Post by The Forgotten God on Apr 2, 2016 19:23:38 GMT
ca. 100 B.E. - The continent of Thessali is a center of world learning and renown, its navies sailing across the known world, its kingdoms warring and rising and falling like tides. The first Daemon appears in the shape of a great bat known as the Nightwing. It is slain by six heroes after great destruction and loss of life.
ca. 15 B.E. - Thessali has had its population reduced from tens of millions to fewer than two million, many fleeing the continent for the forgotten colonies established over the centuries, many more dying in war, many more vanishing and never being seen again, fate lost to history. Of the fifty kingdoms and nations on the continent, four remain; Innuria, the Elves of the Sapphire Grove, the Dwarves of the Frontier, and Canderlin.
ca. 0 - The Year of Exile: Canderlin's vast armies finally fall before the claws of the dragons and beasts from the mists. Innuria, sheltered from most of the violence by the great Giant's Causeway, completes construction of a great fortress to guard the causeway, manned by its finest warriors and wizards. It is nicknamed Bastion.
ca. 580 A.E. - The remnants of the diminished Innurian kingdom are conquered by invaders from across the seas. They are believed to have come from the colonies established by the Thessalians centuries before, but the invasion has the unexpected benefit of making the defense of the island more plausible, as the invaders bring in thousands upon thousands of settlers to repopulate the sparsely peopled lands. The first Reclaimers Guild is formed by men who had resisted the invasion and decided to try carving out a kingdom on the mainland. The effort fails after six months, and the Lost Ones are never found.
ca. 665 A.E - Present Day. Emperor Nicholas II, facing instability in areas across the Empire, has granted charters for more Reclaiming guilds in the last few years, as well as encouraging childbirth via a reduction in taxes for those bearing more than two children. A population boom recently has led to increased interest in returning to everyone's ancestral home, and reclaiming it from the monsters which currently populate it.
Today, it is a city of 200,000 or so, spanning north and south anywhere from one to two miles and east and west for about ten. The eastern border is a great curtain wall built to keep marauding terrors from the mountains away, while the west is a ramshackle assortment of houses and increasing dilapidation as the rich move to the center of town and the poor are driven ever farther towards the Wildlands of the island of Innuria. A quarter of the city's population are pure blood native, of the men who lived there originally prior to the Innurian invasion a century ago, while a tenth of the population are considered pureblood Imperial. The remainder are a standard mix of native and imperial.
Being on a causeway means the city requires a north and south fleet, each powerfully manned. A standing imperial garrison is charged with the policing of the city, while the Frontier is probed and tested and explored by powerful guilds of explorers/adventurers/treasure hunters called Reclaimers.
Imperial rule is generally appreciated; Bastion has little ability to produce its own food so the farms of the Innurian Empire are essential to its survival, but a group of dissidents craving independence is growing slowly, driven by a belief that the continent can be reclaimed from the demons holding it in their thrall and paving the way for Bastion to become the greatest human power on the planet. The Empire for now settles for not antagonizing the populace too much, and the natives have become citizens themselves, the imperials unwilling to force them to convert to their monotheistic faith. Open disorder in Bastion is the primary crime, as everyone, no matter how pro or anti imperial or independence, does not need to be reminded of what could happen should the great fortress city be breached.
West of the city is the Giant's Way, an ancient road that connects Bastion to Thessali, but in recent centuries only the road and the few garrisons on it are well maintained; the lands south of it are wild and reclaimed by the wilds, ripe for conquest by those with the skill and strength and determination.
(More world informaiton to follow.)
ca. 15 B.E. - Thessali has had its population reduced from tens of millions to fewer than two million, many fleeing the continent for the forgotten colonies established over the centuries, many more dying in war, many more vanishing and never being seen again, fate lost to history. Of the fifty kingdoms and nations on the continent, four remain; Innuria, the Elves of the Sapphire Grove, the Dwarves of the Frontier, and Canderlin.
ca. 0 - The Year of Exile: Canderlin's vast armies finally fall before the claws of the dragons and beasts from the mists. Innuria, sheltered from most of the violence by the great Giant's Causeway, completes construction of a great fortress to guard the causeway, manned by its finest warriors and wizards. It is nicknamed Bastion.
ca. 580 A.E. - The remnants of the diminished Innurian kingdom are conquered by invaders from across the seas. They are believed to have come from the colonies established by the Thessalians centuries before, but the invasion has the unexpected benefit of making the defense of the island more plausible, as the invaders bring in thousands upon thousands of settlers to repopulate the sparsely peopled lands. The first Reclaimers Guild is formed by men who had resisted the invasion and decided to try carving out a kingdom on the mainland. The effort fails after six months, and the Lost Ones are never found.
ca. 665 A.E - Present Day. Emperor Nicholas II, facing instability in areas across the Empire, has granted charters for more Reclaiming guilds in the last few years, as well as encouraging childbirth via a reduction in taxes for those bearing more than two children. A population boom recently has led to increased interest in returning to everyone's ancestral home, and reclaiming it from the monsters which currently populate it.
Today, it is a city of 200,000 or so, spanning north and south anywhere from one to two miles and east and west for about ten. The eastern border is a great curtain wall built to keep marauding terrors from the mountains away, while the west is a ramshackle assortment of houses and increasing dilapidation as the rich move to the center of town and the poor are driven ever farther towards the Wildlands of the island of Innuria. A quarter of the city's population are pure blood native, of the men who lived there originally prior to the Innurian invasion a century ago, while a tenth of the population are considered pureblood Imperial. The remainder are a standard mix of native and imperial.
Being on a causeway means the city requires a north and south fleet, each powerfully manned. A standing imperial garrison is charged with the policing of the city, while the Frontier is probed and tested and explored by powerful guilds of explorers/adventurers/treasure hunters called Reclaimers.
Imperial rule is generally appreciated; Bastion has little ability to produce its own food so the farms of the Innurian Empire are essential to its survival, but a group of dissidents craving independence is growing slowly, driven by a belief that the continent can be reclaimed from the demons holding it in their thrall and paving the way for Bastion to become the greatest human power on the planet. The Empire for now settles for not antagonizing the populace too much, and the natives have become citizens themselves, the imperials unwilling to force them to convert to their monotheistic faith. Open disorder in Bastion is the primary crime, as everyone, no matter how pro or anti imperial or independence, does not need to be reminded of what could happen should the great fortress city be breached.
West of the city is the Giant's Way, an ancient road that connects Bastion to Thessali, but in recent centuries only the road and the few garrisons on it are well maintained; the lands south of it are wild and reclaimed by the wilds, ripe for conquest by those with the skill and strength and determination.
(More world informaiton to follow.)