainside, the whole length of the metropolis run through by the River Gayatri- named for a particular mantra, perhaps in-world meaning more generally 'hymnal'- artificially enhanced and harnessed over the course of the city's construction. Gayatri begins with its source in the high mountains, splits briefly around the oldest Machu Pichu like citadel-estate before remerging, and then truly splits into the Rivers Yami, individually called Vijaya and Vena- Victory and Yearning- to West and East respectively. Vijaya splits into Sati and Savitr- 'truthful' and 'rouser'- and Vena into Uma and Ushas, literally 'flax' or figuratively 'indulgence' or 'prosperity,' and 'dawn.')
Faction Religion/Ideology
(Brief summation; misotheist hero-cultism as bonded to a military industrial complex with a little esoteric mystery and heady fanaticism. 'To reign is worth ambition, though in hell,' to hackishly abuse the OP quote. Since the world was placed into an unjust order, but a just one exists in concept and spirit, mortals and those who were mortals must bring it into being, by the justest means possible, with the whole fiber of ones' being dedicated to the effort in whatever capacity in which one is able. Nothing dictates compromise in this ideology save pragmatism, and where it dictates, one usually finds mortal sins committed to abate further sins. Essentially a semi-inversion of Justinianism, marked by a lesser segregation between secular & clerical sectors, a lesser power of the latter in its being an extension of the state rather than overbearing it, and a greater centralization in general.)
Faction Description
The State and Asuranism
To he whom has built the city,
And whom has put on coil and chain,
All for the sake of Man
We say, we shall wear coil and chain, too
For he whom has said 'I am that I am.'
And whom has put on coil and chain,
All for the sake of Man
We say, we shall wear coil and chain, too
For he whom has said 'I am that I am.'
-Chainbearers' Psalm, a common Asuran prayer.
The product of the ambition & pathos of fiends and men, and some of the last remaining die-hard Daigonists with a tangible link to His original mandate, Vritraprthvirajya claims itself unique amongst the despotates of Nagath, a cut above in legitimacy and in civilized structure. This indeed is not wholly untrue, for in no other land save the County of Tushienna can it be said that metropolitan life survives in full, and in few that the coherent rule of State and Law prevails, nor the land so thoroughly reclaimed. But 'not wholly untrue' is to say at once 'half-truth,' and shining beacon of civilization or no, it is a state of utopian mandate, not actuality. Two of the kingdoms' many names- 'The Enveloping Kingdom' and 'The Strangler Princedom'- emphasize quite well the dichotomy in thought and the core truth of the matter. In Vritraprthvirajya, everything is within the state, nothing outside the state and nothing against the state, for all allegedly springs from the ambition and machination of Asurishvara, whose four-century and longer lifetime has revolved entirely around its construction and increasing rationalization, as a consolidation of Nagathi potential & power. It is a land without compromise in this respect; all rivers of state power and personal prosperity begin with the Sovereign and thusly return to him in absolutist form.
It is thus that personal freedom also begins and ends with utility to the Sovereign and to his construct. Each man, born within or assigned into his caste, be he farmer, craftsman, merchant, soldier, arsenal-guildsman, temple holder or any other walk of life, functions within it to the utmost and does not function outside it except insofar as it feeds into his well-being so that he will retain this utmost function. It is not that leisure and reprieve do not exist; it is that they are mandated, managed, and inevitably state-born or state-sanctioned in the case of areas rural enough to be allowed some occasionally inspected and subsidized autonomy. The omnipresence is so choking that it is essentially a state without the usual underground; prostitutes fall under the auspices of the temple and those Asura touching upon this aspect, intoxicants the seers and alchemists for whom the need of fresh perspective and data is constant, pit-fighting and bloodsport a mostly deathless affair channeled to martial & military purposes under army authority. By these means are the ends of effective and centrally subordinated distributionism, societal control and ability for relatively coherent central economic direction achieved.
Such a system, impossible under ordinary despotism, is managed on the technical level through what could be called a centralization of decentralization; to elucidate upon the all-rivers figure, through the creation of a sophisticated and often chokingly interlaced bureaucracy, consisting of guilds, functionary offices, councils within councils, and so on in management over each caste pyramid- often with a degree of overlap- and reporting further up the chain to larger umbrellas and smaller, more focused offices alike. Fealty travels up from the lowest gilded chattel, up to the high Asura that make up the directing aristocracy, headed by Asurishvara himself. It is the Kingdom of the Wheel, and so the wheel turns ever onward, spiraling inward and outwards on its axis. On the social level, it is achieved not by the bludgeon, but by consent through the idea of the Ideal.
Asurishvara founded the Movement of the Voices Ten Thousand on 'Daigon's Dream,' the notion of a better world founded through the obliteration of ignorance and the willful bearing of the weight of sin by those willing to stain their hands, and willing to do so as needed and no more. Not the scheming of farcical gods in Justinians' mold, nor abstracts and idols who do not answer, but men, beasts, and those who will answer, anti-gods, Asuras. It is an ideal of self-sacrifice, an ideal of swords, written in blood and tears in outcry against a world crashing down around mankind, universal in its offer of salvation and uncompromising in means applied to achieve it. And so punitive justice does not often fall to the State to deal out, save against the thoroughly unrepentant or those whom exist outside the bounds of the Dream; instead, it falls to the criminal to punish themselves. To the thief is handed the lash, to the heretic chain and rosary, to the murderer the executioners' blade; through shame, guilt, and the imposition of the ideal of the Dream, justice is self-administered, as just one of many individual and societal responsibilities.
So it is that Vritraprthvirajya is described so; as a shining beacon, and as an enveloping darkness. As freedom from bondage, and the heaviest chains. As a land of escape from the world, and as one inescapable. As the sole godly realm on Earth, and as a den of irreproachable fiends. All bear a measure of truth, as a matter of where one stands, and who against. What can be said with certainty is that Daigon's Dream, as manifested by Asurishvara, is ill likely to go away soon, and never quietly, for it has rooted itself deeply in the hearts of men, and has done so by design.
It is thus that personal freedom also begins and ends with utility to the Sovereign and to his construct. Each man, born within or assigned into his caste, be he farmer, craftsman, merchant, soldier, arsenal-guildsman, temple holder or any other walk of life, functions within it to the utmost and does not function outside it except insofar as it feeds into his well-being so that he will retain this utmost function. It is not that leisure and reprieve do not exist; it is that they are mandated, managed, and inevitably state-born or state-sanctioned in the case of areas rural enough to be allowed some occasionally inspected and subsidized autonomy. The omnipresence is so choking that it is essentially a state without the usual underground; prostitutes fall under the auspices of the temple and those Asura touching upon this aspect, intoxicants the seers and alchemists for whom the need of fresh perspective and data is constant, pit-fighting and bloodsport a mostly deathless affair channeled to martial & military purposes under army authority. By these means are the ends of effective and centrally subordinated distributionism, societal control and ability for relatively coherent central economic direction achieved.
Such a system, impossible under ordinary despotism, is managed on the technical level through what could be called a centralization of decentralization; to elucidate upon the all-rivers figure, through the creation of a sophisticated and often chokingly interlaced bureaucracy, consisting of guilds, functionary offices, councils within councils, and so on in management over each caste pyramid- often with a degree of overlap- and reporting further up the chain to larger umbrellas and smaller, more focused offices alike. Fealty travels up from the lowest gilded chattel, up to the high Asura that make up the directing aristocracy, headed by Asurishvara himself. It is the Kingdom of the Wheel, and so the wheel turns ever onward, spiraling inward and outwards on its axis. On the social level, it is achieved not by the bludgeon, but by consent through the idea of the Ideal.
Asurishvara founded the Movement of the Voices Ten Thousand on 'Daigon's Dream,' the notion of a better world founded through the obliteration of ignorance and the willful bearing of the weight of sin by those willing to stain their hands, and willing to do so as needed and no more. Not the scheming of farcical gods in Justinians' mold, nor abstracts and idols who do not answer, but men, beasts, and those who will answer, anti-gods, Asuras. It is an ideal of self-sacrifice, an ideal of swords, written in blood and tears in outcry against a world crashing down around mankind, universal in its offer of salvation and uncompromising in means applied to achieve it. And so punitive justice does not often fall to the State to deal out, save against the thoroughly unrepentant or those whom exist outside the bounds of the Dream; instead, it falls to the criminal to punish themselves. To the thief is handed the lash, to the heretic chain and rosary, to the murderer the executioners' blade; through shame, guilt, and the imposition of the ideal of the Dream, justice is self-administered, as just one of many individual and societal responsibilities.
So it is that Vritraprthvirajya is described so; as a shining beacon, and as an enveloping darkness. As freedom from bondage, and the heaviest chains. As a land of escape from the world, and as one inescapable. As the sole godly realm on Earth, and as a den of irreproachable fiends. All bear a measure of truth, as a matter of where one stands, and who against. What can be said with certainty is that Daigon's Dream, as manifested by Asurishvara, is ill likely to go away soon, and never quietly, for it has rooted itself deeply in the hearts of men, and has done so by design.
Faction History
(Brief summation; sudden appearance of a unifying leader with a scorched earth plan, guerilla withdrawal to the eastern pensinula, creation of a fiendish aristocracy within the guerilla movement and the seeds of bureaucratic rule, development of hero-cultism and religiosity of blood sacrifice to keep magic-starved arcana running a bit longer, reconquest and the rendering of warlords as client states, widespread devolve of weapons & technology from the Imperium-Nagath war standard to medieval/antiquity levels, betrayals and setbacks, rise in technological standards and understanding of old scientific principles as coherent state centralization and the arsenals' reengineering efforts begin to bear fruit.)
Important Characters
Bhaskara Aniruddha Shyama, Unyielding Lightmaker in the Black
The many-titled Lightmaker, known primarily by this appellation or for brevity's sake by the titles Raja or Asurishvara, King or Supreme Lord of Asuras, is the fiend demigod-regent to the empty seat of the late Daigon, and one of the primemost thorns in Justinian's side from the very beginning of his occupation of Nagath. In the chaos surrounding Daigon's death, the then-unknown Raja emerged- as so many shadow-advisors did- with a contingency in hand. Rather than break what remained of Nagath in nation and army on the rocks of Justinians' legions, bleed them, twice-scorch the earth that the Legions had burnt and now set to live upon, and flee easterly with as many bannermen, citizens, chattel and arms as could be mobilized, to strike the enemy where weakest, where off-balance and overextended, and rebuild a base of support from which to reclaim Daigon's lands and his dream.
Those who scorned him, be they man or demi-man or demon, in favor of martyrdom, a change of banners, or their own too-small too-independent efforts largely perished; their armies disintegrated, fledgeling statelets brought to heel. Those whom followed, and did not succumb to consumption and despair, were raised one and all to the status of peer with him, albeit in accordant measure and status, be they high general or low serf, accompanying to the far bay shore and peninsula that he would call Vritraprthvirajya, where man and his fellow beings would be freed from the tyranny of chaos and ignorance, from predation and destruction, all chains unjust broken and all just chains gilded, every life precious, every drop of sacrificial blood priceless and carefully meted. So the stories go.
Dispensing with mythology, what can be said generally of the Asurishvara of those whom meet him, be they high or low in status, is that he does his best to match the image of enlightened dictator. Usually clad in the form of a serene-featured man of braided, blackened hair, blue skin, and red-violet patterned eyes, the only gross hint of his outright inhumanity being a certain otherwordly aura, an overrapt attention, and two crowning stake-like horns from his forehead. At rest, his manners are polite when tongue is not unsheathed, disposition confident and giving, and is as readily prepared to use his image of grandeur & status as tool or weapon as to dispense with it for comradely and personal manner. It is by this dual image that he is able to earn the loyalty of his closest and the reverent awe of the subjects he tows behind him. But in spite of these good qualities, he remains a devil, and a guarded edge lies beneath; he is boastful and blusterous; and prone to gloomy wrath, righteous or otherwise. It is a careful cultivation of image that he does not appear swept away by his own force of personality, but this impression is not absent within the kingdom or without.
What can be said of his abilities; he has dedicated his life to mastery of kingly and sagely arts, or close as anyone, even a demi-divinity, may come. He is skilled in the use of many weapons martial, preferring in particular the use of a long, thin cut-and-thrust sword of blackened metal somewhere betwixt bastard & war sword and the estoc, a relic from when Nagath was still whole and peculiar in make and form which he most often will use of as as stave or rod wheresoever he goes. He is a more than apt challenger in the realm of sorcery, much lost to the men of this age. He is a well-cut commander of men, and a competent administrator when he does not delegate to the ponderous bureaucracy he has constructed. He is capable of grafting other gigantic and contrary personalities at least somewhat together by stubborn force of will. And if all else fails, he is a demon, and in particular one of an unbound form, an energetic ball of wrath waiting to be turned outwards in shapes as yet unseen.
Those who scorned him, be they man or demi-man or demon, in favor of martyrdom, a change of banners, or their own too-small too-independent efforts largely perished; their armies disintegrated, fledgeling statelets brought to heel. Those whom followed, and did not succumb to consumption and despair, were raised one and all to the status of peer with him, albeit in accordant measure and status, be they high general or low serf, accompanying to the far bay shore and peninsula that he would call Vritraprthvirajya, where man and his fellow beings would be freed from the tyranny of chaos and ignorance, from predation and destruction, all chains unjust broken and all just chains gilded, every life precious, every drop of sacrificial blood priceless and carefully meted. So the stories go.
Dispensing with mythology, what can be said generally of the Asurishvara of those whom meet him, be they high or low in status, is that he does his best to match the image of enlightened dictator. Usually clad in the form of a serene-featured man of braided, blackened hair, blue skin, and red-violet patterned eyes, the only gross hint of his outright inhumanity being a certain otherwordly aura, an overrapt attention, and two crowning stake-like horns from his forehead. At rest, his manners are polite when tongue is not unsheathed, disposition confident and giving, and is as readily prepared to use his image of grandeur & status as tool or weapon as to dispense with it for comradely and personal manner. It is by this dual image that he is able to earn the loyalty of his closest and the reverent awe of the subjects he tows behind him. But in spite of these good qualities, he remains a devil, and a guarded edge lies beneath; he is boastful and blusterous; and prone to gloomy wrath, righteous or otherwise. It is a careful cultivation of image that he does not appear swept away by his own force of personality, but this impression is not absent within the kingdom or without.
What can be said of his abilities; he has dedicated his life to mastery of kingly and sagely arts, or close as anyone, even a demi-divinity, may come. He is skilled in the use of many weapons martial, preferring in particular the use of a long, thin cut-and-thrust sword of blackened metal somewhere betwixt bastard & war sword and the estoc, a relic from when Nagath was still whole and peculiar in make and form which he most often will use of as as stave or rod wheresoever he goes. He is a more than apt challenger in the realm of sorcery, much lost to the men of this age. He is a well-cut commander of men, and a competent administrator when he does not delegate to the ponderous bureaucracy he has constructed. He is capable of grafting other gigantic and contrary personalities at least somewhat together by stubborn force of will. And if all else fails, he is a demon, and in particular one of an unbound form, an energetic ball of wrath waiting to be turned outwards in shapes as yet unseen.
Relations to other Factions
Justinian Imperium
The Red Empire
Clan Black Anvil
The Weeping Widows
The Covenant of the Worm
Tushiena
Sanguine Alliance
Akagi Khanate
Standardized Presection Blurb Formation
Big Concept Name
slanty quotation and verse
-creditation, plain expoundment and exposition.
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heav'n of hell, a hell of heav'n.
Can make a heav'n of hell, a hell of heav'n.
-Lucifer, Paradise Lost
It has been four centuries since the end of what most of the commonfolk call the Old War. That which the Clerisy, the theocratic core of the Imperium of God-King Justinian- He of the High Seat- calls the Great Battle, in which the fate of the world was overturned, all souls ultimately saved from the iniquity and tyranny of the Dark Lord Daigon. That which the disparate followers of Daigon call the First Martyrdom, in which the Great Archon and his servants died in the attempted fulfillment of an ideal world, ken to neither death nor limits. All know it as that near-mythic conflict which broke the realm of Nagath, and scarred the whole of the continent of Geryon beside; its aftershocks felt through the whole of the known and unknown world.
It is indeed a matter of furious debate, and within Nagath and the Marcher-borderlands to the Imperium open, repeated and sanguinary warfare as to where the truth of the matter lies. From as far west as the republic-on-the-waters Wenesiam, where all things of wealth may yet be found and the gleam of gold keeps even the Imperium at arms' length, to as far east as the Drathan Union, where the bickering wizard-lords of the Congress of Masters quarrel amongst themselves almost without end within and with their teetering Salished imperial rivals without, questions are asked without any certain answer as to the true nature of Daigon, Nagath, her conquests and adventures abroad, and the circumstances of the Old War. It is questioned if ever Daigon existed at all, or Justinian for that matter; if both were not manufactured by the Imperium's theocrats, and their antagonist thence after fetishized by their enemies and utilized by those who wished power over them in like mind and method to the Clerisy.
What sees no debate is this; Nagath, at least in the material senses of extent of border, monument and mechanic, was a power near unequaled in her prime, rendering the quickness of her doom at the hands of Justinian's fledgling Imperium all the more puzzling. Black stone and steel, earth carved and rewrought, nature at her most wild harnessed by the engineers' masterwork; even now, much of the great architecture that was left fallow in the collapse stands, and some even functions yet. Arcane artifices of war, weapons dredged from a world lost and ill-understood even by those of necessary expertise, make for prizes unmatched, and are often bitterly contested in both the seeking and reclaimation of them. Its great architecture, shrines and temples, universities and government seats, haunted by demons, ghosts, familiar gods, orphaned monstrosities of all walk and make, speak to tragedy, and terror, to great and terrible majesty now lost.
Some of that majesty is preserved or at least squatted upon, in small part, by endless interlocking tyrannies, carved from the corpse of a once-great empire as its components balkanize, its leadership splits, and opportunists move in; and in the space between, anarchy is the order of law, and the sword reigns but does not rule, for it is beholden to none. Wild orcs and trolls, demihumans and once-men, scavenger bands and beasts of the earth, and all manner of mistakes of nature or things outside it run rampant and bring great misery. Into this land of woe do the Justinians deign to penetrate now and again, and to sow slaughter and ruin on the heads of their would-be enemies; for keen is the threat that would be offered by a strong and near power in Nagath, let alone a united continent, and many the men who would give their lives in fear for those behind them, in service of those who would sacrifice them and easily.
Many are the paths of adversity, and many are its sovereignties; may they be as one, by fated hand.
__________________________________________________________________________________
And there we are, hopefully off to a striding start. Rules and out-of-world pitch below. Let's hope to get things rolling and keep them rolling in the days to follow. A coherent worldscape is continually establishing tiself, and a pile of collabs are to follow in the next couple of weeks from now, at 4/21.
- The world is a twilit and tragic place. Its patches of brightness are for the joy of the reader, and to make all the more apparent its shadows; if that twilight is to truly give way to a fresh dawn, none can say with certainty. Sincere optimism is a peculiar and often megalomaniacal trait. Nagath, specifically, is somewhere between a balkanized Mordor of Tolkien canon and the Mordor of The Last Ringbearer; outside of its pockets of civilization, it is not a nice place, and civilization tends to come with a catch. Sometimes the catch is bad enough that you'd rather just live in the open anarchy. But when that's the case, it usually isn't an option; feudalism is a bitch.
-Writing standards are to be advanced. It doesn't have to be high art, but a willingness to work towards setting literacy, elaboration of that setting, and to type out decently long paragraph series is to be expected.
-The world is to be, as a rule, a collaborative effort through all but start of concepts and perhaps end, where each thing- character, nation, species- shapes the others in one measure or another. To this end, extensive neighborly collaboration to set up a proper worldscape and joint/collaborate posts rather than independent telephone efforts is a high priority through the entire endeavor, equal or even greater than the immediate speed of the IC. A castle built on sand is brooked by no foe, for it is its own unmaking.
-The aesthetic is low-fantasy; the power ceiling ranges from medium to high; and the average low-medium. If a theme or character would fit into a Robert E. Howard or H.P Lovecraft story, Tolkien had he been dragged through a depressive mudslick, a Warhammer Fantasy rulebook blurb, meandering gloomy philosophics like parts of Paradise Lost, or the aesthetic and tone of 70s sword & sorcery artwork with moderation of the quantity of the fantastic and a bit of modern inflection, it goes here just fine.
-Writing standards are to be advanced. It doesn't have to be high art, but a willingness to work towards setting literacy, elaboration of that setting, and to type out decently long paragraph series is to be expected.
-The world is to be, as a rule, a collaborative effort through all but start of concepts and perhaps end, where each thing- character, nation, species- shapes the others in one measure or another. To this end, extensive neighborly collaboration to set up a proper worldscape and joint/collaborate posts rather than independent telephone efforts is a high priority through the entire endeavor, equal or even greater than the immediate speed of the IC. A castle built on sand is brooked by no foe, for it is its own unmaking.
-The aesthetic is low-fantasy; the power ceiling ranges from medium to high; and the average low-medium. If a theme or character would fit into a Robert E. Howard or H.P Lovecraft story, Tolkien had he been dragged through a depressive mudslick, a Warhammer Fantasy rulebook blurb, meandering gloomy philosophics like parts of Paradise Lost, or the aesthetic and tone of 70s sword & sorcery artwork with moderation of the quantity of the fantastic and a bit of modern inflection, it goes here just fine.
-To expound further on the last paragraph of the previous section; magic and metaphysics are given their just due as immense forces that most men never scratch the surfaces of. Casual use and easy apprenticeship, definitely laid Vancian schools and spells as more than shorthand for the unimaginative and inept or a well-developed and much used class, the existence of units of casters as opposed to at maximum a Warhammer special character-style proportion of 'very few,' are all to be avoided. Scarcity is far more to that lattermost description than it is to Tolkiensian level wizard scarcity, but still.
-Tech level is thoroughly planted in the 1600s. Anachronism behind, or a bit forward in chronology but not sophistication for a certain cultural-regional standard (example: Vritraprthvirajya is based upon India and its vicinity primarily, which was no great naval power under the Mamluks, but under the Marathas acquired fantastic light ships and openly contested and defeated the British navy, and with East Asian influences, will have treasure ships somewhat in the boxy Chinese configuration in the heavy ship role) is acceptable, as the technical and social level is described as 'schizoid,' but massive mundane leaps forward and the always-disproportionate-in-effect technocracy will not be brooked. Mass production of anachronisms ala a Warhammer Empire Steam Tank or the like is also a no-no. While not every such thing must be a one off, one should expect any production runs to be limited and to be unstandardized, as one might see in a follow-on class of ship; broad similarities, but the guts are only equivalent in basis of technique, and not in schematic. It should also be said that, generally, technical and social sophistication is dictated by effective proximity to the major powers of the West or East in the Justinian Imperium or Vritraprthvirajya and closeness to their influence; these are the large arsenal-brokers. Away from them, you have technical black holes in the immediate vicinity of the Red Empire, which lags behind in a fashion alike to era contemporary China, or where geography is deeply isolating regardless of proximity by land, backwaters such as Oszbeyr in the Sour Fen will fall behind to some degree or another, in the fashion of renaissance Russia.
-As a specific technology forbiddance, mass production metal cartridge guns or other infantry-scale breechloaders and any repeater less hellishly complex than the Kalthoff repeater and those like it are a no-go by DM fiat, as is having more than middling triple digit numbers of the permitted types as even this is in excess of the number historically held by the Danish foot guard. Reasoning being; if operating under the technical level and machining prowess of this time, one were to put two and two together with expertise technically also available at the time and applied to European monarchs' hunting guns, then one will have made a one to two hundred year leap in technology from anywhere in 1600-1700 to 1800-1900. And suddenly the playing field is very different, and everyone that is not the innovator is hopelessly obsolete as soon as these hit the field en masse, even using the most dysfunctional examples like the Ferguson rifle, which was doomed mostly by a mistakenly weak structure around the overlarge screw that drops the breech and the decentralized nature of late 1700s British arms manufacture rather than material or theoretical engineering immaturity. If you can make a Kalthoff, then you can damn well make a Khyber Pass Martini-Henry or some equivalent with the much simpler know-how. A small exception to this rule is made in the case of breech-loading swivel guns, with their huge mug powder magazines, leaky chambers and thus low pressures, and similarly obnoxious manufacture to the more sophisticated and later Kalthoff. These are unsophisticated and unrevolutionary enough to abide the existence of, seeing as they are essentially point-defense weapons and bound to be low in number. Muzzle-loaders are the rule and the law of the land with small exceptions, in the interest of no runaway power and tech creep on this basis.
-Archeotech is a sort of sidelong exception to this rule; the current operating rule is that of Laputa: Castle in the Sky fiat tech, strange geometries, rays of light, fields of energy, half cut loosely from plasma cosmology (charged matter/energy and plasma are of more import than gravity in shaping phenomena, and per pulp fictional reinditions of the 'electric universe,' are a shorter road to high material science than 'conventional' methods) and the other half from the seeming hand-down of divine devices and knowledge from on high ala the Hindu Astra weapons, particularly those that sound alike to technology out of place with the era of the texts, giving birth to ideas of preceding high civilization. Archeotech that might imitate the function of some of the banned items under this more setting-appropriate aesthetic may exist, but are to be even more hellishly scarce than the allowed ones, most likely to be plot items, battle and siege-winners in themselves to be deployed under grievous circumstances. At the very lowest level, certainly a trump card in a characters' arsenal in whatever utility the device serves. Essentially, the same rules as are applied to magic; meaningfully powerful, very scarce on world scale. Just not quite Tolkien scarce. And not to be written in and applied flippantly. This is because it IS magic, sufficiently applied as to resemble technology, in inversion of the old 'sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic' adage.
-Tech level is thoroughly planted in the 1600s. Anachronism behind, or a bit forward in chronology but not sophistication for a certain cultural-regional standard (example: Vritraprthvirajya is based upon India and its vicinity primarily, which was no great naval power under the Mamluks, but under the Marathas acquired fantastic light ships and openly contested and defeated the British navy, and with East Asian influences, will have treasure ships somewhat in the boxy Chinese configuration in the heavy ship role) is acceptable, as the technical and social level is described as 'schizoid,' but massive mundane leaps forward and the always-disproportionate-in-effect technocracy will not be brooked. Mass production of anachronisms ala a Warhammer Empire Steam Tank or the like is also a no-no. While not every such thing must be a one off, one should expect any production runs to be limited and to be unstandardized, as one might see in a follow-on class of ship; broad similarities, but the guts are only equivalent in basis of technique, and not in schematic. It should also be said that, generally, technical and social sophistication is dictated by effective proximity to the major powers of the West or East in the Justinian Imperium or Vritraprthvirajya and closeness to their influence; these are the large arsenal-brokers. Away from them, you have technical black holes in the immediate vicinity of the Red Empire, which lags behind in a fashion alike to era contemporary China, or where geography is deeply isolating regardless of proximity by land, backwaters such as Oszbeyr in the Sour Fen will fall behind to some degree or another, in the fashion of renaissance Russia.
-As a specific technology forbiddance, mass production metal cartridge guns or other infantry-scale breechloaders and any repeater less hellishly complex than the Kalthoff repeater and those like it are a no-go by DM fiat, as is having more than middling triple digit numbers of the permitted types as even this is in excess of the number historically held by the Danish foot guard. Reasoning being; if operating under the technical level and machining prowess of this time, one were to put two and two together with expertise technically also available at the time and applied to European monarchs' hunting guns, then one will have made a one to two hundred year leap in technology from anywhere in 1600-1700 to 1800-1900. And suddenly the playing field is very different, and everyone that is not the innovator is hopelessly obsolete as soon as these hit the field en masse, even using the most dysfunctional examples like the Ferguson rifle, which was doomed mostly by a mistakenly weak structure around the overlarge screw that drops the breech and the decentralized nature of late 1700s British arms manufacture rather than material or theoretical engineering immaturity. If you can make a Kalthoff, then you can damn well make a Khyber Pass Martini-Henry or some equivalent with the much simpler know-how. A small exception to this rule is made in the case of breech-loading swivel guns, with their huge mug powder magazines, leaky chambers and thus low pressures, and similarly obnoxious manufacture to the more sophisticated and later Kalthoff. These are unsophisticated and unrevolutionary enough to abide the existence of, seeing as they are essentially point-defense weapons and bound to be low in number. Muzzle-loaders are the rule and the law of the land with small exceptions, in the interest of no runaway power and tech creep on this basis.
-Archeotech is a sort of sidelong exception to this rule; the current operating rule is that of Laputa: Castle in the Sky fiat tech, strange geometries, rays of light, fields of energy, half cut loosely from plasma cosmology (charged matter/energy and plasma are of more import than gravity in shaping phenomena, and per pulp fictional reinditions of the 'electric universe,' are a shorter road to high material science than 'conventional' methods) and the other half from the seeming hand-down of divine devices and knowledge from on high ala the Hindu Astra weapons, particularly those that sound alike to technology out of place with the era of the texts, giving birth to ideas of preceding high civilization. Archeotech that might imitate the function of some of the banned items under this more setting-appropriate aesthetic may exist, but are to be even more hellishly scarce than the allowed ones, most likely to be plot items, battle and siege-winners in themselves to be deployed under grievous circumstances. At the very lowest level, certainly a trump card in a characters' arsenal in whatever utility the device serves. Essentially, the same rules as are applied to magic; meaningfully powerful, very scarce on world scale. Just not quite Tolkien scarce. And not to be written in and applied flippantly. This is because it IS magic, sufficiently applied as to resemble technology, in inversion of the old 'sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic' adage.
(To be codified and updated.)
Man
"You ask me why I should favor Man, beside that he is my own, and lay within my own breast? I ask ye, where else in creation will you find balance? In ratio of physique, in humors and in character, in his strengths and his failings alike, he is even. Finding quality in all measures, in all combinations. Man is the yardstick of creation, and so I belove him, for I am He."
-Quotation of Justinian to his demihuman allies; most often interpreted in chauvinist fashion.
"Man is contrary- man is not straight! Purely Shar-born, he is sown in failings and a death following life. We, Ukha-born, Krin-made rise in a life following death, for our god lives in us and incarnate forever, too strong and good for the grave ten thousand times over. We are his breath and beating heart, strong-armed and brave. What are the gifts of man? Mediocrity, for his is not a special nor uniform strength, but the fumbling weaknesses of his creator that he must excise from birth. Were Man steel, he could be beaten straight, but he is slag from the forge, and can only be cast out!"
-Quotation from the Naukada Krin, variously attributed, incarnation and era unknown.
Amongst all the peoples of Geryon and Azoth, the only one which defies singular description is Man. Existing from pole to pole, he is varied as the stars in the sky, though in subtle measures. Amongst him are found all characters, all trades and walks of life, and he amongst them. Soldiers and farmer, merchant and tradesman, priest and apostate, arcanist and witch-hater, hero and coward. Man is insufferably average and ubiquitious, and so not much can be said of him that can be said of him alone.
Demihumans
"Since there are those amongst us who are not men, but neither monsters, I ask He of the High Seat; what should we call and treat them by? For it is a cause of much consternation in these times."
"As not men, but alike to them. Is that not obvious? Why ask this question, when you have eyes to see?"
"As not men, but alike to them. Is that not obvious? Why ask this question, when you have eyes to see?"
-Justinian, answering to the Clerisy's inquiries on the treatment of demihumans.
'Demihuman' is a label that bears a certain degree of controversy. Arising from the real or perceived need to not merely separate proverbial wheat from chaff but wheat by grade, it has been variously applied and with varyingly wide an umbrella. Definitely within this class are elves, dwarves, halflings and other folk that are clearly kin to men; beyond this it is murkier.
For some, chimaera-folk such as the Bray, Gnoles, Garuda, Tshriv, Zionuk, perhaps the Sharforukak, and others yet fit within the descriptor of 'demihuman,' and very radical non-Imperial thinkers are inclined to extend it even to the alchemically derived beastmen; others, particularly those in the Imperium's mold, reject both of the latter classes as one grouping of animal-men regardless of origin and hold only the former as man's kin, albeit at arm's length.
Regardless, for simplicity's sake, here we will assume the middle of the road; that it includes mankin and civilized chimaeras, some of whom may or may not predate the Dark Lord's artifice entirely, but not savages in the breed of those one might find in certain reaches of the Kaumntok or eking out their subsistence as wild hunter-gatherers in Nagath, who shall be described as beastkin.
For some, chimaera-folk such as the Bray, Gnoles, Garuda, Tshriv, Zionuk, perhaps the Sharforukak, and others yet fit within the descriptor of 'demihuman,' and very radical non-Imperial thinkers are inclined to extend it even to the alchemically derived beastmen; others, particularly those in the Imperium's mold, reject both of the latter classes as one grouping of animal-men regardless of origin and hold only the former as man's kin, albeit at arm's length.
Regardless, for simplicity's sake, here we will assume the middle of the road; that it includes mankin and civilized chimaeras, some of whom may or may not predate the Dark Lord's artifice entirely, but not savages in the breed of those one might find in certain reaches of the Kaumntok or eking out their subsistence as wild hunter-gatherers in Nagath, who shall be described as beastkin.
Brayfolk
Children of the mud, weep not, your Goddess is watching over. Sin, of the gentle ray, the healing hand, hidden wisdom and the sacrosanct soul, who wipes all tears away. Weep not, weep not. You are born in mud, but yours is a firmament of stars; you are the silver in the waters. Weep no longer forevermore, and blossom heavensward.
-Excerpted Words of the Moon-Mother Matron, the modest and sole definite, universal canon of the Bray religion. Generally carved on stone or in staves; its full length would easily fit into a pocket book.
The history of the Brayfolk- otherwise called Satyr, Faun, Ljeschi, Vānara, wild children or goatmen- for that which has been recorded, is best described as a long and admirably borne tragedy. Possibly predating the Nagathi mandate as a distinct race, and definitely as a culture, the Bray dwelt in what would become the Sour Fen, as an offshoot of the original race of men that inhabited the delta. When the Fen soured, a measure of their children were cursed with a fully bestial aspect and feeble minds, in the same fashion as that which birthed the Half-Men, but they could not bring themselves to slay their own. When the Gnoles turned upon them with hardened hearts, determined to survive in spite of the cataclysm around them, the dual disadantage of sustaining this tainted demographic and their lack of will to fight a people that had been friends saw most of the Bray driven out in an eastward diaspora, led by Mother Matron Sirona, many of whom would eventually settle in Vritraprthvirajya, others splitting off along the way.
Theirs is a culture of peaceable naturalists, healers and wild-dwellers, preferring modest settlements, modest plots or forest farming & herbalism to centralized fields, peacebond to the drawing of swords, and folk art to high architecture. Urban living for them is stifling; they avoid the cities as much as they can, for its physical confines and drowning noise, which silences the voice of nature that they claim to parse out. A minority in any Bray community, called Dùr- literally 'stubborn'- invert these tendencies, and finding themselves stifled by their prime culture, instead branch out into the symbiotic second community of watchmen, hunter-wilders, protectors and glory-winners, pitied but essential to any Bray community as their only truly martial element, ill-tempered and fierce gatekeepers to a vulnerable people. The wild even amongst the Dùr tend to strike out on their own as sellswords or act as auxilliaries in state militaries.
Inheritors of another scrap of the old Fennish religion that is now kept by the Lodge of the High Stars in Oszbeyr, they give themselves wholly to worshiping the moon goddess Sin, whose portfolio includes healing & health, fertility and natural abundance, spartan wisdoms, the Moon, and certain mysteries, the Bray are in turn blessed or cursed by a certain goatish and chimaeric aspect, their physical inhumanity varying. Horizontal pupils are universal; ungulate horns & antlers, from stag, sheep or ram or otherwise abound; digitigrade legs are not uncommon; taloned hands and furred arms are not unheard of. But on the whole, the core population is very apparently human in origin. The problem lay in their often defective children. The Bray do not reproduce cleanly or easily; a full two thirds of all children on average are born as beastkin-like geldings, called with sad reverence as 'Blooming Ones.' Weak, simple, and easily distracted little upright goats without a trace of man in them save vague build and hands, they live a life of permanent enlightened revery, gentle and well-meaning, but unsuited to more than simple manual labor & gathering work under explicit instruction or good training. An albatross around the neck of their race, a limiter on their expansion, but they cannot be dispensed with; kinslaying was and is too grievous to consider, and to speak the idea is a deep taboo.
For these characteristics, they find themselves beloved in eastern Nagath, common Bray being indispensable to frontier living and land reclamation and Dùr valued as warriors and roughneck scouts oft physically undaunted by steep or muddy terrain; commerce with their communities, usually set just off the beaten track of their human sister settlements, is regular and well-valued. In the West, they are viewed with substantial skepticism for their refusal to uniformly and unconditionally integrate into urban civilization or to give up their indigenous rites and traditions, or even to pay lip-service to the Justinian church, and in the deeper Imperium proper- though they are largely absent there- are particularly ill regarded for these reasons and certain Justinian quotations about 'separating the lambs from the goats' that have been retroactively applied to the Bray, and they often find themselves viewed as beastkin in light of the Blooming Ones. The outwardly unfriendly Dùr in particular have caused much consternation for presumptuous officials who do not know how to carry themselves amongst this unfamiliar people, leading to their being declared lawless spurners and brutes. The exception to this rule would be the Free Legion, which has come to reach out to and extend its envelope of protection over a number of the few Bray remaining in the Fen, and to engage in mutualist dialogue, thus enjoying a similar relationship as those peoples eastwards.
Theirs is a culture of peaceable naturalists, healers and wild-dwellers, preferring modest settlements, modest plots or forest farming & herbalism to centralized fields, peacebond to the drawing of swords, and folk art to high architecture. Urban living for them is stifling; they avoid the cities as much as they can, for its physical confines and drowning noise, which silences the voice of nature that they claim to parse out. A minority in any Bray community, called Dùr- literally 'stubborn'- invert these tendencies, and finding themselves stifled by their prime culture, instead branch out into the symbiotic second community of watchmen, hunter-wilders, protectors and glory-winners, pitied but essential to any Bray community as their only truly martial element, ill-tempered and fierce gatekeepers to a vulnerable people. The wild even amongst the Dùr tend to strike out on their own as sellswords or act as auxilliaries in state militaries.
Inheritors of another scrap of the old Fennish religion that is now kept by the Lodge of the High Stars in Oszbeyr, they give themselves wholly to worshiping the moon goddess Sin, whose portfolio includes healing & health, fertility and natural abundance, spartan wisdoms, the Moon, and certain mysteries, the Bray are in turn blessed or cursed by a certain goatish and chimaeric aspect, their physical inhumanity varying. Horizontal pupils are universal; ungulate horns & antlers, from stag, sheep or ram or otherwise abound; digitigrade legs are not uncommon; taloned hands and furred arms are not unheard of. But on the whole, the core population is very apparently human in origin. The problem lay in their often defective children. The Bray do not reproduce cleanly or easily; a full two thirds of all children on average are born as beastkin-like geldings, called with sad reverence as 'Blooming Ones.' Weak, simple, and easily distracted little upright goats without a trace of man in them save vague build and hands, they live a life of permanent enlightened revery, gentle and well-meaning, but unsuited to more than simple manual labor & gathering work under explicit instruction or good training. An albatross around the neck of their race, a limiter on their expansion, but they cannot be dispensed with; kinslaying was and is too grievous to consider, and to speak the idea is a deep taboo.
For these characteristics, they find themselves beloved in eastern Nagath, common Bray being indispensable to frontier living and land reclamation and Dùr valued as warriors and roughneck scouts oft physically undaunted by steep or muddy terrain; commerce with their communities, usually set just off the beaten track of their human sister settlements, is regular and well-valued. In the West, they are viewed with substantial skepticism for their refusal to uniformly and unconditionally integrate into urban civilization or to give up their indigenous rites and traditions, or even to pay lip-service to the Justinian church, and in the deeper Imperium proper- though they are largely absent there- are particularly ill regarded for these reasons and certain Justinian quotations about 'separating the lambs from the goats' that have been retroactively applied to the Bray, and they often find themselves viewed as beastkin in light of the Blooming Ones. The outwardly unfriendly Dùr in particular have caused much consternation for presumptuous officials who do not know how to carry themselves amongst this unfamiliar people, leading to their being declared lawless spurners and brutes. The exception to this rule would be the Free Legion, which has come to reach out to and extend its envelope of protection over a number of the few Bray remaining in the Fen, and to engage in mutualist dialogue, thus enjoying a similar relationship as those peoples eastwards.
Gnoles
"Blood, remember blood always! Hearken to your kith and your kin, and keep to your littermates and clanmates. In these days, where the stars hide and the truth is obscured by mist and cloud, we can count on nothing more than the rich, divine crimson that pumps steadily under our hides."
-The Sermonizing of Eckue-Har, at the last Congregation Beneath the Jaws
They come from 'tween the mangroves, out of the coiling mists of the Fen, carrying spears of leaf-bladed bog iron and wearing the bone and scaled hide of the myriad monsters they hunt. Once, they may have been men, or perhaps they might have been savage beasts, for it is evident that they share traits with each estranged cousin. Old folklore - and indeed the chronicles of Prinzes as well - recount the twisting of many of the Sour Fen's denizens being tarnished in spirit and essence by the 'Swallowing Doom' that followed the 'Great Treachery' of Justinian and his court.
They walk upright and speak a guttural, growling tongue, they fashion tools and garb, and they trade and break bread with their settled, human counterparts in the Sour Fen's foothills. At the same time, they are born in litters, they have the dark eyes of and bristling, blond fur of hyenas, and they prefer their meat raw and dripping red with 'divine juices'. Their whole existence is a reverie, an ecstatic war against the baser, inhuman nature that pounds at their skulls from their first days.
Everything from war to trade is an expression of this coherent, shared spiritual understanding, though they are loathe to divulge such to the 'shaved men' of the hills. Social cohesion, the twofold pledge of the Litter and the Clan, is instinctual to these beastmen, and each knows their place. A gnole always has a reason for an undertaking, and it is always spiritually justified.
They walk upright and speak a guttural, growling tongue, they fashion tools and garb, and they trade and break bread with their settled, human counterparts in the Sour Fen's foothills. At the same time, they are born in litters, they have the dark eyes of and bristling, blond fur of hyenas, and they prefer their meat raw and dripping red with 'divine juices'. Their whole existence is a reverie, an ecstatic war against the baser, inhuman nature that pounds at their skulls from their first days.
Everything from war to trade is an expression of this coherent, shared spiritual understanding, though they are loathe to divulge such to the 'shaved men' of the hills. Social cohesion, the twofold pledge of the Litter and the Clan, is instinctual to these beastmen, and each knows their place. A gnole always has a reason for an undertaking, and it is always spiritually justified.
Demons
"These sad creatures, born of the effluence beneath creation or attending the empty workings of heaven's footpaths, are deserving of our pity and our sympathy, not our scorn. Forgotten by the maker of the world and by mankind, who amongst you would not be driven to envy, desperation, crooked-mindedness, in their shoes? What sin is there to deal with them in right mind and order, without evil intent or result? I can claim neither innocence nor guilt, for by my deeds there is no crime."
- Testimony of 'Jeorg,' arch-heretic of the Cult of the Hand and the Hidden Door. Judged guilty and burned at the stake by the Clerisy for consorting with infernal powers.
In the spaces about the world, above and below, there dwell beings and consciousnesses that are distinctly unalike to mortals. Both revered, despised and ignored throughout history, largely differing in makeup and personality between subclasses, and given many names and titles, all have nonetheless been called under the singular appellation of 'demon' at one point or another. For all share in the fact that they are ungodly spirits in the sense of being lesser to the divine, but still not born of or to any conventional fleshly life.
Be they the star-blooded Ouranos that are said to administrate the outer heavens in the fashion of workmen, bureaucrats and astronomer-calculators, or the pitch spawned Abaddon who once dwelt in the primordial dark before creation and now rest brooding at the bottom of all things, or all those inbetween and aside- man spawned fiends feeding off the ichor of Tartarus' effluence to become more than they are, be they Asuran in character or otherwise, the fiery demons of the Pit that keep watch over and violently oppose the resentful dead with lance and lash, or the bargaining squatters both once and never-mortal in the upper and middle reaches of Tartarus that are called Miftah or Demons of the Key both for the doors of knowledge they unlock and their singular desire to return to the mortal world- all are quite alike in that their substance is never in ordinary flesh, and their minds always bent crooked one way or another beyond the conventionally living.
For the latter part one finds the reason for their often figuring as great figures in legend and drama, as it does not do for them to do or be little. Even the Ouranos, though alleging themselves as servants to the artifice of the Silent God, are haughty and ill attentive to mortal intruders; the demons of the Pit, even as glorified wardens, are faultedly vain, boastful, and eager to inspire awe & terror through their abilities and knowledge. Almost all are bargainers and boon-givers in disadvantage or at whim, and almost all are inclined to domination within their own spheres as much as situation allows for them to be. So it is that only fools and the wise consort with demons of any breed, to their doom and dividend respectively; midwits, for what they do know, know better than to try to go beyond mortal ken.
Be they the star-blooded Ouranos that are said to administrate the outer heavens in the fashion of workmen, bureaucrats and astronomer-calculators, or the pitch spawned Abaddon who once dwelt in the primordial dark before creation and now rest brooding at the bottom of all things, or all those inbetween and aside- man spawned fiends feeding off the ichor of Tartarus' effluence to become more than they are, be they Asuran in character or otherwise, the fiery demons of the Pit that keep watch over and violently oppose the resentful dead with lance and lash, or the bargaining squatters both once and never-mortal in the upper and middle reaches of Tartarus that are called Miftah or Demons of the Key both for the doors of knowledge they unlock and their singular desire to return to the mortal world- all are quite alike in that their substance is never in ordinary flesh, and their minds always bent crooked one way or another beyond the conventionally living.
For the latter part one finds the reason for their often figuring as great figures in legend and drama, as it does not do for them to do or be little. Even the Ouranos, though alleging themselves as servants to the artifice of the Silent God, are haughty and ill attentive to mortal intruders; the demons of the Pit, even as glorified wardens, are faultedly vain, boastful, and eager to inspire awe & terror through their abilities and knowledge. Almost all are bargainers and boon-givers in disadvantage or at whim, and almost all are inclined to domination within their own spheres as much as situation allows for them to be. So it is that only fools and the wise consort with demons of any breed, to their doom and dividend respectively; midwits, for what they do know, know better than to try to go beyond mortal ken.
Topographic/Geographic
Political
Nagath is a big country/region, with player eyeball estimates ranging from Western Europe to Eurasia in size, and a fair range of geography. The visible topography is a guide, but not a completely strict rule; as there's little distinction between reasonably arable green areas and desert as opposed to the fertile riverside & the Fen, aridity ought be informed by what's around rather than the uniform tan-brown. As long as it doesn't fly in the face of logic, use your discretion here and it'll get sorted out.
Political
Nagath is a big country/region, with player eyeball estimates ranging from Western Europe to Eurasia in size, and a fair range of geography. The visible topography is a guide, but not a completely strict rule; as there's little distinction between reasonably arable green areas and desert as opposed to the fertile riverside & the Fen, aridity ought be informed by what's around rather than the uniform tan-brown. As long as it doesn't fly in the face of logic, use your discretion here and it'll get sorted out.
Justinian Imperium
The foremost power on Geryon for four hundred years, nominally the unity of a thousand crowns under one, that of the God-King Justinian, He of the High Seat. Formed in response to Nagath's aggressions and imperialist expansion on the secular level, and her real and alleged atrocities & crimes against nature in the theological realm, Justinian allegedly emerged to oppose Daigon from humble, common origins, infused by a spark of divinity by means undivulged, and which even the Clerisy, his theocratic servants and direct attendants, has only so much knowledge of. All this to restore and permanently enseat Justice with sword in hand and eyes unblinded, to banish the stain of sorcery from the world, and to see no good man's name ever forgotten by his descendants, so that humankind may survive and receive the grace of God unseen and faraways. Of this descriptor, it may certainly be said that there are a thousand crowns within one realm, but their effective unity has been a matter of variance and debate.
In spite of its near-unseen divine monarch and absolute power vested within him, the Imperium is a decentralizedly aristocratic affair. At its pinnacle is Justinian; unacting, power symbolically flowing down from him. Below him is the Clerisy, priest-attendants and speakers of the high Law, who are placed over all crowns in virtue of their representation of the One, and administrators of many bishophric counties and occasional duchies. Then, the aristocrats, blue-blooded men dating back to the original royal and noble lines that confederated beneath Justinian and those raised to peerage after, whose material interests are often the prime driving force between the Imperiums' politics in spite of clerical rhetoric overlaid above them. The professional military men- be they state or personal retinue- follow next, as physical enforcers of the Law, the standing army waxing and waning in scale with times of war and peace, and the personal retinues. The commonfolk rest on the bottom, as source to labor and levy be they serf or freeman. And below even they lay those nonhumans allowed to exist, though in persecution; elves, dwarves, halflings, the like, whose waning devotion to Justinians' cause and its expediencies in the aftermath of the Old War and their real or supposed subversive activities against the crowns.
Further confusing the matter are what could be described as the unilateral organizations- those who act in the name of the Law, from outside of this conventional pyramid of power and organization. These include small and professional state-sanctioned organizations such as the Castigati, witch-slayers and demon-hunters sworn to the extermination of Daigon's physical legacy and memory in totality, to flagellant lay-preachers, mercenary free bands, army factionalists acting for or against the peerage, and vigilante mobs from the common folk in imitation of one or all of the former parties. Some are with the Crowns, others against; some are for Justinian and the restoration of his seemingly bound hands to power, and others decry his contemporary existence as an invention of the Clerisy. All are unique in that they are often especially independent in action, and so plots, coups, and peasant wars are orders of the day, or decade, within the Imperium.
The Imperium's mandate is best described as a tablature of steel commandments left to rust; it has long been asked whether it will survive, and to what degree. But in four hundred years, it has not faltered with finality yet. Only time will tell.
The foremost power on Geryon for four hundred years, nominally the unity of a thousand crowns under one, that of the God-King Justinian, He of the High Seat. Formed in response to Nagath's aggressions and imperialist expansion on the secular level, and her real and alleged atrocities & crimes against nature in the theological realm, Justinian allegedly emerged to oppose Daigon from humble, common origins, infused by a spark of divinity by means undivulged, and which even the Clerisy, his theocratic servants and direct attendants, has only so much knowledge of. All this to restore and permanently enseat Justice with sword in hand and eyes unblinded, to banish the stain of sorcery from the world, and to see no good man's name ever forgotten by his descendants, so that humankind may survive and receive the grace of God unseen and faraways. Of this descriptor, it may certainly be said that there are a thousand crowns within one realm, but their effective unity has been a matter of variance and debate.
In spite of its near-unseen divine monarch and absolute power vested within him, the Imperium is a decentralizedly aristocratic affair. At its pinnacle is Justinian; unacting, power symbolically flowing down from him. Below him is the Clerisy, priest-attendants and speakers of the high Law, who are placed over all crowns in virtue of their representation of the One, and administrators of many bishophric counties and occasional duchies. Then, the aristocrats, blue-blooded men dating back to the original royal and noble lines that confederated beneath Justinian and those raised to peerage after, whose material interests are often the prime driving force between the Imperiums' politics in spite of clerical rhetoric overlaid above them. The professional military men- be they state or personal retinue- follow next, as physical enforcers of the Law, the standing army waxing and waning in scale with times of war and peace, and the personal retinues. The commonfolk rest on the bottom, as source to labor and levy be they serf or freeman. And below even they lay those nonhumans allowed to exist, though in persecution; elves, dwarves, halflings, the like, whose waning devotion to Justinians' cause and its expediencies in the aftermath of the Old War and their real or supposed subversive activities against the crowns.
Further confusing the matter are what could be described as the unilateral organizations- those who act in the name of the Law, from outside of this conventional pyramid of power and organization. These include small and professional state-sanctioned organizations such as the Castigati, witch-slayers and demon-hunters sworn to the extermination of Daigon's physical legacy and memory in totality, to flagellant lay-preachers, mercenary free bands, army factionalists acting for or against the peerage, and vigilante mobs from the common folk in imitation of one or all of the former parties. Some are with the Crowns, others against; some are for Justinian and the restoration of his seemingly bound hands to power, and others decry his contemporary existence as an invention of the Clerisy. All are unique in that they are often especially independent in action, and so plots, coups, and peasant wars are orders of the day, or decade, within the Imperium.
The Imperium's mandate is best described as a tablature of steel commandments left to rust; it has long been asked whether it will survive, and to what degree. But in four hundred years, it has not faltered with finality yet. Only time will tell.
The Marches
The farther-flung vassals, member states, disparate warlordists, border princelings and military commissions of the Justinian Imperium. Often formed up by or with a component of Nagathi ethnicities, influenced or interbred by and with the peoples of the Imperium. Most all are within the uplands and along the mountains delineating the border, they keep the peace and act as the first line against enemy incursions, as well as as a cultural buffer against 'degenerate Nagathi influence' into the deeper Imperium. Monster culls, punitive expeditions and border patrol are all within their purview, and they are most often left to it save in those rare times where the Imperium is fully roused and state troops are brought in to reinforce the line.
The farther-flung vassals, member states, disparate warlordists, border princelings and military commissions of the Justinian Imperium. Often formed up by or with a component of Nagathi ethnicities, influenced or interbred by and with the peoples of the Imperium. Most all are within the uplands and along the mountains delineating the border, they keep the peace and act as the first line against enemy incursions, as well as as a cultural buffer against 'degenerate Nagathi influence' into the deeper Imperium. Monster culls, punitive expeditions and border patrol are all within their purview, and they are most often left to it save in those rare times where the Imperium is fully roused and state troops are brought in to reinforce the line.
Mount Azoth & Daigon Zul: Before Daigon had ascended to his prime in rule over the unnamed principality that would one day become Nagath, and give its name to this entire subcontinent of Geryon itself, it is said by some apocryphal accounts that he traveled in the farther eastern lands, where the Drathans and the Salished incessantly spilt blood of man and beast alike in the great wars of wizards & priests. Certainly, the name of his capital and the redubbed mountain about and into which it was built would lend a degree of legitimacy, or at least stand testament to an interest in the sorcerous orient by the late Great Archon; Zul is a word meaning 'high place' in abstract, or that is as far as it may be translated to the common tongue, and Azoth the name by which the world goes in the East. So it is that monument and mount would be respecitvely rendered as Daigon Most High and Peak of the World; truly the humblest of monickers, even for one bent on world dominion.
Now, for all the grandeur of this statement, the city and the high fortresses of the mountain lie in utter ruin, described by one Western historiographer as 'an empty jumble of leaning spires, broken walls and shattered domes, inhabited only by corpses and demons.' Certainly, this is an apt description, for the complex of Daigon Zul and the whole mountainside- and the great stretch of dry waste, ashen field and drowning pitch-marsh surrounding- are so universally hostile to nonnative life as to ward off all claimants. Not once has any warlord or successor-claimant to Daigon's seat tried to claim it; none that have lived, to say the least. For it is here that the wildest and most dangerous monstrosities dwell, the most unpersonable demons, the legacy of Daigon's shadowed works. Such was the tumult and turmoil of Daigon Zul's twice-falling, now frozen in time, that it was described as 'the city of disarray and the crown of chaos, microcosm of that land's fall into disorder, into an empire of ataxia,' and has long evoked pity and tragedy in the minds of men even in the hostile West as gravestone to a great folly of mankind.
It is strange then that this 'crown of chaos,' long still and quiet, seems to stir after centuries of silence. The foul inhabitants in its midst, mangled beasts and chimaeric mistakes of alchemic science, have become all too much livelier and more aggressive, ranging farther and longer from their dens.And shadows seem to watch from her shattered ramparts, pillars great and looming.
Now, for all the grandeur of this statement, the city and the high fortresses of the mountain lie in utter ruin, described by one Western historiographer as 'an empty jumble of leaning spires, broken walls and shattered domes, inhabited only by corpses and demons.' Certainly, this is an apt description, for the complex of Daigon Zul and the whole mountainside- and the great stretch of dry waste, ashen field and drowning pitch-marsh surrounding- are so universally hostile to nonnative life as to ward off all claimants. Not once has any warlord or successor-claimant to Daigon's seat tried to claim it; none that have lived, to say the least. For it is here that the wildest and most dangerous monstrosities dwell, the most unpersonable demons, the legacy of Daigon's shadowed works. Such was the tumult and turmoil of Daigon Zul's twice-falling, now frozen in time, that it was described as 'the city of disarray and the crown of chaos, microcosm of that land's fall into disorder, into an empire of ataxia,' and has long evoked pity and tragedy in the minds of men even in the hostile West as gravestone to a great folly of mankind.
It is strange then that this 'crown of chaos,' long still and quiet, seems to stir after centuries of silence. The foul inhabitants in its midst, mangled beasts and chimaeric mistakes of alchemic science, have become all too much livelier and more aggressive, ranging farther and longer from their dens.And shadows seem to watch from her shattered ramparts, pillars great and looming.
The Claws
The Claws are so named for two reasons; one, for the jagged spires of rock and obsidian glass that seem to mark every lowland and crown every peak, beyond the bounds of the natural. Two, for the heinously deadly and predatory wildlife that stalks the region, a closed circuit of almost universal carnivorism that defies ecology and understanding, inhabited solely by those beings who find its barrens and semi-active volcanism to be agreeable. Once home to the great and ever-expanding backbone of Nagath's most centralized mines and military industries, and built to scale, it is now a long streak of abandoned fortresses & yawning empty foundries, lost to almost all parties. But 'almost all' is not 'all;' it plays host yet to the black dwarves of Clan Black Anvil, who occupy many boltholes along the mountain range and the Heart of the Forges- the greatest of the dual mine-foundry-complexes in the range - and to those beasts and orcs which find themselves either as slaves or as free savages, beating and feasting upon the beasts of the earth and one another in equal measure. For those others who would try to make guests of themselves in the range, and without aid from its established inhabitants, they do not find themselves welcome for long.
The Claws are so named for two reasons; one, for the jagged spires of rock and obsidian glass that seem to mark every lowland and crown every peak, beyond the bounds of the natural. Two, for the heinously deadly and predatory wildlife that stalks the region, a closed circuit of almost universal carnivorism that defies ecology and understanding, inhabited solely by those beings who find its barrens and semi-active volcanism to be agreeable. Once home to the great and ever-expanding backbone of Nagath's most centralized mines and military industries, and built to scale, it is now a long streak of abandoned fortresses & yawning empty foundries, lost to almost all parties. But 'almost all' is not 'all;' it plays host yet to the black dwarves of Clan Black Anvil, who occupy many boltholes along the mountain range and the Heart of the Forges- the greatest of the dual mine-foundry-complexes in the range - and to those beasts and orcs which find themselves either as slaves or as free savages, beating and feasting upon the beasts of the earth and one another in equal measure. For those others who would try to make guests of themselves in the range, and without aid from its established inhabitants, they do not find themselves welcome for long.
The Broken Coast & the Blackwater
The Broken Coast, set on the southern shores of Nagath and straddling 'round the Sour Fen, makes up one of the greenest areas in Nagath, though hardly a hospitable one. While often referred to as a single region, there is a certain diversity between the marshy foothills extending before Rotwatch and the temperate rainforest along the Blackwater; as a result, it is just as often that they are subdivided. The Broken Coast proper is a mild mirror of the Fen proper, though 'mild' is a relative term. Biting insects, evil creatures and foul terrain still predominate for the largest part, diferring mainly in scale and number and the potency of their varieties. Bald-stoned waste from inside the Fen's outermost lip eventually gives way to uneven green again, spilling over into a new stretch of hills and swamp, where the Justinians still maintain a March of sorts. It is rough, humid, and unmoderately hot & cold. Yet livable.
As one moves on towards the Black Water, a buffer of nutrient-poor bog and choking thorn & vine give way to moss-swaddled temperate rainforest on the western coast. These misty groves would maintain a certain ominous beauty, were it not for their danger. Vampiric huntsmen of the Sanguine Alliance besides, the region is marked by lurking wolves without fear of men- so-called wargs, speaking hearth haters inclined to begrudge and to cause fear and confusion for travelers, though rarely predating directly- and other far less benign lurkers in the trees and underroots, vampires degenerated by overindulging malfeasance into animalistic forms. On the eastern side, the same damp temperate terrain applies, with greater development of human settlements and agriculture, and hills reach further up into the mountain slopes and peaks, where the children of Kain have established themselves townships and mines, cutting into the mountain for all that which shines to satisfy their dilettante tastes. The south gives way to sandy shore and cliffed coast, while the north is both the resting place for the dead city of Agrat-Thul- the home and holdfast of Vampirism in Daigon's time- and for the new cities, built from quarried stone out of the east and well-isolated from potential incursion, save through the border with the neighboring Kingdom of Oszbeyr.
The Broken Coast, set on the southern shores of Nagath and straddling 'round the Sour Fen, makes up one of the greenest areas in Nagath, though hardly a hospitable one. While often referred to as a single region, there is a certain diversity between the marshy foothills extending before Rotwatch and the temperate rainforest along the Blackwater; as a result, it is just as often that they are subdivided. The Broken Coast proper is a mild mirror of the Fen proper, though 'mild' is a relative term. Biting insects, evil creatures and foul terrain still predominate for the largest part, diferring mainly in scale and number and the potency of their varieties. Bald-stoned waste from inside the Fen's outermost lip eventually gives way to uneven green again, spilling over into a new stretch of hills and swamp, where the Justinians still maintain a March of sorts. It is rough, humid, and unmoderately hot & cold. Yet livable.
As one moves on towards the Black Water, a buffer of nutrient-poor bog and choking thorn & vine give way to moss-swaddled temperate rainforest on the western coast. These misty groves would maintain a certain ominous beauty, were it not for their danger. Vampiric huntsmen of the Sanguine Alliance besides, the region is marked by lurking wolves without fear of men- so-called wargs, speaking hearth haters inclined to begrudge and to cause fear and confusion for travelers, though rarely predating directly- and other far less benign lurkers in the trees and underroots, vampires degenerated by overindulging malfeasance into animalistic forms. On the eastern side, the same damp temperate terrain applies, with greater development of human settlements and agriculture, and hills reach further up into the mountain slopes and peaks, where the children of Kain have established themselves townships and mines, cutting into the mountain for all that which shines to satisfy their dilettante tastes. The south gives way to sandy shore and cliffed coast, while the north is both the resting place for the dead city of Agrat-Thul- the home and holdfast of Vampirism in Daigon's time- and for the new cities, built from quarried stone out of the east and well-isolated from potential incursion, save through the border with the neighboring Kingdom of Oszbeyr.
Sour Fen
Past the swamps of the Broken Coast and the Blackwater rainforest, there lay a deeper stain upon Nagath. That would be the Sour Fen. Once the delta breadbasket of eastern Geryon and a jewel of Nagath, then a March under the Justinian's brief occupation, and then an all-drowning fen ringed by a bowl of acrid stone as the region choked, clogged by silt, swallowed up from below as if the whole region had been undermined by churning sinkholes. Most often this is blamed on the so-called Doom of the Fen, when the Imperial-Fennish peace summit was slaughtered, possibly to the last, by hardliners in Justinian's court, and a curse laid thereafter upon those who transgressed the now nameless holy ground in so doing. On that foundation was built the Tower of Dawn-Brought Truths, an obscurity to modern historians, though one of the sole standing remnants of the Marsh. Most all the rest was swallowed whole by the marsh, to briefly churn back up in one place or time or another, before once again falling beneath the effluent filth.
Still, even here man manages to survive. The Kingdom of Oszbeyr formed from the remnants of the old Fennish and the Justinian settlers, intermingling into more or less one people beneath a modest crown, annointed by the local cult of astrologer-naturalists, the Lodge of the High Stars. Beyond the realm of men, the Gnoles and a scarce few of their old foes of circumstance the Brayfolk eke out spartan lives, largely beneath the stars and no other roof but trees' branch or simple yurt. Life in the Fen is a matter of subsistent cunning, as there may be no more naturally dangerous place in the whole of Nagath- outside the old ruined capital- than the all-claiming Sour Fen. All that makes life difficult on the Broken Coast makes itself known all the moreso in the Fen. Its sicknesses are viler, its flora more wild, fauna greedier and ever-devouring all efforts when not kept at bay. It is hard-back peoples that choose Fen life, but whether the Fen favors them or or they have merely escaped its notice- for indeed the Fen lives, so the superstition goes- no one truly knows.
Past the swamps of the Broken Coast and the Blackwater rainforest, there lay a deeper stain upon Nagath. That would be the Sour Fen. Once the delta breadbasket of eastern Geryon and a jewel of Nagath, then a March under the Justinian's brief occupation, and then an all-drowning fen ringed by a bowl of acrid stone as the region choked, clogged by silt, swallowed up from below as if the whole region had been undermined by churning sinkholes. Most often this is blamed on the so-called Doom of the Fen, when the Imperial-Fennish peace summit was slaughtered, possibly to the last, by hardliners in Justinian's court, and a curse laid thereafter upon those who transgressed the now nameless holy ground in so doing. On that foundation was built the Tower of Dawn-Brought Truths, an obscurity to modern historians, though one of the sole standing remnants of the Marsh. Most all the rest was swallowed whole by the marsh, to briefly churn back up in one place or time or another, before once again falling beneath the effluent filth.
Still, even here man manages to survive. The Kingdom of Oszbeyr formed from the remnants of the old Fennish and the Justinian settlers, intermingling into more or less one people beneath a modest crown, annointed by the local cult of astrologer-naturalists, the Lodge of the High Stars. Beyond the realm of men, the Gnoles and a scarce few of their old foes of circumstance the Brayfolk eke out spartan lives, largely beneath the stars and no other roof but trees' branch or simple yurt. Life in the Fen is a matter of subsistent cunning, as there may be no more naturally dangerous place in the whole of Nagath- outside the old ruined capital- than the all-claiming Sour Fen. All that makes life difficult on the Broken Coast makes itself known all the moreso in the Fen. Its sicknesses are viler, its flora more wild, fauna greedier and ever-devouring all efforts when not kept at bay. It is hard-back peoples that choose Fen life, but whether the Fen favors them or or they have merely escaped its notice- for indeed the Fen lives, so the superstition goes- no one truly knows.
The Bay of Teeth
Not a part of Geryon, but of the continent Azoth, the Bay of Teeth and Zar Dratha with sits upon its mouth is the heart of the Drathan Union, the loose confederation of wizard-lords of the tradition of Othman Dratha who is their namesake that so often seizes Western minds on the matter of both ancient and modern arcana. An oasis of mud-flats in the midst of the wastelands of ash immediately surrounding and the Red Desert neighboring, it has long been a hub of trade and intellectual pursuit in the East and maintains an image and actuality of opulence, in spite of the disrepair of the lower classes and the uncomely nature of some of its subsistence industries, such as the grub-farmers and their invertebrate proceed, a pragmatic substitute for meat. In recent times, however, Zar Dratha has been largely closing itself to commerce from the West, with only a limited number of vessels given clearance to continue the long route through and little information making its way out up to now. Whether this is a matter of plague, political turmoil, isolationist withdrawal or or a round of doomcrying hysteria, cannot be said for certain. It can be said without doubt that there is upset in the house of the wizard-lords.
Not a part of Geryon, but of the continent Azoth, the Bay of Teeth and Zar Dratha with sits upon its mouth is the heart of the Drathan Union, the loose confederation of wizard-lords of the tradition of Othman Dratha who is their namesake that so often seizes Western minds on the matter of both ancient and modern arcana. An oasis of mud-flats in the midst of the wastelands of ash immediately surrounding and the Red Desert neighboring, it has long been a hub of trade and intellectual pursuit in the East and maintains an image and actuality of opulence, in spite of the disrepair of the lower classes and the uncomely nature of some of its subsistence industries, such as the grub-farmers and their invertebrate proceed, a pragmatic substitute for meat. In recent times, however, Zar Dratha has been largely closing itself to commerce from the West, with only a limited number of vessels given clearance to continue the long route through and little information making its way out up to now. Whether this is a matter of plague, political turmoil, isolationist withdrawal or or a round of doomcrying hysteria, cannot be said for certain. It can be said without doubt that there is upset in the house of the wizard-lords.
Short, out-of-world definitions of states, per the GM's take of it. Less to chew on than the Places blocks or individual character sheets. Format PC-NPC status/originator if originally PC sheet/rough international power ranking.
Justinian Imperium: NPC, great power
Holy Roman Catholiphate central europe blob. Comprised of an exceptional number of statelets and criss-crossing crownlands, with a few large ones ala Brandenburg or Austria, all subject to the nominal autocratic rule of God-King Justinian, who does very little ruling. Sleeping giant tendencies; high technical potential, miserly noble procurement sharply stops any rise to said potential, vaguely huge area on and offmap. Dysfunction, decentralization and corruption imported & exacerbated from the Holy Roman Empire, late Rome proper, and the myriad large Islamic states. Tends to be too wrapped up in itself to throw its weight around; occasionally bullies other Westerly states or launches punitive expeditions into the nearer Nagathi states. Theocracy is fanatical and prone to misinterpretation of quite spartanly written passages and quotations. Aristocracy pays outwardly fanatic lip service to the former while faithlessly looking out for their own material gains and preservation of the status quo. The military, comprised from noble retinues, legion-like state formations and levied peasant conscripts alike, is a frequent wildcard. The human common folk live their lives and weather the storm of all this. The nonhuman commonfolk weather things worse. And 'unilaterals' of many classes- witch hunters, flagellants, mercenaries, vigilantes, peasant rebels, ideological purists,- make things more chaotic for everyone by acting on their own authority, whether granted from above or self-acquired, to do what they will. Justinian is sad. Sad.
Holy Roman Catholiphate central europe blob. Comprised of an exceptional number of statelets and criss-crossing crownlands, with a few large ones ala Brandenburg or Austria, all subject to the nominal autocratic rule of God-King Justinian, who does very little ruling. Sleeping giant tendencies; high technical potential, miserly noble procurement sharply stops any rise to said potential, vaguely huge area on and offmap. Dysfunction, decentralization and corruption imported & exacerbated from the Holy Roman Empire, late Rome proper, and the myriad large Islamic states. Tends to be too wrapped up in itself to throw its weight around; occasionally bullies other Westerly states or launches punitive expeditions into the nearer Nagathi states. Theocracy is fanatical and prone to misinterpretation of quite spartanly written passages and quotations. Aristocracy pays outwardly fanatic lip service to the former while faithlessly looking out for their own material gains and preservation of the status quo. The military, comprised from noble retinues, legion-like state formations and levied peasant conscripts alike, is a frequent wildcard. The human common folk live their lives and weather the storm of all this. The nonhuman commonfolk weather things worse. And 'unilaterals' of many classes- witch hunters, flagellants, mercenaries, vigilantes, peasant rebels, ideological purists,- make things more chaotic for everyone by acting on their own authority, whether granted from above or self-acquired, to do what they will. Justinian is sad. Sad.
The Marches: NPC, secondary/minor powers
See above, only regarded as more superficially 'backwards,' sometimes actually so, and less closely observed, while being effectively independent as long as they toe the right lines. Think Bohemia to continue the HRE comparison, Hungary in the early Dual Monarchy, or any old loosely done master-vassal relationship. Keep the opposite sides of impassable Justinian's Crown and the Godspine Mountains secure, ensuring the infeasibility of penetrating the Imperium through the single land pass out. Tend to have to fend for themselves unless things get bad enough that they're getting run roughshod, at which point the Imperium proper will deign to step in.
See above, only regarded as more superficially 'backwards,' sometimes actually so, and less closely observed, while being effectively independent as long as they toe the right lines. Think Bohemia to continue the HRE comparison, Hungary in the early Dual Monarchy, or any old loosely done master-vassal relationship. Keep the opposite sides of impassable Justinian's Crown and the Godspine Mountains secure, ensuring the infeasibility of penetrating the Imperium through the single land pass out. Tend to have to fend for themselves unless things get bad enough that they're getting run roughshod, at which point the Imperium proper will deign to step in.
Vritraprthvirajya: GM/PC, Senor Herp, great power
Near and far eastern cultural hodgepodge of grafted-together autocracies- Indo-Iranic, Indian, Indo-Greek/Byzantine and far Asiatic in Kuzyan, Bhaskara, Elladas-Bakt and Ỵāṇ respectively, subethnicities to possibly follow, plus demihuman peoples- in bizarro mirroring to the human supremacist vassal blob Imperium, yet all linked to a very much more active central government. Said government consists of once-man demons in the so called Circle of Kings, who exist as a ruling class above the ruling class that snatches up the best of the best of the young generations to be groomed for ascension into their numbers. Could be considered to take inspiration from Ganishka's Kushan or a lower fantasy Falconia, and from the general smorgasbord of pulp fantasy Orientalism, and a take on the conception of the earliest possible absolutist proto-fascism. Life is quite nice relatively and objectively speaking from top to bottom as long as you toe the right lines. But there are a great number of lines, and the state is in everything, everywhere, to such a degree that there is little if any black market as opposed to tightly legalized control of what would exist within it, and its ideology of Asuranism is unitary and all-consuming; it is to make all men kings, scorning fate and gods, but reality being what it is, not all can be crowned all at once, and regardless all must go forward with the greatest vigor regardless of position, in lockstep and the control of the next man up the pecking order. 'Coils and chains,' so it goes.
This is the personal creation of one essentially unknown young page of Daigon- himself a 'nature or nurture' experiment in fostering the qualities of rule and intellect- who self-ascended on the eve of Daigon's death, then presented himself to the remnant groups as one of the various shadow-viziers of Daigon with a more coherent plan than 'martyrdom RIGHT NOW' or 'carve out breakaway demesne;' grit teeth, bite bullet, and flee East while drawing the Justinian lines longer and longer 'til they can be repulsed and efforts to reconquer & rebuild can be made. This was a largely successful endeavor, but never as successful as it needed to be. Reasons range from; apocalyptic dark age collapse, the ebb and flow of individual ambitions, breakaways resulting, the immaturity of government hundreds of years ago now past, the shortage of mortal and immortal manpower, and a particularly ill-fated personal union/dual monarchy arrangement with the Naukada Krin. All led to the current state of a state with a quite large core territory, a wide sphere of influence, robust infrastructure, and a mature bureaucracy & military, yet wrestling with intrigue and an ever-enemy in the Kaumntok currently compromising said core territory's security. Even with a demigod leader as a trump card and a class of similar superhumans, they and the former in particular cannot be everywhere at once and do not number enough to ensure victory without cunning, popular will and coherent logistics. So ensues a wait-and-see ethic on the part of said living trump card and lots of fluid border conflict.
Near and far eastern cultural hodgepodge of grafted-together autocracies- Indo-Iranic, Indian, Indo-Greek/Byzantine and far Asiatic in Kuzyan, Bhaskara, Elladas-Bakt and Ỵāṇ respectively, subethnicities to possibly follow, plus demihuman peoples- in bizarro mirroring to the human supremacist vassal blob Imperium, yet all linked to a very much more active central government. Said government consists of once-man demons in the so called Circle of Kings, who exist as a ruling class above the ruling class that snatches up the best of the best of the young generations to be groomed for ascension into their numbers. Could be considered to take inspiration from Ganishka's Kushan or a lower fantasy Falconia, and from the general smorgasbord of pulp fantasy Orientalism, and a take on the conception of the earliest possible absolutist proto-fascism. Life is quite nice relatively and objectively speaking from top to bottom as long as you toe the right lines. But there are a great number of lines, and the state is in everything, everywhere, to such a degree that there is little if any black market as opposed to tightly legalized control of what would exist within it, and its ideology of Asuranism is unitary and all-consuming; it is to make all men kings, scorning fate and gods, but reality being what it is, not all can be crowned all at once, and regardless all must go forward with the greatest vigor regardless of position, in lockstep and the control of the next man up the pecking order. 'Coils and chains,' so it goes.
This is the personal creation of one essentially unknown young page of Daigon- himself a 'nature or nurture' experiment in fostering the qualities of rule and intellect- who self-ascended on the eve of Daigon's death, then presented himself to the remnant groups as one of the various shadow-viziers of Daigon with a more coherent plan than 'martyrdom RIGHT NOW' or 'carve out breakaway demesne;' grit teeth, bite bullet, and flee East while drawing the Justinian lines longer and longer 'til they can be repulsed and efforts to reconquer & rebuild can be made. This was a largely successful endeavor, but never as successful as it needed to be. Reasons range from; apocalyptic dark age collapse, the ebb and flow of individual ambitions, breakaways resulting, the immaturity of government hundreds of years ago now past, the shortage of mortal and immortal manpower, and a particularly ill-fated personal union/dual monarchy arrangement with the Naukada Krin. All led to the current state of a state with a quite large core territory, a wide sphere of influence, robust infrastructure, and a mature bureaucracy & military, yet wrestling with intrigue and an ever-enemy in the Kaumntok currently compromising said core territory's security. Even with a demigod leader as a trump card and a class of similar superhumans, they and the former in particular cannot be everywhere at once and do not number enough to ensure victory without cunning, popular will and coherent logistics. So ensues a wait-and-see ethic on the part of said living trump card and lots of fluid border conflict.
Naukada Kaumntok/Red Empire: NPC, The Nexerus, great power.
Half Mongol Empire and half dynastic China and her tributaries with the resulting implications- backwater, raiding, pillaging, a Son of Heaven, a divine mandate- only as inhabited by orcoids, wild beastmen and weirdcore fantasy demihumans & disfigured human chattel, ruled by a caste of standardized-morphology red orcs, the Naukada, and their living god the Naukada Krin. The Naukada are the result of a dead man's switch of Daigon's devisement; he encoded within his own flesh the alchemic stuff to spawn one final batch of homonculi- the culmination of all the animal men and orc things preceding them- from his dead flesh, or ashes as it turned out, to really stick in the craw of Justinian and his enemies in general even postmortem. This worked out as a smashing success, beside that it made his own servants and successors' lives very, very difficult. The Naukada literally rose out from the inland sea now called Lake Ukha after their maker-god, tearing out of mud wombs to scour the battlefields for arms and make war on the men of the West while bringing the disparate inhuman forces into line. A very spartan truth, although original accounts of such are essentially unknown and unverified, even if theories matching it are bounced around.
Mythologically, Ukha- a usurper deity very thoroughly derived from a genetically memorized though garbled Daigon- sought to bring the creations of the original maker of the world, Shar, into line, after first 'slaying' him (engaging in fervent atheism) and creating the beastkin to worship him (serve as homonculus-janissaries.) Ukha failed and died as Daigon did, and his form 'a twisted mass of all animals to ever walk the land or fly the skies or swim in the sea' (a human timebomb of artificial life communicated through allegoric imagery) was burnt to cinders. The ashes fell on Lake Ukha as is factually true, and the sea flooded with the blood of men and beasts (so as to provide biological energy to the gestation process) but instead upraised Naukada Krin, the Third God and First Orc, who proceeded to lead the beastkin to slay the greatest of the armies of Men and then raise those slain in battle in his own likeness. The Red Orc-Naukada breed emerged from those who stained themselves with blood in the Krin's name and devoted themselves utterly to him, and the rest- called Balor, 'green,'- from those who ate themselves sick on manflesh as the beastkin did. Conceptually correct in that the rest emerged from Daigon's seeking the platonic form of the Red Orcs through his preceding works-in-progress, chronologically inaccurate and fanciful otherwise.
After this formative period and its mythologizing, the Naukada Krin proceeded to eternally and literally reincarnate- or else, the Red Orcs continually saw its leaders claim to have reincarnated from him, more conservatively- and lead the Naukada and their vassals to conquer all of central Nagath and the fertile river valleys running throughout it, waging war on those they believed to be the creations of Shar (Justinian humankind for the most part) and integrating those that were believed to be of Ukha (beastkin and Daigon-preexisting demihumans) while halting further Justinian land forays into those parts of Nagath behind them. And generally making a nuisance or worse of themselves. Briefly, Asurishvara sought and gained the friendship of one of Naukada Krin's incarnations, leading to the union of the Naukada Kaumntok and Vritraprthvirajya, but after a long series of disagreements on how to run a campaign frontline, an occupation authority, or how cautious or rash to be in strategy, this ended in severe violence during the Night of Bitter Chains at the furthest extent of advance, the Vigil Tower. Each denying the others' divinity- the Krin naming Asurishvara as a bothersome man and no more, Asurishvara calling the Krin as naked emperor to savage tinker toy men- Asurishvara drew steel and mortally wounded the Krin in combat, while the Krin's servants raced to inform his forces, and both armies turned on each other. Captives were taken, and slaves were made of them; united Nagath fell apart overnight; and the dying Krin's delirious bemoanings, including that of all men being 'Shar's traitors,' led them to their current state of 'no man can be trusted.' Thereafter, the Kaumntok wilted somewhat in many respects in their isolation, but is far too deeply rooted for anyone to remove.
Half Mongol Empire and half dynastic China and her tributaries with the resulting implications- backwater, raiding, pillaging, a Son of Heaven, a divine mandate- only as inhabited by orcoids, wild beastmen and weirdcore fantasy demihumans & disfigured human chattel, ruled by a caste of standardized-morphology red orcs, the Naukada, and their living god the Naukada Krin. The Naukada are the result of a dead man's switch of Daigon's devisement; he encoded within his own flesh the alchemic stuff to spawn one final batch of homonculi- the culmination of all the animal men and orc things preceding them- from his dead flesh, or ashes as it turned out, to really stick in the craw of Justinian and his enemies in general even postmortem. This worked out as a smashing success, beside that it made his own servants and successors' lives very, very difficult. The Naukada literally rose out from the inland sea now called Lake Ukha after their maker-god, tearing out of mud wombs to scour the battlefields for arms and make war on the men of the West while bringing the disparate inhuman forces into line. A very spartan truth, although original accounts of such are essentially unknown and unverified, even if theories matching it are bounced around.
Mythologically, Ukha- a usurper deity very thoroughly derived from a genetically memorized though garbled Daigon- sought to bring the creations of the original maker of the world, Shar, into line, after first 'slaying' him (engaging in fervent atheism) and creating the beastkin to worship him (serve as homonculus-janissaries.) Ukha failed and died as Daigon did, and his form 'a twisted mass of all animals to ever walk the land or fly the skies or swim in the sea' (a human timebomb of artificial life communicated through allegoric imagery) was burnt to cinders. The ashes fell on Lake Ukha as is factually true, and the sea flooded with the blood of men and beasts (so as to provide biological energy to the gestation process) but instead upraised Naukada Krin, the Third God and First Orc, who proceeded to lead the beastkin to slay the greatest of the armies of Men and then raise those slain in battle in his own likeness. The Red Orc-Naukada breed emerged from those who stained themselves with blood in the Krin's name and devoted themselves utterly to him, and the rest- called Balor, 'green,'- from those who ate themselves sick on manflesh as the beastkin did. Conceptually correct in that the rest emerged from Daigon's seeking the platonic form of the Red Orcs through his preceding works-in-progress, chronologically inaccurate and fanciful otherwise.
After this formative period and its mythologizing, the Naukada Krin proceeded to eternally and literally reincarnate- or else, the Red Orcs continually saw its leaders claim to have reincarnated from him, more conservatively- and lead the Naukada and their vassals to conquer all of central Nagath and the fertile river valleys running throughout it, waging war on those they believed to be the creations of Shar (Justinian humankind for the most part) and integrating those that were believed to be of Ukha (beastkin and Daigon-preexisting demihumans) while halting further Justinian land forays into those parts of Nagath behind them. And generally making a nuisance or worse of themselves. Briefly, Asurishvara sought and gained the friendship of one of Naukada Krin's incarnations, leading to the union of the Naukada Kaumntok and Vritraprthvirajya, but after a long series of disagreements on how to run a campaign frontline, an occupation authority, or how cautious or rash to be in strategy, this ended in severe violence during the Night of Bitter Chains at the furthest extent of advance, the Vigil Tower. Each denying the others' divinity- the Krin naming Asurishvara as a bothersome man and no more, Asurishvara calling the Krin as naked emperor to savage tinker toy men- Asurishvara drew steel and mortally wounded the Krin in combat, while the Krin's servants raced to inform his forces, and both armies turned on each other. Captives were taken, and slaves were made of them; united Nagath fell apart overnight; and the dying Krin's delirious bemoanings, including that of all men being 'Shar's traitors,' led them to their current state of 'no man can be trusted.' Thereafter, the Kaumntok wilted somewhat in many respects in their isolation, but is far too deeply rooted for anyone to remove.
Note on factions: If one falls to inactivity or in the lack of a return, a faction will revert to NPC status if necessary, to be controlled by the GM and other players until the original player returns. Run concepts by publically to start, in-depth with one or both the two GMs initially, before bringing a sheet in progress into public view.
Faction Name: [The definite, official title of your state or organization.]
Alias: [Everything else. Variants, nicknames, bywords, slurs.]
Government Type: [Factions PC or NPC generally range from Nagathi successor states to warlord realms, pocket dictatorships, petty kingdoms, violently acquired feudal demesnes, cults of influence, or individuals of power established in the bleak spaces on the fringe of civilization, in the ruins of the last one. Generally anti-villainous to straight villainous spectrum, with a bit of anti-heroism. This does not, however, mean the characters will view themselves as such.]
Faction Species: [Custom species allowed. Run by GMs for concepting & approval. Ideal but not obligatory format is; Faction Species header, individual hider-headers, descriptions inside. Subraces or ethnicities go in subhiders.]
Species Descriptions: [Legacy section. Included simply because someone might want to break it up like this, although I wouldn't.]
Territory Details: [Settlements and their organization & general location, geography, order of industry.]
Faction Religion/Ideology: [Religious or secular ideal(s) that motivate the state and its people, or at least despotically preside over them.]
Faction Description: [Elevator pitch. Is likely doomed to redundancy with one or more of the other sections, but still necessary to get into the frame of 'this is it in a nutshell.']
Faction History: [Flesh out your surrounding and the wider world to a degree as you go here. Initially, this should be just the basics, and your manifest of 'this is what I want to have happened.' Later, after collaboration between players, it will hopefully resemble an actual excerpted timeline of relevant events.]
Important Characters: [From the start, this is more or less bound to be individuals leadership and not too much else. Given time, it should also include recurrent perspective characters.]
Relations to other Factions: [Include off-maps and NPCs if or as relevant; include even currently irrelevant player factions to whatever minor degree you can conceive a connection by, by trade route or sphere of half-informed local thought, if only to have the formatting of that nation relation done for later.]
Faction Name: [The definite, official title of your state or organization.]
Alias: [Everything else. Variants, nicknames, bywords, slurs.]
Government Type: [Factions PC or NPC generally range from Nagathi successor states to warlord realms, pocket dictatorships, petty kingdoms, violently acquired feudal demesnes, cults of influence, or individuals of power established in the bleak spaces on the fringe of civilization, in the ruins of the last one. Generally anti-villainous to straight villainous spectrum, with a bit of anti-heroism. This does not, however, mean the characters will view themselves as such.]
Faction Species: [Custom species allowed. Run by GMs for concepting & approval. Ideal but not obligatory format is; Faction Species header, individual hider-headers, descriptions inside. Subraces or ethnicities go in subhiders.]
Species Descriptions: [Legacy section. Included simply because someone might want to break it up like this, although I wouldn't.]
Territory Details: [Settlements and their organization & general location, geography, order of industry.]
Faction Religion/Ideology: [Religious or secular ideal(s) that motivate the state and its people, or at least despotically preside over them.]
Faction Description: [Elevator pitch. Is likely doomed to redundancy with one or more of the other sections, but still necessary to get into the frame of 'this is it in a nutshell.']
Faction History: [Flesh out your surrounding and the wider world to a degree as you go here. Initially, this should be just the basics, and your manifest of 'this is what I want to have happened.' Later, after collaboration between players, it will hopefully resemble an actual excerpted timeline of relevant events.]
Important Characters: [From the start, this is more or less bound to be individuals leadership and not too much else. Given time, it should also include recurrent perspective characters.]
Relations to other Factions: [Include off-maps and NPCs if or as relevant; include even currently irrelevant player factions to whatever minor degree you can conceive a connection by, by trade route or sphere of half-informed local thought, if only to have the formatting of that nation relation done for later.]
Current Discord here.
New thread here. I wanted to get the OP completely finished if at all possible, filling out all sections, but faction summary blocks/bullets and racial descriptions (paraphrased old ones or totally new ones) will have to wait. That information can be iterated and reiterated to new folks & rejoiners ad hoc in the short meantime, so all should be well; the alternative of waiting to try and chew through it all to post on probably a Sunday evening or worse to miss my deadline and get into weekdays, where it'll be far less likely to be peeked at than if I threw it up now, was not a pleasing one, and I will not break my pledge to have something up in this timeframe. A lot of the new text crawl is paraphrased, a lot of it is new setting information that's been pegged down or hooks imagined. I managed to fill out all the place sections. The faction sheet is a little bit better or at least more explicitly explained. In the minutes following from now, I'm going to throw my sheet hider in, and the previous games' sheets awaiting return player in hiders in the same character post.
Edit: Right, I should also do this, for those who aren't subscribed. Fuzzy brained, not taking enough time to think. @Flagg, @Legion02, @Aquamarine, things are hopefully getting off the ground again, as the effort poured into the OP and quite decently dedicated Discord activity (in spite of DMs for early gatekept concepting obscuring it) even with a small core should indicate. Phone in as to whether you'll be hopping along or not and when.
@Wernher, @Bright_Ops and @The Nexerus, whenever you get muse or time back, you're welcome as always. I'll try not to botch anything or see unfaithful writing put up in the meantime, especially if I decide it necessary to add onto a forked NPC version of your sheets.
In the case of Nexerus in particular, thank you for taking time from your presumably quite limited schedule the other day to clarify information and discuss bits & bobs again, and I do hope I'll be able to consult you again in this mild fashion in the future, as I rather value the work we've done or that I've witnessed you do in this short time.
I think that's everything, did I forget anything?
Edit: Right, I should also do this, for those who aren't subscribed. Fuzzy brained, not taking enough time to think. @Flagg, @Legion02, @Aquamarine, things are hopefully getting off the ground again, as the effort poured into the OP and quite decently dedicated Discord activity (in spite of DMs for early gatekept concepting obscuring it) even with a small core should indicate. Phone in as to whether you'll be hopping along or not and when.
@Wernher, @Bright_Ops and @The Nexerus, whenever you get muse or time back, you're welcome as always. I'll try not to botch anything or see unfaithful writing put up in the meantime, especially if I decide it necessary to add onto a forked NPC version of your sheets.
In the case of Nexerus in particular, thank you for taking time from your presumably quite limited schedule the other day to clarify information and discuss bits & bobs again, and I do hope I'll be able to consult you again in this mild fashion in the future, as I rather value the work we've done or that I've witnessed you do in this short time.
I think that's everything, did I forget anything?
To those observing purely by watching the interest check; the relaunch in full is imminent. Fresh OOC/IC OP going up today, or over the weekend at worst. Onboard from the outset are myself, The Captain as co-GM (bounce enough ideas off each other that we may as well) and Genni, Gorgenmast and Willy Vereb from the original players; newcomers on board and with well-seated concepts in the Southwest and East of the map respectively are Chicken and ArisenMoon, as a scorned Justinian legion sent to the bleak frontier for political rabble-rousing at home and a league of Baktrian-Elladan city states, consumed in a merchant backed color revolution gone far awry from its original short-leashed intent into a full-blown violent secession as the plebs exterminate the original exoteric leadership of the operation. After that goes up and everyone is nicely established, I'll be hopping into collab posts to actually make an in-narrative mark already.
As other notes; occasional work is being done on an underlying metaphysic/cosmology arrangement, Justinian and Daigon have more or less taken shape as characters/plot devices and their nation-constructs likewise though room remains for further fleshing out, and I'm experimenting with the use of a simple Kanban board program to keep track of everything once we get into motion. It's not very full now, and thus not very necessary, but it's an idea at least to make GMing that little bit smoother or more organized. Keep posted, ye lurkers!
As other notes; occasional work is being done on an underlying metaphysic/cosmology arrangement, Justinian and Daigon have more or less taken shape as characters/plot devices and their nation-constructs likewise though room remains for further fleshing out, and I'm experimenting with the use of a simple Kanban board program to keep track of everything once we get into motion. It's not very full now, and thus not very necessary, but it's an idea at least to make GMing that little bit smoother or more organized. Keep posted, ye lurkers!
AHA. You! You were the no-name, no-sheet lich of the Fortress of the Damned. When I dug through the old Discords' posts, you were referred to as Zach, not Zell, and there just wasn't any trace of you I could dig up when I tried inbetween other things. I couldn't for the life of me remember whose avatar it was although I recognized it. Glad to have one mystery solved, you're welcome aboard if it please you.
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