Worldbuilding (canon)
World lore approved by or written by the DM.

Kingdom of Eusia

Geography
The kingdom of Eusia is situated in the temperate zones of the Continent of Eusia. It's area is roughly 300 miles north to south and 150 miles east to west (which is coast to coast.)
It's northern border extends to the wild edge of the conifer forests that stretch across this portion of the continent. The area beyond the border is poorly mapped and even more poorly understood by the folk of the kingdom. There are only rumors about who or what may live within and beyond it's reaches. (See Wild North Hexcrawl for an adventure in this region.)
It's southern border extends to the untamed desert. It is a region resembling the American south-west, with rocky red earth, scrubland, mesas, as well as mountainous areas. It is home to many tribes, all of which resist the Kingdom's attempts at trade, settlement, and negotiation. Deep within the desert is a single settlement which finds itself allied with the Kingdom, and only through their ingenuity have they survived on their own in such hostile territory for so long (See Land of Enchantment Adventure for an adventure in this region.)
It's western border meets the Western Ocean and is riddled with steep cliffs. These are difficult waters to navigate, and there are no places to build large ports. As such, trade along the west coast still travels by ox-cart, and forays into the water are reserved for agile vessels which can maneuver away from and back to the treacherous shore.
It's eastern border meets the Eastern Ocean and is far more pleasant than it's western counterpart. Natural harbors, sandy beaches, and reliable climate mean that ocean faring trade is commonplace. There are several islands which can be reached from this coast, none of which technically belong to the Kingdom, though many are reliant on trade from it.
At the center of the kingdom is the capital city of Eusaria from which the King rules. Politically, it is it's own Duchy, though it's territory extends only perhaps 5 miles from the city's walls. Nevertheless, it is the seat of power for the whole kingdom, and a merciless political machine.

Politics
The Kingdom is currently ruled by King Alden XVI with his wife, Queen Catherine Valis beside him. It is a place of historic peace, though the rising tension of economic imbalance and political strife are becoming more common. Things are quietly falling apart, though the king has spared the central provinces at the expense of letting the northern border territories suffer.
Currently, the Kingdom is divided into 7 Duchies:
The City of  Eusaria, ruled by King Alden XVI
Duchy of Ironwood, ruled by Duke Cedric Blackwood
Duchy of Broadwater, ruled by Duchess Beatrice Marrow
Duchy of Vermillion, ruled by Duke Ignis Vael-Khor
Duchy of Marvane, ruled by Duke Alistair Sterling
Duchy of Summervale, ruled by Duke Julian Thorne
Duchy of Greycliff, ruled by Duke Cassian Blackwood

Eusaria (Capital city)
Eusaria is the capital of the Kingdom of Eusia. It is the Duchal seat of the King, King Alden XVI. It is the largest city in the region by far, and acts as the beating heart of the society of Eusia.

Duchy of Vermillion
This is a duchy within the Kingdom of Eusia. It is lead by Duke Ignis Vael-Khor. It is the largest duchy by area, and is situated to in the west. It's northeastern corner borders the capital, and it's land stretched from this midland all the way to the western sea. It's norther border is mostly shared with the Duchy of Marvane, though there is a small portion on the northern tip which borders the Duchy of Greycliff. To it's east is the Duchy of Summervale with which it shares a strong alliance. It's southern border is a great desert, who's tribes resist all attempts at trade, diplomacy, and conquest.
The Duchy of Vermillion is powerful and militaristic, plying a roaring trade of worked metal goods and mercenaries. The ruling family are Dragonborn, a change which occurred less than a century ago. The majority human populace, ever pressed into military service, have a convenient scapegoat in this family, and rebellion is never far from breaking out. It has rich mineral deposits and skilled smiths.
Exports: Weapons and Armor, The Iron Legions, Copper and Tin
Imports: Warhorses, Grain
The Ducal capital is Obsidian Gate, named for it's massive black-stone walls.

Duchy of Summervale
This Duchy in one of several which comprise the Kingdom of Eusia. It is lead by Duke Julian Thorne. It is a medium-sized duchy in the south-east of the Kingdom, who's southern border meets with the desert and eastern border meets the Eastern Ocean. To the north, it shares a border with the Duchy of Broadwater and slightly west of that, the Capital City. It's western border is shared with the Duchy of Vermillion, with whom they share an alliance.
Sprawling tracts of great farmland, beautiful ocean scenes on it's east coast, warm and agreeable climate. Summervale is the breadbasket of the Kingdom, and it's highly desireable realestate. If not for their strong alliance with house Kaelthor, they may well have been absorbed into the other Duchy ages ago. The alliance has been strained by the recent switch of rulership in their neighbour's court, but Summervale can't afford to break ties with Kaelthor, regardless of their ruler.
Exports: Grain (Wheat and Barley), Ale and Wine, Livestock (Cattle, Sheep, Horses)
Imports: Tools, Stone
The Ducal capital is Sol-Astra and it's frankly delightful.

Duchy of Marvane
This Duchy in one of several which comprise the Kingdom of Eusia. It is lead by Duke Alistair Sterling. It is a small duchy located centrally, just north of the capital. It's land is riddled with rivers and lakes. It shares a border with the Duchy of Greycliff to the northwest, the Duchy of Broadwater to the east, the Capital City on it's southern most point (which is heavily invested into as a waterway and highway), and finally the Duchy of Vermillion lays beyond it's southwestern border.
Exports: Silver, Fine Linens, Luxury Crafts
Imports: Lumber and Iron, Guards
The Duchal capital is Silvershore, which rests on the banks of an artificial lake make on the river which leads to Eusaria.

Duchy of Ironwood
This Duchy in one of several which comprise the Kingdom of Eusia. It is lead by Duke Cedric Blackwood. It is a small duchy in the far north of the kingdom. It borders wild country on it's north, Duchy Greycliff to it's west, Duchy Broadwater to it's south, and the Eastern ocean to it's east. The Duke holds little sway in the grander politics of the kingdom. Despite being poorly represented in the King’s council, they are taxed quite heavily. The Wild North is seen by the king as rich and ripe for the harvest, but in reality it is too dangerous to reliably produce wealth from.
Exports: Iron ore, Charcoal, Lumber
Imports: Grain and Food, Mercenaries and Steel
The Duchal capital, Tollgate, is found in the County of Verstrad.
Counties:
County of Timberfells
County of Verstrad
County of Mistshroud
Map:

Duchy of Greycliff
This Duchy in one of several which comprise the Kingdom of Eusia. It is lead by Duke Cassian Blackwood. This duchy rests in the north of the Kingdom, it's western border is what gives it it's name; relentless, brooding cliffs overlooking the violent waters of the Western Ocean. It's north border meets the Wild North, much the same as their eastern neighbour, the Duchy of Ironwood. Though most of the southeastern border is shared with the Duchy of Marvane, there are small portions in the east and south shared with Broadwater and Vermillion, respectively.
The rainy lands, riddled with ancient ruins brimming with magic to be exploited and exported. Sometimes the rain is cursed, but the proliferation of abjuration mages from the college on the coast keeps the supply lines running and the gold flowing. Folks from Greycliff have a reputation for being odd, but their tenacity is respectable.
Exports: Magical Artifacts, Alchemical reagents, Goats cheese and Sheep wool, Cold-Weather crops
Imports: Salt, Processed flour, Tools, Woven cloth
The Duchal capital is Stormwatch, built atop great cliffs looking over the choppy western ocean.
Counties:
County of Sunbarrow
County of Highmount
County of Miskaton
Map:

Duchy of Broadwater
This Duchy in one of several which comprise the [[Kingdom of Eusia]]. It is lead by [[Duchess Beatrice Marrow]]. It is a moderately sized duchy located on the east coast of the kingdom. It's southwest corner borders the Capital City.
Finding itself on a broad coast with plenty of natural harbors and calm seas, it is a hub of economic activity, as well as the home of the Kingdom's fledgling navy.
Exports: Processed Wool, Salt, Salted Fish Imports: Wine, Spices, Exotic Goods
The Duchal capital is [[Meridia]], a city dominated by it's harbor district and trade offices.
It's three counties are: [[County of Seaworth]], where Meridia is located. [[County of Ravenscrag]], the northern reaches with inhospitible hills and frequent wars with Ironwood's baronies. [[County of Larkvale]], the southern county that borders both Eusaira and the Duchy of Summervale.

County of Highmount
A county in located in the north of the Duchy of Greycliff. It's the largest county, but it's terrain is poor for farming. It is very rugged country with a cluster of tall mountains in their center. The poor land and remoteness means that there is only one town, Hanweir. Those who live in the hills fend largely for themselves and do not care for outsiders.

Maps of the Kingdom and area
Kingdom of Eusia Draft
Each hex is 8 miles from one side to another (or center to center). This image is stitched together from several maps of varying age, and so may have some discrepancies.
 
First Draft of Large Scale

Northern parts of the continent
Regions to the north of the Kingdom of Eusia

Stormcrown Mountains
Located north of the great forests of the Wild North, the Stormcrown Mountains are an imposing physical boundary between the warm lands of the south and the open tundra of the north. They are known to be a place of mystery and increased magical activity.
This mountain range is a formidable obstacle to any traveler due to the lack of safe passes most of the year. There is a small window in high summer where the conditions become reasonably safe for prepared parties to move between north and south or vice-versa. In any conditions, straying from the path will find you in shifting glaciers, unpredictable avalanche conditions, extremely high winds, vicious snow storms, and the ever present brutal cold.
Found within the range is Skallheim Hall, a fabled place of Thor worship which is known of by the populace of the northern Kingdom of Eusia.

Frostmarch Pass
Frostmarch Pass is one of the few reliable passes through the Stormcrown Mountains. It is used by merchants travelling between the Wild North and the Tundra. It has a reputation for being deceptively calm, only to trap travelers in surprise blizzards, whiteouts, avalanches, and the rare yet terrifying lightning snowstorm.

Cosmic Mire
Located within the southern reaches of the Stormcrown Mountains, this is a holy place for the Circle of the Hrímspegill. The druids come here to stargaze and study the nature of the cosmos, and it acts for them like a temple.
Located behind a glacier which has ground the down the earth in its wake, the great ice flow has left this place behind. For a time, a lake sat between the mountains and the face of the ice, but the forward march of the glacier has since released the water, allowing many pools to form and freeze in the naturally levelled ground. Surrounded on all sides by mountains (except for the glacier to the south), the Cosmic Mire is remote and pristine. Winds sweep through this place constantly, keeping the snow pristine and erasing all trace of those who come to reflect and meditate by gazing into the mirror-like ice sheets that dot the place.

The Wild North
This region of untamed wilderness exists in northern hemisphere of the Continent of Eusia. It is the primary setting for Wild North Hexcrawl. It refers to the unclaimed pine forests to the north of the kingdom of Eusia all the way to the base of the Stormcrown Mountains. Despite this, common parlance in the kingdom is that everything beyond the northern borders of  Duchy of Ironwood and Duchy of Greycliff is 'The Wild North.'

Organizations

Dalaichin Nomads
These former Drow elves live on the Eastern Ocean and Western Ocean upon great Crystal Ships. Their society is ocean-faring, and they have no known land-based settlements. As a result of their unique history, they cannot cast spells in the traditional sense. Instead, they have adapted a great number of different techniques to accomplish many of the same feats without the use of spellcasting.
They are known to the people of the mainland as secular and insular traders who never shy away from a good bargain. If luxurious and exotic wares are what you desire, wait in a port for the Dalaichin Nomads to arrive.
Within their own society, there is a healthy culture of sharing the wealth. When someone on the ship nets a generous profit, all aboard are likely to see a portion of the benefit. That being said, private property is a healthy concept, and Dalaichin elves are fond of displaying unique and exotic clothing and accessories to showcase their shrewd trading skills. 
Each ship is organized such that there is a ruling council that decides together how to best spend the public wealth. The three masters are:
The Master of Harvest sees to incoming supplies and their rightful distribution among the population, usually through purchasing goods in ports and supplementing them with the bounty of the sea. They are focused on the health of the people, but also on the health of the ship. They see to repairs and maintenance, as well as to the tertiary vessels that the ship keeps. Superstition says that it is bad luck for a Harvest Master to set foot on dry land, as that is when the ship will call for their attention.
The Master of Wealth attends to the raw profit brought in by the purchase and sale of trade goods. It is this master's responsibility to learn of the markets in as much of the world as can be reached by the ship. Because of this, they will often cultivate a healthy network of eyes and ears on the mainland to learn what to purchase and what to sell in each port. This also lends them to the secondary role of spymaster, ensuring that the interests and reputation of their ship, as well as Dalaichin Nomads as a whole, are well represented. They will also sometimes dispatch agents as spies or diplomats to smooth over tensions which would disrupt trade and interrupt the flow of profit.
The Master of Crystals is in charge of all magic aboard the ship. Dalaichin elves are unable to cast spells themselves, meaning that scrolls, potions, wands, staves, rods, and all other magical items are especially precious to them. This master also attempts to cultivate Mana crystals, though it is rare that they will succeed in creating a seed that bears a meaningful yield. They ration out the stockpile of Mana crystals that they acquire from their trips back to the Mother Ship, ensuring that the fuel needs of the ship are met without running dry.
Counter to this council is an executive branch comprised of the Waveseeker, or navigator, and Wheelmistress, or captain. Traditionally both roles are reserved for women, a holdover from the older Drow culture. They work to make a plan of movement and action for the ship as a single entity. Though the Council is in charge of material and as such have a tremendous amount of sway, the Wheelmistress can veto any decision on the ship, and her word is law.
Not all Dalaichin Nomads bind themselves to the great ships, however. Some find work as couriers on their own vessels, then end up working exclusively with outsiders. Sometimes that work even takes place on land. Sometimes, an agent of a Harvest Master finds a place to their liking and bids farewell to their shipmates. Additionally, the long life of an elf gives lots of time to master many skills, and those who wish to ply their trade without the prying of other Dalaichin may take to the mainland to do so. Those who leave their ships are not outright banished, but it can be difficult for a 'land-tainted' Dalaichin to regain the comradeship of their shipmates if they come back.

Logger’s Guild
The Logger's Guild is a bandit group operating in the Duchy of Ironwood. Most members of this group were formerly employed by the Duchy for the purpose of harvesting lumber for export or the manufacture of charcoal near Tollgate. They are an organized and ruthless bandit gang.
History
It was a welcome financial break for the people of Ironwood when the Duke declared that the forests of the region could be felled for profit, as royal support to the duchy had been fading for years. There were heaps of money to be made, and a Guild of Loggers was established to help train and equip the growing workforce. The loggers enjoyed a brief few years of prosperity, but it was not to last; they were harvesting the forests far too eagerly.
When the woods dried up, the Duke attempted to steer the workers northward. Most agreed at first, but the dangerous, monster infested [[Wild North]] was too rough for ordinary citizens. The profits of the logging barely made ends meet for the duchy, and so hiring extra security was not considered, despite protests.
The workers demanded the Duke either protect them or continue to pay their wages while they found other work. When their demands went unanswered, they gathered outside of his castle in Tollgate. Lead by [[Edwin Lignator]], they thought they would be met with fierce debate and harsh compromise. Instead, they were met with brutal backlash; the guard (mostly Iron Legionnaires) descended on the gathered crowd and began dispersing, then arresting, then beating them. The protest became a battle, but the gathered loggers were no match for the professional soldiers.
On official records, it is known as the Logger's Uprising. To those sympathetic to the Logger's Guild, it is known as the Tollgate Massacre. Many innocent lives were lost that day, and it marked a watershed moment in the Duke's reign.
[[Vanessa Lignator]], daughter of the Guild Leader has been working with the loggers to make ends meet on the fringes of the law; smuggling and low-level banditry for the most part. Recently, their efforts have increased in terms of both ambition and danger to the public.

The Company
The Company is an organized crime syndicate operating out of [[Eusaria]]. They aim to expand their influence through any means necessary, and have their fingers in many pies. One particularily profitable venture is acting as a nexus of criminal organizations across the kingdom. If a group of criminals needs funds to purchase weapons, or buy off a politician, or anything else, The Company will bankroll them in exchange for a tithe of their earnings. Their interest rates are very high, and those who do not pay their due are known to meet brutal ends.

The Still Chain
An activist cult of the god [[Helm]] who seeks to destroy those who bring destruction. They do not view this as a contradiction, as their God has given them the right to prosecute this unending war.
Recently, they have focused their efforts on [[Ex Mortia/Gods and Greater Powers/Good/Thor]]ist worship, dismantling storm shrine, attacking Open Halls of Thunder, and imprisoning clerics and paladins of [[Ex Mortia/Gods and Greater Powers/Good/Thor]] until they repent their destructive ways. They also work within political spheres to outlaw religious practice that they do not approve of.

History and lore

Origins of the Dalaichin Nomads
Originally, they were like any other Drow from the Deep Dark. Centuries ago, they were cursed by Lloth, losing all access to the power of magic. Seen as heretics, their Lloth-favoured cousins chased them out. Finding themselves in a harsh tundra, a surface world which saw them with an equal unkindness as their former brethren, and without the aid of magic, they set about making their way in this new world. They were led by 3 sisters: Sejanus, Garviel, and Tarvitz.
Each inhabited place they came to saw them as enemies, and without magic to speak a common tongue, they were unable to make more than passing attempts at diplomacy. In those dark early days, they were night raiders on the small gatherings of Human and Orc wildlings which make their home in the north. It was not until a bold (or foolish) attempted raid on a Dwarven hold that their fortunes turned.
The Dwarves of Kharad Norn kept watch over the tunnels that led to their home from below, but they almost always expected attacks from the surface. After yet another failed Orcish raid, they sang to victory in their mead hall. When the alarm was raised yet again, it was with surprise that they encountered a poorly armed, near-starving group of Drow. Being on the border of the Deep Dark, they spoke Deep Common. Despite the cultural enmity of their people, Tarvitz was desperate enough to beg mercy and aid, and the Dwarves, both recently cheered by victory and sensing opportunity (the enemy of my enemy), provided.
In the next months, the Nornish Dwarves and the Outcast Drow pooled their knowledge, seeing mutual benefit. The Drow taught the Dwarves about the Deeper Dark and how to plumb its resources safely. The Dwarves taught the Drow of Runic Magic. Sejanus was particularly keen on this new magic. Effectively alchemy, but with a solid product rather than a liquid, it allowed the Drow to create minor magical items. The Dwarves also let the Drow make use of their forges, and their proficiency in metalwork expanded. Garviel set to work creating hunting tools such that she and the others would be able to provide for themselves.
When the time came for the Drow to depart, they did so as friends. This cemented a part of the identity of this fledgling culture, differentiating them from their Deep Dark cousins: a willingness to earnestly and honestly cooperate with others. They also learned a version of the common tongue to better work with those they would find on this surface world.
The Drow struck out into the cold north in Spring, hoping to use their new tools to make a better home. The sunlight still stung their eyes, but they kept looking. More and more, they were fashioning new tools, clothes, and equipment from the animals they hunted and the places they camped. Still, most others did not trust them, so they did not move toward the Kingdom of Eusia to the south. Instead, they moved from place to place, following an Auroch herd and taking kills from it whenever they could manage.
One hunting day in the autumn of the same year saw an immense opportunity. With the crush of winter threatening any day now, the Exiles sought to take as many aurochs as they could. The opportunity was a simple one: a glacier with a massive cleft. If they could force a portion of the herd over the edge, they could trap them, harvesting those who died in the fall and potentially capturing any who survived.
As they lay in wait to spring their ambush, they felt the glacier shift slightly. Concerned but unable to notice any difference, they proceeded to enact their plan. Rune Magic clappers and spark throwers startled the aurochs in the right direction, when suddenly the glacier burst open, a huge ice elemental standing menacingly between the Drow and the herd. For a tense moment, they waited for it to attack, but no assault came.
Unwilling to charge the huge elemental and risk any of their meagre number, the Drow watched achingly as their quarry slipped away. The elemental spoke to them, saying that they had already taken enough from this herd. Garviel proclaimed that without the aid of meat, bone, and hide from these beasts, her people would not survive the winter. The elemental agreed; without aid, they would perish, and then simply vanished.
Dismayed, the hunters returned to camp, prepared to share news of their impending doom. Instead, they found the fire stoked higher than ever, a roaring bonfire, around which human shamans danced. Fire elementals danced in the flame, air elementals ran through the trees, water elementals melted snow into clean water, and earth elementals formed sturdy, low huts around the fire.
Tarik explained to the hunters that these shamans had seen them depart toward the herd, and knew from the fashioned equipment that these Drow had respect for the nature they were living in. He went further, saying how these shamans had agreed to teach the Drow how to survive the winter by working with the elements if they agreed to leave the beasts of the land alone. Seeing no other way forward, Garviel agreed. Sejanus was easy to sway, as working with elementals meant new ways to interact with the magic she so desperately missed.
By the end of the winter, the Drow had learned much about the elementals of the land and came to form close ties with the shamans. It was the head Shaman Falkus who, in passing, gave a new name to these Drow. He had remarked how easily they sailed through this harsh winter, but in his people's private tongue. The word he had called them, Dalaichin, stuck.
The following winter, Garviel's son, Loken, dishonoured his mother. Finding himself old enough now to provide for the Nomads, he sought to procure a rare treat for them all: meat. He struck down an auroch with his javelins and spear, and hauled the beast back on his own, no small task. At the sight of the slain beast, the three sisters knew that the elementals of this land would not heed their call any longer, for the accord had been broken. Loken did not apologize, and instead proclaimed that this way of living on the surface was not possible. Lloth had damned them, and they would all surely perish.
Knowing that they would not survive in this land without elemental aid, too far from the dwarf hold to ask for refuge, and knowing that the south would not accept them, the brothers moved their people to the only place they could: the coast. With the accord already broken, they took as many large animals' lives as they could, fashioning what they needed from their bodies. By the time they reached the ocean, the crafty Nomads had what they needed to get started.
A great Runic ritual was constructed. Without any magical ability among them, it was all based on alchemy and runic magic. To power it, they would have to make a sacrifice of great magnitude. Though Garviel protested dearly, her sisters took their nephew into the ritual, and pleading with the elemental spirits, they sacrificed him. His blood bound a great water elemental and several earth elementals. Together, they formed a tightly knit fleet of vessels wrought of living stone barely large enough to hold all the elves. In her grief, Garviel could not join them, and the last of her that any Dalaichin saw was on that black sand beach in freezing winter holding the still warm body of her boy.
That winter was immensely difficult. On a frozen sea with little cover from the elements, they hunted seals, whales, and fish. Little by little, they expanded their vessels, adding structure and facilities. As if the salt and ice of the sea came together with elemental magic, the stone vessels began to change from stone to crystal.
By the time summer had arrived, life was a little easier. Sejanus tended to the runic devices, carving new runes when needed and iterating on them little by little. Tarvitz coaxed the earth elemental into transmuting animal parts into paltry quantities of metal, which she was eventually able to make into tools. Little by little, piece by piece, the first ship of the Dalaichin Nomads took shape.
Years later, the vessel was no longer made of stone, but of metal and crystal. The buildings upon it were small but efficient, and a proper economy of food, clothes, weapons, tools and the like had formed. Smaller boats were common, and it was common for the Dalaichin to venture forth into the ocean in search of goods to bring back to the ship. With their exotic goods, they often found good trade with Human vessels when they happened upon them. The Humans, for their part, found it difficult to believe that a Drow in furs on a boat in the ocean could be a spy from the Deep Dark, and so were more trusting.
The troubles were not over, however. The water elemental they had bound had demanded a price for its continued service: fresh sacrifices. At first, it was a single soul on the anniversary of Loken's death. Then a soul at each solstice. And then also the equinox. Then it was two each time. The elemental's hunger grew and grew, but without its power, the ship would plummet into the ocean, and they would all perish.
After years of this terrible bargain, Sejanus made a breakthrough. Perhaps because they were so far away from any other people, and none amongst them were using the magic in the area to cast spells, the place around their ship was always engorged with mana. Using runic magic, as well as a prototype cobbled together by Tarvitz, she was able to capture mana from the very air and condense it into a tiny crystal. The crystal grew as mana agglutinated to it. It would prove to be revolutionary for Dalaichin culture.
The crystals grew fast enough to appease the elemental's hunger and accumulate a small supply of the valuable resource. Eventually, Sejanus found a way to summon a new elemental using only the crystals, and the Devourer was sent back to the plane of Water, full of the energy of a hundred souls.
It is from there that the story goes. After centuries of expansion, the original vessel remains in the North Ocean, home to Five thousand elves. This Mother Ship serves as the base for all the other Crystal Ships, of which there are 3 known to the world, each holding one thousand souls. They still fish and hunt, but their days of survival by the skin of their teeth are behind them. Shrewd in the ways of Runic Magic, Elemental bargaining, and the art of crafting, they sell their wares and make a good profit doing so.

Minotaur
Minotaurs are a rare humanoid race found in the [[Kingdom of Eusia]]. Legend holds that they once rules over the whole continent and built great maze-like cities, maximizing the potential of any given space (and acting as a natural defense against would be invaders.) They have an issue of breeding: when a Minotaur breeds with a non-Minotaur, only 1 in 1000 of the children are born as Minotaur. A non-Minotaur with Minotaur heredity cannot sire a Minotaur unless they breed with a Minotaur, which runs into the same 1 in 1000 problem. To compound the issue, Minotaurs breeding with other Minotaurs face incredible difficulty in conceiving. At the height of the ancient civilization, this meant that every new baby was a prize, but careful management meant stability and slow growth. These days, the race hangs on by a thread.

Zodiac Signs
The stars are said to play a great role in the outcome of people's lives, especially those stars most tied to them. At the moment of birth, a person's Sign is determined by the most notable celestial event occurring at the moment. If there is no single, clear event, the most visible unique star defines their Sign. If there is still uncertainty about what Sign is indicated, a priest of [[Ex Mortia/Gods and Greater Powers/Neutral/Orikan]] will be called to make an interpretation.
At times where no single sign is dominant, it is sometimes said that a person is in possession of a "negative sign." They are seen as the inverse of the previously dominant sign. This is seen as a fell omen, and more than one unlucky child has been the victim of superstition-fueled bullying as a result of this rare occurrence.
Signs are named after their most prominent star, not necessarily their brightest.
Drakon, The Dragon
This constellation is a long chain of stars that is said to take the form of a twisting serpent by some, while others proclaim it to be the long neck and tail of a dragon. During times of conflict, war, or great change, the space between and around these stars glows red, the intensity of the glow dictated by the intensity of the event which spurred it. Some say that it is not the event spurring "the dragon's flame" but instead the flame which spurs the event.
Those born under the Sign of Drakon are said to be ambitious, determined, proud, and driven to leave their mark upon the world. They rarely settle for mediocrity and possess an intense inner fire.
Wandelin, The Roaming Star
Those untrained in the ways of the heavens will often mistake this group of stars as being slow comets or a fast moving planet with many moons. However, close study, especially with a telescope, show that this constellation is indeed a group of stars which appear to move across the sky as a unit. Their shape is often seen as a chariot without a horse or a rider, though other interpretations say that the constellation takes the form of a crawling child. It is not uncommon for this sign to vanish from the sky for weeks before reappearing in another place, seemingly at random. It is also believed that when Wandelin disappears from the sky in one region of the world, it appears in another region's sky.
It is hard to make an exact correlation between the appearance of this constellation and worldly events, but some interpretations claim that Wendelin appears when possibilities abound, times where small choices may have big consequences. Others claim that the start of great journeys brings about Wendelin.
Those born under the Sign of Wandelin are said to be carefree, adventurous, spontaneous, and impulsive. They chase new experiences, dislike routine, and often trust instinct over careful planning.
Gemel, The Twin Star
Gemel is unique in that the constellation is comprised of only two stars. Most of the time, they are so close to each other so as to be indistinguishable from a single star. However, in the time leading up to a powerful connection being formed, the twin stars will move apart from each other, and their individual sheen will grow; one blue, one red. It is said that when the connection occurs, Gemel comes back together at great speed, glowing brightly in the sky with both red and blue auras. These connections can be romantic, diplomatic, or sometimes even conspiratorial.
Those born under the Sign of Gemel are said to be adaptable and multifaceted. They form relationships of great strength quickly, both as friends and as rivals. Those with the twin sign are also oft said to have a soul mate also born under the sign, and that destiny will bring the two together.
Aclo, The Dark Star
Aclo is most often a wide constellation that takes the shape of a forest filling a large portion of the sky with loose columns of stars. It is in desperate times that Aclo becomes active, such as deep winter with little food, or when a beloved ruler fights an illness. These times of waiting where tenacity and patience become necessary bring out the dominant form of The Dark Star, usually starting at it's base. One by one, the stars will dim until they are not visible, and that dimness will spread. In time, if Aclo fully rises, the whole constellation becomes a void in the sky, with no stars or planets shining in it's influence. When the moon passes over a fully dominant Aclo, it becomes faint and dim, visible but not shining.
Some scholars portent that a dominant Aclo precedes a dominant Drakon, though there is hardly a fixed correlation.
Those born under the Sign of Aclo are said to be calm, disciplined, introspective, and reserved. They are patient observers, often carrying a brooding demeanor while possessing remarkable self-control.
Solis, The Dawn Star
Solis is a grand constellation who's shape is said to be a regal lion or perhaps a looming cyclops. It's most prominent star is also it's brightest, taking it's place as the crown of the lion's mane or the eye of the cyclops. Said to be a companion of the Sun, Solis is known to shine brightly in times where a beacon of guidance is needed, whether literally for navigation or spiritually. Solis is a guardian, and it's dominance often accompanies an individual or small group's journey. When this constellation is dominant, the night sky grows bright. It is not just the intensity of Solis, but the whole of the heavens grows, allowing previously dim stars to shine brightly, making the whole of the night sky into a colorful veil of light. At those times, even the deepest night is dimly lit rather than fully dark.
Those born under the Sign of Solis are said to be energetic, compassionate, optimistic, and deeply empathetic. They naturally inspire others and often place the needs of others before their own.
Nurkle, The Stagnant Star
A small constellation that takes the form of a ship's wheel or perhaps a weathered stone, Nurkle behaves oddly in that it does not move. The heavens wheel around this circular shape, and some say it is the origin of all stars. Nurkle becomes dominant when traditions take root and ways of being resist change. When the Wheel is dominant, each of it's 9 stars glow brightly in sequence, flowing in a counter-clockwise pattern over the course of a night.
Those born under the Sign of Nurkle are said to be resolute, steadfast, and dependable, but often stubborn. Once they have chosen a path, changing their minds is nearly impossible.
Arcanis, The Arcane Star
The constellation Arcanis is difficult to assign with a shape, as it's stars are known to move about within the sphere of influence of the primary star. Each star in the constellation, which some have attempted to correlate to the wind or waves, shines in different colours as it moves around the center, becoming violet, magenta, and blue in their travels. It has long been understood that Arcanis is involved with the raw stuff of magic, and becomes dominant when great magical works are underway. When the constellation becomes dominant, it's stars move more quickly than ever, and glow with such an intensity that it may appear that the Aurora Borealis is forming around them. There is a special occurrence, known as the Mage's Moon, where the full moon passes in front of a dominant Arcanis, giving the moon a regal crown of dyer colours. The greatest magical works of all time have been said to occur under a Mage's Moon, though it is sometimes generations between occurrences.
Those born under the Sign of Arcanis are said to be curious, imaginative, intelligent, and naturally drawn toward magic and mystery. Their minds constantly seek knowledge beyond the ordinary.
Noxis, The Fractured Star
Noxis is known as the Fractured Star because of it's appearance when dominant. While dormant, it is simply a cluster of stars that shine in a pale white light. When dominant, the pale light reaches to the others in the constellation, forming jagged lines in the sky that look very much like cracks. It is a dire sign, as Noxis seems to rise when great destruction and undoing abounds. When war results in the failing of both the attacker and defender and none claim victory, Noxis rises. When those braving a great and terrible hardship crack and relent to the pressure, Noxis rises. Noxis is the failure of bravery and the beginning of hard times which do not promise a set end.
Those born under the Sign of Noxis are said to be resilient, unconventional, and quietly enduring, perhaps because they have to be. They often carry emotional scars yet find strength through hardship, seeing beauty where others see only ruin.

Gods, Deities, and Greater Powers
All who are feared, revered, and worshipped by the people of Eusia

Tiamat
Tiamat was the Evil God of Chromatic Dragons. Her portfolio included Conquest, Trickery, and Avarice. Generally, she was thought to be imprisoned in Hell.

The Lady in White
The Lady in White is a minor deity associated with the village of (cool mountainous village). She is a benevolent undead entity which looks after the souls of the village, both in life and in death. She is a goddess who exists regularily in her follower’s daily lives, though she is bound to the village and so can only bless them while they reside there.
It is by her hand that the Clergy in White raise the dearly departed into zombies. As the clumsy beginning of their journey commences, they are suited mostly to field work and non-dexterous manual labor. They do not yet remember anything of their past, and it is The Lady who keeps them content. As their flesh rots away to reveal the skeleton underneath, they begin to recall their past and may begin to recognise family and friends. One’s Second Life usually plateaus for some time in the skeletal stage, and they are the most common Returned within the village. More cognisant and dexterous, skeletal Returned perform all sorts of tasks from weaving to threshing, basically anything that a child could accomplish. They are not yet wise enough for planning and logical tasks. The Clergy diligently cleans Skeletal returned to keep them from introducing and odor or disease to the First Life villagers.
The Lady in White wishes for all her children to lead virtuous lives, for it is the accumulated positive energy of a soul that allows a Returned to linger for longer. Sinners may cease their second life without ever rotting enough to expose bone, while Saints will endure while even the smallest sliver of their skeleton remains. Deep within the Crypts of Remembrance, wise spirits of the elders remains attached to fragmented skulls and fingers. The purest form that a Returned can achieve is that of full spectral presence, wherein they not only recall everything from their life, but can learn new information. Legend holds that the oldest Spirits, members of an advisory council to the living Baron, are centuries old.
The Lady is unique in that she no longer possesses any physical body, only an ornate casket which once held her in repose. So old is she that it is said she remembers the previous empire and what befell it, though she refuses to speak of those dark days.

Sune
Sune in the Lore of Eusia
Sune was the Lady Firehair, a radiant goddess of love, beauty, passion, and sensual pleasure. Her faith treated beauty not as vanity, but as a sacred force that made life worth living, and her worshippers often honored joy, romance, art, and personal allure as divine gifts.
Portfolio and Names
Her portfolio included love, beauty, passion, and often the celebration of physical and emotional attraction. She was commonly known as Sune, Lady Firehair, and in many traditions she was associated with red-gold hair, warmth, and irresistible charm. Her presence in lore was usually tied to romance, inspiration, elegance, and the courage to love openly.
Who Prayed
Sune was often prayed to by lovers, artists, poets, courtiers, performers, and anyone seeking confidence or grace. She also drew prayers from people hoping to recover from heartbreak, inspire attraction, mend relationships, or simply feel beautiful in their own skin. Those who honored her rarely treated devotion as solemn suffering; they treated it as a joyful affirmation that pleasure and affection could be holy.
When They Prayed
Her worship was often strongest at dawn, at festivals, before dances, during courtship, and at moments of personal transformation. Many of her followers would have prayed before art, performance, romance, bathing, dressing, or any event where presence and charm mattered. Unlike gods of hardship, her faith tended to favor bright, public, celebratory moments.
Holy Day and Devotion
A fitting holy day for Sune was often celebrated with feasts, music, flowers, candles, perfume, dance, confession of admiration, and declarations of affection. Her observances commonly centered on spring, midsummer, or any local festival devoted to beauty and union. In practice, every act of sincere delight could have served as an offering to her.
Ways of Praying
One way to pray to Sune was through praise: speaking aloud the beauty one had seen or the love one wished to protect. Another was through ritual preparation, such as dressing carefully, adorning a shrine with flowers and ribbons, or creating something beautiful in her honor. Her faithful often believed that the act itself mattered as much as the words, because devotion to Sune was meant to be felt in the body as well as the heart.
Shrines and Temples
Shrines and temples of Sune were usually vivid, fragrant, and welcoming, often decorated with mirrors, silks, petals, polished metal, carved figures, and warm light. They were typically spaces where music, conversation, art, and intimacy were not merely allowed but encouraged. In many places, her temples doubled as gathering halls, salons, or places where the lonely could find companionship and the shy could learn confidence.
Clergy and Organization
Sune’s clergy tended to be socially graceful, persuasive, and deeply involved in community life, especially where art, courtship, or social mediation were concerned. Her priesthood often included performers, counselors, diplomats, beauticians, and teachers of self-presentation. Rather than a stern hierarchy, her religious organizations usually felt like circles of patrons, attendants, and beloved figures who maintained shrines, hosted gatherings, and nurtured joy. Some clergy members of Sune’s church were not unlike geisha.
Church Character
The Church of Sune was likely remembered less for rigid doctrine than for atmosphere: warmth, welcome, elegance, and emotional honesty. Her faith could have defended romance against shame, beauty against cruelty, and pleasure against puritan fear. At its best, it reminded people that tenderness, attraction, and delight were not distractions from life, but part of what made life worth defending.
Summary
Sune could be summarized as the goddess invoked when beauty needed protection, love needed courage, and joy needed permission to exist openly. Her faithful did not merely seek pleasure; they sought the kind of beauty that made hearts braver and lives more radiant.

Ilmater
The Crying God – The Broken One – The Martyr – The Enduring Heart
Ilmater is the god of endurance, suffering, martyrdom, perseverance, mercy, and the relief of the oppressed. His faithful do not glorify pain for its own sake. They believe suffering should be resisted wherever possible and willingly carried when doing so protects someone weaker.
Ilmater is invoked when pain cannot be avoided, when injustice leaves no easy answer, and when someone must endure hardship so that another may survive.
Portfolio and Names
Ilmater’s portfolio includes endurance, healing, sacrifice, compassion, and the protection of the helpless. He is known as the Crying God, the Broken God, the Lord on the Rack, and the One Who Endures. Among some peoples of the [[Great Glacier]], he is called Ayuruk.
Ilmater teaches that pain has no virtue when it is inflicted needlessly or accepted out of cowardice. His followers are expected to lessen suffering wherever they can and to endure hardship when doing so protects others.
Who Prayed
Ilmater was chiefly prayed to by the lame, the poor, the oppressed, the persecuted, monks, paladins, serfs, slaves, healers, and those living under unjust hardship. His faith also attracted anyone who cared for the sick, tended the wounded, sheltered the homeless, or stood between the vulnerable and those who would exploit them.
His worshippers saw him as the god who helped them endure while reminding the strong of their responsibility to shoulder suffering on behalf of the helpless.
When They Prayed and Holy Days
Clerics of Ilmater prayed for their spells in the morning. Older devotional practice called for prayers to be repeated throughout the day, sometimes six times or more. His worship was therefore steady and rhythmic rather than centred on a single dramatic hour.
Ilmater traditionally had no annual holy day. His faith was expressed through continual service instead of seasonal festivals. Local traditions sometimes established days of fasting, remembrance, healing, or charity. These observances usually involved feeding the hungry, treating the sick, freeing prisoners, or remembering those who had died in poverty or oppression.
Tenets
A cleric of Ilmater must work to reduce suffering rather than merely condemn it. They are expected to protect the helpless, comfort those in pain, speak for those who cannot defend themselves, and accept hardship when doing so spares another.
They must not inflict pain for pleasure, profit, pride, or entertainment. They must not abandon someone in desperate need when aid is reasonably within their power, nor may they use another person’s suffering to gain authority, wealth, or devotion. Torture, cruelty toward prisoners, the abuse of the vulnerable, and the deliberate creation of suffering are forbidden.
Ilmater does not require his servants to submit to every abuser or accept preventable harm. A cleric who allows cruelty to continue when they could stop it has failed in their duty. Mercy does not mean permitting the strong to prey upon the weak.
A cleric who repeatedly ignores these tenets may lose Ilmater’s favour. This loss may begin as an absence of comfort in prayer or a growing inability to endure hardship. More serious violations can sever a cleric’s connection to divine power until they seek to repair the harm they caused.
Ways of Praying
One traditional prayer asks Ilmater to see the speaker’s weakness, accept their fault, and grant them the endurance to carry what must be borne. Other prayers ask for the strength to continue, the wisdom to relieve suffering, or the courage to resist cruelty.
Prayer and action are rarely separate in Ilmater’s faith. A cleric may pray while binding wounds, feeding the hungry, sheltering the sick, or comforting someone in grief. The work itself becomes a prayer when performed without expectation of reward.
Some devotees practise voluntary discomfort to cultivate empathy, but such acts have meaning only when they strengthen compassion. Self-punishment that serves pride, vanity, or despair is not considered holy.
Shrines and Temples
Shrines and temples of Ilmater are usually found where suffering is greatest, especially among the poor, the sick, and the displaced. His houses of worship commonly serve as hospices, shelters, healing centres, and places of refuge.
They distribute food, drink, firewood, medicine, and clothing. Larger temples may maintain kitchens, infirmaries, orphanages, and dormitories for travellers or the homeless. In major cities, Ilmater’s worship spaces may form part of larger charitable institutions or formal temple complexes.
A temple of Ilmater is expected to be useful before it is beautiful.
Clergy, Orders, and Church Character
Ilmater’s clergy are commonly called the Adorned, or more formally the Adorned Sufferers. Their name refers to the cords, scars, bands, or other marks traditionally worn as reminders of the burdens carried by the faithful.
Some traditions distinguish between healers, painbearers, and sanctars. Healers tend to the sick and wounded. Painbearers accompany those facing imprisonment, illness, or death. Sanctars serve as judges, investigators, and protectors of the faith.
Sanctars are responsible for judging serious violations, and they consider both the harm caused and the offender’s willingness to repent before determining whether Ilmater’s favour has been lost.
The wider church includes the [[Broken Ones]], the [[Companions of the Noble Heart]], and the [[Weeping Friars]] among others.
The church combines monastic communities with organised orders of healers, protectors, and warriors. In major urban centres, it may form a powerful network capable of sheltering the poor, opposing slavers, treating the sick, and defending those who cannot defend themselves.
In Summary
Ilmater is the god invoked when pain cannot be avoided, but meaning still has to be found in it. His faithful do not pray merely to survive. They pray to endure, to heal, and to become shelter for others.
“If you can ease another’s burden, do so. If you cannot, help them carry it.”

Gam Gam
An Archfey who weaves fate as easily as she knits yarn. Patron to those who find themselves caught in destinies strands, she works to guide these poor souls towards glorious achievements. She is kindly, abhors destruction, and enjoys a good joke with a cup of hot tea.

Aurel Veyr
Aurel Veyr is a minor deity associated with Helm. Seen as his son, Aurel Veyr takes the stern protection of his father and turns it inward, keeping a hearth and home which is worth protecting. Different from Chauntea in that he does not provide for families, Aurel Veyr is concerned with the disciplined keeping of internal order within rough places. Helm is the external defense, Aurel Veyr keeps everything inside from coming apart.
The faithful give prayers to Aurel Veyr when they perform duties of stewardship, taking oaths, safekeeping, and supporting rightful authority. As Aurel Veyr serves his father Helm, adherents of Aurel Veyr often serve others themselves, making his worshipers likely to become stewards, chaplains, and other types of support staff for nobles and powerful merchants.

Thalor
Neutral god of the sea as well as what lies beneath its waves

Lloth
Lloth was the Spider Queen, a divine goddess of shadow, venom, ambition, and binding intrigue. Though some duplicitous lore (perhaps planted by her own followers) name her a demon who rose to divinity, she was in fact a true goddess who had long courted demons to her service, bending abyssal power into a web of faith, fear, and dominion. Her worship was far more popular in the [[Deep Dark]] rather than on the surface.
Portfolio and Names
Her portfolio included spiders, traps, poison, deceit, domination, lust for power, and the cruel beauty of survival through cunning. She was known as Lloth, the Spider Queen, and in darker traditions as the Weaver of Ruin, the Mother of Webs, and the Black Mantle. Her worshippers treated her as the patron of those who ruled from concealment and those who believed that strength meant making others kneel.
Who Prayed
Lloth was prayed to by schemers, assassins, spies, venom-brewers, cruel nobles, traitorous priests, and those who believed betrayal was a legitimate ladder to power. She also drew worship from the fearful, especially those who wanted protection from worse monsters by becoming monsters themselves. Her faith was rarely about comfort; it was about survival, leverage, and ascendancy at any cost.
When They Prayed
Her prayers were commonly offered at night, at moments of hidden work, before poisonings, during secret meetings, and after betrayal had been planned but not yet committed. Her faithful often prayed when standing at thresholds, in narrow corridors, at the edge of ambush, or while weaving, binding, or preparing traps. In many places, silence itself was treated as the truest form of devotion.
Holy Day and Devotion
Lloth’s holy days were often marked by secret rites, sacrifices, punishments, and the public humiliation of rivals. A fitting observance would have been a night of oaths sworn under black candles, with webs stretched across altars and offerings of blood, venom, or stolen names. Her devotion was never gentle; it celebrated fear as a tool and cruelty as proof of resolve.
Ways of Praying
One way to pray to Lloth was through whispered bargains made in darkness, promising service in exchange for favor, protection, or vengeance. Another was through ritual craft: weaving, knotting, braiding, or setting traps while reciting her names and inviting her to “tighten the web” around a chosen enemy. Her worshippers often believed that action mattered more than sentiment, and that a successful trap could be a sacred sentence.
Shrines and Temples
Shrines and temples of Lloth were commonly built in hidden places, under noble houses, beneath cities, or in deep caverns where light was thin and fear traveled well. They were often decorated with web motifs, dark stone, venomous imagery, black silks, carved spider forms, and altars meant to inspire both awe and dread. Her sacred places were usually as much fortresses and courts as they were temples, because her faith thrived where hierarchy, secrecy, and intimidation could be enforced.
Clergy and Organization
Lloth’s clergy was usually rigid, predatory, and intensely hierarchical, with status won through obedience, ruthlessness, and successful manipulation. Priestesses or priests of her faith often ruled through a network of initiates, enforcers, informants, poisoners, and favored retainers. Her church might have maintained a formal court-like structure, but the real power would have lain in hidden patronage, blackmail, and the ever-present threat of betrayal.
Church Character
The Church of Lloth would have been feared not because it was chaotic, but because it was organized enough to turn cruelty into policy. It would have taught that mercy was weakness, trust was a liability, and loyalty existed only until a stronger web was spun. At the same time, it would have remained deeply attractive to the desperate, because even fear can feel like safety when it has a throne.
Summary
Lloth could be summarized as the goddess invoked when power had to be taken, hidden, or kept through fear. Her faithful did not seek harmony; they sought the advantage that came from patience, venom, and the willingness to let others struggle in the web.

Orikan
Orikan is the austere keeper of the night heavens, the divine shepherd of stars, [[../../../Ex Mortia/Lore/Zodiac Signs|signs]], and the hidden courses of fate. Where other gods rule through passion, mercy, wrath, or revelry, Orikan rules through order: the cold and exact turning of the sky, the measured drift of destiny, and the secret knowledge written in the dark between one heartbeat and the next.
He is often imagined as a solemn ferryman upon a black river, guiding his vessel through the luminous current of the Zodiac. The stars are said to be lanterns upon that riverbank, and the souls of the living are born as travelers crossing from one sign to another, each carried onward by Orikan’s steady hand. To his faithful, nothing in the heavens is random. Every birth, every omen, every falling star is a note in a greater celestial ledger.
Orikan is honored by astrologers, navigators, scholars, midwives, omen-readers, and those who wait patiently for the world to reveal its meaning. His priests are welcome in cities and villages alike, for it is seen as a blessing to give birth attended by one who interprets the sky. They do not merely witness the first breath of the newborn; they read the hour, the hush of the heavens, the stars visible through the doorway or window, and the subtle portents that declare what sign the child bears. If the stars are not visible (due to weather or time of day), the first stars the child can see are taken to be their Sign. In this way, Orikan is a god of beginnings as much as endings, of thresholds, crossings, and the unseen order that binds all things.
Dogma
Orikan teaches that every life follows a course, though few are wise enough to read it. The heavens do not command by cruelty, but by truth, and truth is often severe. To know one’s place in the design is not surrender, but discipline. To resist the shape of destiny without understanding it is folly; to know it and still choose rightly is wisdom.
His faithful are taught to observe before speaking, to record before judging, and to aid before claiming authority. Midwives and clergy of Orikan are expected to bring calm to laboring households, to protect the vulnerable at the moment of passage, and to treat each birth as both sacred mystery and celestial accounting. They believe that a soul enters the world beneath a sign for a reason, and that reason may not be understood for years.
Worship and Clergy
Temples of Orikan are often quiet places, roofed for star-viewing and built with narrow apertures that frame the night sky. Many are attached to observatories, infirmaries, or birth-houses. His clergy wear dark robes marked with silver thread, pale beadwork, or tiny discs that resemble stars in procession.
His priests are known for:
attending births and naming signs,
interpreting celestial omens and dreams,
keeping star charts and calendars,
guiding travelers by the night sky,
advising rulers only when the heavens have clearly spoken.
Though Orikan’s clergy are respected almost everywhere, they are not always loved. Their words can be blunt, and their judgments rarely softened for comfort. Yet they are trusted, for they do not flatter the powerful or invent signs where none exist. They believe the sky is not a poem to be embellished, but a law to be read correctly.
Symbols and Myth
Orikan is commonly depicted as a hooded figure in a boat, one hand upon the oar and the other upon a staff crowned with a star. Some icons show him beneath an arch of constellations, while others place a crescent moon behind his head like a halo of dusk. His holy symbol is a single star above a curved line, or a silver boat crossing a field of black.
A common myth says that in the first night, when the world was still unmeasured, Orikan sailed the river of the Zodiac and set the stars in their courses one by one. Where he passed, destinies took shape. Where he paused, wonders were born. Where he turned his gaze away, mortals named the result coincidence.

Helm
Helm, the Ever-Watchful, is the god of vigilance, guardianship, duty, and ordered justice. He is lawful above all else, with a stern and limited goodness expressed through protection, discipline, and the preservation of rightful order.
Helm does not promise that the world will be kind. He promises that those who stand beneath his shield will not stand alone. His faithful are expected to defend the innocent, punish the guilty, honour their oaths, and remain at their posts when fear, doubt, or exhaustion would drive them away.
To Helm, goodness is not measured by the softness of one’s heart, but by what one is willing to endure for those placed under one’s protection.
“Life is fleeting; duty is eternal.”
-Saint Ilyra of the Last Watch, 239
The Nature of Helm
Helm is stern, patient, and difficult to deceive. He has little patience for excuses, sentimentality, or those who mistake indecision for wisdom. A person who knows their duty and performs it is worthy of respect, even if their motives are imperfect. A person who abandons their duty while claiming noble intentions is viewed with far greater suspicion.
Helm is not cruel for cruelty’s sake. He does not delight in suffering, nor does he demand punishment merely to satisfy anger. Yet he believes that mercy shown to the guilty may become a betrayal of the innocent. Justice must be reliable, or it becomes merely another name for favour.
“Be not merciful where guilt is involved.”
-High Judge Odran Vey, 350
Among most Helmites, this teaching means that guilt must not be excused, concealed, or softened because the guilty are loved. Judgment should remain lawful and proportionate, but it must occur.
Helm’s goodness is therefore difficult to distinguish from severity. He protects the weak, but believes they are best protected by strong institutions. He values peace, but distrusts compromises that reward betrayal. He offers forgiveness, but only after wrongdoing has been acknowledged and its consequences accepted.
The Teachings of The Vigil
Helm’s holy scriptures are collectively known as The Vigil. They consist of commandments, battlefield prayers, legal judgments, parables, and sayings attributed to Helm’s saints. The faithful are taught that no passage should be understood in isolation. A command to destroy corruption must also be read beside the warning to guard one’s own soul against it.
The most commonly recited verses include quote from the following (some of which may or may not have been directly inspired by the voice of Helm himself):
Saint Ilyra of the Last Watch:
Saint Ilyra (212-247) was a Human soldier who held a mountain pass for three days after the rest of her company had fallen. She represents endurance, sacrifice, and the conviction that a duty does not become meaningless simply because its fulfilment is difficult.
“Life is fleeting; duty is eternal.”
“Doubt not thy strength whilst faith prevails.”
“Duty demands sacrifice.”
“Endure the present, so those who follow may continue your endeavours.”
“Life is measured not in years, but by the deeds of the faithful.”
“Only in death does duty end.”
“Rejoice in thy service.”
Mother Vael, Priestess of the Guarded Soul:
Mother Vael (468-567) was a Dwarf who served as a priest, confessor, and teacher in Helm’s temples for more than fifty years. She represents spiritual vigilance: the need to guard one’s mind from fear and disorder while remaining alert to the corruption that may hide behind righteous intentions.
“Abhorrence is a gift; use it well.”
“An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded.”
“Foolish are those who fear nothing, yet claim to know everything.”
“Honour thy oaths, honour thy God.”
“The shield of faith is your best protection.”
Captain Ser Caldus, the Unbroken Shield:
Captain Ser Caldus (468-510) was a Human who commanded the rearguard during the Defence of Veyr’s Crossing, refusing to retreat until every civilian had escaped. He represents martial courage, obedience under pressure, and the willingness to confront betrayal without hesitation.
“A coward’s only reward is to live in fear another day.”
“Be steadfast in defence.”
“Be thou the scourge of traitors.”
“Heed not the whispers of the faithless.”
“Honour thy weapon.”
“It is an honour to bleed for Justice.”
“Keep the faith, kill the foe.”
“Only the coward seeks compromise.”
“Timidity begets indecision; indecision begets treachery.”
“To spare the traitor is to invite corruption.”
Archivist-Marshal Teren of the Seven Locks:
Archivist-Marshal Teren (812-1137) was an Elf responsible for the protection of Helm’s most sensitive records, including treaties, oaths, military plans, and judgments. He represents the preservation of knowledge, the sanctity of promises, and the belief that honour must be made visible through deeds.
“Speak not the names of traitors.”
“The difference between heresy and treachery is ignorance.”
“Thou shalt be remembered by thy deeds.”
“Your honour is your life. Let none dispute it.”
High Judge Odran Vey:
High Judge Odran Vey (337-379) was a Human who served Helm as a magistrate during a time when noble houses routinely escaped punishment through wealth and influence. He represents impartial judgment, the rejection of excuses, and the belief that law must be strong enough to restrain the powerful.
“Be not merciful where guilt is involved.”
“By your scars and deeds shall you be judged.”
“Complaining of thy lot is the first step on the Road to Damnation.”
“There are no walls strong enough to protect the Injust.”
“There is purity of purpose in the faith of the just.”
“To withdraw in disgust is not apathy.”
“Welcome the judgement of thy God.”
The Five Duties
Helm’s teachings are often organised around five duties.
Vigilance
The faithful must remain alert to danger, corruption, and disorder. Suspicion is not proof, but it is a warning, and warnings must be investigated.
"A suspicious mind is a healthy mind.”
-Mother Vael, Priestess of the Guarded Soul, 514
Helm teaches that the mind should be open to evidence but never left undefended. Trust is a virtue when earned; blind trust is negligence.
Defence
The strong are obligated to protect those who cannot protect themselves. A defender does not abandon their post because the enemy is stronger or victory appears unlikely.
“Do not shy the hopeless fight, for endeavour is its own reward.”
-Saint Ilyra of the Last Watch, 247
A lost battle may still buy time. A doomed guard may still save a village. An action need not succeed completely to be worthy.
Duty
Every person possesses obligations determined by their oaths, station, ability, and circumstance. Duty may demand hardship, loneliness, public disgrace, or death.
“Honour your duty.”
-Archivist-Marshal Teren of the Seven Locks, 1026
Helm does not accept excuses based on misfortune, resentment, or personal inconvenience. To complain of one’s lot is not itself a sin, but using hardship to justify betrayal is.
Judgment
Helm teaches that guilt must be acknowledged and judged. The guilty must not be protected by wealth, rank, sentiment, or clever manipulation of the law.
“Justice allows no doubt.”
-High Judge Odran Vey, 368
This is generally understood to mean that justice must not be paralysed by endless hesitation. It does not mean that evidence, testimony, or proper procedure are unnecessary. A judge must be decisive, but must also be certain they are judging the right person.
Obedience
Obedience is the foundation of trust between people. Soldiers obey commanders, guards obey their watch captains, officials obey the law, and rulers obey the duties of rulership.
“Honour, duty and obedience.”
-Archivist-Marshal Teren of the Seven Locks, 918
Helm does not teach that every command is righteous merely because it comes from a superior. An unlawful order violates the chain of duty rather than fulfilling it. A servant of Helm must know both whom they obey and what limits bind the one giving the order.
Corruption and Faith
Helm teaches that corruption rarely arrives openly. It enters through small exceptions, hidden resentments, unexamined compromises, and the belief that one’s own motives are too noble to require scrutiny.
“Beware the corruption of men’s souls.”
-Mother Vael, Priestess of the Guarded Soul, 489
This warning applies to rulers, soldiers, priests, judges, and reformers alike. No office makes a person incorruptible. No oath eliminates temptation. No cause is so righteous that its servants are beyond judgment.
The faithful are therefore expected to examine themselves as carefully as they examine others. They must confess resentment, ambition, envy, and hatred before those emotions become disguised as duty.
“Guard thy soul against disorder.”
-Mother Vael, Priestess of the Guarded Soul, 521
Likewise, the command to destroy corruption includes corruption within oneself. A Watcher who uses the verse only against enemies has misunderstood it.
One disputed passage reads:
“Facts are chains that bind perception and fetter truth.”
-High Judge Odran Vey, 342
The verse originated in a judgment concerning a guilty man who escaped punishment through legal technicalities. Its traditional meaning is that justice must not become so narrow that clever manipulation allows obvious wrongdoing to pass unpunished. It is not permission to ignore evidence, abandon procedure, or declare guilt according to instinct.
The Church of Helm
Helm’s temples are commonly built as fortified watchhouses. They favour thick walls, clear sightlines, sturdy doors, narrow windows, and elevated positions. Even temples in peaceful areas maintain signal fires, weapons, food stores, and emergency plans.
The clergy are called Watchers, with senior priests known as Wardens or Keepers. Their vestments are practical and often reinforced with leather or metal. Helm’s holy symbol is usually an eye set within a shield, though some traditions depict an upright gauntlet or an unclosed helm visor.
Helmite temples frequently contain:
A public shrine for travellers and those seeking protection.
A watchtower or observation platform.
A hall for oaths, trials, and testimony.
A library of laws, treaties, judgments, and local records.
Barracks for the temple guard.
A secure chamber for dangerous relics and prisoners.
A quiet room where the Still Watch is maintained.
Helm’s clergy are expected to keep accurate records. Names, times, witnesses, orders, injuries, disappearances, and unresolved threats are all treated as sacred information.
“Knowledge is power, guard it well.”
-Archivist-Marshal Teren of the Seven Locks,  899
The Ever Watch
The Ever Watch is a rotating vigil kept within many of Helm’s temples. One or more Watchers sit in silence before Helm’s shrine, remaining awake while the rest of the temple sleeps.
The vigil cultivates patience and self-command. The Watcher must endure boredom, fear, intrusive thoughts, and the temptation to abandon the duty simply because no immediate danger is visible.
The Ever Watch is also a reminder that guardianship is often thankless. Nothing may happen. No one may notice. The watch is still necessary.
Worship and Observance
At dawn, the faithful inspect their equipment, surroundings, and obligations before beginning the day. At dusk, they consider what they failed to notice, what promises remain unfinished, and whether their actions preserved or endangered rightful order.
The most important observances include:
The First Watch, a seasonal inspection of roads, walls, wells, bridges, weapons, and emergency stores.
The Night of Open Eyes, during which the faithful remain awake from sunset until dawn in honour of those who died protecting others.
The Renewal of Oaths, when officials, soldiers, couples, and others publicly reaffirm their promises.
The Closing of the Gate, held after a Helmite’s death. One temple gate remains closed for a day while the dead person’s duties are read aloud and another person accepts responsibility for them.
Helm’s faithful commonly adopt personal watchwords such as:
“I will not leave my post.”
“No oath is small.”
-Archivist-Marshal Teren of the Seven Locks, 833
“The innocent sleep because someone remains awake.”
-Archivist-Marshal Teren of the Seven Locks, 1029
“My eyes remain open, and my duty remains.”
The Ideal of Helm
Helm’s ideal is not a world without fear, conflict, or wrongdoing. His ideal is a world in which danger is met by people who are prepared, accountable, and unwilling to abandon their obligations.
Civilisation survives because someone remains awake after the songs have ended. Someone checks the lock. Someone records the name. Someone refuses the unlawful order. Someone stands between the helpless and the hand raised against them.
“The price of duty is high, but the rewards are eternal.”
-Saint Ilyra of the Last Watch, 232
“Without fear or falter, do thy duty.”
--Saint Ilyra of the Last Watch, 246

Xenegos
Xenegos is the Chaotic Good god of wild growth, fertility, celebration, passion, and renewal. He is the green pulse beneath the soil, the warmth in the blood, the song around the midsummer fire, and the root that splits stone. His worship teaches that life is temporary, difficult, and therefore worthy of celebration.
Xenegos is usually depicted as a laughing man with a youthful body and an ancient face. Leaves, vines, and flowers grow from his hair and beard, while his skin resembles bark. Some iterations have his face completely obscured by green leaves. He is not the master of nature, but nature’s delight in itself.
Portfolio and Names
Xenegos’s portfolio includes wild nature, harvests, fertility, feasting, music, dance, physical pleasure, freedom, rebirth, and communal joy.
He is known as the Green Man, the Son of Mother Earth, the Laughing Root, He Who Wears the World, the Lord of the First Fruit, the Red Sap, and the Unfettered One.
His titles reflect the many forms of life: the seed beneath the soil, the fruit on the branch, the fire in the blood, and the fallen leaf returning to the earth.
Who Prayed
Xenegos is chiefly worshipped by farmers, gardeners, vintners, brewers, cooks, hunters, herbalists, midwives, and healers. Musicians, dancers, actors, artists, and storytellers also honour him, seeing creativity as another form of growth.
He is especially beloved by lovers, newlyweds, travellers returning home, survivors of oppression, and communities rebuilding after war or famine. Those who have been taught to fear their bodies or desires often find freedom in his faith.
Xenegos does not excuse selfishness or cruelty. Pleasure must be freely shared, and celebration that leaves others hungry or harmed is considered an insult to him.
When They Prayed
Worshippers pray to Xenegos at moments of beginning, change, and return: when planting seeds, welcoming a child, beginning a marriage, starting a creative work, recovering from illness, returning from a journey, or gathering the harvest.
They also pray at funerals. Death is understood not as the opposite of life, but as life returning to the earth. A common saying is:
“Pray to Xenegos when the seed enters the ground, when the fruit is on the table, and when the ashes are cool.”
Holy Day and Devotion
Xenegos’s principal holy day is the Feast of Returning, held after the harvest. Communities eat, drink, dance, sing, and remember the dead. Food is set aside for the departed before being scattered for animals or returned to the soil.
The feast celebrates both abundance and mortality. Grief is welcome, but silence is not required. To laugh while remembering the dead is not considered disrespectful; it is a reminder that their lives contained more than their endings.
Ways of Pray
Xenegos favours prayers that engage the body. Singing, dancing, preparing food, physical expressions of love, working the soil, and gathering around a fire may all become acts of worship.
The first portion of a meal is often offered to the earth, the dead, or nearby animals. Other offerings include fruit, bread, wine, flowers, seeds, bright ribbons, and handmade instruments.
Personal devotion to Xenegos is shown through practical acts that help life flourish. A worshipper might tend a garden, heal an injured animal, reconcile with an enemy, or help a community recover. Xenegos values practical renewal more than empty words.
Shrines and Temples
Xenegos’s shrines are usually open-air places beneath sacred trees, beside springs, in forest clearings, or near village ovens and gathering places. A proper shrine contains something growing, something burning, and something shared.
Larger temples, called Houses of the Revel, include gardens, orchards, kitchens, workshops, guest rooms, and halls for festivals. They provide food and shelter to travellers and the poor. Any wealth beyond what the temple needs is turned into seed, tools, medicine, or aid.
Clergy and Organization
Xenegos’s priests are collectively called the Green Revel. They have no single hierarchy, and individual temples govern themselves. Junior priests are known as Keepers of the Grove. Senior priests are known as Root-Fathers and Root-Mothers.
Priests are expected to possess practical skills. They tend gardens, prepare food, assist at births and deaths, settle disputes, protect wilderness, and lead communal celebrations. A priest who can speak beautifully but cannot serve the community is considered incomplete.
Some extremists, known as Thorn Revelers, mistake freedom for the right to indulge every appetite. The Green Revel rejects them. Nature contains violence, but it also contains cooperation, patience, and care. Thorn Revelers are usually single individuals who becomes issues in isolated communities or wild places, but occasionally a group of Thorn Revelers will join together into a very dangerous type of bandit/criminal group.
In Summary
Xenegos teaches that life is sacred because it is temporary. Joy is strongest when shared, the body is not inherently shameful, and grief need not exclude celebration.
His followers seek to leave something living behind: a planted tree, a restored friendship, a nourished child, a protected piece of wilderness, or a story that makes others laugh.
“Eat while there is food. Sing while there is breath. Love while there is time. When you return to the earth, may something green grow from you.”

Bane
The Lord of Tyranny - The Iron Tyrant - The Black Lord - He Who Commands
Bane is the lawful evil god of tyranny, domination, fear, and hatred. He teaches that order is valuable only when it serves power, and that power belongs to those strong enough to seize and maintain it. His followers believe that freedom produces weakness, while obedience creates stability.
Bane rarely demands chaos or senseless destruction. He prefers systems that function perfectly while serving cruel ends. His greatest victories are achieved when people accept oppression as necessary, just, or even protective.
Portfolio and Names
Bane’s portfolio includes tyranny, domination, fear, hatred, conquest, obedience, authority, punishment, and the use of law as an instrument of control.
He is known as the Black Lord, the Black Hand, the Iron Tyrant, the Lord of Fear, and He Who Commands. His symbol is an upright black hand, often displayed against a red or dark field.
Bane is not merely the god of rulers. He governs every relationship in which one person seeks unquestioned power over another. A tyrant, a cruel commander, a corrupt magistrate, and an abusive master may all serve him, whether openly or unknowingly.
Who Prayed
Bane is worshipped by conquerors, tyrants, despots, ambitious officials, cruel soldiers, and those who believe that the strong have a duty to rule the weak. His clergy also attract people who seek protection through authority or who wish to rise above their neighbours.
Some followers pray to Bane for victory, discipline, or the strength to impose order upon a dangerous world. Others come to him out of resentment, believing that fear is the only language their enemies understand.
Open worship is uncommon in lands where Bane’s name is hated. His followers may instead present themselves as reformers, lawkeepers, military officers, or guardians of public order. Not every servant of Bane considers themselves wicked. Many believe that mercy, compromise, and personal freedom are luxuries that society can no longer afford.
When They Prayed
Bane is prayed to before battles, trials, interrogations, political negotiations, and acts of punishment. His worshippers call upon him when demanding obedience, confronting a rival, or accepting a position of authority.
They also pray at dawn before beginning a day of command and at night while reviewing those who have failed them. A common prayer asks Bane to reveal weakness, reward loyalty, and make resistance costly.
His followers often pray in private before making an important decision. They seek not guidance, but certainty: the confidence to act without being troubled by pity or doubt.
Holy Day and Devotion
Bane’s principal holy day is the Day of Submission, observed at the beginning of winter. Worshippers renew their oaths, kneel before their superiors, and publicly declare the names of those who serve beneath them.
The ceremony varies by rank. The powerful accept renewed loyalty, while the powerless demonstrate obedience through labour, tribute, or military service. In some communities, prisoners and defeated enemies are forced to participate.
Personal devotion to Bane is shown through discipline and control. His followers maintain strict routines, punish disobedience, keep careful records, and ensure that their authority is visible. They may demonstrate faith by enforcing an unpopular order, refusing to forgive an insult, or making an example of someone who has resisted them.
Bane does not value kindness unless it strengthens obedience. Mercy may be granted, but only when it creates a deeper debt.
Ways of Pray
Bane’s prayers are usually spoken while standing rigidly or kneeling with the head lowered. Worshippers may recite oaths, present written plans, or name those they intend to command.
Offerings include weapons, legal documents, chains, military standards, tribute, and the written confessions of defeated enemies. Some followers offer the surrender of a personal desire, proving that their will can be mastered before they attempt to master others.
A successful act of control is considered the highest prayer. Winning an argument, compelling obedience, silencing dissent, or turning a rival into a servant may all be understood as acts of worship.
Shrines and Temples
Bane’s shrines are commonly hidden in fortresses, prisons, court buildings, military camps, and private chambers. They are spare and orderly, containing little more than a black hand, an iron chain, a brazier, and a place to record names and oaths.
Larger temples are called Houses of Command. They resemble administrative halls, barracks, or courts rather than places of celebration. Their walls display laws, ranks, victories, and the names of those punished for disobedience.
The poorest worshippers may find food, employment, or protection at such temples, but assistance always carries a cost. Every gift creates an obligation, and every obligation strengthens the temple.
Clergy and Organization
Bane’s priests are known as Black Ministers, Handbearers, or Keepers of the Oath. They are expected to be disciplined, organised, and difficult to intimidate. Each temple is arranged according to rank, and a priest’s authority depends upon the number of people who answer to them.
The highest-ranking clergy are called Commanders of the Hand. They oversee regional temples, direct political schemes, and decide when force should be used openly. Beneath them are ministers who administer punishments, collect tribute, conduct interrogations, and maintain records of loyalty.
Bane’s clergy compete constantly for advancement. They are encouraged to expose weakness in their rivals, though a successful accusation must never leave the temple without competent leadership. Failure is tolerated only when it can be turned into a lesson for others.
In Summary
Bane teaches that fear is more reliable than love, obedience more useful than freedom, and authority more important than justice. He does not seek disorder. He seeks a world in which every person knows who commands them and understands the cost of resistance.
His worshippers may speak of safety, duty, reform, or stability. Beneath those words lies Bane’s central demand:
“Submit, and the world will be made orderly. Resist, and you will become an example.”

Thor
The Thunderer – The Skyfather – The Red-Bearded – The Defender of Midgard
Thor is the god of thunder, lightning, storms, strength, courage, protection, and righteous force. He is the defender of gods and mortals, the breaker of monsters, and the guardian of those who stand beneath the open sky.
Thor is not the god of calm weather. Storms are disruptive, dangerous, and sometimes destructive. His worshippers do not deny this. They believe that power must be answered with responsibility, and that anyone who calls upon the storm must be prepared to shelter those caught within it.
Thor’s storms may destroy, but they also break oppressive heat, bring rain to the thirsty earth, reveal hidden dangers with lightning, and remind mortals that the world is larger than their plans.
Portfolio and Names
Thor’s portfolio includes thunder, lightning, storms, strength, courage, protection, travel, battle against monsters, oaths, hospitality, and the defence of ordinary people.
He is known as the Thunderer, the Skyfather, the Red-Bearded, the Defender of Midgard, the Stormlord, and the Hammer-Bearer. His most famous weapon is the axe JarnBjörn, though stories differ on whether it was forged by dwarves, shaped by the first thunderbolt, or gifted to Thor by the earth itself.
Thor is not the only god associated with storms, nor does every storm originate with him. Some are natural events, some are caused by other powers, and some are the direct manifestation of Thor’s will. His faithful consider this distinction important. Storm magic is not a harmless display of divine power. Every storm has consequences beyond the battlefield.
Who Prayed
Thor is prayed to by sailors, farmers, miners, travellers, warriors, hunters, smiths, labourers, and those who live beneath dangerous skies. He is especially honoured by people who protect others through strength, courage, or practical skill.
His worshippers include those who face monsters, tyranny, wilderness, and natural disaster. Many families pray to him during thunderstorms, while others invoke him before beginning dangerous work or travelling through the mountains.
Thor’s faith also attracts people who believe strength has meaning only when it is used in defence of others. A person who possesses power but refuses responsibility is not considered worthy of Thor’s admiration.
When They Prayed
Thor is prayed to during storms, before battles, before long journeys, and when confronting a powerful enemy. His followers may call upon him when lifting a heavy burden, entering a dangerous forest, protecting a settlement, or beginning work that demands courage.
Prayers are often offered at dawn, before a journey, and at the evening meal. During a storm, a household may ask Thor to turn aside the worst of the wind and rain. Afterward, the same household is expected to help repair damaged homes, clear roads, and shelter those affected.
A storm caused by Thor is not automatically considered a blessing. His followers believe that divine power must still be respected, managed, and answered for.
Holy Day and Devotion
Thor’s principal holy days vary between regions, but most Thorists celebrate the First Thunder, marking the first major storm of spring or the return of thunder after winter. The occasion is usually marked by feasting, contests of strength, offerings to the sky, and the repair of communal tools, bridges, roofs, and roads.
Devotion to Thor is shown through courage and usefulness. A worshipper may defend a stranger, keep an oath, repair storm damage, share food with travellers, or stand between the helpless and danger.
Thor’s faithful are expected to accept the consequences of their strength. Those who use storm magic are particularly responsible for helping communities recover from flooding, wind damage, fire, and other destruction that follows.
Tenets
Thor’s faithful are expected to be strong enough to protect others, brave enough to face danger, and humble enough to recognise the damage their power can cause.
They must not use strength to bully the weak, abandon those in danger, or break an oath for personal convenience. Cowardice is not the same as prudence, but refusing to act when action could save lives is considered a serious failure.
Those who wield storm magic must take responsibility for its consequences. They should avoid needless destruction, warn those who may be endangered, and assist with relief and repairs after a storm. Calling lightning into a crowded place, damaging homes without necessity, or treating collateral harm as unimportant are violations of Thor’s trust.
Thor does not require his followers to win every battle. He requires them to meet danger honestly and to rise again when they are thrown down.
Ways of Praying
Thor’s prayers are often spoken aloud, with raised voices, lifted weapons, ringing bells, or blows upon anvils and shields. His followers may pray beneath the open sky, beside a forge, at a campfire, or before beginning a difficult task.
Common offerings include food, mead, ironwork, weapons, tools, and the repair of something damaged. A person who clears a road after a storm or rebuilds a neighbour’s roof may be considered to have offered a more meaningful prayer than someone who merely recites words.
The Open Halls of Thunder teach that storm magic should be accompanied by service. The power to summon lightning is a gift, but sheltering those harmed by the storm is a duty.
Shrines and Temples
Thor’s temples are known as Open Halls of Thunder. They are places of worship, hospitality, study, debate, and practical aid. Their doors are traditionally open to travellers, refugees, pilgrims, and people of other earth-focused faiths.
The Halls commonly contain meadhalls, guest rooms, libraries, smithies, training yards, and large open courtyards where rain and sunlight can reach the worshippers. Many maintain outreach missions called Stormward Sanctuaries, which shelter people displaced by storms and help repair the damage afterward.
The most celebrated of these is [[Skyfather’s Hall]], while smaller examples like [[Skallheim Hall]] bare some reknown.
Clergy and Organization
Thor’s priests are commonly called Thunderers, Stormkeepers, or Keepers of the Hall. Senior clergy may bear titles such as High Keeper, Stormwarden, or Voice of the Sky.
The Open Halls of Thunder are independent but united by shared laws and customs. They cooperate in matters of doctrine, storm research, disaster relief, and the training of clerics and paladins. Their organisation is deliberately open, allowing Thorists and members of other faiths to debate, study, and learn together.
The Stormward Sanctuaries form the charitable arm of this wider movement. They provide shelter, food, medical aid, and assistance with rebuilding after severe weather. Their work is widely respected, even among those who distrust storm magic.
Church Character
Thor’s faith is loud, direct, practical, and welcoming. It values strength without worshipping cruelty, courage without demanding recklessness, and celebration without forgetting responsibility.
Thorists may disagree about whether a particular storm was natural, divine, or caused by mortal magic. They are less divided about what must happen afterward. The hungry must be fed, the displaced must be sheltered, and the broken must be repaired.
Their faith is not concerned only with controlling storms. It is concerned with learning how to live responsibly beneath them.
In Summary
Thor is the power of the storm and the hand that raises the hammer against those who would prey upon the helpless. He is strength used in defence, courage exercised under pressure, and responsibility accepted after the lightning fades.
And when the thunder has passed, Thor expects his followers to remain.
“If you call the storm, stand ready to shelter those caught within it.”

Urizen
The Storm’s Heart – The Buried Light – The Unbroken Spark – The One Who Stands
Urizen is a minor deity associated with Ilmater, storms, and the first steps back from despair. He is the patron of those who have fallen from a path but have not lost the will to return.
Ilmater teaches his faithful to accept suffering, give it meaning when it cannot be avoided, and carry it for those less able. Urizen reaches those who have the ability to serve Ilmater but who must carry themselves first. He speaks to the wounded, the angry, the ashamed, and the exhausted before their pain drives them toward cruelty or despair.
Urizen does not demand that his followers be clean before approaching him. He asks only that they be honest about how dirty they have become.
“You need not be clean to stand in the rain.”
Portfolio and Names
Urizen’s portfolio includes survival, recovery, defiance, trauma, outcasts, fallen soldiers, failed heroes, and the preservation of hope during hardship. Storms are part of his symbolism, but he is not primarily a god of weather or destruction. He represents the inner storm that must be endured before a person can find peace. Despite this, many of his faithful still draw upon the power of Storm magic.
He is known as the Storm’s Heart, the Buried Light, the Unbroken Spark, and the One Who Stands. Some of his followers call him the Storm-Born, the Scarred Guardian, or the Last Ember.
Thunder represents anger that must be acknowledged rather than denied. Lightning is sudden clarity. Rain is grief that can no longer remain hidden. The eye of the storm is the protected centre of the self.
Who Prayed
Urizen is prayed to by survivors, deserters, outcasts, disgraced soldiers, failed heroes, and those struggling beneath the weight of trauma. His followers may have lost faith, abandoned their duties, or done harm while trying to escape their own pain.
He is also honoured by people who have been expected to save everyone around them. When such people finally fail, Urizen reminds them that failure does not erase every good thing they have done.
Many of his followers are not yet ready to serve Ilmater directly. They may be angry, frightened, ashamed, or unwilling to accept help. Urizen welcomes them without pretending that their weaknesses are harmless.
Of note, Urizen does not exclusively bring his faithful closer to Ilmater. There have been times where clerics of other good-aligned faith have been brought back to their fold by a worshiper of Urizen.
When They Prayed
Urizen is prayed to during storms, dangerous journeys, battles, sleepless nights, and moments when despair feels stronger than hope. His followers may call upon him before confronting an enemy, resisting a vice, admitting a failure, or attempting something they once believed impossible.
He is especially invoked at dawn after a night of fear or grief. A brief prayer may be offered when someone rises from the ground, asks for help, returns to a duty, or chooses not to harm someone who has caused them pain.
Holy Day and Devotion
Urizen has no fixed annual holy day. His worship is personal rather than communal, and his followers generally observe the holy days of Ilmater when they are ready to approach his church.
Devotion to Urizen is shown through recovery and honest effort. A follower may resist a vice, seek help, repair harm they caused, or protect another person while still struggling with their own wounds.
Urizen does not demand perfection. He demands that his followers keep moving toward becoming better than their pain.
Tenets
Urizen teaches his followers to survive before they attempt to serve. They must acknowledge their wounds without allowing those wounds to rule them. They may fall, but they must not decide that falling is all they are capable of doing.
His faithful are expected to protect those less able to withstand the storm, use pain as knowledge rather than permission to inflict pain, and accept help without treating dependence as weakness.
They must not use suffering as an excuse for cruelty. Deliberately abusing the vulnerable, abandoning someone in immediate danger out of spite, or inflicting pain merely to feel powerful are serious violations of his faith.
Urizen does not forbid anger, recklessness, fear, vices, or failure. He understands that these may be symptoms of wounds rather than proof of wickedness. What he forbids is surrendering the self entirely to them.
His central teachings are:
“Do not mistake your wound for your nature.” and "You are not the first to fall from the path, and you will not be the last to rejoin it."
Ways of Praying
Urizen’s prayers are often spoken in harsh weather or difficult places. His worshippers may stand in the rain, grip a weapon, light a candle against the wind, or place a hand over their heart while naming the thing they refuse to let destroy them.
Storms are a language through which his followers understand their struggles. Thunder gives voice to anger. Lightning reveals what has been hidden. Rain marks the beginning of renewal. Urizen does not promise to end the storm; he teaches people to find the eye within it.
Acts of recovery are also sacred. Asking for help, resisting an old vice, admitting fault, returning to a duty, or protecting someone while still afraid may all be offerings to Urizen.
A follower may pray simply by standing when they could remain on the ground.
Shrines and Temples
Urizen has no dedicated temples, and his followers do not maintain a separate church. His worship is carried by individuals who recognise the same patron and help one another endure. Some become mentors, sponsors, or trusted companions to those facing similar struggles.
These relationships are informal but meaningful. A person further along the path may guide another through recovery, help them resist destructive habits, or remind them that failure is not the same as final damnation.
Urizen’s followers usually turn to Ilmater’s temples for shelter, healing, food, and formal rites. They may hesitate to enter at first, believing themselves unworthy or unwilling to accept the obligations of Ilmater’s fuller path. Ilmater’s clergy generally welcome them regardless.
Clergy and Organization
Urizen has no clergy, hierarchy, or organised religious institution. He grants no formal ranks, and no individual can claim authority over all his followers.
Those who have weathered their own storms may become mentors to others. They offer practical guidance rather than doctrine, helping the wounded survive until they can make their own choices again. A mentor’s authority comes from trust and experience, not office.
Some mentors eventually become members of Ilmater’s clergy. Others remain independent, continuing to guide people who are not yet ready to cross that threshold. Others still join another church altogether.
In Summary
Urizen is the hand extended to those who have fallen from grace. He is the patron of survivors who are not yet healed, outcasts who are not yet reconciled, and failed heroes who still have the capacity to stand again.
Urizen does not ask his faithful to extinguish their light. He teaches them to protect it through the darkness until they are ready to carry it openly.
“First survive the storm. Then understand the wound. Finally, become shelter for someone else.”

Ildarinen
The Master of the Forge – The Sky-Forged – The Father of Hammers – The Maker of the Sampo
Ildarinen is the good-aligned god of smithing, craft, invention, endurance, and ordered creation. He is the patron of dwarves and all who shape the world through patient labour. To Ildarinen, a well-made tool is an act of service, a strong home is a promise of protection, and a finely forged weapon is only righteous when used to defend others.
He is lawful not because he demands obedience for its own sake, but because creation requires discipline. Metal must be heated, measured, struck, cooled, and tested. So too must a society be built through skill, responsibility, and care.
Portfolio and Names
Ildarinen’s portfolio includes smithing, metalwork, invention, engineering, architecture, dwarves, honest labour, perseverance, and the creation of useful things.
He is known as the Eternal Smith, the Master of the Forge, the Sky-Forged, the Father of Hammers, and the Maker of the Sampo. Dwarves often call him the First Craftsman or the Ancestor Beneath the Mountain.
Ildarinen values craftsmanship over luxury. A beautiful object that fails its purpose is inferior to a plain one that protects a family, feeds a village, or helps a worker endure difficult labour.
Who Prayed
Ildarinen is chiefly prayed to by dwarves, smiths, armourers, engineers, miners, builders, masons, carpenters, inventors, and artisans of every kind. Farmers may honour him when repairing tools, while soldiers pray before receiving newly forged weapons or armour.
He is also respected by anyone who creates something lasting through patience and effort. His faithful believe that honest work is sacred when it improves the lives of others.
When They Prayed
Ildarinen is prayed to before beginning a difficult project, lighting a forge, entering a mine, raising a building, or testing a new invention. His blessing is also sought when repairing something damaged or completing a work that will outlive its maker.
Many smiths offer a brief prayer before the first strike of the hammer and another after the final inspection. The first honours the material; the second acknowledges the responsibility of the craftsman.
Holy Day and Devotion
Ildarinen’s chief holy day is the Day of the First Hammer, commemorating the beginning of divine smithing. Communities celebrate with public demonstrations, apprenticeships, contests of skill, and the repair of tools belonging to those who cannot afford new ones.
Devotion to Ildarinen is shown through patience, precision, teaching, and maintenance. A worshipper may honour him by repairing a broken tool, sharing a technique, completing unfinished work, or creating something useful without seeking praise.
Tenets
Ildarinen’s faithful are expected to work honestly, honour their materials, test what they create, and accept responsibility for the consequences of their craft.
They must not knowingly produce shoddy work that endangers others, claim another person’s work as their own, or hoard useful knowledge solely to increase their power. Apprentices must be taught properly, and masters must acknowledge the labour of those who assist them.
Ildarinen does not forbid weapons, engines, or dangerous inventions. He requires that they be made with care and used with judgement. Creating something powerful without considering who may suffer from its misuse is a failure of craftsmanship and conscience.
Ways of Praying
Ildarinen’s prayers are spoken over fire, metal, stone, wood, and tools. A craftsman may pray through the rhythm of hammering, the careful measurement of a joint, or the patient correction of a flaw.
Offerings commonly include metalwork, tools, repaired objects, or the first successful product of a new technique. The most meaningful offering is often a useful object given freely to someone who needs it.
Shrines and Temples
Ildarinen’s temples are usually working forges, workshops, mines, foundries, or great halls built into mountains. They contain communal tools, training spaces, storehouses, and places where damaged equipment can be repaired.
A proper shrine includes a forge or hearth, an anvil, and a piece of unfinished work. The unfinished object reminds worshippers that no craft is complete until it has been tested and put to use.
The Sampo
The Sampo is Ildarinen’s greatest creation, a divine engine forged from the fundamental substances of creation. Its exact form is disputed, but accounts generally agree that it is something which now sits at the center of the world. It is by all lore and accounts an item or engine which grants immense power over Transmutative magic. It was made by Ildarinen during the beginning of the conflict between Bahamut and the Elder Dragons. He used it to remake the shattered pieces of creation into the world as it would be inhabited by mortals, outstripping the pace of the destruction.
Clergy and Organization
Ildarinen’s priests are called Forgekeepers, Anvil-Fathers, or Masters of the Hearth. His clergy include smiths, engineers, architects, miners, and teachers. Authority is usually granted according to skill, reliability, and willingness to train others.
Temples often function as guilds and schools. They preserve designs, certify apprentices, settle disputes over workmanship, and maintain tools for the wider community.
In Summary
Ildarinen is the god of making the world stronger through disciplined craft. He teaches that creation is a moral act and that every tool, building, weapon, or invention carries the character of its maker.
“Forge with care. Build for those who come after. Let what you make be stronger than you are.”

Taurakion
The Guardian – The First Citizen – The Horned Shield – The Wall Between
Taurakion is the ancient Minotaur god of [[Throngler|Thronglers]].
In ancient Minotaur society, a place was not truly a settlement until it had a Throngler. Chosen by popular vote, the Throngler came to know every street, passage, gate, and blind corner better than anyone. Any intruder who slipped past the walls still had to evade the settlement’s chosen monster.
Some Thronglers were planners or engineers, but most were large, blunt-minded creatures valued for loyalty, courage, and enthusiasm for violence. Taurakion would never expect his followers to govern, simply to protect.
Portfolio and Names
Taurakion’s portfolio includes loyalty, defence, gleeful and justified violence, pursuit, and threats within or without.
He is known as the Throngler, the Guardian, and the Wall Between. His sacred places are doorways, gates, settlement walls, and Labyrinthian internal walls.
He does not judge whether a community is kind, just, or worthy. He cares whether its chosen guardian fulfils the duty entrusted to them.
Who Prayed
When Taurakion was worshipped, it was typically by a Throngler hoping to make him proud with well-directed violence, a citizen directing the Throngler, or an onlooker praising the Throngler’s effective work.
Tenets
Taurakion’s faithful must protect those in their care, obey their community’s lawful will, and use their strength against threats identified by those they serve.
They must not abandon their post, betray their voters, or act against the settlement for personal comfort or glory. A Throngler’s violence must serve the community.
Taurakion does not require his servants to be good or honourable by any wider standard. A settlement may be cruel or corrupt. If its citizens direct their Throngler toward a dishonourable duty, the Throngler is generally bound to obey. Taurakion values loyalty and service above morality.
“Stand where lil ones say. Let ’em decide what’s got ’sta be done, an’ make ’em proud!”
When They Prayed and Devotion
Citizens prayed when choosing a Throngler. Thronglers prayed while carrying out their duties.
Devotion was shown through watchfulness, repairing defences, sharing communal burdens, and guarding the settlement while others slept.
Ways of Praying
Prayers were brief and direct. After a particularly brutal victory, a Throngler might say, “I ’ope Taurakion saw tha’ one.”
Offerings included supplies and weapons given to a Thongler, particularily large weapons like mauls and greataxes. A successful hunt through the settlement’s streets was an especially meaningful prayer.
Shrines and Temples
Shrines stood at settlement entrances, beside gates, or near meeting places. They often featured a carved Minotaur head and a stone marked with citizens’ names.
Clergy and Organization
Taurakion had no formal priesthood. His representatives were the Thronglers, citizens chosen by popular vote to defend their settlement.
Some were skilled planners or engineers. Most were large, fearless, loyal, and eager to dispense violence. Their authority was limited to defence. They did not rule, and rulers did not necessarily value their advice.
A Throngler’s authority came from the voters who selected them. To betray those voters was to betray Taurakion.
In Summary
Taurakion is the god of the guardian who stands between a settlement and danger, whether that settlement is noble or vile. He is loyal, direct, and devoted to service, with little concern for honour beyond fulfilling the will of those he protects.
“You chose me to stand. So I stand.”

Faiths, religions, and superstitions
Things people believe (that may or may not be related to the gods)

Zodiac Signs
Drakon, The Draconic Star
A blazing crimson constellation said to burn with the spirit of dragons. It shines brightest during times of conquest and great change. Those born beneath it: Ambitious, determined, proud, and driven to leave their mark upon the world. They rarely settle for mediocrity and possess an intense inner fire. ⸻
Wandelin, The Roaming Star
Unlike every other star, this wandering light never remains in one place for long. In some lands it is visible for weeks, while in others it vanishes entirely before reappearing elsewhere. Those born beneath it: Carefree, adventurous, spontaneous, and impulsive. They chase new experiences, dislike routine, and often trust instinct over careful planning. ⸻
Gemel, The Twin Star
A pair of stars that appear as one from afar, forever circling one another. Their light shifts constantly, making it difficult to tell which shines brighter. Those born beneath it: Adaptable and multifaceted. Their personalities shift with circumstance, allowing them to embody strengths—and weaknesses—found among many of the other signs. ⸻
The Dark Star
This star gives no radiant light, instead appearing as a dim void against the heavens. Though overlooked by many, its presence is unmistakable to those who know where to look. Those born beneath it: Calm, disciplined, introspective, and reserved. They are patient observers, often carrying a brooding demeanor while possessing remarkable self-control. ⸻
Solis, The Dawn Star
A brilliant golden star whose warm light is said to bring hope to travelers and comfort to the lost. It is among the brightest lights in the night sky. Those born beneath it: Energetic, compassionate, optimistic, and deeply empathetic. They naturally inspire others and often place the needs of loved ones before their own. ⸻
The Stagnant Star
This star appears fixed even as the heavens turn around it. Ancient astrologers claimed that nothing could move it from its course. Those born beneath it: Resolute, steadfast, and dependable—but often stubborn. Once they have chosen a path, changing their minds is nearly impossible. ⸻
Arcanis, The Arcane Star
A luminous star that glimmers with shifting shades of violet, magenta, and blue. It has long been associated with the Weave and unexplained magical phenomena. Those born beneath it: Curious, imaginative, intelligent, and naturally drawn toward magic and mystery. Their minds constantly seek knowledge beyond the ordinary. ⸻
Noxis, The Fractured Star
Rarely seen, this pale white star appears cracked, as though its light has splintered into jagged pieces. Despite its broken appearance, it has never faded from the heavens. Those born beneath it: Resilient, unconventional, and quietly enduring. They often carry emotional scars yet find strength through hardship, seeing beauty where others see only ruin.

Duchy of Ironwood
The northeastern border province of the Kingdom of Eusia

Duchy of Ironwood
This Duchy in one of several which comprise the Kingdom of Eusia. It is lead by Duke Cedric Blackwood. It is a small duchy in the far north of the kingdom. It borders wild country on it's north, Duchy Greycliff to it's west, Duchy Broadwater to it's south, and the Eastern ocean to it's east. The Duke holds little sway in the grander politics of the kingdom. Despite being poorly represented in the King’s council, they are taxed quite heavily. The Wild North is seen by the king as rich and ripe for the harvest, but in reality it is too dangerous to reliably produce wealth from.
Exports: Iron ore, Charcoal, Lumber
Imports: Grain and Food, Mercenaries and Steel
The Duchal capital, Tollgate, is found in the County of Verstrad.
Counties:
County of Timberfells
County of Verstrad
County of Mistshroud
Map:

Schmoop-Plate
The village of Schmoop-Plate (formerly Shiny-Bottle Cove) is a north eastern coastal village in the [[County of Mistshroud]]. It is impossible for the Count to tax the Kuo-Toa that call this place home, but it would be very difficult and expensive to force them into compliance or otherwise annex their land. As such, they remain an oddity at the border between the wilderness and civilization.
As is typical of Kuo-Toa, a long and unending chain of "gods" have been worshiped in this village, and it's name usually changes to venerate the deity of the day. For many years, it was known as Shiny-Bottle Cove, but that changed when a strange rock careened out of the heavens onto the beach nearby. Inside of a small crater lined by quickly cooling glass was a very dazed ooze. The Kuo-Toa, knowledgeable in the way of ravenous oozes, initially made to dispatch of the creature. Luckily for [[Schmoop]], his consciousness returned in time for him to ward them off not with vicious attacks but with attempts at peaceful communication. Seeing that this creature was not a mindless ooze but a sentient being, the Kuo-Toa took the sign as divine and quickly carted him off to the village for worship and veneration.
The old religion, the Shiny Bottle, was quickly replaced by this new god who could move and speak, though not in a way that the Fish-men could understand. They did everything in their power to support his recovery and display their devotion. Before long, Schmoop was on a silver platter. When the Archpriest of the Shiny Bottle had finished respectfully disposing of the old god, he cast Tongues upon Schmoop and began to make inquiries. It was then that they learned of his name, and quickly renamed their entire society to honor their new god.
It was less than a day before Schmoop was recovered enough to leave by his own accord, and being an ooze meant it was not difficult for him to slip out of the shoddily constructed temple which he was being worshiped in. At a time when only a few of the Kuo-Toa were present, he playfully signed for them to cover their eyes, which they immediately did. Minutes later, when other Kuo-Toa arrived and angrily asked them where their god had gone, they had only the final command of their new deity to give: "He must've meant 'Hide and Seek!'"
Many villagers have since claimed to have found the hiding god, and keep closed containers in their home which they say contain His Holiness. This, of course, is not true, and so has lead to many fights and arguments blending reality with theology while the truth of Schmoop's disappearance remains unknown to them all.

Tollgate
Tollgate is the Duchal capital of the [[Ex Mortia/Locations/Kingdom of Eusia/Duchy of Ironwood/Duchy of Ironwood|Duchy of Ironwood]]. It lies within the [[County of Verstrad]]. [[Duke Cedric Blackwood]] rules from his Duchal estate within the northern district of the city, while [[Baron Joseph Dawkins]] sees to the day-to-day affairs of the City from within the southern Hall. It supports a population of 8000 people within it's walls, though that number balloons to about 12,000 with surrounding suburbs and dependent hamlets. The walls are 25 feet high in most places, but rise to 35 feet near the gates.
Layout
The city is built onto a hill, and is surrounded by stone walls. The area inside these walls is about one square mile of dense built-up area. The King's Highway enters the city through an enormous and old portcullis built into a great stone arch in the south wall. The weigh-house and storehouses are next to the gate. The Baron's Hall is not far from these, and sits adjacent to the market square. Further up the hill are more well-to-do houses. The top of the hill against the north wall sees the Duke's Estate, effectively a small castle which overlooks the surrounding country and city to it's south. There is a smaller gate near the castle, but it is generally not used by anyone who is not on official business, and acts as a means to maneuver during the defense of the city. Towers are found every 150 feet on important stretches (near the gate, castle, and hall) and farther apart elsewhere.
Food and Lodging
The city contains some 12 taverns, 4 large inns, 10 bakeries, 8 butchers, 10 breweries, and 4 public granaries/storage houses.
Trade and Finance
There is one general market square, 2 covered market halls, 3 moneylenders, 10 warehouses, 1 weighhouse, and 3 customs offices.
Craft and Repair
6 blacksmiths, one armorsmith and one weaponsmith, 8 carpenters, 4 coopers, 4 tanners/leatherworkers, 4 masons, 10 tailors, 5 cobbers
Civic and protective
8 guard posts, 3 gate houses (main gate, gate between lower and upper), 3 city watch barracks, 1 main court and 2 minor magistrate halls, one main prison below the Baron's Hall and several small lockups, one hospital and four alms houses.
The full wartime garrison capacity is 1000 soldiers, but currently the garrison actually comprises 450 men. Permanent guards number 150.
Religion and Learning
2 Major temples, 8 smaller chapels, 2 Monastic houses, 1 school
District
Function
Est. Population
1. Ducal Quarter
Duke’s estate, court offices, elite retainers, diplomatic housing
700
2. Baron’s Ward
Barony hall, city administration, watch offices, tax clerks, guild oversight
900
3. Market Ward
Main markets, stalls, inns, taverns, moneychangers, warehouses
2,200
4. Crafts Ward
Smiths, tanners, leatherworkers, carpenters, coopers, small workshops
1,700
5. Temple Ward
Major temples, cloisters, hospitals, schools, charity housing
1,000
6. North Gate Ward
Garrison housing, armories, stables, road and gate support
1,500
7. River/Lower Ward
Mills, docks if any, laundries, laborers, poor housing, waste trades
1,400
8. Outer Boroughs
Farmers, handlers, common housing, service yards, seasonal workers
2,500
Politics
To function adequately, the city should collect 14,000gp of taxes annually. In the last two years, they have struggled to collect more than 10,000gp. Thus, the garrison is thinning, repairs are being delayed, the walls are becoming neglected, guard patrols are fewer and less frequent, and the cities reputation has become one of harsh taxation. The Duke and the Baron are thusly very unpopular.
Processess
Standard Charges
Situation
Cost
Foot entry
1 sp
Mounted entry
2 sp
Pack animal
1 sp per beast
Cart / small wagon entry
5 sp
Large wagon / caravan wagon
1 gp
Trade goods inspection
5 sp per load
Market stall, one day
5 sp
Prime / covered stall, one day
1 gp
Weighhouse / valuation
2 sp per shipment
Warehouse storage, one day
2 sp per crate or bundle
Bridge / gate / road use for goods
1–5 sp
Exit toll, no goods
1 sp
Exit toll, with goods
5 sp per load or 10% of declared value, whichever is less
Sales duty
10% of sale value
These amounts are tuned so a routine stay usually drains a few silver pieces, while active trade can approach roughly 10% of a low-level party’s spending money.

Duchy of Greycliff
The Northwest border province of the Kingdom of Eusia

Duchy of Greycliff
This Duchy in one of several which comprise the Kingdom of Eusia. It is lead by Duke Cassian Blackwood. This duchy rests in the north of the Kingdom, it's western border is what gives it it's name; relentless, brooding cliffs overlooking the violent waters of the Western Ocean. It's north border meets the Wild North, much the same as their eastern neighbour, the Duchy of Ironwood. Though most of the southeastern border is shared with the Duchy of Marvane, there are small portions in the east and south shared with Broadwater and Vermillion, respectively.
The rainy lands, riddled with ancient ruins brimming with magic to be exploited and exported. Sometimes the rain is cursed, but the proliferation of abjuration mages from the college on the coast keeps the supply lines running and the gold flowing. Folks from Greycliff have a reputation for being odd, but their tenacity is respectable.
Exports: Magical Artifacts, Alchemical reagents, Goats cheese and Sheep wool, Cold-Weather crops
Imports: Salt, Processed flour, Tools, Woven cloth
The Duchal capital is Stormwatch, built atop great cliffs looking over the choppy western ocean.
Counties:
County of Sunbarrow
County of Highmount
County of Miskaton
Map:

County of Highmount
A county in located in the north of the Duchy of Greycliff. It's the largest county, but it's terrain is poor for farming. It is very rugged country with a cluster of tall mountains in their center. The poor land and remoteness means that there is only one town, Hanweir. Those who live in the hills fend largely for themselves and do not care for outsiders.

Hanweir
Hanweir is a small but old coastal town on the storm-lashed northern shore of the [[Duchy of Greycliff]], answering in law to the [[County of Highmount]] but in practice often left to its own troubling devices. It lies in a crooked bay where dark cliffs hem in a narrow strip of waterfront, and a river of the same name empties into the sea through a constantly churning bar. Hanweir’s population hovers around 2,000 souls in town and another 500 scattered along the windswept farms and fishing hamlets clinging to the nearby coast. At a distance, its clustered slate roofs and solitary church tower look almost picturesque; up close, the salt-stained walls, damp alleys, and shuttered windows tell a different story.
Layout
Hanweir huddles on top of and beside a cliff on the sea, with only a partial curtain wall of old stone protecting the landward side; the seaward edge is defended more by jagged rocks and treacherous currents than by masonry. The enclosed area is barely a quarter square mile, dense with leaning houses, narrow lanes, and covered passages that keep out the wind but trap the ever-present smell of salt, fish, and damp stone. The Old Road from [[Stormwatch]] descends into town from the east, passing a squat gate-tower and a neglected weigh-station before opening into the crooked Market Green, a lopsided triangle of packed earth bordered by the town hall, a few inns, and the fish stalls. A separate, lower lane runs toward the docks along the river, ending in a small harbor cluttered with piers, net-racks, and boathouses, all watched over by a stubby lighthouse built onto an outthrust of rock. On the higher ground to the north stands the [[Church of the Tidelord]] and a scattering of slightly better-kept homes belonging to shipowners, moneylenders, and those few families who have prospered in this peculiar town.
Districts
District
Function
Est. Population
High Ward | Church of the Tidelord, magistrate’s house, wealthier homes, small school | 300
Market Ward | Market green, town hall, common inns and taverns, shops | 500
Dock Ward | Docks, fish hall, warehouses, shipwright, sailors’ lodging | 700
Lower Ward | Poor housing, net-menders, tanners, waste trades, marginal folk | 500
Outer Farms & Hamlets | Upland farms, scattered coastal cottages, seasonal fish camps | 500
Commerce
Food and Lodging
For its size, Hanweir offers enough places to sleep and drink, but few that feel truly welcoming. There are 4 taverns, two of which also function as modest inns (The [[The Squid's Beak]] and the recently purchased [[Gander and Goose Public House]]), 3 bakeries, 4 fishmongers, 3 butchers, and 3 small breweries that produce a rough coastal ale and harsher spirits favored by sailors. Most common fare is fish stew, dark bread, and whatever root vegetables the upland farms can spare; fresh fruit and good wine are rare enough to count as luxuries. Visitors who stay long quickly learn that the best meals are often found among private households, though ingratiating ones-self with the locals can be a strange and unnerving business.
Trade and Finance
Hanweir’s economy rests on fishing, scant coastal trade, and small-scale smuggling that everyone pretends not to notice. There is one central market green, one covered fish hall near the docks, 2 small moneylenders who also act as informal bankers and pawnbrokers, 5 warehouses clustered near the harbor, a single weigh-house, and 1 customs office that is staffed more diligently when a ducal inspector is in town. Most legitimate trade involves salted fish, whale oil, rough cloth, and timber floated downriver from inland camps, but rumours speak of stranger cargoes landed at night on out-of-the-way coves. Business is modest but constant, and coin flows steadily enough to keep the town alive, if not exactly thriving.
Craft and Repair
Hanweir maintains what it needs to keep ships afloat and people barely comfortable. There are 2 blacksmiths and 1 dedicated shipwright’s yard, 3 carpenters, 2 coopers, 2 tanners/leatherworkers, 2 masons, 4 tailors, and 2 cobblers. Most work, especially near the docks, shows a rough practicality: thick timbers, tarred rope, patched sails, and heavy boots. Finer craftsmanship is rare and usually commissioned by outsiders; any delicate work that does appear often carries strange motifs—curling waves, spiral eyes, or unfamiliar sea-creatures—that some locals swear are “just old designs” and refuse to discuss further.
Civic and Protective
The town’s official defenses are thin, relying as much on isolation and bad reputation as on steel. Hanweir supports 3 guard posts (one at the landward gate, one at the docks, one near the market), 1 small gatehouse, a single town watch barracks with room for perhaps 40 men-at-arms, a combined town hall and court where the local magistrate sits, and a cramped lockup beneath it with space for a dozen prisoners at most. There is no separate prison, and serious criminals are usually sent south to Stormwatch—when they are sent anywhere at all. One modest infirmary, maintained by the Church, tends to the sick and shipwrecked, while two small almshouses provide bare shelter for widows, orphans, and sailors too broken to go back to sea. In theory the town could muster 200 fighting men in wartime, but in practice only about 80 are on any organized roll, and fewer still are well equipped.
Religion and Learning
Religious life in Hanweir centers on one major temple—the [[Church of the Tidelord]]—and 3 smaller chapels scattered among the lanes and near the docks. Officially, the Church venerates the same gods as elsewhere in the Duchy, but practically they only venerate [[Ex Mortia/Gods and Greater Powers/Evil/Thalor]], and any who seek communion with other gods are best served at one of the chapels. A tiny monastic house of 6–8 recluses keeps a lantern-lit watch on the headland and claims to maintain “vigil for those who are lost beneath the waves.” Formal learning is scarce: there is 1 small school in the upper ward where children of fisherfolk learn letters enough to read catch-tallies and simple contracts, and a handful of private tutors who take on the offspring of shipowners and merchants. Books are uncommon, and those that do exist are often locked away in the church vestry or in private collections rumored to contain sea-stained, unsettling tomes.
Politics and Mood
Hanweir answers nominally to the [[Count of Highmount]] and, through him, to [[Duke Cassian Blackwood]], but the town’s isolation and meager tax yield mean it is often governed in practice by its own magistrate and a loose council of shipowners and elder fishermen. Annual taxes are supposed to reach 3,000 gp, but most years only 2,000–2,200 gp actually make their way inland, with shortfalls explained away by storms, shipwrecks, and “poor catches.” As a result, repairs to the wall and harbor works are frequently deferred, the watch goes unpaid for months, and the town leans harder on petty fees and fines. Outsiders find Hanweir suspicious and inward-looking; locals are wary, fatalistic, and quietly resentful of mainland interference, yet curiously protective of their grim little town.
Taxes
Hanweir uses a simplified tax code, scaled to its smaller size and poorer traffic. The intent is that a brief stay for travelers costs a few silver, while merchants and smugglers alike feel the bite of repeated tolls.
Standard Charges
Situation
Cost
Foot entry
5 cp
Mounted entry
1 sp
Pack animal
5 cp per beast
Small boat docking (day)
5 cp
Coastal trader docking (day)
5 sp
Cart / small wagon entry
2 sp
Large wagon / caravan entry
5 sp
Trade goods inspection
2 sp per load
Market stall, one day (open)
2 sp
Covered stall, one day
5 sp
Weighhouse / valuation
1 sp per shipment
Warehouse storage, one day
1 sp per crate or bundle
Harbor crane / loading use
1–3 sp
Exit toll, no goods
5 cp
Exit toll, with goods
2 sp per load or 5% of declared value, whichever is less
Sales duty (within market)
5% of sale value
When Hanweir Charges
Entry
Collected at the gate or docks when people or wagons arrive.
Inspection
If cargo is obvious, town officers or dock reeves inspect it when it is offloaded or before entering the gate. This is the main moment to distinguish personal gear from trade goods.
Market Use
Anyone using the market green, fish hall, or harbor-front stalls pays the stall fee in advance. Taxes on sales are taken immediately or recorded by a scribe when larger lots change hands.
Exit
Those leaving with bulk goods pay an exit toll, unless they can show that the goods were already taxed in the market. The town is cautious about double taxation, but not above using confusion to extract an extra coin from despised outsiders.
Services
Fees are collected when services are used: storage in a warehouse, weighing in the weighhouse, use of the harbor crane, arranging an armed escort inland, or special customs checks (often a pretext to shake down suspicious traders).

Duchy of Summervale
The Southeastern most province of the Kingdom of Eusia

Duchy of Summervale
 
This Duchy in one of several which comprise the Kingdom of Eusia. It is lead by Duke Julian Thorne. It is a medium-sized duchy in the south-east of the Kingdom, who's southern border meets with the desert and eastern border meets the Eastern Ocean. To the north, it shares a border with the Duchy of Broadwater and slightly west of that, the Capital City. It's western border is shared with the Duchy of Vermillion, with whom they share an alliance.
Sprawling tracts of great farmland, beautiful ocean scenes on it's east coast, warm and agreeable climate. Summervale is the breadbasket of the Kingdom, and it's highly desireable realestate. If not for their strong alliance with house Kaelthor, they may well have been absorbed into the other Duchy ages ago. The alliance has been strained by the recent switch of rulership in their neighbour's court, but Summervale can't afford to break ties with Kaelthor, regardless of their ruler.
Exports: Grain (Wheat and Barley), Ale and Wine, Livestock (Cattle, Sheep, Horses)
Imports: Tools, Stone
The Ducal capital is Sol-Astra and it's frankly delightful.

County of Troubadouria
The County of Troubadouria is found on a pleasant bay in the [[Ex Mortia/Locations/Kingdom of Eusia/Duchy of Summervale/Duchy of Summervale|Duchy of Summervale]]. It is ruled by [[Countess Sleido Jazdug]]. A place of music and joy, it frequently sees barn dances and other joyous gatherings. It is the home of the [[Ex Mortia/Locations/Kingdom of Eusia/Duchy of Summervale/County of Troubadoria/Geodesic Opera House]]. It is a place of star magnolias and cherry blossoms, of dogwood and cedar. They grow many watermelons down by the bay.

Geodesic Opera House
The Geodesic Opera House is a large Bard's College found in the [[Ex Mortia/Locations/Kingdom of Eusia/Duchy of Summervale/County of Troubadoria/County of Troubadouria|County of Troubadouria]]. It has a focus on raw musical talent, but harbors great love of Dance and Glamor. It is here that the best performers in the kingdom are trained, and many stay here to hone their craft. Others graduate and make their way to Eusaria or one of the Duchal capitals to find their fame and fortune.

Great Forest
A large temperate forest which separates [[Eusaria]] from the [[Ex Mortia/Locations/Kingdom of Eusia/Duchy of Summervale/Duchy of Summervale|Duchy of Summervale]].
There are certainly cottages of friendly woodsmen, but no large settlements. Worship of [[Ex Mortia/Gods and Greater Powers/Good/Xenegos|Xenegos]] was common among the merry folk who live there. The King's Highway ran through here, as did most trade to and from the capital and Summervale. As such, the road was rich with both wealthy merchants and well to do nobles. The presence of crime along this stretch has thusly always been a pressing concern of the Crown, and so proper military patrols take place on a regular basis. That being said, they rarely stray from the road itself, and the surrounding wood is verdant and thick with cover.