Post by Myrdraxxis on Dec 25, 2016 0:17:06 GMT -5
The continent is embroiled in the flames of war. The long-time enemy nations of Albion and Romulus are locked in bitter struggle that threatens to engulf the world in its destructive chaos. Villages are put to the sword as armies are crushed under the thunderous guns of artillery and the iron heels of Knights. Each side races to hunt the secrets of the old world: lost Caches of ferromancy from the time of the Gods, with the power to tip the scales of the conflict. The fighting threatens to breach the boundaries of each kingdom, and even the distant and judging Justicars have begun to direct their gaze towards the conflict.
Even as war rages, forces move in the shadows, remnants that scheme towards the destruction of all that humanity has built, and return the world to chaos and ruin.
Nations (Notable powers):
Albion: Of the many nations that dot the landscape of Drassil, Albion is one of the oldest, and most powerful. A nation with a long history of conquest, glory and culture. Albion is a kingdom that dominates the north western lands of Drassil, and is divided into provinces. It’s adoption of Knights was a controversial one, but with the rise of Romulus as a military power it was found to be necessary. While not nearly as adept as their southern neighbor with the mechs, Albion hosts a vast and powerful navy (of both water and air variety) that more than makes up for it.
Romulus: Where Albion is old and steeped in tradition, Romulus is fairly new and looks towards the future. The Romulus Republic was founded in the wake of a bitter civil war in Albion’s southern provinces, gaining its independence from the larger nation despite the overwhelming superiority of its northern neighbor. Romulus has scraped and clawed its way to military and political power through its innovative use of magitech. In an open defiance of the Justicar Order, Romulus fielded the first Knights into use after researching lost ferromancy in secret. An act that led to conflict, and nearly all out war, with the Justicar Order. While issues between the two were resolved, neigher side has held much love for each other ever since.
Al-Hazam: A vast continent to the south of Drassil, Al-Hazam is a land of sand, blood and riches. Al-Hazam has no true central government, but rather a collective of tribes, city-states and nomadic bands. The land itself is widely unexplored by those not born to the land, and many tales tell of the untold riches and even lost Caches that dwell beneath the sands.
The humans of Al-Hazam are largely isolationist and distrustful of outsiders. Unlike modern thaumaturgy, those who wield magic in Al-Hazam tend to favor the old ways of spiritualism.
Aside from humans, Al-Hazam is also home to the secluded tribes of nomadic orcs, who have by all accounts avoided contact with humans, save for bloody clashes with the neighboring tribes of Al-Hazami humans.
The Spire: The Spire is the homeland of the Justicar Order. In fact, the small island nation was founded entirely to support and provide home for the organization. The Justicar Order is one that dates back to antiquity, who’s ancestors fought to free humanity from the yoke of servitude that it choked under in the Lost Age. These warriors have long upheld a tradition of vigilance and wariness for technology of the Old Age, hunting it down and sealing it away or regulating its use wherever they find it. Over the centuries the Justicars have been both a controversial organization and a pillar of human society. They are mediators, judges and sometimes executioners where matters of ferromancy are concerned. In recent times they have taken to studying the ferromancy that they so jealously guard, utilizing it to strengthen themselves and remain the uncontested superior military force in the world. A fact that rankles greatly with the other nations of the world.
Magic:
Magic the manipulation of arcane energy, pure and simple. In the modern age, those who wield magic, known as thaumaturgists, are highly prized for their ability to operate magitech. While magic can be used for personal defense in a vast array of ways, with the advent of Knights and airships, most thaumaturgists serve in military roles as pilots or naval officers or artillery operators.
Of course, this is only the modern, secular philosophy of magic.
Practiced widely in old times and even still in far corners of the world, is the concept of Spiritism. Thaumaturgists and Spiritualists of old would use magic to summon spirits to aid them, more in tune with nature and the world around them as they cast spells. Modern magical doctrine eschews spirits in favor utilizing magic to power machinery and weaponry, seeing it as a power source. In some places like Romulus, thaumaturgists even outright deny spirits as a ridiculous superstition.
Spirits exist, of course, but perhaps not in the way that humanity knows it. Spirits are being made of magic, constructs born of human will and magic combined. In turn, spiritualists call on these spirits to make using magic easier. A thaumaturgist would call upon a spirit of air to aid in flight, and that spirit would exist to be called upon because the magic user believes they exist. It is a strange, cyclical relationship. Spirits exist because of magic, and spiritualists can in turn use magic because of their relationship with spirits.
This practice has faded from popular opinion, however that does not mean that spirits do not exist any longer. While only hermits, or the nomads of Al-Hazad still practice spiritualism in its traditional form, spirits still respond to modern thaumaturgists in a new form. Through use of magitech machines, thaumaturgists have been unknowingly creating machine spirits. Ghosts in the machine. The souls of ships. Many names for the same essential superstition. Very few modern thaumaturgists are able to connect with the spirit of a machine, and those that do tend to keep it secret for fear of stigma.
Technology:
The setting of this world is high fantasy, however somewhat odd. Humanity, since the loss of the Old Age, has rebuilt itself on merits of steel and ingenuity. However, caches of technology, lost in the warring chaos of end of the Old Age, still remain buried and forgotten across the world. With every discovery of one of these caches comes insight into vast technological leaps and as such some aspects of civilization can come to outstrip others. To prevent chaos that will inevitably arise from this rapid advancement, the Justicars oversee the management of all rediscovered technology and its distribution to the nations of Yddris. Certain technologies are kept away for fear its use, while others are allowed due to their benefits. The nations of the world, using magic and blueprints of all this lost technology, have created “magitech”.
Magitech sees the rise of some nations, and the fall of others as the world races to rediscover its lost heritage.
Ferromancy: this refers to the wondrous and mind-boggling lost technology of the Old Age, and the “gods” who wielded it. All modern magitech is based off of blueprints and concepts of old world ferromancy. The term is a broad one, the encompasses anything from that era.
In recent times, the Justcars (in a show of goodwill) have opened the doors of their academies to select students who wish to learn how to understand and research ferromancy. These “ferromancers” are highly valued individuals.
Knights: Rather than the armored warriors of Albion lore, Knights refer to the giant mechanical war suits that have become a staple of military conflict. They mechs fuels by magitech and ferromancy. The use of Knights has been a source of conflict in and of itself in recent history as initially their usage was denied by the Justicars. However, the Romulus Republic (a young fledgling nation at the time), unearthed a Cache that contained the secrets of Knights and, rather than cooperate with the Justicars as was tradition, utilized them to increase the country’s might. A brief war with the Justicars followed, and while ultimately the Justicars prevailed, by this point Knights had been made widely known and their uses greedily sought after by the world. To this day the use of Knights remains a point of contention between the Justicars and the other kingdoms of Drassil.
Even as war rages, forces move in the shadows, remnants that scheme towards the destruction of all that humanity has built, and return the world to chaos and ruin.
Nations (Notable powers):
Albion: Of the many nations that dot the landscape of Drassil, Albion is one of the oldest, and most powerful. A nation with a long history of conquest, glory and culture. Albion is a kingdom that dominates the north western lands of Drassil, and is divided into provinces. It’s adoption of Knights was a controversial one, but with the rise of Romulus as a military power it was found to be necessary. While not nearly as adept as their southern neighbor with the mechs, Albion hosts a vast and powerful navy (of both water and air variety) that more than makes up for it.
Romulus: Where Albion is old and steeped in tradition, Romulus is fairly new and looks towards the future. The Romulus Republic was founded in the wake of a bitter civil war in Albion’s southern provinces, gaining its independence from the larger nation despite the overwhelming superiority of its northern neighbor. Romulus has scraped and clawed its way to military and political power through its innovative use of magitech. In an open defiance of the Justicar Order, Romulus fielded the first Knights into use after researching lost ferromancy in secret. An act that led to conflict, and nearly all out war, with the Justicar Order. While issues between the two were resolved, neigher side has held much love for each other ever since.
Al-Hazam: A vast continent to the south of Drassil, Al-Hazam is a land of sand, blood and riches. Al-Hazam has no true central government, but rather a collective of tribes, city-states and nomadic bands. The land itself is widely unexplored by those not born to the land, and many tales tell of the untold riches and even lost Caches that dwell beneath the sands.
The humans of Al-Hazam are largely isolationist and distrustful of outsiders. Unlike modern thaumaturgy, those who wield magic in Al-Hazam tend to favor the old ways of spiritualism.
Aside from humans, Al-Hazam is also home to the secluded tribes of nomadic orcs, who have by all accounts avoided contact with humans, save for bloody clashes with the neighboring tribes of Al-Hazami humans.
The Spire: The Spire is the homeland of the Justicar Order. In fact, the small island nation was founded entirely to support and provide home for the organization. The Justicar Order is one that dates back to antiquity, who’s ancestors fought to free humanity from the yoke of servitude that it choked under in the Lost Age. These warriors have long upheld a tradition of vigilance and wariness for technology of the Old Age, hunting it down and sealing it away or regulating its use wherever they find it. Over the centuries the Justicars have been both a controversial organization and a pillar of human society. They are mediators, judges and sometimes executioners where matters of ferromancy are concerned. In recent times they have taken to studying the ferromancy that they so jealously guard, utilizing it to strengthen themselves and remain the uncontested superior military force in the world. A fact that rankles greatly with the other nations of the world.
Magic:
Magic the manipulation of arcane energy, pure and simple. In the modern age, those who wield magic, known as thaumaturgists, are highly prized for their ability to operate magitech. While magic can be used for personal defense in a vast array of ways, with the advent of Knights and airships, most thaumaturgists serve in military roles as pilots or naval officers or artillery operators.
Of course, this is only the modern, secular philosophy of magic.
Practiced widely in old times and even still in far corners of the world, is the concept of Spiritism. Thaumaturgists and Spiritualists of old would use magic to summon spirits to aid them, more in tune with nature and the world around them as they cast spells. Modern magical doctrine eschews spirits in favor utilizing magic to power machinery and weaponry, seeing it as a power source. In some places like Romulus, thaumaturgists even outright deny spirits as a ridiculous superstition.
Spirits exist, of course, but perhaps not in the way that humanity knows it. Spirits are being made of magic, constructs born of human will and magic combined. In turn, spiritualists call on these spirits to make using magic easier. A thaumaturgist would call upon a spirit of air to aid in flight, and that spirit would exist to be called upon because the magic user believes they exist. It is a strange, cyclical relationship. Spirits exist because of magic, and spiritualists can in turn use magic because of their relationship with spirits.
This practice has faded from popular opinion, however that does not mean that spirits do not exist any longer. While only hermits, or the nomads of Al-Hazad still practice spiritualism in its traditional form, spirits still respond to modern thaumaturgists in a new form. Through use of magitech machines, thaumaturgists have been unknowingly creating machine spirits. Ghosts in the machine. The souls of ships. Many names for the same essential superstition. Very few modern thaumaturgists are able to connect with the spirit of a machine, and those that do tend to keep it secret for fear of stigma.
Technology:
The setting of this world is high fantasy, however somewhat odd. Humanity, since the loss of the Old Age, has rebuilt itself on merits of steel and ingenuity. However, caches of technology, lost in the warring chaos of end of the Old Age, still remain buried and forgotten across the world. With every discovery of one of these caches comes insight into vast technological leaps and as such some aspects of civilization can come to outstrip others. To prevent chaos that will inevitably arise from this rapid advancement, the Justicars oversee the management of all rediscovered technology and its distribution to the nations of Yddris. Certain technologies are kept away for fear its use, while others are allowed due to their benefits. The nations of the world, using magic and blueprints of all this lost technology, have created “magitech”.
Magitech sees the rise of some nations, and the fall of others as the world races to rediscover its lost heritage.
Ferromancy: this refers to the wondrous and mind-boggling lost technology of the Old Age, and the “gods” who wielded it. All modern magitech is based off of blueprints and concepts of old world ferromancy. The term is a broad one, the encompasses anything from that era.
In recent times, the Justcars (in a show of goodwill) have opened the doors of their academies to select students who wish to learn how to understand and research ferromancy. These “ferromancers” are highly valued individuals.
Knights: Rather than the armored warriors of Albion lore, Knights refer to the giant mechanical war suits that have become a staple of military conflict. They mechs fuels by magitech and ferromancy. The use of Knights has been a source of conflict in and of itself in recent history as initially their usage was denied by the Justicars. However, the Romulus Republic (a young fledgling nation at the time), unearthed a Cache that contained the secrets of Knights and, rather than cooperate with the Justicars as was tradition, utilized them to increase the country’s might. A brief war with the Justicars followed, and while ultimately the Justicars prevailed, by this point Knights had been made widely known and their uses greedily sought after by the world. To this day the use of Knights remains a point of contention between the Justicars and the other kingdoms of Drassil.
