Quote based Worldbuilding-Game
Welcome, one and all, to my first thread on QQ.
~Let's build a...
Welcome, one and all, to my first thread on QQ.
~Let's build a...
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The Unnamed World [Quote based Worldbuilding Game]
- Thread starter Gaemnomut
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Introduction
Gaemnomut
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Quote based Worldbuilding-Game
Welcome, one and all, to my first thread on QQ.
~Let's build a world.~
Welcome, one and all, to my first thread on QQ.
~Let's build a world.~
The idea is this:
We are going to design a univers by layering in-universe quotes on top of each other, with one person writing something someone said or wrote in this world and the next providing context (who, when, why, ...) and the next quote.
Rules:
1. Later Quotes cannot contradict earlier ones.
2. Anyone can join in whenever they want.
3. First a person writes down a text, it can be anything from single sentence to grand speech or song, as long as it's not taken from somewhere. Author provides no context for this quote.
4. Next poster replies by adding who said the above quote and providing any additional context for it, then givng their own quote. And so on. Think of it as climatic fragments of fluff from a RPG book or quotes on M:tG cards.
The idea isn't mine, I found other such threads on other forums. They were long dead by the time I read them so I thought I might start a new game over here.
https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/quote-based-worldbuilding-game.326566/
https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/quote-based-worldbuilding-game.14416/
Probably best if you read the first few posts so you get an idea of what i'm aming for.
Important notice:
I have one request.
If you read through the threads I linked above, you will find that they tend to go down the post apocalyps route pretty quickly.
I would be happy if this one doesn't do that.
Not because I don't enjoy these settings, but because they seem to end up being a bit repetative and grimderp until they stall because the situation is so hopeless.
If you want to include great changes or world threatening things, feel free, but try to also include some way out, some way someone might still save the world or make it so the apocalyps is only looming in the future, not already destroying the world.
You can write in great events, wars, invasions of demons or aliens, whatever, just nothing that reduces civilisation to a few quickly declining pockets.
I'm aiming to create a vibrant world, full of mystery and adventure.
The main purpose of this is to have fun, but if it goes well, I'll maybe use it to write a story/run a quest in the future.
So with all that out of the way, I'll start:
"Man, can you immagine how awesome it would be if we manage to pull this off?"
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Post your Interpretation
Gaemnomut
Well worn.
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Nice one Snake/Eater, but you forgot to add a quote of your own.
To all you who contributed so far I just want to say that I appreciate you all taking part in this. This has turned out to be really interesting and went in directions I never thought it would.
I'll give it some more time and then I might start a compendium where I collect everything we know about our world so far.
If things continue to go well I might even run a quest at some point in this world we have created.
Also, since the world already has a basic outline and history, if people want to write down their interpretations of it all I'll be excited to read them and to see how your thoughts differ from- or are similar to mine.
Just put them in spoilers please, so that those who want to keep an open mind can do so.
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Quote-Compendium of the Unnamed World
Gaemnomut
Well worn.
- Joined
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So I finally managed to find the time to make this. I tried to sort them into practical categories, so I hope this is easy to navigate. If anyone has any suggestions for how to make it better, then please tell me.
Some quotes are in there twice if they fit into more than one category so its easier to find them.
I have to say, it was fun reading through them all again.
Some quotes are in there twice if they fit into more than one category so its easier to find them.
I have to say, it was fun reading through them all again.
Quote-Compendium of the Unnamed World
The Order of the Laughing Star
The Island of Sen
The Tundra of Jin
The Tu Heirn Da
Raxia, The Underground Empire
The Diade
Ziqebe, the eastern Empire
General history and miscellaneous information
Mentioned People
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The Order of the Laughing Star, their war with the Duhneri and the Mystery
--Frederic Baldwin, Royal advisor, to long time family friend Sylvia Moranday. 3 years after the rebellion.
Grandmaster Yun of the Sacred Following of the Star Gods after the Night of Maiming. The Laughing Star Order, acting on an anonymous tip, put one of the Following's main hidden strongholds to siege. When Yun sent out a call for aid he expected enough reinforcements to cause some confusion so he and his inner circle could escape, torching everything they couldn't carry. He could not have foreseen an army strong enough to inflict 2/3s casualties upon the besiegers, routing the remainder.
Carl Hubert, formerly of the Royal Musketeers, confronting the traitor and ursurper Damien Helswroth.
--Gelwin the Mad, at the opening ceremony of her ruinous excavation to the center of the planet.
These were the last words spoken by Lady Erline Bancisi that evening, she not been seen since. to this day no one knows what is inside that hole in the ground that is guarded by a entire fortress built around it.
Unknown high-ranking Laughing Order member to Agent Peacock, Spirit Court spy.
Colonel Halvord of the 3rd regiment. He led a group of scouts that was attached to the first expedition into the tunnels that Gelwin's excavation breached. They were sent to examine a tunnel that followed an underground stream, but were cut off when a cave in collapsed the tunnels behind them.
The expedition, led by Exalt Carahal, eventually cleared the cave in, but by that time the scouts had long since ventured deeper into the network of caves, hoping to find another way out.
--Mantra common among the monks of the Order of the Laughing Star.
--Quahodron Sullivanister, exalted war priest of the Order of the Laughing Star.
At the Siege of Calahno, the great temple city of the Duhneri.
Duchess Palleta, wife of the Ambassador Duke Y'etiz of the house Thalido, Founder and Spy mistress of the corset spy ring.
- Acadia Neumann, religious scholar, speaking of the seven mountaintop temple complexes maintained by the Order of the Laughing Star, all located within the core territories of the Order.
Ostro the 17th, Pirate-Emperor Of the exiled Feldgrau fleet, he said these words beforee his fleet broke his former lover's blockade around the western Kakou bay.
Axelia of Kesselven, a possible spy for The Pirate- Emperor of the Feldgrau fleet and a ruthless business woman with powerful ties to the Xani Crime cartel.
The conversation was observed by old Birdy, Barmaid and Spy for the Della'yori busness syndicate.
Old Birdy, just a young thieving magpie at the time, in over her head stealing from the Della'yori. She and her gang led their pursuers on a merry chase before being captured or killed. Once captured, Birdy negotiated the location of the stolen goods for her remaining friends lives. When her torturers delivered her message to their superiors, they were so surprised and impressed by her resourcefulness, her gumption, and most of all her loyalty that they agreed on the sole condition that she work for them. Poor thing still thinks she saved them.
-- Conversation between Bilal and Old Birdy after they met at 'Birdy's Bar', many years after they had last seen each other. This took place when Bilal noticed the Tavern's name and decided to stay for a drink and a hot meal on his way south after leaving Erinya.
Their meeting, even though it starting a little rocky, was a hearty one and the two old friends talked about their adventures for many hours. Afterwards, Bilal left to head further south and Birdy, who's suspicions that the Della'yori had not kept their word to spare her friends had been confirmed by Bilal resolved to destroy her employers.
Bilal had been the youngest member of a gang of street urchins which begged, tricked, conned or outright stole from anybody that entered their territory. They even pulled off some surprisingly daring and clever heists by breaking into the manors of wealthy citizens through the servant entrances or the sewers. On one such occasion they stole from the Della'yori busness syndicate, who did not take kindly to it and used their considerable resources to hunt down the gang of kids. They captured them and even managed to get Birdy to work for them.
They managed to capture all of the gang, exept for Bilal, who was detained on his way to their meeting point by a member of the city watch who had recognized him after the gang had liftet his coin purse in the week before.
When young Bilal finally escaped after a thorough thrashing he found that all his companions were gone and that he was once again alone. After failing to find them for over a month Bilal moved on until he finally met the old crone of Miller's crossing.
-- Vivian Sawsmith, writing in her journal.
After she died her landlord cleaned out her quarters and found journals in which she recounted her strange dreams among other things. Dreams of an endless white desert, dreams of moss covored toombs, dreams of an armada of ships crossing the sea. Bizarre and wondrous were the stories written in them. The landlord, who knew that Vivian had had no family and almost no friends sold most of her belongings and burnt the rest. He kept one of them though as a memento of the woman that he had known for many years. As nobody wanted the books filled with an old woman's ramblings, All but (that) one of Vivian's journals went up in flames and she was soon forgotten by the world at large.
--Nedragan Nightbringer, Duhneri Emmisary. 126 years before the rebellion and the great expansion of the NEC into the island of Sen.
To Lelpharion, ruler of the Kingdom that is now home to the Order of the Laughing Star.
Lelpharion was the last ruler that wasn't selected from the ranks of the order, which rose in power and influence after their success in fending off the Duhneri invasion.
In the great counterattack that followed, the order razed many Duhneri cities to the ground and established one of their greates strongholds in the ruins of Calahno, where the high temple of the Duhneri Theocracy was located.
--The Thalionopsis, acient prayer book of the Tu Heirn Da.
--Tian Han to Abdun Sel.
128 years before the rebellion, after a great heist which saw 7 highly prized holy artefacts of the Duhneri's religion vanish from one of their temples.
Tian and Abdun were stationed in Dune during the incident with Brigadier Clemenza, who was a suspect in the ruthless investigation that followed.
Since the Duhneri Theocracy was rather powerfull at the time, not many kingdoms wanted to antagonize them. It was the surprising intervention of Exalt Themophilius, who was known for protecting people from unjust persecution that kept them from a horrible fate at the hands of the Duhneri Inquisition.
Unfortunately, this created a diplomatic incident which soured the Kingdom's relationship with the Duhneri and eventually ended in the terrible war between them.
Notes on the ruins discovered by Gelwin the Mad's expedition, beforee the expedition first started to suffer unexplained losses.
-- Nerigan Lofthus, historian and researcher for the Divine institute for truth, just before he shot himself.
His suicide note was mostly covered in blood and thus unreadable only a few fragments could be deciphered:
...Tu Heir.......
..high st....
..ith will decend ag...
...almost no hope at all if...
don't figure out...
...can't bear...
...od luck.
Willis Jag, Exalt Prenominative, twenty years before the rebellion, during The Forth Attempt. The time hadn't come after all and the breaking of the seals on numerous stones, while dangerous locally, meant nothing in the long run. It merely served as a grim reminder that mortal forces who know all that the Order do and welcome "That Which Must be Fought" exist.
Elder Tao, member of the Sacred Following of the Star Gods, to his apprentice, Yun, who would go on to become the next Grand Master of his Most Holy Order.
An extract from the 'Memories of a Soulless One', a nameless runner to Valiant Reboute, who would go on to found the city state of Corint, safe haven for soulless people.
The Sacred Following of the Star Gods is tenacious in hunting down those blessed without a soul by their gods, so that they can be sacrificed in a ritual to permit them to enter the material plane through their body. They just can't understand why people wouldn't want to be sacrificed in the name of a higher entity...
Valiant Reboute, Explorer Extraordinaire and Master of Disguise (quite useful in avoiding members of the Sacred Following), trying to learn about his new would-be apprentice before officially meeting her. Thus far all he knows is that she's a crafty interrogator with a one track mind.
-Words attributed to Atarl of the scales. Who's dedication to maintaining the peace of his city was as legendary as it was terrifying.
- The Lady Danielle. 'On the eve of Rebellion' Act 2 scene 5.
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The Island of Sen, it's invasion by the NEC and the Senavar Republic
--Nalia Vasques, division leader of the Newland Expedition Corps (NEC), welcoming a squad of new troops to the island.
--Farfarian the Prideful, as he witnessed the remains of the massacre of High Hill, shortly after his refusal to surrender to the NEC.
Originally as a sign over the entrance of the NEC HQ in the town of Mescoto, in the conquered province of Galavia.
Now also used frequently on recruitment posters.
--Fangofur, high general of the Senavar Republic. During a speech to his troops before the battle of the forgotten marshes.
The NEC didn't find his corpse after the battle, but presumed he died in one of the first volleys the Nexlor-Winnet Automatic Archers (NeWiAAs or the common shorthand: Newies) rained on the battlefield due to the Senavar troops breaking disciplin shortly after the battle began.
--Farfarian the Prideful, Primorious of the Senavar Republic, shortly after being elected for the third time.
Sere Kom'um Bear, exiled Military historian. Of the house Wutsom.
Excerpt from his lecture tour.
--The island of Sen, paradise or pandemonium?
Pamphlet circulated on the mainland during the NEC conquest of said island, ca. 1 year into the campaign.
Although mostly propaganda, the majority of it was still true, if slightly exagerated.
One of the incidents it cited was when the results of the "reelection" of Farfarian's predecessor were somehow published beforee the election had even started. The scandal and the resulting uproar led him to retract his candidacy and destabilized the Senavar Republic for weeks.
Templar Captain Yuani Bell of Mellen, one of many small provinces in the Senavar Republic.
She is a living legend for her duty of guarding the border of the Republic and her bloodlust in battle.
--Lerian the wise/Lerian the Traitor
One of Farfarian's wives. She was known for being kind to the common folk and providing him with good council. Her moniker of "traitor" was given her after she urged the Senavar Republic to welcome the first NEC expeditions instead of driving them off by force.
She was also deeply religious and a fervent believer of the prophecy that fortold a great cataclism for the island nation which would be preceded by a "storm from the east".
The dry, hot eastern winds from the coast, known as the Memnoa, were often detrimental to many of their activities. It inhibited the growth of their main food source, the bog bloom, which needed moist air to properly develop and irritated their skin.
Thats why anything coming from the east was regarded with suspicion and especially the Memnoa was seen as an ill omen.
Incidentally, the mainland only became aware of the island to the west of it after a trading ship was blown off course by a storm, stranded there and somehow made it back. The sailors never encounted the island people though and thought the land was uninhabited.
- Colonel Xin Crager reporting on happenings at the first Senavar colony upon the small set of islands, now colloquially referred to as 'The Teeth' in reference to their shape on maps and peculairly shaped mountains and the hard nature of actually living on these islands. The colony wpuld last for only a few months, seperated from the rest of civilization (this was in the early days), and eventually contact was lost altogether. The colony has not been found again.
From The D'ardio Enciclopedia of the known and unknown world. Where it's priceless first edition is kept on watch in The Thalido Library, which is also owned by the house of Thalido.
Berthold of the NEC upon realizing that the elite Senavarian unit "The Blessed" had infiltrated their armory.
The first passage on the blue pawed kalincat, from the journal of mistress Jurah bon Tremurila of Muval.
-- Jonas Freeweather, Junior Infantryman in the NEC
While he was a loyal and capable soldier and well liked by his entire company, nobody would dispute that Jonas was a bit dim and sometimes had some amazingly stupid ideas.
Even more amazing was the fact that the idea to breed Kalinkats as battle mounts actually paid off big time. While they never got large enough to ride and were far to unpredictable in battle the adorable terrors kept the camp vermin free and provided quite the morale boost once people stopped shitting their pants at the sight of them.
Later known as the Kalinkat Company, Jonas' brothers and sisters in arms even smuggled the three surviving Kalinkats back to the mainland when they were recalled, which led to quite an interesting series of events.
But that is a story for another time.
--Rinkina, Island of Sen, 15 years before the rebellion
Rinkina was the Clan mother of the Treetop clan of Sen-Karan. She took over the clan at a youg age and led them for a long time.
Her clan was the last to hold out against Farfarian's (the Prideful) unification movement which attempted, and eventually succeeded, to integrate all the smaller clans and their holdings into the Senavar Republic. By force if necessary.
The Republic's capitol, the cave city of Sen-Kalef, has, to this day, a permanent "honoured guest" in Rinoka, Rinkin's daughter to ensure that the Treetop clan does not attempt to secede or revolt.
Lord Nocev Bell, uncle to Captain Yuani Bell and Elder Lord of the Bell/Merduc Province in the High Senate of the Senavar Republic. During the unification, when this was spoken, there were times that they truly were more of a howling mob than anything else. Historians agree, for good or ill managing to force through the unification past all opposition is one of the few things Farfarian could truly take pride in.
Lomme ''Stamper'' Xuda, One of the many feared handlers and recruiters among the Blessed, he's different among his peers in his soft interview approuch of verbally and emotionally abusing recruits to test their strength of will.
Discussion between Frangil and his father, Firgahax the one eyed who was a prisoner in the impirial palace of "Bluerock" in the Tu Heirn Da Capitol at the time. 798 years and 5 months before the rebellion
Frangil had been invited there to find a peacefull solution to the slave uprising that gripped the empire. He was such a polarizing figure, that killing him would have definitly ignited civil war, as even parts of the upper casts respected him and his goals as noble.
Frangil however, who had lost his daughter to the empire's chains years ago, never wanted peace and only went there as a distraction.
While his army of liberated slaves withdrew and solidified their positions, Frangil himself intended to smuggle a nest of white Jira-Snakes, which were infected with the dreaded Laruvian Fever, directly into the impirial palace. The palace was the centre of the Tu Heirn Da's political power and he hoped to wipe out enough of it's command structure to leave them vulnurable.
Even though everybody, even Frangil himself, expected him to die, he was saved by a group of slaves that had escaped the slave legions on their own.
They were all veterans of countless battles and had been in the capitol many times. When they heard that Frangil was there and the talks were going badly, they rushed there and, led by a young man named Silharas, managed, against all odds, to spirit him to safety. Amazingly, none of them was infected.
In the skirmishes that followed Frangil came to rely heavily on Silharas and the support of his regiment of elite soldiers which ended up with them having a great deal of prominence and influence after the war when the slave uprising established its new home on the island of Sen. They formed the honour guard of the spiritual leaders of the revolution and took up the moniker of "The Blessed"
Over the last centuries the Blessed have taken up different roles on the island of Sen, but their political influence remains formidable to this day.
They have their own hirarchy, traditions and even their own patron animal spirit which they worship.
Frangil's army never really did exploit the opening that he had hoped to create because the Laruvian Fever was not contained in time. Instead of 'only' infecting most of the high ranking members of the court and the senior military leadership the disease spread like wildfire. As scouts reported seeing whole towns depopulated by it, the former slaves realized the danger, turned their backs, left the continent and built themselves a new home across the waves, vowing to never go back.
The Empire however, collapsed almost completely under the strain of both civil unrest and the waves of death that eminated from the nations capitol, leaving their portion of the continent a lawless mass grave for almost a a hundred years.
And while Frangil was heralded as a hero by his people, his name was cursed on the mainland for a long time.
His living followers know him as Alpha Omega, many in Senavar's army and government would recognize his form as Fangofur, but Varhira Verhar Varotasa knew him as her childhood friend Frani aka Frangil the snake-tounged. His hatred of the empire saw him working to ensure it would never rise again. This in turn led to knowledge of the Star Gods and the modification of the "vessel-filling ritual" to turn him into a body hopping spirt, the birth of Biomancy.
Mistress Jurah bon Tremurila of Muval, speaking to her daughter Minerva about the dangerous Ziqebesi gem that she found. After discovering them gem's horrible secrets, Jurah left it behind on her beloved Sen.
Minerva learned of the gem's existence from her mothers stories, which she made the mistake of telling to an old lady who was quite... let's call it insistent on Minerva learning the exact location of the gem.
Unimportant member of the Order of the Laughing Star giving Agent Peacock info on the location of a certain dangerous gem.
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The southern tundra of Jin, the city-states and the Tradelords
Imperator Yunny LenoViz of the free City of Zhuliroal.
Archfuurst Alehi Il'uDavann of the since annexed Archprincipality of Low Waters, tearfully advising his children to flee the realm beforee the rebellion spread to the capital and saw them all beheaded. Of his children, the youngest three have no known location.
Archfuurst Alehi Il'uDavann's firstborn (adopted and very self-conscious about it) son to his twin youngest siblings. He was caught and killed seven months later, certain he sent them to their doom.
The twins, on the other hand, have accidently incited the Lani towards invasion of the surface. Things have gone just a tiny bit completely out of control, but they're doing a pretty good job riding the tiger. They'll probably survive whatever comes and even have plans (mediocre though they are) to betray the Lani once they've defeated the usurpers... who've already lost.
Il'uDavann's sixth-born daughter, translating for her near identical twin, the second-born son. She was a young prodigy, a polyglot who loved to learn languages, living and dead. Despite speaking a dialect of "lizard speak" of at least three centuries old, she managed to more or less figure out the Lani's current speech after listening to the guards for several minutes.
He was a naturally brilliant speaker and leader. If not for the rebellion the very existence of the second-born son would have ensured a civil war in spite of his own desires. It is only the belief that her brother could talk his way into godhood if he so chose that allowed the sixth-born to suggest seeking the help of the Lani.
--Marogor the fat, tradelord of the southern tundra cities.
Marogor always liked to eat when he talked to people, for when he talked with friends he could share with them one of his greatest pleasures and when he negotiating with adversaries he could distract them with eating in front of them while not offering any or offer up the finest bits, watching them sweat as they ate meals they were sure were poisoned (Even though they never were. Opinios were divided if it was because he wouldn't stoop so low or if he just couldn't bear to do that to his precious food).
As a tradelord Marogor talked with a lot of people and so, when he died, he had thoroughly earned his moniker.
-- note pinned to the chest of Lorcul Sinabar, the head torturer of Imperator Yunny LenoViz. He was found dead in his home one morning.
It was signed simply with "B".
Silc, merchant princess and wife to the powerful Tradelord Xibeth after watching her entourage of Jerries (highly skilled and disciplined slave warriors) get messily devoured. She spoke to some random man on the road back to the city-state Quath, only notable for the rusty saw he carried. They parted ways as he walked toward the danger she had just escaped.
And so the first attempt to "Unify" the Tundra of Jin by Desecrater of Life, master of the Dark Art of Biomancy was stopped in it's infancy, unnoticed by history and not even a footnote in a certain knight's legend. Her second attempt, on the other hand... well that's another story.
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The Tu Heirn Da Empire and it's Fall
--The Thalionopsis, acient prayer book of the Tu Heirn Da.
Notes on the ruins discovered by Gelwin the Mad's expedition, beforee the expedition first started to suffer unexplained losses.
--Frangil the snake-tongued, during the fall of the great Tu Heirn Da empire, instigating the greates slave uprising their empire had ever seen. 798 years before the rebellion and the invasion of the island of Sen.
--The Thalionopsis, ancient prayer book of the Tu Heirn Da.
Chapter 2, the fall and ascendance of the first. In which the first see that darkness is ever present and no matter how bright one shines the far corners of the unending universe will always be shrouded in the blinding unknown.
-- Historical scholar Timothy Ramson, talking about the early years of the great slavers empire of the Tu Heirn Da.
The riots he mentiones took place 997 years before the rebellion.
--Fidel Denostro, Collector of rare art and Tu Heirn Da history enthusiast. He was regarded as kind, if a little excentric, even though most people who got to know him mentioned that he could be very intense at times.
Legend has it that the three artifacts, the Green Sword of Betrayal, the Spear of the left handed Fisher and the statue of the girl known as the Warrior Princess are connected. It is said that the statue of the girl is an actual girl that was cursed all those centuries ago and if one could return her weapons to her she would be freed and walk among the living once more.
Fidel and his friend Timothy Ramson had spent half their lives looking for the artifacts and the other half trying to aquire them for their collection. When they had finally managed to get all three artifacts together Fidel turned on his colleague and proclaimed them to be his and his alone.
He never noticed the statue behind his back slowely and silently come alive until the girl in question stabbed him through the back. HIs lifeblood running along the green blade of her sword was the last thing he ever saw.
Timothy Ramson, thanks to a family friend who was recently raised to the rank of exalt, was brought along on an expedition to look into some newly discovered Tu Heirn Da ruins. They hit the motherlode. Unfortunately the natives held the ruins sacred, especially the statue of a woman that Timothy was adamant they needed to take.
Discussion between Frangil and his father, Firgahax the one eyed who was a prisoner in the impirial palace of "Bluerock" in the Tu Heirn Da Capitol at the time. 798 years and 5 months before the rebellion
Frangil had been invited there to find a peacefull solution to the slave uprising that gripped the empire. He was such a polarizing figure, that killing him would have definitly ignited civil war, as even parts of the upper casts respected him and his goals as noble.
Frangil however, who had lost his daughter to the empire's chains years ago, never wanted peace and only went there as a distraction.
While his army of liberated slaves withdrew and solidified their positions, Frangil himself intended to smuggle a nest of white Jira-Snakes, which were infected with the dreaded Laruvian Fever, directly into the impirial palace. The palace was the centre of the Tu Heirn Da's political power and he hoped to wipe out enough of it's command structure to leave them vulnurable.
Even though everybody, even Frangil himself, expected him to die, he was saved by a group of slaves that had escaped the slave legions on their own.
They were all veterans of countless battles and had been in the capitol many times. When they heard that Frangil was there and the talks were going badly, they rushed there and, led by a young man named Silharas, managed, against all odds, to spirit him to safety. Amazingly, none of them was infected.
In the skirmishes that followed Frangil came to rely heavily on Silharas and the support of his regiment of elite soldiers which ended up with them having a great deal of prominence and influence after the war when the slave uprising established its new home on the island of Sen. They formed the honour guard of the spiritual leaders of the revolution and took up the moniker of "The Blessed"
Over the last centuries the Blessed have taken up different roles on the island of Sen, but their political influence remains formidable to this day.
They have their own hirarchy, traditions and even their own patron animal spirit which they worship.
Frangil's army never really did exploit the opening that he had hoped to create because the Laruvian Fever was not contained in time. Instead of 'only' infecting most of the high ranking members of the court and the senior military leadership the disease spread like wildfire. As scouts reported seeing whole towns depopulated by it, the former slaves realized the danger, turned their backs, left the continent and built themselves a new home across the waves, vowing to never go back.
The Empire however, collapsed almost completely under the strain of both civil unrest and the waves of death that eminated from the nations capitol, leaving their portion of the continent a lawless mass grave for almost a a hundred years.
And while Frangil was heralded as a hero by his people, his name was cursed on the mainland for a long time.
Varhira Verhar Varotasa to Galahan Kolejinu Worldwriter, travel companion and long time friend of Baron D'ardio.
D'ardio and Worldwriter met her as they explored the caves in the canyon that lies to the east of the Tundra of Jin.
They found a cave with several tunnels branching off of it and all those tunnels were filled with rows and rows of shelves stuffed full with books.
The age of the woman living there was impossible to determine. She was bald and her tanned skin was covered with ritualistic scars and painted with strange patterns.
Strangest of all was a band of unidentifiable runic script that seemed to loop back on itself as it wound around her body, forming an endless repeating chant.
Despite her solitude and appearance she seemed perfectly sane and invited them in for tea.
She told them little about herself but she elaborated a little about her tattoos and even let them browse through her library before they left. To their wonder they found books that were centuries old and written in all kinds of languages, some were even written in the ancient language of the Tu Heirn Da.
Varhira Verhar Varotasa to the reawakened Warrior Princess. Their battle did go much differently this time, partially because spending centuries as a completely aware living statue gave Princess a bit of a death wish but mostly because Varhira Verhar Varotasa had outlived her life of villainy ages ago. Varhira Verhar Varotasa deliberately lost forcing Princess to face the prospect of living on without the one person who might understand her. Neither died that day.
- Excerpt from the Memoirs of one Aliandre Lesar, famously known as the Warrior Princess. Suffering from a peculiarly selective form of amnesia, she would spend the next decade accompanying Varhira Verhar Varotasa in her journeys, seeking to discover the truth. They parted following an encounter with Bilal, whom Aliandre later married.
His living followers know him as Alpha Omega, many in Senavar's army and government would recognize his form as Fangofur, but Varhira Verhar Varotasa knew him as her childhood friend Frani aka Frangil the snake-tounged. His hatred of the empire saw him working to ensure it would never rise again. This in turn led to knowledge of the Star Gods and the modification of the "vessel-filling ritual" to turn him into a body hopping spirt, the birth of Biomancy.
Unimportant member of the Order of the Laughing Star giving Agent Peacock info on the location of a certain dangerous gem.
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The Lani and their underground empire Raxia
Vinganza, Ruler of Doxithon, High King of the Underground Empire Raxia. Raxia is home to the Lani, the dominate race on this nameless world before they were driven underground by the rise of humanity.
Archfuurst Alehi Il'uDavann's firstborn (adopted and very self-conscious about it) son to his twin youngest siblings. He was caught and killed seven months later, certain he sent them to their doom.
The twins, on the other hand, have accidently incited the Lani towards invasion of the surface. Things have gone just a tiny bit completely out of control, but they're doing a pretty good job riding the tiger. They'll probably survive whatever comes and even have plans (mediocre though they are) to betray the Lani once they've defeated the usurpers... who've already lost.
Il'uDavann's sixth-born daughter, translating for her near identical twin, the second-born son. She was a young prodigy, a polyglot who loved to learn languages, living and dead. Despite speaking a dialect of "lizard speak" of at least three centuries old, she managed to more or less figure out the Lani's current speech after listening to the guards for several minutes.
He was a naturally brilliant speaker and leader. If not for the rebellion the very existence of the second-born son would have ensured a civil war in spite of his own desires. It is only the belief that her brother could talk his way into godhood if he so chose that allowed the sixth-born to suggest seeking the help of the Lani.
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The Diade, their culture and their afterlives
- Atarl of the Scales. Acting the part of a freelance contractor Hired a cadre of expert thieves. Who, wearing the colors of the House Arii, absconded with the The Malachant and placed it within the families vaults. It's recovery bringing about the near total destruction of the free city of Golithi, a rival trade port on the Seloa Peninsula. The Clans of the Diade have been a passive if monitored people ever since.
dAYBREAK fURY, guardian of the Gate of Darkness, the portal to the first afterlife (basically a giant waiting room) in the Diade religion. Spoken to Tiabolt, who was hired to duel every psychopomp necessary to save a merchant princess's lover. Tiabolt succeeded in this.
-- Sinalan the ageless to Damian, while fleeing from the hollow guards during his great escape from the desert of ash, the sixth afterlife of the Diade.
The sixth afterlife is sealed by the Gates of Eternity, which will only let those leave the cursed desert that carry living blood in their veins.
The friend mentioned is TiaboltTiabolt, who, in his quest to rescue Damian (he was hired to do so) ventured willingly into the Diade afterlives by having a black shaman of the Diade send his soul there while his body slept.
When he reached Damian, he found out that he had befriended a man called Sinalan and refused to leave unless TiaboltTiabolt took him with them as well.
Unfortunately, neither Damian nor Tiobald knew that Sinalan was not what he seemed, but a terrible dream demon that had been banished from the world of the living by the black shamans centuries ago. When they finally reached the world of the living again, the demon revealed to them their folly and and left to gorge himself on the hopes and dreams of mortals once more.
Furious at being tricked, TiaboltTiabolt enlisted the aid of the black shaman that had helped him before and together they set out to banish Sinalan once again.
In this, Tiabolt suceeded as well.
--Valiant to a possessed Varandu, former black Shaman of the Diade, after mortaly wounding him.
7 years before the rebellion
Varandu, had been hunting a dream demon that had been preying on the village people along the coast. When they clashed, the demon, who called himself Sinabar the Tyrant, found that Varandu lacked a soul. While he put up a good fight, without a soul Varandu had little natural defences against possession and succumbed quickly. Sinabar had never encountered a mortal he could control so completely and so he gleefully took him over, using his new and powerful host to sate his desires.
Naturally, a series of townspeople being found dead or as mindless husks drew the attention of the Followers (who always investigated such strange incidents in their search for the soulless) and thus also that of Valiant, who had been shadowing some of them to learn of their plans.
When Valiant found out that the Followers were this close to finding a vessel for one of their gods he decided he had to act. In a daring act of bravery he confronted Sinabar and managed to kill him, although he almost died in the fight.
Sinabar, to his dismay, found that since he had nested himself so deeply into his new host, he couldn't extricate himself quickly enough and expired with his victim.
As his essence was dragged into the void, the power of his defiant rage turned Varandu's body to ash. In a moment of compassion, the grieviously wounded Valiant gathered it up and took it with him. When he had recovered from his injuries he sought out the shaman's clan to returne his remains to his family and told them of Varandu's end.
Valiant's act of kindness earned him their trust and friendship and although they mourned their loss, they acknowledged that Varandu had already been dead long before Valiant killed his body.
-
The eastern Empire of Ziqebe, behind the treacherous salt wastes
Yandaret asking Legetaris Zhim, religious schollar and apprentice searcher, about his faith. In the heartland of Ziqebe, during the first weeks of the rebellion.
The most prominent Ziqebesi religion, Legetaris Zhim's faith, is centered around the mythical beings known as Dawnbreaker and Duskbreaker.
Their legend started when Bathaloma Yahas, the first of the great practitioners of the arcane methods the Ziqebesi simply call "the art" came down from mount Orak after their seven year meditation, and told people of his expiriences.
He spoke of two distinct beings, whose precense he had felt whenever his senses sliped through the cracks of our reality into the great beond. he called them Dawnbreaker and Duskbreaker for he never felt them both at the same time. One would always emerge once once the last rays of sunlight had vanished, only to slowly fade and give rise to the other when the orb of the sun had finally cleared the horizon completely.
It seemed to him that he were comunicating with each other, although what he were saying he could not comprehend.
In time, some of the other practitioners, known as the Searchers, also managed to unshackle their senses enough to percieve the endless maelstrom of shattered thought and cracked light the two resided in and reported similar things.
The vast beings never reacted to the Searchers and showed no discernable sign of that they even noticed them and yet philosophy and theology was in turmoil in the lands behind the salt wastes.
After decades of cultured discussion turned angry debate turned cultural divide turned almost civil war, the situation normalized again and a large religion worshipping the unknowable beings formed.
They filled their pantheon with other, lesser deities as well which some of the searcher claimed to have seen.
Among others it contained the Dawnbreaker's four wives, the Blue Maiden of the Onward Journey, Sehelinis the great Oblivion and Fincharvin the static, the great enemy.
Fincharvin was told to be Dawnbreaker's eternal rival, a nexus of crystaline stillnes that sought to end all in neverending uniformity.
In the centuries since then, a great tapestry of stories, morals and accounts of searchers have been woven together to form the religion it is now.
The enlightend people of Ziqebe, at least those that are members of the church, debate the finer points of their religion with each other to this day and will probably do so for evermore.
- Nölaska "the Midwife of Tears", disgraced advisor to the Emperor of Ziqebe, speaking to the delirious and half dead firstborn daughter of the late and Archfuurst Alehi Il'uDavann. She would later regain her advisorial status by convincing the princess to join the imperial harem.
-- Nerigan Lofthus, historian and researcher for the Divine institute for truth, just before he shot himself.
His suicide note was mostly covered in blood and thus unreadable only a few fragments could be deciphered:
...Tu Heir.......
..high st....
..ith will decend ag...
...almost no hope at all if...
don't figure out...
...can't bear...
...od luck.
Alba Suqari, Chairmen of the Divine institute for truth.
There is no word on what they do as they are part of the Ziqebesi Ministry of Military intelligence.
Shouted by an unknown zealot during a "religious debate" that preceded empire-wide riots in Ziqebe. Originally their god Duskbreaker had four wives, each one representing virtues Dawnbreaker himself, and thus the religion as a whole, held dear. They were: the Great Golden Lady, nobility and excellence; the Silent Silver Woman, wisdom and humility; the Beautiful Bronze Girl, Beauty and Innocence; the Indomitable Iron Maiden, martial skill and steadfastness.
Of Course, the inevitable question was asked, "Who was his first wife? Whose virtues are more important?" Dawnbreaker did not answer, the priests and intellectuals had no answer and so the masses tried to answer for themselves. During the worst of it, different factions refused to admit the other wives ever existed at all.
-- Yagar Beherimot, the "Harbinger of Grief"
She was one of the oldest of the old in the faraway land of Ziqebe. She had delved so deeply into her esoteric arts that her thoughts moved in strange spirals and her mind was a palace of crystaline laughter. Feared and Revered in equal measure, many people came to her to learn from her wisdom and hear her advice.
Most only visited her only once, and never spoke of it afterwards.
An excerpt from a tattered book found in a ruined section of the Library of Nostaprim, believed to detail an early victory during the final slave uprising or the breaking of a riot some two hundred years prior. In both cases the king's castle was besieged, then taken back by a force of soldiers in the early morn.
-An eerie song popular among the children of Ziqebe, sung to the tune of Death lies Beyond the Hill. Supposed to have originated from the tale of a beggar, when the children who heard him—fascinated by the accent of a foreign land—began repeating it until it took on a life of its own.
For many in Ziqebe it remains a primary source for knowledge of the Westlands. The Spirit Court has reportedly sought to extinguish it, but to no avail, their inexperience among the Ziqebe people frustrating all efforts to remove their secrets from the public eye.
-Apocryphally attributed to the Knight of the Rusty Saw, supposedly to a member of the Spirit Court. In certain parts the phrase "hired to kill Atarl of the scales" has become a euphemism for suspicious disappearances.
--Karn Vol, Ziqebesi searcher to his loyal servant Harrunhin, during the civil war of Ziqebe as one of his rivals' troops stormed his last sanctuary.
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General history and miscellaneous information
--Gary Nexlor, co-creator and first victim of the Nexlor-Winnet Automatic Tailor.
Andrew Hexaltrek of the NEC speaking of the new model of newy Nexlor-Winnet recently produced, a pure labor model. It was actually based on a failed attempt at creating magically crafted life. Andrew was given a new newy and full refund while his old newy was taken for "processing". Life tests are inconclusive.
-- Lord Crendal Winnet, Cofounder of Nexlor-Winnet Enterprises. To his friend and Board Member Lord Trevor gaf-Welnr after an 'incident' in the level four research labs at NWE.
Lord gaf-Welnr was 68 years old at the time and could look back on a long life filled with bloodshed, backstabbing and political maneuvering.
He had served some time in the army, stationed first at an outpost guarding the border to the south, then as a captain in the disciplinary corps he hunted down traitors. Later he trained new members of the corp as an instructor and then spent his final years before he retired from the army in charge of the disciplinary corps' prison citadel Fort Thrioton.
It is even rumored that he was a member of the Fatty Crab spy ring and that he still has some connections to the organization.
The gaf-Welnr had been wealthy for generations but with Trevor's connections to the upper echolons of the army and the court, and later his involvement with NWE, they had made the jump to very rich and powerful.
He is also the brother of Sylvia Moranday.
--Frederic Baldwin, Royal advisor, to long time family friend Sylvia Moranday. 3 years after the rebellion.
Carl Hubert, formerly of the Royal Musketeers, confronting the traitor and ursurper Damien Helswroth.
--Gelwin the Mad, at the opening ceremony of her ruinous excavation to the center of the planet.
Baron D'ardio the explorer, of the house Thalido.
--Quahodron Sullivanister, exalted war priest of the Order of the Laughing Star.
At the Siege of Calahno, the great temple city of the Duhneri.
Unknown speaker. An excerpt from the memoirs of Edward Sullivars, footman and companion to the Lady Knight Tamra of Faber, from his first encounter with her.
Duchess Palleta, wife of the Ambassador Duke Y'etiz of the house Thalido, Founder and Spy mistress of the corset spy ring.
-- The D'ardio Enciclopedia of the known and unknown world.
Chapter 14, on the methods of hunting the swamp tuber and how to extract it's digestive fluids which have numerous uses in modern medicin.
Sere Kom'um Bear, exiled Military historian. Of the house Wutsom.
Excerpt from his lecture tour.
Unknown high-ranking Laughing Order member to Agent Peacock, Spirit Court spy.
Ostro the 17th, Pirate-Emperor Of the exiled Feldgrau fleet, he said these words beforee his fleet broke his former lover's blockade around the western Kakou bay.
--Nedragan Nightbringer, Duhneri Emmisary. 126 years before the rebellion and the great expansion of the NEC into the island of Sen.
To Lelpharion, ruler of the Kingdom that is now home to the Order of the Laughing Star.
Lelpharion was the last ruler that wasn't selected from the ranks of the order, which rose in power and influence after their success in fending off the Duhneri invasion.
In the great counterattack that followed, the order razed many Duhneri cities to the ground and established one of their greates strongholds in the ruins of Calahno, where the high temple of the Duhneri Theocracy was located.
Agent Sky, third in line to the title of Baba-Yaga (second*) possible** leader of the Spirit Court, to Tamra newly christened Agent Peacock.
*There are no less than three Baba-Yaga's, all of whom are accepted as the absolute leader of the Spirit Court.
**There are also two "leaders" with the title Phoenix and three more calling themselves Kitsune. The true leader is a cipher, if they exist at all.
Axelia of Kesselven, a possible spy for The Pirate- Emperor of the Feldgrau fleet and a ruthless business woman with powerful ties to the Xani Crime cartel.
The conversation was observed by old Birdy, Barmaid and Spy for the Della'yori busness syndicate.
Old Birdy, just a young thieving magpie at the time, in over her head stealing from the Della'yori. She and her gang led their pursuers on a merry chase before being captured or killed. Once captured, Birdy negotiated the location of the stolen goods for her remaining friends lives. When her torturers delivered her message to their superiors, they were so surprised and impressed by her resourcefulness, her gumption, and most of all her loyalty that they agreed on the sole condition that she work for them. Poor thing still thinks she saved them.
-- Vivian Sawsmith, writing in her journal.
After she died her landlord cleaned out her quarters and found journals in which she recounted her strange dreams among other things. Dreams of an endless white desert, dreams of moss covored toombs, dreams of an armada of ships crossing the sea. Bizarre and wondrous were the stories written in them. The landlord, who knew that Vivian had had no family and almost no friends sold most of her belongings and burnt the rest. He kept one of them though as a memento of the woman that he had known for many years. As nobody wanted the books filled with an old woman's ramblings, All but (that) one of Vivian's journals went up in flames and she was soon forgotten by the world at large.
--The Thalionopsis, acient prayer book of the Tu Heirn Da.
Archfuurst Alehi Il'uDavann of the since annexed Archprincipality of Low Waters, tearfully advising his children to flee the realm beforee the rebellion spread to the capital and saw them all beheaded. Of his children, the youngest three have no known location.
The text is the introduction in the discover bok of a hidden Criminal fraternity disguised as a religion, they also worship exercise, healthy livin and protecting the environment.
The first book was found in the Eastern province of Virginio.
--Tian Han to Abdun Sel.
128 years before the rebellion, after a great heist which saw 7 highly prized holy artefacts of the Duhneri's religion vanish from one of their temples.
Tian and Abdun were stationed in Dune during the incident with Brigadier Clemenza, who was a suspect in the ruthless investigation that followed.
Since the Duhneri Theocracy was rather powerfull at the time, not many kingdoms wanted to antagonize them. It was the surprising intervention of Exalt Themophilius, who was known for protecting people from unjust persecution that kept them from a horrible fate at the hands of the Duhneri Inquisition.
Unfortunately, this created a diplomatic incident which soured the Kingdom's relationship with the Duhneri and eventually ended in the terrible war between them.
--Frangil the snake-tongued, during the fall of the great Tu Heirn Da empire, instigating the greates slave uprising their empire had ever seen. 798 years before the rebellion and the invasion of the island of Sen.
Notes on the ruins discovered by Gelwin the Mad's expedition, beforee the expedition first started to suffer unexplained losses.
Tiabolt, duelist for hire in the free City of Variez, to a vagabond criminal claiming to be a knight who chose trial by combat. A few minutes later Tiabolt was beheaded by the rusty saw he mocked. Despite his long and storied career Tiabolt was remembered as the first challenge to be overcome by the great and mysterious hero "The Knight of the Rusty Saw!" in the decades and centuries to come.
- Atarl of the Scales. Acting the part of a freelance contractor Hired a cadre of expert thieves. Who, wearing the colors of the House Arii, absconded with the The Malachant and placed it within the families vaults. It's recovery bringing about the near total destruction of the free city of Golithi, a rival trade port on the Seloa Peninsula. The Clans of the Diade have been a passive if monitored people ever since.
dAYBREAK fURY, guardian of the Gate of Darkness, the portal to the first afterlife (basically a giant waiting room) in the Diade religion. Spoken to Tiabolt, who was hired to duel every psychopomp necessary to save a merchant princess's lover. Tiabolt succeeded in this.
-- Sinalan the ageless to Damian, while fleeing from the hollow guards during his great escape from the desert of ash, the sixth afterlife of the Diade.
The sixth afterlife is sealed by the Gates of Eternity, which will only let those leave the cursed desert that carry living blood in their veins.
The friend mentioned is TiaboltTiabolt, who, in his quest to rescue Damian (he was hired to do so) ventured willingly into the Diade afterlives by having a black shaman of the Diade send his soul there while his body slept.
When he reached Damian, he found out that he had befriended a man called Sinalan and refused to leave unless TiaboltTiabolt took him with them as well.
Unfortunately, neither Damian nor Tiobald knew that Sinalan was not what he seemed, but a terrible dream demon that had been banished from the world of the living by the black shamans centuries ago. When they finally reached the world of the living again, the demon revealed to them their folly and and left to gorge himself on the hopes and dreams of mortals once more.
Furious at being tricked, TiaboltTiabolt enlisted the aid of the black shaman that had helped him before and together they set out to banish Sinalan once again.
In this, TiaboltTiabolt suceeded as well.
-- Corso Peliando, retired soldier that went on to become a highwayman, to Cecilia Warga.
He was talking about a book that chronicled the story of the enigmatic figure that would come to be known as the knight with the rusty saw. They never actually fought but it was actually Corso who had taken the man's original sword when he robbed him, taking his armour and horse as well, while the former was in the woods to relieve himself.
Left with only his normal clothes, a rusty saw and a rather distinctive green cap that Corso had lost in his haste to carry off his stolen loot he wandered into the nearest city where he was mistaken for the infamous Corso and forced to stand trial for his crimes. His choice of trial by combat lead to his duel with TiaboltTiabolt, which cost the latter his life.
Incidentally, since everybody believed him to be Corso no matter what he said, the real Corso used this oportunity to take on the identity of the fallen knight and enter the service of Imperator Yunny LenoViz of the free City of Zhuliroal who had never seen either of them before. When his victim atained fame for his unconventional weapon and his skill in using it, he tried to find out as much as he could about him to help keep his cover intakt, which meant he knew exactly who he was dealing with when they met again many years later.
--The old crone of Miller's crossing.
Miller's crossing was renowned for the old woman who sat there, day in, day out for as long as anyone could remember, telling stories to kids and adults alike.
Most of her stories were fantastic tales of adventure and mystery and at the heart of all of them there always was a young woman she called Erinya the fool.
In her tales Erinya bested knights and monsters, and none could match her skills in combat.
One young boy, an orphan by the name of Bilal listened to her stories whenever he could and after listening to her for over a year challenged her to a fight, requesting that if he won she would reveal her true name, for he suspected that she was Erinya herself.
Despite her age and the youthful energy of her opponent the frail old woman handily beat Bilal and in doing so, confirmed her identity to him.
Impressed by the orphan's trick she agreed to take him in and train him in all the arts of fighting she knew of.
Together they restored the abandoned mill that gave the crossing it's name and lived there. Over time other children came to her and Erinya took them all in, training them in her art as only she could.
Bilal has long since left but Erinya still teaches the orphans that come to her how to fight at the school of miller's crossing.
-- Bilal, third month of training under the crone of old miller's crossing. Still struggling with the fact that "old lady" was a proper honorific as far as his teacher was concerned.
At that point they were still a little unsure of what to expect from each other and their pupil/teacher relationship, but over time they grew to respect and like each other very much. Some might even say they loved each other in a certain way.
He was the only one of Erinya's pupils that learned from her some of the secret arts of her people from across the salt wastes and she, in turn, was the only person Bilal ever told of his strange, almost vision like dreams.
-- Conversation between Bilal and Old Birdy after they met at 'Birdy's Bar', many years after they had last seen each other. This took place when Bilal noticed the Tavern's name and decided to stay for a drink and a hot meal on his way south after leaving Erinya.
Their meeting, even though it starting a little rocky, was a hearty one and the two old friends talked about their adventures for many hours. Afterwards, Bilal left to head further south and Birdy, who's suspicions that the Della'yori had not kept their word to spare her friends had been confirmed by Bilal resolved to destroy her employers.
Bilal had been the youngest member of a gang of street urchins which begged, tricked, conned or outright stole from anybody that entered their territory. They even pulled off some surprisingly daring and clever heists by breaking into the manors of wealthy citizens through the servant entrances or the sewers. On one such occasion they stole from the Della'yori busness syndicate, who did not take kindly to it and used their considerable resources to hunt down the gang of kids. They captured them and even managed to get Birdy to work for them.
They managed to capture all of the gang, exept for Bilal, who was detained on his way to their meeting point by a member of the city watch who had recognized him after the gang had liftet his coin purse in the week before.
When young Bilal finally escaped after a thorough thrashing he found that all his companions were gone and that he was once again alone. After failing to find them for over a month Bilal moved on until he finally met the old crone of Miller's crossing.
Lieutenant Jonathan Lord's letter to General Marcus Lord of the Imperial Army, two weeks before the failed attack on retired warlord Maria Doomhammer's Orphanage for Crippled Children.
- Nölaska "the Midwife of Tears", disgraced advisor to the Emperor of Ziqebe, speaking to the delirious and half dead firstborn daughter of the late and Archfuurst Alehi Il'uDavann. She would later regain her advisorial status by convincing the princess to join the imperial harem.
Alba Suqari, Chairmen of the Divine institute for truth.
There is no word on what they do as they are part of the Ziqebesi Ministry of Military intelligence.
Arch-dean Iosef of the Highcrown Royal Academy, chair of the Philosophy and Existence covens.
Archminister Tindle, Advisor to the King, Former Arch-Dean of the Highcrown Royal Academy, Former Ballroom Dancing Enthusiast
Templar Captain Yuani Bell responding to the report of an interrogation of a scullery maid. The captain was right inasmuch as some especially unscrupulous hired guns were claiming spirit court affiliation to scare her into acting as their pawn.
-- note pinned to the chest of Lorcul Sinabar, the head torturer of Imperator Yunny LenoViz. He was found dead in his home one morning.
It was signed simply with "B".
Maximus Grandair, captain of the Snarling Wolves, to a renown mercenary of high skill before a battle against the Scorpion Lord, the most fearsome bandit to ever pass through the uncontested lands with his band of savages.
Vinganza, Ruler of Doxithon, High King of the Underground Empire Raxia. Raxia is home to the Lani, the dominate race on this nameless world before they were driven underground by the rise of humanity.
Shouted by an unknown zealot during a "religious debate" that preceded empire-wide riots in Ziqebe. Originally their god Duskbreaker had four wives, each one representing virtues Dawnbreaker himself, and thus the religion as a whole, held dear. They were: the Great Golden Lady, nobility and excellence; the Silent Silver Woman, wisdom and humility; the Beautiful Bronze Girl, Beauty and Innocence; the Indomitable Iron Maiden, martial skill and steadfastness.
Of Course, the inevitable question was asked, "Who was his first wife? Whose virtues are more important?" Dawnbreaker did not answer, the priests and intellectuals had no answer and so the masses tried to answer for themselves. During the worst of it, different factions refused to admit the other wives ever existed at all.
-- Corso Peliando, retired soldier that went on to become a highwayman, to Cecilia Warga.
He was talking about a book that chronicled the story of the enigmatic figure that would come to be known as the knight with the rusty saw. They never actually fought but it was actually Corso who had taken the man's original sword when he robbed him, taking his armour and horse as well, while the former was in the woods to relieve himself.
Left with only his normal clothes, a rusty saw and a rather distinctive green cap that Corso had lost in his haste to carry off his stolen loot he wandered into the nearest city where he was mistaken for the infamous Corso and forced to stand trial for his crimes. His choice of trial by combat lead to his duel with Tiobalt, which cost the latter his life.
Incidentally, since everybody believed him to be Corso no matter what he said, the real Corso used this oportunity to take on the identity of the fallen knight and enter the service of Imperator Yunny LenoViz of the free City of Zhuliroal who had never seen either of them before. When his victim atained fame for his unconventional weapon and his skill in using it, he tried to find out as much as he could about him to help keep his cover intakt, which meant he knew exactly who he was dealing with when they met again many years later.
An extract from the 'Memories of a Soulless One', a nameless runner to Valiant Reboute, who would go on to found the city state of Corint, safe haven for soulless people.
The Sacred Following of the Star Gods is tenacious in hunting down those blessed without a soul by their gods, so that they can be sacrificed in a ritual to permit them to enter the material plane through their body. They just can't understand why people wouldn't want to be sacrificed in the name of a higher entity...
--Fidel Denostro, Collector of rare art and Tu Heirn Da history enthusiast. He was regarded as kind, if a little excentric, even though most people who got to know him mentioned that he could be very intense at times.
Legend has it that the three artifacts, the Green Sword of Betrayal, the Spear of the left handed Fisher and the statue of the girl known as the Warrior Princess are connected. It is said that the statue of the girl is an actual girl that was cursed all those centuries ago and if one could return her weapons to her she would be freed and walk among the living once more.
Fidel and his friend Timothy Ramson had spent half their lives looking for the artifacts and the other half trying to aquire them for their collection. When they had finally managed to get all three artifacts together Fidel turned on his colleague and proclaimed them to be his and his alone.
He never noticed the statue behind his back slowely and silently come alive until the girl in question stabbed him through the back. HIs lifeblood running along the green blade of her sword was the last thing he ever saw.
These were the last words spoken by Lady Erline Bancisi that evening, she not been seen since. to this day no one knows what is inside that hole in the ground that is guarded by a entire fortress built around it.
Grand Fleet Captain Velaar gaf-Ti'ign, just before the launch - and only a bit longer before the sinking - of the Ship-of-the-Line VRS Steam Goddess. She was right that the vessel turned the sea red, but only for a day or so, and only in that harbour.
-- Harvey Tophor to his brother in law Howard Long
Debating the merits of the idea of a diving expedition to retrieve a chest from the remains of the VRS Steam Goddess' bridge. The fact that Long's sister would not explain what was in the chest did not help to convince Harvey that it was a good idea.
Long later hired some help and tried anyway only to find that a leviathan had found the sunken ship and had decided it was a perfect place to rest for a year or two. They did manage to get the chest but the Leviathan was less than happy to be woken and the venture had, once again, only three survivors.
When Long's sister later asked him for one more tiny favour he declined.
Feorjess Goold, recently-former cultural attache for the Wallaminan Embassy to the Court of Sankt-Vantic, two and a half weeks before said southern neighbor, the Crown of Vanetica, announced the results of their investigation into the sinking and explosion of the VRS Steam Goddess (and offers a reward for any information leading to the capture or death of the saboteur) and one week before divers from the Vanetican Royal Navy secretly retrieved the ship's safe, containing the plans to the Steam Goddess.
Discussion between Frangil and his father, Firgahax the one eyed who was a prisoner in the impirial palace of "Bluerock" in the Tu Heirn Da Capitol at the time. 798 years and 5 months before the rebellion
Frangil had been invited there to find a peacefull solution to the slave uprising that gripped the empire. He was such a polarizing figure, that killing him would have definitly ignited civil war, as even parts of the upper casts respected him and his goals as noble.
Frangil however, who had lost his daughter to the empire's chains years ago, never wanted peace and only went there as a distraction.
While his army of liberated slaves withdrew and solidified their positions, Frangil himself intended to smuggle a nest of white Jira-Snakes, which were infected with the dreaded Laruvian Fever, directly into the impirial palace. The palace was the centre of the Tu Heirn Da's political power and he hoped to wipe out enough of it's command structure to leave them vulnurable.
Even though everybody, even Frangil himself, expected him to die, he was saved by a group of slaves that had escaped the slave legions on their own.
They were all veterans of countless battles and had been in the capitol many times. When they heard that Frangil was there and the talks were going badly, they rushed there and, led by a young man named Silharas, managed, against all odds, to spirit him to safety. Amazingly, none of them was infected.
In the skirmishes that followed Frangil came to rely heavily on Silharas and the support of his regiment of elite soldiers which ended up with them having a great deal of prominence and influence after the war when the slave uprising established its new home on the island of Sen. They formed the honour guard of the spiritual leaders of the revolution and took up the moniker of "The Blessed"
Over the last centuries the Blessed have taken up different roles on the island of Sen, but their political influence remains formidable to this day.
They have their own hirarchy, traditions and even their own patron animal spirit which they worship.
Frangil's army never really did exploit the opening that he had hoped to create because the Laruvian Fever was not contained in time. Instead of 'only' infecting most of the high ranking members of the court and the senior military leadership the disease spread like wildfire. As scouts reported seeing whole towns depopulated by it, the former slaves realized the danger, turned their backs, left the continent and built themselves a new home across the waves, vowing to never go back.
The Empire however, collapsed almost completely under the strain of both civil unrest and the waves of death that eminated from the nations capitol, leaving their portion of the continent a lawless mass grave for almost a a hundred years.
And while Frangil was heralded as a hero by his people, his name was cursed on the mainland for a long time.
-Words attributed to Atarl of the scales. Who's dedication to maintaining the peace of his city was as legendary as it was terrifying.
- The Lady Danielle. 'On the eve of Rebellion' Act 2 scene 5.
Il'uDavann's sixth-born daughter, translating for her near identical twin, the second-born son. She was a young prodigy, a polyglot who loved to learn languages, living and dead. Despite speaking a dialect of "lizard speak" of at least three centuries old, she managed to more or less figure out the Lani's current speech after listening to the guards for several minutes.
He was a naturally brilliant speaker and leader. If not for the rebellion the very existence of the second-born son would have ensured a civil war in spite of his own desires. It is only the belief that her brother could talk his way into godhood if he so chose that allowed the sixth-born to suggest seeking the help of the Lani.
Senior Post-Captain Sondr Ha'ign, commanding VRS Sankt-Vantic, at the start of the Battle of the Namras Strait. Though he would be martyr'd in the battle, his example rallied the outnumbered Vanetican forces, and lead to the most humiliating defeat that the Wallminan Navy had ever suffered. In the end, the losses at Namras hurt Wallmina far more than Vanetica, costing them the war, and leading to the fall of the Third Dorint Ministry, which had promised a 'short, victorious war' with their southern neighbor, and delivered a long, bloody debacle. Captain Ha'ign would have been disappointed to learn that the incoming Wallac Ministry did not outlaw slavery as the Vaneticans had, though that day did eventually come.
- Kalimbath. Famed for Kalimbath's Colossal Creature Compendium. Was considered an excellent travel guide writer but not a very good natural philosopher. The 'Behemountales' referred to are in fact the name collectively given to several ancient species of reptile given new life and form through magic. And while quite massive not nearly the size of palace, much less a mountain.
Colonel Halvord of the 3rd regiment. He led a group of scouts that was attached to the first expedition into the tunnels that Gelwin's excavation breached. They were sent to examine a tunnel that followed an underground stream, but were cut off when a cave in collapsed the tunnels behind them.
The expedition, led by Exalt Carahal, eventually cleared the cave in, but by that time the scouts had long since ventured deeper into the network of caves, hoping to find another way out.
Yandaret asking Legetaris Zhim, religious schollar and apprentice searcher, about his faith. In the heartland of Ziqebe, during the first weeks of the rebellion.
The most prominent Ziqebesi religion, Legetaris Zhim's faith, is centered around the mythical beings known as Dawnbreaker and Duskbreaker.
Their legend started when Bathaloma Yahas, the first of the great practitioners of the arcane methods the Ziqebesi simply call "the art" came down from mount Orak after their seven year meditation, and told people of his expiriences.
He spoke of two distinct beings, whose precense he had felt whenever his senses sliped through the cracks of our reality into the great beond. he called them Dawnbreaker and Duskbreaker for he never felt them both at the same time. One would always emerge once once the last rays of sunlight had vanished, only to slowly fade and give rise to the other when the orb of the sun had finally cleared the horizon completely.
It seemed to him that he were comunicating with each other, although what he were saying he could not comprehend.
In time, some of the other practitioners, known as the Searchers, also managed to unshackle their senses enough to percieve the endless maelstrom of shattered thought and cracked light the two resided in and reported similar things.
The vast beings never reacted to the Searchers and showed no discernable sign of that they even noticed them and yet philosophy and theology was in turmoil in the lands behind the salt wastes.
After decades of cultured discussion turned angry debate turned cultural divide turned almost civil war, the situation normalized again and a large religion worshipping the unknowable beings formed.
They filled their pantheon with other, lesser deities as well which some of the searcher claimed to have seen.
Among others it contained the Dawnbreaker's four wives, the Blue Maiden of the Onward Journey, Sehelinis the great Oblivion and Fincharvin the static, the great enemy.
Fincharvin was told to be Dawnbreaker's eternal rival, a nexus of crystaline stillnes that sought to end all in neverending uniformity.
In the centuries since then, a great tapestry of stories, morals and accounts of searchers have been woven together to form the religion it is now.
The enlightend people of Ziqebe, at least those that are members of the church, debate the finer points of their religion with each other to this day and will probably do so for evermore.
Lord Nocev Bell, uncle to Captain Yuani Bell and Elder Lord of the Bell/Merduc Province in the High Senate of the Senavar Republic. During the unification, when this was spoken, there were times that they truly were more of a howling mob than anything else. Historians agree, for good or ill managing to force through the unification past all opposition is one of the few things Farfarian could truly take pride in.
- Kalimbath. Famed for Kalimbath's Colossal Creature Compendium. Was considered an excellent travel guide writer but not a very good natural philosopher. The 'Behemountales' referred to are in fact the name collectively given to several ancient species of reptile given new life and form through magic. And while quite massive not nearly the size of palace, much less a mountain.
Silc, merchant princess and wife to the powerful Tradelord Xibeth after watching her entourage of Jerries (highly skilled and disciplined slave warriors) get messily devoured. She spoke to some random man on the road back to the city-state Quath, only notable for the rusty saw he carried. They parted ways as he walked toward the danger she had just escaped.
And so the first attempt to "Unify" the Tundra of Jin by Desecrater of Life, master of the Dark Art of Biomancy was stopped in it's infancy, unnoticed by history and not even a footnote in a certain knight's legend. Her second attempt, on the other hand... well that's another story.
Theodore Manswell, known to most as 'the scorpion lord', shortly before his band of savages attacked one of merchant caravans.
Riding with the merchant caravan was Marogor's newest wife to be, Silvestra Grandair, niece of . At first the beautiful maiden was seen as a great prize, but soon they found her to be so charming and so firece that they addopted her into their ranks.
Silvestra, who had always wanted a life of adventure and much prefered Theodore to Marogor loved her new life and with her wits and education quickly proved invaluable to her new family.
When Theodore died hunting down the sorcerer who had cursed him with his monstrous appearance, Silvestra took over the gang and continued raiding until the legend of Silvestra, the merciless Bandit Queen who coated her blade in scorpion venom, was known through all the uncontested lands.
the 3rd of the 17 Diaries of Lady Erline Bancisi, unredacted and held within the classified Mitan vault of the Order. This Vault is only known with the top inner circle of the order.
--Emperor Dafoll of the Wallaminan Empire and his Master of Spies Gerzel, talking about Operation Crimson Mist. 43 years after the rebellion.
The crew, who were clearly still alive, even if they didn't react to any attempt to wake them, were locked in a deep vault under Tarrol's Hall, one of the empire's many research divisions.
Their existence was kept a closely guarded secret.
Days later, when researches opened up the vault to start studying them, they were gone, leaving no trace of themselves behind.
Dubbed the "Ghosts of Tarrol's Hall" they were soon forgotten, especially since the empire surpressed any information about the incident.
Only one of the researchers who had initially seen them, Hiram Burro, secretly never gave up on gathering information about them.
Mistress Jurah bon Tremurila of Muval, speaking to her daughter Minerva about the dangerous Ziqebesi gem that she found. After discovering them gem's horrible secrets, Jurah left it behind on her beloved Sen.
Minerva learned of the gem's existence from her mothers stories, which she made the mistake of telling to an old lady who was quite... let's call it insistent on Minerva learning the exact location of the gem.
--Valiant to a possessed Varandu, former black Shaman of the Diade, after mortaly wounding him.
7 years before the rebellion
Varandu, had been hunting a dream demon that had been preying on the village people along the coast. When they clashed, the demon, who called himself Sinabar the Tyrant, found that Varandu lacked a soul. While he put up a good fight, without a soul Varandu had little natural defences against possession and succumbed quickly. Sinabar had never encountered a mortal he could control so completely and so he gleefully took him over, using his new and powerful host to sate his desires.
Naturally, a series of townspeople being found dead or as mindless husks drew the attention of the Followers (who always investigated such strange incidents in their search for the soulless) and thus also that of Valiant, who had been shadowing some of them to learn of their plans.
When Valiant found out that the Followers were this close to finding a vessel for one of their gods he decided he had to act. In a daring act of bravery he confronted Sinabar and managed to kill him, although he almost died in the fight.
Sinabar, to his dismay, found that since he had nested himself so deeply into his new host, he couldn't extricate himself quickly enough and expired with his victim.
As his essence was dragged into the void, the power of his defiant rage turned Varandu's body to ash. In a moment of compassion, the grieviously wounded Valiant gathered it up and took it with him. When he had recovered from his injuries he sought out the shaman's clan to returne his remains to his family and told them of Varandu's end.
Valiant's act of kindness earned him their trust and friendship and although they mourned their loss, they acknowledged that Varandu had already been dead long before Valiant killed his body.
- A quip usually uttered in Walaminian(sp?) stage comedies a sort of tongue in cheek hint as to a characters importance. Interestingly it is a verbatim quote from the days of the Walaminion civil war attributed to a spymaster to his wife also a spymistress. The two operating for the same king with no knowledge of reach other.
Varhira Verhar Varotasa to Galahan Kolejinu Worldwriter, travel companion and long time friend of Baron D'ardio.
D'ardio and Worldwriter met her as they explored the caves in the canyon that lies to the east of the Tundra of Jin.
They found a cave with several tunnels branching off of it and all those tunnels were filled with rows and rows of shelves stuffed full with books.
The age of the woman living there was impossible to determine. She was bald and her tanned skin was covered with ritualistic scars and painted with strange patterns.
Strangest of all was a band of unidentifiable runic script that seemed to loop back on itself as it wound around her body, forming an endless repeating chant.
Despite her solitude and appearance she seemed perfectly sane and invited them in for tea.
She told them little about herself but she elaborated a little about her tattoos and even let them browse through her library before they left. To their wonder they found books that were centuries old and written in all kinds of languages, some were even written in the ancient language of the Tu Heirn Da.
Varhira Verhar Varotasa to the reawakened Warrior Princess. Their battle did go much differently this time, partially because spending centuries as a completely aware living statue gave Princess a bit of a death wish but mostly because Varhira Verhar Varotasa had outlived her life of villainy ages ago. Varhira Verhar Varotasa deliberately lost forcing Princess to face the prospect of living on without the one person who might understand her. Neither died that day.
--Ekatharina, secondborn daughter of Archfuurst Alehi Il'uDavann to Silvestra Grandair, bandit queen of the uncontested lands. At that time she had been on the run from her persuers for weeks and without water for days. She had been sepperated from the rest of her family during the initial frantic flight from the capitol and would not see any of her siblings again until almost two years later when she happened upon the younger twins.
Unimportant member of the Order of the Laughing Star giving Agent Peacock info on the location of a certain dangerous gem.
- Excerpt from the Memoirs of one Aliandre Lesar, famously known as the Warrior Princess. Suffering from a peculiarly selective form of amnesia, she would spend the next decade accompanying Varhira Verhar Varotasa in her journeys, seeking to discover the truth. They parted following an encounter with Bilal, whom Aliandre later married.
-- Mistress Jurah bon Tremurila of Muval, at the age of 79, to herself.
In her later days, the poor woman once again had bouts of madness, rambling incoherent nonsense when provoked. After her daughter caught her burying her jewlery in the garden she took a stand and sent her away to be cared for in St. Lebioda's Hospital. She spent her final days there and died in the loving company of her three daughters.
-Apocryphally attributed to the Knight of the Rusty Saw, supposedly to a member of the Spirit Court. In certain parts the phrase "hired to kill Atarl of the scales" has become a euphemism for suspicious disappearances.
--Karn Vol, Ziqebesi searcher to his loyal servant Harrunhin, during the civil war of Ziqebe as one of his rivals' troops stormed his last sanctuary.
His living followers know him as Alpha Omega, many in Senavar's army and government would recognize his form as Fangofur, but Varhira Verhar Varotasa knew him as her childhood friend Frani aka Frangil the snake-tounged. His hatred of the empire saw him working to ensure it would never rise again. This in turn led to knowledge of the Star Gods and the modification of the "vessel-filling ritual" to turn him into a body hopping spirt, the birth of Biomancy.
-A conversation recounted by Lian, one of Bilal the Peacebringer's sons, in relating the tale of his parent's enduring love. Later included, verbatim, in an adaptation of their tale by the playwright Amalier. A Weapon of Peace is considered a timeless masterpiece despite its controversial nature.
- Cyril The Lion. His last words, his last act. Considered a noble traitor among the coastal cities. Those who've taken the mantle of The Lion have been treated with the Respect and caution ever since. For in taking up the title those men have given up everything in the name of exacting a terrible justice. For his last act Cyril The Lion strode into the court of the King Leopold II and slew him. Not through a trial or by way of accusation. He ran him through with a blade. Leopold's royal father's blade in fact.
It had been a gift to Cyril from Leopold I following the marriage between Cyril and the Princess Elise. Leopold II sister. Leopold II was a notorious womanizer and never married as a result, becoming increasingly obsessed with a personal legacy as he aged, and some say descended into madness. he had his sister and three of her four children killed in an attempt to secure the throne for one of his bastards. Cyril and his youngest daughter were as fortune would have it out that morning. Cyril would find evidence of his brother-in-law's complicity and vow to see his family's murderer brought to Justice. Regardless that the man was a king.
-"The City's Daughter" the night that the Red Talon crime syndicate was found horribly and brutally murdered.
- Lord Crendal Winnet's second son Erstwhile Winnet, better known as "Erstwhile the Deranged". The words were recorded by his wife Faithful Winnet nee Saliban the day he was locked away for his own good. Said she, "I don't even know what a 'Eureka moment' is! Do you?"
Grandmaster Yun of the Sacred Following of the Star Gods after the Night of Maiming. The Laughing Star Order, acting on an anonymous tip, put one of the Following's main hidden strongholds to siege. When Yun sent out a call for aid he expected enough reinforcements to cause some confusion so he and his inner circle could escape, torching everything they couldn't carry. He could not have foreseen an army strong enough to inflict 2/3s casualties upon the besiegers, routing the remainder.
-An eerie song popular among the children of Ziqebe, sung to the tune of Death lies Beyond the Hill. Supposed to have originated from the tale of a beggar, when the children who heard him—fascinated by the accent of a foreign land—began repeating it until it took on a life of its own.
For many in Ziqebe it remains a primary source for knowledge of the Westlands. The Spirit Court has reportedly sought to extinguish it, but to no avail, their inexperience among the Ziqebe people frustrating all efforts to remove their secrets from the public eye.
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Persons of Interest
-- Gary Nexlor, co-creator and first victim of the Nexlor-Winnet Automatic Tailor.
-- Lord Crendal Winnet, Cofounder of Nexlor-Winnet Enterprises.
-- Erstwhile Winnet, Lord Crendal Winnet's second son, better known as "Erstwhile the Deranged". Was eventually locked away for his own good. Happily married to his wife, Winnet nee Saliban.
-- Lord Trevor gaf-Welnr, 68 years old and Board Member of Nexlor-Winnet Enterprises. He had served in the military for most of his life and built the gaf-Welnr familiy into a powerhouse at the royal court. It is even rumored that he was a member of the Fatty Crab spy ring and that he still has some connections to the organization. He is also the brother of Sylvia Moranday.
-- Sylvia Moranday, brother of Trevor gaf-Welnr and friend to Frederic Baldwin. Still alive 3 years after the rebellion.
-- Frederic Baldwin, Royal advisor, long time friend of Sylvia Moranday. Still alive 3 years after the rebellion.
-- Carl Hubert, formerly of the Royal Musketeers, confronted the traitor and ursurper Damien Helswroth.
-- Damien Helswroth, instigated the rebellion against the crown with Duchess Palleta
-- Gelwin the Mad, started a ruinous excavation to the center of the planet which was closed off due to mysterious circumstances.
-- Lady Erline Bancisi, has not been seen since she informed Gelwin of the fact that the order was closing down her excavation. Was part of either the excavation or the order. (Or both)
-- Nalia Vasques, division leader of the Newland Expedition Corps on the island of Sen
-- Baron D'ardio of the house Thalido, explorer and writer of the "The D'ardio Enciclopedia of the known and unknown world". Traveled with Galahan Kolejinu Worldwriter and met Varhira.
-- Galahan Kolejinu Worldwriter, traveled with Baron D'ardio and met Varhira.
-- Farfarian the Prideful, Primorious of the Senavar Republic, ruled during the invasion of the NEC and at one point refused to surrender to them. Married to Lerian the wise. Came into power when his predecessor was forced out of office due to scandal. His unification movement brought all the smaller clans unter the rule of the Senavar Republic, which had its capitol in the cave city of Sen-Kalef.
-- Lerian the wise/Lerian the Traitor, one of Farfarian's wives. She was known as kind and intelligent. Was dubbed 'traitor' after she advocated for welcoming the NEC peacefully.
-- Quahodron Sullivanister, exalted war priest of the Order of the Laughing Star, was present at the siege of Calahno, the great temple city of the Duhneri. Lived 127 years before the rebellion.
-- Edward Sullivars, footman and companion to the Lady Knight Tamra of Faber
-- Lady Knight Tamra of Faber, operative of the spirit court and known as Agent Peacock among their ranks. investigated the closing of Gelvin's excavation.
-- Duchess Palleta, Founder and Spy mistress of the corset spy ring, wife of the Ambassador Duke Y'etiz of the house Thalido.
-- Ambassador Duke Y'etiz of the house Thalido
-- Acadia Neumann, religious scholar, spoke of the seven mountaintop temple complexes maintained by the Order of the Laughing Star, all located within the core territories of the Order.
-- Imperator Yunny LenoViz of the free City of Zhuliroal, largest of the city-states of the tundra of Jin.
-- Lorcul Sinavol, the head torturer of Imperator Yunny LenoViz. He was found dead in his home one morning with a note pinned to his chest, which was signed simply with "B".
-- Sere Kom'um Bear, exiled Military historian. Of the house Wutsom. Held a lecture tour where he spoke of the Newies
-- Ostro the 17th, Pirate-Emperor Of the exiled Feldgrau fleet, he said these words beforee his fleet broke his former lover's blockade around the western Kakou bay. Was Admiral of the navy and then part of the rebellion against the crown. When his wife betrayed him he fled, taking most of his men and ships with him.
-- Nedragan Nightbringer, Duhneri Emmisary. Lived 126 years before the rebellion and the great expansion of the NEC into the island of Sen.
-- Lelpharion, ruler of the Kingdom that is now home to the Order of the Laughing Star. Last ruler that wasn't selected from the ranks of the order.
-- Agent Sky, third in line to the title of Baba-Yaga (second*) possible** leader of the Spirit Court, welcomed Tamara into their ranks.
*There are no less than three Baba-Yaga's, all of whom are accepted as the absolute leader of the Spirit Court.
**There are also two "leaders" with the title Phoenix and three more calling themselves Kitsune. The true leader is a cipher, if they exist at all.
-- Templar Captain Yuani Bell of Mellen, bloodthirsty and dutyful in guarding the Republic's borders. Vocally denies the existence of the spirit court.
-- Lord Nocev Bell, uncle to Captain Yuani Bell and Elder Lord of the Bell/Merduc Province in the High Senate of the Senavar Republic
-- Axelia of Kesselven, a possible spy for The Pirate- Emperor of the Feldgrau fleet and a ruthless business woman with powerful ties to the Xani Crime cartel.
-- Colonel Xin Crager, reported on happenings at the first Senavar colony which was then never heard from again.
-- Archfuurst Alehi Il'uDavann of the since annexed Archprincipality of Low Waters, advised his children to flee the realm beforee the rebellion spread to the capital and saw them all beheaded. Of his children, the youngest three have no known location.
-- Archfuurst Alehi Il'uDavann's firstborn. His firstborn daughter however is known to have crossed the great salt waste to the east and joining the Ziqebesi Emporer's harem after meeting Nölaska.
-- Archfuurst Alehi Il'uDavann's firstborn son(adopted and very self-conscious about it), was caught and killed seven months after parting ways with his younger twin siblings.
-- The twins, children of Archfuurst Alehi Il'uDavann, accidently incited the Lani towards invasion of the surface. They were near identical and very close. They had five older sisters and on older brother. She was a young prodigy, a polyglot who loved to learn languages, living and dead, and he was a naturally brilliant speaker and leader.
-- Ekatharina, secondborn daughter of Archfuurst Alehi Il'uDavann. Captured by the bandit queen Silvestra Grandair.
-- Brigadier Clemenza, Tian Han and Abdun Sel were stationed in Dune during a great heist which saw 7 highly prized holy artefacts of the Duhneri's religion vanish from one of their temples. Lived 128 years before the rebellion.
-- Exalt Themophilius, was known for protecting people from unjust persecution, his intervention in a diplomatic incident indirectly led to the war with the Duhneri Theocracy. Lived 128 years before the rebellion.
-- Frangil the snake-tongued, instigating a slave uprising during the fall of the great Tu Heirn Da empire and used the dreaded Laruvian Fever to depopulate it's capitol. Under his leadership, the Slave rebellion settled on the island of Sen. Lived 798 years before the rebellion and the invasion of the island of Sen by the NEC. Used a modified version of the vessel filling ritual to bodyhop and develop biomancy. He is still alive and known as Alpha Omega by his followers. Knew Varhira Verhar Varotasa as "little Var Lesar" when she was a child.
-- Fangofur, high general of the Senavar Republic. Fought the battle of the forgotten marshes. Presumed dead. Was in reality one of the incarnations of the body hopping entity known as Frangil.
-- Silharas, the first commander of the Blessed. Rescued Frangil from the Tu Heirn Da capitol during the slave uprising.
-- Varhira Verhar Varotasa, the great grey witch of old. As a child she knew Frangil, whom she met again hundreds of years later on the shores of Sen, where she was digging up a dangerous, ancient gem. Helped the Tu Heirn Da create the warrior princess. Met Baron D'ardio and Galahan Kolejinu Worldwriter when they found her sanctuary during their travels. Very old and has many strange markings on her body.
-- Aliandre Lesar, the Warrioir Princess, a cursed girl from the Tu Heirn Da Empire. She was artificially created as a living weapon with Varhira's help, when she turned against her "mother" she was cursed. The curse turned her into a statue. She was awakened several centuries later by Fidel Denostro and Timothy Ramson and promptly killed Fidel for his trouble. The curse also affected her memories. After meeting Varhira and traveling with her for a while she met Bilal, whom she fell in love with and later married.
-- Timothy Ramson, historical scholar, talks about the early years of the Tu Heirn Da empire. Has a friend who was raised to the rank of Exalt in the Order and visited the Library of Nostarprim with him.
-- Fidel Denostro, Collector of rare art and Tu Heirn Da history enthusiast. He was regarded as kind, if a little excentric, even though most people who got to know him mentioned that he could be very intense at times. Was stabbed in the back by the warrior princess
-- Lomme ''Stamper'' Xuda, One of the many feared handlers and recruiters among the Blessed, he's different among his peers in his soft interview approuch of verbally and emotionally abusing recruits to test their strength of will.
-- Tiabolt, duelist for hire in the free City of Variez. Succeeded in duelling dAYBREAK fURY in his attempt to rescue Damian from the Diade afterlife. During the rescue Tiabolt freed a dreamdemon, which he later banished again with the help of a black shaman of the Diade. Was eventually killed by the knight with the rusty saw.
-- Corso Peliando, highwayman who stole a nights belongings and assumed his identity. While he would go on to be emplyed by the by Imperator Yunny LenoViz of the free City of Zhuliroal, the knight would be forced to stand trial for his misdeeds. The two would later meet again.
-- The Knight of the Rusty Saw, great and mysterious hero. Was thrust int this role when Corso Peliando stole his belongings and people assumed he was Corso. He was forced to stand trial and chose trial by combat. He faced off against Tiabolt and killed him. Near the city-state Quath he stopped an atempt to comquer the tundra of Jin by the desecrator of life.
-- Damian, lover of a merchant princess, was rescued from the Diade afterlife by Tiabolt.
-- dAYBREAK fURY, guardian of the Gate of Darkness, the portal to the first afterlife (basically a giant waiting room) in the Diade religion. Lost a duel to Tiabolt, who was hired to duel every psychopomp necessary to save a merchant princess's lover. Tiabolt succeeded in this.
-- Erinya, the old crone of Miller's crossing, legendary combat instructor and mentor to the orphan Bilal. Was a warlord at some point and was known as Maria Doomhammer during that time. Came from the eastern empire over 300 years ago.
-- Bilal, orphan and street urchin. He ran with Birdy and some other kids until they were caught stealing from the Della'yori busness syndicate. While the Sydicate caught all the othe members of the gang, Bilal escaped and went on alone until he met Erinya, the old crone of Miller's crossing, and convinced her to train him. The two formed a close friendship and she taught him some of the mystical arts of her people while he confided in her about his strange almost vision like dreams. When he left to travel south he met Birdy once again in her bar. Married the warrior princess, Aliandre Lesar, whom he dearly loved and had had more than one son. Later known as Bilal the peacebringer.
-- Lian, one of Bilal's sons.
-- Old Birdy, Barmaid and Spy for the Della'yori busness syndicate. Was convinced to work for them after she and her friends had been caught after stealing from them. Was friends with Bilal when they were both kids living on the street.
-- Iosef, Arch-dean of the Highcrown Royal Academy, chair of the Philosophy and Existence covens.
-- Archminister Tindle, Advisor to the King, Former Arch-Dean of the Highcrown Royal Academy, Former Ballroom Dancing Enthusiast
-- Alba Suqari, Chairmen of the Divine institute for truth which is part of the Ziqebesi Ministry of Military intelligence
-- Marogor the fat, tradelord of the southern tundra cities.
-- Berthold of the NEC, fought the elite Senavarian unit "The Blessed"
-- Nerigan Lofthus, historian and researcher for the Divine institute for truth, shot himself after figuring out something about the laughing star.
-- Vivian, former lover of Ostro the Pirate. Betrayed the Rebellion, died as a confused old woman, unsure of who she was loyal to. In her lifetime she filled journals upon journals with her strange dreams and stories. Unfortunately all but one was burnt.
-- Lieutenant Jonathan Lord of the Imperial Army, brother of General Marcus Lord. Instigated a failed attack on retired warlord Maria Doomhammer's (the old crone of Miller's crossing) Orphanage for Crippled Children.
-- General Marcus Lord of the Imperial Arm, brother of Lieutenant Jonathan Lord
-- Nölaska "the Midwife of Tears", disgraced advisor to the Emperor of Ziqebe, saved the firstborn daughter of the late and Archfuurst Alehi Il'uDavann from dying in the great saltwastes. She would later regain her advisorial status by convincing the princess to join the imperial harem.
-- Yagar Beherimot, the "Harbinger of Grief"
She was one of the oldest of the old in the faraway land of Ziqebe. She had delved so deeply into her esoteric arts that her thoughts moved in strange spirals and her mind was a palace of crystaline laughter. Feared and Revered in equal measure, many people came to her to learn from her wisdom and hear her advice.
Most only visited her only once, and never spoke of it afterwards.
-- Rinkina, clan mother of the Treetop clan of Sen-Karan, resisted the Farfarians unification movement but lost in the end.
-- Rinoka, Rinkina's daughter, hostage in the Republic's capitol, the cave city of Sen-Kalef, to ensure that the Treetop clan does not attempt to secede or revolt.
-- Sinalan the ageless, a dream demon that Tiobal inadvertedly freed from his banishment in the desert of ash when he set out to rescue Damian. Was banished again by Tiobalt and a black shaman of the Diade after a year of gorging himself of on the dreams and hopes of mortals.
-- Sinabar, a dream demon that possessed the black shaman Varandu and was killed by Valiant Reboute after going on a feeding spree. 7 years before the rebellion.
-- Varandu, a soulless that was taken over by a dreamdemon called Sinabar.
-- Elder Tao, member of the Sacred Following of the Star Gods, taught Yun about how the followers planned to use a vessel to allow one of their gods to walk the earth.
-- Yun, elder Tao's apprentice, would go on to become the next Grand Master of the Sacred Following of the Star Gods. Was there at the night of maiming.
-- Vinganza, Ruler of Doxithon, High King of the Underground Empire Raxia. Raxia is home to the Lani, the dominate race on this nameless world before they were driven underground by the rise of humanity.
-- Exalt Trienus, Investigated the damage done to the high stone in the sixth temple after the fourth attack on the temples.
-- Willis Jag, Exalt Prenominative, lived twenty years before the rebellion, reported on the Forth Attempt to destroy the high stones.
-- Maximus Grandair, captain of the Snarling Wolves, hired a mercenary to duel the scorpion lord.
-- The scorpion Lord, the most fearsome bandit to ever pass through the uncontested lands with his band of savages.
-- Valiant Reboute, Explorer Extraordinaire and Master of Disguise was also a soulless vessel for one of the stars and thus hunted by the followers. Wrote the 'Memories of a Soulless One' and would go on to found the city state of Corint, safe haven for soulless people. Played a drunk to find out more about a woman who would try to become his apprentice.
-- Jonas Freeweather, Junior Infantryman in the NEC, got a hold of some Kalinkat eggs and managed to hatch, and even train them to a degree. Those animals would give the Kalinkat Company it's name.
-- Grand Fleet Captain Velaar gaf-Ti'ign, launched the Ship-of-the-Line VRS Steam Goddess which promptly sank.
-- Harvey Tophor, brother in law to Howard Long
-- Howard Long, brother in law to Harvey Tophor, went on a diving expedition to get a chest out of the sunken wreck of the VRS Steam Goddess for his older sister.
-- Feorjess Goold, recently-former cultural attache for the Wallaminan Embassy to the Court of Sankt-Vantic, was involved in the sabotage of the Steam Goddess and the retrieval of her plans.
-- Atarl of the scales. Who's dedication to maintaining the peace of his city was as legendary as it was terrifying. Hired thieves to steal the Diade's Malachant, which sparked a chain of events that led to the near total destruction of a rival city. Notoriously hard to kill. In certain parts the phrase "hired to kill Atarl of the scales" has become a euphemism for suspicious disappearances.
-- "The City's Daughter" Was captured by the Red Talon crime syndicate who were all found murdered the day after.
-- Senior Post-Captain Sondr Ha'ign, commanding VRS Sankt-Vantic, died in the Battle of the Namras Strait. Was strongly against slavery.
-- Colonel Halvord of the 3rd regiment. He led a group of scouts that was attached to the first expedition into the tunnels that Gelwin's excavation breached. They were sent to examine a tunnel that followed an underground stream, but were cut off when a cave in collapsed the tunnels behind them.
-- Kalimbath. Famed for Kalimbath's Colossal Creature Compendium.
-- Yandaret talked with Legetaris Zhim about the Ziquebsi religion
-- Legetaris Zhim, religious schollar and apprentice searcher
-- Kalimbath. Famed for Kalimbath's Colossal Creature Compendium
-- Bathaloma Yahas, the first recorded person to witness the great beings he called Dawnbreaker and Duskbreaker. Accomplished practitioner of the arcane methods the Ziqebesi simply call "the art".
-- Cyril The Lion. Killed king Leopold II after the latter had had his wife and children murdered.
-- Karn Vol, Ziqebesi searcher. Lived during the civil war of Ziqebe.
-- Harrunhin, loyal servant of Karn Vol. Helped evacuate his sanctuary during an attack.
-- Mistress Jurah bon Tremurila of Muval, lived to a very old age but suffered from unknown mental disorders for which she was sent to St. Lebioda's Hospital. Said problems were probably induced by a strange gem she had in her possession for a while. After burying the gem somewhere on the shores of Sen she soon felt much better. Had three daughters who loved her dearly. The Order also knew about this from their spies.
She spent some time on Sen and even wrote about her expiriences. Her writings detail her knowledge of Kalinkats among other things.
-- Silc, merchant princess and wife to the powerful Tradelord Xibeth. Met the knight of the rusty saw and told him abouta monster attack.
-- Desecrater of Life. She was a master of the Dark Art of Biomancy. Tried to Unify the Tundra of Jin twice . The first time she tried it with monsters and was stopped by the knight with the rusty saw after she managed to kill a company of Jerries (highly skilled and disciplined slave warriors).
-- Theodore Manswell, the scorpion lord. Captured Silvestra Grandair and eventually let her join his group of bandits. Left after a while o hunt down the sorcerer that had cursed him.
-- Silvestra Grandair, was on her way to marry the tradelord Marogor, but was captured by the scorpion lord. Eventually joined his gang and worked her way up to leader and continued raiding until the legend of Silvestra, the merciless Bandit Queen who coated her blade in scorpion venom, was known through all the uncontested lands.
-- Hiram Burro. Researcher at Tarrol's Hall. Secretly looks for clues about the ghosts of Tarrol's hall.
-- Emperor Dafoll of the Wallaminan Empire. Ordered operation Crimson Mist
-- Gerzel, Master of Spies to the emporer, reported about the still living sailors of the steam godess.
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