The Burach Empire

NESTLED IN THE NORTHERN REGION OF Etharis, the Bürach Empire presides over its domain like an old lion ravaged by illness. Once a beacon for grand civilisations everywhere, it is now a shattered nation, a nest of corrupt nobility seeking to revive old glories, lurking monsters that prey on the unwary, and desperate common folk trying to survive both. Though it is still viewed by most of its neighbours as the political, military, and economic superpower of Etharis, those within the Bürach Empire live each day with the sense that the end is near. Whether that end comes by war, cults of strange gods, rebellion, economic collapse, or the otherworldly threat of The Beast , the Empire is seeing its last days.

Landscape

The Bürach Empire once covered the largest expanse of land of any nation in Etharis. Temperate forests abound at the northern edge, but dwindle the further one travels south as logging camps struggle to keep up with the Empire’s demand for lumber. The foothills of the The Grey Spine Mountain range provide a source of iron and precious gems. A major volcano, Mt. Vengeance, lies to the east of the Empire.

History

The Bürach People began as a group of neighbouring tribes that settled in the north eastern part of Etharis. Over the years, some of these tribes grew in size and stature, and either conquered or absorbed other tribes. Thus, they became the Bürach, which in the olden tongue means “One Above All”.
The people of the Bürach are creatures of tradition, living their lives in lock-step with religious beliefs, family ties, fealty to their Empire, and laws so ancient that few historians even remember why they were made.
The Empire follows a caste system, with the royalty at the top, followed by the nobility, the knights, the merchants, the craftsmen, and then finally, the serfs. Their society is structured around fealty to a particular noble family. Each province must abide by the rules of their lords and common born serfs may not leave the land of their birth without permission. Those caught abandoning their lords, either by running away or breaking their laws, are dealt with severely.
Though a single empire, the Bürach is not homogeneous. Four distinct groups of people gathered into provinces, with each devoted to their own particular god, and those divisions have survived even if the gods have not. The Abendfolk are devotees of Aurelia, goddess of healing and protection. Their city of Altenheim forms the cultural and economic heart of the Bürach Empire.
The wise Norden settled in the north, where they worship Ulmyr, the embodiment of magic and chaos. Nordenland is culturally divided, with the west populated by a mix of various races, with the east primarily peopled by outlanders. To the east, closest to the Grey Spine Mountains, lies Unterland . The Unterfolk follow the ways of Maligant, god of war and conquest.
Finally, to the south lies Rauland , whose people carry on their worship of Galt the Builder, god of order and construction.

Dawn of an Empire

As these provinces grew in power, foreign kingdoms soon challenged them, coveting their lands. The people turned to the gods for aid. The Four Divines agreed that the burgeoning Empire needed a central figure around which they could rally. Appearing to each of their priests, the Four advised the Bürach to form an empire.
The priests, known as the Hearthkeepers of Aurelia, searched far and wide for signs of one who would be the emperor.
Though they met many a knight, noble, and mage, none was deemed fit for the title.
Then their visions led them to the western marches. Here they found a 12-year-old boy named Thancred, who had single-handedly slain a giant that guarded a fjord so that he could build a bridge between two towns. When the Hearthkeepers came before him, they watched as he returned a dead lamb back to life with just his hands. As one, the priests fell to their knees and named him Emperor Indorius, first of his line.
As a gift to the new emperor, the four gods poured their divinity into four sacred artifacts: a crown that radiated authority (Galt), a sword that increased his might (Maligant), an orb that gave him far sight (Ulmyr), and a breastplate that protected him from harm (Aurelia).
With these treasures and the support of his people, the emperor launched a campaign against his nation’s rivals. With sword and banner, he led the combined army of the four provinces into war. Victory after victory followed him until the surrounding nations were conquered and folded into Bürach. This created an empire that stretched from one end of the continent to the other, the largest nation in all of Etharis.
With his empire secured, Emperor Indorius implemented ambitious changes throughout the land. He standardised trade and created guilds for building infrastructure. By establishing coastal settlements, he freed the Bürach from centuries as a land-locked people. A patron of the arts, he encouraged bards and musicians to flourish in his court. When Emperor Indorius finally entered the afterlife, the Empire had become a nation of wealth and enlightenment.
This greatness would not last. The gods who had answered the Bürach’s prayers were themselves the survivors of a disastrous war. Only time would reveal the wounds they had suffered fighting enemies beyond even divine comprehension.
Surely the gods’ minds were already tainted when they chose Indorius, for the seeds of empire they planted were the seeds of their own madness and destruction.

Gods’ End

So great was the impact of Indorius’s rule that the Bürach instituted what would be known as the Edict of Eternal Blood. According to this law, only one of the emperor’s direct descendants could be raised to the throne.
The Hearthkeepers took great care to preserve the purity of the imperial family. Cousins and sometimes siblings were led to marry in order to maintain the Edict. However, many voices across the Bürach warned against such acts, but their words fell on deaf ears. Encouraged by the priesthood, the people’s faith in the Imperial family kept the government in power, and for centuries all was right in the world.
That changed with Emperor Leopold I. From a young age, it was clear that Leopold was truly, irrevocably mad. He often spoke to things that weren’t there and treated people like they were insects, having servants imprisoned and flayed for the smallest infractions. Officials whispered among themselves that they could not in good conscience put him into power, but to disobey the Edict was to invite disaster for the government. Thus, one summer solstice, Leopold was crowned Emperor of the Bürach.
Possessed by religious fervor, Leopold exhorted the masses to believe that only one of the four follow four, when only one--the greatest, most powerful of all--was deserving of their devotion?
Each sect then began to argue that their god should be the One True Deity.
Leopold’s madness seeped into the four artifacts he wore. Worse, as these artifacts carried the essences of the four gods, his madness fed back into their minds, driving them insane.
The Four Divines turned on each other, each believing they should be the One True God. The gods warred in the heavens, causing calamities such as storms, flash fires, and earthquakes. Their hostility quickly spread to their worshippers. Within a year, the Bürach Empire had descended into civil war as the four provinces fought among themselves.
To end the violence, individuals from the four provinces conspired against the emperor. Their assassins swept into the imperial palace and killed Leopold. With his death, the sacred artifacts disappeared. This caused the Divine Aurelia to come out of her insanity long enough to see that the gods’ battles would soon destroy all of Etharis. She then used all her power to shield the land from the gods’ war. In so doing, she gave up her own life. In time the other three—Maligant, Ulmyr, and Galt—slew each other.
The death of the Four Divines sent a shockwave of magic throughout the Empire. Divine magic still exists, but is now believed to radiate from the remaining Arch Seraphs and Daemons, not from the dead gods themselves.
The leaders of each province called for a ceasefire, and each army retreated to their land to heal and recover from their losses. A new emperor, Aratron I, was installed and provided counterfeit sacred artifacts to shore up the people’s faith. This emperor served only as a figurehead; the Hearthkeeper ministers of Aurelia were now the real power behind the throne.

Shadows Rising

With the absence of the gods, something began to stalk the lands of the Bürach Empire. Unknown what it is, no one is certain how it came to be, but this powerful and corrupting presence has made itself felt throughout countless towns and cities. Eyewitnesses describe it as a towering figure wreathed in shadows, its head an enormous deer skull, bearing a crown of antlers that seem to pierce the sky. It walks where it wills. It corrupts that which it touches. It whispers into the hearts of men and turns them to wickedness.
Soon, aberrations and abominations started appearing throughout the provinces. Discord and corruption seeped through every fibre of society.

The creature presents an existential threat to all the imperial provinces, but each threat seems to be unique in nature. In Abendland, mobs of zombie-like creatures, their flesh fused together into a cancerous, many-limbed blob, attack wayfarers and peasants. In Rauland, puppet-like creatures strangle and dismember innocent folk with razor-sharp strings. Nordenland is plagued by corrupted flora and fauna, including treants with human heads and limbs instead of branches. Finally, Unterland has reported sightings of corrupted warriors, their armour melted into their flesh, roaming the countryside and killing indiscriminately.
The Bürach have named this entity The Beast The four provinces have each formed bands of warriors, clerics, and mages to combat its threat, but though they kill hordes of its monsters, none have succeeded in facing the Beast and living to tell the tale. And where it goes, monsters arise.

Regions

Abendland

Nordenland

Rauland

Unterland