Introduction For New Branch Walkers
Welcome, I see you are new here, perhaps curious, perhaps lost, perhaps fully aware of this world you have stumbled into. First I must explain how you ended up here, curiosity or enthusiasm is a strange thing in this place, it holds a weight, a certain level of ability. You have Branch Walkedhere, fortuitous for you in the end. Tranceded the tethers of whatever world or place you hale from, to find yourself in a world both beautiful and tumultious. Full of splendor and lively activity, brimming with hope and despair.
Ah, me? My name is The Imperial Scholar, my title? Meaningless in the end, I exist here, yet am not here. You may find my thoughts and writings throughout this world, I exist solely as a pseudo-historian. Well, a storyteller in effect. I welcome you friend, I am the least interesting thing about this world! So please let us begin a general synopsis of this world if you will.
So, let us begin to explore this strange little world of ours!
The Federation
A union of separate Nations under a single flag when war arises on the mainland Continent. The Mighty Empire of Mhuzelt is home to the Gnomes of the world as well as the ancestral homeland of the Namadic Dwarven States. However, this Nation is at constant war with itself, as the Dwarves and Gnomes have been warring with each other since the The Hammer fall. Vying for who would ultimately take their birthright of the island they call home. The Industrial and Economic heartwood of the Continent the Kingdom Of Galus. While Galus has been the seat of many conquests over the Centuries, they have always valued economics and efficient logistics above all else. Fear be on those that incur the wrath of the Galcian Military, for they will be relentless and seemingly innumerable.
The Caliphate
The proud and zealous nation has been the heart of many arcane things. Only in the most recent Great War while acting as the belligerents did they learn of the burgeoning industrialization of the world. Since then they have quickly advanced and become equal in terms of technology, though some would argue they are still more powerful in the arcane due to the constant meddling Bhal, The Great Father has done. Their main city is named the Song of Bhal for a reason after all. Their current iteration is the Zybtine Caliphate a far more economically interested party than their predecessors.
The Elsewhere and Controlled Orginazations
Hmm, what to tell you. Well for one I live here. Well here is an odd term, The Elsewhere doesn't actually exist on the Branches of the Great Tree in any real sense. They exist outside of it, a pocket dimension in essence. There are many things that we will not be able to discuss. A few things that won't be mentioned here, but can be found elsewhere are but are not limited to The Q̶̨̰̘̭̹̮̙͈͈͕̝̫̥̈́́́̊̈́͛̐̇̐̂͐̿͝͠u̴̧̡̨̡͙̱͍̤̝̻̬̦̰̦͋̉͑͛̈́ͅa̸̞̠̖̺̖̗̫̯̪̖͉͙̩͊̑ṟ̶̨͙̜̠̯̲̲̲̬̠̹̺̩͐̾́̽͜͝ţ̸̄̃ͅę̸̡̗͓̼̗͍̭͎̩̮̊̉̔̓̑͠t̴̢̧̪̯̝̻̰̫͉͓̊̀̆̈̃̕͠, The C̵̡̮̭̘̹̝̱̅̔̂̆̆̄̓̐̋͛̽̓̚̚̕h̷̥͖͚͕̭͍̲͙̺̳̻̼̳͖͈͂̇̔̐̚î̴̛̮̘̱̦̭̘͖̺̘͓l̷̮̭̬̘̬̻̤͖̹̰̑̓̈́̆͋̑̾̎̀̽̆͆͠d̶̡̛̪͇͔͈͚̰̱̙̟͈̅͆̅̍̉͂͝ȓ̷̨̹̞͚͙͓̰̘͖̻́̈͆̃́̓͑̑̊́̚͜͜e̵̟̳̮̮̮̹̗̣͎̝̦̯̗̯͜͝n̸̨̨̛̹͇̠̠̙̎͒̓̓͌͗̂̉̾̊̚ͅ and The S̷͓͈͂̊̂́̏͐̆́̒͂̄̎̄̍͝h̶̛͇̦̘̿́a̴̯̤̾̾͐d̵̘͔̙̃̿͊́́͛̈̕͝ơ̷̟̞̫̼̯̈̍͛̀̌̉͂͛͛̉̚͝w̷̧̫̗̣͈͖̱͈̄̌̌̀̈̀͆̈́s̸̤̬̝̜̩̪̃̊̐̒̽̓̀́̒̇͘͝ will not be discussed in any depth here. The Elsewhere is home to the Children of the Original gods, well, what remains of them. One race lost, three to survive, The Faeries, The Giants, and The Fae survive here thanks to the last remaining god of the world. Queen of the Fae with the aid of Anlyth, First Son of Syn and Taneth The Navigator created this world to escape the total succumbing of the world as three of the gods fell. Their whereabouts remain entirely unknown to this extraordinarily technologically advanced world. Where their Divine Magic interacts flawlessly with high-tech and metropolitan lives, however as advanced as they are, they are trapped here, unable to escape due to the Shadow Touched that permeates throughout the known universe. However, they are not without allies on the Branches of the tree, slowly biding their time. The Wayfare Guild is allied to the Elsewhere, though not a soul on the Tree will know that. Absolute secrecy is the first and foremost tenet for all their allies, the Shadows cannot know how to find them. Their Chief Scouts being the God's Eye's of the upper echelons of the Guild. They do sway political decisions in ways that benefit The Elsewhere where they can garner more access to lost artifacts known as Archon Stones. Something of great sadness, should one learn the truth. The The Sightless are a group of hunters, who hunt more than just people and monsters. They hunt for information, information on Vestiges, and other things lost to the Elsewhere. They typically work hand in hand with the Wayfares and the world knows it. Though, the reasons are often layered in mysticism and deceit. Finally, The Rhojic a Clan of the Dwarves headed by Gjorn Fourth king of Dwarves. While not many, really any know who this "Queen" Is he speaks of, after an extraplanar excursion after he took a Mhuzelti Fort on their mainland, he returned with a burning loyalty to this Queen as well as a peerless Domain of Air. A unique Magic among the Dwarves.Current Strife of this world:
At the beginning of this tale we start, is not the beginning, but a start of something new. Let us begin with the main players, shall we? There is an unease alliance between the three, still standing, nations of Federation and the Zybyine Caliphate. Who in the last twenty years have survived in a cold war of sorts, as they have been vying for economic dominance over the mainland and the subsequent island nations that ring the continent. This came to be due to a Great War between the Nations of the Federation and the Old Romachian Caliphate that nearly felled the Nation of Huron opening the Rest of the continent to be subject to a full-scale war that would have spelled the demise of many millions of lives.
Now, while this has been for the most part peaceful amongst the Humans, Dwarves, and Gnomes of the world, despite a few notable skirmishes throughout the years. A recent border dispute between Huron and the Zybyine Caliphate has caused things to turn hot between the Federation and the Caliphate once more. In a recent move from the Lamia outpost in The Slash, a misunderstood event that led to a full-scale riot in the settlement that forced the Huronian Military to step in and take control of the City.
However, due to the Treaty signed between the two powers, this settlement was to remain in neutral territory to act as a buffer between the Federation and the Caliphate. The simulation for all settlements east or west of the Slash is that if they wished to join one of the two powers that held the majority of that region. Simply put, if the settlements east of the Slash wanted to join under a legitimate country, they would need to join the Caliphate under the Treaty. The reverse is true for settlements west of the Slash, except that they would join Huron. The Lamia outpost should technically belong to Huron under this circumstance.
Due to unbeknownst circumstance to the Huronian forces, a Calphiti Ambassador was killed just before this riot. The Settlement had been working out a separate treaty in direct opposition to the current treaty with this Ambassador, and the Lamia rioted against the Huronian Garrison in response. Which led the Calphiti Forces to send a larger battalion to "take back" the territory under bad information. Therefore, the political situation has become difficult between the major powers of the world as War is now on the horizon due to this misunderstanding.
However, good sense was had in the minds of both powers involved. The advisor to the Sultan of the Caliphate named Ahmir was tasked with setting up a Delegation to visit the Federation in a summit to discuss and ease tensions between the Nations of the world. Much to the chagrin of the rest of the Federation, the Caliphate choose to hold this summit in the Kingdom Of Galus, specifically the Seat of power for Baron of Glaion Lucas Berthelot in the City of Glaion. They had chosen this as a slap to the face of their old enemy Huron, by not directly dealing with the situation with the offending party. This only led to a certain tension as the Caliphate had chosen for themselves who the leaders of the Federation were.
By dismissing the other nations of the Isle of Mhuzelt and States of Huron as well as their allies of The Northern Wastes and Estile, they made it well known who their real target was going to be should a war arise. This caused The Kingdom of Galus to kick it into high gear with their preparation for a possible war.
Their allies followed suit as tensions rose more as the Caliphate saw this all happening before their delegation even set foot on foreign soil. However, their fears would become realized as other things had been happening under the ignorant gaze of man.
The Goblins and the Fae Creatures of the World
While man toiled away at their engines of war, the marginalized societies of this world do not, in fact, live in a vacuum. Goblins of the Skullbrood Clan are a regional terror/curiosity to the locals south of City of Glaion and north of Willowbrook. While they are ostracized by humanity for their rather war-like tendencies, this is not all they are. The possess their own culture, their own language as well as a long forgotten history.
The Goblins, are the true start to the story of this world, in far more ways than one. Where our MC of the Great Tree comes in, Ilgor of the Skullbrood Clan starts her journey to all you Branch Walkers, is only a new beginning. While men played with the power they had garnered from each other over generations of fighting and empire-building, the goblins always existed. Ilgor had become increasingly irritated with the culture she lived in as well as many of her people, craving to live on the same level as humanity, she sought a brighter future for her people.
However, during this slow progression, the current Chief Yorm had attacked and killed the Delegation for the summit to stop this possible war. Horrified by his actions, she sought to remedy the situation before the humans exterminated her race in retaliation. In the end, she had saved her people for the time being, becoming the new Chief of the clan despite all traditions in their own way. The War humanity was oh so fearful of, had become reality.
Unbeknownst to the Goblins and Ilgor specifically, A Dwarven King named Gjorn Fourth king of Dwarves who has command of a fourth of the Dwarven Wandering Kingdom that patrols the mainland continent is allied with a thoroughly unknown organization called The Elsewhere. Who had taken an interest in Ilgor and Goblins for an event that took place during a religious ceremony with the Clan to make Ilgor into their new High Priestess.
Unknown to Humanity, this meant that the Goblins were now under the full protection of the full might of the Dwarven Kingdom at the behest of The Elsewhere. This political move by the Dwarves left the Kingdom of Galus in a delicate situation. Any move against the goblins for the crime that had started this war would result in a war on many fronts. The Dwarves being inside Federation territory would cause untold chaos if they attacked Humanity for retaliating against the Goblins, instead of a single enemy, Galus would have many.
The Gods Role in the Hand of Chaos
In other parts of the world, the ignorant eyes of man would not perceive another people as important until it was far too late. Though some context is needed before we continue dear Walkers. The Gods of this world are not intangible, should one wish it, they can meet them. Many of the deities that walk this world take it upon themselves to speak with their worshippers on a somewhat regular basis. A holdover from a much older pantheon that very few in the world remember, to be exact, they are not truly on this world at all, they predominately exist in the Elsewhere.
There are three main players in terms of the gods, the most powerful and wildly worshipped. Bhal, The Great Father a god of endless ambition, The Great Saint Xelex, The Horror Xelex a god of balance and true fairness, and finally Azu: The Raven a goddess of infinte love and beauty. While there are five others, they are not nearly as vocal as the main three.
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Azu The Raven
A stunning beauty of two minds. She whispers softly in the mind of the goddess, an eons old conversation. An advisor some would say, some would say snake sibilant in ones ear. Stolen power, stolen from the original trapped inside. Trust not the lies of the Shadows.
Azu: The Raven
From Nightmares and Dreams
Who are you? I'm someone you have always known, yet have never met. You have seen me in your dreams, you have seen me in time flowing wrong. I am you, and you are me.
Les Trois Sacrés
Or in a rough translation done in the early 800's from a Namoux mural surviving in Skjalich, "The Sacred Three". This depiction is the one adopted by the followers of the Family, and is one of the very few depictions of the Three in ancient times. They appear to have played a much larger role in the pantheon before.
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Shadow of the jar
Syn
Villy
Vilorlith's Song
The Great Mother in the beginning. Her divine being sang out to the void and with her voice was creation. As her song continued, so did the world. From nothing there became everything.
The Goddess in her true divine form, mere infinitesimal seconds from her parted lips, so she sung the song of the universe.
Warmth Syn
Our Sun, light before the world knew what light was. Brilliant and glorious beyond the mind. Golden arcs of sunlight in the morning skies. Now, lost, light lost to the dark. Mourning skies are all we see.
Welkford
Now all things considered, it should be mentioned that the Federation typically avidly followed both Azu and Xelex as their main gods, as well as the other five in a small capacity. Though Ideologically opposed, the Caliphate primarily worships Bhal exclusively. Which has caused a certain resentment for the god in the Western nations. This religious opposition has led to further political strife as the Caliphates in times past have used the name of Bhal to try and further the empire's expansion. In effect, this had only caused the rest of the world to begin seeing the god as one of evil and power.
However, misunderstood by humanity and Mhuzelti kind, the Mistwalkers are also undergoing a change. Though this is parallel to the Goblins, their culture is far less warlike. Just before the start of the war, Azu had chosen a champion among them, a young Shrine Guard by the name of Neaves Emberwing. Where she would shepherd her people to a safe haven.
While she does not know where this sanctuary would be, she knows full well that the Valley of Mists will be the stage in which the first blows of war will take place. If the Mistwalkers leave, their sacred valley will become uncontrollable. A hazy misty maze for any soul to wander through, to fall victim to the uncontained pyroclastic magic of the region. Azu is not what she seems, none of the gods are, under Shadows of times past. We shall see what happens as the story unfolds.
So, my dear friends, this is where the world currently is. Please, feel free to rest, and join me in watching the story of this world unfold. Where ancient things awaken, where the lives of man progress, where we follow the single life of our dear Ilgor and her struggles with her faith.
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