Soma

Large swaths of Etharis are shrouded in darkness, supernatural and otherwise. The darkness shrouding the land of Ostoya is more sinister and magical in origin. The people of all these lands have adapted to a hostile environment. Punishing storms are frequent across the land, foreshadowed by howling winds and then drenching rain. Where the sun never dries the ground, mud is a constant fact of life. The crops that grow are strange and bitter. For most people, there is no safety outside the radius of a torch’s glow.

Geography

The lands east of the Grey Spine are a temperate, heavily-forested region filled with hills and valleys. The further one travels east, the more the land flattens into rolling plains, dotted here and there by treacherous heaths and bogs. At the easternmost edge of Ostoya, the terrain breaks into jagged cliffs that border a restless, ice-filled sea. Further eastward across the water, a magical fog surrounds an island that few have ever laid eyes on. The terrain is not suited for heavy farming. The Ostoyans supplement what meagre crops they grow by hunting and herding. Coastal cities also employ fishing and whaling fleets to feed their burgeoning populations. The Ostoyan weather is typified by Nov Ostoya's skies, heavy rains, sudden snowfall, and endless mists. The sun is a rare sight, and most welcome when it breaks through the mantle of grey clouds. What Ostoya lacks in hospitable environment, it makes up in tremendous amounts of ore, stone, and coal from the Grey Spine. Lumber is also plentiful, enabling the Ostoyans to build robust structures. These resources lend themselves to frequent trade with other nations, but also lead to violent border disputes with neighbours, particularly the Bürach.

Localized Phenomena

The Darkfall

Two decades into the Ostoya-Bürach war, a terrible earthquake shook the Soma region. Something sinister underneath the ground was making itself known. The skies darkened over Ostoya as necrotic energy poured out of cracks in the earth. To the shock of the local populace, the fissures that opened revealed long-buried ruins. The city of Nov Ostoya had apparently been built over the bones of an ancient metropolis that had sunk beneath the earth ages ago. The Soman nobility sent expeditions to investigate these underground structures in the hopes of uncovering treasure or magical secrets that would help the war effort. Most of these groups did not return; the few that did had been reduced to stragglers, babbling hysterical tales of maze-like ruins, ravenous undead, and a dark shrine that spoke to their minds. Eventually, the missing explorers returned, though as many would soon find out, they had been changed forever. They marched with an undead horde that rose in full force into Soma. The desperate Ostoyans then found themselves caught in a war on two fronts. Stretched to breaking, the Ostoyans fell to drastic measures. A specialised company of soldiers descended into the abyss and held off the horde. Then, mages from Raevo collapsed the largest of the fissures, sealing the undead back underground. With that, the Ostoyans hoped to turn their efforts back to repelling the Bürach. But the undead, it seemed, were not finished. One year later, a strange malady began to spread among the nobility. They died only to rise again— as vampires. The undead quickly overran the government and suppressed all opposition. Then they moved against Bürach. In the winter of the war’s 25th year, the Bürach abandoned their forts in Ostoyan territory and retreated to their homeland. To this day, Ostoya and Bürach remain at war, but now as rivals of equal strength. For every step one side takes into the other’s territory, they are driven back. The two great powers stand at a deadlock. Even now the supernatural darkening of Ostoya’s sky persists. The youngest generation of the city of Nov Ostoya have never seen the sun. A perpetual night covers the whole land, only weakening to a dismal twilight near Ostoya’s borders. Indeed, the people of the neighboring Charneault Kingdom consider Ostoya to begin where the light ends—though some fear that the border is encroaching year by year.

History

The province of Soma is the seat of the Ostoyan government, or so the Somans like to believe. Here lies the capital city, Nov Ostoya, and its central keep, Blackharbor.  When the first immigrants arrived in Ostoya, they immediately staked out certain areas for their own.  The Volker family chose a place where the jagged seaside cliffs gave way to a beach and a natural harbour. It was a windblown area with strange red earth which they assumed to be clay. They founded the town of Nov Ostoya and raised a keep by the restless sea. In time, Nov Ostoya became a hub for sea trading, fishing, and whaling. Lumberyards were erected at the nearby forests. As the roads lengthened and grew more developed, wealth began to flow into the town, which soon turned into a dense city filled with ornate towers and brooding sculptures. Nov Ostoya came to be known as the City of Gargoyles. When the Bürach Empire invaded Ostoya, Soma was at the front lines of the war. While wealthy, their army was not as experienced as the Empire’s seasoned soldiers, and they lost more battles than they won. The Bürach’s encroachment into the province grew with each passing season, before retreating for the winter. Matters worsened when the Darkfall led to widespread destruction. The inciting earthquake unearthed an ancient metropolis that the Somans had unwittingly built over. The City Below gave up its dead: hordes of zombies, wights, ghouls, and vampires emerged from the abyss to ravage the countryside. Without drastic measures, it was clear that Ostoya would fall to this new threat. The nobility came up with a plan: they ordered a young Soman captain named Morgen Hund and his company to fight their way into the largest chasm and hold back the tide of undead.
Hund’s company dutifully descended the crevice, destroying scores of undead along the way. When they had carried the battle deep into the abyss, the Raevo wizards used their most powerful spells to collapse the sides of the crevice, sealing both the undead and the soldiers within. With the horde dealt with, the nobility took one day to honour their soldiers’ sacrifice before turning their attention back to the Bürach. But this was not the last they saw of Morgen Hund. The Ostoyan captain had survived the collapse. He wandered deep in the underground city to escape the undead horde. During his travels, he found himself in a strange shrine dedicated to a forgotten god. The shrine spoke to him, offering him his fondest desire in exchange for his servitude. Hund replied, “I wish for the power to destroy my oppressors.” The shrine glowed in the dark like a votive candle, then struck Hund down with a blast of sinister magic. “Granted.” When he awoke days later, Hund had been changed into a vampire lord. He spent the better part of the year gathering an army of undead before returning to the surface. Upon emerging Hund sought the Soman nobility, turning each one into vampires. He killed the Grand Duke and took his place, renaming himself Klaus Vorgen, Lord of Soma.

Blood Debt

Seven votes for one petition. Mayor Zardov stood quietly in the empty meeting chamber, facing the table where seven empty seats looked back at him. Today was an important day, perhaps the most important in his career. His petition to build a main road that would run through his town of Crow’s Bend would finally be heard and voted upon. He could scarcely believe he had made it this far. Normally, it would require payment of a pint of his own blood just to be heard. And to get approval, the measure would need a majority, four votes. The price he would have to pay for those votes—well, that he had yet to hear. And so he waited for seven figures to fill those seven seats. And waited. And waited. Two hours later, the door opened and a minister entered. By his pale skin and red eyes, he was a vampire just like most nobles. He approached the mayor and wordlessly handed him a note before turning to leave. The mayor opened it, read it twice, and fell to his knees weeping. Approved. This victory would make his town a trade centre for the entire province. His family would live in luxury for years to come. “Praise be to the heavens,” he whispered. “Praise be!” It was only three months later, when his only daughter received an invitation to a ball in Castle Blackharbour, that he realised the price of his success.

Once the gentry and nobility were all turned, they formed a united front against the Bürach. Bürach soldiers were shocked to see their dead comrades rising from the frozen battlefield and shambling towards them. After a single bitter season of war, the undead forced the Bürach to abandon their forts in Soma and return to their homeland. After this victory, Grand Duke Vorgen continued to consolidate his power. He established the Crimson Court, the highest ruling body of Ostoya, and placed his closest allies in the highest circle of power. They ruled the land unchallenged for years until the Raevan Secession. To date, some small fissures to the City Below remain open, and none really know what passes through. Come nightfall, the citizens lock themselves in their homes and taverns and wait for dawn. All travellers are warned: above all, do not wander Soma at night.

Alternative Name(s)

The land of Darkness, the Forsaken East, Bat Country, The land without Sun.

Type

Territory

Included Locations

• Nov Ostoya

Owner/Ruler

Grand Duke Drago Koshevek

Owning Organization

The Crimson Court