Fantasy the curiousity of rembrance || lore

[doneanddusted]

Some worlds are forged by fire. Some worlds are forged by steel. Some are forged by blood.

This one is forged by 01000100 01100101 01100001 Art 0 1110100 01101000

The Mother Providence creates and shapes Disternia through her will, gives it color through her hands, gives it life through her voice. (Where Martial Gods merely carve something already existing, they are unable to cover up and reshape the mistakes that they make.)

Liberation through expression.
Expression through life.
Life through death.

A cycle of reincarnation.

It is an honor to be a part of it.

HISTORY

REGIONS:
Rembrance || Ballad || Umbridge || Eirs || Pohem || Dynastia

On Mortality
“Don’t think that being a mortal is a good thing. Souls? Ha! Like they’re actually gifts. They’re just the tools and containers made to collect the filth that the gods can’t reach. Without us the world would be even dirtier than it is now.”

Mortals of Disternia all consist of three aspects: The body, the conscience, and the soul.

On their first appearance, all three are clean of any impurities. Throughout a lifetime however, any of the three can collect the foulness of the material realms. The body is most easily contaminated, followed by the mind, then the soul.

To be reincarnated...
The body of the current lifetime is put to rest.
The conscience is cleansed of the lingering regrets of mortality.
The soul is not snatched before its departure.

Reincarnation breaks apart the three aspects of mortality, degenerating two and keeping one. Usually the body is left behind, and the conscience is wiped. The soul is what ultimately moves on.
As such, reincarnation does not cleanse the soul, only the body and the mind. Demons who manage to get themselves killed still have corrupted souls in the next lifetime.


The Enemies (?) of Mortality
Monsters: Soulless vessels given conscience (Legendary Beasts, Mimics, Living Fire)
The Undead: A body of a mortal, not put to rest. Sometimes the soul is there, too. When it is not, they are merely Puppets.
Ghosts: Souls that strayed path of reincarnation.
Spirits: Ghosts with their conscience intact.
Demons: Mortals with corrupted souls / occasionally, a soul that has moved on, but a body and conscience too steeped in darkness to deteriorate naturally, making them timeless (a dangerous thing to be in a world where everything moves on).
Lunarians: ???
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A relatively new kingdom, Rembrance（勿忘国）rose from the Deadlands (眠儡谷) of Disternia. Its ruler, Sovereign 永治镜 (Yong Zhijing), ensures the kingdom keeps to itself, despite her seemingly friendly and open nature. By her side sits her wife, 永恒丽 (Yong Hengli), a much more demure woman.

Rembrance has very few — nearly nonexistent — plots of land that are suitable for agriculture. As such, the economy here runs mainly on trading. Raw material used for making other goods are imported from other kingdoms. Rembrance is famous for their architectural masterpieces, stonework, and woodwork. The few mages that are here — few, but powerful — are also highly sought after, for their talisman and potion work.

Even in such a dismal land, the people of Rembrance are cheerful. You will rarely find a place that has people that are so eager for a good story and so welcoming to a newcomer in town. A good way to get the favor of anyone here is to bring some exotic food, loaded with more spices than is strictly necessary, and gift it to them.

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Ballad (白歌岭) is one of the oldest and largest kingdoms of Disternia, its prominent history oftentimes one of many stories passed down through generations both inside and outside the kingdom. Where other kingdoms highly covet dancing, drawing, or singing, Ballad runs on the art of storytelling to sustain itself.

The kingdom is a place of solitude, quiet, peace, and worship (though the last one is only because of the first three). Ideas of masculinity and femininity are strictly imposed on everything. People here come to learn and develop themselves as individuals, usually turning out as monks or philosophical writers. Chaos is prohibited. Those who cause trouble will find themselves frowned down upon by giant statues that tower over the region towards the southeast- whose eyes will never look away.

Ballad is ruled by balance as much as it is ruled by its leaders, 辛蒂娅 (Xin Diya) and 辛君川 (Xin Junchuan). The twins to inherit the kingdom, 辛蝶斯 (Xin Diesi) and 辛梦子 (Xin Mengzi), are the first in Disternia that will rule as a single entity, that are not connected by marriage.

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Having conquered many small nations, Umbridge (云布桥) became a powerful empire in the North, feared for its military strength. Those days, however, are long gone, and the current Sovereign 万锦阳 (Wan Jinyang) has devoted his days to partying it up with the other rich folks. He has many concubines, his favourite one being 万瑰舞 (Wan Guiwu) — they are infatuated with each other. Surprisingly, they have only produced one heir, 万华镜 (Wan Huajing), whom they often forget even exist.

The people of Umbridge are as proud as they come. Since the end of their glorified military days, citizens have taken to preserving anything notable to their history and presenting it as a cultural treasure. Ancient residences and dilapidated buildings of the past are only some of the things jealously guarded and shown off to anyone that will listen, despite most of these artifacts to be crawling with dangerous plants and animals. This behavior is oddly charming, despite the unfortunate side effect of inflating the egos of Umbridge’s people.

Unlike other kingdoms, art is regarded less as a way of life and more of an elaborate performance. They say watching a Umbridgian performance is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and many Disternians travel from far off places just to see such magic in action. Performances happen once in a blue moon though — after all, the citizens here need to stop trying to be tour guides for an hour or two first: a monumental task, all things considered.

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Residing on the moon of Disternia, a race called the Lunarians form Eirs (艾瑞世), the oldest kingdom in Disternia, and the rather elusive group that had continually raided Disternia for seemingly no reason. Most Disternians often view Lunarians as blood hungry zealots; recently, however, the new Sovereign 宋花阁 (Song Huage) have developed relations with the many of the other kingdoms, and the raids have thus stopped on all but the Pohem region and the Dynastia Kingdom.

Stories of Lunarian raids are fascinating — some recall the Lunarians moving in an organised and almost performance worthy fashion, much like a hivemind; others recall weapons and magic unlike those ever seen on Disternia before; yet more tell stories of the Lunarians making a big show coming to the earth, only to leave after stealing a few cows. Regardless of the nature of their raid, those who witness it remember that moment with equal parts fear and awe.

While not much is known about life on the moon, Song Huage has revealed that the Lunarians alternate genders when it comes to choosing heirs to the throne — depending on the gender of the ruler, the nation is considered either under a Dark Era (for women) or a Light Era (for men). Huage speaks little else of their country, leaving many to wonder about the true nature of Eirs.

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The region of Pohem (波泪温) lies on the edge of a highland volcano that stretches the entire south side of Disternia. The region is as poor as you can get, not wealthy enough to be considered a kingdom, it’s misfortune stemming from a mixture of bad agriculture, ashen air, and dangerous terrain.

Pohem has good people, all who are super isolated. With such limited personnel, water is thicker than blood; most residents here don’t have a long ancestry, and most try to get out as fast as possible. The ones that aren’t trying to escape are those that ran away to Pohem, and had nowhere else to go. There are stories that most of the desperate ones miraculously find that it’s not impossible to live here, despite most kingdoms saying the exact opposite.

Perhaps that is why no one has snatched up Pohem as part of their territory yet. Acquiring it is one thing - turning it into something livable is entirely different. For now, the region is represented by two ambassadors, 瑞梦山 (Rei Menshan) and 瑞苏年 (Rei Sunian), that were kind enough to look after the otherwise unallied denizens.

 

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Where mountains dominate the southern part of Disternia, only one mountain stands tall in the north — Sky Jaws (天牙山), home to the exquisitely beautiful Kingdom of Dynastia (单霞雷). The capital city 亿花镜 is known as the City of Flowering Mirrors, an overtly opulent place of ornate rooms and intricate sculptures, whose elaborate festivals and evening parties hide away the ignorance and misery of its citizens. And below the partying and indulgence of the rich are the voiceless poor whose backs break for the higher class.

Here, where burying the dead is an honor for the royals and higher officials only, people try for lifetimes to become a top dog, to be able to enter the tower at the top of the mountain, a new height added to already the highest peak in Disternia. The newly-instigated heir 马克斯维 (Ma-Ke Siwei) and his sister, the Princess Elect 爱丽丝 (Ai Lisi) sit comfortable at the top and watch the free-for-all continue.

Underneath this kingdom built in layers is a black market: the most poorly-kept secret throughout all the Kingdoms. While just as splendid to the eyes as the outside, the brutality here is less hidden. They say that demons lurk here, waiting for a chance to steal your skin and take over your life. Not to mention that even if there is no tower like the outside, there is still more than one way to kick someone to the bottom of the line.

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[Dimday]

History and Relations
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Fall of the Predecessors:

• The previous three Kingdoms stretch over the north and central areas of Disternia, all battling each other for territory. Two of them are collapsing from internal unrest. The other is at the height of its glory, conquering lands from the other two, eventually becoming Umbridge. This part of history is usually forgotten, as it has too much bloodshed for the tastes of the people that reside there now.

The Creation of the Kingdoms

1. The Eirs kingdom is established by Lunarians on one of the moons of Disternia.
2. Predecessors of Ballad start carving the northeastern face of the Southern Mountains, and Ballad is first founded as a small educational town.
3. The Kingdom at the peak of its glory wins the tug-of-war for territory up north and expands its borders for the last time before renaming itself as Umbridge.
4. A town attempts to erect itself in the Deadlands. A failure - the people that had gone there (citizens of the fallen, conquered Kingdoms) go missing within days. Some say that this was when the Lunarian Raids started.
5. A once religious temple of one of the fallen kingdoms, erected at the top of a north eastern mountain, is converted to a tower. The people settling there discover that the mountain is mostly hollow, and set up a marketplace in the caves there. The mountain is named Sky Jaws.
6. Disternia’s First Library is set up, within the territory of Ballad. The people unite under a common banner. The creator of the library becomes the unofficial leader.
7. A collapse in the caves of Sky Jaws. Miraculously, no one dies. A few people step up to lead in the renovations and construction of the tower and cavern marketplace. Dynastia is officially formed.
8. Lunarian Raids become more and more frequent in the established Kingdoms of Disternia.
9. Another attempt to establish a town in the Deadlands, this time spearheaded by the new leaders of Umbridge. Another failure. This time the people learn that the Deadlands do not take kindly to being disturbed. The area is thus avoided by most everyone for the next half a century.

Past 50 Years - Past 10 Years

1. Song Huage takes over leadership of Eirs. He begins tentatively reaching out to the Kingdoms to offer assistance and knowledge instead of raiding them. He is forcibly rejected by Dynastia, but manages to make a truce with Ballad and Umbridge.
2. There are rumors of movement in the Deadlands. The ones that investigate there discover a full-blown town, well on its way to become a Kingdom of its own.
3. Mere months after this, there are rumors of movement on the southern mountains, closer to the volcanic regions than the area where Ballad is located. A town called Pohem exists there, poor as dirt. The area is commonly referred to as the Pohem Region.
4. Raids occur in the Deadlands and within the Pohem Region. The people in the former immediately respond by declaring itself as a new Kingdom, known as Rembrance. Its leader, Yong Zhijing, makes the same truce with Song Huage as he did with Ballad and Umbridge.
5. Pohem elects representatives, Rei Mengshan and Rei Sunian as their ambassadors, who are still patiently awaiting council with Song Huage.