Trepicas
Trepicas is a post-apocalypse inspired desert country with a heavy emphasis on cults, rituals, and the old world they have been forced to leave behind.
"There is no fresh water there and no food a sane man would partake in. It's a desert where the sand is angry at you, and the few things alive are desperate for meat, faith or both. If it's in my power, I will never return. If it's in my destiny, I'd perfer the gods smite me now."
Arriving as many other nations did due to The Second Arrival, Trepicas was taken from a barren planet ravaged by a magical apocalypse, and dropped in the ocean. Now flanked by sandy, salty swamps, its brutal people have discovered new flesh and new gods, and they seek to eradicate them all.
History
The history of Trepicas before it arrived is currently unknown. Each of its various cults has different ideas of how its world ended rooted in myth and dark religions. The only aspect they all have in common is some magical or supernatural force erasing the old, green world, and replacing it with yellow sands and a cloudless sky with a pair of suns that never set, always opposite of each other in the sky. All its terrifying creatures and people saw the moon for the first time after they arrived in Sinstram, and the former tentative peace between them was shattered as some groups went to worship the moon, and others vowed to remove it from the sky. Now, these tribes, with the 4 major ones in particular, fighting, they have no chance of taking over Sinstram. Should they unite, however, chaos would reign.
The major 4 cults' histories are listed below, along with a brief summary of their cultural and historical touchstones.
The Netherclan (The Foulblood)
The Netherclan is based within Neverburn, the largest settlement by far among the 4 existing ones. A time so long ago that even they are unsure, a powerful leader named "Setting Ra" made a deal with otherworldly forces, and welcomed demons and devils alike into their walls to live among them. Now, its citizens are all in some way connected to demons by their blood, and devils by the deals they make with them. It's citizens are often mutated in some form, with blood that ignites when touching air, horns, tails, stretched red skin, or other features typical to demons. The genetic ties they have to their demon ancestors are often painful or actively detrimental to everyday life in exchange for otherworldly abilities, including spellcasting. As each generation continues to reproduce with demons, however, the mutations grow more severe, making each new generation more twisted, but powerful. As a result, many of the other cults in Trepicas fear them, often being strong-armed to hand over fresh blood to ensure a new batch of fresh, untainted blood to keep their civilization functioning.
The Burning Winds (The Scorched)
Located within Pyregate, The Burning Winds is a cult that worships the limited nature around it, as well as the twin suns of its former plane, Purrhos and Aurar. A twisted version of druids, members of this cult do not seek to work with nature, but instead master it. Breaking the will of beasts and man, they ride atop flesh-eating mounts into battle as they hurl blood sucking thorns into their foes. Masters of poisons, venoms, and the environment, it is a common saying of the other clans that "Once The Scorched find shimmer, avoid the sun." This is likely a reference to mirages that are found all across Trepicas, but strangely, these mirages seem to not only exist at night but shift across the sands as though following an invisible sun.
The Skeletal Children (The Skeletal)
The Skeletal children, based in Madthorne, are the smallest group among Trepicas. Named after their appearance, this seemingly perpetually staving cult members have their skin tight across their bones, and feature odd protrusions under their skin as a result of the bone shards and tiny stones they surgically implant under their skin. In addition to their ghastly appearance, they also are often covered in shades of red tattoos, using metals they somehow extract from blood to give themselves large complex markings that often span their entire bodies. They are said to have a limitless supply of food through their ritual practices, which many assume to require bone marrow in some way due to the fragile physique and easily shattered bones they possess. Due to these weak physical forms, they have mastered magic, and should you see one on the horizon, run.
The Shalow (The "Other")
A broken, unclear warning comes to your mind: "Do not approach Arachrest. Do not engage with those without ███████. If you smell the sweat of a dead ███, you must end your own life, before it is ███████ for you."
A wet, swampy are filled with thin people that live in partially sunken and salty homes. The men all appear to wear long clothes and wide brimmed hats that hide the majority of their skin and faces, while the woman wear puffy, wind catching outfits. The roads are entirely made of sand pulled from the deserts of Trepicas, and as the entire "city" sinks into the salty swamp, visitors and residents alike are expected to fill in the holes with new sand. Large pillars are scattered around the edges of the village all of which house a priest or priestess of their religion, and in the far back, a massive and nearly totally overgrown magical temple watches the village.
The entire village is protected by spear wielding men and woman atop dinosaurs that stop all travelers from entering, and is surrounded by beggar type figures barely surviving, but not allowed to enter the city proper.
Notable Locations
Bone Salt Flats
A massive salt bed with nearly no bumps, hills or even large rocks. It's said to be the longest single sight line within all of Sinstram. No plant life grows here, and as such it supports little, if any, life.
Netherburn
The single and possible only proper city within Trepicas and controlled by the Netherclan, it's pale pink, bright red, and obsidian stone structures are built in seemingly impossible, nonsensical ways. Made of dozens of layers all overlapping each other, traversing the city without the ability of flight could easily lead to a deadly slip.
Rounded Tower
A massive stark white tower standing 130ft tall sits in the middle of the southwest desert, it is capped with a large flat black metal plate. Dozens of fake windows decorate the sides from the base to it's likely top floor. Each of the windows gently shimmers like a heat mirage, and will blast hot waves of force at any that enter their sightlines.
Spawnspit Fields
A waste of multicolored acid pits, ash, gravel, and oddly soft rocks that smells constantly of sulfur. It's a mostly flat stretch of land covered in steep walled bowls of dangerous liquid, the largest of which is a massive lake simply called Ichor's Eye.
Temporal Passes
A large collection of constantly shifting rock faces that create steep valleys and dramatic drops. It's constant uneven shifting of sand as the cliff faces rise and fall into the sands make this area unmappable, dangerous, and unstable.
The Sunstones
This massive platform of solid marble is assumed to be the former top of a mountain before something impossibly large lopped the top of it off. Now, it's remarkable round boulders are pushed around by the harsh desert winds, polished by the sands that have moved them.
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