Fantasy the 𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕥 of us — lore

[sophocles]

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[sophocles]

VAEDAR, the lonely continent.

where in which our story takes place. a large landmass surrounded on all sides by vast and dangerous oceans. the continent was given its moniker by ancient sailors, as no stretch of land has ever been found across the open waters. vaedar sits alone in a sea of great emptiness.

the realm is composed of five kingships, each ruled by its own power, and a holy city-state. each has their own landscapes, cultures, societies, and ways of life.

Spoiler: the lands of vaedar

ARANORIN /aa-rah-nor-in/
the forest citadels of aranorin are quite a sight to behold. with trees taller than the eldest mountains, the kingship has made its home within their ancient branches.

STYRENE /sty-REEN/
known as the birthplace of the scourge, styrene is the harsh tundra of the north. those who live within her borders have been known to face great hardships before the end of their lives.

TRODEL /troy-del/
home to the finest craftsman and artists, trodel is at the center of vaedarian culture.

HOYATHA /hoy-ATHa/
with more water than earth with its borders, hoyatha houses the riverlands of the east.

ORIRA /oh-reer-ah/
the green southlands of orira are home to warmth and comfort.

ARDES /are-desh/
named after the great prophetess of veta, ardes is home to the magicians of the ardamant. the city-state has remained neutral in all matters of vaedar, claiming to care only for the pursuit of greater knowledge.

vaedar is inhabited by a great number of peoples. elves make up the majority of the population, followed by humans and folk of the beast (animalistic-humanoid subspecies). centaurs roam the plains of orira. halfings and treants are few and far between, preferring to keep to themselves enough to become myths of their own right.

 

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STYRENE, home of the scourge.

styrene is the second largest kingship in vaedar, taking up a large section of the north-eastern map. a harsh tundra landscape— vast, flat, and treeless. the land is dreary beyond compare and helps little in the way of farmland. the air is frigid and brittle. the farther north the travel, the colder the land. the snow is heaviest at the foot of the corosha mountains, a range that spans the length of the northern border. the great river imyr flows out from the deep roots, running straight through styrene until it reaches lake tolu in the south. to the east, the land warms until it gives way to marsh, where the swamplands devour all in their path. to the south, trodel; to the east, hoyatha; to the west, aranorin; and to the north, across the corosha— nothing but ice.

styrene employs a feudal system. a monarch sits upon the throne, surrounded by teyrns, jarls, and barons. the throne is occupied by king loren lamanie, son of king adar iii. he inherited the title only a year prior, following the death of his father. he is young and rash; he has yet to prove himself a worthy ruler, but the people of styrene hold out little hope— the lamanie family are not known for their skills in leadership.

the grand capital city of yadir can be found in the northwest tundra of styrene. what little wealth exists within the borders of the kingship can be found in yadir. the further traveled from yadir, the poorer the population becomes. the hovels of the lower class surround the castles of the lords of the tundra. to the east, the city of yorel lies at the mouth of the great river imyr, where it meets with lake tolu, the second-largest city in styrene. many fishing and farming villages line the banks of the imyr towards the root of the corosha. townships grow more populous between the eastern banks of the river and the swampland.

in the far east, towards the borders of hoyatha, lies the fortress of sara'ed, the main command of the warriors of yheian. while leadership of the order resides in yadir with the king, the remainder of the warriors inhabits the dilapidated walls. broken outposts litter the expanse of styrene, forgotten by the winds of time. they are but husks of the proud towers built by previous generations of yheian, created to watch the lands for signs of a scourge.

the population of styrene is primarily humans and furred folk of the beast. if at all, elves can be found in the south by lake tahu, or to the east of the great river imyr. the cold has proved to be their downfall, though some would say elven blood still flows within the royal family. halfings are said to occupy caverns at the roots of the corosha. treants have claimed the swamplands as their own.

the culture is medieval. the creation of technology is still confined to the borders of trodel, so the people of styrene fend for themselves. men carry more values than women; daughters carry more fortune than sons.

 

[sophocles]

MYTHOS of the world.

since before the dawn of time, the demons of the dark have sought to consume the divine cosmos. slaughtering gods proved the easiest way to achieve this, and war raged between the pantheon of the celestials and their antithesis. following the murder of their wife, the god qinborh sacrificed their essence to create what is known to mythology as the shaysus— a frigid and barren prison locked away from the existence of cosmos. after a battle that almost destroyed the concept of being, the demons were exiled and forgotten. what was left of the cosmos was slowly molded into the world that would become vaedar. in an effort to cleanse the world of darkness, the gods poured their essence into this new realm, bestowing it with life and magicks.

within the shaysus, the hunger of the demons became ravenous. they craved nothing more than to taste the cosmos, but the cosmos were gone. the realm of vaedar remained in its place, and unfortunately it was within the realm of vaedar that the demons found their salvation. though the gods had attempted to purge the world of darkness, their light could not exist without it. demons had only been subdued— not destroyed, for this reason.

just as the gods granted their light to create life out of the cosmos, the demons would use their own essence to counter it. they were too weak to devour the world on their own, so they would send others to do it for them.

 

[sophocles]

THE SCOURGE

since the beginning of life within the graveyard of the cosmos, the demons of the underworld have plotted to devour the lands of vaedar. it would not be of their own accord, but through the devastation wrought by their children.

the darklings. husks, created from the soul of vaedar. stone, clay, earth, tree— the very flesh and bone of the world turned against it. creatures born of the darkness of the cosmos, sworn to raze vaedar and all within it to the ground. mindless drones who would stop at nothing to achieve their purpose. to even call them children was but a mockery towards the gods.

the invasions of darklings upon the world brought death, disease, and carnage— a scourge, as ancient vaedar would name it. a scourge would last centuries, fought in the name of the highest of demons. every forest burned, every river poisoned, and every being slaughtered would satiate but a little of their infinite hunger.

eleven scourges have plagued the realm of vaedar. they have shaped the history, the borders and the cultures of the world.

while the historians of the ardament have concluded that scourges have occurred sometime after the conception of vaedar, no history exists that chronicles any early accounts. written language was not popularized between peoples until well into the first scourge of adramalech. it is estimated that four scourges took place before this time, though any discernable information about them is unknown. therefore, though the first recorded, history remembers such as the fifth scourge of the world.

it also is unknown why the scourges of adramalech were separated into three. it is assumed that no darklings attacks on settlements occurred during the years between them, but no cause can be discerned as to why,

Spoiler: scourge history

the fifth (1290 - 907)
the first scourge led by the demon adramalech, lasted three hundred eighty-three years.

the sixth (906 - 562)
the second scourge of adramalech, lasted three hundred forty-four years.

the seventh (560 - 505)
the last scourge of adramalech, lasted only fifty-five years. veric sara'ed, first of the order of yheia, slayed the great demon at the foot of the corosha mountains in styrene, after a week long battle between the darklings and the yheian.

the eighth (442 - 399)
sixty-three years between the last scourge. led by the demon baphomet, first child of adramalech. lasted only forty-three years.

the ninth (327 - 300)
seventy-two years between the last scourge. led by the demon eligos. lasted only twenty-seven years.

the tenth (212 - 202)
eighty-eight years between the last scourge, led by the demon leyak, lasted only ten years.

the eleventh (150 - 152)
fifty years between, and the last scourge to plague vaedar. led by the demoness gadulta and lasted only two years.

the twelfth (???)

after the formation of the order of yheia and the defeat of adramalech, chiefest of demons, the occurrence of scourges had waned. more and more years passed between scourges as lesser demons fought and bickered to take command in the wake of the last failure. scourges were being quelled more quickly, leaving those within the shaysus little time to react. the pattern continued until the eleventh scourge— the last scourge, over one hundred and fifty years ago to this day. darklings are confined to the dark roads under the corosha mountains, and demons have passed into myth.

 

[sophocles]

WARRIORS OF YHEIA

the order is a sect of warriors made up of peoples from all over vaedar. unlike many organization, the order posed no restrictions of membership. man or woman, human or beast— the scourge did not discriminate, so neither did its opposition. each kingship was awarded with its own order after the demise of the seventh scourge, each governed by their own leadership and separate from the policies of others.

the yheian were tasked by veric sara'ed to be free from the politics of the world, but in the kingdom of styrene, their name has become synonymous with the hand of the king. the years had turned their purpose corrupted, with their leadership caring more about the politics of the kingdom than the safety of its people. the ranks have thinned— less and less were willing to take the vow of eternal damnation to protect against a threat that did not exist. by the reign of king loren lamanie, the yheian of styrene are less than seventy in number. there was no one now that lived whom had experienced a scourge, and the outposts are abandoned.

Spoiler: history

vaedar was crumbling at the height of the seventh scourge. the forces of adramalech had been laying waste to the continent for nearly 800 years. the darklings occupied the entirety of the northern lands, pushing what was left of civilization towards the southern seas. the remnants of the peoples fought against the darkness day after day after day, and yet still, they were losing. never in all of history was the annihilation of the world so close. vaedar prayed to their gods, but not one could give an answer.

that is, until one man offered his chance at eternal redemption to yheia to give the people of vaedar a chance.

yheia, the goddess of death and the darkness. as a half-demon, she was known as the daughter of adramalech. being half-god, she was unrecognized by the pantheon of the deities and their followers in vaedar. she was forced to tend to the stygian abyss— an afterlife reserved for the darkest and the damned of creation.

to make an offering to yheia was a sign of desperation— but the gods refused to answer, and veric sara'ed was tired of waiting.

the goddess was more than intrigued. not only had this man bowed to her and knelt at her feet, but he also offered to her his very soul. one of the purest forms of what remained of the cosmos. impressed by his plea and tempted by the taste, the goddess offered veric a chance; a chance to take her oath, swearing to walk ever in the perpetual darkness. in exchange, she would grant him the strength and power to push back against the scourge and defeat her father and all those who came after.

there was no hesitation in veric's voice as he made that unholy promise to yheia, becoming the first of the order to take her name. seven others stood by him that day, and seven others would take that oath. the warriors of yheia turned a tide within the scourge, as they were able to fight back against the endless wave of darklings. with each battle won, more and more joined their ranks, offering themselves to their new goddess. as the days passed on, they were able to push the demon spawn further and further north, until they reached the roots of the corosha mountains in styrene.

the darklings cowered behind adramalech, who had escaped the bounds of the shaysus to claim vaedar for himself. for five days, the warriors of yheia fought against the demon's armies. with the strength of his goddess flowing in his veins, veric sara'ed beheaded the chiefest of demons. the scourge had ended. vaedar remained.

with the yheian watching over vaedar, the scourge never returned as it did in the days of adramalech. baphomet, brother of yheia, would try again sixty-three years after his father's death, but would meet his own end at the hands of a yheian after not even fifty years. the years between scourges grew longer. the years with a scourge grew shorter. the dark times faded into legend.

the dark vow, the unholy promise, the profane ritual— the joining of the yheian has many names. one must swear an oath of loyalty to the goddess yheia, and promise unto her a living soul. this is not an oath that can just be spoken— an unholy action must be taken to make it binding. at the spot where veric sara'ed buried the head of adramalech, a small spring flows. the liquid within, for it could not be called water, is inky black and unnaturally thick.

to become a warrior of yheian, one must drink of the spring, and by doing so, consume the blood of demons. to devour such is a cardinal sin against zaemis, gatekeeper of the afterlife— and thus damning all yheian to a life after death in the dark wastelands of yheia's abyss. it is a heavy price to pay, but necessary to stand up to the might of a scourge.

once swearing allegiance to their goddess, yheians possess super-human levels of strength, stamina, and speed— not unlike the darklings. their senses are heightened, allowing them to become fearsome and focused warriors.