Setting:Tabula Gloria

PLEASE NOTE: This wiki is very much a WORK IN PROGRESS and should not be considered the final product yet. More will be added as time goes on and collaboration continues. Thank you for your time. -JSC

Introduction

Tabula Gloria (butchered pseudo-Latin sort of meaning Glorious Slate or Slate of Glory; that and it bears the initials TG for obvious reasons) is a collaborated setting which started in a thread made by an El Falcatero on 28 Novermber 2011 called Bestiary in /tg/. The thread itself was simply created to be a thought exercise: the first person posted a picture of a monster; the next would fluff the monster and post another picture; so forth and so on. Somewhere along the line, people were starting to fluff the same picture, and in some instances, some of them combined the different descriptions into a more cohesive whole. This in turn encouraged some of the writers to make the fluff of later creatures go with previously established fluff, slowly building the setting merely from the lore about the bestiary.

Two threads later, and the setting was becoming more and more developed and the bestiary thought exercise expanded into landscapes, people, and phenomena. This wiki is an attempt at editing all of the fluff that was collected in these threads and beyond, to make them fit seamlessly into a playable setting which can be adapted into your system of choice. Heck, in one of the threads, someone suggested that it could make for a Magic: the Gathering block, which would be interesting in and of itself.

The original threads can be found here, here, here, and here.

The World

As it stands, the world of Tabula Gloria is an Earth-like place set in a high fantasy setting. Magic and technology stand side by side, sometimes intermingling. The Empire is surrounded by various peoples, both friendly and antagonistic. Great ruins from former empires and feel creatures to slay are plentiful. The world has a feel of high adventure and a bounty of opportunity for those who wish to reach out for it. It also contains a generous deal of political and social intrigue within, allowing for campaigns to range from classic dungeon raids to plots to take over the Empire.

The world itself is basically divided into two continents, the Western and Eastern Continents. The Empire of For’Channar, in which the capital of Tabula Gloria stands, is located on the Western Continent. It is located in the relative center of the Continent, serving as a hub of sorts for peoples coming from and going to other locales. To the north of the Empire is the Northern Sea, a dangerous place ruled by the god-like Lord of the Tempest. To the east are the Drakonid Highlands, the stronghold of a native people who have been driven out of the Empire’s lands. To the south is the Garvenus Steppe, a bastion of wildlife and savagery protected by the titanic Sky Devourer. To the west is the Phrennoack Forest, a wooded land of competing tribes harnessing the powers of life and death.

At the extremes of the Continent lie more places to explore. To the north are the Iotold Homelands, a rough and cursed place haunted with the memory of its former inhabitants and on the opposite side of the Northern Sea, the isles of Aeva, a cold and bitter place home to the brutal Raptorlord raiders. To the east are the Benalor Mountains and the Rustwater Delta, home to an old empire which excelled in technology. To the south, there are the Wastes of Weylos, a great desert which was the former home of a militaristic people. To the west are both the Wastes of Vashial and the Shiallan Mountains, a barren and dangerous land still rife with the magics of its former inhabitants. To the south of Vashial is the mysterious tribal land of Vosagar, home to a people seeking holy war against the civilized world.

There are great wonders to be found on the Eastern Continent as well. Along the western coast of the Continent lies the Nation of Animar, a long-standing place existing from the time of the old empires of the Western Continent. To the east of Animar is the Earth’s Cry, a tremendous mountain range effectively isolating the civilized west of the Continent from the pristine wilderness of the east. South of the mainland of the Eastern Continent lies the large island of Espartum, home to various native villages as well as the sea-faring civilization of Bythene.

For the purposes of the wiki, the lore is divided by the region in which the majority of the lore takes place in. Note that sometimes lore may take place in multiple regions, and the possible ramifications of the lore may be far-reaching, depending on the campaign and the person running it.

The Pure Existences

There has been something that has been baffling me for quite a while now. The myriad of religions in this world are somewhat concurrent with each other, despite the different cultures they came from. At first, I passed this off as a possibility of cultural mixing over a period of time. However I have recently come across an ancient text dated before even the founding of Benalor which describes the world as part of a larger, self contained world. It took me some time to translate it, as the language was something before anything produced by the Old Empires, from a people we know as the Temratu.

We already know that the Temratu were the first to accurately figure out how time flows in our world by their model of the twenty-six hour day, as well as the fine tuning of the seasonal calendar. They managed to figure that out with primitive tools at the time, but what I didn't know until now was the extent of the research they did at their legendary observatory in present-day Vashial. In this text, the Study on the Nature of the Cycle, its author made a rather interesting theory about the world's place on a larger scale.

Cup your hands and hold them apart from each other. Think of these hands as two forms of existence, the physical and the ethereal. Both of these existences are boundless and, for the most part, dead without the other. Now put them together. Where your fingers meet and thumbs meet are two junctions of a loop originating from these two opposite existences. One of these junctions is our world, the greatly physical world with the inalienable influence of Mana, the source of all things magical. Following this logic, the world of the other junction must be an abstract world made of Mana, but with physical constraints upon it. But at these junctions, the opposite forces feed on each other, bringing forth life and activity.

This idea correlates well with much of the god-like beings that we have here. Beings like the Sky Devourer are summoned from an alternate plane of existence. The Lord of the Tempest rages against the people of the world for seemingly no good reason. Then there the stories of the fell creatures of the Depths Below which feed more on fear than physical meat as the Wight of the Heavens Above foretold a terrible fate upon Benalor. For purposes of this argument, we will call our world the World Itself. Both the Heavens and the Depths are the parts of the loop closest and most observable to us from the World Itself. The further out we go in the Heavens and the deeper in the Depths we go, the stranger the mechanics of gravity and physics, so it would make sense that things are being distilled into these pure forms of existence the further away from the World Itself one goes.

The theory can explain how Mana seems to never be in short supply for all the magic that is cast in the world, as well as how some people can overcome their own barriers to perform great physical feats of strength and agility. The Mana likely comes from the Pure Ethereal existence into our world as Will - the source of tremendous physical feats - may come from the pure physical existence on the other side.

Given how the theory is stated, it wouldn't be any surprise that there is also another world on the other end of the circle, quite possibly a world of gods and their ilk, beings of immense magical power who are somehow constrained by simple physical barriers in which the beings of the World Itself - beings such as ourselves - could manage with little effort. Perhaps this would explain how, as people, we find it difficult to cast as the complexity and Mana required increases, but we can summon god-like beings here with relatively little effort, as in the case of the dreaded Obsidian Leviathan, which is summoned when such an act is botched. Also, if you ask a mage to describe how the process of summoning is done, the usual response begins with the mage having a "talk" with the creature in which is supposed to be summoned. So how can a channel of communication, much less a channel of travel, exist between two worlds separated by barriers which are more or less inpenetrable by the denizens of said worlds?

If you kept your hands cupped, you can see that there is a space inside the circle. The author couldn't quite describe what could lie in that space - perhaps nothing at all - but the idea is that creatures from both worlds can travel back and forth through this space to bypass the pure existences on either side of the circle. This is the basic principle of summoning according to the author, facilitated by the concentration of Mana which serves both an amplifier for the summoner's thoughts through the Empty Space, as well as a beacon to the god-like creature on the Other World. Perhaps the principle can also work in reverse, with the god-like being collecting some of the physical components in the Other World, creating a concrete image in a person's mind in which he or she can see and communicate with.

Though these ideas could make sense, more research needs to be done. While my associates will continue poring through the Library in search for more on the subject, I will tackle this theory directly. I know of a summoner who can teach me the ropes. Perhaps I can experience this communication myself and get more information from the beings on the Other World. They might know more than even the Temratu did about our place in the greater scheme of things.

Memo from Worley Barlan, Master Researcher at the Imperial Library

The Manifestation of Thought and Instinct

It can be said that the Pure Ethereal is the embodiment of sentience. The processes of thought and conceptualization reside in the lofty expanses of this Existence, brought to the World Itself by a mind capable of making it its own. The direct link to these processes lie in a resource known as Mana. As such, it is no surprise that Mana tends to coalesce in areas in which there are large numbers of capable minds to pull it forth from the Ethereal. As such, some of the most famous thinkers throughout history have dubbed Mana as "the foremost gift of civilization unto the world." Be said civilization For'Channar, the Nation of Animar to the east, the Old Empires, or even the tribal peoples of the wilds, it is no surprise that Mana is to be abundant there.

Whereas the Pure Ethereal is the source of Mana, it can equally be said that the Pure Physical is the realm in which things become noticeable. Instinct, action, and focus course through the splendor of this Existence. These qualities manifest themselves in creatures subconsciously through Will. Unlike Mana which is the domain of sentient beings, almost any creature can use Will to perform great physical feats otherwise considered unlikely or downright impossible. As it is a subconscious process however, it comes in sparks, mostly whenever times are dire and the odds are stacked against something. But the truly strong and creative can sometimes create circumstances in which they take tremendous risk and gain great reward through a surge of Will from the Pure Physical.

The Catalyst Within

I was pondering the meaning of the Temratu's findings on our world - the World Itself - and its place in a larger system of realms and worlds. According to them, we are somehow connected to two realms of Pure Existence, that of the Ethereal and of the Physical. Beyond there, the Pure Existences connect to another world - the "Other Worlds - in which godlike beings reside. The theory explains that Mana trickles in from the Pure Ethereal and Will comes from the Pure Physical. But while the mages of this world are able to quantify Mana, even detail areas which are rich and poor in it, there is really no way to quantify this Will the Temratu speak of. Sure, there have been figures throughout history who have shown great courage and fortitude despite lacking the gift of magic, but such qualities only arise in certain individuals, instead of spread over a large area to be tapped into.

I am being led to believe that the World Itself can draw forth Mana from the Pure Ethereal, but it is the domain of living creatures in which Will is derived from the Pure Physical. But even then, that is not true - throughout the whole of history there have been similarly significant figures and creatures which harbor incredible magical ability, despite how Mana-thin or Mana-rich the area in which they were located. So perhaps the truth behind both Mana and Will are actually connected. This further leads me to believe that in most living creatures lies a catalyst, or perhaps a magnet of sorts, which harvests both Mana and Will from their respective Existences.

For simplicity's sake, I will call this catalyst Spirit.

Though the Temratu theory by itself can certainly explain the heroes of history, about how they stand above the rest, but what about the common man, the innocuous beast? Certainly, some of them have magical ability of varying degrees. Surely, they have the ability to persist in the face of varying difficulties. The entirety of Vashial may have been taught the gift of magic, but surely there were those who were unable to make the cut. Not all of the men of Weylos could be considered as heroic figures of martial excellence. And certainly, the Shapers and machinists of Benalor seemed to have found a balance between the magical and the physical.

So, how does the spirit work? That much I do not know yet. I have been trying to acquire funding and a blessing from the Emperor as to how to handle this. I would like to enlist populations from both the Empire and from Animar (perhaps some from the Eltyain if they are willing). They would then be evaluated in their current magical and physical skills by the College of Magical Arts and the Knightly Orders, respectively. From there, they would be sorted by their worst attributes, as their advantages would be highlighted and, were we to go by this theory, the affinity of their Spirit would be discovered - Mana or Will. From there, I would send them to the College if they are lacking in magical skill, and to the Orders if they are lacking in martial skill. If they indeed harbor spirit, then they should be able to change the affinity of it, for the more notable creatures and people were able to adapt and overcome their challenges, building their Spirit through growth and experience, according to the various folk lore throughout the ages.

If they are able to do this, it would prove the commonality and mutability of the Spirit, though I would have to devise another means of actually quantifying it. But at least the existence of it would be a bit clearer.

Memo from Worley Barlan, Master Researcher at the Imperial Library

It can be said that Spirit is the sum of one's growth and experience, of one's ability to adapt to changing situations and overcome challenges. It influences one's ability to harness both Mana and Will, acting as a transformer to make those energies into something more tangible, be it a magical spell or a physical feat. Throughout one's lifetime, he may devote himself to learning how to tackle challenges through magical methods, physical approaches, or a combination of the two. As such, it can also be said that Spirit is the sum of one's magical and physical ability.

The Empire of For'Channar

A Brief History

Locations within the Empire

Located in approximately the center of the Eastern Continent, the lands in which the Empire of For’Channar exists have been historically coveted. For the majority of the recorded history of the world, the Central Lands have been a difficult place to gain, but with incredible strategic importance. Now-extinct tribes have lived on these lands for as long as anyone could remember, surprisingly resistant to the takeover attempts of the three Old Empires surrounding it. In due time though, one of the Empires managed to break the stalemate and take the Central Lands for themselves.

Though the story of exactly which of the Old Empires first took over the Central Lands depends on whichever source it is found in, what is agreed on is that the occupation of the Central Lands sparked the terrible Three-Way War. The War was fought over generations, weakening the Old Empires until they destroyed themselves. One gave up on the war and sought to conquer the heavens instead, with disastrous results. Another partook in mass ritual suicide out of shame until there was no one left. The third became divided, fighting each other until they dragged their realm down with them.

Despite all the bloodshed, what remained in their wake were the seeds of the next age in the history of the world. During the Three-Way War, people from the Old Empires migrated to the Central Lands, mingling with the few remaining tribal folk remaining. After the War ended with the destruction of the Empires, the Central Lands became peaceful once more. A new society was slowly brewing in the melting pot that ensued, eschewing the worship of the gods of the Old Empires and replacing it with a devotion to the survival of the people through service. Time marched on and the new society continued to develop until a man codified the goals of this new society.

This man came to be known as Margurim par’Channar, the honored Founder of what would come to be the Empire of For’Channar. He would rise to lead the new society with his code, later called the Founder’s Legacy, in hand. Slowly, the structure of the society came to resemble that of the Old Empires, departmentalizing the functions of government but still keeping the spirit of the Founder’s service-oriented philosophy. However, For’Channar would prove not to be the idyllic utopia Emperor Margurim I envisioned it to be from his lofty throne at the capital of Tabula Gloria. The Empire would inevitably expand. Wars would be fought. Alliances would be made. Obstacles would have to be overcome. But thus far, the Empire is largely successful. It still exists today.

The Emperor

Ever since Margurim founded the Empire, rule has been passed down through his bloodline. The heir to the throne is usually the eldest son of the current Emperor, then the next brother down if the eldest dies before ascension. If there is not a direct heir as such, then the first male next-of-kin proven to be of the par'Channar line will become the heir. If neither are possible, than the Emperor-appointed leader of the House of Servitude shall be the heir. In the extremely unlikely case that none of those are possible, then the Chancellor of the Imperial University would take the throne. Currently, only a number of Emperors have been detailed thus far. They are as follows, including the key events of their reigns.

• Margurim I: Founder of the Empire and creator of the Founder's Legacy; founded the Imperial House of Servitude to act as both lesser legislature and governmental archive for the people; founded the capital of Tabula Gloria as well as the village of Rausclef at the northern border of the Garvenus Steppe
• Margurim II: Founder of the Imperial University which serves as both a school as well as a research facility; also founded the Imperial House of Justice to keep order in the Empire into the future; peacefully made a treaty with the Eltyain of Phrennoack to expand westward to the forest's edge, founding the village of Twaunae on the banks of Crenskaw Creek as well as Fort Deeanday
• Margurim III: Sought eastward expansion and led the charge to the Benaloran ruins which are now Fort Minnamack, founding the Knights of the Goldenstar and driving back Drakonid occupiers; also founded the villages of Nechbaer and Kelebrae in the process; founded the College of Truthseekers at the Imperial University to investigate serious crimes against the Empire; also founded the Ministry of Inquiry within the Imperial House of Justice in order to investigate lesser crimes of the people; died without a direct heir and his brother took over the throne
• Alexius I: Brother of Margurim III; aggressive Emperor who initiated the Empire's second expansion eastwards to the Draknoid ancestral home of Drakonhelm; expanded south into the Garvenus Steppe, founding Fort Thagaisa on Stormlord territory as well as the Knights of the Southwind
• Alexius II: Sought peace with neighbors and willing to concede Thagaisa to the Stormlords; commissioned the Eternal Bridge at the mouth of the Eternal Flow in Phrennoack
• Margurim IV: Son of Alexius II; completed the Eternal Bridge; resumed the Empire's aggressive expansionist policies, but had to put them on hold in order to deal with the first coming of the Lord of the Tempest who sought to ravage the Empire
• Margurim V:
• Margurim VI: Successfully drove back the Lord of the Tempest a second time, though the battle was lengthy and ended up taking the Emperor's life in the process; thus the shortest reign of any of the Emperors thus far
• Margurim VII:
• Margurim VIII:
• Margurim IX: Handily drove back the Lord of the Tempest a third time; sent out an invasion force to decimate the Lord's allies, the Raptorlord people, only to fail miserably; put on trial by the College of Truthseekers for the failure and its casualties
• Margurim X: Reformed the Imperial House of Servitude to operate more efficiently; sought to build ties with recently-discovered Animar; voluntarily abdicated throne to pursue that goal
• Margurim XI: Continued Margurim X's diplomatic pursuits; commissioned the Embassy of Animar in Tabula Gloria; commissioned the Monument of the Tempest-Breakers to commemorate the three battles with the Lord of the Tempest
• Margurim XII: The current Emperor; too early in reign to have any notable events yet

The Imperial House of Servitude

Considered the cornerstone of the Imperial government, the Imperial House of Servitude was designed as a means for the government to "be in touch with the Imperial people both now and into the future." It serves as a council-type government, with the different areas of the Empire being represented by one person appointed to each post by its area's leader. It also houses an almost complete collection of older governmental documents, such as laws, tax records, judicial rulings, and the like.

The Chamber of Decree

This is the legislative component of the House of Servitude. Originally, the Chamber convened in one of the House's many rooms, back when there were only five representatives: one for the gentry, one for the commoners, one for the military, one for the merchants, and one for the village of Rausclef. With the growth of the Empire came more representatives, and it showed throughout the Chamber's history. Its meetings were moved from one room to the next, trying to find more and more space with more people discussing matters, as well as more of the public becoming involved in the meetings. Eventually, the growth of the Chamber, as well as the growth of the government's records, forced the Chamber's meetings to convene at the Imperial University while a team of Shapermages created underground space for the archives. Two years later and the Chamber moved back in, the entirety of the original building now their own, archive access now in the much more spacious basement levels.

The Archive of the Ages

Despite the brief interruption of archival during the creation of the Archive's current underground space, its collection of governmental records is unrivaled in the world, even among the older Nation of Animar. Even more wondrous than the Archive's holdings is the staff which maintains the records, able to recall where just about anything is at a moment's notice. Both of these features have made the Archive the first place anyone would want to go before embarking on an expedition or an adventure. Of course, the Archive itself is an adventure of its own. Labyrinthine in structure and guarded with a specialized combat force for protection, those seeking to unlawfully take information from the Archive has quite the task ahead.

The Imperial House of Justice

Founded by Margurim II in the middle of his reign, the Imperial House of Justice was set up to avoid an administrative mishap by his father, the Founder. As much as the Founder believed in service to the people, he had somehow forgotten to set up a system in which the people would be held accountable for deeds against the Empire. As such the Imperial House of Justice was formed to handle that aspect of the government.

The Royal Judiciary

The first order of business was to establish a body of arbitrators to decide on common disputes and non-serious criminal cases. The Royal Judiciary consists of men appointed by the leaders of each representational area, as is the process of appointees being put into the Chamber of Decree. At the Head of the Judiciary would stand the second-in-line to the throne, who would serve alongside the appointed members, but ultimately decide on particularly contentious cases which would have the appointed members divided in opinion. The Judiciary would also assume authority over the local law enforcement groups which vary in makeup and their mode of operation in the various parts of the Empire into the future.

The Ministry of Inquiry

A later addition to the House of Justice under the reign of Margurim III, the Ministry of Inquiry serves as a fact-finding and verifying body for a wide variety of cases. The Ministry is geared towards those wishing to enter the world as independent detectives and prosecutor, people who are skilled in finding information that cannot be found in either the Empire's libraries or even the Archive of the Ages. Investigators in the Ministry are known for intense and tenacious investigative work. However, the Ministry is not without controversy. It had once accused Emperor Margurim IX himself with responsibility for sending an Imperial invasion force to their doom when they were dispatched to eliminate the Raptorlords of the Northern Sea. Though the Emperor ended up avoiding conviction, the proceedings in the Royal Judiciary divided the people in the duration. Investigators today toe a very fine line between acceptance and controversy for the sake of justice as a result of that investigation, sometimes making them more feared than even the military within the Empire.

The Department of Detection

The Department serves as the first phase of an investigation. The Detectives of the Department use a variety of methods to scrounge up information, including detailed searches for physical evidence, interrogation of witnesses and other people of interest, and deductive reasoning to tie the two together. They also work with other institutions to accomplish this task. They have been known to request official findings from the policing forces to determine collusion of testimony, as well as bringing evidence to the College of Magical Arts to pick up magical signatures which may lead the Detectives to a suspect.

The Department of Prosecution

The Department serves as the liaison between the accuser and the Royal Judiciary. The Prosecutors of the Department compile the findings of the Detectives to present a case to the Judiciary. As the Detectives find information, it is up to the Prosecutors to find the truth in them. They do this by getting to know the people involved in the case, including the victims, the suspect, the witnesses, and experts if the case has precedent. They also have a mastery of the Imperial language, which they use to convey their case. Their job is a psychological one, trying to glean more information from the people involved and then trying to convince the Judiciary of their correctness in the matter.

The Imperial University

Also founded by Margurim II in the middle of his reign, the Imperial University was founded to be a public school for the Empire's people of all ages and levels of knowledge as well as a research facility for various disciplines. It soon became an integral institution of the Empire, eventually taking on the role as the center of Imperial foreign policy.

The Chancellor

The leader of the University is called the Chancellor. Traditionally, the Chancellor has not only directed the University under the Emperor's good graces, but also has served as the Emperor's personal adviser. The Chancellor is also fifth-in-line to the throne, behind the Emperor, his direct heirs, eligible heirs of the par'Channar bloodline, and the leader of the House of Servitude. As such, a Chancellor has yet to ascend to the throne thus far. However, there have been instances in Channarian history in which the Chancellor has taken on governmental duties during an Emperor's reign. For instance, Prifa Carbane, daughter of the famed explorer Ezel Carbane and an adept mage, served as Chancellor of the University under the reign of Alexius I. While she held the office, she led a military campaign against the Drakonid peoples to the east of the Empire. Though she ended up dying on the battlefield, the Empire drove them back and greatly expanded their territory.

The College of Antiquities

The University hosts expeditions into neighboring and faraway lands alike, a responsibility currently under the College of Antiquities. While the College has originally been created to archive and work with the many antiquities and ruins scattered about the Continent, it also has since opened up an official exploration arm in order to ensure that the relics found by the College is handled by the College's own standards. There has been grievous instances in the past in which independent adventurers the College has contracted would damage or even steal some of the more fragile and valuable relics they were supposed to study. In the current age, the College plays largely in assisting military units with the scouting of otherwise uncharted areas, oddly enough giving the College substantial political clout.

The current Master of Antiquities is Arrin Vola.

The Department of Exploration

This is the aforementioned exploration arm of the College. It runs in a standardized apprenticeship format, choosing eligible students studying at the University and inviting them into its apprenticeship program. After learning the basics of exploration, an apprentice becomes a journeyman, in which he or she will partake in an independent study of an area outside of the Empire's borders of his or her choice. Upon approval of the Head Explorer, the journeyman is graduated to become a master, in which he or she can either become an independent explorer or join the ranks of the University as an Assistant Explorer.

The current Head Explorer is Percival R. Corvinoth.

The Department of History

Though exploration is important to the College and the Empire as a whole, the relics found are of little use unless meaning can be gleaned from them. This is where the Historians come in. In this Department, students are taught to use a myriad of scientific and magical means to date relics and place them into various cultures. They are also taught to use an inferred thought process to determine what relics could have been used for during their time. Sometimes they are able to carefully deconstruct a relic to see its inner workings. Sometimes they have to rely on previous texts and accounts of the relic's time and place of origin to figure out what it did. Most importantly, they are taught to determine what meaning the relic has on the world's history at large. When students graduate from the Department, they become an Assistant Historian to work alongside other Historians. When they gain enough clout, they can start working on independent projects thereafter.

The current Head Historian is unknown.

The College of Magical Arts

The University is also a growing power when it comes to the manipulation of mana, the effects of which are commonly referred to as magic. In this world, mages have identified many forms of mana, each having their own ranges of existence, properties, and possible magical effects. With the variety of mana and magic the world has to offer, the College was created as an effort to organize the findings of Imperial mages, as well as to instruct future generations about the detailed knowledge behind them. It also houses mages of different disciplines who can be commissioned for various functions of the Empire, be it a regiment of Battlemages into a conflict, or a crew of Shapermages to help construct or maintain a landmark.

The current Master of Magical Arts is unknown.

The Department of Battle Magic

The Department serves not only as the place to be instructed on offensive and defensive magics, but also trains them to be of use on a battlefield where there are non-magical combatants as well. As such, the products of the Department are considered some of the world's most elite soldiers, able to handle the chaos and constant change of the battlefield. They are called upon for a variety of tasks, be they soldiers in a war or simply a retinue to help protect a crew from the Department of Exploration.

The current Head Battlemage is unknown.

The Department of Shaper Magic

The Department serves in the capacity of a magical public works force as well as teaching the arts of constructive and destructive magic. Though most projects can stand to be without a shapermage, the larger ones will likely employ a number of them to avoid having to hire or conscript a larger number of people to work on it, as well as to save time in the long run.

The current Head Shapermage is unknown.

The Department of Mender Magic

The Department serves as a medical triage within the city, while sending many of their ranks out into the field during expeditions and wars to heal the wounded. Though most mendermages practice in a healing capacity, there are those who use its principles to limit or to extinguish one's life altogether, as well as reanimate that which has already died. Though such practitioners are important to the Empire, the ethics of doing so ride a fine line between a necessary evil and an abomination to the natural order.

The current Head Mendermage is unknown.

The College of Truthseekers

Amended into the University under Margurim III, this College is the only one within the University directly created and headed by the Emperor rather than the usual structure of heads, masters, and the Chancellor. The College teaches people wishing to investigate cases of the transmundane, cases of special interest which may alter the very path of the Empire if left unchecked. Known subjects that are classified as transmundane include the flesh magic of Vashialian mutants, the bio magic of some of the Stormlord dissidents, as well as unscrupulous study into Benaloran technology and Weylosian tactics and smithing techniques.

The current Master of Truthseekers is the Emperor himself, Margurim XII.

The Department of Curiosities

The Department acts as both a research and surveillance arm in all matters transmundane. Most students who graduate from the College's teaching program usually find themselves in this Department, honing their skills in identifying and building knowledge of the transmundane. They work in a multidisciplinary manner, working with other Colleges within the University as well as other archival and law institutions throughout the Empire and beyond. Active transmundane investigators tap into this Department to gain valuable intelligence about whatever case they are working on. Usually though, said investigators are usually within the College itself, as independent investigators are held up to intense scrutiny and possible prosecution from the Empire for meddling in such matters.

The Department of Inquaestors

The Department acts as the policing force, judiciary, and possibly the executioner in serious transmundane cases. Margurim III knew from the growing collection of history surrounding the Old Empires that the common bond between the different Empires and their eventual destruction was a case of unbridled ambition and unchecked progress. He was not willing to let For'Channar end in a similar way if he could help it. To stem both of those factors, the Ministry was created to look into matters such as forbidden magical and technological research, as well as the rise of public figures whose messages deviated too far from official Imperial policy. The members of the Ministry, the Inquaestors, act covertly and report directly to the Emperor and his immediate counsel until an investigation and subsequent resolution is complete. To retain the secrecy of the organization, the Inquaestors are hand-picked based on the case in which they are to be assigned. They are then given the opportunity to dismiss themselves from the Ministry afterwards to prevent any possibility of those holding a grudge against the Ministry from finding out more about them. Voluntary dismissal also allows the former Inquaestors to publicly announce their former position (at their own risk, of course), a position which may hold them in high regard if they wish to enter the Judiciary or the various law enforcement groups in the Empire later in their careers. Many Inquaestors however choose to stay in the Department, resuming their clandestine investigations into the deepest mysteries of the transmundane.

The Department does not appoint a Head Inquaestor, as they report directly to the Emperor.

The Imperial Library

The Imperial Library is a massive repository of information and relics collected throughout the existence of the Empire. Located in the center of the University, the Library is a facility used by all the Colleges, as well as by the public. Given the sensitivity of some of the information and the fragility of some of the relics housed in the complex, the public only gets limited access to the materials within, only able to speak to a Librarian to ask to see said information. They would go into the Library and pull the requested item from there, and bring it to the lobby for the requester to see. To actually go inside of the Library proper and research the information yourself, you must be a member of the University and have the necessary clearance as determined by the Librarians. Though this policy has prevented a possibly widespread theft and resale of some of the more valuable information and relics on the black market, there are some scholars and philosophers who do not belong to the University who see it as discriminatory against independent thinkers at large.

The current Head of Librarians is unknown.

Places of Interest

The Imperial Capital of Tabula Gloria

Welcome to the glory of Tabula Gloria, the Imperial Capital of For'Channar, here you can find the wonders of the world...

Read the accounts of the wandering adventurer's of the Traveler's Guild, and all of the strange creatures, odd and terrible that they have encountered...

Or visit the great Bazaar and meet the teeming masses of the Imperial City, although you may wish to visit a more relaxed and refined repast. Perhaps, if you wish to see a display of might, visit Fort Kay, near the Mercantile District. Or if the mysteries of the east appeal to you, visit the Embassy of Animar.

See all that the Imperial City has to offer, and be welcome!

Pamphlet from the Merchant and Trader's Guild, advertising the attractions of the Imperial City.

The city of Tabula Gloria on the west bank of the Ripari Gloria serves as the seat of the Imperial government. It can be best described as a growing sprawl, with the highest buildings being in the north-center of the city, known as the Old City. Here you can find both the Imperial District, where the functions of government are housed, as well as the Historical District, which has a number of museums, many of the guilds, as well as homes of the city's elite. To the east and southeast of the Old City, along the Ripari Gloria, is the Mercantile District, housing both the quays of the Imperial Port as well as the crowded tents and booths of the Bazaar. Radiating to the west, southwest, and south of the Old city are the various quarters of the Residential District. In general, the homes closest to the Old City and the north end of the city tend to be those of the wealthier citizens. The entirety of the city is walled off with a variety of towers staffed with soldiers, looking on. The soldiers within the city, for the most part, are incredibly helpful to those who aren't acquainted with the city as they are, pointing lost tourists in the right direction.

The Imperial District

There is no question of where you are whenever you visit the Imperial District. Mighty stone and gilded buildings tower over you as you work your way closer to the Royal Palace. Along the main street leading to the tall spire which is the Palace lies both the House of Servitude and the Imperial University, incredible buildings of their own right. Between these two buildings and the Palace lies the Embassy of Animar, a markedly different building than the others given the colorful and unorthodox style of classical Animari architecture.

The Historical District

As you leave the lofty towers and mighty monuments of the Imperial District, you will find antique houses and palaces. The full array of early Imperial architecture and culture is on full display as you travel throughout the Historical District. Many of these old buildings have been renovated and turned into various museums, each one dedicated to a particular facet of Imperial history and life. There are still some of these buildings which still house the Imperial elite to this day, many of them opening their homes to the public during certain festivals in the city.

A relatively new addition to the Historical District are the guilds. Starting with the Traveler's Guild, which opened during the reign of Margurim IX, the guilds render their services to the public, as well as non-governmental training in their represented disciplines. However, the maximum levels of training in which the guilds can offer is limited, as per Imperial law. As such, guilds tend to be a great place for a novice to learn more about a discipline before applying to the Imperial University for formal schooling. Ever since the opening of the Traveler's Guild, many other have opened, including the Magician's Guild, the Merchant and Trader's Guild, and the Lawman's Guild.

The Traveler's Guild

THIS SECTION NEEDS WORK! PLEASE CONTRIBUTE!

The Magician's Guild

THIS SECTION NEEDS WORK! PLEASE CONTRIBUTE!

The Merchant and Trader's Guild

THIS SECTION NEEDS WORK! PLEASE CONTRIBUTE!

The Lawman's Guild

THIS SECTION NEEDS WORK! PLEASE CONTRIBUTE!

The Mercantile District

Perhaps you would be in the need of some fresh air after traveling through the Historical District. Go east and you'll run into the Mercantile District, which lies on the bank of the Ripari Gloria. The fresh, crisp air coming in from the Northern Sea is sure to clean out whatever stuffiness you may have had wandering through the museums and guilds. Immediately, you can see the tall ships pulling in and out of the Imperial Port, the masts and sails as towering as the spires of the Imperial District. Gulls and other critters swarm about the Port in hopes of a shipment of foodstuffs coming in, or perhaps a garbage ship waiting to sail out, so it's best to watch your step if you're wanting to go near the edge of the promenade.

Further south along the Ripari you will run into the legendary Bazaar. Rows upon rows of tents and booths, filled with people from the various Imperial villages, friendly tribes, and even those from faraway Animar. The atmosphere here is chaotic, at best, as barkers and merchants peddle their wares to the passing populace. Lacing their way through the tightly packed rows are bound to be pickpockets, rogues, and other such vagabonds looking for a quick coin, baubles, or worse. Fortunately though, there has been an increased military presence in the Bazaar, filtering out many of the less savory folks on the more busy market days.

The Residential District

Once you're done with the markets, the afternoon presents a great opportunity to stroll the various quarters of the city. With smaller buildings and more open air than the other Districts, the Residential District is a great way to wind down from the business of the early day. Though it is not officially mandated to be as such, the District is divided by the various ethnic groups which constitute the citizenry. Though they are all considered Imperials, the citizens will be quick to note their ancestries, finding a sense of something in between belonging and individuality in such identity. Despite the calamities which consumed the Old Empires, there are still those who claim them as their ancestry. Many of the residents also hail from tribal ancestry, including Eltyain, Alkhani, and even a few who claim Iotold ancestry. Then there is the rising population of the magic-less Triolites near the city wall, more than willing to tell a story or three to a passerby. There are even some who moved to the city permanently from Animar, brightening up the otherwise drab surroundings.

Fort Kay

Throughout it all, you will likely see a particularly unique landmark in the general direction of the Mercantile District. The main tower of the city's wall, Fort Kay, is said to have been one of the first forts built in the Empire, and the only of the originals which still stand to this day. Today it does not act as the mighty military fortification it once served as. Rather, it acts threefold. On the topmost level of the fort lies the headquarters of the City Guard, where a regiment still watches over the Port and the immediate surroundings. In the middle levels is the War Museum, exhibiting the great victories and heroes of the Empire. On the bottom level is the Imperial Arena, which is home to the various sports played for the people's entertainment - including gladiatorial blood sports, which seem to be a great hit with the populace.

Valdenar Cove

When you are done exploring the city proper, there are still other places nearby which may pique your interest. Exiting the Residential District through the Lunar Gate at the city's northwest, you can slowly climb a growing cliff to see some of the natural splendor preserved by the Empire. As you ascend the cliff, you can see Valdenar Cove to the west. Named after one of the first explorers in Imperial history, the cove is strictly off-limits to boats and other vessels, but open to the public to explore and to appreciate. The waters of the cove are some of the clearest this close to the capital, excellent for a quick excursion during the height of summer if you need a quick cooling off.

Also at the cove is another Imperial landmark. To the cove's northeast is a small, craggy island with what seems to be a lighthouse. Though it is not functional anymore and since been replaced, Watchguard Keep used to serve as both a navigational landmark for boats coming in and out of the city, as well as the first line of detection and defense for threats coming in from the sea. Be they raucous pirates, violent storms, or even one of the visits from the powerful Lord of the Tempest, the guards at the Keep kept a close eye on the seas and usually was the difference between a successful defense and a tragic defeat.

Northeclyff

Keep climbing and you'll eventually reach the top of the Northeclyff. At each end of the escarpment are two colossal statues, with another exactly between them. These are depictions of the three Emperors - Margurim IV, Margurim VI, and Margurim IX - who successfully drove the Lord of the Tempest back when he tried to wipe out the city in his stormy rage. Commissioned by Margurim XI and completed by sculptor Sharlonne Prekarion, the Monument of the Tempest-Breakers is a marvel of the Imperial world and a hit with Animari tourists to this day. More importantly, it has slowly become a place of worship among many of the Empire-faithful. As a matter of fact, the current Emperor, Margurim XII, was seen paying some sort of tribute to the Monument, perhaps starting a tradition which will continue into the future.

Fort Deeanday

To the west of Valdenar Cove on the coast, right at the treeline of the Phrennoack Forest lies the first of the Empire's three current-day forts, Deeanday. The forces stationed there are mostly trained to deal with the errant wildlife escaping out of the Forest and into Imperial lands, their patrols ranging from the fort itself at the north and the village of Twaunae on the Crenskaw Creek at the south. Early in the fort's existence, it was locally ruled over by a Duke of the par'Channar bloodline. Legend has it that a terrible plague struck the fort in its early days, reaching the Duke despite his attempts to isolate himself from it. Not wishing to die from the debilitating disease, he cast himself off of the balcony of the garrison into the Northern Sea instead. He survived though, and with the plague cured from himself. Professing the waters to be the cause of the cure, he led those who were still living into the waters and, surprisingly enough, his claims were true, ridding the infirm of the disease with the powers of the morning tide.

Though the Duke's name is lost to history and even to the meticulous Archives, what is known is that after his experience he founded the Knights of the Morningtide. Originally formed with the ranks of those destined to become physicians, the Knights soon took in people of multiple disciplines. All of those wishing to become a Knight are trained in both combat and medicine, bringing aid to those in need and wrath to their enemies. Once they graduate, they enter the illustrious and enigmatic ranks of the Morningtide, donning coats and hoods of black and the beaked mask of the plague doctor. Though effective, their practices are strange. They clean themselves with running water every morning and night to purify themselves. As for their healing practices, they employ a mixture of conventional medicine and faith healing, sometimes striking the wrong tone with some of the more skeptical among those living in their area of influence.

It is even said that if you stick around long enough during their cleansing ritual, you may even hear the name of the founding Duke muttered in their litany of blessings under the roar of the running water. Though if you stick around that long, they will likely eliminate you for ruining their purification.

But not all the soldiers of Deeanday aspire to ascend to the enigmatic Knighthood. There are also those who are simply there to defend the Empire. Though not a Knight order of its own, the Watch as it is simply called consists of hardy men from very rough backgrounds, especially the farmers of Rausclef and the foresters of Twaunae. A good way to see the difference between the Knights and the Watch is to see its drill sergeant in action. Berthold Maertz of the Second Watch Regiment is a very no-nonsense guy who brings that attitude and confidence to the forefront when training new recruits. His armor is clunky, his language is salty, and his gaze is downright crushing, but Maertz is a man who not only commands respect, but a man who earns it. Members of the Watch are tough as nails, but are taught the virtues of brotherhood, helping each other and those they serve. They are also knowledgeable in their own right, many of them augmenting their armors with enchantments of various magics as well as mutagens which more naturally strengthen their shells.

Suffice it to say, it is assumed that there is an application for Knighthood floating somewhere in the Chamber of Decree to make the Watch a formal order.

Fort Minnamack

To the far east of the Empire at the foothills of the Drakonid Highlands stands an old Benaloran ruin which served as a fort in their day. During the first eastward expansion of Margurim III, his forces overwhelmed the Drakonid occupiers there, taking over the ruin for themselves and eventually renovated it enough to function as a fort to maintain forces in that area of the Empire. Soon enough, a town grew around the ruin, the soldiers at the fort strong enough to secure the area to spawn a fishing village to the west of the fort as well. But the Empire found not only security and a strategic position in taking Minnamack. They also found a stockpile of unused Benaloran weaponry and relics, attracting the military's top brass as well as researchers from the capital.

One type of relic in particular caught the eyes of Duke Toreas, who ruled over the fort. Shimmering suits of golden and brass armor graced one of the inner halls of the fort. They seemed to be constructed of not only unnatural materials, but also of small machines built right into the suits themselves. Experts in Benaloran technology were soon summoned to the fort, slowly decoding the mystery of the armors. Each mana-powered machine was discovered to have a purpose in enhancing the wearer's natural abilities, able to make a super-soldier out of an ordinary man. Once study was complete, a regiment of soldiers were trained to operate these complex suits, soon forming the Knights of the Goldenstar. They have become a special forces of sorts, dispatched to particularly troublesome areas to eliminate targets of great value and to help turn the tide of a desperate battle in the favor of the Empire.

Fort Thagaisa

To the south of the Imperial lands, pushing into the lands of the Garvenus Steppe beyond the village of Rausclef, lies Fort Thagaisa. Unlike the other forts, Thagaisa started as a mere outpost and grew from there. Also unlike the other forts, Thagaisa came with a group of knights, the Knights of the Southwind, which served as a force to keep the Steppe's wildlife in check as well as a reserve force for expeditionary retinues in peacetime, and as a swift and savage infantry in wartime. As the town grew, more people claiming to be of Weylosian descent appeared in the town, a rich heritage which would soon be incorporated into the ranks of the Knights, for better or for worse.

Also during that time, one particular man of such descent known as Carpalos of Steelheart emerged from his beginnings as a blacksmith, as was his father and the father of his father. Back then, the Stormlords of the Steppe were far less peaceful as they are now, having united under the banner of the god-like Sky Devourer for the first time in Imperial history, threatening the well-being of Thagaisa. They would ride into the outpost town, raiding and murdering what they could before they rode back out into the night. On one such raid, Carpalos' wife became a casualty, leaving Carpalos to raise their new son alone. This triggered the otherwise humble blacksmith to harbor a need for revenge. Putting his skills to use, he forged the finest armors and weapons since the days of Weylos itself, forming a civilian army of his own, as the Knights would not traverse deeper into Stormlord territory. Soon enough, they marched deep into the Steppe with Carpalos' own child in tow, slaughtering through the Stormlords as if they were warm butter. They would only return to Thagaisa to resupply and rest before resuming their bloody campaign.

In due time though, the campaign came to an end and an aging Carpalos had come to forgive the Stormlord elder as his lust for revenge finally waned. Ashamed of his savagery and seeing himself as unneeded in Thagaisa any longer, Carpalos finished raising his son until he could hold his own. The blacksmith then donned his armor and sword one last time and wandered into the wilderness, reportedly to find a foe worth ending his life. Since then, a tradition began among the Steelheart clan. Once a son of Carpalos finishes raising his next son, he would take into the wilderness to never be seen again. Perhaps it would be to find a foe worthy of killing him, as was the case of Carpalos himself. Perhaps it would be to seek greater wisdom in the lands of Carpalos' original enemy. This tradition continues to this day, in which Margurim XI officially created the Knights of the Steelheart to serve as an elite fighting force for the Empire against invaders.

Suffice it to say, there is tension between the Imperial Stormwinds and the Weylosian-descended Steelhearts, a feud which is still known in Thagaisa today.

The Village of Rausclef

Located on the former southern border of the Empire, along the northern edge of the Garvenus Steppe, the village of Rausclef was the first founded in the Empire. It serves today as it served upon its inception as a center of agriculture. The sprawling farms of the village provide the Empire the food it needs to survive, as well as a great place for people to study about agriculture and the wilderness in general. To this day, it is still the only village dedicated to farming, which may endanger it soon given the Empire's rapid expansion - and thus more mouths to feed over greater distances. Regardless, the innovations in agriculture created at Rausclef will possibly spurn other villages to invest in agriculture of their own whilst maintaining their current economies, allowing for a more diverse economic and sustenance profile for the Empire as a whole.

The Village of Twaunae

Later in his reign, Margurim II had wanted to know about the neighboring forest of Phrennoack. If the Empire would have to expand, it would very likely have to take resources from the nearby forest. Fortunately, the Emperor knew of the Eltyain peoples living in the forest through folk lore and historical accounts from before the Founding of the Empire. He sent out a diplomatic expedition within to seek contact with the tribal people. The expedition lasted many years, given both the language and cultural barriers which separated Imperial and Eltyain. But it turned out to be time well spent. The head of the expedition Hobarth Twaun had reached an agreement with the Eltyain elders. The Eltyain would recognize the Empire's right to exist and would not harass them if they were to enter the forest. However, they would not be subject to Imperial law and there would be yearly limits of resources which the Empire can take from the forest's rim and surrounding areas.

Soon after the expedition returned, work got underway for building the foresting village of Twaunae in the Empire's southwest, along the Crenskaw Creek. It started as a sleepy little village and then grew as its workers started to work through the younger wood at the forest's rim, as per the agreement. Steadily, the town grew and grew, all until that limit threatened to be reached. Though the blessing of the Eltyain was important to the Empire as a whole, there were people who were settling in the new village who were concerned about the economic downturn which would almost inevitably happen were they to reach their treaty-bound limit. Many resigned to that fact, as the military was willing to enforce it, but there were some with stronger ambitions than that, sneaking into the forest to seek better wood before the limit was reached. Others even waited until the limit was reached and then went in to get their share without any competiton.

It just so happens that the Eltyain were also keeping tabs on the consumption themselves, as well as those who were transgressing the treaty, especially those who overconsume the forest's resources and those who push further than the approved zone of the treaty. Not subject to Imperial laws, the Eltyain (who had learned enough Imperial by now to get by) made it clear to the earlier trespassers that they would take their lives if they would not respect the stipulations of the treaty. And true to their word, certain people have gone missing from the village when they would not heed the first warning, never to be seen again.

Life in Twaunae has become a tense, but profitable life, the treaty keeping consumption at a limit to where the forest can regrow it without the assistance of Eltya, a fact that still keeps the Eltyain-Imperial alliance strong to this day.

The Village of Nechbaer

Situated on the west bank of Nechbaer's Tears is the village of the same name. Founded during Margurim III's reign, Nechbaer is a fishing town with what many would consider some of the bravest men outside of the Imperial military and the Knight orders. It is not because of accolades in combat or public service, but rather a sometimes foolish disregard for one's own safety, if it means the survival of the village. Rather than the armored vessels of the Imperial Fleet, villagers cast out on dinghies, right into the incredibly dangerous Northern Sea in hopes of coming up with a sizable catch. Not only do they have to contend with the often churning waves and sudden storms which appear on the waters, but also the various servants of the Lord of the Tempest, including the dreadful stormrays and members of the Raptorlord people, both of which seemingly bent on the fishermen's destruction. Though casualties have been had, many among their ranks come back alive, though sometimes missing a limb or their vessel afterwards.

Their success with dealing with the terrors of the Northern Sea have recently prompted the Admiral of the Imperial Fleet Ridoor Wrendash to study both the fishermen's vessels as well as sailing techniques, data which may be useful to developing new vessels of the Fleet's own which may be able to better survive the wrath of the denizens of the Sea.

The Village of Kelebrae

The trading village of Kelebrae is an interesting one, the only place actually within the Empire's lands which has the legal right to its own sovereignty. Granted, their independence is only contained within the village's walls, but it is something that is cherished by its people. Instead of the Imperial government, an oligarchy made up of various noble houses rules over the village, only paying tribute to the Empire for protection from threats in which the town itself cannot handle. Situated on Lake Goldenstar, Kelebrae serves as a very successful regional trading hub for the surrounding areas of Nechbaer to the north, Fort Minnamack to the east, Fort Thagaisa to the south, and Rausclef to the west. Perhaps it is this success in which the oligarchy wishes to keep their independence from the Imperial government in place - no need to lose much of their riches to the Empire in the form of taxes, after all.

The oligarchy itself is made up of noble houses which have something of importance to offer to the community at large. At least, that is the theory as the number of houses represented in the oligarchy fluctuate with every passing year. There are three mainstays though: the merchants of House Gordan; the craftsmen of House Brellan; and the scholars of House Shierl. It is said that these three houses make the true decisions for the village, the other houses appearing in the oligarchy for show to the villagers, for the illusion that their government is working for them. If that is indeed true, than the illusion doesn't hold up well, as many of them will very openly - and sometimes very fondly - make assertions of the corruption in their government as well as the militia which watches over the village's interior. It's something that they have come to accept and even incorporate into the feel and flavor of their village, slowly becoming an accepted part of their culture. If nothing else, it gives people a reason to strive for membership into those houses, as well as the lesser houses which strive to become a mainstay in the Kelebrean oligarchy as well.

The Temple of Passing

Despite the sharp and almost perfect enforcement of the treaty of the Eltyain people which allowed the establishment of Fort Deeanday and the village of Twaunae, there were still ambitious Imperials who wished to tame the deep woods for their own. One such attempt was by one of Tabula Gloria's elite, a certain Lord Credault, who wished to make a summer home along the wild beauty of Alboniset Lake, deep within the forest. He gathered himself a retinue of battlemages and shapermages and proceeded to venture into the forest, making it all the way to the lake, where they started to clear a lot along the lake and then start work on building a mansion that would make even the richest noble in the capital blush. Instead of delivering swift justice upon the trespassers, the Eltyain just watched the foolhardy nobleman from a safe distance. The reason for their distance was soon founded after construction was complete. The dreaded aquatic creatures, the echoes struck them with their devastating sonic weaponry, killing everyone in the surprise assault and causing much damage to the mansion.

Considered as one of the few areas in which the Eltyain do not openly war with the echoes, the mansion now known to the Eltyain as the Temple of Passing is used for a variety of rituals, especially those in which they hand the dead over to the Phrennoack Stags to deliver their souls into the next life.

Rennington Manor

Though the history of Rennington Manor, at the northern tip of the Phrennoack Forest along the coast of the Northern Sea, has it originally built as a fort in the style of Deeanday and Thagaisa, the records found in the Archive has had the Emperor for which it was built redacted. Given the tale of the Rennington clan, the redaction is rather justified. In its days as a fort, Rennington was of great strategic importance in the combat of pirates and mutants from the Wastes of Vashial, as well as serving as an advance guard against the hordes of Raptorlords which would come the Empire's way. It worked well though, as the pirates and mutants took their aggression elsewhere and the Raptorlords changed their strategy and attack vectors. As such, Rennington was decommissioned and turned over to its owner, Lord Rennington to serve as his home away from Tabula Gloria. With him he brought his wife Lady Rennington as well as their seven children soon after the decommissioning to enjoy a lovely spring vacation on the relatively peaceful waters of their part of the Northern Sea.

Or so they thought. Soon after their arrival, a plague struck the family, as well as the northern reaches of neighboring Phrennoack. Fortunately for the Lady, a retinue of Morningtides were dispatched from Deeanday quick enough to help heal her, though the rest of her family were unable to overcome the illness. It was bad enough that the Lady became a widow in what seemed like the blink of an eye, but things were going to get much worse. Be it due to a woeful overlook by the Morningtides, a magical occurrence which took advantage of the plague, or the purported study into forbidden magics to revive her departed family, the Lady took on a terrible parasite unto her spirit. It harbored an awful hunger of human flesh, for which it bartered to preserve her soul from being devoured itself. She would fulfill her part of the deal by going into the towns and using her stunning good looks to seduce unwitting men into her trap.

To this day, Rennington Manor is officially off-limits to the public and the travelers of the world are oft warned about the dangers of the the Lady in Red.

The Eternal Bridge

During the apologetic reign of Alexius II, the Emperor became known for two things. On one hand, he was loathed as seeking appeasement with the various peoples who wished to see the Empire's demise. The Drakonids to the east were given a well-timed reprieve from the constant war set against them. There was rumor that he was secretly working with the Stormlords in order to cede their old lands back, including Thagaisa and the rest of the lands south of Rausclef. There were even wild speculations that he was willing to negotiate a treaty with the dreaded Raptorlords of the north. On the other hand, perhaps as a result of the Emperor's candid belief that the Empire was entering a period of contraction and decline, he began to build a variety of monuments to the existence of the Empire for future peoples to discover were the Empire to end altogether. Despite the awful reasoning behind it, some of the people found a sense of pride in the Empire having monuments outside the walls of Tabula Gloria.

It was the latter half of the Emperor's personality which spawned an ambitious project at the mouth of the Eternal Flow, the river which pours forth from Alboniset Lake within the Phrennoack Forest, all the way to the northern cliffs of the area to pour in a mighty waterfall off of the edge. The Emperor commissioned the greatest civil works project of the time there - a bridge which would connect the Empire to the western Phrennoack Forest and beyond into the Wastes of Vashial. Beforehand, the best route was to take a boat from Twaunae and travel down Crenskaw Creek and through Alboniset Lake to the western bank, then trek through the dangerous western Phrennoack and then into the Wastes around the Ruins at Elbornet along the forest's edge, which was also home to the titanic Forest Harvester. With the greatest team of manual laborers and shapermages ever to be assembled at the time, the bridge would be built over a span of seventy years.

Unfortunately for the Emperor though, he would not live to see the bridge to completion, that honor going to his son Margurim IV who would have it completed if only for strategic reasons. At the center of the bridge also stands a building of its own, the Flame Cathedral, a testament to the long-lasting alliance between the Empire and the Eltyain, to serve as both a house of worship for the tribal folk of the forest as well as an outpost for researchers and armies seeking to go further west into Vashial.

Port Endeavor

Named after the launch of the New Endeavor, the Empire's first and terribly ill-fated attempt to reach the Nation of Animar, Port Endeavor has grown from very humble beginnings. Immediately west of the Rustwater Delta, the Port straddles the Eastern and Southern Seas, an incredibly dangerous place given the wildlife from both Weylos and Benalor, as well as threads from the Seas and beyond. At the same time though, it is a great position in a relatively comfortable part of the continent, with a comfortable climate and predictable weather. Given its remote location though, the people who choose to live at the Port tend to harbor an independent spirit, something that usually benefits the Empire with their hard work, though there has been whispers of an uprising against the authority of the faraway capital.

They are only whispers given the sheer volume of traffic that goes through the otherwise sleepy Port. Primarily, the traffic is between incoming Imperial shipments coming through the Emperor's Road along the foothills of the Benalor Mountains and through the forest between the Wastes of Weylos and the Delta, and incoming ships coming from the Nation of Animar across the dangerous Eastern Sea. However, there are other uses for the Port, especially for those wishing to travel throughout the Southern Sea and into the Eastern Continent at places other than Animar, including the city of Bythene on Espartum as well as those seeking advice from the hermit Kadast of the continent's untamed east.

The Wilderness of the Western Continent

Of course, the Empire does not take up the entirety of the Western Continent. The Continent is comprised of many other peoples and places. There are friendly, antagonistic, and neutral peoples to be encountered. There are the plentiful ruins of the Old Empires to be explored. There are even other budding civilizations out there. As they say at the College of Antiquities, "To stay within the Empire's realm for all of one's life is a truly un-Imperial act."

THIS SECTION NEEDS WORK! PLEASE CONTRIBUTE!

Phrennoack Forest

Locations in the Phrennoack and Uralaya Forests

Despite the constant flux of the various cultures and civilizations throughout the world's history, the Phrennoack Forest has always been a mainstay. A very wild and beautiful land, the Forest is home to divergent cultures and diverse wildlife.

The Eltyain People

The Eltyain people have been friendly with the Empire since the reign of Margurim II, whose diplomats made a treaty with them to allow for westward expansion to the Forest's treeline, as well as limited resources from the forest itself. Though the Eltyain are swift to punish Imperials who violate the treaty, they are also benevolent to those who wish to abide by it. Imperials have a lasting presence in the central village of Caladuon, protected them from the vile creatures as they traveled through Crenskaw Creek and Alboniset Lake to the western side of the Forest, and have graced them with their blessing as Emperor Alexius II and his son Marguirm IV built the Eternal Bridge at the mouth of the Eternal Flow. Despite this friendship, sometimes bordering on alliance, there are some facets of Eltyain society which still baffle Imperials.

Eltya of Life's Eternal Flame

Whereas the Imperials worship no god and follow the Founder's Legacy as a rubric for their civilization, the Eltyain pay homage to a god of fertility and benevolence. Eltya, as their god is called, is often depicted as a stag with sprawling antlers, each of which tipped with an ever-burning flame. This burning crown frames an eerily humanoid face, eyes set as deep as can be and with a somewhat concerned expression at all times. Though almost every Eltyain knows of the existence of their god, not many are able to see Him, much less understand His message. This fact is how the tribe's elders are chosen. It is said that Eltya would peer through the perpetually dense fog of the Forest unto those He deems worthy and capable of translating His message to the people. Those who have been graced by Him will come back to the current elder, his forehead graced with the holy wax of His antlers.

Though the cabal who commune with Eltya Himself is extremely small, the majority of people, Eltyain and otherwise, know of His existence through his servants, the Phrennoack Stags. Borne of the holy wax shed from His antlers, the psychopomps usually appear before someone who has become recently deceased, their primary function is to shepherd its soul back unto Eltya's flame. If for whatever reason that something or someone else gets a hold of that soul before a Stag can reclaim it, there are known to be dire consequences. If there are not souls to be harvested, the Stags usually appear in areas of the Forest in the balance of life and death is disrupted, driving back whichever force has too much of an advantage. As such, their presence is usually considered a good omen for humble travelers venturing into otherwise dangerous lands.

The Balance of Life and Death

The symbology behind Eltya may embody the positive qualities of life, one has to bear in mind that life wouldn't be life without death. It would simply be a mere existence otherwise. This duality is something that the Eltyain know well of, the balance of which must be preserved in order for not just the Forest, but for the whole world to continue. It is already known that the Stags maintain the circulation of souls between Eltya's flame and the World Itself, as well as the fact that the Stags are also dispatched to deal with areas of the Forest in which there is an unnatural spread of death and disease as well as an uncanny proliferation of life. The Forest has others alongside the Stags which help in this daunting task, including the Pale Maws which attract and prey on the particularly ambitious folk wishing to exploit the Forest for their personal gain. The aquatic Echoes of Alboniset Lake do much the same with those wishing to disrupt the fragile marsh which surrounds it. There are also stories of the colossal Forest Harvester which maintains the limited growth of the Forest itself, preventing it from losing too much territory, but also from gaining too much.

The Yatoka People

Of course, there are those who are tempted by the ever-burning flames of Eltya's antlers which flicker through the deepest fog of death. There are those who wish to seize the flames for themselves, to chain it and to live forever. There are those who see eternal life not as a mere soulless existence, but as the ultimate goal of all life. One such people are the Yatoka, a sect of the Eltyain who has split from them due to such differences in philosophy. They ended up moving to the western Forest, more dangerous than the eastern Forest but not nearly as populated either, in order to pursue their agenda.

The Great Blasphemy

The Yatoka see Eltya as not their benevolent shepherd of life and death. Rather, they see Him as an oppressor, claiming the flame of life as His alone, as an enemy of the very life in which He looks over. They exhibit this outlook on life in some of the most radical ways imaginable. For one, the magically attuned members of the tribe actively seek out the dead and dying, waiting for the right time before he strip the souls from their dead bodies and chain them into the ancient trees of the Forest. These Horns of Eltya (ironically named, likewise meant to be named as such) are then forced to serve their Yatoka masters. They also barter with the predatory Falserjacks, which mimic the Stags but offer a stay of life to the dying, in which those who agree find their heads ripped off of their bodies for the foul creatures' collection, soul still intact within the removed head. They breed the living abominations of the Wretches of Ya'soniya, chimeric creatures made of human and animal parts and souls, to become cattle, warbeasts, and worse.

There are also signs that the Yatoka are beginning to push their presence back towards the eastern Forest. The Echoes of Alboniset Lake, for instance, seem to be growing more and more ferocious towards anything that moves, suggesting that an alliance has been made between the two. Strange creatures have been seen entering the eastern Forest as well, creatures much like the Wretches but larger and more dangerous, suggesting among scholars the work of the ancient Vashialian Fleshmages. Perhaps the Yatoka has gained knowledge of their terrible arts. There is also the occasional rumor among the more fearful Eltyain about the Yatoka somehow corrupting the mighty Forest Harvester and attempting to turn it into a siege beast to finish off the Eltyain and their guardians once and for all.

The Uneasy Truce

That last rumor would seem to be mere hearsay though. Though the Yatoka are hostile towards almost any and all civilized peoples, especially Imperials who intrude upon their territory, they stay their hand upon the very Eltyain they loathe and split from so long ago. There is no real reason why they do not attack their more traditional kin. Perhaps they are still not ready to wage a full-out war with them out of tactics or a lack of power. Perhaps they are still ultimately connected to Eltya, though on different sides of philosophy. No one can tell for certain, but at least the Eltyain can pass through the western Forest without too much a risk of harm yet.

Alboniset Lake

At the heart of the Phrennoack Forest lies Alboniset Lake, a place of both undeniable, natural splendor and palpable, overwhelming danger. The shimmering waters of the lake is surrounded by dense marshland, an unusual combination of environments but understandable given the lake's seasonal floods. Of course, this is not the only reason for which settlements that were established by the lake ceased to be. There is the story of the mansion built by the Imperial Lord Credault which was overrun by an invasion of Echoes, the ruins used as a ceremonial place of worship.

There is also the story of the budding Eltyain village of Skawnesco (Imperial name, the tribal name lost to history). Before the establishment of the village, tribesmen had to venture from their inland villages to the lake, an arduous trip in and of itself, in order to fish. Though the tribesmen knew of the dangers of the lake, one particular member got the idea to establish a village there. He had hoped that the permanent presence of Eltyain there would help ease some of these dangers down, as well as to make for an easier life for the fishermen. However, the establishment of the village coincided with the increased flooding and subsequent deterioration of the coast into the marsh that it is today. It is also said that during this time was when the Echoes began to venture from within the lake to the coast in search of new prey.

Suffice to say, the fishermen packed up and left the village, leaving it as a testament of the power of the lake as both a boon to life, but also as a danger to it, all at the same time.

Crenskaw Creek

Though it was named by an Imperial who noted it by the homelands of an ancient Stormlord commander from the neighboring Garvenus Steppe, Crenskaw Creek flows mostly through the Forest, emptying into Alboniset Lake. The creek is also the home of the Imperial foresting village of Twaunae, right at the Forest's edge. In the early days of the Empire, just as lumber production at Twaunae hit its zenith due to the logging restrictions of the Treaty of the Eltyain, the village's elders promoted the creek as an easy way to get into the forest to help boost travel in and out of the village. Though it was indeed a reliable route to Alboniset Lake and the Eternal Flow which spawned forth from it, travelers going further west would have to disembark upon the west coast of the lake and venture through the perilous Yatoka-ruled western Forest to reach the Wastes of Vashial and beyond.

Once the Eternal Bridge was completed during the reign of Margurim IV, Crenskaw Creek became just about unused to this day. Perhaps the elders at Twaunae can come up with another use for it...

The Eternal Flow

Alboniset Lake funnels into one of the fastest and widest rivers in all of the Western Continent, known as the Eternal Flow. Channeling all of the energy from the rivers and creeks which feed into the lake, the Flow is an incredibly dangerous river to cross (hence why most Imperials used Crenskaw Creek in its early days). Due to the height of the land on which the Forest sits, the waters of the river careen off of a cliff into a waterfall descending into the Northern Sea. It wasn't only impassable by Imperials, but also by both the Eltyain and the Yatoka. Of course, that was until Alexius II commissioned the Eternal Bridge at the mouth of the Flow. Because the location of the Bridge would be at the Flow's widest point, the task would carry some significant difficulty and a staggering number of casualties. Seventy-years and a new Emperor later, the Bridge would open, along with the Flame Cathedral at the center.

The Village of Caladuon

Located roughly halfway between Fort Deeanday and Alboniset Lake, the village of Caladuon started much like any humble Eltyain village - as a place of worship upon one of the strongest presences of Eltya they could find. Imagine the tribesmen's initial apprehension when a small group of Imperial diplomats made their way into the village, given their belief that the stronger the presence of Eltya is, the easier it is to ward off those who wish the Eltyain harm. That belief helped ease their apprehension to a more palatable level of trust; if these foreigners could enter hallowed land, then Eltya must approve of it. A couple years later and the Treaty of the Eltyain was signed, allowing for Caladuon to emerge as a prominent village.

These days, Caladuon serves as a traveler's village, harboring a crude but effective hospitality industry. Adventurers and researchers from the Empire still pass through the village for supplies and rest before going ever westward, but the less adventurous Imperials also see Caladuon as a growing resort town as well, a fact which has had the tribesmen in heated debate lately.

Uralaya Forest

Unlike the relatively peaceful Phrennoack Forest (the hostile and resentful Yatoka people notwithstanding), the Uralaya Forest is a far more savage place. Trees are gnarled, twisted, and tangled. Jagged roots and cracked earth replace the soft dead leaves of Phrennoack on its floor. Creatures retain their prehistoric qualities. Even the magics which weave through the Forest are unforgiving, even to its inhabitants. Civilizations throughout their histories have tried to impose their will on the Forest, but in the end, the Forest wins above all. Even those native to the forest, the Alkhani, are susceptible to the Forest, forever a race of nomads unable to appreciate and worship the Forest in the vein of the Phrennoack peoples. Other than the tribesmen dwelling within the Forest, there are other threats, the most notable of which is the large yet nimble Ingwey, tree-like insects which maintain the balance of the Forest by killing however many people fell the equal number of trees in the Forest. There are also Durzhes, amphibious creatures which stalk the Uralay and Shial rivers through the Forest looking for trespassers, as well as Narfelches, symbiotic plant-beasts which roam throughout the thicker areas of the forest in search of insect-based threats to the Forest.

The Alkhani People

Perhaps the most insular of the tribal peoples encountered by the Empire, the Alkhani are inexorably tied to the Forest in which they do not live out of admiration or worship, but only serve out of fear and respect. It is through this fear in which the Alkhani have learned how to communicate with the trees of the Forest, to glean knowledge of the unwritten and convoluted laws in which it abides by. Only through this ability has the Alkhani managed to remain one step ahead of the vengeful woodland spirits of the Forest which can and will extinguish their existence at any given moment. Believing this to be a rare act of mercy by the Forest, the Alkhani in turn are active protectors which take care of its more cunning threats as thanks for such mercy.

The Currency of Blood

So just how do the Alkhani manage to communicate with the very Forest in which they fear? A tribesman makes a visceral pact with the tree in which they seek knowledge from by first carving out a small piece of the tree and extracting some of its sap. He then ingests the sap and experiences a vivid hallucination, describing a threat whose blood the tree desires. At this point, the tribesman goes out and takes care of the threat and returns with the blood in question. Splashing the crimson nectar upon the tree's roots, the sap-drinking ritual is repeated, this time accompanied by a vision which details the knowledge desired by the tribesman. Afterwards, the tribesman chews up some wood into pulp, filling the hole which was bored into the tree as an apology for the wound it caused for the ritual.

Of course, the targets in question varies by both the tree as well as the type of information requested. It may be as simple as culling a number of species growing too large in population. It may be as difficult as slaying one's own progeny to fulfill an ancient grudge the tribesman has never been a part of. But the rewards are usually worth the cost, as the Alkhani are able to evade the paths of the more dangerous fare, such as the aptly-named Uralaya Titans as well as the reptilian, constantly hunting Thrusks.

In Service of the Forest

In the end, the Alkhani not only find relief in their survival, but a sense of happiness in serving the Forest. Throughout their lives and the many hunts in which they partake, the tribesmen learn much about the wonder the Forest has to offer, as well as the various threats which assault upon the surprisingly fragile balance in which it holds. This dedication to service has also led the Alkhani as a whole to have immense pride in themselves, though structurally they are divided into clans based upon the trees in which their ancestors served. Even when their leafy masters order different clans to war against each other, perhaps due to a member of one clan cutting down a tree belonging to another clan, both sides mourn each other's dead, retaining their racial unity despite the orders.

Another thing which unifies the Alkhani in their service is their lack of attachment to outsiders. It is not uncommon to find bands of Alkhani stalking the eastern Wastes of Vashial, the western Garvenus Steppe, the southern reaches of the Phrennoack Forest, or even the southwestern plains of the Empire itself in search of quarry assigned to them by their trees. It is also not uncommon when the occasional Shialar nomad of the Wastes, Stormlord of the Steppe, Eltyain or Yatoka of Phrennoack, or an Imperial of the Empire is abducted into the Forest, never to be seen again. As such, it is usually advised by the Empire to avoid the distinct Alkhani altogether.

Maintaining the Natural Order

Once in a while though, there will be an errant tribesman who will try to break forth from the shackles of the Forest, to eke out an independent life. More often than not, the Forest will take care of them, sending out its various creatures and other clans of the Alkhani to consume the erroneous tribesman and return the essence of his life back into the Forest. For one who makes it outside of the Forest, they are spared its wrath and can further pursue independence, though others' prejudice against his kind will likely do him in anyway. But woe be to the detractor whose aspirations are found out by his own tribe. He is dragged through the unforgiving Forest southward, to the edge bordering the Wastes of Weylos. This is arguably where the bulk of the Forest's magics reside, coalescing with the lingering souls of Weylosian militants. The Forest harnesses this combination of magics and souls to make the traitorous tribesman into its own image, creating what is only known as a Greenman.

Those who become Greenmen are violently stripped of their human souls, consumed by the Forest. However, their bodies remain as mere husks in which the Forest infiltrates, growing itself into it until the sheer power and will of the Forest combines with the flexibility and cunning of the tribesman, creating the perfect hunter for which the Forest can pursue its enemies. It is also the perfect ambassador and ally of those wishing to protect the Forest. Such deviance from service will not be tolerated, even if the Forest has to blot it out itself.

Moments of Reprieve

Despite their service to the Forest, the Alkhani do have their moments to shine. Among their kind they possess keen astronomers, capable of climbing atop the highest trees (with the trees' permission, of course) and gazing into the heavens, mapping the stars of sheets of slate and recording celestial events with intense interest. For each solar eclipse is an event to be remembered. The land slumbers, the trees fall into deep sleeps, and their servants close their eyes to rest. This is the one time when the Alkhani are unshackled and the Forest loses all of its danger. When the moon covers the sun, the Alkhani become the rulers of Uralaya and gather in a massive festival in the dark heart of the Forest. The revelers illuminate the Forest with fire and douse the land with pilfered alcohol, filling their bellies with food and drink and enjoying a rare and cherished moment of freedom, united and bursting with joy. Even outsiders are welcome to these festivities, the only time when Imperial scholars have spoken to Alkhani tribesmen outside of captivity.

This moment of peace and tranquility to enjoy themselves is all that the Alkhani ask for and frequently enough that at least one shall happen in every tribesman's lifetime. When the Forest reawakens by the end of the eclipse, the Alkhani resign themselves to running once more from the Titans and the Ingwey and the Greenmen and the Order of the Patch and resign themselves to serving their sky-obscuring masters once more.

The Forest Today

The Uralaya Forest remains a dark, unforgiving land, full of savage beasts and darkness that can only be countered by swearing allegiance to the Forest itself and wetting its endless thirst for blood. Its people are just as primitive and primal as the land that they come from, a testament to a forgotten age, to a time before time, when all men were beneath nature, before they climbed out of their primordial slavery and grew to dominate the world. It is no wonder that many scholars refer to Uralaya as the "cradle of humanity" and the Alkhani as the first of our kind. It is a land, they say, to be both protected and avoided, kept safe from the threats of the outside world, a timeless treasure, forever preserving the origins of sentient life.

The Garvenus Steppe

Situated between the Forests of Phrennoack and Uralaya to the west and the Benalor Mountains to the east, the Garvenus Steppe is a largely savage land, ruled not by law but rather by survival. A plethora of creatures inhabit the Steppe, weaving forth an intricate web of life and death. Groups of elephants and antelope roam the grassy flatlands close to the highlands near the mountains, only venturing into the central Steppe for water and migration in between seasons. The cat-like Spotted Behemoths stalk the lands closer the Forests in search of stray prey while the chitinous Cannonflies use their sonic weaponry to attack from the skies. Keen-eyed Mountain Hawks glide in from the eastern reaches and cunning Rumble Hounds emerge from the western reaches to scavenge what they can among the carrion, though they are also perfectly able to predate their own meals. Above them all roam the Steppe Giants, apex omnivores feeding from the tops of the Forests and from the creatures on the Steppe alike. If it weren't for the vigilant Imperial hunters to the north and the unforgiving climes of the Wastes of Weylos to the south, it would be very much a possibility that life would overflow from the Steppe.

The Stormlords

Some scholars are inclined to theorize that the first peoples to come forth from the protection of the Uralaya Forest ventured forth onto the Steppe, slowly but surely making it their own, free from their former service to the Forest. Whether the theory is true is up for debate, but the Stormlord people enjoy a strong heritage of protection and service to the wild, though more on their terms than their possible Alkhani ancestors. Able to appreciate their surroundings, the people tended to come together during the wet season in which they collaborated in order to find shelter, as well as the cold season in which they huddled together for comfort and warmth. As such, they found an affinity with the storms which shaped the land, which regulated the seasons, giving birth to their name in which the Empire translates as "Stormlord."

The Nation of the Thunderhead

Excavations within the Empire's holdings proved very interesting in their discoveries. They show other peoples emerging into its land - historically known as the Central Lands - soon after the Stormlords appeared on the Steppe. There were also artifacts recovered from the dig sites which bore traditional Stormlord markings, suggesting that they had some sort of association with the Stormlords in which they were the primary influencing factor. The most common of these markings consisted of a series of curves above a flat horizontal line at the bottom - the signature 'thunderhead' mark of the Stormlords. As such, it is suggested that the Stormlords united these forthcoming tribes under their banner, the first known example of nation-building in the history of humanity. The Nation of the Thunderhead as scholars called it was likely a protection agreement. The other tribes would offer tribute of various resources to the Stormlord rulers in exchange for their protection, as well as meats and hides from their own hunters.

Further research yielded surprising results. According to slates recovered from a dig near Fort Thagaisa, sixteen generations of Stormlords passed during this time, almost entirely without incident. However, a new leader of the Stormlords, a man of great stature and physical strength known as Trawgtarr, declared that the peoples under the Nation were bound by the divine providence of their god to abandon their former identities and "fully become Stormlord." Though to this day what it exactly meant to "fully become Stormlord" is unknown, what can be inferred is the existence of their god, a being the Empire knows as the terrible Sky Devourer, the first mention of it in historical record. Though many tribes followed the decree, there were others who opposed it. Further according to the Thagaisan slates, the Stormlords would enact a bloody war with the opposition, eliminating every last man, woman, and child, and cemented their dominance among them.

From that point on, there would not be historical mention of what scholars would come to call the War of Unification, or the original names of the other tribes. After the War, they would all be considered Stormlords.

Battle for the Central Lands

Soon after the calamitous war, the Central Lands were in great disarray, a factor which may have led to the first foreign invasions into there, the event which many consider as the beginning of the Three-Way War. It is suggested by Vashialian and Benaloran accounts that the "tribal folk were easy to conquer, and easier to run off," probably given their weaker state after the War of Unification only a generation or so before. Running to their newly minted rulers, the northern members of the Stormlords sought assistance with their plight. However as the Stormlords were also recovering from the War, they were unable to assist them in defending their new holdings. Weren't it for the fact that by this point both Vashial and Benalor were fighting each other for the right to control the Central Lands, many thought it would have been possible for a direct assault upon the Steppe.

Although they were unable to directly attack either of the invaders during this time, the Stormlords managed to stave them off by sending retinues of their warriors to both the Vashialians and the Benalorans in an attempt to have both of them wear each other out and drive them away from the Central Lands in a stalemate. The two groups of warriors would present themselves as separate tribes submitting themselves to their new colonial masters, an act that greatly displeased the warriors in question despite its necessity in the plan. They would provide their respective Empires with intelligence about the Central Lands, deliberately running the Empires into each other and forcing them to fight each other. To make the ruse even more convincing at first, the warriors would fight on their respective sides, sometimes even killing each other in order to maintain their cover.

An Ill-Fated Alliance

As the battle between Vashial and Benalor was underway in the Central Lands, a young Stormlord man named Crenskaw was approached by a group of diplomats from Weylos, a nation of tribes from the south considered as neutral to the Stormlords. At this time, Crenskaw was just honored for his masterminding of the ruse keeping Vashial and Benalor busy with each other, earning the title of the "Rushing River," capable of thwarting his foes without directly killing them. The diplomats had told the Stormlord tactician of their troubles with Vashial and Benalor, striking a common ground with them. The Weylosians knew of the Stormlords' troubles with the two Empires as well. The Stormlords in turn knew of the great Ansal fighting machines in which the Weylosians handily resisted the Vashialians with. The diplomats offered their assistance in the Stormlords' conflict and the Stormlords readily accepted.

It was good timing too, especially as the warriors sent to each side of the battle for the Central Lands were thinning out, the two sides sure to learn of the ruse in due time. It was time for the Stormlords to make their stand. Warriors lined up along the northern edge of the Steppe, reaching from modern-day Twaunae to the west and modern-day Rausclef to the east. Though the Weylosians made it there in time, they were without the powerful Ansals. Apparently Benalor had sabotaged their machines just as it was retreating from the Central Lands, a greatly weakened Vashial being the victor there. Though weakened the Vashialians were, their magics still caused heavy casualties for the physical coalition soldiers of the Stormlords and the Weylosians. The battle became dire enough in which Crenskaw of the Rushing River, appointed commander of the Stormlord forces, was forced to call upon the Sky Devourer to finish off the Vashialians.

It ended as a victory, but also as an embarrassment to the commander, an embarrassment so great that the commander turned the Sky Devourer against his momentary allies. Crenskaw, the remnants of his army, and the mythical beast forced the Weylosians out of the Steppe and into their own barren lands. Those who weren't killed during the rout had ended up killing themselves for some unknown reason to the Stormlords, their deaths fueling the rise of the Great Tortoise, matching the Sky Devourer blow for blow. Though the battle isn't detailed, it is assumed that the Stormlords retreated back to the Steppe, the Sky Devourer recalled.

The Truce of Thaga Rise

The greatly weakened Stormlords would spend the next five or six generations after the Three-Way War rebuilding their holdings in the Steppe. During this time, the other tribes which had formed the Nation of the Thunderhead alongside the Stormlords would migrate back north to the scarred Central Lands to start anew, seemingly free of Stormlord control. They would come to mingle with the Vashialian, Benaloran, and Weylosian remnants who decided to settle there away from their old masters, forming a new society free of the old powers. This society, as history knows, would eventually become the Empire of For'Channar.

In the beginning of the Empire, the Steppe was left alone. Though the Stormlords were weakened, the tribes returning to the Central Lands passed on tales of their savagery, their power, and their control of the Sky Devourer. Such stories were enough for the growing Empire to steer clear of the Stormlords and their lands. Alexius I, the fifth Emperor, would however see things differently. By his time, the Empire had expanded west to Phrennoack due to the grace of the Eltyain people, and east to the Drakonid Highlands after a hard-fought war with its natives. The next logical step was to move southwards. Given that the Stormlords were still weakened, the Imperial forces managed to march south into the Steppe until the Stormlords were able to stop them at the Thaga Rise along the foothills of the Benalor Mountains. A battle later and the Stormlords signed a truce with the Empire as long as they would not go any further south. The truce was respected, though the Empire would soon build the town of Thagaisa, an outpost which would evolve into a fort.

Wrath of the Steelheart

By the time it became a fort, Thagaisa had established the Knights of the Southwind to patrol the Imperial border with the Steppe and to keep it safe from beasts. One day, the now-recovered Stormlords had spotted a patrol of Southwinds edging into their territory, an action which was answered with a relentless barrage of nightly raids into Thagaisa. These raids in turn enraged a man known as Carpalos of Steelheart, a blacksmith of Weylosian descent, when one of the Stormlords' runs ended up killing his wife. He originally tried to get the Southwinds to act upon it, but they couldn't under the truce, especially as they were reprimanded for causing all of this by Tabula Gloria. So Carpalos, well taught in not only the legendary blacksmithing of his ancestors, but also the stories of Crenskaw's Betrayal, got together a civilian militia and set out into the Steppe to take on the Stormlords themselves. With his growing son at his side, Carpalos and his force slew every Stormlord he could find.

Years later, once his son grew up knowing the atrocities he has made, Carpalos would disband the group and set off back into the Steppe once more to face the Stormlord elder. According to Imperial lore, it was to apologize for his rampage and to live the rest of his life in self-imposed exile. But according to the Stormlords, it was to face the elder in one-on-one combat to resolve a feud which began with Crenskaw's betrayal after the victory against the Vashialians so long ago. The elder, Iskal of the Thunderhead, agreed to the battle, ordering the Stormlord warriors to allow Carpalos five days to prepare himself. He even allowed his future opponent into his own hut to rest, for he wanted there to be no interference for an honorable battle. Five days later, the two would travel to the southern edge of the Steppe, away from both Imperial and Stormlord interference.

According to Stormlord legend, the battle lasted for three full days, only with the two resting beneath the dusk and dawn before starting again. They fought ferociously, slashing and breaking each other, but they would neither fall nor surrender. Upon the sunset of the third day, the two agreed to consider it a draw, only to drag themselves back to the Stormlord lands bloodied and battered, but now unshakable friends. This would begin a new tradition of the reconciliation of the old Stormlord-Weylosian feud, as well as maintaining the Truce of Thaga Rise. Though those within the Knights of the Steelheart do not know why the Carpalos-descended leader heads out into the Steppe once the next generation is ready, the Stormlords know of the entertaining battle ahead, as well as to welcome the newest addition to their ranks.

The Drakonid Highlands

Locations in the Iotold Homelands and the Drakonid Highlands

Between the flat lands of the Empire and the rugged heights of the Benalor Mountains lies the hills and plateaus of the Drakonid Highlands. The Highlands are a hardy land, rugged with very little plant lift creeping up between the crevices of the cracked earth. It is also a porous place with many caverns breaching the hills and crags, the maze within the land likely to be much bigger than even the Highlands themselves. Goblins are said to roam along the crags and the caverns alike, seeking lone prey for its pack to ambush. Upon the crags roam the primitive Bolds, small mutated creatures with absolutely no fear, only a hint of intelligence, and boundless curiosity, as well as the Mountain Owls which stalk the windy skies above and swoop down with frightening accuracy to take down their prey. Within the caves there is so much more to discover, including the Blood Warg, a shy nocturnal creature which only ventures out of the caves at night to prey on small creatures, as well as Dritches, which use their superior hearing to hunt their prey in the waterways within the caves. There are also Firecrawlers, a combination of a dead Goblin and a Firespore Mushroom, whose spores animates the dead Goblin's necrotic brain matter if exposed.

The Drakonids

A sworn enemy of the Empire, the Drakonids were once a peaceful, if grotesque people to the west of Lake Goldenstar. They were humanoid in shape, but took on dragon-like features, including scales along their body, wings upon their back, and an affinity for fire. Likely one of the tribes left over from the broken Nation of the Thunderhead, they very much kept to themselves once For'Channar came into being. After all, they were one of the tribes in which the Stormlords tried to annihilate under Trawgtarr's rule, and the survivors were sure to pass that story along the generations. So the draconic tribesmen watched the development of the Empire closely from the skies. At first it seemed that the Empire was willing to be peaceful with their neighbors given how they approached the Eltyain people of Phrennoack. But then came Margurim III, seeking to expand eastward into the tribe's lands, for they were incredibly fertile ground. Initially, the tribe had tried to strike an agreement with the Empire, modeled after the Treaty of the Eltyain: the tribe would ensure safe passage through their lands as well as limited access to their resources provided that the Empire did not to assume control over them.

Ultimatum at Minnamack

However, the Emperor also remembered how much his predecessor's treaty stagnated the Empire's economy from the beginning. The village of Twaunae had quickly hit a peak in logging under the stipulations of the treaty, having to resort to a far more dangerous and less consistent tourism along Crenskaw Creek in order to try to make up for the losses. Though he recognized that his predecessor had meant well by the treaty, given the Empire's youth and vulnerability, he knew than to fall for it twice. When the Emperor's diplomats made the trek to the old Benaloran ruin of Minnamack to the east of Lake Goldenstar, they greeted the tribesmen not with a treaty offer, but rather an ultimatum. The Imperial Army would arrive at this ruin in five days. It would be up to the tribe to either leave their lands or to accept Imperial dominion over them in order to maintain peace between them. Otherwise, they would be dragged into a war with the Empire.

The tribesmen had prepared for a situation like this. They answered the ultimatum by murdering the diplomats then and there, sending a Mountain Owl towards the capital with simply a handprint made with their blood. They then retreated into the caves, seemingly never to be seen again. Once the Imperial Army made it to Minnamack, there was no one to be seen, except for the decomposing diplomats. Perhaps the murder was simply a defiant act before they retreated. Either way, the Emperor would get the expansion he sought and the diplomats' efforts wouldn't have been in vain.

The First Incursion

It is said that just as the Imperial Army was about to secure the area, the light was blotted forth from the land. Once the Army looked to the skies to see what was going on, it was too late. The tribesmen had emerged from the distant mountains, gliding above them. Once the soldiers got a good look at their snarling lizard-like faces and their glowing hands of fire, it was too late. All was chaos as bodies fell and others scattered in all directions, allowing the airborne beasts to pick the soldiers off one by one. The tribesmen had indeed prepared for this situation, for they had made a pact with a great dragon dwelling within one of the searing caves of the Highlands, rescinding the last of their humanity and civility in order to achieve greater power under the dragon's employ. In that one fell swoop, the Drakonids managed to drive the Army all the way back to their side of Lake Goldenstar.

But the Empire also prepared for a situation, though not quite like this. They had stationed two groups of Battlemages, one on the west bank of Nechbaer's Tears and another on the west bank of the lake. Though they were told to expect a tribal offensive, there was nothing in the description about them being able to fly, much less breathe fire. But the Empire's mages are nothing if not able to adapt themselves to differing situations. They managed to alter their strategy on the fly, switching it from a ground assault to an aerial one. Though there were many Battlemages who died that day, they were able to drive them back away from their posts. By the next day, another wave of Imperial soldiers marched upon Minnamack, this time with the remaining Battlemages in tow. The Drakonids never knew what hit them, having to retreat back to the distant peaks in order to regroup. Soon after, Minnamack was made into an Imperial fort, and the village of Nechbaer was founded on the spot where its regiment of Battlemages were stationed.

Siege at Drakonhelm

There wasn't much activity against the Empire's new holdings since the end of the First Drakonid Incursion. Sure, there were sightings of Drakonid scouts in the sky every once in a while, but nothing a few anti-air magical missiles couldn't scare off. During this time, research was being made into brilliant suits of armor found in the deeper halls of Minnamack, and soon enough, some of the soldiers there were being trained in their use. By the time the first batch of soldiers were completed in their training, Margurim III had died and his brother Alexius I had assumed the throne. Upon hearing about the reported Aethergear suits being used by the soldiers at Minnamack, the Emperor ordered the eastward expansion to continue. Assigned to lead the charge would be the Chancellor of the Imperial University, none other than Prifa Carbane, daughter of the famous explorer Ezel Carbane. Though it was an unusual decision not to assign one of his Generals to the task, Prifa was famed for her background as a mage of multiple disciplines as well as a scholar, qualities in which the Emperor believed would work in not just overpowering the Drakonids, but also outsmarting them.

Determined to destroy the "demonic evils which plagued the mountains," Prifa pushed her forces deep into the Highlands, ordering them to slay every Drakonid they encountered. Male, female, hatchling, a target was a target in her eyes. The Imperials would then descend upon a craggy structure, a grand palace carved out of the very mountainside itself. From her childhood joining her father on his travels, Prifa knew the place as Drakonhelm, then home to a peaceful if wary people. It was still home to those people, though they were transformed by a terrible force which forced them to draw her wrath. The least she could do, in her eyes, was to give these people the merciful death they are waiting for. In a brilliant display of power, magic, and speed, the Imperial forces scoured through the complex, killing as many Drakonids as they could manage, the rest of them fleeing further east into parts unknown. The operation had gone better than even Prifa had expected, celebrating the victory with her comrades outside of the bloodied palace. But then a crash echoed through the skies, and suddenly, the back of Prifa's head exploded, splattering her brains against the main portal into the palace.

One of the Drakonids was hiding off in the distance during the whole time. He watched the battle from afar, staying his hand while his brethren were utterly slaughtered by the orders of an overly zealous woman. He waited until the time was right, clutching an old Benaloran firearm in his hands. Just as she had dropped her guard to cheer in jubilation for the awful massacre she caused, he squeezed the trigger. He didn't bother to stay afterwards to inspect his handiwork, only to slip back into the mountains to report the victory to his superiors. Prifa's remains would be carried home and buried with honors, saluted as a Heroine of the Empire. Countless Drakonids were slaughtered that day, but the Drakonid sniper also came to his people as a hero, for he took down the most powerful among the Imperials.

The Second Incursion

According to official Imperial correspondence, it was said that Prifa had put down the Second Drakonid Incursion. Though the Drakonids indeed fought hard against the suffocating Imperial advance, it could hardly be considered as an Incursion, at least in the context of the First. It was a fact that the next Emperor, Alexius II, would consider in making his foreign policy. The first thing he would do upon taking the throne was to relax the Empire's control of Drakonhelm, an unofficial gesture of peace towards the Drakonids, who were surely still bitter after the devastation the Empire had wrought upon them. Though commoners didn't know of the move, those in the higher echelons of government repeatedly warned the Emperor about it. They feared that it would only invite the Drakonids back to wreak more havoc upon the Empire, that only further pressure against them. But the Emperor held his ground, citing that the "wishes of the Founder were no longer being heeded," that the Empire had "become an engine of War rather than an engine of Service."

The actual Second Drakonid Incursion has yet to come. Surely, there are those among the Drakonids who are planning it. There are also likely those who cannot get the images of the Siege at Drakonhelm out of their heads and wish for it not to happen again. This schism in the future of the Drakonids only serves to allow the great dragon in which the tribe bartered with to furthermore corrupt their minds, formerly unable to do so given their original, singular purpose.

To the northeast of the Western Continent, further north than even the great mountains of Benalor dare reach, lies a frozen land of eternal winter. The winds howl and the snow falls with the lament of its former inhabitants, the Iotold, a people who hail from a time prior to that of even the Old Empires. Despite all of it, life still thrives there, great forests spanning from coast to coast of the peninsula, even people making their lives there.

The Iotold Homelands

The Ruins at Iotold

The former lands of the Iotold on the western side of the peninsula, along the Northern Sea. It is a rustic place of wood, stone, and metal, look as if it is frozen in time. The sweeping arcs of debris jutting eastwards are locked in place beneath an impenetrable layer of the thickest ice. The eerie stillness can only be experienced from a distance though as terrible birds constantly hover over the site. Explorers cannot venture forth to even appreciate the ruins before the flock can swoop down and assault them. Even worse, the winds and the cold become progressively worse the closer one gets to the ruins. As such, only a few details can be gleaned from the ruins from afar. The canoes and oars suspended in the sky, along with the blubber-clad tribesmen locked with them, easily suggest that they were indeed the whaling culture they are often depicted as in the various lore and history the Empire has on hand about them. Other than that, not much else is known, other than that they now exist in the clouds, a far cry from their formerly rustic existence.

The Port Town of Winterlight

On the other side of the peninsula along the Sea of Ink is the relatively new settlement of Winterlight. Founded by Lord Astyn, a noble who had defected from the Empire during the difficult rule of Alexius II, the town soon established itself as a people of loggers and sailors. Quickly establishing good relations with the Animari Kingdom of Conchra on the other side of the Eastern Sea, Winterlight soon grew in prestige, allowing Astyn to officially rescind his citizenship to the Empire and form Winterlight as its own political entity. Though lacking the status of an Imperial noble, Astyn made a name for himself and quite the fortune to boot. Today, Winterlight remains as hardy and independent as it started out as, though the enmity against the Empire has waned since the time of Astyn, allowing them safe passage through the town.

The Ashkeep

Astyn's fortune was indeed vast, especially as he began work on his famous residence, the Ashkeep which was located west of the port proper. It ended up becoming an endeavor which cost many of the townsfolk's lives. Whether it was the noxious fumes rising from the otherwise dormant caldera it was built upon, or the harsh winters in which Astyn demanded his workers to push through, the town's population dropped faster than the temperature there. Fortunately, Astyn didn't run out of workers before the Ashkeep was finished near the end of his life. Yes, Astyn managed to live there for little more than two years before he passed away. Today, it is still the residence of Winterlight's ruler, an example of Imperial elegance combined with frontier ingenuity and strength.

The Fort at Giant's Barrow

Also during Astyn's rule of Winterlight, he happened upon an old Benaloran ruin, much like that of Minnamack, to the southwest of the port. Though it wasn't stocked with the many relics of Benalor's past as the Imperial port did, the fort at Giant's Barrow still served its purpose and served it well. Though there weren't many threats who seemed interested in Winterlight and its lands, there are stories of the fort's cannoneers managed to ward off a brief Drakonid invasion from the southwest, as well as the occasional sighting of one of the mountainous spawn which shed off of the wandering World Engine farther to the southwest. Otherwise, life at Giant's Barrow can become a rather tedious existence.

The Aevan Archipelago

Beyond the northernmost reaches of the Wastes of Vashial lies a string of sizable islands, lands broken and sheared by constant, pounding frigid winds. The islands seem as if they are completely and utterly devoid of life, unable to foster it in such a hostile environment. But alas, life exists here. It seems to be a sanctuary for all sorts of hardy avians, winged creatures which defy the natural way of southern migration, as the weather seems to always be cold and bitter there. Even more interesting than that is the fact that humanity has somehow reached all the way to this freezing, overcast corner of the world. And today, it continues to thrive, even when the world seems to try to reject them. Perhaps they learned something from their durable, feathery friends in the skies.

The Raptorlords

To be blunt, there is extremely little on the historical record about these people. Though they are tribal in nature, they have very little in common with their fellow tribal folk. They do not revere the wilderness, as do their Stormlord and Alkhani cousins. Their culture does not have the psychopomps and mercy of the Eltyain. They do not even have the aspirations of eternal life as the Yatoka. And they certainly do not have the patience and guile of the Drakonids. Of course, that doesn't mean much as these people do not even have a written language and their oral tradition is so muddled with mythical and inflated language that it is difficult to figure out what is right and what is wrong about it. Perhaps there's more to them than what the scholars have conjured up, but it doesn't seem like that will happen anytime soon. And that is exactly the way the Raptorlords prefer it to be.

The Seven Cairns

The Raptorlords call their home Aeva, a land which is locked in a constant war among seven clans called Cairns. These Cairns are determined by ancestry, each Cairn able to determine nearly their entire family tree by the growing pile of skulls at the center of each Cairn's territory. Perhaps it is best to see Cairns as extended families of sorts, inbreeding among each other to keep their bloodlines as pure as possible. Exactly how they haven't all died out by this practice by thin blood has yet to be seen. The war itself is driven by the primal need of the Cairns to rise above each other, to leave only one Cairn left as the strongest in the land. And according to the Raptorlord, the war pleases their goddess of the world, in which the land takes its name.

Their bloodshed, their pain, their suffering, but also the strength of Her people which grows stronger and stronger with each passing generation of warriors is to lead to the naming of a victor, one singular Cairn to survive, which would please the goddess the most. Religion by natural selection, if you would.

A Convoluted Code

This is only one of many interesting traditions in which the Raptorlords partake. For instance, hair length is of importance in social standing. First of all, a Cairnsman's hair must never be sheared in his lifetime. The hair must never be too short, lest the Cairnsman be morally bankrupt. It can also never be too long, lest he is slow of mind. As such, almost all mature Cairnsmen maintain a specifically coiled braid of hair to maintain the desired length. Also, Carinsmen are encouraged to remain on the battlefield until all the slain fully pass away, for only then is it safe to harvest the enemy's skulls for their Cairn's collection. Continuing in the matters of war, if a Cairnsman is slain in battle, but is revived by an Alkyr Sprite before his skull is harvested, then he is to be spared and respected, elevated to the status of an Alkyr Secondborn, harboring the Sprite's spirit and wisdom within him.

Regarding the Alkyr Secondborn, they are treated like a different people altogether. These special souls, tinged with a rich golden skin and a special mark emblazoned upon their breast, are regarded to as soothsayers, prophets of a sort. They also serve in a bardic capacity, carrying the Raptorlords' rich oral tradition and their songs into the next generation. They also seem to be exempt not only to the constant war among the Cairns, but also to the basic power structure surrounding the war, often visiting other Cairns to share their stories and songs. Their travels also take them to other lands, the only of their kind not to lash out instinctively at foreigners. They speak of the Raptorlords' traditions, their happenings, and their tales to all who will listen, spreading knowledge of his warring people. An oddity given the single-minded tendency of the Raptorlords to annihilate until only one Cairn remains.

Perhaps their strangest tradition is their respect of winged creatures. Aeva is a land full of crows, ravens, and other intelligent corvids. Killing a bird brings a man a year of bad luck. Consuming a bird however is a grave sin, enough to make a man a pariah and an outcast, no longer accepted by his Cairn or even the more-accepting Secondborn, damned to live in the wilderness forever alone. Each Raptorlord owns several birds in his lifetime, cherishing each one and using them as his eyes in the sky and his constant companion. Each Cairn has their own pedigree of birds to use, training their breed as excellent scouts and treating them almost as spirit guides, trusting them to show the way in dire situations. Surprisingly, in most circumstances, they use them like this, not even in the supposed dire situations. This spiritual union with their corvid allies is what has earned the Raptorlords their namesake.

Many punishments lie in wait for Raptorlords who do not abide by this code. The worst of these are reserved for those who shun the Raptorlords' ways in their entirety. Consuming one of their feathered companions, fighting for someone other than one's own Cairn, and killing one of the exalted Secondborn for the second time are examples of what can get a Raptorlord to be exiled to Rift. A dark, deep valley colder than the already frigid surface of Aeva, Rift is a place in which a Raptorlord is stripped of his kinship to his Cairn and his identity as one of Aeva's children. Usually, one is simply exiled to Rift to live the rest of their days as a wild man, but for those who truly commit the worst of the worst, they are dragged there kicking and screaming. Tied to a post and left wide open, the birds circling overhead swoop in and eviscerate the man alive, After seven dawns pass, the offender's skull is harvested, smashed at his Cairn, and cast off to sea by his executioner, forever ridding the fellow Raptorlords of his memory.

Sirens of the North

Unlike many other cultures, the Raptorlords exist in truce with the winged race of harpies. Though the flying women usually prefer warmer climates such as the Garvenus Steppe as the Wastes of Weylos, there is a particular variant that was once known to haunt the Northern Sea, soaring from the Iotold Homelands to the Northern isle of Aeva. They are the Hagravens, powerful, ash-skinned women who stand above most men, covered in sinuous muscle and jet black feathers. In the old days of the Empire, one could often be seen circling above a boat, singing in its own warbling, whimsical tongue. In truth, it was conjuring up a storm to sink the vessel, so it could pluck its shipwrecked victims out of the freezing water and carry them away to serve as lovers, servants and food.

After the first defeat of the Lord of the Tempest, Emperor Margurim IV ordered that each ship was to carry a skilled archer, to shoot the Hagravens from the sky whenever they were seen. This was surprisingly effective, decimating their population to such a point where rather than seen as threats, they were hunted by the servants of tailors for their beautiful feathers, so they could be crafted into exotic cloaks. As the years passed, sightings of Hagravens became rarer and rarer, to the point where their danger was long forgotten, viewed only as omens of bad luck rather than bringers of storms. Eventually, the ash-skinned harpies disappeared from the Northern Sea entirely and the Department of History had no choice but to declare them extinct. While Hagravens haven't been seen near the Imperial coast in living memory, they are still very much alive.

In truth, the Hagravens fled, to find a more suitable home and they found Aeva, where they were treated to a much-needed truce. They make themselves at home atop the chilly crags, soaring around the archipelago, feasting themselves on Imperial captives and breeding with fine Raptorlord stock. Most shockingly, the Hagravens actually gave something in return for all that the native Aevans offered them. Once infamous for slaying their rare male offspring, they now offer them to their fathers to raise as mighty warriors, tall and raven-skinned like their mothers. Only amongst the Raptorlords is it such a great privilege to be Hagspawn. Their eyes are like a hawk's, their voices are like thunder and they are rarely seen without an unkindness of ravens trailing after them, like a cloak crafted from the night itself. No Raptorlord father could hope for a finer son and there are many tales sung about the beauty of the Hagravens and the valor of their children.

Tempestuous Love

Despite their lust for war and structure, the Raptorlords are a surprisingly prolific people when it comes to the oral tradition. Though much of it is incredibly fanciful and considered as hearsay, many of their tales can amazingly be relevant to the current age. One significant example is a story which suggests a connection between the Raptorlords and the Lord of the Tempest from the Northern Sea in which it borders. Ulpaka, as the Raptorlords call the Lord, existed from a time before even the Old Empires, during the time of the Itol seafarers who ruled the world's oceans. Ulpaka was a known as a great warrior capable of immense brutality as well as practiced finesse in battle. His strength and agility so impressed the goddess Aeva that She fell in love with Him. She then manifested as a mortal woman in order to express Her love to Ulpaka, laying with Him and eventually bearing four daughters and three sons.

The seafaring Itol were considered enemies of the land, seething when they have learned of Aeva's mortal form coupled with the fearsome warrior Ulpaka. But they also saw potential for their own progress in the goddess's assumed mortality. They would concoct a cunning plan to rid the world of its land and cover it with boundless ocean by perverting Aeva's powers. The Itol waited ever so patiently until Ulpaka was caught unawares and captured the goddess's mortal form. With the goddess in their clutches, the Itol began to ceaselessly lash at Her formerly pure form, the loss of Her flesh resulting in entire sections of the world falling into churning seas. So enraged was Ulpaka that he proceeded to chase the Itol on land, and when the land beneath his feet fell into the sea, he swam the seas fueled by an indescribable fury at his loss.

When Ulpaka caught up with the Itol, there would indeed be revenge. Lashing at Aeva once more, the Itol had then cast Her out of their vessel, buying them just enough time to rise forth from the waves and into the skies. The distraction was enough to send Ulpaka's finishing strike at the remnants of the Itol, encasing them in a prison of ice, never to be seen from again. The sight of Her scarred body made Him weep with the deepest sorrows, sorrows which would soon ignite into a boundless rage as he pursued the villainous Itol once more across the ocean, drifting away from Aeva and their children as He grasped at His enemies, barely out of reach. Undeniably scarred by the Itol's evil, Aeva became terrified of the mortality She had assumed, resuming the form of the goddess once more and descending back into the earth. Now without their father Ulpaka to guide them and with Aeva in dire need of love once more, their seven children began to fight with one another, forming the Cairns and perpetuating a war that lasts to this very day.

Terror of the Seas

Such ends the Tale of the Forefather, a tragic story with very real implications. It can very well be assumed that the Itol refer to the Iotold people, a seafaring people who nearly met a supernatural end - likely that of the Lord of the Tempest - weren't for their ability to adapt and take their whales to the sky. It is also known that the Raptorlords also fare the Northern Sea in search for battle against their fellow Cairnsmen, somehow able to traverse it without drawing the ire of the Lord and His ilk. There are even accounts of their ability to summon forth Stormrays from the icy depths to assist them on the waters, easily suggesting an alliance with the Lord. Though it is unknown exactly what the Iotold did to cause such devastation to their homelands, the story is sure to involve the Raptorlords in one way or another.

As the Raptorlords travel the Northern Sea to fight each other, they are not averse to taking the fight to others they encounter along the way. They are known to raid trading vessels as well as going hull-to-hull with even the mighty Imperial Warships. Despite the heavy armoring and vastly superior firepower, the Raptorlords manage to be incredibly swift on the violent surf. And when that fails, they are still able to summon forth terrors of the deep to give them the edge in a naval battle. To no one's surprise, the Raptorlord menace is something which can certainly spell a ship's doom on the Northern Sea, leading most sailors to avoid them at all costs. It has even forced others to cease maritime trading with the Empire altogether.

Victory against the Empire

Emperor Margurim IX became increasingly worried about the economy as a particularly strong rash of Raptorlord attacks were reported, especially as he had already dealt with the third of the Lord of the Tempest's assaults upon the Empire's north. He decided to end this threat once and for all, assembling the most majestic naval fleet he could at the Imperial Port, setting them out to the northwest towards Aeva, to take them out at their nest. It would prove to be a foolhardy decision which made for the worst naval defeat in the Empire's otherwise glorious military history. The Raptorlord fleets united and sailed circles around the Imperial fleet, striking at them with weaker, but more plentiful shots. Some of the ships were destroyed from the strikes alone, others were driven off into rocky shoals, others even capsized while trying to evade more than the ships could handle. The Raptorlords won the battle handily, leaving all the ships wrecked or otherwise missing and only half of the fleet surviving. Even the survivors would find their way back to the Empire over the course of a decade, their defeat that absolute.

Upon the fleet's defeat at Aeva, the Imperial people clamored out for the Emperor's abdication. Some even demanded that he be executed for sending so many out there to certain death. The din grew so much that the Department of Inquiry got involved, bringing the Emperor before his own Royal Judiciary to testify on the charges. The trial had gripped the Empire over the course of a month, but the Judiciary absolved the Emperor of the charges. Though the result was expected - by law, the second-in-line to the throne serves on the Judiciary - it also spurred forth some of the greatest reforms in Imperial naval warfare, such as creating ships which could move much faster than their old Warships and introducing tactics and maneuvers to better evade a Raptorlord assault, among other changes. It also had a cultural effect on the people. For instance, it is best to change course when one sees a raven on the seas. Another example would be an insult someone wouldn't ever want to be the target of: "To Aeva with you!"

The Volcanoes of Vosagar

To the south of the Shiallan Mountains and the Narsum Cas'shren lies a subcontinent of dry earth, rock, and lava, a place which has only be recently discovered by the Empire. Word of the land was spread by the Triolites of western Vashial once they made their way to Tabula Gloria, spinning forth tales of the Wodamen, a brutal and savage people who stalked the western coast of the land in search for treasure and blood. These stories drew the attention of Ruti Corva, a privateer captain often hired by the Empire for various tasks. His lust for the unknown in a world when even distant Animar was well mapped drew him to this particular challenge. He would set off from Port Endeavor with the Emperor's funding and his blessing. One year later, he would make it to the land of the Wodamen, a place which would come to be known as Vosagar.

A Structured Society

Corva would sail along the southern coast of Weylos, past the mouth of the Ponban River, and would land just south of the Narsum Cas'shren, presumably the biggest challenge were he to travel by land. Landing on the stretch of land between the marshlands and the subcontinent, he would come across rather shy tribesmen of many eyes and many arms, hiding from Corva and his crew seemingly out of fear. He would explore further west to the islands of Conto and Basta, discovering more barbaric peoples there. Before he would set foot into the subcontinent, Corva would continue his way around the verdant coast, spotting the otherwise elusive Huweysh Isle of the Eighth Master Monks along the way. Finally, he would pull his ship on the coast, where he was not met by the roving warriors of the Triolite legend, but of an equally inquisitive people, hardy and husky though they may have been.

The people called themselves the Mota and their coastal land of fertility, the Mot. Through the next couple of months, Corva and his crew would slowly decode some of the Mota's language of rough consonant and long vowel sounds. The stories that emerged from the rugged language were both interesting and terrifying at the same time. The Mota first tell of their role in the society, farming and raising cattle in order to pay a tribute to their masters on the volcanoes, who they called the Wodamen. Every new moon, the Wodamen would descend from their perch to collect half of their subjects' harvest to live off of for the month ahead. The Mota's lands were also used to construct crude shipyards and ports, serving as bases for which the Wodamen could set off through the shallow coastal waters to loot and plunder nearby peoples and villages. The Mota would not say of the fate of those who do not comply to the Wodamen's will, such a fate probably too much for them to bear.

Spiraling Inward

Continued study of the Mota and the occasional visit by the Wodamen led to more information about the Wodamen's society. Further inland from the tree-lined Mot lies the dusty dunes and sporadic oases of Elk. Roaming these lands are the Elkel, strange horned creatures much like the ungulates of the mainland, if not for the humps upon their backs and splayed toes to better negotiate the shifting sands of their domain. These creatures were spotted in the Mota village in which Corva stayed, suggesting that they were beasts of burden for them, and likely the Wodamen up on high as well. Traveling further inland from Elk, one would have to make it through rough hills and growing crags, ascending upon the almost completely dry and blazing mountains of Gar. It is here where the Wodamen construct their permanent huts of stone, showing productivity of their own by mining copper and tin to construct their armors with, and bore into underground springs so that they do not die of thirst.

Deep within Gar is the volcanic region of Vos, a truly perilous place in which Mota and Wodaman alike consider the home of the gods. The trek from the mountainous Gar to the dizzying and blazing heights of Vos is dangerous for even the hardy Wodamen, though a necessary trip for the warrior people. On the lava-streaked slopes of the twin volcanoes there - Vosei and Vosam - are rich deposits of obsidian, the material sharpened and fashioned into deadly and effective tips for their spears. In the tight valley between the volcanoes lies an unnamed ziggurat of equally unknown origin, a structure surprisingly not ravaged by the lava on the slopes. It's almost as if the lava actively avoids the structure. Vos is truly a place in which most men would die and even most adventurers find daunting, the Wodamen visit regularly, an example of their strength and fortitude.

The Call to Holy War

Usually the Wodamen only visit the Mot in order to gather their supplies from the Mota or to sail off for adventure. However, a Wodaman had come by just to take a break from the toil of their land, if only briefly. Speaking with the rust-skinned beast of a man, Corva described to him the thunderous shouts which emanated from deep within the volcanoes of Vos, a sound amplified likely by the valley in which the ziggurat was situated. At that description, the Wodaman gave out a hearty guffaw before going into a little more about their culture. The ziggurat is the home of the Vos, the God-kings, beings who had taught the people to become more than animals, to become men - a state in which he called Woda. He then pulled out from his bag a helmet adorned with a crest of Elkel mane and the images of two figures bearing the most snarling, vicious grins that could be imaginable, accurate depictions of the God-kings.

The Wodaman would then describe the shouts as orders from the gods, orders in which they would follow, be they to seek new resources in Gar and Vos, or to set sail to plunder elsewhere. It is a skill that the Wodamen were honing over the generations, slowly but surely sharpening their minds for the day in which the ziggurat would give the final order for the Wodamen to leave Vosagar to engage in a bloody holy war and bend the whole world to its will. The Wodaman wasn't engaging with Corva out of an indulgence of his cultural curiosity. He was simply issuing a friendly warning to him about a battle to come!

A Haunting of Thunder

Though laughable the concept of barbaric Wodamen taking over the world, especially with the might of the Empire of For'Channar only rising and the Nation of Animar as stable as it is, Corva couldn't help but to hear the shouts of Vos, even as he and his crew departed from the Mot coastline. Along the Weylosian coast, through Port Endeavor, along the Emperor's Road, and all the way back to Tabula Gloria, the explorer and his crew could not get the shouts to stop from echoing through their minds. Perhaps they were indeed the words of God-kings, the premonition of holy war everlasting. Even as they were welcomed back into the capital's walls with endless cheers and given a hero's honor, the shouts would not end. Even as Corva made his way to the Royal Palace to be knighted by the Emperor for his accomplishments, the thunder would not cease. It had to end, and it had to end now!

As the Emperor held out his sword to render Knightly honors upon Corva, the explorer could only reach out and grasp the Emperor's hands with a tremble, before plunging himself upon the blade. The court was shocked, running to pull Corva off of the Emperor's sword, wondering why such an illustrious man would do such a thing to himself. And though they managed to extricate the blade from Corva's bosom, the deed had been done. The explorer's life vanished from his glassy gaze as his blood pooled on the fine marble of the throne room floor. By the end of the decade, the rest of Corva's crew had met similar fates of self-destruction, also unable to ward off the piercing howl of the Wodamen's call.

The Old Empires

THIS SECTION NEEDS WORK! PLEASE CONTRIBUTE!

The world of Tabula Gloria is rife with remnants from old civilizations which thrived before the formation of the Empire of For'Channar. In some of the places, semblances of civilization still exist, making these places still relevant to the Imperial way of life.

Benalor

Locations in the former Empire of Benalor

It is said that the first King of Benalor was forged in the mighty metals of the mountains in which the Empire called home. While that is certainly not the case, the greatest contribution of the Benaloran people was their mechanical creations. The mountains made for an extremely difficult place for people to live, but they have always were one step ahead throughout their history. They are theorized to be the first people to learn how to make and use tools, as well as learning how to improve upon them. This rich history of ingenuity eventually became ingrained into their very culture. With this tradition, it wouldn’t be too much to assume that they were the first of the Old Empires to form.

The first King of Benalor, Copal, was known to be an ever-busy man, always looking for new ways to solve problems. He came to power as the people had to band together under duress, fell creatures overflowing from the steppe to the east and the forests of the north and south were making their way into their precious mountains. Their rock and bone weapons could not last against the incessant waves of the monstrous horde besieged upon them. It was Copal who figured out how to forge weapons in the metals of the mountain, formerly relegated only as a decorative material. With these new, longer lasting arms, the Benalorans were able to drive the creatures back to the foothills of the mountains.

From there, the advances were rapid. The metals were also used to fortify homes and buildings upon the mountains. Further advances were made into making these metal weapons and constructs more durable. Then there was crude, man-powered machinery, the lever and pulley. Once that happened, the machinery only got more complex and more efficient. By this time, many Benalorans were starting to understand the mysteries of mana and using it to create magical effects. This was unsurprisingly applied to the machinery, advancing it into mind-boggling creations run without man or beast of burden. They soon became a feared power, holding sway over the developing Weylosians to the southwest and becoming a powerhouse in trade, able to retain that position for a while due to their distance from the powerful Vashialian people to the far west.

But things would not go in the Benalorans’ favor. First there was the Weylosian betrayal, in which the former ally sent spies to learn about their higher technologies so they could make them their own. Now at war with the Weylosians, they sought entry into the Central Lands to increase their holdings and to gain a strategic advantage. In due time, this dragged Benalor into the dreaded Three-Way War. After suffering insurmountable losses in the Central Lands, Benalor became the first of the Old Empires to back out of the war, the pride of the Empire in shambles. During this recession of power, there were attempts to bring Benalor back into prominence. The largest of these attempts was the World Engine of Bjalfi, animated by Nytherio Siev to become a walking mountain. It however went rogue and was eventually reprogrammed to wander in an unpopulated part of the Empire.

In a last ditch effort to rekindle their status as the first and the best Empire, Benalor launched the Heavenrider Program under King Esteg III to seek possibly greater gains in the Heavens Above. They built magnificent technology to accomplish this task, the likes of which never seen or imagined even by the technologically savvy laymen of the Empire. The launch of the Heavenriders towards the sky was successful, that in and of itself sending the Empire into a delirious celebration. Over time though, the gifted Heavenriders would never return, bringing immense political pressure unto the Benaloran government. But then one of them came back, falling to the ground like a shooting star blazing through the night sky. Though it was indeed the body of a Heavenrider, even in its signature uniform, the voice was of a denizen of the Heavens Above foretelling the Empire’s doom for trying to escape their place on the world.

The stories of Benalor’s end vary only in what the creature, the Wight, told the witnesses of his fall to the mountains. Though the words conveyed by the creature could be interpreted differently, the meaning is all the same. A brilliant bolt of light shot down from the Heavens Above, piercing through the Imperial Seat, causing a fireball that shot back towards the Heavens as if in protest. All of this was followed by a deafening boom which rang through the ancient mountains, the sonic blast followed by a maelstrom of debris and fire in every direction.

The only survivors of the catastrophe were those who had evacuated to the Gate, a shelter and escape ship they had built during the development of the Heavenrider Program for the slight possibility that something like this would happen. However, the refugees had only locked themselves inside the massive machine, unable to go back out after the dust settled. They too would die, but with a whimper. Dehydration, starvation, and madness gripped those unfortunate enough to have escaped the blast, leaving them inside their massive coffin. And such was the end of the First Empire. First to exist. First to fade away.

The Ebony Tower

The closest of the Benaloran ruins to the Empire other than present-day Fort Minnamack, the obelisk-like structure of the Ebony Tower had once stood as an example of Benaloran ingenuity and dominance in the mountainous region. Constructed of stone with an obsidian exterior polished to a reflective finish, the Tower was home to the College of Shapers, the preeminent institution in all of Benalor. After the calamity which consumed Benalor however, the Tower no longer stands as tall as it did over the nearby Canis Falls. Despite the main structure having fallen from the event, many of the subterranean levels beneath the Tower remained intact, providing an excellent opportunity for explorers to scour the ruins for ancient treasure and knowledge.

The College of Shapers

Do not let the name mislead you, for the College of Shapers is nothing like the Department of Shapers of the Imperial University. Though there is evidence that the College may be a precursor of present-day Shaper Magic as the Empire defines it, the Benalorans saw Shaping as a combined process of physical engineering and magical augmentation, shaping the world around them into the forms they wished it to become. The practice of Shaping would usually involve the assembly of a machine by workers in a factory, which would then go to College's mages which would somehow breathe life into the machines to various degrees, depending on the machine and the task in which it would be assigned.

For instance, smaller machines of convenience, such as the quintessential Evertorch, were found to have the instructions for two spells etched upon it. The first spell would be upon the bottom of the grip, designed to absorb ambient mana into the device at that point. This absorption spell would be found on many other Benaloran machines, which suggested that it used mana primarily as a fuel source above all else. The second spell on the device was found on the rim of the torch before the opening, which converted the energy into light which would emit from the business end. The intensity of the light could be adjusted by a turn of the dial, the mechanism containing various components of the spell which dealt with such.

Further Distinction

The other difference between the Benaloran College and the Imperial Department lies in the structure and function of each. Unlike the scholastically oriented University, the College of Shapers functioned more like a guild than anything else, merely an official association of practicing Shapers. The structure of it was also very much like the traditional apprenticeships of the present-day guilds. An apprentice would be selected to join the College, in which it would learn the basics of Shaping on both the factory floor and in the magical laboratory - it was important to the Shapers to be able to perform both parts of the task instead of becoming either a grunt of the factory or a lofty mage. Once graduated, the apprentice would become a journeyman who would travel throughout Benalor to hone his craft until he attained the title of Master Shaper by the College. By then, he could either become an independent Shaper, or return to the College to train the next generation as well as assist on collaborative research.

It is also noteworthy that the College operated separately from the Benaloran administration, which focused more on maintaining order within as well as handling foreign policy. Though it had to follow many of the government's labor laws (which were surprisingly progressive at the time, protecting children under the age of ten from working in the harsh conditions of the factories), the College otherwise regulated itself. Annually, the College would send out a wave of Inspectors, who were tasked with ensuring that College-certified Shapers both within the College itself and among the independent Shapers in the Benaloran cities were maintaining the College's meticulous standards for Shaping. In the case of independent Shapers, the inspection was two-fold, for whenever they produced a machine, they had to make a duplicate for inspection. By College standards, the machine would have to be made for constructive and peaceful purposes unless otherwise commissioned by the Benaloran government or the College itself. This process was usually regulated within the College's laboratories, so that part of the yearly inspection for those working there provided to be a moot point.

Spies in the Tower

One such commission would be the development of the Ansals, fighting machines which were developed for the Weylosions in order to resist a likely Vashialian advance from the west. Though Benalor was usually wary of involvement in foreign disputes, it knew well of the growing threat of an increasingly militant Vashial at the time. As their intelligence suggested that the Central Lands were difficult to reach via the Forests, the easier vector for Vashial to overtake Benalor would be through Weylos. As such, an alliance was made and the Shapers got to work on the fighting machines. The beginnings of mass production were in swing at the Tower, the Shapers able to fully construct and augment the Ansals in record time, as time was indeed of the essence if the Weylosians' concerns were correct. At the core of the Ansals' prowess was not just how easily a pilot could operate the machine, and the various armaments equipped upon it, but a small device hidden inside the chassis called the Mana Redistributor, or the MaR for short, which consisted of both an Absorption spell which would sap the Vashialian mages' mana, and then a Conversion spell which would turn it into fuel for the machine.

The Ansals proved extremely effective at the Weylosian fort of Falmarch, driving back the Vashialians beyond the Ponban River to the west. The Weylosians however knew that the alliance with Benalor couldn't last, knowing that they would come in to take their lands in due time. They had to figure out how to make these machines themselves, and fast. Under the guidance of Weylosian tactician Tremaine Laurense, a group of spies posing as Weylosian diplomats were sent to Benalor with the task of stealing the technology for Weylos. Little did they know that it would take more than just schematics - which the College made public - to be able to make an Ansal. It took the sophisticated process of Shaping to make the Ansal functional. For months, the supposed diplomats took an interest in the College of Shapers, an amateur move which alerted the Benaloran authorities. The spies would be executed for their crimes, the Weylosian government never publicly admitting fault in the matter. But the Benalorans had a fail-safe available - the remote deactivation of the MaR's within the Ansals, rendering them inoperable.

The Heavenrider Program

Soon after, the Benalorans tried to invade the Central Lands to stem an incoming Vashialian advance, only to be locked into a war of attrition with the magical army. It would be a battle in which they lost gravely, retreating the scant remains of their troops back into the mountains. With Benalor terribly disgraced from the failed attack and with the government facing intense opposition from its people, it commissioned the College to devise a machine which would ascend into the Heavens Above. Strapped on funds after the war effort, the College postponed production on all of their other projects in order to complete what would come to be called the Heavenrider Program. Numerous tests would prove that the machine could both ascend into the Heavens and come back to Benalor unharmed, prompting the government to allow specially-trained ambassadors to board the machine, along with a highly classified box of cargo. The launch was successful and Benalor was in uproar - perhaps something could be gained by this trip to restore Benaloran prestige.

The College served as mission control for the Program, using the complex spells etched into the machine to track its location, the integrity of the hull, the health of the ambassadors, so forth and so on. The ride went smoothly until they reached a particular point in which the Imperials would later call the Heaven's Horizon. Once it reached there, a heavy pocket of mana interfered with the machine's spells, cutting off communications with it and its crew. This was somewhat expected, as the tests showed a brief lack of communication at this point, the spells on board calibrated to adjust accordingly. However, communications never resumed and the machine never returned to Benalor. After waiting for hours, the mission had to abort, the Heavenriders on board assumed as killed in action.

History knows the rest of the story from there, the story of the Wight's fall to Benalor and the cataclysm which ensued. The Tower was summarily destroyed in the event.

War of the Colleges

Interestingly enough, the history of the Ebony Tower continued past the terrible end of Benalor and into the Empire of For'Channar. During the early formation of the Empire, old mages of the Vashialian tradition and even surviving Shapers from the former Benalor who survived the Three-Way War and the end of their own nation were integrated into the new government, soon forming magical Colleges of their own. These Colleges were not structured and regulated like that of the Benaloran College of Shapers, and were certainly more politically motivated. With the ascension of Margurim II to the throne came the founding of the Imperial University. By the new Emperor's decree, the various Colleges of magic established in the Empire and its bounds would be evaluated by the Chancellor for inclusion into the University as officially sanctioned forms of magic, to become Departments under the new College of Magical Arts. Unsurprisingly, this move infuriated those who practiced some of the more dubious traditions, including the Fleshmages of the ethnic Vashialians. Many of these mages rescinded their Imperial citizenship and headed elsewhere to continue their studies. Given the shambled and dangerous state of Vashial, many relocated to the subterranean halls of the Ebony Tower's ruins.

The Emperor would not stand for such subordination and would send a battalion of the newly-minted Battlemages to the ruins to rout out the detractors. A painter, mage, and intellectual who moved out to the ruins would be the first to hear of the plot. Guyle Bezier was a jack of all trades to many, and certainly an eccentric to go along with it. He pioneered the mentally intensive art of Mnemonics, which used mana like a paintbrush, transcribing the artist's thoughts and emotions onto a magically-reactive surface. It was not this for which he made the exodus to the Tower's ruins, but rather his intellectual outrage at the Empire's policy on cherry-picking the magic which can be used there. Being the renaissance man he was, Bezier also possessed a silver tongue, rallying many of the other mages there with an eloquent, impassioned speech about the Empire's oppression upon free thought and free expression. The Battlemages were met with resistance once they got to the ruins, but the brief "War of the Colleges" was handily won by the Battlemages' discipline as well as their strategy. Bezier would be among those who would surrender, brought back to Tabula Gloria in chains, living the rest of his days in prison.

The Ruins Today

Though the Ebony Tower experienced a large brunt from the disaster which ended Benalor, there is not nearly as much magical radiation present there, as with the Wastes of Vashial. Other than the usual array of hostile creatures stalking the mountains, and an occasional Drakonid ambush, explorers and intellectuals alike freely travel between the Empire and the ruins of the Tower today. Some entrepreneurs even tout the ruins as a prime tourist attraction for those traveling east. Despite the relative lack of danger in the trip itself, retinues of soldiers and Battlemages usually accompany those going there. There are many portions of the maze-like subterranae still unexplored by Imperial eyes, perhaps hosting relics of old. There may still be security machines still running in the deep halls, easily able to kill an unsuspecting explorer. There are definitely scores of tiny Limmians scouring through the ruins, set upon the task of rebuilding the impossibly destroyed facility with whatever they can find. It is usually best to avoid them whilst exploring - one blasted opening you may have walked through before may be sealed by the Limmians by the time you make your way back.

An even greater threat within lies in the mages which were neither killed nor captured during the War of the Colleges. Most of them would likely have died by now, but given many of the forbidden magics practiced by the rogue mages, some of them may have survived to this day, immensely more powerful now than they were during the time of Margurim II. Of course, some of them may have simply reproduced, producing a line of mages taught to harbor hatred for the Empire and its brethren.

The Canis Falls

Situated directly west of the ruins at the Ebony Tower, the Canis Falls provided a dramatic backdrop for those who were traveling between Benalor and the Central Lands, with the former Tower rising high above the falls in its glory. Today, the Falls are as splendid as they were during Benalor's heyday, though there seems to be a growing monster presence directly around them. Sadly, this limits the opportunities of travelers to get close to the Falls, having to take a longer, safer route to reach the ruins beyond. There is also a rumor that there is a secret passage into some of the deepest layers of the Tower's subterranae behind the Falls for the truly adventurous explore to find.

The World Engine

Formerly the Grand Mountain Bjalfi, the colossal World Engine now walks a circular path to the very north of the Benalor Mountains. Literally an animated mountain range, the Engine was once a threat to Benalor before the Three-Way War and the Heavenrider Program, and it is still quite a danger today to those passing through the area. The Engine itself is locked in its path, which has become the deep Rickol Valley, named after the Shaper who had managed to redirect the mountain to its present course. However, rocky creatures of magical origin still spawn forth from the Engine's slopes, as well as other creatures finding the moving mountain as a new home. Caution is heavily advised when traveling in or near the Valley.

Stagnant Genius

The College of Shapers have produced some of the greatest minds and mages of Benaloran history. It however also produced one of the most dangerous.

Nytherio Siev was a rising star in the Shapers' ranks. Attaining the title of Master Shaper at a mere seventeen years of age, unheard of at the time, Siev chose to go back to the College to work with the colleagues he had met during his studies there. Despite his achievements, Siev would have to climb the ladder like all the other Shapers who come back to the College. Many of the higher ranks in the College saw that even though Siev had undeniably proved that he possessed a body of knowledge and work worthy of a Master, his condescending attitude towards his peers and his oft disregard for authority had made him one who could not be allowed to continue his otherwise meteoric rise in the College. Though the reiteration of this reasoning during the many disciplinary hearings Siev would attend certainly frustrated the young Shaper, it seemed like things were going in the right direction when Siev was twenty-two.

Shapers may be mostly known for their mechanical aptitude, but Siev preferred to focus on projects concerning the Shaping of nature. One particular project had especially taken the young Shaper's fancy. The mines of the Grand Mountain Bjalfi in the eastern part of the mountains were a vital source for many of the materials which went into the various forms of technology Benalor would produce, especially many of the magically-reactive materials which were required for the etched spells to work. There was one problem though: the very same materials became extremely volatile when struck against hard enough during the mining process, causing for a clearly unacceptable rate of casualties among the miners. The idea that Senior Shaper and Siev's former teacher Elzenar Morad proposed was to craft a legion of animated golems to do the more dangerous work, leaving the sifting, cleaning, and sorting of ores and other materials to the miners. Siev would prove to be an invaluable asset to Morad's development of the Work Engines, large enough to handle prolonged labor and heavy lifting, but small enough for soldiers to deal with in the case that one would go rogue.

An Unrecognized Effort

Once development and experimentation of the Work Engines were complete, Morad would publish his findings and present them to the College for approval. Siev attended the presentation, sitting in the front row of the auditorium. Not only had Siev helped his former teacher with much of the manual labor involved and proofread the article before submission, he had also helped Morad modify existing Shaper spells and even devise new ones in order for the Work Engines to function properly. The crown jewel of Siev's contributions was an intricate spell which allowed for the Work Engines to recognize the Benaloran language and follow orders based on spoken directions. Beforehand, an animated golem would only follow one set of instructions as etched on them. To repurpose a golem was a painstaking task: one would have to use a separate machine to stem the flow of mana going to the golem, file off the old spell from the golem, and etch a new one into it before resuming the mana flow in order for a golem to follow the new directions.

Per Collegiate procedure, the presenter of new findings would list those who had assisted in the project at the end of the lecture. For whatever reason, Siev was not mentioned in that list of names, a fact that had infuriated the young Shaper. For three long and grueling years, he had put his ego and his pride on the shelf to assist Morad to create what was sure to be the greatest innovation in Shaping since the first Shaper etched his first spell onto a pulley system to make it work by itself. And now here was the Senior Shaper taking the credit, especially for developing the most difficult components of this gracious gift to Benalor! He even listed the apprentices and journeymen who had did some of the grunt work on their holidays off!

Nytherio Siev would have none of this!

Communing with the Mountain

Neither Morad nor the rest of the College had seen Siev after the presentation. Morad himself was frantically looking throughout the Tower, even on the grounds by the Canis Falls. The old man had accidentally skipped past his name during the credits in his haste, finding himself strapped for time after having to discuss the vocal recognition spell at length. He had wanted to apologize to his colleague, but could not find him the dark of night. No one could. Perhaps he had gone home in a fuss, his residence a few miles to the north of the Tower at the time. Morad could visit him in the morning and apologize there. But when the Senior Shaper reached his home, no one was there. He peered through a broken window and saw that furniture was wrecked and belongings were strewn about. Did Siev get robbed, or worse!? As the community was looking for the young Shaper, he had in fact packed some of his belongings and left his home, disgraced. He was sure that someone would discover his rather vulgar resignation letter from the College, parting himself from the treacherous lot who only wished to use him rather than to embrace him for his contributions to the College and the betterment of Benaloran society. He was headed to the only place in which he could find solace now, the mines of the Grand Mountain Bjalfi.

He had settled into one of the closed mines in which he performed the first experiments on the Work Engines. It was here that he wrote and rewrote the critical vocal recognition spell, over and over, getting the wording absolutely right before he etched it onto the test subject. It worked like a dream, much better than planned! The golem followed every one of Siev's commands, much to the amazement of Morad. It had even recognized the inflection in Siev's voice as he demonstrated that even a panicked foreman could shut down the Engine with a desperate shout for it to stop. Just three years ago, those proved to be the best times of Siev's life, realizing that he was truly as talented at Shaping as the College claimed him to be upon earning the title of Master. But now the College had threw him aside, leaving him with only his deactivated companions, slumped heavily and lifelessly against the walls of the mine shaft.

Siev rummaged through the bag he had brought with him, pulling out a moleskin journal, a grin spreading across his face as he looked through the pages. He quickly grabbed his Shaper's tools and approached one of the test subjects. He would spend the next ten years of his life as a self-imposed exile at Bjalfi, perfecting the work he had started. At first, he would combine his vocal recognition spell with a list of keywords etched through the spell to allow for a degree of specialization in the golem's tasks, giving him more control over them and making others unable to give commands unto it. One group of golems would be assigned to gather food and water for him, another would gather materials for him to build a more permanent home, while another would ward off monsters wandering too close to his new home. From there, he would gradually scale the golems, making them larger and larger, making them of more durable materials from the mountain. By the end of the ten years, Siev would grow into a rugged man, confident in his self-dependency, no longer needing the College. Or Benalor, for that matter. He would soon begin the pinnacle of his efforts from that point.

The Wandering Peaks

Twenty years had passed since a disgraced Nytherio Siev arrived at the Grand Mountain Bjalfi. Investigators had found his resignation letter after his former teacher Elzenar Morad alerted them of the presumed break-in. They spent more time looking for him, considering the letter to be a ruse at first, an amateur ploy to misdirect investigators from discovering a far more gruesome fate for the budding Shaper. But even the tenacious investigators had to call off the search, closing the case of Siev and declaring him for all intents and purposes, dead. By this time, the aging Morad had passed away, his post of Senior Shaper being taken over by one of Siev's former peers, Sorenev Rickol. The College of Shapers had long since gotten over the shock of Siev's own presumed passing, some of them actually holding him in high regard at the time.

On the first morning of apprentice classes, Rickol had entered the same auditorium in which his Morad had delivered his developments on the Work Engines, to deliver the opening address to a crowd of eager, bright-eyed Shapers-to-be. A light rumbling had been heard since the previous night, most people dismissing them as the region is known to have the occasional earthquake, especially in the northern and eastern portions of the mountains. Rickol opened up his folio, pulling out the prepared address and opening his mouth to speak. Nothing came out of his lips before he was interrupted by a colleague, whispering something into his ear. He instructed the new students to proceed to the subterranae of the Tower with their instructors until further notice. As Rickol went to his chambers with his colleagues to discuss the goings-on, the rumbling grew stronger in the east, in the direction of Bjalfi. There, a battle for the safety of Benalor was brewing.

The Benaloran military had just authorized an assault on what seemed to be a moving mountain. It was as if the Grand Mountain had sprouted legs and crawled forth from the deep chasm its awakening had left, looking like a colossal insect of some sort with a snowy mountain perched upon its back. The military's Land Recon Brigade was the first to encounter it, unable to get too close to it due to the seismic activity each step caused. Next came the Aerial Recon Brigade to inspect the phenomenon from the sky, which managed to get a visual on a man riding atop the mountain. A man who would be later identified as the late Nytherio Siev.

To Siege a Mountain

Soon after the identification was made, one of the walking mountain's massive legs reached up and swiped at the flying machines, taking down a number of them with the one strike. To the remainder who evaded the attack, they recorded audio of Siev claiming his dominion on the mountains of Benalor, the "World Engine" as his throne. As the Recon Brigade retreated, so did Siev into one of the walking mountain's caverns. What ensued was a barrage of assaults to take the behemoth down before it reached the populated areas of the Ebony Tower and the communities spread around it. Waves of flying battle machines emptied entire arsenals of munitions into the craggy golem, all before flying carrier machines dropped regiments of soldiers upon the walking mountain. The soldiers scoured through the caves in search of Siev, only to run into packs of soulless, smaller golems that ripped through them like a hot knife through butter. Throughout the course of days, the battle raged on, the World Engine slowly but surely making its way to its target, the Ebony Tower, where the evacuees within the subterranae heard the rumblings grow steadily louder and felt the earth shake around them more and more.

With munitions and soldiers going to waste on the mountain and quickly running out of options, the military was approached by one of their own, a retired general by the name of Trausten Scyld. Though retired, the former general maintained a sense of youth and vigor with both his body and attitude. He was best known for leading his Beneloran forces to defend the western fort at Minaumec (present-day Minnamack) against a Drakonid invasion, even though they were terribly outnumbered in the offensive. Reluctantly, the military took Scyld upon his offer, temporarily reinstating his commission as a general in order to give him more freedom in doing so. Unsurprisingly, Scyld got in contact with soldiers who were under his command at Minaumec, but he also got in contact with Rickol at the College. Whatever was making the mountain move, it was the work of Siev's highly advanced Shaping - he was indeed credited in the presentation about the Work Engines, after all. He would need someone with a similar caliber of Shaping to reverse it.

All other units were pulled back and two more carrier machines flew towards the mountains, a swarm of lesser golems waiting for the soldiers to drop. From one of the ships came Scyld and his troops, making their way with only their sturdy armor and broad shields - no traditional weapon outside of ship-mounted cannons could even damage, much less destroy, a golem. After the men forced their way into one of the caverns, said cannons cut loose, creating a cloud of mountain ash in their wake. As the landing zone was secured, the second machine landed there, dropping off Rickol surrounded by a retinue of similarly shielded soldiers, taking on the next wave of golem attacks as they trudged into the caverns behind Scyld's advance party. The fate of Benalor was in their hands.

At Wits' End

Slowly but surely, the World Engine continued on its course. Slowly but surely, so did Scyld, Rickol, and their soldiers continue on theirs. The trek was long and arduous, and indeed some of the soldiers perished in the push, but Scyld would not relent until the abomination was stopped. They made their way through the maze of old mine shafts, finally reaching Siev at a bridge connecting the two peaks of the Engine. Though the Shaper had become rugged and more experienced in survival, a crashing shot from Scyld's rifle was more than enough to take him down. As Scyld stayed with the injured Siev, Rickol and some of the remaining soldiers went into the chamber beyond the bridge. What awaited the fellow Shaper was beyond his wildest imagination. Lines and lines of carefully structured and meticulous spellwork was etched all along the walls of the chamber, from ceiling to floor. The complexity of the spell language and its syntax almost made Rickol dizzy. But he had to get to work now, for there was no time to waste.

Hours seemed like an eternity as the World Engine trundled ever closer to civilization. The golems were pushing against the remaining shields holding them at bay against the bridge, knocking one more of the soldiers over to his death. Frantically, Rickol flipped through his own journals, tracing the steps of the spellwork, putting each piece together. But there didn't seem to be a weakness in the construction of the spell, no word or phrase which could make it stop altogether. Frustrated, he looked around the room for any other clues. He looked to Scyld, who woefully shook his head - he had tried to force the answer out of Siev earlier, who resisted until he passed out. Furthermore he looked in the room until he found another journal in a dark corner of the chamber. He looked through it and got right to work, for Siev had documented the details of the spell. He was determined to gain recognition one way or another.

A word here, a phrase there. Filing out a portion here and moving it elsewhere. After another hour, the mountain shuddered to a halt, only to move again but in another direction. To fully stop the mountain, Rickol would have to perfectly imitate Siev's voice, which was nigh impossible. But the keywords as to the mountain's task, laden all throughout the spell, could be rearranged to change its course. So to the wild north the World Engine went and the party was picked up to return home. No one will know exactly how it is still going after such a long time, for golems of any size usually lose their ability to move after long enough. Siev died on the way back to Benalor from blood loss and exhaustion, his secrets relegated to his journal, though even that did not explain the deeper secrets of his work. It was work which may haunt this generation of people, for sightings of smaller golems have been made spreading ever farther away from the Rickol Valley in which the World Engine roams.

The Scab Pillar

The Scab Pillar is a gargantuan mass of unidentifiable flesh that sprang out of Benalor and unleashed a roar that frightened the natives and wildlife. Percival Corvinoth was sent to investigate its appearance, along with his consort and friend, Casiax Pelgenis, who brought a S'rrtep Psychic to communicate with the Pillar. Percival convinced a group of townsfolk who attacked the pillar to leave it alone, since they couldn't kill it then and there. Apparently, this mass of flesh is sapient and can communicate telepathically, but it's mental vocabulary is limited. It claims to have been some sort of ancient, worm-like behemoth that, upon eating its fill in shrubberies and wildlife, slept under the mountains for a thousand years. It appears to be benevolent, and claims to be able to "become something better" once the Pillar body dries off.

Vashial

Locations in the former Empire of Vashial

While Benalor was rapidly growing in the east of the Continent, a consortium of mystics were convening in the western Shiallan Mountains. A war had just been fought among various tribes, an event which had almost spilled into the entire Continent. A truce had been made as those who could commune with the flowing mana came together upon one of the northern peaks of the mountains, a neutral place in which its ancestral name has been forgotten to history. The Congress of the Magi as it would be called had the task of permanently ending the strife which was going to tear not only themselves apart, but the world around them as well.

It was during these meetings that the Congress formed the Realm of Vashial, a place which would include all of the tribes of the war, both the winners and the losers. The slate would be wiped clean and the people, Shialar and Anshial, Elborn and Alhamuur, would have a chance to start over, absolved of their crimes. Though in this configuration, the oligarchy of the Congress put itself into a tremendous position of power. Their collective mystic power concentrated, they would be very much able to demand just about anything with the threat of imminent destruction if they had wished. Fortunately for those beneath them, that would not be the case.

Under the charter the Congress had drawn up, the gift of magic was to be taught to each and every Vashialian, to never allow one to become more powerful than the rest. The proliferation of magic made what was once a potent tool of war into a commonplace tool of peace. Of course, there were to be cases in which this ideal would not come to pass, as some were simply incapable of communing with the mana, and others were exceptionally gifted at it. That problem would eventually work itself out over time and life would go on, the majority of the Vashialian population adept at performing magic to some degree. This was important because by the time this was achieved, the last of the oligarchs had died upon the Vashialian peak two hundred years after the formation of the Realm.

The final clause of the charter was put into place for this eventuality. It had put the Realm of Vashial into the people’s hands, now that they had spent time with each other, learning the ways of magic and becoming a generally more cohesive people because of it. At this point, the people would have to figure out the fate of the young nation amongst themselves, now that all their wise men were gone. A mother of three would soon come into the spotlight during this debate.

Tarekh al-Anshial was a middle-aged woman, unassuming in stature but spoke in a compelling way, reminiscent of the departed oligarchs. She would come to convince her fellow Vashialians that the ultimate gift of the oligarchs was not that of the magical arts, but rather the unification of the people, the chosen people. The ability overcome rivalries and wars spanning beyond their memory has certainly made them a cut above the others out there waiting to be taken into the Vashialian fold. Under her banner of assimilation, Tarekh would become the first ruler of the renamed Empire of Vashial.

The Vashialians would campaign to the west, all the way to the coast. They then conquered the lands as far south as the marsh of Narsum Cas’shren and as far east as Alboniset Lake and the Eternal Flow. After securing their natural borders, they then began to march their magical armies to the southeast, towards a fledgling nation of tribes known as Weylos. They believed that the Weylosians were very much like them in their infancy – a collection of warring peoples forced to unite under difficult times. But unlike the Vashialians, these savages knew not of the power of magic. This led them to assume that conquest was inevitable. However, they ran first into a martial prowess unheard of, and then into the mechanical wonders of the Benaloran reinforcements.

With the failure at Weylos, the slowly aging Queen Tarekh would bring her forces eastwards, towards the Central Lands beyond Phrennoack to gain an advantage over their worthy Weylosian foes. However, they would be stymied by Eltya and his Stags, powerful spiritual forces which greatly hindered their advance. By the time they had ended up taking the sea route into the north of the Central Lands, Queen Tarekh had died despite her efforts to extend her life further at 322 years of age. Her daughter and successor Jentha would vow to continue upon her mother’s campaign into the Central Lands.

Though the story of who made it to the Central Lands first varies from source to source, there are a number of sources which seem to agree that Vashial got there first. However, there is record that their stay there wasn’t without hardship, especially given the Stormlords’ dislike of their presence in the wild lands. Though the Stormlords couldn’t hold them off themselves, they did have an ally of their own – a stronger, more unified Weylos, free of Benaloran influence, as well as the mighty Sky Devourer at their disposal. Regardless of the Weylosian situation, Benalor still entered the fray, also seeking retribution against Weylos. Vashial and Benalor could have allied with each other to decimate Weylos if they had wished. Unfortunately for them, the glory-seeking Jentha did not even consider it.

The Three-Way War would ensue, with Vashial pushing Benalor back through sheer attrition. But their weakened mage warriors could not stand up to the combined forces of Weylos and the Stormlords, forcing their retreat back to the north of the Central Lands and back to Vashial in defeat. Back home, the defeat ate at the hearts and minds of the Vashialians, splitting them into three camps. The first was those loyal to Jentha, advocating that they lick their wounds and try to retake the Central Lands later. Another was an angry mob seeking to remove Jentha from the throne and install a better leader there. The third however saw the gift of magic as a curse and relocated themselves into the mana-thin western coast, becoming the Triolites.

Civil war broke out, skirmishes across the land splitting communities apart, devouring the very Empire into its own war with each other. Magic was turned against each other, the clashing of mana building up as the combatants tried to one-up each other. This was all until Jentha, who had become known as the Progenitor due to the large family she had spawned, unleashed the most hellish magic imaginable. The very life force of the Empire was drawn into her. Flora, fauna, and people alike suffered her wrath, no matter the association they had. The Empire of Vashial became Jentha’s in its entirety, a surge of power which drove her dead with madness. The residual magical radiation said to be coming from her corpse still taints the Wastes they left behind to this day.

Weylos

Locations in the former Empire of Weylos

Very much like Vashial, Weylos was originally a group of tribes. Unlike Vashial however, the tribes were generally at peace, for they had more to worry about than each other. Their land was one with some of the most dangerous wildlife imaginable, a land they shared with the Stormlords. Back in the ages in which the fauna was the only threat they had to contend with, the tribes worked well as they were. But then came two foes in which they had never experienced before. First was Benalor, a mechanical powerhouse to the east. Then came Vashial to the west, a magical juggernaut. To the tribes, having lived out the law of natural selection for so long, had to unite in the case that the new powers would try to take them over.

It was natural that the tribes headed south to Askanderre, the territory of the tribe with whom they held in the highest regard. The tribes’ collective concerns were brought to attention and they allied under the banner of Weylos, the Askanderian tortoise god of survival and the wild. From here, they had set along a path of combining the best qualities of each tribe into a unified combat force. The Ponbans of the western forests brought their skills of guerilla warfare. The Falmars of the central plains contributed their expertise of ranged weaponry. The Sedhors of the eastern highlands showed how to cultivate their many herbs. And finally the Askands applied their leadership to the myriad of disciplines in this new united force.

For generations, the Weylosians honed their skills and formed a bond with each other which was truly special. They were determined to keep their world under the natural order, to ward off those with ambitions so lofty as to bring the world to any other order. In the meantime, they took all the resources it could from the land in order to accomplish this task. Under the providence of the Great Tortoise, the Weylosians would come out victorious and they could restore the wilds afterwards. If Weylos is to be damned however, then they will give their lives before it is pulled under the thrall of an unnatural order, leaving the victors without spoils. They knew a war was coming, though they would not know of its outcome. And a war they got, a war which would end up beyond even their lengthy preparations, preparations which included entering an alliance with the less-aggressive Benalorans.

The opening salvo came from the magi of Vashial, marching across the cut-down Forests of Ponbanair. In the thick stumps of the former forests was where the Weylosians made their first stand, slowing down an overconfident Vashialian advance. However, their magic would easily wipe them about before advancing towards the dying grasses of the Falmarch Plains. It was there where the Benaloran allies had installed the mighty machines of the Ansal Corps, decimating their magical abilities with the mysterious devices on the Ansals. Together , the alliance was able to push the Vashialians back to their lands and the two nations celebrated heartily at Askanderre for days to come.

However, the Weylosian elders knew of Benalor’s threat still. Though the Ansals were instrumental in defeating the Vashialians at Falmarch, they were sure that Benalor was a host to even more advanced technology which could wipe them out more easily. By now, the elders were led by the master tactician Tremaine Laurense of Sedhorane, a man who suggested the use of espionage against the Benalorans while they still officially were allied. The Weylosians who were taught how to operate the Ansals were becoming more and more mechanically adept in the process, and Laurense knew that if they had information as to how to build their own battle machines, that this new breed of warrior would ensure a Weylosian victory across the board.

Unfortunately for Laurense though, the spies were caught at the College of Shapers at the Ebony Tower, looking in places in which they had no clearance. It was only a matter of time until the Benalorans would figure out the Weylosian ruse. Also by now, Vashialian forces were gathering to the far north in the Central Lands and the Stormlords have sent an emissary of their own to Askanderre. They would have to shift alliances now, quietly letting Benalor execute the spies without formally accepting responsibility for the matter, a political move which was intended to buy them enough time to fend off the second Vashialian offensive before they can refocus on Benalor.

What Laurense would never have guessed was that Benalor had also remotely deactivated the Ansals, rendering them inoperable. They would have to fight the Vashialians without this advantage, something the Stormlords were very unhappy with. They had heard of their might with the battle machines they had learned to master. Suffice it to say, the fight claimed the lives of many Weylosians and Stormlords alike, forcing the Garvenite natives to summon forth their powerful guardian, the Sky Devourer for the first time in their history. While the Sky Devourer ultimately ravaged the steppe irreparably, it clenched the victory for the new alliance, driving the Vashialians back home for the last time.

Though it was a victory, it was an expensive one, a fact which infuriated the Stormlord commander, Crenskaw of the Rushing River. In his rage, he commanded the remainder of his retinue to eliminate the Weylosian troops, the warriors massacring the exhausted warriors. Soon enough, Weylos would be invaded from the north by Crenskaw and a furious Stormlord army, with the Sky Devourer amidst them. Weylos’ doom was to be handed to them not by their unnatural enemies to the east and west, but to their primal brethren of the north. Unable to accept this fate, the vast majority of the Weylosian people kept true to the last part of their vow to the Great Tortoise, to give their lives as one last act of defiance. People dropped left and right as they dealt their own final blows to themselves, the last of which was Laurense, the man who brought all this to pass.

The blood of the Weylosians soak into the dead land around them, the transformation to the Wastes they are now already having started. From the parched land rose a mighty beast rivaling the might of even the Sky Devourer. Other than the rise of the Great Tortoise, recorded by one of the few Weylosians not to kill themselves, there is no other surviving record of the battle that must have ensued. But the result was just as the Weylosians planned – there would be no spoils for the victors. Whether the Stormlords and the Sky Devourer won or not is up for debate, but there are no Stormlords in the Weylosian Wastes today, so one can simply assume.

The Eastern Continent

Locations in the Eastern Continent

THIS SECTION NEEDS WORK! PLEASE CONTRIBUTE!

The Nation of Animar

THIS SECTION NEEDS WORK! PLEASE CONTRIBUTE!

Long has the Nation of Animar stood on the western coast of the Eastern Continent, said to have existed from the time of the Old Empires on the Western Continent. From its turbulent beginnings as a collection of fiercely independent Kingdoms to the relatively harmonious political and economic cooperative it is today, Animar has become the epitome of civilization on the Eastern Continent. Despite its long and powerful standing, they have kept their success to themselves, only ever acting in the capacity of an observer of Western affairs during the time of the Old Empires.

As such, Animar has built up an impressive collection of history from a relatively unbiased third-person perspective, something that was found to be immensely valuable to the Imperial College of Antiquities when an expedition team of theirs made For’Channar’s first contact with the Nation. In turn, this attracted the attention of the Emperor at the time, Margurim X, who funded expedition after expedition, almost bringing his government to financial ruin in the process. Under public and internal pressure, the Emperor became the only one to voluntarily abdicate his throne, going to Animar himself to learn more about them until the end of his life. His son and successor, Margurim XI, would commission and open the Embassy of Animar in Tabula Gloria in the meanwhile.

Since Animar became more of an active world power due to the opening of the Embassy, the people of the Western Continent have come to learn more about the Animari people and their way of life. At the root of all this is their federalized form of government. During the formation of the Nation, the many Kingdoms were in heated debate about maintaining their identity. Sure, the political and economic situation would certainly improve upon the Nation’s founding, but the Kingdoms were worried that they would be absorbed into a single culture based on the dominant Kingdom at the time, Paserna.

To alleviate these fears, the committee in charge of structuring the new National government decided to keep the Kingdoms the way they were, including their own individual governmental systems. This preserved the royal lines of the Kingdoms instead of abolishing their authority. However, the rulers of the Kingdoms would in turn elect a King and Queen to rule over a new entity, the Grand House, which would rule over the Kingdoms in major matters of political disputes, economic troubles, and matters of security. Of course, the Grand House would be located in Paserna per the charter that was drawn up, but it would be strictly forbidden to meddle in affairs of a Kingdom which are not expected to directly affect other Kingdoms in the Nation.

For the most part, the system worked better than expected to this point. They managed to subdue and even drive back the ever-present threat of the Chaktari natives to their south, forcing them to close themselves off to the southwestern peninsula of the Continent. When the Kingdoms weren’t united, they all had different methods of dealing with the tribal folk, all with varying degrees of success. If one Kingdom proved to be less effective than a neighbor, the Chaktari would go there instead. But with a unified approach to the Kingdoms’ collective security, they could all utilize the best strategy and utterly overwhelm the natives back to the peninsula.

On the other side of the coin however, there are some difficulties of seeking a majority opinion on other matters. It is common knowledge now that the Earth’s Cry, the massive mountain range to the east of Animar which spans through the center of the Continent, is indescribably dangerous to travel over. The seas to the north and south of the Continent are equally as difficult to traverse. These geographic obstacles have long prevented the Animari from expanding east into new territories and to gain new resources. Figuring out how to tackle this task has been debated for a long time with one point becoming downright impossible to overcome – the costs of the endeavor to the different Kingdoms. While by now trade has been simplified by the creation of a common currency, some Kingdoms which weren’t interested in eastward expansion feared they would have to unnecessarily pay into the project. In this case, a private explorer by the name of Zannawa Rosen undertook the task and recently completed the underground Rosen Passage which connects Animar to the southeastern part of the Continent.

The Animari experiment is still a work in progress, however long it has taken thus far. But their long road is still a point of pride among the Animari people, as well as a point of admiration among the Imperial people of For’Channar.

The Chaktar Peninsula

The Chaktar peninsula is home to the Chaktari, a somewhat primitve, tribal people forced to migrate by the Nation of Animar. In old days, the Chaktari would roam from kingdom to kingdom, preying on those which were weak and making their home there. Yet with the unification and creation of the Nation of Animar the Chaktari could be met in open battle and defeated, forcing them to withdraw to the jungles of the peninsula.

With an ever-growing isolationist mindset the Chaktari grew fearful of the Animar, thinking that the hunter may one day become the hunted. It is out of this mindset that the Chaktari began work on The Wall, a wondrous wall of stone and bone that cut off the peninsula from the continent. Across the wall forts were built and soon developed into cities, the central fort becoming the capital of Igwatan.

This was only possible due to the Chaktari's own huge physical strength, born out of harsh jungle life and selective tribal initiation rites, as well as mastery of the Earth element. Now the Chaktari have fallen prey to disease, their numbers dwindling leading to some forts being abandoned. The Chaktari now search for a cure, not afraid of using violent methods to achieve this goal. The Nation of Animar must once again look at its southern border.

The Island of Espartum

The City-State of Bythene

Lying on the banks of the Falgun River Bythene is a thriving maritime city-state, home to the mages of the Magician's Guild, the merchants, artists and sailors of the Port and the guildsmen and garrison that reside in the Citadel, a marble fort covered with protective incantations that looks over the Port.

Bythene is in a strategic position - it provides maritime access to the eastern part of the Eastern Continent and serves as a connection to the southern shores of the Western Continent, as well as the Southern Isles. Bythenians excel at naval travel and they serve as privateers around the world, such as Catherine Laurentze.

In charge of the Citadel are the Wardens, men who have completed the Military Academy or have shown great prowess in battle. Among the many duties of a Warden are tracking down pirates, monster-hunting and exterminating the Aqueans. The Citadel itself was built two hundred years ago from funds provided by the Guild so as to protect the ever-growing city. Only two Wardens have been selected for their feats in battle during the history of the Citadel - Linus and Proteus, scourges of the Aqueans.

The Military Academy

Located in the Citadel the Military Academy is where all the children of rich Bythenians go to. A lot of them cannot stand the rigor of the Academy and most leave around half-way through the curriculum to instead go to a Guild School. The select few that finish the school have enough theory drilled into them that they easily serve as officers around Bythene. The best of the best become Wardens, perhaps the most powerful position in Bythene.

The Magician's Guild

The Shepherds of Streams

The most venerated mages, the Shepherds of Streams manipulate the weather - they predict and alter warm streams of the sea, as well as wind flows - this ensures a pleasant climate for the island of Espartum and is of great help to fishing and agriculture. They deal with the mundane yet important aspects of life and as such they are very respected in Bythenian society, called on to place various blessing, seals and incantations. They wear ceremonial clothing to show their status in society.

The Shipmages

The standard adept of the Magician's Guild becomes a Shipmage, serving on ships as navigators and cartographers. They are similar to the Shepherds in that they can predict and manipulate weather - though to a lesser extent than the Shepherds - yet their true strength lies in mastering the element of water, calling on its power to summon various elementals to perfrom menial and defensive tasks. Many Shipmages rise to the rank of Privateer Captain of a ship.

The Society of Chimerwrights and Lifeweavers

A group of For'Channari mages that disagreed with the formation of the University and migrated to Bythene. Dealing mainly in biomancy, it is very secretive and tries to maintain a low profile after one of their chancellors, Otto Lupitter was exiled and created the Aqueans. They are concerned with manipulating and restructuring the very mater of life itself. There are rumors that some fractions want to continue Lupitter's work...

The Aquean People

A race of fish-men, the Aqueans are aggressive pirates that are a blight on the seas and on Bythene. They will surely attack any lone ship they spot, as well as any unfortunate enough to stumble on their lairs. They are physically strong and can breathe underwater.

The Aqueans were created by Otto Lupitter, a chancellor of the Society of Chimerwrights and Lifeweavers who was exiled due to political infighting, his vast knowledge of anatomy used as an excuse to banish him. Finding refuge in the sewers and canals of Bythene and surviving on fish and whatever he could find in the sewers he hatched a plan. He would use Bythenian corpses, local marine life and his own biological sorcery to create the Aqueans, strong fish-men that could breathe underwater.

Testing out the Aqueans on local pirate ships (whose loss would go unnoticed) Otto Lupitter found one particularly savage Aquean - Fedelmid. Through his sheer aggression Fedelmid became the alpha of the Aqueans and a lieutenant to Lupitter.

With his Aqueans ready Lupitter launched his invasion from the depths of the sea at the Port, easily overwhelming the few defenders there. This sparked panic in the city and the populace fled to the Citadel. When all hope was lost, two warriors, Linus and Proteus charged the Aqueans, slaying many. The Bythenians followed their example and rushed the Aqueans. A bloody and confusing battle ensued until Linus and Proteus met Lupitter and Fedelmid. The mounts of the Bythenian warriors were struck down by Fedelmid but not before Linus threw a spear at Lupitter, mortally wounding him. Lupitter's death spread panic among the Aqueans, drving them back to the sea. It is for this feat that Linus and Proteus were made wardens. Bythene now stands ever-vigilant against the Aqueans, the Port now heavily fortified.

The Skies over the World Within

THIS SECTION NEEDS WORK! PLEASE CONTRIBUTE!

The Alchemists of the Kardosairs

The archipelago of the Southern Seas is dotted with rocks. These rocks levitate in the air, effectively shaping the whole society of the Southern Seas. The peoples of the Southern Seas call themselves the Kardosairs and the presence of the levitating rocks fascinated them, the most adept among them, the Alchemists, rising to positions of power within Kardosair society.

The Alchemist Cult mastered the rocks to the point that buildings could float off the ground, offering protection from foes. As time passed by the Alchemist Cult managed to combine the levitating rocks with their native ships, creating sky-ships in the process. With these sky-ships the Southern Isles were colonized though the majority of settlements, called Covens by the Alchemists contain only a couple of buildings and are usually just supply stations for the ships.

The Kardosairs are mainly interested with perfecting the use of the rocks. To this purpose they utilize Earth and Wind elements of magic for the navigation of their ships in the wind and for the harnessing and study of the rocks.

The Kardosairs act as suppliers of the exotic goods found in their tropical archipelago, for example their gravestone reaches as far north as the Nation of Animar. They jealously guard the secrets of their sky-ships, the Alchemist Cult desiring isolation for their study of the rock. However, some sky-ships have gone rogue and pirate the World Itself, disappearing as quickly as they have appeared.

As for the rocks themselves, the Alchemist Cult hypothesizes that they might be remnants of an errant deity that walked the Southern Seas. Due to its own size and mana limitations, it had to construct several beacons to transport it to the Other World. Fortunately for the Kardosair (and unfortunately for the deity) the Alchemists have managed to master the rocks, at least for now..

The Alchemist Cult

The Alchemist Cult is composed of the Windweavers who master the Wind element for sky-ship navigation and weather manipulation, the Rockshakers who master the Earth element for rock-harvesting and for somewhat crude telekinesis. Finally there are the Alchemists themselves, concocting various elixirs to be sold around the World Itself and for magical and physical enhancement.