The plateau of Adyll was born out of the sea, pushed up through tectonic pressures over a million years ago. To the east, beyond the cliffs where the capital city is located, lies a formidable desert which stretches for hundreds of miles, uninhabited except by tribal nomads who are Adyll's only contact with the outside world. To the west, the waves of the ocean crash violently into the steep rocks at its edge.
Adyll's people have lived in this land peacefully for over a thousand years, raising livestock in the craggy mountain landscape, and growing crops in the fertile mountain soil. Rains come every year at the right time, brought in by winds from the ocean. In winter, snow covers the tops of the mountains, but lower elevations still remain temperate. There is no need for outside contact for the nation of Adyll. And Adyll's people have no desire for outsiders.
The royal family of Adyll is believed to be descendants of the Goddess known as the Lady. All people of Adyll are descended from Her, but the Queens of Adyll come from one direct line of eldest daughters of eldest daughters, who can trace themselves back to the daughter of the Goddess Herself. The worship of the Goddess is tied into every custom and way of life upon the plateau, from the shepherds who worship at sacred springs and bring their sheep for sacrifice at the Temple, to the coins used in every marketplace, to the Oracles who channel the Goddess during times of need.
Adyllians believe that when she is needed the most, there will be a daughter born to the royal house who will lead them from the darkness the way that the Lady led Her own children from the desert, when She raised their land from the floor of the sea and set them upon it.
But what need could Adyll ever have upon their plateau, high above the troubles of the outside world?
There have been whispers that have made their way even into the Land of Adyll... whispers of a man who is not a man. A man who is God-Among-Men, called Mahleck. Mahleck the Locust King, and his vast army called The Swarm.
Emissaries from foreign lands have come to Adyll begging for help, and the Adyllians turned their back upon them. What did they have to fear upon their high mountains with the walls given to them by their Mother Goddess, The Lady? So the emissaries were turned away, and Adyll enjoyed their last peaceful years in the safety of their plateau. Until The Swarm came across the desert and destroyed the nomadic tribes at the base of the mountains, and by then it was too late.
