Nioba
Nioba is a land where history and horror walk hand in hand. Once known as the Land of the Golden Sun, it was a civilization of grandeur and prophecy, ruled by Prophet-Kings who read the stars and wove the fates of their people. Sprouting from the descendants of those who cast off the yoke of the Nidean magocracy before its fall, the ancient Nioba sprouted from fertile banks of the River Niobe. Nioba flourished for centuries, its cities adorned with temples, its people guided by celestial wisdom by the sun-god, Amnut. The merchant princes of old brokered wealth beyond imagination, while the sacred warriors of the Sun-Ward stood as shields against the darkness. But time is unkind, and Nioba's golden age ended beneath the banner of undeath. Now, its sun still rises, but it casts only shadows behind a haze of sand—the warm embrace of dawn replaced by the cold grip of a tyrant who refuses to fade from the world.
Nioba's kingdoms no longer belong to mortal men. Now they belong to the deathless grip of the living dead. It is ruled by Eternal Domain of Hephsut the Immortal, a self-proclaimed god-king, an Archlich whose grip tightens with each passing century. The cities still stand, and the people still work the land, yet all of it is in service to a master whose heart stopped beating long ago. The Merchant Princes, once the lifeblood of Nioba’s economy, have been reshaped into the aristocracy of the Domain of Hephsut, their loyalty bought with eternal luxury and the promise of power in both life and undeath. To be Risen—to transcend mortality and serve Hephsut forever—is the greatest privilege granted to his most devoted followers. Yet, even as Hephsut’s dominion appears unshakable, the embers of rebellion have not yet been fully extinguished.
Beyond the grand necropoli and the bone-plated palaces, Nioba is a land haunted by its past. The Sulfur Sea, a festering scar left by the fall of Nidea, still breathes its toxic haze across the northern wastes, where Hephsut’s Bone Palace looms like a mausoleum for an empire that refuses to die. The Valley of the Prophet-Kings, once a sacred resting place, is now a defiled graveyard of shattered legacies, its tombs pillaged to fuel Hephsut’s endless war machine. Beyond the borders of Hephsut's domain to the north-east, the Kiteshi Empire watches, wary and divided, knowing that Hephsut’s ambition will not stop at Nioba’s borders. The dead already conquered the Kiteshi Empire's south-western heartland centuries ago. The question is whether they will stop there, for Hephsut is patient and has nothing but time on his side.
Geography & Climate
Nioba is a land shaped by both the cruelty of nature and the weight of history—a place where lush riverlands give way to golden deserts, where necrotic wastelands sprawl beneath mountain shadows, and where the last remnants of untamed wilderness stand defiant against the creeping hand of undeath. Though the people of Nioba have long endured its extremes, Hephsut’s dominion has twisted the land further, making an already merciless landscape even harsher.The Shifting Lands of Nioba
Nioba’s geography is a study in stark contrasts, each region bearing the mark of a different force—some ancient and celestial, others modern and tainted. The River Niobe is the kingdom’s lifeblood, winding through its heartlands, sustaining cities, fields, and orchards in an otherwise unforgiving world. Where its waters flow, life clings tenaciously to the soil—fertile farmlands stretching in ribbons along its banks, where crops still grow under the watchful gaze of the Merchant Princes. Beyond the river’s reach, Nioba’s deserts reign—great dunes that shift with the winds, swallowing ancient roads and forgotten ruins alike. The north-eastern wastes are particularly hostile, their sands tinged with a sickly, unnatural pallor where the winds carry the Sulfur Sea's miasma over the Bonewall Mountains, spilling it into the land. Where once there were oases and nomadic traders, now there are only ghost-haunted ruins, the land cursed by centuries of exposure to necrotic fumes.The Bonewall Mountains
To the northwest, the Bonewall Mountains stand as Nioba’s last natural defense, an ancient wall of jagged peaks rising from the earth. Their towering crags and treacherous ravines have long served as a barrier between Nioba’s fertile lands and the death-choked Sulfur Sea, shielding the kingdom from the worst of its toxic mists. These mountains hold secrets of their own, with ancient tombs carved into the cliffs, their interiors now defiled by Hephsut’s Risen sentinels. While Hephsut’s forces control the lower passes, the deepest mountain paths remain perilous, and rumors persist of hidden clans of sun-worshippers still eking out an existence in the heights, preserving what little remains of Nioba’s ancient faith.The Gulf of Kitesh
To the east, the Gulf of Kitesh serves as Nioba’s only true connection to the outside world—a narrow passage of seawater that snakes inland, providing a vital trade artery. Once a bustling gateway between Nioba and the Kiteshi Empire, the gulf is now a contested battleground of strategy and survival. Hephsut’s control over Fort Kaliq, a stronghold at the gulf’s narrowest point, allows him to threaten a complete blockade of the Kiteshi Empire’s remaining lands. Though Kitesh still commands the waters beyond, its ability to launch a full-scale counteroffensive against Nioba is limited, as a prolonged naval war would risk the economic strangulation of their homeland. Nioba’s stranglehold over the gulf has transformed the region into a volatile crucible, where merchant vessels, smugglers, and warships weave through treacherous waters beneath the ever-present specter of conflict. The threat of attack is neither declared nor dismissed—a razor’s edge hovering at the throat of the Kiteshi Empire, gleaming in the dim light of uneasy peace. Should Hephsut tighten his grip, or should Kitesh gamble on war to reclaim its lost heartland, the empire will find itself at a crossroads: surrender to the inevitable or risk a campaign it cannot afford to lose.A Kingdom of Unstable Seasons
Nioba’s climate is as varied as its geography, shifting between extremes dictated by the capricious forces of nature—and, some believe, by the influence of lingering sorceries both divine and necrotic.- The Dry Season—long and unforgiving—dominates much of Nioba for most of the year. During these months, the River Niobe recedes, its floodplains drying into cracked, sunbaked earth. Dust storms rise from the west, carrying the taint of the Sulfur Sea over the desert lands, while the Bonewall Mountains become battered by cold winds from the north, their peaks veiled in mist.
- The Season of Floods arrives when the distant Bonewall Peaks thaw, sending glacial melt cascading into the River Niobe. This brief but vital period rejuvenates the kingdom’s farmlands, replenishing the soil and allowing for the only major harvest of the year. It is also a time of instability—storms churn over the Bun’Tami Wilds, and the lower riverlands become a mire of flooded fields and shifting waterways.
- The Season of the Dead, as it is now grimly called, occurs in the depths of the dry months. This is when Hephsut’s forces move in full force, when the necrotic energies of the Sulfur Sea seem to burn brightest, and when the Air itself turns still, as if the land itself is waiting for something. Some say that during this time, the dead walk more freely, and the spirits of the land grow restless. It is a season feared by all but the Risen.
The Influence of Undeath
While the natural forces of Nioba remain unchanged in their cycles, Hephsut’s reign has left its own mark upon the land. There are places where the very soil has been leeched of life, where fields once rich with crops now yield only ashen remnants of what once was. Some scholars believe that Nioba itself is slowly dying, not from drought or war, but from the unnatural presence of so many dead souls bound to its lands. The air near Hephsut’s Bone Palace carries a stifling weight, thick with the essence of death, and some claim that those who breathe it too long begin to feel a slow, creeping pull toward submission—a whispered voice in the back of the mind, urging them to kneel before their eternal king.Flora & Fauna
Survivors of the River and Savanna. Though Hephsut’s dominion stretches across Nioba, the great River Niobe remains a lifeline for the land’s surviving creatures. Along its fertile floodplains, Nioban aurochs graze, their ancient migrations now disrupted by the march of the undead. Beneath the river’s surface, black-scaled crocodiles lurk, ancient predators that have thrived for centuries on the unwary. Beyond the river, the Sable Lions, once undisputed rulers of the savanna, now struggle to maintain their territory. With their Obsidian manes and unmatched prowess, they once symbolized Nioba’s untamed spirit, but their hunting grounds shrink as Hephsut’s forces seize more land. Beneath the golden grasses, Dune Striders, long-legged reptilian hunters, prowl at dusk, once mere scavengers but now emboldened by the growing decay, feasting on carrion left in the Risen’s wake. Secrets of the Bun’Tami Wilds. Deep within the Bun’Tami Wilds, where Hephsut’s grasp weakens, towering Sky-Piercer Trees form a near-impenetrable canopy. Their trunks are coiled in veil-vines, releasing a disorienting mist that shields the jungle’s hidden depths. Among the branches, Sun-Touched Apes swing with uncanny intelligence, their golden fur glinting through the foliage. Some whisper that they were once sacred to the Prophet-Kings and that they know how to evade the Risen better than any mortal. Beneath the jungle floor, Venom-Cloaked Serpents slither unseen, their paralytic bite feared even by seasoned warriors. Rebel alchemists scour the jungle for their venom, believing it may be one of the few weapons capable of harming the undead—if they can refine it before Hephsut’s minions find them first. Twisted Beasts of the Sulfur Wastes. To the northwest, in the blighted wastes near the Sulfur Sea, nature itself has begun to rot. Once-thriving oases have shriveled into blackened pools, their waters choked with necrotic energy. The land has given rise to grotesque new horrors—Ash Thorns, gnarled, iron-hard trees that seem to feed off something unnatural beneath the dunes. Roaming among the wasteland’s ruins, Bone Jackals—skeletal, hollow-eyed predators—follow in the footsteps of the Risen, scavenging from the endless dead, their howls a chilling echo of the land’s corruption. Yet even here, life resists. Strange luminous fungi bloom in the deepest crevices, glowing with an eerie light said to repel the undead. The last surviving alchemists of Nioba seek these spores tirelessly, believing they may hold the key to defying Hephsut’s growing empire of death. Some creatures, like the Sable Lions, teeter on the brink of extinction, while others, like the Bone Jackals, have adapted to the necrotic order. The jungles still guard their secrets, and the rivers still flow, but for how much longer? As undeath spreads its influence, the wild things of Nioba face a grim fate—becoming prey, becoming weapons, or becoming something far worse.
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