The Campaign Builder's Guild

Wicked is the hand that grasps the staff
In pursuit of frightened child
Welcomed not by the sickly laugh
The intent far from mild

Break the barrier and enter darkness
This is the Land of Nod
From this fate none shall save you
Certainly not a god

For this world is split in two
And not all it seems
Perhaps we could sit and smile and rest
If this was a dream

Keep your wit, for it may change
Just how well you fare
For this, my love, is no paradise
This is The Nightmare

Peoples of Haveneast (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?53101.1)  
The Way of Nightmares (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?53101.3)  
Kingdoms of Anselvar (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?53101.5)  
Religion and Spirituality (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?53101.8)  
The Nightmare, Part I (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?53101.11)  
Mythic Creatures of Haveneast (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?53101.14)  
Magic (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?53101.17)
 Alvanenia (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?53101.20)

MYRENIA

[spoiler=     ]

 Myrenia (http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/2693/myreniacd4.jpg)
[/spoiler]

NIGHTMARE MYRENIA

[spoiler=     ]
The Nightmare (http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/2017/myrenianightmareww7.jpg)
[/spoiler]

HAVENEAST - ANSELVAR

[spoiler=     ]
ONE CENTIMETRE = 30 km
 Anselvar (http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/7536/scan0002lo3.jpg)
[/spoiler]

THE NIGHTMARE - ANSELVAR

[spoiler=     ]
ONE CENTIMETRE = 30 km
 Anselvar (http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/2066/nightmarehaveneastmc3.jpg)
[/spoiler]

"Come out, come out, my betrothed... The stars have aligned. You cannot hide from the future, your future, in my garden."
-Samuel Hain

THEMES
-Originality in Common Conventions: Haveneast, instead of trying to step out into the use of new "unique" races, cultures, and the like, attempts to go back to the roots of fantasy and folklore with many of its elements, setting it all in a pseudo-Medieval Europe world and not trying too hard to be different.
-What Does it Mean to be Mortal? Humans are the dominant species in Haveneast (and the only native race), and the setting uses this as a way to explore the nature of mortality. "Mortal" is often used as a synonym for "human". Humans are one of the very few sentient species that don't live forever. They also, however, are one of the very few that can dream - coincidence?
-Moral Ambiguity / Evil is Everywhere: Following with What Does It Mean to be Mortal?, Haveneast's humans are the one thing in the world who are easily corrupted or turned to evil, and the one form of creature whose side is not yet chosen. Humans can be both exemplars of good and exemplars of evil, even reaching beyond the supernaturals that would aid them in finding these paths. Sometimes one may find that the people they trust are not what they seem, and that even the most mighty and benevolent of religions can be corrupted.
-The world as a Mirror and a Dreamscape: The setting is really split into two worlds: Haveneast, the mortal realm; and The Nightmare, the place of dreams and the home of otherworldly beings. While the mortal world is much like that of children's fairytales and romanticized stories, The Nightmare is a twisted vision of Haveneast, enveloped in a constant change and mockery of the mortal world. For every point and thing as tiny as a blade of grass or insect, there is a corresponding, twisted counterpart. The Nightmare is where humans go when they dream - and if they are not careful, they may become trapped there.
-Good vs Evil: Though Haveneast occasionally tries to explore subjectivity in some way, in the setting good and evil are clearly identifiable. Even here one can change sides and malicious beings will mask themselves as more benevolent to trap the unwary, but there is no question of who is good and who is evil. Haveneast draws a line, and the ideals and qualities of the war between light and darkness are heavily-romanticized in the setting.
-The Nature of Dreams: Haveneast's sister world, The Nightmare, is an exploration of dreaming. Many regions of The Nightmare are horrific, bizarre, in dimensions beyond human understanding, or a mixture of the three, and often it's subtle. The Nightmare also harbors the occasional bastion of good, but these are few and far-between.
-The Need for Heroes: While stories abound about courageous warriors defeating terrible evils and angels doing battle with demons, it is clear that the forces of good are fighting a losing battle. The Nightmare's malignant regions outnumber the altruistic ones ten to one. The Nightmare will become a place of total darkness, and one day Haveneast will too - unless someone rises up to stop the evil that threatens it. The most awful truth regarding this is that falling of darkness may be by the hands of humans, and not those of demons or their ilk.

The Fate of The Nightmare

Knowledge is fleeting in a world where the land is never twice the same.
-Verkem saying

We used to believe that our world was safe, looking to the stars to hide from our nightmares. The great empires of Ayrmaria and Verkemy once claimed to have sailed the stars, learning of worlds hidden beyond eternity and building bastions of their conquest. Of course, our leaders lied to keep their terrible secrets hidden, assuring us that we were alone. When they came back, however, the world was shaken as they destroyed the weak kingdoms and revealing the world for what it was. That was when we learned...

In their time beyond the sky, they discovered a reality mirroring our own. Though barred from entering with ease, we sound found our way there, and terror ensued; the Fading of the Dream. All curtains open, the world rose into a new age of enlightenment. Our mirrors became the key to the final transformation: what we saw shocked us, but only at first. A smile spread over my own face as I saw the truth... and felt whole. The eyes that gazed at us were and yet were not our own. And now, we hear the call. We understand now why the Angels christened this place The Nightmare, and protected us in a veil of lies - it was because we were part of it.

We hunger.
-Azard the Wizard-King of Twisted Boughs

The Peoples of Myrenia

Myrenia has been inhabited for several thousand years, though it has only recently made the leap into the age it stands in today. In that time the races that originally dwelt there on the western shores have mixed and mingled with others from afar, and new races have moved in under banners of conquest, often remaining after their leaders headed for home. This is a list of the major ancestor lines of the ethnic peoples of today. Though some still exist that are nearly "pure", many have become diluted or otherwise created new ethnic groups due to matching between these ancestor races and/or the development of separate cultures over time.

The Bulwalen

[spoiler=     ]
The Bulwalen (pronounced Bvool-wall-ent) entered Myrenia long before any others, living a simple life of animal husbandry, hunting, and gathering for centuries. When the Caesthemians from the southeast came to ancient Merenland and Illmadia, the Bulwalen took a quick and sudden leap in technology and quality of life, and the peaceful tribes of the Bulwalen became independent states headed to war. Through battle, famine, and the changing of the seasons, the Bulwalen people migrated slowly inland from the sea, though some regions along the Rottwurd are still populated by them.

Llander's ethnicity is almost exclusively Bulwalen, though much of Kangdemar, Kessely, and parts of Navelun are home to these people as well. They are known for being tall (though not as tall as the Romaks), with fair skin and darker eyes and hair. The descendants of the Bulwalen proudly state their heritage among foreigners, and they share a kinship amongst themselves that few other races do. Some Bulwalen people in the past married among Romaks and vice versa, and in the far northwest a new set of heritages has arisen mixing the two.
[/spoiler]

Romaks

[spoiler=     ]
The Romaks are a strong people who since ancient times have dwelt north of most other races. Delving into the history of the Romak peoples leads to the Necropolis of the Hydolyn-Kings, where a primitive but powerful civilization stood prior to Odauls Dynasty of Hydolyn. The Romaks were one of the first tribes to develop tools of war, and made good use of them - for almost a millenium, the Romaks were the most feared beings in all of Myrenia, riding into battle with their neighbors on the backs of horses (they had also invented the stirrup). Eventually as their reach grew, the original Romaks were drawn into one massive kingdom called the Empire of Hydolyn, which made colonies across the mountains to the west. These places would later be Angorad and Tatavin, and peaceful interaction between the Romaks and Bulwalen led to the mixed population that exists in Avel-Norevia, Vikanocht, Anur, and the Barbarian Kingdoms.

Romak people are the tallest of all ethnicities in Myrenia. Until mixing with the Bulwalen, their stock exclusively had light brown or blond hair, with green or violet eyes. The pride of the Romak people is their skill in animal husbandry and battle.

[/spoiler]

The Podes

[spoiler=     ]
The Podic peoples were a race most adept at seafaring, and most Illmadians and the people of Tuban'de Ferr have an ancestry in the Podes. Traveling from the far west long before the rise of the first kingdoms of Myrenia, they settled the Enecht Isles somewhere around 3000 B.H. Their first civilization grew rapidly despite lacking several simple advances such as the wheel. Building great monuments on the isles to their ancestors, they explored most of the surrounding islands and were rumored to have even mapped the Isle of Chimera (the Podic Maps are a much sought-after set of relics).

Sometime only a few centuries before Hydolyn, Enecht's cities were reduced to little more than rubble and ruins, and the few people that survived the mysterious cataclysm made a new home in Rhones. The remaining Podic people in Myrenia view Enecht as a sacred island hiding many secrets, and do not look kindly upon those who would go there in search of treasure. Their legacy lives on in Illmadia, Rhones, and Tuban'de Ferr, where seafaring and the same religious practices are present in modern day as they were on the islands. Some minorities also exist in Connland, Hadchia, and Illmadia's mainland territory.

Podic people are known for skin much like that of the Bulwalen, with a greenish tint to it. Their hair is usually black or very dark brown, and their eyes are brown or blue. Though not all are skilled at it, the pride of the Podes is affinity with water and sailing.

[/spoiler]

Caesthemian

[spoiler=     ]

The Caesthemian people (pronounced Saize-theme-ian) are a relatively new addition to Myrenia, first entering the continent in modern-day Zyarma and Mulecha, though they did not become known in the northern parts until passing through Siiran and Wannevas from the southeast. Their history like all of the other races is long, but little of it is known even to its own members - Caesthemian people in Myrenia are a long way from their homeland and contact is difficult due to the wild lands that separate them. Thus, one could say the Caesish are an orphaned people despite carving their own niches in several border countries of the land. What is known is that Caesish knowledge of science and technology was unsurpassed at one time (and may still be) by other civilizations, for when they first came to Myrenia they taught the Bulwalen many things.
Caesish influence rarely reaches Allegian Heartlands (Anselvar), with much more concentrated numbers of the people in the kingdoms south of Dovendy, Amnesa, Lerze, Mecredon, Siiran, and Valercia.

Caesish have moderately dark skin, but their eyes are of stark contrast and are bright blue, green, or more rarely, a bronze color that seems to shine. They are the shortest of the Myrenian peoples on average. In Myrenia, many of them are found populating caravans as merchants, entertainers, or in similar trades. North of Dovendy, Caesish populations are almost unheard of.

[/spoiler]

Shotem

[spoiler=     ]

The Shotem people are from the distant east, centered around the fabled Caernel Sea, and are the least common of all ancestries in Myrenia. Shotem peoples first appeared in Myrenia around the early years of Hydolyn, when trade and exploration brought small numbers west. Unlike the Caesish whose culture only remains in their Myrenian lands as fragments and unconnected tidbits, the few Shotem of Myrenia remember their cultural history well and many even make journeys back home that can take years at a time. Their locations on the continent are mostly in Elbarna, Kureg, Delance, Siiran, and Valercia, though in recent years some have come as far west as Alvanenia.

The Shotem have the darkest skin of all ethnic ancestries in Myrenia, with the purest lines being called "black Shotem", and this is a sign of nobility in their homeland's culture. They also have a wide range of eye colorsand kinds of hair, though the most attractive Shotese people are said to have curly hair and brown eyes. Shotese men and women stand roughly as tall as their Bulwalen counterparts.

[/spoiler]

RESERVED

A little boy wandered aimlessly through the woods, alone and frightened. He had somehow been separated from his father along the trail and was now lost, wandering in the thick undergrowth, with little light to guide him. He started to sob, sitting down against a tall willow as dusk approached. "Dad!" he wailed, but there was no answer, save for a playful laugh.

He stopped crying immediately. 'Hello?' he shouted.

'Hi!' it replied cheerfully.

'Where are you?' There was no response, but he didn't care; he wasn't alone! The laughter returned and he followed it, and he thought he had found it, but when he entered a tiny clearing there was no one but himself.

'Hi there!' said someone behind him, giggling as he turned around. He saw her and was stunned; he had never seen anything like her. She didn't stand on the ground, but hovered above it, with butterfly wings that glistened with color. Her skin was turquoise and her tunic was brown, and she was a little taller than him, and though she appeared to be his age she was also at the same time a hundred years older with the grace and elegance of a maiden. Her eyes shone with the rainbow and her smile wiped away the cold that had started to bite at him as dusk turned to night.

"What are you?" he said, looking at her with his little arms wide. "Are you a fairy?"

"Yes!" she said in an excited voice, giggling again. "Are you lost little boy?"

He looked at her as if he didn't know what to say. "Y-yes," he finally said, "I can't find my daddy. I got lost on the trail and-"

"I'll help you find him. Come with me!" she said as she started to fly off through the woods, and without saying a word he ran after her. It seemed like only seconds to him before they stopped, and she pulled out a mirror, holding it at her waist. "What's your name, little one?"
"Joneric,' he replied.

"Let's see who you are, or who you're going to be, Joneric," she said cheerfully, flying behind him and holding the mirror before his face so she could see what he saw in the mirror. He looked in, and saw her gorgeous face peering over a shoulder in the mirror, but the shoulder he saw did not belong to anyone he knew. Looking back at him was what could only be a knight, clad in thick armor with a mighty helmet bearing the symbol of his country.

"Who is that?" he said as she came around to face him again, obscuring the mirror. She giggled.

"We will see Joneric, we will see!" she said, and began to fly off into the woods. He meant to stop her, but before he could, he heard his father calling.


The Way of Nightmares

Another scream drifted through the only open door in the asylum. The other rooms were dark, the occupants left to mumble quietly to themselves, but this one was well-lit in comparison. Calm and curious voices could be heard inside where three people stood in front of a man on the floor, blocking most of the candlelight. Their black clothes were unremarkable save for the light armor that was hinted at underneath.

"What did you see, Lalando?"

"I'm telling you, I'm not mad! Tell them to let me out! I don't want to listen to the psychotics babble anymore!" He began groaning in defeat and looking away, still futilely tugging on his straitjacket.

The tallest of them stepped closer, and suddenly the inmate felt insignificant. "I didn't ask you what you want, Lalando. I asked what you saw."

His resolve now gone, Lalando felt like telling them everything. What did it matter? They all thought he was mad, anyway.

"I... I had a dream. I saw things that weren't real... that couldn't be real. I saw twisted creatures, dark places where no sane man would ever venture. I saw... I saw you, only it wasn't you.

"Why did that get you thrown in here?" the man said with a grin.

"Like I told the warden," Lalando said, gulping and looking around to make sure nothing was clinging to the walls, "I wasn't asleep when it happened."



The Ways of Dreams and Nightmares[/size]

[spoiler=Cosmology]

Slumber in Haveneast leads to a lot of things, across a lot of "alternate realities" of sorts. In fact, when different beings dream, they enter other planes and tend to stay there for the duration of their sleep. But in order to understand this fully, perhaps one should know exactly what other planes exist, how each is connected to the other, and which ones which people visit in their sleep.

Haveneast, the "Real" World

This is the world that mortals know, and is the least bizarre of all locations. It is this world that people call the "real" world because it is the one they live in, and most just don't know the reality of where they are in relation to the things that haunt them. Almost everyone from Haveneast is pretty well convinced that The Nightmare is just that; a dreamscape. They don't know that it does have access to anywhere else, let alone how it connects to the Ethereal World or how sleeping mortals find themselves in The Nightmare. Most immortal beings do know how to reach this world however (though they certainly might not be able to actually go that easily). Some creatures from The Nightmare have even in secret made permanent homes in Haveneast, particularly fey, giants, and some more terrifying creatures.

The Ethereal (The Sandman's Realm)

A dark bridge between waking and slumber, the Sandman's Realm is really just another facet of Haveneast. The Ethereal serves as where spirits may go when people die, or where unsatisfied souls may lurk. For most purposes it is Haveneast, but here vision is distorted, sounds are slow and drawn out, and everything is shrouded in mist. Colors are often inverted or distorted (or both).

Mortals can venture here, but it is difficult unless one is dreaming. When falling asleep (and waking up), the Ethereal corresponds to that period where one is only semi-aware and semi-conscious. If one is jolted awake suddenly in this period, they can become trapped here against their will if their mind is too weak; stronger-willed individuals rarely become trapped here during this period but some have the ability to enter and exit it of their own volition. Once this is done, the mortal body disappears, moving to the Sandman's Realm with them - and returning can only be done through one-way gateways back to the mortal realm, hidden deep within the Ethereal's mists.

Why would anyone come here? The Ethereal is an effective way to reach areas that would otherwise be difficult and pass without being noticed. Travel in three dimensions is doable by everyone with just a thought, though those who aren't naturally capable of flight, burrowing, or are skilled with swimming (or other movement) will move slow by these methods. The Ethereal allows one to see their intended destination from any "distance" as would make sense in Haveneast's terms: someone standing atop a mountain in Kangdemar could see their destination in Dovendy in the distance regardless of obstructions. The exceptions to this are the mists of the Sandman's Realm themselves, for they create a sort of maze of endless fog that obstructs vision over long distances. One would think they could simply walk through the mists to hasten their journey in the Ethereal, but the clouds are treacherous - stepping into them often displaces the individual many hundreds of miles in random directions, and sometimes things wait within them, as well...

The Nightmare

The Nightmare is a plane separate from Haveneast, but its physical features are remarkably (often disturbingly) similar. Tie this in with some really twisted and wicked inhabitants, and the name really fits. The Nightmare is connected with the Shadow. Mortal souls come here in their sleep and are more or less free to roam around, although the experience is erratic and almost impossible to remember. They do not, however, necessarily appear in the location corresponding to the area they fell asleep in. For example, a person who falls asleep in Port Kangsar may find themselves in the Boneride, The Sundown Garden, Vilydunn, or any other random part of the massive Nightmare world. As long as these sleepers wander only on The Nightmare's plane of existence, they will return to their bodies after a certain amount of time. Some powers and occurences (particularly the most traumatizing ones) can sever a mortal's ties to their world, trapping them in the Nightmare (this process is called "The Assimilation". A mortal soul who by some means has a powerful connection to the mortal realm may be likewise very difficult to trap in the Nightmare, but few protections are guarantees.

The Nightmare is home to all forms of outsiders (collectively called "Spirits" in the Nightmare cosmology), including demons, slaad, and even angels; undead, fey, giants, dragons, aberrations, and other different forms of creatures (some of these also dwell elsewhere). It is also home to a fair number of mortals who have become lost there, and a much smaller number of Haveneast natives who have found their way there outside of dreaming and for whatever reason decided to stay. Inhabitants of The Nightmare realms are not required to sleep as their mortal counterparts are (this also includes mortals who are now "natives" to this nightmare world). However, many do it for personal enjoyment and revitalization similar to the way many spirits tend to eat even though they don't have to. When they do, they experience the Shadow world.

Another thing to note is that mortals who find themselves trapped outside of Haveneast for more than a month (which is almost all of them) adapt to The Nightmare and become "native". At this point they start dreaming again (during the first month, they are completely dreamless in their sleep), and no longer need to sleep if they don't wish to (though many do, as it was a habit prior). Dreaming for mortals in this manner effectively projects a copy of oneself into the Nightmare that can cross over into Haveneast but cannot stay.

The Void Dream (The Shadow World)

The Shadow World is the darkest of all dreamscapes, because it is that of supernatural, alien minds. It only connects directly to The Nightmare, though it is said to connect to distant, strange realities through its most gloomy depths. It is the home of the dreams of immortal creatures, most more horrifying than the nightmares of mortals. The Shadow World at first looks like The Nightmare, only it is only seen in black, white, and grey. The skies are always black, and even the darkest places from The Nightmare itself seem darker here. Worse yet, things dwell here that have no true names or forms, and can drive even the most stout mind to oblivion and madness.

The Twenty-Four Worlds of Madness

Among the shadowy and the mysterious half-sane realms of dreaming, there are gateways into lost lands that are both havens and hells for the awake and the slumbering. They are the Twenty-Four Worlds of Madness, sometimes divided and referred to as the Twelve Lands of Light and the Twelve Seas of Shadow. These places are all different, yet all share something in common... But even those who are truly capable of studying them do not understand what.

Outside Reality

Of course, The Nightmare itself is not the only terror present in the cosmology. The infinite domain outside of "reality" is a place more or less the definition of true madness. Things and concepts are found in this place that have no meaning in the worlds of "reality", because the real worlds do not have the capacity to properly understand them.
[/spoiler]

RESERVED 2

Kingdoms of Anselvar: The Shattered Chalice

Anselvar is called the Shattered Chalice, and with good purpose: Once, it was dominated by only a few large empires spanning the land between the Coast of Morhen and the ruins of Woodpeak. Now because of invasions, civil wars, plague, and lack of resources, the great lands are quickly becoming weak and divided. The greatest of the old territories, The Empire of Llander, which remains the strongest of all of them is likely to be the only window into the past after the next few decades.

In this time of unrest, confusion, and peril, Her Divine Majesty Queen Faywena II has declared the current time Year 0 of the age after the Judema Plague (dated 0 A.J.). Her most loyal archbishops have devised a new calendar, and countries allied with The Holy Empire have quickly accepted the calendar and the new age as standard. For reference, the previous age was marked A.K. (for After the King), which lasted 2236 years after the founding of Hydolyn (years prior to this are marked B.H. for Before Hydolyn)

Llander

[spoiler=The Holy Empire]
Llander is the quintessential kingdom of everything that is the word of Justahn, or so its numerous bishops claim. Tribute to the Illuminated Lord can be found everywhere in the streets and in homes. Every major city's skyline is dominated by the pointed towers of cathedrals, all but a rare few of which are Denarthan. The Great Archbishop Pazterous Salanai answers only to the Queen herself, and controls almost as much power through faith. The population in Llander is extremely devout. Though it does not entirely consist of Denarthans, those who follow pagan religions and even members of other forms of Justaism are clear minorities and do well to keep quiet about this, considering how they are viewed. Llander is famous for its legendary order of knights, the best-trained mounted warriors in all of Myrenia. The Empire is currently recovering from the Judema Plague, which struck most of Anselvar but hit Llander hardest. Dissenters in seek of a revolution took advantage of this, and many outlying provinces of the Empire became minor kingdoms.

Llander's geography consists mainly of plains and forests, with low hills in the east that have been used effectively in old wars as defensive barriers, as well as being a primary source of many of Llander's ore. Its borders are frequently contested by the independent territories that have broken off from Llander's rule, especially on the plains where there is little to define a border. Many of these countries still use the language Llocan.

[/spoiler]

Kangdemar

[spoiler=People of Many Ways]
Kangdemar is neighbor to The Holy Empire of Llander, but shares little of its outward devotion to a single belief. A kingdom long peaceful and reserved in its ways, Kangdemar has recently come under attack by the Arhons and the Pheregs, barbarians from the far north. Its people, a hardened bunch accustomed to difficult life in the wild terrain of Kangdemar take rather angrily to this, and a mighty army of what were once peasants has moved to the northwest. Unlike many other kingdoms of Anselvar, Kangdemar's dogmas are many and are regionalized. Pagans and Justaic followers live in relative harmony, make friends, and even marry amongst each other. Their biggest concern is not the differences they share, but rather the invading armies on their northern border.

Kangdemar is ruled by King Lerdamey of Alstershire, and was crowned after the death of Queen Maiafe in 1724, three years prior to the current day. King Lerdamey has difficulty ruling, but his tactical skill is invaluable in the Six Years War that Kangdemar currently fights. Despite his inadequacy with everyday matters, the people have great faith in him as their holy leader.

Kangdemar is blessed with some of the best land in Anselvar. It boasts one of the widest varieties of plains, forests, hills, river valleys, lakes, and mountain ranges, and its soil is highly suited to growing corn, potatoes, apples, berries, and a variety of other fruits and vegetables native to the region, as well as having large spans of land perfect for the grazing of livestock. People along the southern and southeastern borders of Kangdemar tend to speak Llocan as well as their native language, Scemish, and may also speak Yittere (the language of Delemica, a nation of the Illmarn Islands who has had many immigrants to Kangdemar). The best educations in the kingdom offer a multitude of foreign languages, and those closer to the Barbarian Fronts in the north may speak Kaxen, Medem, or Poresc, though interaction with these peoples is rare except in combat.

[/spoiler]

Angorad

[spoiler=Enemy of Llander]
Among all of the kingdoms from Anselvar none are more hated by The Holy Empire than Angorad, also known as New Hydolyn. Angorad was once an expansion of the great Hydolyn Empire of the east called Novengaz, but when that empire lost much of its power, Angorad arose. Angorad has flourished in its location despite its colder climes, and not just because of the lack of enemies  nearby. The mountains around Angorad are the richest in all of Anselvar with gold and silver, and even the lower class benefits from this natural wealth. In addition, the Hanvon river valley remains warmer than the rest of the country most of the year - most of the kingdom's population is found here, where hunting, farming and woodcutting have been primary parts of life for centuries. In trade with other nations, Angorad has a strong market based on their mercenaries, who kingdoms such as Abvalund, Indelan, Navelun, and even Chanelce hire to assist in military campaigns. Most of Angorad's land not based in the river valley is used for farming, since it has very open plain-land. The kingdom has a steady supply of fish but seldom trades for it, which lead many to believe that Angorian explorers have found an opening to the sea in the north. The people here speak Angorian, which has roots in the languages of Hydolyn. Only Angorad's nobles have any large knowledge of the languages of western Anselvar - rarely do even those living on the Abvalund-Angorad and Indelan-Angorad borders (in the Vonsmarch) speak the languages of each other. The exceptions are its mercenaries, who are taught the languages of those they work for. Recently it has become a requirement in Angorad that those serving in its "army" (which really consists of its varied mercenary corps across the kingdom) speak Gavethic, the most heavily-spoken language in Abvalund, Indelan, Navelun, and Alvanenia.  

Angorad is located above the point of the "Final Reach" arrow on the map (will appear on another revision of the map).

[/spoiler]

Dovendy

[spoiler=The "Romance Kingdom"]
Dovendy was originally named for a pair of magical dove statues that the first rulers of the area, King and Queen Unenus once kept. The people believed birds had a special holy significance, eventually giving rise to Clemd Justaism as well as influencing pagan beliefs. Their Majesties had a giant statue built in the capital of their kingdom modeling the two statues as one, and the massive construction became a Wonder of the World. Dovendy has since become the most popular nation in the stories of writers and traveling entertainers as a kingdom of splendor, of happiness, and of love. Many of its borders lie against the sea, including the Daewen Sea, offering Dovendy access to a warm region whose fruit and arable land is plentiful. It is a favorite getaway of nobles from friendly kingdoms, and its economy has always been stable even in times of war.

Dovendy keeps a small army but one of the largest navies of Anselvar, and when it has been prone to expansionism, few other territories could contest it. Dovendy's land consists of low, rolling verdant hills that rise into the Wandermarch in the north, and in its southern portions it is covered mainly in lush deciduous and sub-tropical forests, rising into low mountains in the southwest. Dovendy is called the "romance kingdom" because of the relaxed depictions of its people in other countries, and its notoriety for producing quality art and literature. The "Romance Era" that recently ended across Anselvar had its origins in Dovendy.

[/spoiler]

Merenland

[spoiler=The Sea Kings]
Merenland was once a prosperous province of Llander, but it separated rather violently during the Judema Plague and attempted to govern itself. Though originally successful, the war-like, womanizing king of Merenland drove the kingdom into poverty, and despite his recent dethroning and public death before thousands of angry people, the Land of the Sea Kings remains underfunded. It has access to one major forest of hardwood, but the territory's primary resource is fish found off the Coast of Morhen. Like Llander, Merenland's population was devastated by plague, and its total numbers are no more than 30,000. Many people flee the country into the Wandermarch in an attempt to evade the increasing tax rates laid down by the Councilor, who should have declared a new heir to the throne but has failed to do so, attempting to fund an army for conquest of the neighboring regions. The future looks bleak for Merenland, which is likely to be annexed by another kingdom or annihilated in war if it cannot bring itself back to stability.

[/spoiler]

Cremaria

[spoiler=Land of Mists and Superstitions]
Cremaria is part of a greater area known as Alvanenia, a large region riddled with folklore and superstition. Cremaria's domain, like that of Chanelce and Vigarth, is haunted by thick mists lasting from dusk until dawn. Cremaria's people live in isolated villages in the hills, where stories are told of dragons, werewolves, giants, and other monsters living in their lands. There is only one major city, and it sits on the only real road through the nation. Cremaria is also a very independent country, trading only with the other two countries in Alvanenia, and occasionally with merchants from Wildium. Cremaria's people are of an unorthodox Justaic faith that is common to the region but almost unheard of elsewhere. It relates more to ancient Justaism than it does the modern form, with less emphasis on fire and flames as holy devices and more upon the image of Justahn as a beacon of light.

[/spoiler]

Navelun

[spoiler=Oppressive State]
Navelun is a country ruled by a tyrannical Queen whose primary interest is the size of her treasury. The kingdom was originally feudalist, but over time the government dissolved into an autocratic monarchy. Commoners still work the fields and smithies, mine for ores and serve in local militias, but they have little power against the Queen's royal army and her knights (who were specially trained by the Knightly Order of Llander). The Church of Justahn exists prominently in Navelun but even the Grand Archbishop has little influence over the Queen, who is confident in her judgment and her right to rule. Lords and ladies from surrounding counties and fiefdoms accept her invitations to private balls and other gatherings as much out of fear of retribution as interest in diplomacy.

Navelun's people tend to be gruff and devoid of emotion, as taxing in most areas is extremely high. Numerous small groups meet in secret to plan rebellion, which some of the nobles seem to be aware of, secretly - and carefully - supporting. Some who actually profit off of the Queen of Navelun's madness, however, will expose these plots given the chance, and execution ensues (Countess Anejane was one such victim of this, and ironically her land now belongs to the lord, Baron DeFauls, who exposed her). Some hope that Llander will go to war for Navelun as part of its territory and dethrone the Queen.

Navelun's territory extends from the northwestern shores of Loch Dusch and the eastern side of the Southbound River through a swampy region partially shared with Indelan, stretching as far north as the Trollhowl Mountains. Though its political situation is poor, its geographic one is comparable to most nearby nations as Navelun has access to many waterways (the Southbound River in the west, King's River in the north, and offshoots of the Rashtinus being the largest). Navelun's primary export is wheat, which almost exclusively dominates its fields.

[/spoiler]

Chanelce

[spoiler=Candlelight Kingdom]
Chanelce is part of Alvanenia, but unlike Cremaria and Vigarth its population is fairly large - though concentrated mainly in the southwestern portions of the feudal monarchy. It has arguably the largest number of nobility who own their own land of any nation, even though the northeast part of the country is avoided by them. Chanelce is riddled with superstition (including tales of an ancient evil corrupting all of the rulers of the land) and is said to be haunted by some malevolent spirit in the foothills of the mountains. Those who do dwell in the northeast of Chanelce are akin to the semi-nomads of Cremaria and Vigarth, and are very wary of travelers and outsiders coming to the region. They call the quiet region some eighty miles north of Westhorp "Dhamparia", which after a legend of Alvanenic folklore.

Chanelicans in the south are more cheerful and sport a strong history. Even the lower class can trace their lineage back many generations, and the many of the noble houses have been present since the founding of the kingdom. Chanelce is perhaps the oldest kingdom in Anselvar, still standing after well over a millenium. It is blessed with good relations with Greater Alvanenia, the Republic of Knoit, and obtains large amounts of lumber available from The Lost Wood. The kingdom is called the Candlelight Kingdom because of the candle's first widespread use there, and it is frequently used today, giving an eerie glow to every window in the land.

[/spoiler]

Scomland

[spoiler=Kingdom of the Light]

Scomland, like Kangdemar, is a nation currently under assault by various barbarian tribes invading from the north, particularly the Nurdanites. Its armies fight back the legions in the highlands, keeping their borders defended from countless castles perched atop cliffs. It fights a battle that could go either way, for while the barbarians are far more numerous and possessing an incredible fervor and knowledge of hit-and-run tactics, Scomland's armies are notorious for their  skill and accuracy with the longbow to destroying enemies from afar on the battlefield.

Scomland's origins come from many directions, but its most notable is in the west with Illmarn - it was settled in the previous millennium by those oppressed by Illmarn's ancient rulers, where before only lone hermits and nomads wandered the region, even at the height of Alleghast's power. Scomland is unique among the kingdoms of Anselvar in that it does not possess any Church-sanctioned knightly orders of its own, and the only knights present at all are those few given the title by the king. Scomland does, however, produce large numbers of mercenary companies that are increasingly being used by other nations in their wars. Scomland is an absolute monarchy, but its early days were plutocratic. Unlike most other nearby kingdoms, equality of the sexes is not present in Scomland, and the rights of each vary greatly. Men fill positions of power almost exclusively while women are generally expected to marry young and fill the role of child-bearer, though women still have a major role in Scomland's high society. Only men have ever sat on the throne.

Scomland is called the Kingdom of the Light because of the King's claim that he and his descendants have the divine right to rule, and the nobles follow this idea fanatically. Though it is a nation of people both of Justaic and pagan religions, the religion of the king and many of the nobles is Justaism, which is reflected in the laws and structure of the land.

[/spoiler]

Illmada

[spoiler=Thalassocracy]
Illmada is a country in the Illmarn Islands that expanded east and conquered small states that were once part of Llander. Popularly called the Illmad Claim, this area is best known for its odd languages. The Illmad Claims have gone to war with and still continue to battle Flane, Punderland, and Mereland for control of the coast, with the intent to dominate shipping and eventually sail into the Daewen Sea. It capitalizes on the current weakness of the other kingdoms, hoping that gradually more land will be given up to better supply Illmada's needs. Ironically, while they expand on the mainland, their holds on the islands in the west have been shrinking for decades, and the aristocrats in power fail to reinforce their rule.

Illmada, though unpopular with Anselvar's kingdoms, is respected and revered for its navigational powers and navy. Illmada has been the most successful nation of Myrenia at exploration, and while there is no communication enough to know for sure, some rumors exist that the country has found lands far to the west. Illmada's rulers have little interest in expanding inward in Anselvar, favoring control of the coasts. With a few exceptions, it trades for everything it cannot obtain by the holds it possesses.

[/spoiler]

Flane

[spoiler=On the Edge]

The small kingdom of Flane is situated on an odd peninsula on the western seaboard of Anselvar. It has existed as an independent nation for several centuries, though its government, and most notably its architecture are constantly changing. Flane is the birthplace of Gracian architecture - a popular form in more recent construction all across Anselvar that favors extreme symmetry. Wild new forms of music being played in Scomland, Kangdemar, Llander, and Kessely are also recognized as part of the new style, though Flane makes no claim to these. Flane's knightly orders are also quickly changing, holding a more ceremonial and entertainment-based position (through jousting and melee tournaments) than an actual place in war - this is given to the mercenary armies that Flane hires to fight its wars.

Flane's people believe in the king's divine right to rule and that the peasantry has no right to live except by their monarch's will to have them. Its government is a complicated system of feudalism, and frequently many conflicts arise between vassals and lords and their obligations to those higher (and sometimes lower) than them. Equality is also missing among the sexes in Flane, with men having typical control of a fiefdom and having far more rights than women, who are forced to marry young and taught to serve a simpler role.

[/spoiler]

Knoit

[spoiler=The First]

Knoit is the only true republic in Myrenia, and the first to exist in Anselvar in nearly a thousand years. It is a small country with a population density that rises the closer one gets to its center, and there also sits the Court of the Republic, where senators debate and pass new laws. By free thinking peoples, it is often considered the center of intelligent thought in Anselvar and rivals Siiran in that respect. Its people enjoy freedom in many respects, and there is no form of slavery or inequality. Religions are varied and are persecuted and banned only if they are so radical as to harm the future of the Republic. Outsiders often claim that Knoit also is wealthy and every man has a horse and several acres of land to his name, though this is largely false.

For all its glory, Knoit also faces some problems. Coming from within, its greatest is indecision and the conflicted views of its people and their representatives on how things should be done. From the outside, Knoit's greatest troubles come from Llander and its satellite nation Wildium, which seeks to annex it and bring it under the monarchy and stricter religious guidelines.

Knoit rarely even elects a head of state, and when one does come about they perform a largely- ceremonial role rather than a true governmental one.

[/spoiler]

Blakhyn and Wildium

[spoiler=Puppet Nations]

Though they "separated" from Llander during the Judema Plague, and more recently have adopted different and more radical views on laws as well as their own rulers, Blakhyn and Wildium are truly just border-kingdoms belonging to Llander. This is because they adhere to the word of the Great Archbishop passed from Llander's capital, and in addition both nations' governments are a kind of timocracy: only those granted land by the leaders of Llander have any say in politics. While they make attempts to show their individuality and move into the future as independent states, their following of the Church of Llander's (and thus the Queen's) word leaves them bound, and maps drawn of their parent country always show them as large provinces, not border nations.

[/spoiler]

Indelan

[spoiler=Mountain Kingdom]

Between Navelun's eastern swamps and the Vonsmarch, the land rises upward and then down again into great valleys, and on the northern end these rises seem to reach to the very heavens. Much of this land is claimed by Indelan, a peaceful and low-population country of Anselvar. Indelan is one of the least extravagant (and least aggressive) of all of Anselvar's nations. Indelan's government is a monarchy that, among other things, demands a uniform religion of the people that matches its ruler's, and as the kings of Indelan have been of Corshenna Justaism (a form that believes in modesty and sparse possessions for its worshipers) for countless generations, so have its people's. As a result, little is traded for outside of the kingdom and the country makes simple structures out of the materials it has. The fortresses of Indelan have been perhaps the only ones in Anselvar to avoid the Gracian Movement, being square, simple stone structures with only regard for practicality and effectiveness. Its people possess and share little except for their faith in Justahn, which has become thoroughly embedded - few pagans exist except in along the borders.

Travelers in Indelan can often only trade for raw materials, tools, and weapons of war - not even art exists, except for the Church - and this is produced by the priesthood, which guards these things closely. In Indelan, smiths of all kinds place their works in collective structures in the centers of districts or villages that make them available to anyone in time of need, and laws exist to ensure that everyone receives things they require. One caught stealing something in Indelan is quickly punished, but only outsiders tend to do so - the people understand the laws and their faith prevents them from owning more than the clothes they wear, and in the case of arms, only the Knights of Indelan and the army have any need for them.

Indelan's rough, isolating terrain lends itself well to equally isolationist monastic orders, one of which is the Knights of Indelan. In the spirit of their order's traditions, these warriors wear light armor into battle and often carry little more than the smallest of weapons. However, they are only unarmed in conventional thought - and many an army has been devastated to learn that these men are incredibly skilled at warfare. When not in battle the Knights of Indelan are rarely seen, and live quiet, secluded lives of meditation and study in monasteries hidden in the highlands.

[/spoiler]

Punderland

[spoiler=Capital of Slave Trade]

Punderland in most respects appears as any other small kingdom of Anselvar - it is a monarchy, has solid religious presence, and is of technology comparable to most others. However, what sets it apart is the widespread presence of slave trade. Punderland's ships regular make journeys to far-off states in the south and distant east and return with foreigners that become slaves, and even the lowliest peasant in the country is both above and owns them. This makes it the only nation to do so since the Inquisition of Justahn, and few others are happy about it. Some neighboring nations have nobles who wish their slave-owning capabilities returned, while others welcomed the freeing of past slaves. Punderland even makes attempts to sell them to some neighbors, with mixed results.

However, all this may change. The Councilor in Merenland seeks to obtain new land, as does Illmadia, and both see Punderland as an appropriate region as it has access to the sea and is politically frail. Punderland also faces destruction from within, as like Abvalund, wheels are beginning to turn that suggest a revolution - slaves outnumber the free population of the country eight to one, and if armed the slaves could take over without much effort - the nobility of Punderland has always been lazy and untrained in combat, and Punderland's army is small after the Judema Plague's aftermath.

[/spoiler]

Abvalund

[spoiler=War From Within]

Abvalund was once a kingdom very similar to Punderland except for its location, and now presents as a possible window into the future of its western sister - it was once a nation known for its trade in slaves, but now is in the midst of the Abvalund Revolution - an uprising of all those not given equal rights in the kingdom against the government - that began in the past few months. The kingdom is largely in a state of chaos as the only form of government is an anarchy - leaders are "elected" for a short time to lead because of "merit", but as soon as one leader appears to enjoy the seat of power too much or attempt to take more control, he is beheaded. Much of the upper-class is either imprisoned, made to work endlessly, or dead, and the middle-class is viewed with much suspicion. One might also label it an ochlocracy, as the mob holds all power in Abvalund at the moment.

Prior to the Revolution, Abvalund enjoyed decent prosperity, though tensions between it and Indelan were always troublesome. Ironically now the nobility in Abvalund expect Indelan to invade in hopes that they will be returned to their positions of power, but such a thing is unlikely. Like Indelan it features rough terrain, something it always prided itself upon when faced with invading armies - but the nobility found this boon a curse when they attempted to escape the mob.

[/spoiler]

Vigarth

[spoiler=Knight Nation]

Vigarth is a tiny country and the smallest of the three that make up Alvanenia, and like Indelan it is most well-known for the monasteries and secluded castles that dot its lands. Vigarth was originally contested territory before being claimed for Chanelce by Vigancy the Lesser and his band of knights, and as time passed it became its own nation. It is now governed by the Vigarian Order, which sets some unique standards for the country. There is no true hierarchy of nobles in the kingdom; you either are a Vigarian Knight (and thus a noble) or you are not. The title of Knight-Monarch is held by one person at all times but is given based on one's merit, and occasionally the Knight-Nobles of the country have been required to rule in the absence of a proper head of state.

Vigarth is a part of Greater Alvanenia and thus immersed in the folklore of the region, but of the three sister territories it is the least so. Vigarth has been partially influenced by Knoit in that it too aspires to heights of philosophy and wisdom, but the superstitious militants that always seem present in the country hold it back from becoming what its people want it to be.

[/spoiler]

Kessely

[spoiler=Weeping Kingdom]

Where Dovendy is called the Romance Kingdom because of its past, Kessely is called the Land of Sorrow, though not for reasons one would expect. Kessely lost many of its greatest thinkers and most charismatic leaders in the Judema Plague as it separated from Llander, but it is associated with sadness and despair because of the rain that is omnipresent in the land (in the winter precipitation continues heavily as snow). Worshipers of the pagan spirits in Kessely know Kaith the Stormlord well, and even among Justanites he is recognized as a "saint" of the country. The new movements of the age in Anselvar, however, promise to bring new prosperity and renown to Kessely as thunderstorms and rain are viewed as serene, beautiful parts of nature.

Kessely up until recently faced possible war with Llander, but the Prince of Llander has fallen in love with a Kesselian noble and hostilities have largely ended. It seeks to obtain more land around the Twisted Sea, with Knoit being its first target. It is largely of Clemd Justaic faith, with many monuments complete with epitaphs and jeremiads presiding over the grave sites of Kessely's great men and women of history.


[/spoiler]

The Barbarian Kingdoms: Arhona, Pheregands, Kaxeny, Medeinsk, and Nurdavegen

[spoiler=Invader-States]

The names of the various barbarian tribes and nations of the northwest are names of anger, disgust, and fear. The first assaults came on the coasts of the region some ten years prior to the current year (with no warning), and since then these invaders have slowly claimed more land and moved further inward. After the initial conquests, the warlords of the northern nations granted the land they gained to their sons in order to feed a growing need for territories to grant their first-born. A total of five major territories have been granted to new chieftains and warrior-kings, each with their own provinces and baronies granted to worthy servants and relatives of similar calling from home.

Though the homelands of Vikanocht and Avel-Norevia (where most of the invaders originated) are now at peace with the lands of Anselvar, their children, relatives, and most loyal generals (who now control the new lands) are not - creating many problems in relations between all of the nations involved. Kaxeny and Arhona are the only ones who would consider any peace treaties with the southern nations they have warred with, and even then they have steep demands that Kangdemar, Scomland, and Flane are unwilling to agree to. The arrival of the barbarians has not only brought war, however - their invasion has created a cultural shock with the sudden arrival of new languages, religions, and ways of life; the barbarians speak different languages, favor a modified kind of paganism and animism, and consider many common things a taboo, including the birth of twins. The Barbarian Kingdoms' impact on Anselvar has been tremendous, and will be even moreso if war persists.

[/spoiler]

RESERVED 3

RESERVED 4

"The tales you've been told are all true, to some degree or another. Giants, the fae, ancient spirits and less savory creatures are indeed as real as you and I, and you will learn how to interact with them in time. For the most part, they are   few in number, favoring less-traveled lands and careful about who sees them. I will explain to you why, but the most important thing is that you will learn how to tackle these hardships in your travels. And you, as one of our ancient Order, will play a very active role in these hidden places. Your secret life will lead you into their domains, sometimes in peace and sometimes in war. But by hearing my words, you have already become as an enemy of the churches of mortal men and women, and the greatest part of your training will be in learning to hide everything that you know."

The apprentice paid attention to his witch-mistress well, but her words had confused him. "But my lady, why are they so cautious, and why must we be as well? Are they not our allies against greater threats?"

"Yes," she said, her smile thinning, "but there are things that make them different, and that will make you wary. In the case of some, you must learn to recognize the markings and effects they have, for many of these creatures spend long years to make their homes inconspicuous, and even the kindest do not take well to having their work demolished. Others will mark territories as safe-havens and hiding places for beings like us that they will protect."

"From what?" he said.

"From the ones that will hunt you."

Religion and Spirituality[/size]

"You've never seen the gods? Well, neither have I, but I know they are there. I have seen things that prove it."
-Wilmarc MacDaedhven, Druid of the Stone Bough

The Beginning

[spoiler=The Book]

Some ancient texts state that before Justahn could guide us to our virtues, we first had to succumb to our sins. The Burning Father was always present, always watching, but he had no power because good had no power; there was yet no good nor evil, and without one, the other cannot exist. This was in the early days when we - or our distant cousins, the giants - walked among the heathen gods of that age in Haveneast without differentiation. And in those days, there was but one great treasure: the Book of Alhl, which contained everything and knew everything - for even it was a living thing. The Book of Alhl was located at the center of the world, and that was what it was; everyone knew of it and the wisest of peoples consulted it.

And then, there was the giant Ne. Ne was a giant who was obsessed with her own shadow, and desired the Book to herself so she could learn everything for all eternity, but to do so she would have to take the Book and let no others ever draw her attention from it. And so it was that one day, while her kindred slept, Ne went to the Book and plucked it from the dais upon which it sat. When she did, the angel Urith swept down from the heavens and did battle with her, but the giant, always crafty and resourceful, bested him and chained him by her sorcerous might to the earth. Then, as the storm clouds gathered and the day rose, Ne's brethren came out to see the Book gone and Urith chained to the dais, bleeding and broken. For this outrage they cursed Ne to be outcast, never to be allowed to return to their city at the center of the world - and even after this, they hunted her.

Ne wept when she learned of her brethren's anger at her. The Book of Alhl showed her no prejudice, even though it felt unsafe away from the city, and kept her company when she sought to learn. Eventually, however, Ne's grief and frustration with her peers' continued attempts to destroy her drove her to take her own life, and when she did, the Book recorded her dreams, and her nightmares. The power of her thoughts and emotions was too strong for even the Book of Alhl to contain - and so the Nightmare was born. The Book now is lost somewhere deep within the mirror-worlds, waiting to be discovered again - although what purpose it might have left to serve is impossible to know.
-Bishop Altoch of The Gulach

[/spoiler]

A Short History of Anselvar's Dogmas[/size]

300 Years Ago: The Inquisition of Justahn

[spoiler= History]

In the northwesternmost lands of Haveneast, known to common folk as Anselvar, inquisitions and witch-hunts were once a frequent occurrence as members of different faiths brought about civil wars and general distrust among the population. Such a great number of troubles and disparaged societies eventually led to the de'Sha Inquisition in the Old Kingdom of Allegasht and all the lands beyond to the south and east. Those who followed the doctrines of the Pevoldhwe or other religions that did not agree with the gospel of Justahn and the Church of Truth were at best exiled, and at worst burned at the stake or hung for their pagan "crimes". All mention of the Pagan Faiths and the Druidic Orders were abolished as common practices, given images of evil for use as propaganda by the leaders of Allegasht following their mad conquest.

However, things would change as Alleghast became the Empire of Alleghast and corrupt priesthoods led the people to war frequently with kingdoms who would not unite under their banner, and nearly eliminated many other faiths to benefit themselves. Countless divisions of the faith emerged and the War of the Seven Golden Spires was fought throughout the Empire. While a few like-minded doctrines allied (or merged completely), after a few months of this civil war it came to be that all of the faiths were entirely hostile to each other. As time went on, resources were depleted and amongst all of the conflict taking place was much famine and disease, largely left unattended because there was little left to trade in the destruction. All seemed lost as the disagreeing factions fought on, oblivious to anything but their desires for victory.

Then, in 935 A.K. a group of mounted heroes rode into the capital city of Kangsar, calling themselves the Knights of the Evening Rose. At dusk they made their way through the streets calming the legions that would be calmed, and combating those that would not. They freed Kangsar from the entrapping civil war that prevented it from prospering for all of those years, and their leader, the great Lord Radborane declared that an end must come to the battles. Some were quick to see the errors of their ways and joined with the Knights, but other groups led by more malicious holy warriors were unwilling to let go of the chance for rulership go in favor of the royal bloodline being re-throned, so they now declared war against the Knights. On the final day, at the center of the city, Radborane climbed to the bell tower of the First Church of Justahn to ring the bell and signal a victory. As he reached the top however, he was struck by an arrow to the chest, a wound that proved fatal. The civil war was over, and though the losses were great, the Knights of the Evening Rose and their allies succeeded. Emergency supplies were brought in for the remaining people and change quickly swept the Empire.

The Empire, however, would not last. Those who were still of pagan belief, concentrated in the northwestern parts of the Empire, still demanded independence, or at least equality and protection from the extremist Justians that remained. Luckily the leaders of the region did not desire more bloodshed, and neither did the Knights of the Evening Rose. Through various protests and negotiations, the Empire was eventually split into many parts, some of it becoming the Holy Empire of Llander (named after the first New King of the Empire), and the rest becoming split into the Kingdoms of Kangdemar, Flane, Navelun, and other lands. These kingdoms were made different mainly by their religious practices, and for many years were almost exclusive in the beliefs of their people (Llander, Dovendy, Navelun, and Abvalund all united under variations of the Church of Justahn, while Kangdemar and the other Sea Nations remained predominantly pagan). Eventually, the religions of Anselvar would mix and mingle, with minority faiths appearing in areas dominated by their counterparts (especially in the eastern parts of Anselvar).

In both religions, the death of Lord Radborane and the end of the Alleghast Civil War quickly were quick to become religious holidays. In the Faith of Justahn it became The Rose Knight Celebration, a two-day holiday marking the new year, where the first night consists of battle reenactments and drinking into the late hours of the night, while the second day and night consist of confession for the past year's sins and extensive prayer for good fortune in the coming seasons. This celebration ends on the first day of spring in the Yendelen Calendar.

In the pagan religions, the holiday is only one day long, and begins on the second day of the Justaic version. In these religions it is called the Day of Fallen Petals. There is celebration during the afternoon and during the evening, but instead of a long day of prayer, it is customary for every settlement with any form of temple or shrine (small settlements often come together) to spend all day creating a large tower of wood and mud, placing a golden bell in its highest portions and placing twelve red roses around the bell. When night falls, the wooden towers are set on fire and all gather around to watch until the entire thing has turned to ash.

Though the kingdom was divided, witch-hunts have still taken place since and continue to. As people of conflicting faiths once again begin to dwell among each other, tensions rise and struggles between them still come about.

[/spoiler]

Western Paganism

[spoiler=The Pevoldwe and Animism]

The "pagan" faiths of Anselvar have over the centuries gradually become primarily the same, taking a stance somewhere between the belief and worship of everything in nature as a spirit and the praise of a pantheon of gods. Most of the gods worshiped, especially the gods of weather, the harvest, good fortune, the seasons, the sea, and the like have many names and different representations that mark varied origins.

The list below is hardly a complete compilation of the various entities that are worshiped, named or otherwise. Though the same pagan faith is in general worshiped by those who don't revere Justahn, different regions often give the same entities different names and some areas have additional deities with portfolios that are similar to or complement the most common deities. It is customary for anyone seeking good fortune for any endeavor (a travel through the desert or mountains, a bountiful harvest, good health, etc.) will perform a minor ritual or sacrifice to a deity in hopes of such a benefit.

Notes on the Portfolios of the Spirits[/size]

You may notice that among these particular spirits there are none who include war, love, or a few other aspects of normal deities in their realm of control. This is because general pagan dogma teaches that war and love are both necessary things, and that all of the pagan deities respect and control them to some degree or another. Even the gentle gods see a time for when war is necessary, and the most wicked have loved. Also, childbirth, marriage, and the like are not a part of any particular major pagan deity's portfolio, as pagan regions tend to have their own specific spirits for these matters.

[spoiler= The Pevoldwe]

The Great Spirits and Gods[/size]

[spoiler=Phaerengast, the Lord of the Night]

 Most pagans (and some small sects of the Justaic Church) believe that if one is not given a proper burial and their passing not grieved by their loved ones that a deceased individual is not free from the mortal world. Ghosts are said to arise following the death of an individual who died alone or without anyone to grieve their loss, when a grave is robbed, and when a murderer (or equally foul criminal) is executed or passes without being properly condemned by a priest and sentenced to punishment in the afterlife.

 Legends tell of a particularly wicked murderer in ancient times who took particular pleasure in the murder of widows, crippled individuals, and the poor. For many years he remained at large, and no matter how much the soldiers in the area tried they could not protect the groups he slew from his deeds. Arrogant and selfish nobles, who were largely unvictimized, cared little for the goings-on due to the class distinction and the lack of equality laws at the time. Finally, many years after the killings began, the murderer was apprehended and sentenced to death by hanging in a field just outside of what is now Kangsar. They named him Phaerengast (which meant "cold demise" in an old language), and hanged him without allowing him any last words, but he managed to curse them as the last air left his lungs. They did not bury him or burn his body, but instead threw him into the sea from a high cliff with a weight to make him sink. For many years things remained quiet and the murderer was slowly forgotten, until a family estate near the water was found empty and painted gruesomely with blood. Those who hung him also went missing one by one, and none were found until a woodsman discovered a mass grave in the forest to the east, filled with the bodies of those missing as well as others that were never identified. Folk who heard of this ghastly discovery believed that Phaerengast had returned to take revenge - not only on those who condemned and killed him, but all who were alive. They say he haunts the place even still, taking lives even today. Those who are in the area at night often see something glowing white and shapeless lurking among the woods, or in the tall grass, but whatever is there is never present at day.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Darvthwe, Great Hunter and Tender of the Harvest]

Darvthwe is the goddess of all things plentiful and beneficial, a popular deity among pagan circles. It is believed that her favor brings upon those she watches a bountiful gathering, whether from the fields where they grow crops or the wilds where they hunt game. Even wealthy merchants, nobles, and individuals with no need for hunting or harvesting themselves hang a hunting bow and a horn on the walls over the fireplace or the door in their homes as a sign of respect to Darvthwe. It is said that in winter Darvthwe will seek out those who are in dire need and leave them gifts of the foods and materials they need to last. Offerings to her are simple, usually taking the form of small gatherings of moss, leftovers from stalks of corn or other crop plants, and the bones from animal meat.

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[spoiler=Schoniel, Angel of Community]

Schoniel is said to be the guardian of society and order, the beacon of light from which all towns and cities draw their unity. Her wings are likened to the walls and roads of a great, prosperous city, and her body is the marketplace and a system of laws - while everything outside of her wingspan is chaos, with no structure and trust. Schoniel teaches that trade, law, and (most importantly) unity are aspects necessary to good fortune for society and the individual. Schoniel wishes that one does a good deed for another, or aids another in improving their lot in life as a tribute.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Hatamask, Dread Lord]

Hatamask is the dark master of destruction, suffering, and pain. Every whip is a crooked smile upon Hatamask's face; every wound is a mark of his senseless wrath. A little-spoken and little-known (but greatly feared) god, Hatamask is said to be a secretive creature with an obsession with suffering. Those who are delirious and gravely sick often claim to see him in the shadows watching them - sharpening a long, jagged knife. Legends tell that Hatamask was once a mortal man who was forced to helplessly watch his family die, and the trauma of such an occurrence drove him mad. Sacrifices to Hatamask, which are usually made in the hopes that he will spare someone from his wrath come in the form of three freshly picked flowers and a small piece of knotted rope.

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[spoiler=Alfvad, the Shepherd of Life]

Alfvad is the name of the Healer, the spirit of pagan faith that presides over medicine, communication, knowledge, and athletics. To Alfvad, no book is worthless, no weed grows too thick, and no destination is reached by one road alone. Alfvad's dogma teaches that medicine may heal, but the body is the channel through which medicine gets its true power. He tells that the mind is also a powerful healing agent (both by one's knowledge of therapy and healing mixtures, and the literal belief that one will get better). Thus those who follow his word spend much of their time exercising and studying (with a particular focus on herbalism), and are very optimistic about their well-being and that of others. His symbol, a leaf of holly and a stick atop a large unmarked brown tome, is not just found on the doors of libraries and some small guilds but is also the symbol of the Kangdemar Athletic Games.

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[spoiler=The Reaper]

The scythe is not just a tool for the harvest in Haveneast: it is also a symbol of something dark and sinister, the mark of a being that all men and women fear. The Reaper, also known as the Breath-Stealer, Death-King, and Fate, is the spirit who bears the scythe, a sign of his collection of souls. The Reaper is the chief symbol of death and of time, particularly aging. It is said that in his vast library he keeps there is a book cataloging every event and change in the world, from the tiniest parts of individual's lives to the history of great empires and things completely unknown to humans - with unlimited pages left to fill. The Reaper writes more in his books every day, writing out the future for unsuspecting mortals. Some small cults believe that the Death-King is not a foul-natured being, but most see his sharp scythe as a sign he is anything but benevolent. Those who can often leave offerings of roses on graves, in hopes that he will be gentle and merciful to those who have just passed; one rose of pure white, and one painted black, to symbolize the transition from life into the hands of the Reaper.

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[spoiler=Anarscaex, Watcher in the Deep]

Also called the Spiteful Serpent, the philosopher Uspendon wrote in his epic The Sea Gate of a hero and pirate named Lamenn who encountered Anarscaex in his travels. The epic tells that on a day of unfortunate weather, Lamenn's ship drifted errantly upon the waves when a great sea serpent rose from the water, and began to tear the ship apart. In a bold
attempt, Lamenn leapt from the main mast to the back of the serpent's head, and plunged his sword into its scales as far as it could go. When the serpent reared back and threatened to submerge, Lamenn spoke to it: "Let go of my ship, and of me and my crew, and I will spare thee, for there is a sword in your scalp, and your death will come soon if it is plunged deeper. Instead, you may take us at another time, for today is too important for us to perish to a serpent who is involved not in our war."

The serpent reluctantly agreed, and though it eyed the ship and followed it for many long hours, it did not attack again and let Lamenn get away. The serpent Anarscaex waited for many days, which turned into weeks and months, eager to take the ship below the waves and feast on its crew. After a year passed, the ship had still not returned, and Anarscaex was filled with rage. She swam relentlessly for days, assaulting and destroying every ship within a great distance of her lair, but never found Lamenn and his crew. She swore out of anger that she would sink every vessel that she sighted until Lamenn was found. To this day it is said that Anarscaex still sinks ships and kills sailors, waiting for Lamenn to come within her grasp. Legends say that occasionally she will spare a crew if they promise to seek out and bring her information on her query and their descendants, but such deals are perilous: she often takes something valuable as insurance, but most crews go in search of individuals and information long gone.

Anarscaex is considered a deity of the sea, though one would more accurately describe her as an angry creature of the deep that wants nothing better than to kill those who have offended her (and those who haven't). Those traveling by sea often take on their journey a small wooden boat toy, only to break it into many pieces and cast it to the sea as a sign of respect (and fear) for the serpent goddess. Sometimes, the sacrifices seem to work. Some ships, however, still never return from their journeys. Sometimes, it seems, Anarscaex is just an angry serpent.

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[spoiler=Kaith, the Stormlord]

Kaith is the spirit of pagan religion that governs weather good and bad, though he favors the thunderstorms and rain. He is also the deity of travel. Interpretations of weather and Kaith's favor are complicated and confusing, but pagans feel that his judgment is best in determining when the sun will shine and when torrential downpours shall come. It is said that rare individuals in Haveneast are blessed with Kaith's gift of foresight, which is the ability to sense when and where storms approach, and in some cases even to control the weather to some degree. Many claim to have this ability, but few ever prove it.

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[spoiler=Baven, the Poet]

Baven is a pagan spirit with a simple domain: art, in the form of painting, music, poetry, and even sexual activity. His dogma teaches that art is in everything and that creation and expression are both blessings from the gods and expressions of gratitude and joy towards them. Every poem, song, painting, sculpture, and piece of elaborate architecture is a tribute to Baven, and to all of the pagan pantheon. He teaches only that people should express themselves fully and use every bit of inspiration to create beauty in the world.  

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[spoiler=Samuel Hain, Lord of the Wicked]

They call him the Sin-Man, the Fallen Briar, and the Autumn Beast. They fear the cemeteries and the fertile patches of pumpkins that seem to grow only at night. They pray for dawn before dusk has even come, knowing that the night has eyes that are always watching. They know that the Lord of the Wicked and his children are out there, waiting...

The Sin-Man as he is often known is terror and death given form in both the pagan and Justaic religions. He haunts the graveyards and the wilderness as a spirit who seeks only to bring pain and fear to mortals. They say that his favorite form is that of a massive human body wrapped in dark clothing and countless brambles, bearing a carved pumpkin for a head and a torch and a black scepter in his hands. He is fond of taking the forms of animals and horrifying monstrosities as well, however. Sacrifices are often offered to him regardless of time of day or year, but are especially frequent in the autumn and winter when he is most prominent and active. It is said that if snow falls on the evening of the Half-Mark of Autumn/The Festival of the Unhallowed (the day in the very middle of the season), that Samuel Hain's presence in the world will continue until the spring, instead of ending until the new year. Prayers and sacrifices made to him are done so in the hopes that he will spare people and stay his unjustified wrath, but if he does listen, he does so erratically.

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[spoiler=Varloque, the Violet Wanderer]

Stories exist in every country about a strange traveler that comes and asks odd questions of the locals. This wanderer always bears a shepherd's staff, a deep purple tunic, and a brown cloak with a hood sometimes up, sometimes left down. The questions he asks are always random and on many subjects, sometimes dealing with things such as witchcraft and other times being as simple as directions. When the wanderer leaves, if those he has questioned were honest and helpful, they are often gifted with good fortune for many years afterward. Some believe the wanderer is Varloque, a god of magic, truth, exploration, and skill, and that the questions are a test of kindness and worthiness of the fortune he can grant.

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[spoiler=Ceeree, Sun Spirit]

In ancient times, the people of the plains revered the sun and the avian races as one and the same. The druids used to say that a great falcon flew in circles high in the sky, cutting a hole in the roof of the world for light to shine through and bring life. Thus, all of the great birds  were looked upon with reverence akin to their divine counterparts. Seeing many falcons or eagles at the end of a season was an omen for the next season's weather being pleasant, while seeing too few or seeing several owls (despite them being more nocturnal) fly in front of the sun meant the season would be poor and that famine may spread. Ceeree is the modern embodiment of the Great Winged-One, a legendary spirit that pagans often give sacrifices and pray to when wishing for a fair season or a safe journey.

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[spoiler=Wahevna, the Horns of Winter]

In ancient days when kingdoms were small and tribes of nomadic warriors were legion in Anselvar, a great many peoples lived in the north where they had learned to(somewhat) successfully hunt large game as a food source, for few knew of how to properly irrigate and grow any form of vegetable matter. One year during a particularly brutal winter, many tribes suffered great losses of their populations as small game became scarce and the hunts were unfortunate. Fearing for his family, a lone hunter named Kustok ventured out into the evening in search of a mark, armed with only a bow, hatchet, and his garb that kept him warm. In the fading light and the hail of snow, he strode and waited many a time looking for anything to catch to feed his family and his comrades. However, as the last rays of daylight faded, he became lost. He began to weep, falling to his knees in defeat and in surrender to the unforgiving weather.

But then, as all hope seemed lost, Kustok heard something approach him despite the howling wind. He looked before him to see a great elk, larger than any he had ever seen, standing next to a nearby tree. The elk glowed a soft green, and its eyes were a brilliant orange. As he stood up it began to trot away, but it seemed to give him no trouble keeping up, and he followed it. For what seemed like ages they walked, the creature never once looking back. After some time he realized that it had led him back to his camp, for he could again see the lights of the dwellings and the people moving about small fires. As he began to quicken his pace it did as well, and moments later Kustok stood within the well-lit boundaries of the camp, other hunters approaching him in surprise. He looked around, wondering where the elk had suddenly disappeared to. He turned to look back the way he had come, to the top of a small knoll that would have been barely
discernible if not for the luminescent creature standing atop it. It quickly ran off, far out of sight of Kustok. As he turned to look at the others around them, he found they were smiling. Moments after he had left, several elk had wandered near the camp, and scouts had managed to bring down enough of them to feed the entire tribe for several weeks.

He looked back into the darkness where the creature had once stood. 'Wahevna,' he said, smiling, which in his language meant '˜Beast of Fortune'. From that day on, whenever a tribe was in dire need of food, they prayed to the Horns of Winter, and if they were good shepherds of the wintry lands, they were blessed with all they needed.

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[/spoiler]

Pagan Burial Rites

[spoiler=Closeness to the Earth]

A large part of pagan belief in the Allegian Heartlands revolves around nearness to the land - respecting it, tending it, and living off of it. It is no surprise then that pagan views on the afterlife revolve around this closeness; for as long as anyone can remember the deceased have been placed in the ground. This has always been with some marker to show where their bodies were lain, though at first natural places and objects (such as singular trees or boulders of particular shape) were selected, and sometimes even complex mathematical formulas based on the surrounding terrain and time of day were used to mark a person's grave. Explanations have always varied for this but the two most popular of today are similar: burying one's body in the earth returns them to be one with the earth, as they were before; or the mortal body is not needed as the soul joins the spirit world and thus is left to feed the earth and become a part of it.

In heavily pagan areas, graveyards are common, but some still favor burial mounds as opposed to graves marked with tombstones and crosses. In some cases elaborate catacombs have been built to house the dead, and large mausoleums are often constructed specifically for families. Most pagan regions mourn the passing of the dead (a few actually hold celebrations to bless them for their journey), usually with a dirge or lament. Often, the deceased is buried with an object that was either literally dear to them, or a representation of what mattered most to them, and occasionally all of the person's possessions (usually with nobility and the like) is "taken" with them. Justaism has copied pagan burial methods among some of its sects, and vice versa (within the past six centuries or so, some pagan circles have adopted cremation as their preferred method of corpse removal).

The burial of criminals, suicides, and other sinners in paganism has usually been done at crossroads, though some regions still prefer the sacrifice of bodies living or dead in such cases. It is common practice to carry a deceased person's coffin along a lychway and through a lychgate, symbolizing the body's entry into its final resting place. It is believed that if this is not done, a body and a spirit can sometimes become corrupted and rise again as the undead. Some regions also require that these cross running water, as evil spirits supposedly cannot cross by themselves and this would prevent return. Similar beliefs are held among the few Llanderian pagans, who do not point the deceased's head towards the family home at any time during travel to the burial site and never allow the corpse to lay in the grave pointing such a way, fearing that the spirit of the dead person will be unable to leave the mortal world and will haunt the area if this happens. Still more in Alvanenia believe that once closed, a lychgate cannot be reopened for three days after a burial, for the spirit of the deceased is said to wander the lychway for those three days and can escape into the mortal world if the gate is opened.

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[/spoiler]

Justaism and the Four-Point Cross

[spoiler=Justaism]

Note on Referencing Justaic Figures
Those who follow Justaism, and those who respectfully speak of it when they belong to other religions, refer to all beings related to the monotheism with pronouns such as "He", "Him," "His," and so on capitalized, for both sexes. This extends even to the Fallen Angels and the Four Shadows. In Justaism, it is considered a minor sin to speak of any major entity without properly capitalizing all of said pronouns, though their minions and other lesser beings are rarely given such special respect.

The Sun Father,The Cleansing Flame, The Watcher[/size]

[spoiler=Spark to Flame]
Justahn is a mighty god of a monotheistic religion, widely revered by the people of Anselvar. His  followers are organized where pagan worship is not, with a strong focus on congregation in churches. His names are many, but all deal with his role as a purifier and protector. By the teachings of Justaism, one can find faith in the promise that everything that happens has a purpose, and that the lord Justahn does everything in his divine power to take care of those he loves and love him in return. However, despite the strength of The Watcher and his loyal angels, who serve both as his advisers and mightiest generals, he is not always able to save his followers from harm. It is said that due to the Fallen Angels and the Four Sins that his power and ability to interact with the mortal world is severely hampered. Thus, those who believe in the power and goodness of Justaism accept that Justahn must only prevent the worst of things from happening, give holy word to his priests, and guide the deceased safely to Azlorn.  

The origins of Justahn's incarnation as the Cleansing Flame and the Wielder of the Burning Blade trace back to the days of explorers from the east, venturing to Anselvar for the first time. Long had they navigated by the Southern and Eastern stars, but when they came to Anselvar they noticed that there were also Northern and Western stars also. For many weeks they proceeded to search for the point on the land that was of equal distance between the four shining, heavenly points, and came upon the village of Wennevas. Inhabited by devotees to "the Great Fire", the explorers soon learned that the center of town was where a great flaming sword stood vigilant, speaking to those around it. It spoke to them:

"You, travelers from afar and faithful of the Good Lord have found a messenger from above, and I am that messenger. I am the Word and the Strength of Justahn, and I am the Fire that renews the world and thwarts death by bringing the world to life. I am the power of the Sun and the faith of millions given form, and for that reason you shall honor what you see before you. Justahn has chosen you as the true messengers of the faith, for I am temporary and forbidden to move from this spot. You must carry the Sun-swords throughout the land, and protect the weak when Justahn cannot. You will be the Red Saints, and when your life is done you will be cremated and cast to the wind, as will all of those who follow you and learn your teachings. As a test of your will to do the word of your Protector, however, you must now grasp my burning handle. If you are truly pure and willing to do all that is asked, you shall not be harmed by the flames."

With that, six of the seven men and women present each grasped the blade, and each one was unharmed. However the last of them, a man named Haturor, was hesitant to touch the blade. As the others looked on, he stepped forward and slowly moved his hand around the handle to hold it. When he did so, his body was engulfed in a silver-white flame, and as he screamed his features melted away - to show the face of Urorath, the Lord of Fear. As he prepared to assault the would-be Red Saints, the newly-named Saint Felna picked up the blade and plunged it deep into Fear's form. As he roared in pain, his bodied disappeared, banished back to the infernal depths. And so was the beginning of the Great Saint Lineages.

The tiny village Wennevas became the most significant and populous holy place in all of the world in that age. Though south of Anselvar, it was known in the scriptures and tales of all of those to follow Justaism, and pilgrimages are made to it to pay special honor to the Watcher. The symbol of a cross between the Four Stars has been referred to since as the Four-Point Cross or the Evencrosse, and is a common symbol in many places, including the clothing of holy men and women. A modified version with an elongated bottom end is worn on the garb of those going into battle in the name of Justahn (and on other special occasions), and represents the burning sword which first spoke to the Red Saints.

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Justahn, The Thirteen, and the Flaming Sword[/size]

[spoiler=Justahn]

Justahn is the great Father of Life, the King in the Sun, and the Burning Knight. Finely-detailed busts, stained-glass windows, and artwork depicting Him display a varied set of images, from a knight clad in heavy armor and wreathed in flame to a naked, physically fit man whose hands, feet, and hair are alive with fire. Regardless of his exact image, He is seen as the mightiest of  beings in all of creation. He teaches the need for peace, kindness, selflessness, and bravery first and foremost among those who follow Him. His teachings dictate that committing murder, rape, torture, and even sacrifice (which is popular among some pagans and other sects) is evil and a sure path to darkness. Those who are pure-hearted in life join Him in the Fields of Azlorn after death, Justahn's sacred proving grounds and the grand home beyond the stars that He has built for all of his children.

Though only some say he created the world Him as the creator of the world, almost all agree that it is Him that helps life continues to flourish. The Sun is the physical representation of His love and vigilance, and is the bane of foul creatures of the night and of horror-worlds lost beneath the earth. His original dogma preaches equality and love to all peoples good of heart, regardless of race, sex, and most other classifcations. Homosexuality is not restricted in the general dogma, though small offshoots of the First Church have accepted different views on this and other issues.

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[spoiler=The Thirteen]
The Thirteen Archangels are not gods of any sort, but are rather Justahn's highest and most loyal followers, each representing a facet of his will. It is said that once their ranks were different, but five of them fell and became evil. Each of the Archangels carries a flaming sword and bears massive wings on their back, and their features are perfect in terms of beauty and fitness. They wear fairly tight clothing, and their faces are hidden by the heavy hoods of the cloaks they wear (though some say they do not have faces). The Thirteen have long been the messengers of Justahn to the mortal world, though they tend to appear in visions or in other states of confusion to better test one's belief. They are Justahn's thirteen generals of the Heavenly Army, and wade into combat with those they command fearlessly and determined.

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[spoiler=The Flaming Sword]
The Flaming Sword is not a particular entity per se, but rather a special form that Justahn and his Archangels occasionally take to deliver particular duties or to lend strength. The image of the burning blade represents courage, piousness, strength, and honor. It is said that the most powerful and faithful of Justahn's followers are gifted with blades such as these, and only they can carry these blades into battle. A Flaming Sword of the Watcher is able to root out evil in nearly any setting. This image has been transferred to the banners and cloths that many warriors, including the Knights of Llander, often wear into battle.

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The Fallen[/size]

Thirteen we are not, hidden and feared,
True bastions of evil and might,
Our hate shall burn till all is seared,
And day turns eternal to night.
-Hymn of the Fallen

[spoiler=The Angel of Death]
Long ago, the Angel of Death was the Angel of Honor, but when he slew one of his beloved allies shamelessly and eagerly, he became the Angel of Murder. His domain has since changed to that of Death in general. The Angel of Death kills without remorse and without reason, a thirst for blood present in him that can be found in none of the other evils with such extremity. Legends depict him as appearing just as one of the Thirteen, only dressed entirely in black, and with the glow of his wicked eyes visible in the darkness of his hood. They say that a sign of his approach is a lone crow with red eyes perching upon a nearby branch, its gaze fixed upon those who will soon perish.

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[spoiler=The Angel of Betrayal]
The Angel of Betrayal, also known as the Angel of Lies, is a particularly twisted being. He loves nothing more than to watch mortal men and women degenerate into deceitful shadows of what they once were. Unfaithfulness and deceit are his domains, and every scoundrel, thief, and corrupt ruler feeds his delight. Betrayal has been fittingly cursed by his brethren in Heaven: he is unable to take his true form, and he is unable to speak except in lie. Somehow, however, he has managed to escape such a burden when tempting mortals, though he prefers to lie to and deceive them anyway. Legends say that a sign of his influence is dark clouds abruptly masking the sun on a clear day.

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[spoiler=The Angel of Lust]
The Angel of Lust was at one time long ago the Angel of Love, but he became a far more wicked and  salacious creature. Any act of unfaithfulness in terms of love, unhealthy obsession with bodily delights, and harm done to others to achieve sexual acts is part of his domain. It is said that The Tempter himself often descends upon the mortal world to corrupt the souls of mortal women and men, cursing them to crave physical pleasure at all times. Tales are even told about women who fall under his special attention and have relations with him, only to be unable to further commit acts afterwards even though they crave them endlessly. The Angel of Lust speaks and acts arrogantly regarding his attractiveness, though none can resist the desire to bed him. He wears little to cover his body except for a black loin cloth and wears a simpler cape with a hood as opposed to a cloak. His face is not visible. They say a sign of his coming is a particularly enticing scent drifting through the air at dusk.

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[spoiler=The Angel of Venom]
Also known simply as the Poison Kiss, the Angel of Venom was once the Angel of Healing, but she chose not to save a kingdom from an epidemic that was well within her power and was cast from Azlorn. Now she is a cold, uncaring being that is often at fault for the diseases and plagues that ravage the mortal world. Her only love now remains in watching humans grow sick and perish, be they individuals poisoned by foul things or entire populations affected by plagues that just cannot be stopped. Like the Angel of Lust, she is said to sometimes tempt mortals into bed, but her only purpose there is to poison them with her kiss - her lips are enticing but hold a greater poison than anyone can overcome. Inside of her she every deadly poison and sickness known to man (as well as countless that are not). Her appearance is an exception to the other angels, for while the others' faces are hidden under hoods, she wears the visage of an incredibly beautiful woman with brown hair and green eyes. A sign of her coming is said to be headaches and joint pains that erratically come and go.

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[spoiler=The Angel of Madness]
Also known as the Psychotic Angel, the Angel of Madness is the chief symbol of everything that twists the minds of mortals. She was once the Angel of Sanity in Heaven, but when she was cast down all of the mental illnesses and problems she had prevented and cured infested her own mind. She does not think rationally, and her body seems equally as erratic in its movements, even though there is a cold determination and sureness that surrounds the air about her. It is said that her very touch is capable of driving men and women insane, or simply inflicting them with extreme anxiety, paranoia, phobias, and other mental illnesses. She appears as a well-shaped woman in a straight-jacket she has long since broken and made free her arms from, with the typical hood and wings of her kin. Though her face is never visible, long brown hair with streaks of gray seems to float out of the sides of the hood, as if it were trying to escape, or perhaps strangle those nearby. The sign that she is near or has been present is a triangle with a broken corner drawn on a wall, or sometimes, into the flesh of those who are mentally ill.

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The Lords of Sin[/size]

Symbol: The mark, sign, or representation of the specific Shadow's strength and domain
Sin: The mortal sin which the being holds the most power over
Fate: Punishment for said sin

[spoiler=Obocharon, the Lord of Annihilation]

Symbol: A decimated battlement, or a broken weapon haft
Sin: Lust and greed
Fate: Slow torture and mutilation

Obocharon, also known as The Lord of Fury and the End-Bringer, is a figure of jealousy, destruction, and desire. A creature of forbidden and undesired love and of theft, extravagance, and aspirations for total domination, Obocharon is a relentless and random, but intelligent being. He is one of the most active and most frequently invoked of the Lords of Sin, as greed and desire for mortal pleasures are temptations that mortal men and women all-too-often succumb to. He loves to watch everything that good and evil people alike have worked hard for, created, and loved be destroyed or taken from them. His home is a castle of madness high in the void beyond the stars. Obocharon appears as a black-skinned, humanoid demon whose veins glow red whenever he flexes or otherwise would exert any form of force. All of his images have him shown as bearing massive, black dragon-like wings.

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[spoiler=Methecus, Lord of Hate]

Symbol: A black ankh broken at the head
Sin: Wrath, envy
Fate: To rise from the grave as the walking dead, in constant mental and physical pain

Methecus, popularly known as Rottinghorn, the Goat-man, and The Cursed, is the undisputed Lord of Hate. If there is any place where the concept of hate originated, it is from an act he surely committed. He has a special love (or perhaps an obsession) with death, undeath, and burial places. He enjoys watching the living weep for those have passed, knowing that soon he will raise them from their graves to kill and spread terror. Methecus is fond of curses, and presides over the sin of Wrath first and foremost.

Methecus appears as a gray- and black-furred, humanoid demon with the combined features of a human and a goat (the head is entirely that of a goat, as are the hooves). His horns gleam in places and in others seem dull, but are gray like much of his fur and his soul. His flesh always seems to rot, particularly around his horns (where he gets his most frequently-used title from) and around his eye-sockets, which glow an unholy red.

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[spoiler=Launx, Lord of Sickness]

Symbol: A horribly torn and rotten human thumb, or a rotting apple
Sin: Gluttony
Fate: To be forced to watch Launx feast at his table for all eternity, always hungry

Launx is known as the Lord of Famine, Carrion, Plague-Hand, and the Diseased Despot. He is perhaps the most sadistic of the Lords of Sin, though he makes his approach in a less aggressive way: starvation, hunger, and illness. Often he is said to appear to those who have not eaten for long periods, offering them rotting or poisoned food, or simply laughing in their face as he eats before them. He has a particular love for seeing friends, family, and lovers bicker amongst themselves and attempt to outwit the others for survival or personal gain (though he does not enjoy it the same way that Obocharon does). His favorite practice is to completely ruin a season of crops only to have entire populations die as they grow sick.

Launx, unlike the others of the Four Shadows, usually takes the form of either a frail, underfed, weak human of either sex who appears dirty and bruised, or an obese, overfed noble who mocks those who cannot eat as well as he does. He obviously prefers the latter.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Urorath, Lord of Fear]

Symbol: A black star faintly silhouetted, dripping blood
Sin: Sloth, Pride
Fate: To be shrouded in darkness for all eternity, fearful of what might be near

Urorath, known as Terror and King Nightmare is the most powerful of the Lords of Sin. He is said to be so mighty and so feared that he can hear his name being spoken anywhere in any world. He presides over fear, pride, arrogance, overconfidence, vanity, and nightmares. It is said that he is the very creator of The Nightmare in some stories, while others simply list him as the reason for why mortals are capable of having them. His name is spoken rarely, for it is said that those who speak it are soon descended upon by the Lord of Fear himself. Urorath's dominance of the sins lies in Sloth and Pride. Those who grow too sure of themselves or too lazy to be brave, kind, or work for the good of their fellows are surely under Urorath's gaze.

King Nightmare is said to appear almost as a massive, gliding shadow at first; he has no legs, but rather his wispy body below his torso trails off into black nothingness. Like an angel, he wears a large cloak and hood, though his are the kind of black that seems to eat the light. Likewise, where his face should be is a black void, and he is gifted with massive, dark gray wings that seem heavy with and constantly drip blood. He has a deep, echoing voice. Urorath's most disturbing feature is the subliminal messages that enter the minds of those around him, horrifying them to the core. Those who look into his hood feel untold amounts of panic and distress as they see his appearance as something so terribly evil and wicked with its wide grin that it cannot reasonably be described.

[/spoiler]

Cultural Significance and Association[/size]

Though things were once more divided, the mutual influence between the faiths of the Pevoldwe, Justaism, and other philosophies has given them common ground in the form of certain images and stigmas. The basic elements and concepts that are bad in one are usually bad in the other. This list is a collection of those ideas, images, and parts of reality that are considered beneficial and harmful to the mortals of Haveneast.

[spoiler=Death]

Death is a symbol of evil, of suffering, and in essence, of itself. And why not? Death is one of the greatest mysteries of life, and one of the greatest fears for most people. Some dead cults such as the Utephrites declared that it is not the transition to an afterlife (or lack of one) itself that is terrifying, but rather the pain one must feel in order to so do. There have always been other options however, or at least there have been in folklore - some legends tell of the Suffering Witches, specially-empowered sorceresses whose duty it is to ease the passing of the ill and maimed, and to make one's death quick. In these stories, the process of death is glorified and the promise of a good afterlife is near-omnipresent.

One must remember while learning this that though an "easy" fate may exist, few find it and most are horrified regardless. The existence of Methecus, The Angel of Death, The Reaper, Samuel Hain, and the entire pantheon of Hydolyn's ancient kingdom can attest to it.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Cold]

The cold, and the season it is most widespread in, is hated and feared simply because of what it is and does: it kills, and it freezes. Few enjoy the feeling of perpetual numbness and excessive shivering no matter how near a fire they draw. Artists and poets are known for glorifying the winter season for its beauty, but any huntsman will tell you that the only beauty is a two-faced goddess with a lonely, agonizing fate.

Justaism specifically attributes the foulness of the cold to its opposition to Justahn, and the lack of life-giving that fire provides.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Darkness]

Like the cold, darkness is feared and given negative association because of human weakness to it. Humans cannot naturally see in the dark and fear what they cannot understand or comprehend, and things that are hidden and unexplained within the shadows fall under this group. For as long as humans have lived they have hated and cowered before the dark. Though with a torch or other means they may reveal what they once feared, in the end there may be darkness on a scale too large for humans to ever defeat.

Like the cold, Justaism equates the evilness of the dark to its opposition to Justahn. In most ancient pagan circles, the dark itself was not considered evil but its denizens often were; a spirit of the hunt and survival-of-the-fittest mentality presides over darkness as a double-edged sword that may hold weal or woe.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Chaos]

Chaos is not a machination of Justaism, but rather arose in antiquity through small, radical pagan cults as something to be feared and despised. In ancient Vikanocht, Avel-Norevia, and Rhones, civilization was once built around the word of the monarch and the following of the laws, where everyone had a place and a specific purpose. To disobey or seek out a new path was a devastating occurrence, though chaos is no longer defined so much through lack of law as lack of meaning or reason. It and its counterpart Law exist as a justification for why gods and spirits do what they do; some seek a greater purpose, while others will act simply because they can.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Fire]

Like its counterpart the cold, fire was originally given a more double-edged persona through older religions. However, due to influence from Justaism, the largest pagan circles now associate with fire positively. It is done so most because of its many uses, two of which are protection from the cold and shedding of light. In Justaism, fire is considered the greatest weapon of Justahn given to mortals.
[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Light]

Light is positive because it opposes the evil of the darkness, so says Justaism. It provides plants with the sustenance that water and soil cannot give, gives a boon to the eyes of mortals, and lends itself to many forms of art and beauty. Some small groups however, such as the Opheca, claim that light is evil because it illuminates too much and presents one many sights that are sinful. It is custom practice for followers of Ophecan sects to cut their eyes out, except for their priests, who must "suffer" to lead them through the world filled with the sin of light.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Reason]

Reason is the opposite to chaos, and given positive connotation. Some call it by the name of law, but more appropriately a law is a generally accepted rule and guideline for all to follow in nations, cities, and organizations. Reason is the act, or rather the state, of having a purpose and motivation to one's deeds. In Justaism, reason is tied with the possession of wisdom and followers of the religion are told to aspire to its highest levels. Like light, some actually view it negatively, with small cults viewing purpose as a machination made by society and not part of the natural way.

[/spoiler]

The Churches of Justaism

Justaism's origins can be found in paganism through the merging of various local spirits of good, the sun, fire, and justice into one entity. The original incarnation was a pagan spirit like any other, but eventually people placed so much emphasis in Justahn's might and influence in so many aspects of life that worship became a separate religion. Religious scripts claim that Justahn had been a separate holy entity long before any of his pagan forms were known, and he was simply awaiting the proper time to make himself known to the people. Regardless of the varying views on his origin, people who worship Justahn generally agree upon the same message he sends to his followers:

[spoiler=The Three Tenets of Justahn, and the Way of Sins]

-A good person shall always put himself before another in the face of danger or risk, and shall not cause undue harm without reason and justification;
-A good person will not succumb to pride, lust, gluttony, or any of the other sins which are governed by Justahn's darkest enemies;
-A good person will obey his king and country and spread the word of Justaism to those uneducated.

All Justaic faiths believe in the Lesser and Greater Sins (and the penance for them), separated not by form but by severity. All sins as given by the Lords of Sin are condemned, but one does not lose the sight of Justahn through sins of Lesser severity except through failure to atone. Most churches accept that one must either confess their sins to a priest, regardless of severity, in order to receive the light of Justahn again (though some who have been too extreme can never regain this), or do a good, selfless deed for every foul act committed.
[/spoiler]

Since the inception of the religion, it has evolved and changed into numerous forms that are followed and accepted as the truth by people in many regions. There are many minor philosophies intertwined with it, but only the Five Grand Churches (the largest Justaic faiths), and Justaic mergers with other religions are listed here.

The Supreme Church of Justahn

[spoiler=Denarthiism]

The Denarthic Church, also known as The Supreme Church of Justahn and the Church of the Grand Archbishop, is the most powerful and most widespread division of Justaism in the Allegian Heartlands. It is the only major church in Llander and dominates religious life in Blakhyn, Wildium, and Kessely, as well as having some hold in Kangdemar and Navelun. The Denarthic Church does not accept good deeds chosen by the sinner in order to repent, requiring that a priest be confessed to in order to properly determine a method of atonement. Denarthic scripture states that all magic-wielders are heretics, for they draw upon powers that are not those of Justahn and are of his enemies. To combat this, the Supreme Church has produced many warrior-orders meant to seek out and punish these evil creatures, including the Knights of Llander and the Seekers of the Optic Fire.

Denarthic churches are large and robust even in small areas, though the grandest are found in Port Kangsar. Prayer to Justahn is done at dawn and again at dusk, and dominates most Denarthan holidays. Denarthism's creed declares that all of the faithful who die shall be cremated and cast to the wind at noon. In the past, creating a grave site was common, despite no remains being placed in them. In the current age, most Denarthians who die (except nobles, who are usually still cremated and given empty crypts) are placed within a wooden casket for three days and three nights before their bodies are removed and placed in the ground. The casket they were in prior to burial is burned to release the "soul" from the wood and allow it to join Justahn.

[/spoiler]

The Clemdish Church

[spoiler=Justaic Burial]

Clemdish Justaism's origins lie with the fabled dove-statues of the old rulers of Dovendy; originally the kingdom was of Denarthic and a now-dead faith. It was Kole the Wise, a pagan recently converted to Justaism, who said that Justahn did not wish his children's bodies to be burnt and reduced to naught, but rather they should be kept for a time when Justahn would come to Haveneast and create a new world full of life, and return those lost from the dead. Taking inspiration from the King and Queen of that era, it quickly became custom for a tombstone to be built for every man and woman who died in public graveyards (nobility and monarchs, depending on status and popularity, were sometimes given places separate from common folk).

The Clemdish believe that it is sinful and dangerous to pray on one's own. It is said that the Lords of Sin and the Fallen Angels can hear every prayer made by a mortal, but only the collective worship of thousands can channel Justahn so clearly that no evil can break through. Clemdish dogma also places special importance (as do all burial-faiths) on ensuring that the dead receive proper burial and funeral rites. Religious texts claim that if one is not given these services, they may rise from the dead with the power of Justahn's enemies to cause untold havoc and terror.

[/spoiler]

The Church of Mortal Wisdom

[spoiler=Corshennan Justaism]

The Church of Mortal Wisdom, whose followers are called Corshennans, is a religious order found primarily in Indelan and Knoit, with small concentrations in nearby nations. Corshennan faith originates with the eponymous monk, Delaiis Corshenna. She believed that the path to purity from sin and closeness to Justahn was found not simply through obedience and avoidance of sin but also through learning and personal enlightenment. It is a lesser sin of its own in the Corshennan circles to be illiterate, and Corshennans were the first Justaic faithful to each seek their own sets of scriptures as written in The Tenets and the Way, the Book of Justahn. Corshennan dogma states that Justahn wishes for his people to learn for the sake of learning, and to isolate oneself to do so if necessary. This has given rise to many of the monastic traditions of Indelan.

Corshennan churches in Indelan and Knoit are usually the same as the grandest libraries of the nations. At mass on holy days the priesthood commonly asks all present to step to a podium and recite passages from the holy scripts and show their devotion to Justahn's word as laid down by Delaiis. In Knoit, religious bodies directly related to the senate debate with representatives of other religions in order to create and revise laws to prevent them from encroaching on the people's right to worship.

[/spoiler]

Merennal Orthodox Church

[spoiler=The "True" Church]

Merennal Orthodox rejects all other forms of Justaism as pure and true, stating that they have been corrupted by demons and other evil spirits, and by the impurity of mortals. Merennal Orthodox states that Justahn was actually a mortal woman, and through her defiance of pagan ways and the people's belief in her abilities she became a deity. Merennal Orthodox belief is centered in Merenland and Punderland, with some incursions into Dovendy, Flane, Kessely, and across the Rottwurd Sea into Illmadia and its neighbors. Unlike other religions that state that the mortal body is a "beautiful prison" for the soul, Merennal Orthodox followers believe that it is unnatural for the body and soul to separate and that only through true benevolence will one's mortal body ever transcend the boundaries into Justahn's realm with the soul. Merennal Orthodox requires burial of the dead as opposed to cremation, but it is considered improper to weep for those who have passed or pray for them - they are only separated from their loved ones for a time, and prayer is a sign of finality.

Merennal Houses of Justahn are massive, elaborate churches that the states they preside over spend heavily on. The Orthodox has its own order of bishops and an archbishop, entirely rejecting the word of the Grand Archbishop of the Denarthic Church.

[/spoiler]

The Eternal House of Light

[spoiler=The Alvanenian Church]

The Alvanenian Church is perhaps the oldest of all major Justaic faiths in Anselvar in current day, matching in age the region that it dominates. The Eternal House of Light is found almost exclusively in Alvanenia, especially in Chanelce. It places some distance between itself and other churches by not claiming that its ways are the "true" ways of Justahn, stating that Justahn is a mysterious and incomprehensible being that one can only become near to by love and altruism, and rejects the unitarian concepts of the four other major churches: in the Alvanenian Church, Justahn, the Sun, and the Flaming Sword are all separate holy entities, though it its through Justahn that the latter two were created. Moreover, the religion separates Alvanenia into three regions each representing one of these entities, and the borders of Cremaria (the Sun), Vigarth (the Sword), and Chanelce (Justahn) reflect this.

Alvanenian churches are built rarely in cities (except the High Cathedral in each of the three nations' capitals), instead doubling as fortresses built in forests or overlooking ridges. Worship takes place in them in peacetime and in war people congregate inside the fortress-churches for protection. Alvanenian Justaism is also the only one to grant the title of Saint to its most holy members before death. To Alvanenian followers outside of Alvanenia, Chanelce, Vigarth, and Cremaria are considered a holy land.

[/spoiler]
[/spoiler]

Philosophies, Cults, and Ancient Religions[/size]

[spoiler=The Many]

One of the darkest truths of Haveneast may be that there are many organizations that were, are, and always will be unknown to the common people, most sinister. Even the few that are known are shrouded in darkness by misinformation, confusion, and the ignorance of fear.

[spoiler=Ophecanism]

Ophecanism is a radical offshoot belief whose members claim to be faithful worshipers of Justahn. Its very nature requires that its believers be nobles or any others who would be easily waited on and not have to perform most tasks themselves, because they frequently put out their eyes. Those who consider themselves true ophecans are elitist, believing that they are born into their wealth and position because they are divinely gifted, but are given the temptation of eyes that provide them vision at birth. These organs are removed at birth and said children are schooled in language, music, philosophy, and psychology, and taught of their divine "superiority". Ophecanism states that all of those who are able to see, and those who resent losing their sight, are not worthy of Justahn's love and will not enter Heaven when they die. The position of this belief system helps ophecans fit in well in countries where the concepts of "destiny" and "divine right" are common, but in places where individuals' rights are more well-accepted, ophecans are scarce and regarded with little seriousness.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=The Aphorandus]

The Aphorandus is a myth spread among the people - a group with one agenda: to hold the world at ransom. They do this subtly and patiently, corrupting leaders, diverting progress, and destroying anything that hinders them. The Aphorandi live dual lives, posing as simple farmers, artisans, and merchants during the day but participating in illegal acts, some of which are clearly treason, at night. Their current goal is the annihilation of monarchy in favor of rule by wealth, and for this reason their primary targets are economy and the popularity of nobles.

Aphorandus places of congregation and strength are believed to be mainly in Llander, Flane, Kangdemar, with lesser-strength branches found in the southwestern nations.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Proticava]

Once a mighty religion in the most ancient of days, The Proticavan belief has been reduced to a despised, hunted cult. Proticava's origins lie with the worship of demons, but the demons they worshiped were not necessarily the malicious, evil things that Justaism and Paganism tend to envision. Proticava's demons were spirits of the earth, sky, and water, known as the Trinity of Madir. Proticava's teachings involved equality and reciprocation, for its demon-gods often had dual natures such as watching over crops and destroying countrysides in anger. Its most important teaching was that wrongs done to one must be avenged, the development and use of which has made Proticavanism a persecuted faith by the religions of today.

[/spoiler]

[/spoiler]

Society, Heraldry, and Titles[/size]

RESERVED

The Nightmare, Part I: West of the Whisper

The Nature of The Nightmare[/size]

[spoiler=Weather]

The Nightmare's regions all experience weather, but in addition to "normal" weather the Nightmare features a second kind: Dream Storms. A Dream Storm is an event that can happen at any time, anywhere in The Nightmare, with little warning (a few areas experience them constantly). They morph the landscape and create scenes of impossibility, unreality, and utter chaos. Dream Storms are why dreamers in one region may suddenly find their surroundings warped beyond belief, resembling something entirely different, or find themselves moved untold distances across the world. Particularly devastating dream storms (which are unfortunately not that rare) sometimes alter the landscape so severely in a matter of moments that the place no longer bears any resemblance to its old form, but natives of the Nightmare are unphased. Sleeping children often tell stories of vast mountain ranges that suddenly rise and fall to leave solid, completely vertical crevices filled with floating structures, peaceful towns becoming trapeze acts of terror hung from the sky over pits of fire, and even more unimaginable situations.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Trans-Slumber Markers]

As Haveneast and The Nightmare are connected and share geographical similarities, it is no surprise that these similarities sometimes become connections between worlds. Places in Haveneast filled with forests and small towns may be devoid of life in the Nightmare, but something as simple as a hill present in both worlds may be a weakness in the barrier. They may be trees or castles, rivers or caves; entire cities or as small as a blade of grass. Sometimes even animals and people can become links between the two worlds. These weak spots are often the methods by which nightmare creatures enter the mortal world, and mortals accidentally find their way to The Nightmare... but more often than not, mortals who enter the other world are not prepared for the horrors they may find.
[/spoiler]

The Locales[/size]

The Castle of Murders[/size]

[spoiler=The Castle]
Storm clouds roll in over the soft, low-lying hills, and far in the distance thunder bellows a song of distress. The lonely, dead trees that dot the landscape would be sure to weep if they could make a sound. On the highest cliff, broken nearly entirely away from the rest of the land, sits a castle whose stone seems black as night. Wandering closer, the place is in ruins. Legions of crows perch precariously atop sections of crumbled battlements; atop peaks of towers and in the branches of growths that have grown from within. Some fly about, in and out of gates and through doors that few have ventured through for centuries, and a great moat of emptiness makes it inaccessible. The crows turn to gaze at you with unholy red eyes, and though they cannot - or should not be able to - they grin. They guard secrets best left forgotten, hidden within a castle whose history is dark and filled with murder.

[/spoiler]

The Boneride

[spoiler=Life]

The sky is dull and gray, and the water matching it as you step onto the beach. The ground beneath you is warm and soft as a baby's skin; the whole land seems unstable. Away from the water, strange trees with no leaves and white bark stand to greet you, jutting from the ground at odd angles. As you move further from the coast there is a constant, unnerving pounding - a resonant thud - that lingers in your head, and the winds around you come in a strange rhythm as well. The smell is revolting. You trip over a strange, vile mound of earth - and when you turn to gaze at it, it begins to bleed. The ground certainly does feel soft under your hands, doesn't it? And those trees... they look like bone.

Can you feel it breathing? Can you hear the heartbeat?

[/spoiler]

The Midnight Meadows

[spoiler=Angel's Haven]
The cold mountain air might chill you to the bone, but your soul has never been warmer. Down over the next ridge is a well-lit meadow. Great stone statues and small, open-roof temples make each ridge and hill seem like its own city. You hurry to reach the safety of the light, and are greeted by a luminous orbs that dance among the trees. You are welcomed not by demons but by angels, who herald your arrival. They appear as extravagant and erotic art, wearing little more than cloaks that hide their faces. They bring you to rest in the garden, where others are laughing and feasting with the angels. The meadow is also filled with the tombs of great heroes, but here they do not weep for the dead. Here, they rejoice.

[/spoiler]

Angel's Theatre

[spoiler=Wonder]

The gates are never closed it seems at day, an arch of angels welcoming you inside the walls. Music emanates from everywhere, and everyone seems to speak as if they were part of a play, even the smiling merchants who offer their goods to passers-by. As the sun sets you hear the gates shut, but the place seems too cheerful to ever want to leave. Dancers parade erratically through the streets past you, and as the shadows grow you begin to notice a change. They smile at you gladly, but some of smiles seem oddly exaggerated. Nevertheless, the music and the words mix and match to form a soothing tune of unison.

The street before you leads to a massive concert hall in the center of town, and when you enter you find majestic decorations and legions of smiling people. Eventually you are lead into a grand room with an equally colossal stage, and a troupe of dancers come on. They begin to dance with their angelic wings and sing harmonic tunes behind their masks, interacting with each other in an intimate fashion. They sing so beautifully and wear such elegant gowns, and their wings seem so very real. But as you continue to watch, you see that their masks spread smiles too wide. You can see that on their faces and on their hands, they wear blood. They are not angels. No, they are not angels.
[/spoiler]

The Ruined Kingdom

[spoiler=The Quiet]
Surrounded by the great and terrible Ominous Ocean sits a lonely peninsula decorated with empty castles and decimated streets. Great ruins that seem as if they were once glorious dot the landscape, seemingly in erratic manners with random city streets springing up in great fields of grass and trees. Turrets that at one time would have reached high into the stars are crumbled into fragments that lay uncaring on the ground. This is the Ruined Kingdom; the final resting place of all civilization, or so they say. All alone it seems to dwell, forgotten towers keeping leveled cities company. Something, however, tells you that you are not alone. Perhaps it is the cold wind that blows shyly through the crooked hallways, or maybe it is the occasional object or section of ground that seems less lonely and dust-covered than the others. Or maybe it's the whispers that you are sure you can hear around every corner.

[/spoiler]

The Graveyard

[spoiler=Land of Death]
Everywhere before you sit tombstones and crosses, some arranged in orderly rows, some greedy in the way they consume the earth around them. Palpably there are corpses lying beneath the soil, though who they were and where they came from is an enigma. The greatest sound by day is the lack thereof - and the silence invades your soul. In places sit massive mausoleums and churches, with stained-glass windows that might seem welcoming if they were not broken and shadowy. Far in the distance looms a lone tower, so colossal it can be seen miles away. As the sun sets, a fog creeps over the low hills and surrounds the graves accompanied by a chill - and the voices begin...

[/spoiler]

Trollwood

[spoiler=The Watching Trees]

So strange and distant
Lies a land between the mountains
That does not want or notice visitors

Great shapes lie about
Obstructing the explorer and the mind alike
They look on with unconcerned faces, with time no concern

Branches from the trees outstretch
As if a hand were waiting
They sleep as if they were always a part of it

They know what you're thinking
That they're trees and stone
But they know that they're there

[/spoiler]

The Grey Wreck

[spoiler=Graveyard for a Thousand Beginnings]
Everything creaks around you, endless makeshift ladders of junk leading only to plateaus of wood, iron, and glass. The glint of steel is everywhere as if the sun were beaming its most brilliant light upon the area, though overhead emotionless clouds always seem to stoop. What must pass as pathways lead infinite miles though the scrap heap, seeming to bring you only to more broken towers of inventions long forgotten and long abandoned. In some places, even ruins of great fortresses and tiny homes seem to join the lesser scrap, along with the hulls of ships and the shattered wheels of carriages, some seeming primitive and some seeming so strange they could only be from the future. Occasionally as you pass through the great junkyard, the sound of the shifting mess startles you - but there doesn't seem to be anyone else around. That's when you hear the laughter.

Drawn out of curiosity, you make your way towards the sound, but when you finally reach the location it sounds from another spot. A long, straight path opens up as you look for the second one, and at the far end, disappearing behind the corner of an intersection, is what looks like the tails of a jester's hat. Suddenly, you don't seem so willing to continue. A feeling inside you then insures you that you are being hunted.

[/spoiler]

Wizard Wood

[spoiler=The Mystic Forest]
Though the day is bright on the outside, within the boundaries of this woodland the world seems dark, and shadows are the only individuals willing to step into view. The deciduous and coniferous blend of the forest is thick and difficult to traverse, a terrain only temperate inland woods could produce. However, there seem to be paths of sorts hacked into the body of this living darkness, though the width and height of said paths certainly vary from section to section. Occasionally one wanders upon out-of-place pedestals that open tomes sit upon, pouring their secrets out for the artifical twilight to absorb and use against those from the outside. The books are more often than not either written in unknown languages or consist of senseless babbling on every page, but sometimes the tomes - the well-hidden ones - detail secrets about Haveneast, some of which are too terrible to believe. Often, those who read such librams in their sleep remember nothing of their content when they wake, except for the horror that they felt. Once they read them, however, they tend to return to this place more and more in their slumbers... and witness beings and awful truths that find ways to haunt them during wakefulness and sleep.

[/spoiler]

The Fog Moors

[spoiler=Safe?]
The descent from the Uneven Run leads you into what turns out not to be a lowland but a high region of earth, and as you reach the peak of a high rise you find yourself looking over a vast moorland, most of which is densely covered in fog. You can see whinchats and a few merlin birds about the vast fields of heather. Continuing forward there is soon nothing but thick fog all around you, increasingly loose soil at your feet, and the faint sound of water being splashed about nearby. Luckily, trails seem to run through the drier sections of the moors, and you find yourself wandering over countless quiet hills and through rocky crevices. The odd silence and the presence of many large bogs causes anxious thoughts of stories told by village elders and madmen, stories of the dead rising from the very swamp to hunt those they once loved. A strange focus for comfort soon enters your view, however: a road sign. Most of its arrows are damaged or read nonsensical things, but one points to the southwest, and reads "Shadowed Cloisters". Perhaps there you will be safe, but then again, it seems fairly safe here, too. You may not be able to see them, but perhaps they can't see you.

[/spoiler]

The Lost Stairs

[spoiler=No Sense of Direction]
The mine shaft you find yourself in would have never been entered were it not for the comforting sight of lights adorning its beams, but now you feel oddly isolated. It continues on for some time, then you come into a widened section - what's this? - there is nothing before you... nothing but a sole set of stairs. Beyond them, to your left and right, and above and below you, there is nothing. Darkness. All that you can see is a cold gray bridge of stone leading from the entrance to the first flight, and you choose to follow it. Legions of ascensions await you it seems, for with every climb you find yourself at awkward junctions that seem to go on forevermore. Some of them you realize are upside down, bent at odd angles, hyperbolic, or crooked in ways that your mind barely seems able to comprehend. Perhaps if you follow them long enough, they'll take you to somewhere, or someone. But you may find yourself lost, as countless others surely have been in this place through the ages...

[/spoiler]

Elkhorn Forest

[spoiler=Ghostly Lights and Broken Horns]
The canyon that Cursed Chapel seems to be situated in is only a small part of the great canyon that separates the mighty Elkhorn Forest from the rest of the world, and on its isolated plateau the land rises high enough to coat the trees perpetually in snow. The vegetation here is all evergreen, for obvious reasons, and the low boughs of the spruces and firs cause much frustration as you try to make your way through. Occasionally you'll come to a clearing, where a grove of thick trees huddle tightly around a campfire site, and at each of these grove's edges stand no more than a few wooden poles and canes, painted with what might be blood and other things to mark what can only be hidden trails. Initial attempts to find them are unsuccessful, but at some point you manage to break through the natural barrier - and find yourself face-to-face with horrible red eyes. The face resembles that of an elk, and the horns and dark fur would seem to suggest this further, but the gaze it gives is far too intelligent - and the body is humanoid. An unnatural smile widens across its face as you look at it, a feeling of something very wrong hanging in the air.

Welcome to Elkhorn.

[/spoiler]

The Pernicious Plains

[spoiler=Battleground]
They're always marching here. Always. Looking over the vast plains, you never fail to spot the high-riding banners of the forgotten legions, who move relentlessly back and forth over the fields to cause mutual destruction to each other, meeting their dooms before the prying eyes of those who came before them. Indeed, ghosts seem to roam everywhere here, perhaps searching for their mutilated bodies in the areas that have been deserted for a time, leaving the corpses to rot and harbor untold numbers of diseases. The place is a treasure trove for those seeking weapons to protect themselves - but one should be careful, for they may soon find that the bodies whom they have raided will rise to take back what is theirs. Once you are in the Pernicious Plains, you may find it hard to leave, for in every direction there is another army of black-armored soldiers overshadowed by malignantly dark clouds, coming your way to join in another bloodbath.

[/spoiler]

The Sundown Garden

[spoiler=Fae]
Look on in wonder at the majestic beauty of the woodland before you, trees of a thousand kinds all mixed together in impossible harmony. Children's tales and fables speak of only once place such as this, and this place is the Sundown Garden. Here dwell the friendly, always-cheerful alfar, who carve great palaces into the very mountains and earth, and love every animal and plant as if it were the closest of kin. Nothing could be more euphoric than just standing and watching the magnificence of everything in the Garden, but such opinions are quickly changed when the food is tasted and the company of the nature spirits experienced. It takes little time for a day to be "wasted" away when in the presence of such peacefulness, but as the day wanes and the sun begins to lie lazily on the horizon, the alfar become anxious, as if there was something they feared to witness after dark. Great feasts held upon the forest floor are quickly ended with the people retreating to their hidden abodes the only thing left being the lights lining the great open boulevards as the last lights of day fade from the tops of the trees. The only sight now is that great stone castle at the roadway's end, whose interior is lit in a few places by ghastly glows. A figure steps out onto the balcony, and a wave of distress washes over you.

Though the figure is distant and its eyes too small to focus on, you have the feeling it would like nothing better than to harm you.

[/spoiler]

The Madness Maze

[spoiler=Green]
The bright plains open up even wider it seems to accompany a grand garden of masterfully-shaped hedges, with well-kept roads of stone and cobbles adorning the entire thing. As you wander down the grand, quiet streets you gradually notice that the wide-open paths decorated with green sculptures and high pillars begins to narrow, and before you can turn back you are inside a high-walled hedge maze with no recollection of where the entrance was. No other options present, you move forward through the winding pathways. It is clear that the maze is built onto a hill, and when you are lucky enough to come across a more open pathway with fountains, you can see that the maze makes steep rises to two separate fortresses of hedges, divided by miles of mischief-paths. Hours of aimlessly treading through the labyrinth and coming to hundreds of dead-ends finally pays off, it seems, for at last you meet someone just as lost as you. Perhaps together you can find a way out, or maybe to one of the castles situated within.

[/spoiler]

Execution

[spoiler=Rather Orderly]
The equality concept of the round table has never been in its greatest moment, except here in this "town", for here everyone is of equal value and equal concern, be they murderers or saints; nobles or beggars. Tiny homes stand about, some made quite primitively, others more like estates than anything. Their focus and town center is not a market, as one would assume, but a giant platform evenly arranged with gallows poles. Lines of people and even some mythical creatures alike wait without nervously for this fate it seems, forced here by The Hand of Death itself. Observing other areas, you soon are aware that there are many other deaths available to those who enter, and some of these may be preferrable. Guillotines stand in erratic form about the "town", as do executioners armed with bloody axes, and there are even ordered rows of victims lined up to face strange men armed with what can only be an advanced form of the crossbow, though they make horrible noises. A scarred old woman with vicious eyes stands to your side, and when you look at her she looks back, letting loose an awful laugh. "They call me the Cold Witch," she says, and places her hands on your face. Everything goes black.

 Next, please.

[/spoiler]

The Mountains of the Wicked

[spoiler=Into the Stars]
High, high do they rise, little gazer,
Mountains so cold and so hungry for the stars.
Ignorant of the world around them and those who climb ,
Their peaks are well-hidden behind clouds dark as night,
And their seclusion suggests that they have never been seen.
What creatures might lurk in the crevices of the damned?
What terrors might be that should never be known?
The slopes are chilly, and the trees offer no shelter,
For they have been stripped of their life and their leaves.
Move quickly to your home, lest the dark leave you lost,
Before nightmares approach and leave your heart to seize.

[/spoiler]

The Hills of Nod

[spoiler=Sleep]
Where a field should be sits an upland of sand,
Growing forever by chutes from the sky.
When you move you fall into the shifting land,
And your body wishes only to lie.
A struggle to stand leaves you at the top,
And over the hills you can see,
But soon you find you are not alone,
And asleep the others all be.
The night sky above is black and empty,
A fitting blanket for a place so cold,
Where you try to step you fall and fall,
And at once you feel so old.
But hope it seems has given you favor,
For a figure you see approaching.
Dressed in hood and cloak and with staff,
A light in darkness encroaching.
The figure stands silent on the hill across,
And soon you cry for your god,
For this figure is not your savior,
But a terror known only as Nod.

[/spoiler]

The Fens of Fear

[spoiler=The Swamp of Dreams]
Little there is before you but a low-lying land filled with bogs and littered with foul-smelling flora. In the distance you can see the mountains, but the only way to reach them may be through this desolate place. Conveniently there are paths, as there seem to be in every part of this forsaken world, but they are cruel and riddled with slime. Sounds of creatures emanate from all sides, but they are surely just frogs and birds. The fen grows deeper and the cattails grow taller, and the path descends to the water. What madman or monster could have made such a trail, only to swim through the deep and dark waters filled with peril? You feel you shall soon find out as you wade into the murky pool, only to see something move out of the corner of your eye. It's not there anymore - but you're sure something is watching.

[/spoiler]

Unthinkable Oblivion

[spoiler=Nothing]

There is nothing here. Perhaps there is something, but your mind is unable to comprehend. Total darkness is all around you, and you cannot see the path which you entered from. How would you define a path in this place? There truly is nothing to associate with anything, no features or light or even air. Yet still you do not die - or you don't think you do. It would be hard to tell. There simply is nothing here. Nothing but eternal oblivion.

[/spoiler]

Bridges

[spoiler=Which Way?]
A town sits on a series of large platforms above you, but you could not reach it if you wanted to. You find yourself in a place where the light seems to center on you, and some short distance in all directions, everything is black. You're on a bridge, one of countless it seems, for every end you come to is an intersection for more pathways into darkness. Hours and hours you venture about, descending, ascending, planing flatly. The catwalks grow thin and grow large again, seemingly without pattern. At some point you become sure that this place simply called Bridges may go on forever, down, down, and down into the depths of shadow somewhere below the earth. There certainly is no end in sight. You feel you are trapped as a fly in a spider's web, for the bridges intertwine and cross about each other as a twisted weave would, and the signs at random crossroads speak no languages you have learned. Perhaps you truly are trapped, though by what hand? Could someone, somehow have lead you here to your doom?

[/spoiler]

The Dreamer's Sea

[spoiler=Peace]
Soothing sounds of those who sing fill the air, a sense of calm accompanying. You drift in a tiny boat across the open water, with no land in sight, but that does not worry you. Here there is no pain, no sorrow, no fear; there is only happiness, silence, and sleep. The waters sway your boat not in a nauseating manner but in one that sends you off to your dreams quickly, and as you drift off a wave of euphoria comes over you. Sleep now, and sleep for as long as you wish, for here you are safe. Here, there is no need to worry. Someday, you will find yourself washed up on a distant shore, and when you do, you will feel as if you had been born again.

[/spoiler]

I watched it creep along the side of the road, past the old shed and the woodlot. It feared the water, so it would not cross the bridge heading west, and came in my direction. I heard no noise except the weak half-crunch of leaves in the deep mud. And then, as it reached the gate it looked at me, with eyes that could not conceal the thoughts the creature was thinking. In them I saw the desire to do harm, as if its hands were already around my neck. Even though I was well concealed in the heights of a tree, the thing saw me. It glared into the branches at me and seemed to taste me from a distance. All that kept it from coming was the bridge, which crossed the small stream. I swore under my breath as I watched it prowl the side of the water, looking for a way to cross. It was coming, so I ran.

I could hear laughter all the way.

RESERVED 8

Mythic Creatures of Haveneast[/size]

Fog. Though it occasionally cleared up, the Rottwurd Sea between mainland Anselvar and the Isle had been so overcome with wispy fog-ghosts that even the brightest lanterns shone weak through the gloom. Nevertheless, the Kingspear and its captain both seemed determined to reach their destination soon, neither showing any difficulty in their tasks.

"Should we slow down, captain?" one of the sailors said.

The captain only continued to gaze off the side. His focus was if he saw something in the mist that the others could not. "Keep to current speed. We're nearly there." The crewman walked away.

A call from the crow's nest came minutes later. "Land ho!" the men said, and the dreariness in the hearts of the crew was overtaken by excitement.

The captain moved to the bow, drawing up his looking glass and looking to the shore. He saw no lights on the beach, but inland the very hills themselves seemed to burn. "The Isle of Chimera," he said to himself, thinking about all of the wonders ahead as they prepared to land.


[spoiler=Giants, Trolls, and Dragons]

Giants

Tall, powerful, and intimidating creatures, giants dwell throughout the lands of Haveneast, but particularly favor mountains and high hills. They are often aggressive, mean, and sometimes even murderous, but a rare few protect villagers and help lost individuals. Different tales of giants seldom depict them similarly, other than vaguely resembling massive humans. One of the most famous stories involving giants, Ichard and the Behemoths of Sestevan, tells of a good-hearted troll named Ichard who saves two villages from the invasion of evil giants from the north.

Trolls
Trolls are a distant cousin of the giants. Standing anywhere from nine to fifteen feet tall, they are strange creatures that favor woodlands and water. Many trolls are evil creatures that like the taste of people. Trolls are cursed with a weakness against sunlight, for it will turn them to stone, meaning they never venture out during the day. Some stories say that they enjoy fine foods and steal rare spices, meats, and vegetables as well as most objects of wealth whenever they can. They tend to have green or brown skin, large, muscled arms, legs, and torsos, long pointy noses, and tangled, unkempt hair that usually hangs to their waists. Again like their cousins the giants, trolls are often perceived as stupid creatures. Legends say that most live on the Isle of Chimera, a mysterious and foggy island across the Rottwurd Sea that is home to mythical monsters and is made up of a bizarre landscape.

Dragons

"Hothele stepped forward in the darkness, his torch lying flameless upon the cold floor of the cavern. No light now illuminated his surroundings yet he crept forward, sword and shield in hand. His mind was not wrought with fear even with his blindness, but rather focused on the odd warmth of the cavern. The earth beneath his boots seemed to shake with each step. Before him in the gloom now shone two dim spheres, situated at his own eye level in the darkness; and as he drew closer, they grew brighter. Suddenly, in a moment of prescience, he threw up his shield and ducked low as fire licked every crevice and span of the ground before him, spewed forth by a dragon as black as night."
-The Cavern of Possus, from the Epic of Newmor

A frequent antagonist in Haveneast, the dragon is more common in ancient legends than modern tales. Few sightings are ever reported by anyone except madmen and young children. The main consistency in tales of dragons is that they always occur in the same areas. The most famous tale of a dragon is that of the knight Dame Perceva the War-Lady, who slew the great dragon Uossekenvad in the north of Navelun. Locals often point to a small rise called the "Winged Hill" which is a series of knolls vaguely resembling a dragon. Believers do have one additional corroboration going for them: dragons are always told as having black scales, massive bat-like leather wings, and the ability to breathe fire.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Faeries, Sea Monsters, and Wichten]

Faeries
Few regions across Haveneast have ever been lacking in tales of mischievous, light-hearted, energetic creatures from other worlds (including the famed and mythical Sundown Garden) called faeries (also spelled fairies, pixies, fae, and any number of other names). Faeries are said to wander the woods aimlessly, favoring the dark when their torches and other lights shine most brilliantly. They are avid dancers, singers, and jokers, and though they seem to shy away from human contact they are certainly eager to chat should a clever human manage tooutwit them or otherwise force them to stand still. They are not fond of violence or anger, and never show disgust towards good acts and good people. Most fairy-folk are said to stand no more than four feet in height, and many barely reach half that. Their all of their features are perfect and pleasing, but their most appealing quality is their voice. All fae are said to be able to view the future (and some can show it to non-fae), in addition to many other powers spoken of in folklore.

However, this is only the portrait that is painted of the most benevolent fairies. Though people seem less eager to talk about them, there are many stories of encounters with fae that are wicked, perhaps the most vile of all creatures. These creatures take an unnatural pleasure in such minor nuisances as tangling a sleeper's hair and thieving small objects, to much more extreme and devastating things like abducting children while they sleep, replacing them with wooden mannequins or equally sinister fae in human guise. They are also known to be able to cause extreme fatigue through touch. There are many protections against these versions of faerie, including cold iron, which they cannot touch or they become suddenly weak and afraid. The sound of a cock's crow will drive them away, explaining their absence in morning. Both these wicked fae and their more benevolent cousins are generally afraid of bells, but are especially keen on (and fearing of) the chime of six o'clock at dawn. Legends say that this marks the time when the gate to their home-world begins to close, and if one should fail to return before this, they can never go back.

Sea Monsters
Giant tentacled beasts, dragons of the deep, sharks larger than entire ships, and whales and turtles whose backs are covered in islands have long been legends in Haveneast, ever since the first civilization went to sea. Some tales tell of gargantuan creatures that pull ships down to watery graves, and others speak of monsters who seemed to control the very sea and the skies themselves. Popular pagan beliefs often involve some of these mythical beasts as gods, and most ships give sacrifices to waters said to be inhabited by them. Occasional tales even depict dragons as swimmers and dwellers in the sea, though by far the most frequent story told by modern-day sailors is that of a mottled gray squid who is capable of crushing even the mightiest ship's hull in a matter of moments.

Wichten

Sometimes mistaken for fae, the mythical wichten often share some of the same purposes as faeries and as the will o' the wisp. They are mischievous forest creatures said to try and lead travelers astray, often using various props such as lanterns and staves to make them seem as though they may be other humans. Wichten strangely seem averse to total darkness, which is why one rarely sees a wicht without its signature lantern. They keep small garden homes deep in the woods, growing a great variety of plants, seemingly aided by a special magic they possess (allowing exotic flora to grow in colder climes). Those who can blow out a wicht's light source or take it from them can expect many gifts of special herbs for healing and other uses from the wicht's personal garden, as long as their lantern is returned. They appear as small goblyns might, though their features are not quite as frightening. Their bodies appear to be made almost entirely of moss and twigs picked from the forest floor, except their large eyes, which makes them all the stranger when one witnesses their unearthly feats of strength and agility.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Alfar, Goblyns, and Ogres]

Alfar
For as long as there have been tales of the mystical fae, there have been as many and more tales about the malfae, or alfar as they are more commonly known. The alfar are said to be the result of ancient love affairs between humans and faeries, and are bound partially to the mortal world and partially to the homeland of their more unnatural parents. They are said to build their primary homes deep in the wilds of the mortal world, favoring high forests and pastures in the mountains. They are fond of mining for valuable ores and of art, and build magnificent homes both among the trees of the forests and deep inside mountains. They are generally reclusive and take great measure to hide their domains from mortals, and they generally avoid contact with them at all except in special cases, using their unique magic that all of their kind are gifted with to evade those who seek them out. Legends abound of the wondrous treasures they craft and hide deep within old vaults scattered across the world, from weapons to jewels to crowns and coins.

Like their otherworldly parents, however, this is only one facet to the alfar. Their evil kin known as the dvergar or dokkalfar are sadistic, malicious creatures that hunt mortal beings relentlessly and without remorse, taking a silent pride in mass murder they commit and the fear they spread. They are said to appear in two forms like their kinder brethren, but their skin is black, their hair white, and their eyes red. They carry ebony weapons and wear equally dark armor, and can move without a sound or a trace through the wilderness. Though surely only creatures of fiction made to frighten naughty children, most villagers outside of the cities are wary about venturing through any unlit, isolated places at night.

Goblyns
The story of Granhao, a vain man who was arrogant and condescending to all in his village because he thought himself so handsome, is a tale retold frequently to children too selfish and unkind. It says that Granhao became so obsessed with his own appearance that he would steal things from others to better augment his looks, and eventually reached the point where he slew a local weaver because she could not create a magnificent new set of clothes for him to wear at the turn of the year. The townsfolk were outraged and chased the handsome but wicked Granhao out into a great quarry, where he soon found himself standing at a great precipice. With no other choice, he tried to jump across to the other side but fell - fell deep into darkness, and landed in a dark river. The river broke his fall partially, but he was still painfully bruised when he struck the sharp rocks at the bottom, and as he fell unconscious the river swept him away.

Granhao awoke many hours later at dawn. Sore and bleeding, he crawled away and eventually, when he had healed enough, gathered the nerve to venture home again. Sneaking into his house without alerting the villagers, most of whom were still asleep or already in the hayfields, the first thing he sought out was a mirror to assess his damages. The image staring back at him caused him to panic - the fall had turned him into a monster. His facial features were horribly distorted, broken, and torn, as was his entire body, which he had failed to see before. Granhao disappeared from the village that day, and the villagers (who were not all that concerned for him regardless) never heard from him again. Or, at least, they thought they didn't.

Many months later people began to speak of something wrong in the countryside. Children began to go missing at night, and the people began to believe that Granhao had come for a sick revenge, taking them away to hidden caves and the like in the mountains, twisting their own appearances to look like his. Some stories say he even kidnapped a beautiful princess, deformed her, and made her his wife, and when they had children they looked as twisted as their parents...

Ogres
Ogres are a malicious type of creature and are really a form of troll. An ogre stands roughly eight or nine feet tall, with rather grotesque features and an equally fetid personality. Almost every story about them speaks of their taste for human flesh, their massive arms and broad shoulders, their fat bellies, and their particularly foul smell. When not lurking stereotypically under bridges and other areas where they can easily grab unsuspecting travelers, ogres are said to dwell in caves high in the hills and mountains but low enough so they can easily access villages, where they go to find food. Their weapons are often crude and their clothes equally so, but ogres have the strength and resilience to make up for such things - their only weakness is their stupidity.

[/spoiler]

Horrors and Stalkers in the Night
Even though many of the creatures listed above are feared, likely evil, and have tastes for the flesh of mortals, they are the most natural and perhaps the least terrifying of all things to wander the land. Where stories of the aforementioned mythical beings are most often found in books and in bedrooms when told to children, there are other creatures less commonly spoken of... and more common in real nightmares. These creatures, be they creatures half-man, half-wolf forced to change form by the moon, monstrosities made of tentacles and fear given form, warped images of things that were once human, or something much more sinister, they are only found in tales told by the mad.

Undead

[spoiler=Horrors From the Grave]

Few evils in Haveneast are more feared and embedded into one's religion and culture as the undead. Since the dawn of civilization they have been mentioned in folklore and warded against in the everyday lives of the people. They are numerous in type and capabilities, but what makes them most terrifying is their nearness to a primal force - death.

[spoiler=The Nature of the Undead]

Undead creatures exist in two forms: the spirit, which is insubstantial and rarely more than an image; and the animated corpse or object, which is a spirit in control of physical matter. In either form they may have various weaknesses, but most religions and philosophies agree on a few common ones: undead are afraid of (and sometimes harmed) by sunlight, repelled by the symbols of Justaism (the Evencrosse, and often fire) and of less structured faiths such as paganism (common ones being a flail of skulls and a copper star filled with salt).

Even though some undead are not truly harmed by the sunlight, it causes agony for the trapped spirits, and most will seek out the locales they arose in until nightfall. Even the lowest animated corpses will lurk in caverns or return to their graves (something usually attributed to vampyres). The magic that animates them occasionally allows them to converse with the living around them, though the methods by which their mouths move is often a disturbing sight.

The tale told of how the undead first came to be is a long one, and is wildly different from culture to culture - and creature to creature. Justaism states that for endless ages there was no meaning for the word, as they did not exist - until the Angel of Death was cast out of Azlorn and Methecus was born from the darkness. When Justahn cast out the Angel of Death, the fallen archangel cursed the spirits of mortals to be unable to join Justahn in the afterlife; if an archangel was not worthy of the Burning Knight's love, no mortals were either. Instead the Angel of Death mocked the Embrace of Fire that Justahn would give by cursing these trapped souls to burn for all eternity. The Sun-Lord gave up a portion of his power to allow the souls of the dead to still reach his domain, but with the powers of evil working against him many were and continue to be trapped in the mortal realm in a painful half-life.

Undead are animated by various incorporeal spirits - most of these are the sentient souls of mortals, though other spirits tied to more supernatural origins have been known to do so as well. Despite being animated by a soul that usually retains the memories of its past life, the state the undead are in often drives them mad to the point where their only concern is spreading their suffering, which created Methecus, Lord of Hatred.

Unless otherwise noted, undead are immortal.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=The Morality of Undead]

The spirits that make up the undead are not necessarily evil, but the suffering in their souls tied with the whispers of Methecus drives them mad to the point where most cannot retain their better natures. Other factors play on driving those few who do remain benevolent mad, including the isolation by and mortal fear of the walking dead. Those that can interact through the unholy pain even at the best of times are wicked and uncaring.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Corporeal]

Undead with physical bodies and ties are the most common of the two forms of undead (though it is for many reasons that various cultures speak of ghosts, which are incoporeal, more often). Also, they are the easiest of the two to destroy or otherwise ward off, usually - there are exceptions to this rule, such as the vampyre, lych, and death knight. The undead listed here are only general descriptions - many regions have their own names for these creatures as well as variations on their origins and how they function.

[spoiler=The Damned]

The Damned are the walking corpses and skeletal remains of creatures. They are the most abundant and weakest of all undead forms, but this does not mean that they are not dangerous - or that there have not been terrifying exceptions. These are usually animated by demons, foul necromancers, or other malicious forces. Their main weaknesses are the same shared with most other undead. Though not usually weak against sunlight itself, bright lights allow them to be destroyed much more easily, and they will go to great lengths to escape the sun before it rises, and attack their victims in dark areas. The Damned feel the burning curse of the Angel of Death most of all, and because of this will attack anything viciously and relentlessly - anything to keep their minds off of the pain. Seldom do they choose to speak.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Dodekler]

Dodekler is a form of undead that is near the divide between corporeal and incorporeal, taking the form of a dead person's clothing. Often, if a dead person is not dressed in funeral garb or the last clothes they wore are not washed, a dodekler is born. Dodekler at first sound and look harmless, but this is a misnomer - an unholy strength permeates the clothing. These malicious spirits have a desire to strangle the living, using sleeves, pant-legs, scarves, or any other means they can. Some folk in western Anselvar will bless a dead person's clothing after wash to prevent the creation of a dodekler. Burning the clothes does nothing.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Vendmotyv]

Vendmoti are undead creatures sometimes associated with vampires, but a vendmotyv does not drink  blood and is actually repelled by things vampires are not (and vice-versa). A vendmotyv is a creature of Kandgemarian and Scomish legend that will kill a person and feast on the flesh of their faces, and afterwards be capable of taking their appearance. Vendmoti are said to do this because it quenches the supernatural fires that burn their souls. In their natural form, vendmoti appear as creatures of about human height, with bodies dressed in tattered, blood-red and black garb. They do not appear to have arms or legs, but they do have twisted, elongated hands and feet dressed in black boots. Their faces are simple white masks.

Vendmoti are repelled by sunlight and cannot enter it, though it does not harm them. They cannot look into mirrors or otherwise view their own reflections or they will be destroyed, and it is for this reason that they may not cross still water (for they may see their own reflection), but any surface that does not give a clear image will not harm them (so rough water is fine).

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Ghuls]

Legends everywhere in Myrenia speak of various creatures that can be likened to the ghul. Ghuls are the reanimated corpses of those who in life were too greedy and selfish (especially gluttons). In undeath, they are massive mockeries of mortals that stand over seven feet tall, with elongated and oversized features. They hunger endlessly for human flesh and that of rotting corpses alike, and are said to rob graves at night. They tend to lair in caverns, dark woodlands, and burial crypts. They have no special weaknesses other those typical to undead, which causes their unholy flesh to rot away. However, there are barriers and wards against them: ghuls cannot touch or move over salt, and this has been used as a ward against them in the burial chambers of the dead (a line of salt is often placed at the entrance to a mausoleum). A circle of salt around a ghul renders it effectively helpless, and one in such a circle that is then struck with a powerful holy symbol is utterly destroyed.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Vampires]

Vampires (also vampyre) are perhaps the most notorious of all corporeal undead and are present in the folklore of nearly every nation (in the far north they are called draukr; in Alvanenia dhampir). Also spelled vampire, vampires are created by other vampires, but the first one was born out of the desires of a foolish archduke of Chanelce. In ancient days, this archduke loved dearly a woman who was gravely ill. For many weeks and months he spent all his efforts on searching for some way to cure her, to no avail. In the gloom of a mountain pass as he returned to her empty-handed and weeping, a hooded figure approached his carriage. The figure offered the archduke a way to save her, but he would need to sacrifice his own mortal life to do so. The archduke agreed without question, and when he returned to his home where his would-be bride lay, he was... different. As he went to her, however, she uttered her last breath and he entered the room just as she passed. As he wept again he kissed her one final time, before turning on everyone in the room - drinking their blood, and then turning them into creatures of darkness like him. They still hunt the hills of Alvanenia, and the Archduke in his insanity is said to create more of his kind still, cursing his victims he deems worthy to spend an eternity without their loved ones, forced to feed on blood.

Vampires are a tragic form of undead that are forced to feed on those they would have once loved, and are created by those who were forced to do so as well. They possess supernatural strength, grace, and persuasion abilities as well as shape-shifting powers and immunity to most natural attacks. A vampire can usually take only one other form, and this is of a feral-looking animal or animals such as a wolf, owl, crow, snake, bat, rat, or spider - though some learn to take more than one of these forms or others entirely. They do not cast reflections in mirrors, but have the ability to control and distort their shadows. They cannot cross or be immersed in running water, but still water is of no concern for them. They are repelled by the Evencrosse or the standard pagan ward, and harmed by holy water. Sunlight will destroy them within moments of exposure, and it is for this reason that they "sleep" during the day in well-hidden shields from the light such as coffins. They are commonly tied to their place of burial and cannot leave it unless it is destroyed - though when this happens a vampire must find a new suitable location before the sun rises.

Destroying a vampire cannot simply be done by arms alone - it will simply turn into a dark mist and return to its abode. Staking is one of the preferred methods of dealing with them, and this is done through the heart. They may also be destroyed by being trapped outside before the sun rises, or by being immersed in running water. A vampire can also be slain by pinning it within its grave and reciting the funeral service - this is what is done with the dead who have been victims of vampires, but not yet transformed.

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[spoiler=Lich]

The word "lich" originally had relation to words for "death" and "afterlife", but it is also a term used for a powerful form of undead. Liches are mortals (sometimes practitioners of magic) who have learned ways to become immortal through undeath, or have been reanimated after death to serve a dark purpose. Liches otherwise appear similar to The Damned (or more rarely, in a form just like that of life), and have all of the same weaknesses - but they cannot be permanently destroyed through these. A lich is tied to some object related to them in their time as one of the living - something of significance and that was a point of pride or guilt. Destroying this makes them weak and capable of being destroyed through normal means. In undeath, they are given unholy power reflective of what they desired or had most in life.
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[spoiler=Witchrot]

Whereas the lich is something born out of research and perfection, the witchrot is born out of negligence and by the ignorance of those who wield magic. A witchrot is the remains of any mortal individual that was once a sorcerer of some sort, whose powers were too full of destruction and spite to lay still in death. The magic animates the corpse of any magic user when the body has significantly decomposed, making it at first appear somewhat like one of The Damned. What distinguishes it are the wisps of raw magical energy that flicker around its body. A witchrot is possessed by magic itself, so its thoughts are often erratic, but the end product is always a murderous monstrosity. Its powers are warped versions of the magic it knew in life as well as the ability to "blink-rot"; a form of camouflage that causes the witchrot to disappear entirely except for its flickering energies, doing so for a second or two with the time increasing slowly until the witchrot is only visible roughly once every half minute.

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[spoiler=Incorporeal]

Undead without true physical forms are more common in folklore than their counterparts, though physical undead are much more numerous. The most well-known is the ghost, spectre, wraith, or apparition, but there are others. Generally, they share the same basic weaknesses as other undead, though physical assaults and effects do not harm them.

[spoiler=Corpse Light]

Also called will o' the wisps and other names, a corpse light is a mysterious, malevolent spirit that manifests itself as a glowing sphere (or sometimes as a miniature creature carrying a lamp, similar to a wichten) at night in graveyards, in forests, and over the waters of lakes, rivers, and even seas. They are said to be the spirits of those who were refused all passage in the afterlife because they were malicious in life but disrespected vengeful gods as well, and thus were forced to wander the world with their dim lights that deceive mortals. Corpse lights cannot do much true harm, but their ability to mesmerize and fool those that look at them has often been taxing, if not certain doom for those that follow them. Some say that corpse lights mark the location of hidden treasures in eastern Anselvar. In Alvanenia, it is said that if one appears in a cemetery and passes over a grave, a descendant or relative of that person will soon die.

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[spoiler=Spectre]

Originally the terms "spectre" and "ghost" meant the same thing, until some cultures began to distinguish differences in the spirits based on who they were in life. Spectres are spirits of murderers who were buried and not given a proper burial out of spite, anger, or similar reasons. They are said to return in spirit form to murder those that buried them and any other mortals that cross their paths. They appear as they did in life, only their colored clothing has turned to gray, white, and black, and their legs trail off into nothing instead of having feet. Spectres leave trails of "shadow" behind them as they move, and small plants wither in their presence. They can pass through walls and other objects, but cannot fly or otherwise change altitude; they must move as if they walked on a floor. Spectres do have the power of possession, which they use to kill the living easily (in their incorporeal form, they have only the ability to slowly drain the life from a person near them over many days; they are said to be seen sitting at the bedsides of the ill, watching them and waiting).

A spectre can be very difficult to kill - only in sunlight, with a priest or other blessed person capable of reciting holy scripture present, can they be permanently destroyed. In the sun holy weapons and symbols can interact with them as if they had physical bodies, and they can then be destroyed by physical attacks. Alternatively, a priest may speak the funeral service for the spirit over again - but this can be difficult, as a spectre can be held at bay only by holy symbols or seeds of plants spread across the ground around them. They also cannot cross water in its natural settings, and a common precaution at burial is to carry them over a lychroad and over a bridge, to prevent them from finding their way back to the place they died.

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[spoiler=Wayfarer]

The wayfarer (also called boat-ghost and wundendi) is an undead spirit that branches the borders between physical and ethereal. Wayfarers are created when an individual dies while lost, and their bodies are not found within a year. Unlike most incorporeal undead, they are not inherently evil and seem to be able to ignore the supernatural pain their kind endure. They appear as human-sized figures dressed in black robes that don't reflect light, and always have a hood hanging over their face. Wayfarers often seek to help others who become lost like they do, and will guide them to safety along a path that also passes their remains. If a wayfarer's body is found by a living person, the wayfarer is then free to move on to the afterlife, although they will stay in the mortal world long enough to guide them out of the area first. Some wayfarers do not serve as guides but rather as transportation across gloomy rivers, lakes, and seas; these are the souls of those lost at sea, and anyone who treats a wayfarer of this kind well can expect to receive safe passage to wherever they need to go.

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[spoiler=Ghost]

Ghosts are the most common incorporeal undead in Haveneast, and are also the most varied. Some are benevolent or at least unconcerned beings who only wander the places that they died searching for a way to free themselves, while others are malicious poltergeists that seek to do harm much like spectres. In a way, however, the ghost is a more powerful version, with the ability to possess almost anything, movement in any direction, and the supernatural strength to affect the physical world directly.

Ghosts arise from those who were wronged in some way or did not have time to finish vital tasks, and are usually (but not always) tied to the place that they died. Despite their ability to interact with and terrorize the mortal world, they seldom are the catalysts for their own release into the afterlife; it is typically people who discover them that finish their tasks. Ghosts may arise due to being murdered, having their gravesites or possessions disturbed, their loved ones being hurt, ideals that were popular during their lives being abandoned, or any of countless reasons.

A common tale in Angorad is that of a woman who was murdered along with her entire family, only to return from the dead as a jukain (revenant), with no purpose other than to hunt down and slay her killer. These kinds of ghosts are focused and unconcerned with anything but apprehending those who killed them, and are even said to be immune to the repulsion of a holy symbol.

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Trolls

[spoiler=Creatures of the Ancient World]

A troll in the folklore of the mortal peoples is a stupid, ugly, murderous creature, but this description is (usually) far from the truth. Trolls are an ancient kind of spirit tied to the world, with a long, simple sense of tradition and an air of mischief tied with wisdom about them.  The troll philosophy revolves around the world being made up of four primal elements, and the troll-kind have created four castes over the millenia to serve these elements and tend to the world.

[spoiler=The Trollcurse]

Once, the four castes of trolls and the ogres were all one, and shared an ancient natural society that revolved around the reverence of nature. However, as the dawn of the human race approached, the trolls experienced the Ancient Twilight, and it became that the world was no longer as wild as mortals learned to cultivate and claim the land for their own. To protect the land and make sure that it could regrow, the trolls made a pact with the dying spirits, losing part of their powers and splitting into the four troll clans as they are known: the Storm Clan, the Earth Clan, the Fire Clan, and the Death Clan. Many of them, however, refused to join their brethren and serve as Haveneast's guardians, and they were cursed as well - becoming the ogres as they are known.

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[spoiler=The Earth Clan]

The Earth Clan trolls are the guardians of the forest and the mountains. They are the Healer Caste, spending their time making sure that things grow and that that which is damaged becomes whole again. Earth Clan trolls are the tallest, standing around ten feet tall, with very large, powerful bodies and greenish-brown skin that gives them the appearance of living earth. They usually have very tangled hair that has the appearance of leaves, and like all true trolls they have long, pointy noses. Those who became the Earth Clan took the Curse of Midnight, forbidding them from ever seeing the sun again; when exposed to sunlight they turn to stone forever, and as such they only come out at night to tend the world, hiding in caverns or deep, dark forests during the day. In return they gained the power to make things grow, treat any wound, speak with plants and animals, and command them when necessary.

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[spoiler=The Storm Clan]

The Storm Clan trolls are guardians of the sky, the sea, and the stars. They are the Warrior Caste, doing battle with those that would harm the world and making sure that the sun and moon rise and the storms come to the world. They are shorter and leaner than Earth Clans but still powerfully built, standing seven and a half feet tall. Storm trolls have green-blue skin and wild, grey-blue hair. They are unmatched swimmers and mighty warriors. Storm Clans have bodies that are transparent and the ability to levitate at will. The Curse of Stars that they took forbid them from ever entering any place that would prevent them from seeing the heavens; storm trolls who do this become stars in the night sky. The Storm Clan's kind tend to move about with storm clouds or the currents of the sea, watching for defilers. They are able to harness the energy and the power of the weather at will and wield their magical weapons to great effect - the boon they received in return for the oaths they took.

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[spoiler=The Fire Clan]

Fire Clan trolls are the guardians of knowledge and of the plains and deserts and the masters of the flame. They are the Magic Caste, great wielders of supernatural powers and forgers of artifacts. They are the shortest of the troll-kin, standing at a similar height to humans. Their hair is a reddish-orange color that seems to burn like fire, and they have grey-black skin as dark as ash. Fire trolls are the keepers of renewal and creation, ensuring that things will change. In addition to being masters of the forge, they are skilled shape-shifters that can take the form of any animal or object, and have the ability to step into one fire and exit another miles away. Their Curse of Wisdom forbade them from ever ignoring their tradition of teaching and renewing the world; those that do become ravenous fires that envelop all they touch in a cleansing flame.

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[spoiler=The Death Clan]

"I will remember so that all others may forget."

Death trolls are the guardians of fate, death, memory, and tradition. They are the Silence Caste,  bringing an end to life and keeping secrets that should be forgotten. Originally the Death Clans obeyed their oath with a sense of honor and caring, but over time their role drove them mad - and though they still perform their ancient duties, they are wicked and hateful creatures. They stand as tall as Storm trolls, but have ghostly pale skin and hair that seems to have a mind of its own, floating about their heads. All death trolls wear black blindfolds, relying on their incredibly powerful other senses. Death trolls are masters of death and fate, ensuring that traditions are upheld and things are not forgotten in favor of easier and less meaningful ways. They have the ability to know when one's death is near and create sickness and plague, though they only do this when populations become too large. The oath they took gave them the Curse of Blindness, forbidding them to ever look upon the world or those they would guide to the afterlife again. Those who remove the blindfolds wrapped tightly around their heads and look at their surroundings become the mist that hangs low over graveyards, in forests and valleys, and over rivers.

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Alfar[/size]

[spoiler=Spirits of Two Worlds]

The alfar (also called the malfae) are the product of an ancient and forgotten union - that of man and myth together in harmony. In a time when mortals interacted with their supernatural neighbors without fear and ignorance, the pairings between the two sides resulted in magical creatures never before seen and with suites of powers unique to them. As time went on, however, the malfae were lost to the secrets of time, and - unknowingly - mortals caused some of them to become corrupted with their fear. These became the dvergar or dokkalfar.

All alfar are connected to both Haveneast and The Nightmare because of their heritage, and they can learn to pass through the boundaries between them with ease. Out of simplicity most choose to make their homes in The Nightmare, but some prefer Haveneast, where they can live on the edge of human civilization and learn and "grow" through the ages. To leave their mark they craft things riddled with magical power, with which mortals can learn and grow.

[spoiler=The Ilalf]

The ilalves or ilalfalfar (singular ilalf) are the result of the union between humans and faeries. They stand anywhere from five to slightly over six feet in height, with lithe bodies, pointed ears, and brilliant eyes. Only those who have interacted with mortals for any length of time wear clothing. Due to their supernatural parents' tendency for mischief, ilalves are more likely to come to Haveneast with intent to interact with humans than the dualves. They usually choose to dwell within forests because settlements tend to be found near them, and they offer adequate hiding places when necessary. Like all of their supernatural brethren, ilalves are naturally immortal. They are sometimes called elves by mortals.

The ilalves were the crafters of things that represented wealth and wonder. The coveted and expensive gold idols, bars, and coins that occasionally surface in trade are said to be of their make, as are artifacts that allowed the amazing to take place.

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[spoiler=The Dualf]

The dualves or dualfalfar (singular dualf) are the result of a pairing of man and giant instead of man and faerie. Their colloquial name "dwarf" is in respect to true giants, not humans; a typical dualf stands at least seven feet tall, and some reach nine or ten feet. Their bodies are powerfully built and every dualf sports thick, attractive hair; in the women this amounts to "dirty" mixtures of hair color, while the men feature single hair colors but also sport mighty beards. Their eyes are deep and are always blue, green, or brown. Dualves like their supernatural parents take to a life of shepherding, and are wise, careful users of magic. When they do come to the mortal world, they choose to dwell in high hills and on mountains overlooking kingdoms, where they can watch over mortal realms as their "flock".

Like the ilalves, dualves once crafted magical items which humans would later find and use as tools. However, dualf craft consisted of weapons and armor made for war, as well as artifacts that allowed for protection or communication.

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[spoiler=The Dvergar]

The dvergar or dokkalfar are the twisted remnants of what were once dualves and ilalves. Corrupted by the fear of mortals and their horrid dreams, the dvergar are now part of human nightmares. Dvergar have no compassion or concern for the feelings of any creature; they are murderous, sadistic, and malicious. Abandoning their peaceful and helpful lives of before, the corrupted alfar travel from the dark places of The Nightmare to the mortal world to terrorize mortals. Being within a few miles of one can cause bad dreams; and should one choose, a victim within range can be stricken with panic, hysteria, paranoia, schizophrenia, or any other condition. Mortals rightly fear them, for driving humans mad is the least that they will do.

The dokkalfar seem to act without any reason or patterns to their activities - they are driven with an interest (or perhaps an obsession) that has no explanation. They will murder without hesitation, but only do so at random and to a select few, because they feed off of the essence of fear that originally warped them. Dvergar appear as their benevolent counterparts do, but their skin is pitch black and their hair so white that it seems to glow. They wield the artifacts they once made as ilalves and dualves, only everything has turned black, red, and eerie neon green in their hands.

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Giants[/size]

[spoiler=Ancient Reminders]

"There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown."
-Genesis 6:4-5

Indeed in ancient days before humans were dominant, giants were the masters of the world. All across the world the relics of their civilizations remain as a hint that once there was something grander, though most of these are found in the most remote and forgotten locales. Giants, unlike most supernatural beings that frequent the legends of mortals, do not live forever (without magical aid), and they are not originally from another world. Even the largest and least intelligent of them are skilled in the use of ancient, powerful magic, and eventually without using their magic to extend their lives, they will die. It is for this reason that the greatest of the giants are so few in number - the earliest and largest were also undeveloped mentally and did not understand the concept of immortality so well - and the most common are scarcely more than twice the height of a human.

Giants originated from the same evolutionary path as man, although they broke from the original primate chain many millions of years ago. Through countless millenniums they have gone from standing over thirty feet tall to reaching an average of fourteen. Like their half-human offspring the dualves they are wielders of magic and tend to be peaceful guardians of the world, often taking the role of shepherd - but this belies their origins, because the first giants were an evil lot with magic meant for destruction and minds for worldly conquest.

[spoiler=Yethreid]

The Yethreid are the most common and smallest giants to walk the world. Standing anywhere from eleven to seventeen feet tall but averaging thirteen, The race as a whole, like all humans and other forms of giants was diverse, but they over time have taken a role of protectors and keepers of knowledge, learning for the sake of learning and finding ways to predict the future. They were also a warrior race and skilled in many forms of magic that are rare even among mortal practitioners, but their methods and motives were in general for the benefit of the world. Now as they dwindle in number like their ancestors, they retreat slowly to The Nightmare, though some still remain in Haveneast in hopes that they can still guard the world.

Yethreid appear as more primal, larger humanoids, and usually wear their hair from their heads and beards long. Unlike dualves their hair colors in men and women vary greatly. Their clothing has for centuries been composed mainly of animal furs. In Yethreid culture, few males are given anything but a surname. They build large, spread out abodes high in the mountains and in secluded valleys. Of all true giants, the Yethreid are most likely to use their magic to make themselves immortal in order to be able to do the duties they feel are given to them.

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[spoiler=Apthreid]

The Apthreid, are the largest of giants, the very first ancestors of mortals. A once glorious legion of millions, the Apthreid in their lust for power were largely wiped out. They stand anywhere from thirty- to thirty-five feet tall and appear even more primal and feral than the Yethreid, and have a look of constant strain and anger about them. The Apthreid are and were a symbol of destruction and doom, and the magic they wielded was able to annihilate entire worlds. Though much less evolved mentally than those that would come after them, the Apthreid are still intelligent and improved their methods over time. They sought knowledge only to aid in their quest for domination of everything, but in the end it did them no good because they could not survive in such a changing world when their society revolved around murder and chaos.

The artifacts left behind by Apthreid giants are few and far between, and are often mistaken for natural landmarks. If any still dwell in Haveneast, they must have a good reason to hide, because few things even in their age could stand against their combined might. The few that remain are mostly in The Nightmare, and were those who knew and understood magic that could make them immortal, since the apex of their civilization was millions of years before now. Unlike Yethreid, there are no dualves descended from Apthreid giants and mortals.

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[spoiler=Nephilreid]

Somewhere in between the Yethreid and Apthreid, the Nephilreid are literally mixtures of the two ends of the giant race's evolution: though they can be born thousands of years apart, they all generally share some mixture of apthreid and yethreid physical and mental qualities. They are also called the Dark Age Giants, because for some reason the knowledge of immortality was lost between Apthreid and Yethreid reigns, and few survive to the modern day.

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Faeries[/size]

[spoiler=Dreams Incarnate]

Where most supernatural beings are elements of a greater fantasy called The Nightmare, faeries are the physical, "living" representation of the memories of dreams - and nightmares. They are legion because they were born out of the remembrance of things that happened to mortals while sleeping, with pleasant - and horrific - intentions. With every dream, a new faery is created, and every time a memory is forgotten, its associated being fades away with it. Some persist forever only because the memories and emotions they were created from are so primal and so common, that they cannot be forgotten. All faeries have the ability to shapeshift into various animals, and some can also become objects, as is fitting of the erratic nature of dreams.

[spoiler=Mischief]

Faeries that are born from dreams involving mischief stand on the line between good and evil, because while such desires are often harmless and meant to draw laughter, some are as wicked and cold as murder itself. Such faeries tend to appear as creatures the size of cats with wings that  give the appearance of a grinning, ambiguous face when spread, in bright colors. While not spidery, they are slender and their fingers, ears, and noses seem long, and they have an odd, if disturbing beauty about them. Most of their activities involve simple things, such as tying people's hair into strange patterns while sleeping, stealing small trinkets and replacing them with other objects, and playing puzzle games with mortals. Those whose mischief was made with bitterness and spite often play more alarming tricks, such as stealing children from their beds and replacing them with wooden dolls.

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[spoiler=Happiness]

Faeries of happiness are, naturally, the most pleasant of all faeries, but they are the victim of frequent fading; happiness even for the luckiest in Haveneast - or any world for that matter - does not last long. Nevertheless, there are many of them at any one time, and they move and act as if they had lived for all eternity. Happiness fae tend to appear mostly like humans but with glistening skin, golden hair, and bright clothing that is blue, white, or pink. As they embody the best of dreams, these fae do not actively seek out mortals like most of their kind, instead dancing in meadows and running through the world with feelings of content. Since happiness can arise from many situations, each of them is slightly different and each is attracted to something different in the world.

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[spoiler=Kindness]

Fae associated with kindness share the same problem that those of happiness do: the dreams they are made from are few and far between, and never last long. They are actually one of the forms of faerie most likely to seek out mortals and interact with them, but with a much different intent than faeries of mischief, hate, or obsession. While still beautiful, they look much like aged humans dressed in tattered rags and weathered by the years, and the only thing that distinguishes them is the thin, sparkling mist that surrounds them. Kindness faeries often appear with gifts for those in need or aid those who cannot accomplish things on their own, and they possess the power to punish those who are unkind and greedy by giving them bad luck and taking what they love until they learn benevolence.

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[spoiler=Hate]

Hate fae are the incarnations of anger expressed in dreams, fueled by intent to hurt, ruin, and seek revenge. With purposes and desires ranging from simply obtaining what another has or killing them or their beloved ones outright, faeries of hate are a scar upon The Fairytale and The Nightmare. Even though they have been as they are since they were created, they appear as if there was once a time when they meant well, appearing as twisted versions of fae of happiness: their hair is coarse and faded, their skin pale and calloused, and their clothing torn and dirty. They seem generally like more extreme and harsh versions of mischief faeries, taking great lengths to undermine people's efforts and lives. The most vile of them are born from murder, and these fae, like the dvergar half-fae, want nothing more than to kill in order to quench a hatred they never had themselves, but were rather born to be.

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[spoiler=Obsession]

Faeries of obsession are creatures whose origins lie in love, greed, and sometimes madness. Many of them are obsessed with the people that created them and hunt them down in order to spy on them and interact in a way that is at best annoying, and at worst disturbing and frightening. Some are obsessed specifically with certain kinds of objects, others with concepts and actions, and yet others with people. They appear as slightly shorter than usual humans who have not slept well for a long time, and have features that appear strained. They often steal things if a mortals' attachment to them catches their curiosity, and experiment on their obsessions to observe results. Obsession faeries are driven mad with excitement when it comes to human technology, for they do not have the imaginations themselves to develop it.

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[spoiler=The Noble Fae: Guilt]

Among even faeries there are creatures who hold a position above the rest, and they are the faeries of guilt, born from secrets kept and debts unpaid. Unlike other faeries, no noble ever fades away because it has been "forgotten", but sometimes new ones are born. Noble fae lead dual lives, representing how mortals will hide the truth from others: at most times they are kind, cheerful folk that appear like the most beautiful of humans with the exemplary features; but during the full moon, noble fae transform into twisted, malicious things half-fae and half-animal. The were-fae have no control over this form, and in it they are evil and bloodthirsty. Should they bite mortals while transformed, the mortals will contract a fever and later will involuntarily begin shifting as their "parents" do, but also can turn into a true animal of the type; most are wolves. It is through this dual nature that the noble fae possess all of the qualities of the lesser kinds and something that sets them apart. They are ashamed of what they are when the moon is full, but are cursed to live that way.

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Dragons[/size]

[spoiler=The Esssence]

Dragons in Haveneast are the epitome of existence - but rather than embodying that which is perfect and complete, they represent the essence of mortals' most extreme dreams - the Omega dragons of endings, and Alpha dragons of creation and beginnings. Because dragons come from such a primal source, they are among the oldest beings in existence. They have been active forces in Haveneast and its sister world, The Nightmare, since the first dream ever took place, and will likely remain active until the last fragment of life fades away - perhaps by their own doing.

[spoiler=The Purpose of Dragons]

Dragons' very existence is a metaphor for the forces that threaten to destroy the world, or save it and bring it new prosperity, in the hearts of humans. Though they have their own desires, ideas, and thoughts, dragons also serve a purpose as guardians of things that matter most to humans. Each of the two types of dragons protects different things - Alpha dragons defend and watch over that which is of spiritual importance: loved ones, philosophies, rights, and happiness, acting as silent watchers; Omega dragons guard things that are of material importance and often considered desires of the chauvinistic, selfish, and greedy: territories, possessions, and hoards of treasure.

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[spoiler=Alpha]

Alpha dragons are graceful, serpentine creatures that symbolize everything efficient, new, unifying, and beneficial. They are wise beings that come from the air, signifying a determination to achieve something greater and above one's current existence. Alpha dragons are associated with  agriculture, luck, wisdom, growth, replenishment, and happiness. Appearing as large, long, wingless serpents with short legs, they always possess bodies that shine and attract the eye even when their scales are the darkest colors. Alpha dragons have the ability to grant wishes and desires to those who deserve them, and can create many things with ease. Their wispy breath is that which allows the clouds to move and the rain to come, and it can become so cold that it will freeze anything in its tracks.

As a being of general benevolence, an Alpha dragon seeks to promote learning and good will. As such they fly about, usually in the evening and at night, looking for ways that they can subtly influence the world, but will be more direct in the rare cases that they must. They commonly take the form of animals or objects in order to quiet and inconspicuously observe the mortals whose dream potential they were born from.

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[spoiler=Omega]

"I looked into its eyes and saw - I saw nothing, and I knew the creature embodied nothing; annihilation come before me."

Omega dragons are brutish, cruel, evil beings that symbolize terror, destruction, death, conflict, and waste. Creatures that have no love for anything but destruction itself, they come from the earth and represent the failure to become more than simply what is primal and sadistic. Omega dragons are associated with the end of all things. They appear as large creatures with massive wingspans and scales that are so black they reflect very little light, jaws filled with wicked teeth, and eyes whose glances could destroy worlds.

Omega dragons as creatures of waste and destruction spend their waking hours causing chaos and wreaking havoc in the most clever and secretive ways they can. Like Alpha dragons they can shapeshift but can only do so into forms of very feral-looking predators. They frequently destroy farmlands in the form of blight and drought, and snatch livesstock by the dozens each day in order to feast on it or even leave it to rot in the open. Omega dragons have the ability to breathe flame, which itself seems to slither and scheme its way into every corner and glows with an unholy violet mixed in with the traditional hues of fire.

[/spoiler]

[/spoiler]

Demons[/size]

[spoiler=The Nightmare Taken Form]

Demons are everything that exemplifies evil, horror, madness, and destruction. It is from demons that the forces of good and evil are derived, and by them that the definitions persist. A demon is a creature that is part of the Nightmare, itself - an incarnation in various forms - that is the Nightmare, was the Nightmare, and will always be the Nightmare. Although malicious and unholy, demons are not mindlessly destructive even if their intent is to envelop everything in flame - they are coldly calculating, if it can be called that.

The Mind of a Demon

What is it that the purest, darkest natural evil thinks? No one can be sure. Demons may seem to speak and think like mortals and supernatural creatures, but their actions are often too obviously wicked to seem real. They may do things requested of them, act in ways and with accuracy that is ideal to a situation, or seem incapable of a task - but one should not be fooled by this. A demon's thoughts cannot be read by any means, and their very existence is an anomaly. Much like the Nightmare, their overwhelming wickedness is impossible to fathom and their natures can change at any time.

Demons do seem to have one link to mortal thought: they seem to take some sort of interest in the temptation of mortals, through the promises of power or sin. It may be that they find mortal weakness amusing, satisfying, or necessary to existence in some way, but no option is certain. Every demon seeks to tempt mortals through some means related to the form they take.

The Form of a Demon

Naturally, a demon has no physical form or shape - it is simply a malicious spirit. However, demons are known for their existence as mockeries - reflections in the mirror that is The Nightmare - of mortals and supernatural creatures alike. Some also exist for philosophies, ideals, and actions - although every demon is a reversal of the 'natural' version. It is for this reason that they are both weakened and strengthened by mirrors, which can reveal their true forms. There are some demons that are powerful enough to freely shape-shift as they desire - and this likewise eliminates this weakness for them. Demons can appear as twisted forms of humans, giants, trolls, fae, dragons, goblins, werewolves, and countless other things - including undead, although usually demons form a symbiotic nature with the undead (or vice versa) to create a truly unholy monstrosity.

As demons are reflections of the living and the supernatural like the Nightmare is a reflection of Haveneast, there is one for everything that walks the world of Haveneast and the Nightmare (and many more that are hidden). Demons and their counterparts seldom cross paths, because with the exception of some unnatural and dangerous events (summonings, dream-storms, etc.), one must always be on the other side of the mirror from their opposite. They are rarely in the same places as their reflections, although demons have a natural ability to sense exactly where the its living mirror is in relation to the Nightmare at all times. Demons whose counterparts die fade away into nonexistence - unless the demon kills them itself. For this reason demons will hunt their reflection and kill it if possible. Even if they cannot, occasionally, instead of fading upon its mirror's death, a demon becomes an Amun - a demon that has no natural form, being able to take the shape of anything at will, and can roam freely throughout the worlds.

[/spoiler]

Daemons[/size]

[spoiler=Fallen Angels]

Daemons (pronounced day-mon) are not to be confused with demons, creatures that are wicked in a sort of extreme madness way. Daemons were once angels, but fell from Heaven when they went against Justahn and committed sins they swore never to do. Because they were the epitomes of good yet succumbed to evil, their deeds can never be forgiven, and they are doomed to rot in the Abyss for all eternity. Daemons continue to exist usually as demonic mockeries of the angels they once were, or in rarer occasions (such as with the Fallen Angels of Justaic belief), as wicked angelic figures.

Daemons are generally powerful masters of certain regions of The Nightmare (occasionally being associated with regions of Haveneast as well, although not always corresponding to the Nightmare side), and have specific taboos, aspects of life, creatures, and military relations. Almost all daemons possess their own "barony" in the Nightmare (which can sometimes be as large as an entire region of Haveneast), but only some have any folkloric association with Haveneast's kingdoms, and some of these are present in multiple areas.

[/spoiler]
[/spoiler]

The Lesser Dream-Things[/size]

Much outnumbering the Greater Dream-Things, the Lessers are not so because of strength or their range of influence, but because they do not belong to a "species" shared with other creatures.

[spoiler=Goblins]

Goblins are human-sized things with usually exaggerated but sometimes underdeveloped features that mimic the human form. Once humans themselves, the goblin species is the product of vanity. Their voices have at times almost canine-like qualities, while at others they can seem strained, off-pitch and unnatural. Goblins live through their existences terrorizing mortal realms and at the same time living in their own mockery societies on the other side of the curtain.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Wichten]

Mischievous, small, and awkward, wichten are spirits of the earth and forest. They dance gleefully and silently through the thickest of briars and darkest of woodlands. Existing with some un-sourced knowledge of human habits and lifestyles, wichten make an effort to cause trouble for any other creatures they come across, be they mortals, animals, or other supernaturals. Typically seen with things such as small lanterns or other objects of value, they lead their victims for great distances in pursuit of the treasure they hold. Their main weakness is fear of the dark, which can be used to great advantage against them - if one can take their light source from them at night, a wichten will do anything to get it back, including presenting the individual with many wondrous herbs said to cure any disease, and will lead them wherever they want to go. They appear much like small humans with slightly feral features, but seem to be made entirely of the fallen bits of rot and waste of the forest floor such as shriveled leaves, twigs, and bits of moss and pitch.

[/spoiler]

RESERVED 10

Magic[/size]

Magic in Haveneast is a powerful, if mysterious, force. Many folk believe that wielders of these foul powers are everywhere. But what stories are real? Are they just myth, or is there some truth to the rumor? Are there secret cults who practice magic for evil and for good?

The Nature of Magic[/size]

[spoiler=The Nature]

"You already know the feeling of wielding magical power, and you feel it again every time you are happy; whenever your anger drives you mad; when your body and mind are fatigued. Magic is fueled by your emotions and your movements. It is born from your soul and is channeled by your body. Both fuel it and let you reach your true potential. Take good care of both aspects of yourself, and be careful of what you seek to do with the mystic arts as well, for magical effects can just as easily warp your existence as solve your problems."
-Grand Master Ivers

Magic is a diverse entity. It exists everywhere and in everything, binding and shaping the world as it is known. Magic is driven chiefly by those who wield it - without them it is wild but drive-less power, animate only as far as it needs to be to keep everything in balance. Sorcerers and more supernatural beings who wield it put it in motion, and therefore put the world in motion in ways both small and grand.

Magical energy exists in many forms, but the forms as they are most commonly known among mortals are not as one would expect. Mortal methods of practicing magic revolve more around ideas and concepts. One is focused more on a power's how and why, not on its what. This is why Paradigmancy and Witchcraft often cross common ground, or why Demonology, Angelology, Divination, Numerology, Astrology, Geomancy, and Thaumaturgy can all obtain secret or hidden information - though each in its own way.

The one thing that magic cannot easily do is create something from nothing. In general there must be an anchor - a wizard must have a burning flame to hurl fireballs, a thunderstorm must be harnessed to strike down one's enemies with lightning, bars of gold cannot be made from air, etc. However, some of the more malignant methods of acquiring magical power allow these things - albeit at a terrible and painful price.

[/spoiler]


The Forms of Magic[/size]

Demonology and Angelology

[spoiler=     ]
Aspects of the arts demonology and angelology have existed for as long as Myrenia has been inhabited, but the practice of them as individual arts is a product of the Romantic Age of Anselvar, making them both ancient and young. At the beginning of the age there was a steady increase in the number of ancient grimoires discovered and probed by various individuals. They began to wield the magic contained within the tomes to summon demons and wield their power, sometimes bargaining for incredibly powerful and destructive magic, albeit with a terrible price.  In response, those who believed in various forms of Justaism and wielded magic sought out the power of the angels, and angelology was born alongside demonology.

The study of these arts themselves is rather narrow, and its magic consists exclusively of summoning and taking on the qualities of these creatures - though in the case of the former, powerful spirits can often grant other magic to those they deem worthy. Obtaining power from them involves an endless (and sometimes vicious) cycle, where to be seen as worthy of possessing it one must offer sacrifice to demons and prayer to angels so that they may have the power to summon them again to sacrifice or pray for more power. In some of the older pagan faiths, there is no distinction made between who must be celebrated in prayer and who must be in sacrifice - indeed, some of these sects even do both for either side.
[/spoiler]

Necromancy

[spoiler=     ]
The ancient star-worshipers of Calmdais southeast of Siiran were the first practitioners of necromancy. In their time, necromancy was more like the art of divination, with necromancers seeking to speak with the dead; they believed in their time that when one died, they learned the secrets of the universe. Calmdais's sorcerers practiced their benign art for centuries until the fall of their civilization to Urdah.

The art of speaking with the dead was then lost for many centuries more until the rise of the Hydolyn Empire, whose early days saw many explorers and conquerers spread far and wide across the land in search of new territory and magnificent treasures for their king. They uncovered the lost writings of Calmdais's sorcerers, and they were quickly deciphered by the wisest sages. However, an error caused them to believe that they had to raise the dead to speak with them, and, drawing from a source originally linked to demonology and witchcraft, the undead were raised.

Many years later, the wizard Nrakul sought to study the nature of the magic. In his studies, later considered a great advancement in the practice called the Trials of Nrakul, he animated many corpses and used them to seek out more, tapping into the spirit energy transfered each time another was made into the walking dead. He learned many things - how the trapping of an unwilling soul into the painful and maddening existence that is undeath takes place when animating a corpse, how one needs no physical fix to speak with the dead - and most importantly, how life energy was manipulated whenever one wielded necromantic magic. He learned how to sap the life force from others and how to put it back; how to cause the blood to explode from veins and how to separate the soul from the body. Nrakul became one of the most hated and feared individuals in all the world, at least with those who knew him. He is not known to have died.
 
Necromancy in Haveneast[/size], as explained by Mezerous

Imagine a great river. This river flows for great distances behind an ethereal curtain through the universe, and though it is hidden one can easily find it, reaching through the curtain from either side. Lesser rivers, running from places distant and unknown, join with the river and mix waters. At the delta of this river is the mortal world, Haveneast, and at the root of it, in the mountainous heartlands of beyond, is the land of the dead. To know how to travel upriver with one's own soul and interact with and manipulate others is the ultimate test - learning such an ability is not difficult, but being able to survive the physical and mental drain is something only accomplished by the indomitable - and the mad.

What Necromancy Is

Depending on the native philosophy, necromancy has different methods and purposes. Generally, the dark art is the interruption - or in some cases, the corruption - of the cycle of life and death. If the Spirit Veil were indeed a river, the process of death would be the evaporation of the metaphorical sea water - the souls of mortals - into storm clouds. Necromancers halt this process, drawing the water back to the delta. The partial detachment of the necromancer's soul from his body, however, is akin to tearing a deep gash wide and eventually tearing the flesh free, leaving the soul a crippled shadow that lingers over the body.

 Demons and Necromancy

Demonic beings have always had some association with the darkest art. Some amateur practitioners and religious zealots believe that all spirits summoned in place of mortal spirits (merging necromancy and demonology), and they also invade the summonings of less capable sorcerers. Additionally, it is also the demons who teach most power-hungry mortals how to use the magic. All of these factors together would suggest necromancy is traffic with demons, by demons, for demons - but it is not.  

The Creation of a Minion

Perhaps the most coveted of all necromantic powers is the ability to create - or, as might be more appropriate, fuse - an undead being. As the earlier analogy suggests, the process involves reaching with one's own soul into the realm of the dead, and tearing them away from it. This of course is very painful (mostly to the victim soul), and as it is brought back without a physical form it screams and fights uselessly, creating a bit of a mess in some cases. Being able to hold onto this soul is not always easy, requiring a strong will to bring the most useful of entities back - a weaker mind attempting the magic is usually reduced to animal minds, which are scarcely useful for anything but the most simple tasks. This is not always a bad thing - smart souls with the willpower to act on their own are often difficult for their creators.

To fuse a soul to a body, the body must be unobstructed - the corpse is almost impossible to animate when buried or otherwise protected - however most necromancers learn to wield minor magics such as telekinesis to ease obtainment of a proper vessel. It is generally also best to assemble a body with the matching parts beforehand, even if it is just the skeleton (this actually has its advantages), because of the difficulties the soul has adapting to its new form. If a necromancer instead prefers an ethereal minion, the soul must still have an anchor somewhere - usually a small crystal or symbol of importance hidden on the sorcerer's person. In any case, the end result is an angry, tormented, hateful creature to control and use to one's bidding.

 [/spoiler]
Paradigmancy

[spoiler=     ]
Paradigmancy has been a secret and little-known magical art for ages both because of its power and the difficulty in wielding it. A hidden cult known as the Sons of the Universe practice it freely, but keep their knowledge and methods well-protected. Paradigmancy is the art of changing the properties of the world - gravity, time, motion, and physical properties of matter are all affected by it. Paradigmancers are a dangerous lot to encounter, being capable of stepping freely through time - and with the ability to shape objects into almost anything they desire, they are never unarmed.
[/spoiler]

Numerology

[spoiler=     ]
Numerology is a lesser form of magic similar to the magic of astrology in that it deals mostly with divination; though it is done through the interpretation of numbers in many things and the use of them as special symbols. Numerology originated in the east beyond Elbarna and Kureg, where after early necromancy fell into disuse, an advanced numbers system was developed and with it came the magic. Its effects are usually subtle and only a few practitioners ever learn to affect the world around them with it directly, instead interpreting and studying systems of mathematics and divining the future from their results. At the height of its use some time ago, students of numerology had determined a meaning and special symbol for every number between zero and one-thousand, though many of these meanings have now been forgotten (and this absence of knowledge is a sign of uncertainty in their place).
[/spoiler]

Astrology

[spoiler=     ]
In essence, Astrology is the same as numerological magic, but its execution, history, and cultural background are what set it apart. Astrology involves divination through heavenly bodies to obtain foresight and understand current or past events. The art is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) of the forms of magic and one of the most widespread - in the earliest days when irrigation was a new concept, small tribes of people practiced it fervently as a source of knowledge. It spread along with them as populations grew and early civilizations rose and fell, until on mainland Myrenia it was forgotten in favor of more powerful magic. However, in Tuban'De Ferr, it is a common practice in both the lower class and the higher class, with at least one member of any family guaranteed to be schooled in the art, as well as its derivatives (such as chiromancy and tarot divination).
[/spoiler]

Druidism

[spoiler=     ]
Druidism at its heart is little more than a religious belief, and isn't tied to magic. Druids form a special priesthood in some cultures, and the name is the common term for most servants of the pagan gods (even though it originally had a more specific meaning). However, certain cults practice sorcerous arts alongside their worship of pagan deities, and the specific powers they wield have been collectively labeled "druidic magic". The powers of sorcerer-druids have strong ties to witchcraft and share many of the magical spells used, but the druids add a unique form of divination: the art of geomancy. The druids who do practice magic still have a primary purpose as spiritual guides and advisers to the people, and they use random lines drawn in dirt to divine counsel for them. Among users of the arcane arts, druids are most recognized and feared for their ability to control the weather.

[/spoiler]

Rune Magic

[spoiler=     ]
Rune magic has always been most used and most well-known in the northern reaches of Haveneast, being spread in ancient times from the far distant east to what would become Hydolyn and then into areas such as Angorad and Vikanocht. Its users can be likened to artists with paintbrushes, creating unique masterpieces with every spell they weave. Rune magic is first and foremost devoted to warding, protecting, and trapping specific areas; sometimes regular practitioners ward their homes with runes inscribed on walls, near windows, and doors to protect against thieves; and many intruders to sacred places have met their ends when runes would explode beneath them or curse them. It also bears some resemblance to enchantment; an old practice of the Rune-Masters of  Angorad was to draw a sigil upon a weapon, carve symbols into armor, or even tattoo one's body to draw magical spirits into them, granting them special powers - and the more intricate the runes, the more powerful the spells.

[/spoiler]

Witchcraft

[spoiler=     ]
Of all of the greater forms of magic, witchcraft is the most widely used, though ironically it has the fewest cults and organizations devoted to its study. It is a fairly old magic capable of charming the minds of others, changing the appearance and form of its wielders, laying curses, and using the natural world against one's enemies. Practitioners, often titled "warlocks" or "witches", have left a lasting imprint upon the societies of Anselvar and Myrenia, being feared and viewed as dangerous and causing extensive superstitions and half-fanciful beliefs to arise all across the land. A witchcraft user's practice is a solitary one, and its need for isolation makes many of the stories told little more than fables. This does not mean, however, that witches and warlocks should be underestimated, as many have used their magic to wreak havoc upon those that would persecute them to generate the fear that they rightly deserve.

[/spoiler]

Enchantment

[spoiler=     ]
Where Paradigmancy alters the properties of the world, enchantment is the art of altering or otherwise affecting the individual. It is the magic of the ancient mountain men and trolls who forged great weapons and armor in hidden valleys, the talent of sealing doors with magic and making oneself invisible, and the magic of those that seek to improve their physical power. Inexperienced practitioners sometimes mistake this magic as the same that allows one to control the minds of others, but that skill lies within the magic of Witchcraft.
[/spoiler]

Ritual

[spoiler=     ]
Ritual magic is unique in that unlike the other forms of magic, ritual does not have its own specific effects - rather, it is used to achieve an effect when someone skilled is not present, or even serves as the medium through which many other forms operate - forms such as demonology, angelology, numerology, astrology, and some rune magic regularly evoke ritual magic at the same time they do their respective kinds. Though its methods have differed and continue to differ throughout the ages (in the past, ritual magic gave some cultures the power to do things they had not yet envisioned as separate magical disciplines), all of them have roughly the same effect whether by sacrifice, communal prayer, the drawing of symbols, or other means.
[/spoiler]

Thaumaturgy

[spoiler=     ]
The rarest and most coveted magic of all kinds is thaumaturgy - the art of performing miracles. Thaumaturgy's essence is said to be a secret of the angels, a power so mighty and dangerous that they hide it away, fearing that the world would be doomed were someone to gain control of it. Other variations say that it is the most sacred blessing from the heavens, for thaumaturges can instantly heal the wounds of their comrades, cure diseases and plagues, and even bring one back from the dead. Some skeptics disregard it as anything other than a variant of necromancy (including some necromancers), who claim that it shares many of the same capabilities. True thaumaturges, however, can easily show how different they are, with the ability to fulfill any wish.

[/spoiler]

Real Magic - Practitioners, Secrets, Methods, and Places[/size]

Coming Soon

The Doom of Magic[/size]

Magic is destined to fail, destined to die. The root of its failure lies not in its complexity, nor the power and knowledge required to use it, but the sheer inefficiency of its common use. Magic cannot easily be taught or harnessed, and is a power that is possessed by individuals, whereas scientific and technological advancements yield easily usable and spreadable capabilities. Sorcery is not even as powerful as science overall - one can certainly have great power through magic, but magic drains the life energy, so with each step into greater power the body becomes weaker.

The only advantage magic has over science is that once learned, magic can never be forgotten; a practitioner can not use his powers for years and not recall the information and still cast a spell just as it had been at his "greatest" point, for magic molds to the intentions of the wielder. This "sorcerous memory" results in immortality for a spell-caster in some places, (for those who pursue it) and in others it leaves the body writhe with energy - a condition which results in the terrifying, malignant Witchrot.
-Mezerous

RESERVED 12

Alvanenia: The Sun, The Sword, and the Soul[/size]

As the sun sets the candles are lit, and eyes open in the darkness...

 Map of Alvanenia (http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/9495/alvaneniakb4.jpg)

Alvanenia is a region of Haveneast rich with history, culture, and superstition - its current kingdoms have existed for centuries; the Eternal House of Light is an ancient and powerful church of The Allegian Heartland that is focused almost exclusively in the region, and the varied ethnic groups that inhabit the area are far from short on stories about the wilder areas of the three kingdoms. People from Alvanenia are rightly known as deeply religious, proud, diverse lot, and many of them have served important positions in the courts of rulers in other countries.

People of Alvanenia[/u]

The Candlelight Kingdoms are inhabited by three primary ethnic groups: the Akaim, who are of Bulwalen descent; the Welnecyk, who are further descendants of the Akaim and Romak races; and the Shotem, who have come recently in small numbers to the region.

[spoiler=     ]

The Akaim

The akaim share much with their Bulwalen ancestors appearance-wise, and philosophically are pagans. They are focused mainly in the outer regions of Vigarth and Chanelce, with only small concentrations found in Cremaria. The akaim were once nomadic but over time they have become more settled, but are known to be very isolationist. Most of Alvanenia's most well-known folklore originates in regions that the akaim frequent, such as Dhamparia in Chanelce. A typical akaim village is actually quite rare - they tend to be spread out and divided by large amounts of forest or farmland - but consists of usually a dozen well-built, simple homes with many charms and symbols decorating their insides. They build shrines for worship and sacrifice only in their villages.

The Welnecyk

The welnecyk are the result of mixing between romak and akaim peoples in the past as well as the introduction of Justaism to the akaim - the welnecyk's primary religion is in the Eternal House of Light. They have features from both sides of their heritage and a distinct, heavy accent known for pronouncing "F" much like "V". Welnecyk people make up the vast majority of Alvanenia's populations, but are concentrated mostly in the central areas where the three countries meet. The Welnecyan Movement is named after them and is the origin of the traditional castle structure that dots the Heartlands, with gothic accents and brilliant stained glass windows being a common sight on most structures barring those of the peasantry.

Shotem

The shotem in Alvanenia are a small population and subject to much racism. They are found almost exclusively in Erkhenyaz and the largest cities in southwestern Chanelce under the Count of Molche. The shotem bring with them a religion that is reminisicent of both paganism and Justaism but the differences are clear; however despite being tolerated by the populace, non-shotem Chanelcans are ignorant of the shotem religions from the east and tend to label them as "two-soul heathens".

[/spoiler]

Chanelce[/u]

Chanelce is the largest of the Candlelight Kingdoms, and is known as the Kingdom of the Soul. It is a feudal monarchy and is divided into countless smaller areas granted to lords of varying levels of power; the most popular and recognizable of these are the County of Molche, owned by Count Ylec; the Duchy of Tronen ruled by Duchess Sammhe; and the County of Corebor ruled by Viscount Domilen. Each of these areas has had particular importance in the past and each hosts a large city.

[spoiler=     ]

Major Cities

Erkhenyaz

The capital of Chanelce, Erkhenyaz is a large city surrounded by ancient walls in the most resource-rich region of the kingdom. With a population of roughly 72,000, Erkhenyaz is a bustling city with a wide variety of goods for purchase in its markets and a number of noble estates to be found within. It has a distinct skyline when viewed from a distance, something that few other cities are known for posessing: The High Cathedral of Chanelce, the Cathedral of Light, and St. Elpeida's Church all extend their towers into the sky, and the two largest hills in the city are crowned by the city's castles and many mansions. Erkhenyaz's inner grounds have never been laid foot on by an invading army since the time of Chanelce's creation ages before today, but it has been laid siege to. People not of Erkhenyaz's population come to Erkhenyaz for one of four reasons: to answer the summons of the king, to trade, to pray, or to be put to death for their crimes.

Kebree

The capital of the County of Molche, Kebree is not where Count Ylec resides but does contain a large abode for when he and his wife make visits. The city is a stronghold of Chanelce's full-time warriors, which consist mainly of those who have been knighted formally by Ylec Molche himself, the king, or by sanctioned saints, and belong to the Souxan Knights. Originally a multitude of many holds of knights whose lands were all taken from the same greater area (which is in turn dominated by peasants' "private" land that they live on and work), Kebree evolved in the southwestern part of this knight-dominion where the land sports more hills, one of which Kebree Castle is situated on. Kebree serves as a major trade center in the westernmost parts of Chanelce and as the primary locale to which serfs must move when summoned for war in the west.

Westhorp

Really a village of roughly 900 governed by Dame Ulmone, Westhorp appears on most maps because it is the last location in Chanelce under strong control in the east and northeast; beyond it, in the large land called Dhamparia and Nikeryv Forest, the akaim hold most sway and there are few nobles or installments of knightly orders such as the Souxans. The village is frequented by various military men and women who pass through, both of robber-baron and monarch sanction heading for the east, and as a result there are several skilled tradesmen such as blacksmiths in the area who cater to their needs.

Duchies[/size]

Gulachyn

The House of Gulachyn is as old as Alvanenia itself and older, as the name Gulachyn (Cholmo-Yettsken for "Shield") originally belonged to a warlord of the Trettevya Hills just south of Erkhenyaz. The Duke of Gulachyn is currently Bromark II, son of Alphein and Martresy of Uhaim in Navelun. Bromark II has suffered from leprosy for some time and grows weak, and Prince Almoren of Trenhoia increasingly is required to sit at his father's seat. The Prince is a wicked but intelligent and politically-minded noble and is well-liked in the courts, but his parents do not want him to become Duke. Nevertheless, Prince Almoren is certain to take the throne as Duke of Gulachyn. The Gulachyn range stretches from Colochek Castle up along the Blovsk to the Hastwanz River and around to Nulemh and Culamna.

Tronen

Tronen is the youngest of the Houses of the Dukes, and also hosts the largest family - Tronen is divided into nine counties which are each further divided into six baronies, and all but a few of these are administered by princes or princesses of the House of Tronen. Tronen traces its origins to a rogue Knight of Llander almost two centuries ago, who abandoned the Holy Empire during a war in favor of the King of Chanelce. Granted the highest office below the King for his loyalty and skill in battle, the Tronen House now serves both as Chanelce's primary first-strike source and also as ambassadors to Vigarth and Cremaria because of their proximity to the borders.

Tronen's lands extend around the western and northwestern parts of Chanelce, ending at Tetobor and the Seven Rivers that snake through the hills there.

[/spoiler]

Cremaria[/u]

Cremaria is the second largest of the three Alvanenian Kingdoms, and is the Kingdom of the Sun. Ironically, Cremaria is the most stormy and mist-riddled of the three, and though its reputation is that of a land of privilege, power, knowledge, and faith, the people are often overly superstitious and close-minded. There is only one major road through Cremaria, which the capital Horchmedl sits on. It features many castles that line the current borders and stand further inland both as second lines of defense and remnants of past wars when Cremaria's boundaries were nearer to the heart of Alvanenia.

[spoiler=     ]

Horchmedl

Horchmedl is a city that surrounds a small lake, in the middle of which sits an island where the King of Cremaria resides. Despite being near the border, Horchmedl has scarcely been the primary target of invading armies, who tend to favor Rondlam and Trenhosk (which are more easily-taken areas because of their lack of a very difficult-to-reach main castle). Horchmedl is the location of both the High Cathedral of Cremaria and the University that shares the city's name, and is the scientific and philosophical capital of Alvanenia. Horchmedl is divided into three urban fiefdoms each ruled by a noble, and each one of these is divided into three districts. The city is known for being one of the few places in the Allegian Heartlands to possess a district devoted to travelers, drinking, and entertainment called the Tavern District; this area is on the southern end of the Horchmedl's lake.

[/spoiler]

Vigarth[/u]

Vigarth is mountainous, but is so in that its land makes many erratic descents into lowlands, making it very difficult to traverse. This coupled with Vigarth's smaller size and corresponding small population make it an isolated place difficult to attack yet easy to defend. Known as the Kingdom of the Sword, Vigarth's cities such as Nyecka are located in the mountains as part of stronghold-cities governed by monastic knightly orders, some of which swear unfaltering loyalty to the King of Alvanenia in Erkhenyaz and some of which are much more mercenary in nature.

[spoiler=     ]

Nyecka

Once merely a castle of the same name which served as a base for the robber-knights the Stone Lions, Nyecka was eventually overcome (with severe loss) by the Fist of the Third Star, a powerful knightly mercenary order that eventually swore an oath to serve Alvanenian kings until the end of time. Since then it has evolved into a mountain city of roughly 15,000 that is well-protected, sporting four castles overlooking the nearby passes and valleys as well as a wall that doubles as a road and runs from Nyecka to Serba. Most of its population resorts to shepherding and mining as a local resource, as the nearest arable, open land is several kilometers away. Navelun has attacked Vigarth many times in the last decade and attempted to reach Nyecka nearly every time, but the Lord-Knights in Nyecka Castle laugh at these assaults that are pushed back every time long before coming within sight of the city's High Cathedral.

[/spoiler]

Orders of Alvanenia[/u]

[spoiler=     ]

The Souxan Knights

The Souxan Knights are the primary knightly order of Alvanenia, with large concentrations in Chanelce's southwest and Cremaria. They are a multi-talented organization, serving as the region's first and last lines of defense (the Souxan Border Guard and the Souxan Royal Guard respectively), emissaries, and its architects. It is almost guaranteed that any fortified structure or cobbled road through the region somewhere bears the mark of the Souxans' individual company that oversaw construction. The Souxan Knights are a fairly new group, being created by a "rogue" knight that swore allegiance and protection to the King of Alvanenia when relations between Llander and Chanelce became strained. Since then it has evolved into a military power that rivals the Knights of Llander themselves, and many armies that have gone against them have resorted to cowardly tactics such as lines of archers to do battle with them - the Souxans would cut down most typical warriors at close range without difficulty. All Souxan Knights are trained in these military and architectural abilities, as well as effective understanding of the tenets of Justahn, use and encouragement of poetry, and the laws of war.

Membership in the Souxan Knights is selective: to be accepted to them, one must be knighted, which usually restricts them to the nobility and those few they choose to train as knights; one must also possess an exemplary sense of justice and knowledge of courtly manners. The Souxan Knights live by a simple code: be honorable in battle and life; uphold justice; serve another of the opposite sex loyally, and all others of the opposite sex after them; and give your life for your country if the need be. To fulfill this code, a Souxan Knight often participates in courtly and political life as a loyal servant to a higher lord or lady even as adults, and as a personal champion when one's credibility and position is challenged.

In Erkhenyaz, the Souxan Knights occupy a special position as military and crisis advisers, often aiding the king and other nobility with decisions to attack or defend against a country or deal with issues such as emerging plagues. They form the vast majority of any individuals who are given noble status from lower-class upbringings in Cremaria and Chanelce. Most are presented with small pieces of land near Erkhenyaz or other large cities, slowly expanding outward as the ages go by and the estates of older knights are passed down to their offspring, requiring new castles to be built.

The Fist of the Third Star

The Fist is an order of warrior-monks from Vigarth, trained much like the Souxan Knights but with a more isolationist lifestyle. Where the Souxans are those who would apply their knowledge, the Third Star monks are individuals who seek knowledge itself, and delve into battle capability as a secondary talent (even though they are quite good). A monastery of the Third Star is a sacred place where Justahn is worshiped, knowledge is sought and recorded, and discipline learned. Like all other orders it has its own warriors who fight with sword and shield and bear the banners of their land, but each one of them is a strong source of history, philosophy, and law.

Members of the Fist are chosen from very young ages and trained formally from the time they are five. They are taught to speak and read multiple languages well by the time they are ten, and practice continues until they are seventeen. A Fist's first weapon is what he has learned; only through this knowledge will he be able to swing a sword true to its mark.

The Guild of Tradesmen

The Guild is an organization that possesses major bastions in Erkhenyaz, Serba, and Horchmedl and minor outposts in other cities of Alvanenia as well as one in Knoit. An organization run by the wealthiest of the non-nobles (the "Guildites" ), the Guild of Tradesmen not only provides a place to find able, skilled workers, but also is one of the main players in the organization of trade and shipping. The Guild keeps registration lists of individuals in the cities and the abilities they possess, and is a popular location for nobles to find their foremen for construction. The Guild's structures consist of small mansions for major cities, and in the smaller ones is often in a building shared with other small organizations, usually near a market.

The Guild of Tradesmen, despite being an inter-city organization, possesses almost no power outside of city limits, because most craftsmen in the countryside choose to operate outside of Guild regulations and supervision. Even so, there is a steady in-flow of young boys and girls from the countrysides, who are sent by their parents to enter apprenticeships under master craftsmen listed by the guild, which provides some housing to said apprentices. The Guild also sets prices (in coin or in goods) clients must pay to the guildsmen they hire. The Guild does not offer lists of mercenaries or other warriors; it promotes trade and craftsmanship and leaves other organizations and establishments to advertise those who are better with a sword than a tool.

Robber-Barons and Robber-Knights

One of many terms for a noble or group of nobles who have resulted in organized crime or tolling travelers without permission from the King. Some were or continue to be nobles in the royal court of the countries who have ignored and broken laws for power and wealth, while others are mercenaries or criminals who have banded together and tyrannized the area. They often build small but strategic fortresses and towers near rivers or roads, which they can attack shipping from and mount raids on the countryside. Chanelce has a large number of these groups in its northeastern areas, as well as one in the heavily-wooded southwestern portions of the country and Nikeryv Forest. Cremaria is also home to some in its northern reaches, as is Vigarth on the border between it and Cremaria.

The Yellow Knights of the Candle

The Yellow Knights are a small, elite band of warriors organized and led by Sir Domalisc, who chiefly serve as first-assault combatants and law enforcers in Alvanenia, hunting down those who have made crimes against the lords and the land. Most serve as lawmen and advisers to the most prestigious lords of the three kingdoms when not in full battle dress and on the hunt. They can be distinguished by the vestments they wear over their armor (and this image is a widely feared one): a yellow flame on black cloth. In times of war, the Yellow Knights are often fielded as bodyguards for nobles whose lands are under attack.

The Joker's Guild

Laughter has never been so bloody except in the hands of a jester. Begone, butcher.
[/spoiler]

The Joker's Guild was once just a collaboration between court jesters in the Golden Years of Alvanenia, ordered by one king of territory to another. After the Chemsa Uprising of 2114, it became a band of highway robbers led by Duchess He'Romaer the Broken. Their trademark is a poem or song, usually consisting of a social commentary, left with the victims of an attack. The Joker's Guild comes as a heavy shock to the societies of the Three Kingdoms, as their methods and mannerisms are alien and borderline psychopathic. Though a noble with several significant relations in royal courts, the Duchess makes no effort to communicate directly with other leaders. The Joker's Guild exists in fairly large numbers along the roads of the Erkhenyaz-Trekcab-Albydec triangle, with raids having taken place as far north as Nyecka.

The Nightmare: The Garden's Edge[/size]

The wheel turns and the lines screech, churning out red and rot...

 Map of the Garden's Edge (http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/1298/nightmarealvaneniapl9.jpg)

On the other side of the mirror, what was known as Alvanenia becomes a twisted mockery on the edge of an endless wild known as the Sundown Garden. Here any semblance of safety is gone, although some "safe" havens do exist to be used - for the right price, or the fortunate. The land in the Garden's Edge becomes wild and random in some places, while in other places it and feels entirely normal except for an air that something is entirely wrong, or that one is being hunted.

[spoiler=1]

Death's Orchard

The trees here are a magnificent. Even in winter they are leafy green and give the impression that their trunks are solid as stone by all outward appearances. This extends to their fruit, which is always fresh and always hanging from their branches. One must wonder how they would grow so quickly and mightily in the middle of a bleak land. Perhaps it is the remains of the past seeds that riddle the ground that provide the sustenance - their red juices and pale and sickly, but sweet-looking flesh composts at the trees' bases, slowly being absorbed into the ground. Looking at the fresh fruit that grows still on the branches, it is clear that the torn, bloody fragments that grow there can be the only answer.

The Hills of Nod

Where a field should be sits an upland of sand,
Growing forever by chutes from the sky.
When you move you fall into the shifting land,
And your body wishes only to lie.
A struggle to stand leaves you at the top,
And over the hills you can see,
But soon you find you are not alone,
And asleep the others all be.
The night sky above is black and empty,
A fitting blanket for a place so cold,
Where you try to step you fall and fall,
And at once you feel so old.
But hope it seems has given you favor,
For a figure you see approaching.
Dressed in hood and cloak and with staff,
A light in darkness encroaching.
The figure stands on the hill across,
And soon you cry for your god,
For this figure is not your savior,
But a terror known only as Nod.

The Mirror Mounts

From a distance, one might think he were looking at a wall of the land he had already walked and the sky he had already looked at. However, as one draws closer he begins to see his reflection in the jagged terrain, and soon he is standing in the middle of a blindingly bright run of mountains whose glistening betrays any end to them there may be. Every grain of dust here reflects and glows in the sun, and it is accordingly as sharp as glass. Out of it grows plant life when by all reasoning it should be impossible, and animals whose own coats seem to have a hint of brilliance underneath them graze nearby.

The Inverted Forest

Somewhere on the edge of the Pernicious Plains the sky disappears under a hood of earth. For many minutes the walk finds this "cave" barren of anything, but then you find trees and bushes that hang from above you. At once the noises of the forest resume - the birds chirp, branches break, and the wind blows. The light is somewhere, but nowhere that makes sense; even light from the ground would not be wholly unreasonable, but it is not there. The "floor" of the forest begins to move from merely a few feet above your head to ten, then to what could be one-hundred, before it disappears above you in the shadows - and then, you hear branches somewhere above you rustle.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=2]

The Storm

Somewhere in the mountains you find yourself in a cloud. This cloud, known as The Storm, is darker and thicker than any you've ever seen, and at any time you are never able to see more than ten feet. Lightning cackles around you and the rain turns what should be hard, rocky slope into mud and slick stone. As you walk for days, The Storm slowly changes in its nature, and the lightning is no longer lightning but images of people and things that flash and disappear; likewise, the rain begins to appear like a meteor shower. As you head ever deeper the rocky land becomes incoherent and like shallow pools of water that are angled every which way, and your only option is to swim through the mountains.

Nightspire Valley

Once there was sun here, but one evening it went down never to return. From the highlands around it, the Valley rapidly descends into darkness, with pits and ravines that go ever deeper below the cliffs and terraces one may find as they descend. From the depths rise pillars of dark, jagged earth upon which sit lonely, menacing towers, castles, and unholy altars. Lights always shine from the windows of these places, which are difficult to reach - and difficult to leave. Rope and ladders hang from sections of the spires to provide access to caverns, lower levels of the Valley, or simply act as dead ends - and these can be mere feet or kilometers long. The deeper one goes the less "lonely" the land becomes, for things patrol the land with lanterns in hand, searching for something. Could it be you they're looking for?

The Sundown Garden

Here soft lights and cruel intent collide to form the world of the faeries. It seems that for every tree or wild hedge there is a ghostly light that dances of colors that often seem outside the rainbow's spectrum, and there are structures that grow from the ground as if they were the trees themselves. Everything here is oversized, from the mushrooms to the forest creatures to the fallen leaves of the trees. Every few kilometers, faeries dance in the moonlight by a fire, waiting for the foolish to join them so they can whisk them away to their hidden homes - forever.

[/spoiler]

Shadow Riders and Dunes of Madness - The East

This is not how we make war.

There are things more sacred than the material. This we know, because Zerem has said so. Even in the midst of battle, of prejudice, and censuring, there is etiquette to follow. These invaders, however, trade everything the world has taught them through its history, masking their cowardice with foolish tactics and underdeveloped strengths. Unlike them, we learn from our experiences, and know what boundaries we can push and where. We make war through calculation, excellence, and knowledge. We make it through understanding and focus. We make it through skill and power.

This is how we make war.
-Ishraam, Siiranian physician

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Posting resumed! /me rings the bell

Updates to the Necromancy subsection of the Magic post - our friend Mezerous explains a few things.

Another minor update, found beneath the main Magic post. Started developing details on specific regions of Alvanenia, as you can see under Chanelce in the Alvanenia post. I hope to have a draft of the 10L8I system soon.

Witchrot and Goblin added to the Monsters section, Goblin in the second post.

Alright, since I didn't see anything about not posting in this thread and all the reserved posts, I'll post here. If I'm blind and missed it, I'll PM a mod to delete my post and you have my apologies.

First it seems that the concept of duality or Good Vs Evil is quite present as you mentioned. The Alpha and Omega dragons are a pleasant variation of this.

The cosmology of Haveneast is really fleshed out, with many different layers. However it seems that these layers only go in one direction, from Normal (Haveneast) getting progressively darker and darker. Are there no better realms? Seems contradictory to the duality of the setting. The only thing I seen that could be constituted as *good* were the Lands of Light, but as they're Worlds of Madness, seems like *good* isn't the right word for them. Also it could be I'm just misinterpreting the word Light, which is classically used to denote Goodness.

Justahn seems like a very christ like figure to me, not sure if that was intentional or not.

Now is the beginning with The Book of Alhl universally accepted? Or just by the Justahnian faiths?

For the Aphorandus, how do they plan to hold the world at ransom? Also is there a point to their end gold? Aside form perhaps control of the world of unimaginable wealth?

The Proticava are nice, the demons not being good or evil but dual aspects is a good foil to Justaism.

The Angels Theater was a truly fitting part of The Nightmare I found. It seemed to just fit perfectly.

The distinction of Demon and Daemon adds a level of complexity to the Nightmare, but how do the Daemons fit into other religions? They seem to embody the Proticava version of Demons almost, but not that nice.

For the magic, finally somebody has both Demonology AND Angelology, it seems that if you study demons, no one studies angels, makes no sense. Nicely done. Paradigmancy seems fairly unique, sort of the ultimate embodiment of the mathematical and studious nature of the way magic is in Haveneast.

[blockquote=Llum]Alright, since I didn't see anything about not posting in this thread and all the reserved posts, I'll post here. If I'm blind and missed it, I'll PM a mod to delete my post and you have my apologies.
[/blockquote]

Posting here is fine, the posts I have reserved should be more room than I'll ever need. :D

QuoteFirst it seems that the concept of duality or Good Vs Evil is quite present as you mentioned. The Alpha and Omega dragons are a pleasant variation of this.

This is true, but it's important to know that in that battle, good is secretly losing.

 

QuoteThe cosmology of Haveneast is really fleshed out, with many different layers. However it seems that these layers only go in one direction, from Normal (Haveneast) getting progressively darker and darker. Are there no better realms? Seems contradictory to the duality of the setting. The only thing I seen that could be constituted as *good* were the Lands of Light, but as they're Worlds of Madness, seems like *good* isn't the right word for them. Also it could be I'm just misinterpreting the word Light, which is classically used to denote Goodness.

Haveneast is, ideally, the "light". It may be that there is something on the other end of the spectrum from The Nightmare (and indeed, there are cults I have yet to detail that believe in this), but The Nightmare and Haveneast, their duality and their constant battle for psychological ground, is the focus.

As for specific areas of "good", even the Nightmare possesses a few safe havens here and there, although they are small and vastly outnumbered by realms of evil, confusion, and madness. You're right in being unsure about the use of "light" in that area of the cosmology, as these twenty-four worlds are actually a sequence of realms that vary in the intensity of visibility - at one end, you have The Light, which is so bright that everything is painful to view and not a shadow is to be found, and at the other you have The Dark, which is so pitch black that the only thing you can see is what your eyes make you believe you're seeing.

 

QuoteJustahn seems like a very Christ like figure to me, not sure if that was intentional or not.

Definitely intentional. I wanted a very Christian religion with a few changes here and there. When I started developing Haveneast it actually didn't look like it could function without one. Its predecessor Vilydunn also has a similar religion.

 

QuoteNow is the beginning with The Book of Alhl universally accepted? Or just by the Justahnian faiths?

Mainly variants of Justaism and a few smaller Pagan forms of worship, though there are some Justaic faiths that don't adhere to it. It has a lot of elements that can come from either side, particularly with the angels - they've been around much longer than Justaism has.

 

QuoteFor the Aphorandus, how do they plan to hold the world at ransom? Also is there a point to their end gold? Aside form perhaps control of the world of unimaginable wealth?

They work on multiple levels, chipping away at the world. It's actually an organization designed based on what I imagined an Illuminati-type group to be in a pseudo-medieval world. The group is obviously run by someone (or something) whose intelligence and power are beyond most mortals. The goal of "rule by wealth" might be more appropriately be called a timocratic-plutocratic society, rule by the few, or what have you - elitism and racism gone bad. Maybe they could be likened to a sort of "Universal Nazi" cult, where the most intelligent, physically capable, influential people should rule and reproduce freely while all others are slaves to production and servitude. The Aphorandus will take the world by slowly undermining and eliminating any opponents that stand in their way, which will just as often be concepts, technologies, or social changes as they will be individual people.

Of course, the cult is small enough and subtle enough that no one really notices. Most people don't even know they exist.

 

QuoteThe Proticava are nice, the demons not being good or evil but dual aspects is a good foil to Justaism.

Yeah, I was hoping they would work out well in that regard. I think I was reading up on some Greek mythology, or maybe something older, or the origin of the word Demon/Daemon when I started writing the Proticava up.

 

QuoteThe Angels Theater was a truly fitting part of The Nightmare I found. It seemed to just fit perfectly.

Indeed. Definitely one of the more important locales on The Nightmare's side of the curtain.

 

QuoteThe distinction of Demon and Daemon adds a level of complexity to the Nightmare, but how do the Daemons fit into other religions? They seem to embody the Proticava version of Demons almost, but not that nice.

Generally they are given different terms and/or different origin stories, but the concept of a fallen angel is not Justaism-specific so other religions (specifically major pagan worship) does follow more-or-less the same story.

QuoteFor the magic, finally somebody has both Demonology AND Angelology, it seems that if you study demons, no one studies angels, makes no sense. Nicely done. Paradigmancy seems fairly unique, sort of the ultimate embodiment of the mathematical and studious nature of the way magic is in Haveneast.

I never could understand that either. Paradigmancy is one of the "Big Three" of the magical forms, with good reason - it's damn powerful. It's dangerous to meet anyone who wields it.

Thanks for your post. :D

Finally added the Nightmare Myrenia map to the first post - now you can see the entire continent's Nightmare reflection.

QuoteFor the magic, finally somebody has both Demonology AND Angelology, it seems that if you study demons, no one studies angels, makes no sense.

I think that's an interesting point and potentially a very valid one, but perhaps I can supply some possible reasons why the tendency lies towards Demonology rather than Angelology as I see it...

(1) Demons/Angels usually riff off a vaguely Christian pseudo-dualism; (2) In that theology, being concerned with earthly power or physical power - most forms of "magic" - is usually (not always, or not in all of the theology's myriad forms) considered sinful.  There is no such thing as a "holy sorcerer" because such an individual should concern themselves entirely with the spiritual, the next life, rather than with affecting the physical world around them.  Doing so betrays a fixation on selfish physical appetite and hunger for power - its hubristic, its "cheating."  Therefore, demons are much more likely to supply a magic-user with power than an angel, because they're the corrupt ones who want to use the physical realm to tempt/enslave mortals.

I'm not saying that whole system is always present in fantasy worlds or whatnot; I'm just saying that its kind of there in the background, that whole Faust idea and that whole system of redemption/damnation and physical/spiritual, whenever there are demons running around.  I know that Angelology has its real-world adherents, but I think it looms less visibly in the collective imagination, partly because (3) Demons are more fun and interesting most of the time because everyone likes monsters - its usually more fun to describe demons than angels (not always... see Knife's Edge, Dystopia, and this very setting).

Quote from: Steerpike

QuoteFor the magic, finally somebody has both Demonology AND Angelology, it seems that if you study demons, no one studies angels, makes no sense.

I think that's an interesting point and potentially a very valid one, but perhaps I can supply some possible reasons why the tendency lies towards Demonology rather than Angelology as I see it...

(1) Demons/Angels usually riff off a vaguely Christian pseudo-dualism; (2) In that theology, being concerned with earthly power or physical power - most forms of "magic" - is usually (not always, or not in all of the theology's myriad forms) considered sinful.  There is no such thing as a "holy sorcerer" because such an individual should concern themselves entirely with the spiritual, the next life, rather than with affecting the physical world around them.  Doing so betrays a fixation on selfish physical appetite and hunger for power - its hubristic, its "cheating."  Therefore, demons are much more likely to supply a magic-user with power than an angel, because they're the corrupt ones who want to use the physical realm to tempt/enslave mortals.

I'm not saying that whole system is always present in fantasy worlds or whatnot; I'm just saying that its kind of there in the background, that whole Faust idea and that whole system of redemption/damnation and physical/spiritual, whenever there are demons running around.  I know that Angelology has its real-world adherents, but I think it looms less visibly in the collective imagination, partly because (3) Demons are more fun and interesting most of the time because everyone likes monsters - its usually more fun to describe demons than angels (not always... see Knife's Edge, Dystopia, and this very setting).

A valid point, and that's part of the beauty of Haveneast's Angelology - even though it's "holy" magic a lot of religious sects view it as just as impure and evil as raising the dead.

Reboot coming soon. There'll probably be a new, altered map and some drastic modifications to different factions and creatures - and a lot more new creatures, too.

I can't believe it's been over two years since I worked on this.