Stories, Folklore, and Legends
The tales we grew up with...
The Soul of Poverty (Stephanie)
"A stew for the soul: Make sure to prepare a bowl of any kind to hold the stew. A larger bowl may be used to feed the family, or even the community... it provides the perfect amount of calories to ensure you may last the day, or several, if you're determined."
Within the many households that crowd the poorer Districts of Verdane, there exists a commonality across a number of them: the presence of a certain cookbook, entitled "The Soul of Poverty", authored by an elusive tiefling chef, Mavil Novelli. This cookbook, according to its preface, introduces itself as "a collection of recipes intended to uplift one's spirits, energizing them for the challenges they are to face without the price tag to accommodate such meals." For most of these households, many of them cannot afford to purchase groceries for refrigeration and storage, given the need to save money and energy, thus being unable to effectively preserve such ingredients and foods for long periods of time. The recipes within the cookbook promise meals that are not only filling without a large cost, but also make use of readily available ingredients that can be sourced from one's local community and District; this can be seen in how some recipes note that a meal that may serve a large amounts of people. "You will need a few healthy servings of the following ingredients: mushrooms, onions, beef, and cream of mushroom. If you do not have the requisite ingredients, then a simple, quick trip to your neighbor, or even a farm located close to a reclaimed District is in order." However, a list of recipes to filling, cost-effective meals is not this book's only purpose. Many of these poor households rally to this book's hidden meanings and purposeful stories; aspiring thieves and criminals born to the impoverished lifestyle have claimed that this book provided their first insights into their current lives. Reading in between the lines of the steps to cooking and the customary life stories that occupy any cookbook is a message: "When I was once employed as a simple line cook within the once-popular Maester's Confections corner cafe, I had noted a discrepancy from their vision-mission and the situation within their kitchen. While the owner promised a luxurious culinary experience borne from the minds of their chef-owners, the restaurant had possessed a high turnover for cooks, due to the notoriously-poor training conditions and miserable wages provided to their genuinely bright, but exploited chefs who lived in poverty, while the owners lived in comfort off the backs of their culinary inventions. There was no recourse for these poor chefs, as the reputation of the owners ensured that those who hadn't heeded their every beck and call without question would ensure that these poor chefs would never find a job ever again... at best." Various stories within the cookbook read like an exposé into the ways how polite society mistreats the people on the lowest rung of the social ladder. While not all of these stories originated from the author's own experiences, the book served as a reminder to the poor households it targeted that they would be exploited by those more fortunate than them, no matter how reputable the teller of these tales were. However, this is not the only message that the "cookbook" preaches. "While the thieves' stew recipe within this cookbook is intended for a family of three to five persons, it is tradition that a bowl of thieves' stew be enjoyed by the community one grew up within. Seating may be procured within one's household, but I find that a place where seating is already provided for works best to enjoy the nourishment this dish provides. It is imperative that one borrows the requisite number of utensils and bowls where they may be freely distributed to those who have need of it. This sense of community and shared empowerment is what needs to be cultivated when one makes Thieves' Stew: that a single momentous action can uplift the spirits of those around us." At the end of the recipe to Thieves' Stew, "The Soul of Poverty" makes reference to a single news column within a local newspaper: "Reports say that the Maester's Confections establishment had closed down, following reports of unclean and unsafe working conditions for the chefs. A restauranteur had discovered that the employees' entrance had been swung wide open, despite company policy, and that a tiefling chef had retrieved a pot of stew left in the garbage disposal area to be served as the day's special. Following the restauranteur's interview of the line cooks and chefs within the day that revealed the heartrending stories of the abuse and maltreatment they had received at the hands of the cafe's owners, as well as the following discovery of several unclean dishes and utensils that were later used in serving the cafe's patrons, the owners of Maester's Confections had been ordered by the Minor Court of Shops and Businesses to pay proper damages to their employed chefs as well as to relinquish the property for foreclosure."
Don't Tempt Lady Luck (Harrison)
"Misfortune often comes when you least expect it. Take care that you hide yourself within Lady Luck's veil... lest you suffer the consequences of her machinations."
The Rosseau District is a relatively typical Aristocrat District. Neighboring the famed Aristocratic Shaperate of Education, considered a requirement of being a part of the nobility of Verdane, the Rosseau District has found a niche despite its relative lack of landmarks and notable features by being a residential area for the Aristocrats who wish to live and work near the large university. Typical to being a District inhabited by the nobility of Verdane is the presence of a large public park, reputable, luxurious establishments, clean streets with little space that's shrouded in darkness, very little crime rate... and a few dark secrets. The residents of Rosseau believe in living lives free of anything that could bring bad omens into their lives. Take a gander at the pamphlet given to every new resident of the residential District: "Our housing agents ensure that every square-inch of your home is pristine and ready to be inhabited upon your arrival into the District! Note: the Rosseau Residential Board Members would like to guarantee that there is no spider problem within the houses. If cobwebs appear within the corners of one's residence within ten days of its occupation, kindly inform us of its appearance, and we shall dispatch one of our housing agents to take care of it. During the cleansing process, we would request that you vacate the premises of your residence for at least eight hours." A former Aristocrat student who had failed to heed the warning had testified that ignoring this procedure following the discovery of a cobweb in her house's attic might've had an effect on what happened later on... "It was, what, just an hour before noontime? I had just completed my portrait on the halla (elven mythical creature) and left it within my quiet, dark attic to prepare my lunch. When I climbed back up to my painting space, something strange happened... my wonderful painting of the deer had somehow... changed. The white, glorious, tranquil deer had changed into a dark, ferocious, many-eyed wolf with blood on its teeth and a nightmare-inducing smile... I swore I left my doors locked! I thought it was just a silly superstition, and that it wasn't worth having Mila's Disciples cleanse my house like they did with some of my neighbors'..." Rosseau has become a veritable magnet for myths and superstition following the first century after its inception, due to the presence of several anomalies that occur seemingly without reason, to the point where several of the District's residents have taken to asking aid from the clergy of the Creationist churches located within the District to help "cleanse" their homes of the "evil spirits and influence" that seems to linger. The various arcanists and mages, even the Chantry of the Inquisitors have been unable to pinpoint the source of these misfortunes, attributing all the anomalies to either "some sort of bad karma", an unknown magic energy or anomaly deep within the earth, or the most subscribed-to explanation by the noblesse de robe that reside within the District: Lady Luck's whims and fancy. Using Lady Luck as the identity of the misfortune that plagues the district became common after one of the highest-profile causes of an anomaly given physical form, wandering the empty midnight streets of the district: "It was... oh gods, the eve of the thirteenth of the month? I had a hard day with the students of my class at the Shaperate, so I was looking forward to a night spent with my lovely wife. Walking down that accursed street just past midnight, I saw a woman dressed in the blackest of dresses. Her face was shrouded by the obscuring veil of a bride and a hat adorned with violet chrysanthemum and pure-white carnation. The few bits and pieces of skin I could see were almost as pale as the flowers that crowded her hat. Ominous, I know, but at the time, my mind was frayed and frazzled by the daunts of my position as professor; as she lifted a red peony off the basket of flora she carried with her, the fool I was refused it with gusto, hurling expletives and my pent-up frustrations with my position upon this... flower lady. She left me alone afterwards, but not without whispering behind my back: 'Keep your loved ones close.'" "That night, as I returned to my home past the central park, a horrifying scene greeted my eyes: a trampled, ruined garden that me and my wife had spent months planting, as well as the wooden door laying within the grass, its hinges having been ripped apart. I ran as fast as I could through our entrance, searching from room to room where my wife could've possibly been. As I threw aside our shared bedroom door, there I saw it with my own two eyes: a darkened, almost charred husk of a body laying on my bed, almost unrecognizable except for the ring worn around its finger..." This event served as the catalyst for a slew of ominous signs occurring wherever fate pleased, including the aforementioned cobweb superstition. While it had not occurred with enough regularity that the whole District could be condemned to being reclaimed by nature, the long-time residents of Rosseau have taken to documenting the anomalous events and recording solutions that seem to stave away Lady Luck's whims. Some of these anomalous events had even resulted in good fortunes happening to those it affects, resulting in a wave of new residents attempting to force an encounter with Lady Luck's whims. These new residents, especially those whose reasons for living in Rosseau were to experience these events, would end up becoming cautionary tales that mothers told their children in the night, having suffered fates that may have been worse than death. No explanation had ever been served for the cause of such auguries and occurrences, but one thing has become agreed upon among the residents of Rosseau: "Pray that Lady Luck fancies you tonight, or tomorrow may yet be your worst nightmare. And whatever you do... do not tempt Lady Luck."
Two Winners of their own History (Quico)
"Condorcet and Mersenne... two sides of the same coin, however scarce the two families could admit it. If only the two could work together, greater things could've been achieved."
Deep within the halls and showrooms of the Museum of Scientific Curiosities, owned and managed by the scientifically-inclined Mersenne family, there exists a series of volumes on the history of the Mersenne family lineage, entitled the Primer on Mersenne: A Historical Account of the Family's Beginnings. A series of leather-bound books whose contents have been printed on parchment, these volumes provide a comprehensive overview of the Mersenne's genealogy and family history, replete with long-winded first-hand accounts accurate to the letter as well as diagrams, charts, and images showcasing the family's many great scientific breakthroughs. Tallying up to five long volumes of about 500 pages each, each volume focuses on specific generation of the family history and the magnum opus of each generation, rarely leaving any room for enumerating on the personal lives of most of its family members beyond a few short paragraphs. While the complete series has been lauded for its comprehensive bookkeeping of family history, some outstanding critics have pointed out some notable cases of combative writing and bias, as can be seen below: "Discounting certain historical abnormalities, the Mersenne family has maintained alliances and friendly relations with several influential Aristocratic families involved within various sectors of Verdanian society. From notable Builder visionaries such as the descendants of the Miracle Materialworker, to Mystic scholars and sages, to even certain Artisan artists and craftsmen: all of whom have aided in the design of some of our earliest calculation technologies... early design prototypes of these technologies had to be scrapped following the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the withdrawal of a certain Artisan family, forcing extensive rewrites and redrafts of the original agreed-upon design, including the measurement system used in the dimensions of the technology. Contracts worth hundreds of gold pieces were placed at risk due to the unexpected delay, but the immediate response of the Mersenne family in securing new laborers and materials offset the potential loss that might've occurred." Located a few blocks away from the Mersenne family's museum is the Condorcet Family's art and sculpture gallery, named the Musée d'art Contemporain. A collection of various art mediums are present, representing the innovations and craftsmanship techniques currently used by the various Artisan guilds of today. With the nature of art, the museum/art gallery has often showcased art pieces that may be considered controversial or even radical in nature, but the Condorcet family patron defends the museum's purpose, stating that they do not subscribe to any ideology prescribed by the rotating arts and sculptures that they display. Adorning the halls connecting the various galleries are a series of paintings, each created by the current family patron/matron of the Condorcet family, entitled the L'illustre Histoire de Condorcet. The content of these paintings are often evocative in nature, and some even possess imagery that degrades and paints the subjects of the paintings in a negative light, through inscriptions, varied brush strokes and coloring, and even through the architecture and lighting of the museum itself. "Henri Condorcet, Light and Darkness, 467 VY, oil on fresco, 300 cm x 600 cm: The painting depicts the family matriarch, Safia Condorcet, bathed in multicolored light shining from an unseen stained-glass fixture, sitting upon a throne constructed with a mixture of valuable metals and natural materials. She is looking towards the left half of the painting, holding a bar of gold on one hand, and an open palm in the other, ready to receive a handshake. The left half of the painting is colored in drab olives, dark greys, and doused in shadow, containing a sickly-looking thin man dressed in a dull black coat and brown clothing, holding one hand out from the shadows seemingly intended to accept the handshake. From right behind the man, his other hand bears a sharpened, serrated dagger, wickedly edged with a single drop of sickly green liquid dripping off the blade's tip. In an inscription below the information of the painting's origin, the plaque names the family matriarch of the Condorcet family and the patriarch of the family depicted in the painting, naming him: Pissant Mersenne." Despite the aggression both families displayed towards one another within their historical accounts, there had been rumors floating around the social circles intricately involved with their family histories that the two families had once been allies in the distant past, dating back to the days prior to Verdane's inception. A genealogist hired by both families to closely monitor their family histories, whose identity remains unknown, has asserted that during the days of Marseillians, the two human families were once allied for the purpose of creating the dials that could tell the time of day without the presence of light. In his account, the genealogist notes: "In the days of Clovis Marseille, there was a need to tell time that was imperative for the scouts and soldiers who were forced to move through unfamiliar terrain in the new continent of Providence. Two families, each possessing a means to complete the project but lacking in certain materials and expertise that the other family had, decided to partner together in a mutually-beneficial agreement. This partnership would result in both the Condorcet and Mersenne families being credited for the invention of the primitive watches. The Condorcet family was responsible for the craftsmanship of the invention and the practical design, while the Mersenne family ensured that the watch would work in all types of climates and scenarios, as well as for the materials used and the inner workings of the watch. This invention was considered both families' finest work following their escape from the Gaul Empire, that the Conseil des Anciens deemed it fit to award them a reward of their choosing as well as their decision to opt-in to a higher social status in what would become Verdane." Centuries later, historical records have been hidden away by both families, erasing any supposed record of the families' once-friendly relationship, leaving only records of the beginning of the two families' rivalries. In the present day, however, there are rumors that the tensions between Mersenne and Condorcet could be coming to a head, following the appearance of an heir to both families...
Accursed Stoneworks: The Covetous Pirate (Tandi)
"Hear ye, hear ye! Keep the sea rovers 'ere; the lighthouse's shining on the spot where Alfhild's placed, and the bloody lady's gone under our noses! Today ain't a good time to be telling no tales, let them know!"
Situated smack dab in the middle of Port Lyon, overlooking the port's daily operations from its concrete vantage point above the piers and docks of the various ships under the control of Isabela's Pirates is a single stone statue of an elven lady dressed in piratewear. While impressive in construction, this single statue is often seen as nothing more than a dedication to the Pirate identity... unless you were actually employed within the guild in question. To the number of Isabela's Pirates that occupy Port Lyon, this statue of the elven pirate does nothing to represent them; they would say that this statue of an elven pirate was placed there to curse them. The statue is officially known as The Covetous Pirate by the plaque placed at the pedestal it is raised upon, but Isabela's Pirates have identified it differently, naming it the statue of Alfhild Irileth: Chaser of Ruin. Amongst the most notable resources on the book is a Pirate-produced piece of literature revolving wholly around the statue in question, which is produced and sold en-masse at a bookstore located along the boulevard where the statue is placed. The small pocketbook goes: "Beware the statue of the elven pirate, Alfhild Irileth! The accursed stonework had been responsible for sinking several of the ships you can now find at the bottom of the sea just a stone's throw from the ports! The lighthouse is the key to avoid ruin; every dawn and dusk, the old lighthouse at Port Lyon shines upon this accursed statue. If at both times the statue disappears under the lighthouse's shine, abandon all voyages going out of the port and returning ships to come near the port for the following day, for they are cursed to suffer the fate of being swallowed by the seas itself. No matter what course of action the crew, the cockswain, or the rivain make, the only course of survival is to abandon deck and swim for safety, however unlikely that may be!" The curse of The Covetous Pirate is officially dismissed as nothing more than superstition by port authorities and other guilds, most notably Mystic mage guilds, who have attempted to prove time and again that the statue had no magic causing all these curses and that everything that happened to the Pirates were either pure coincidence or karma. However, Port Lyon is infamous for the number of sinked ships it has on record without a plausible reason for their sinking. Still, the population of Pirates is said to be the hardiest there is; part of this is attributed to the fact that assignment to Port Lyon, as part of guild policy, is optional and only to be taken if one is willing to take the risks of having the statue of Alfhild decide your voyage's fate. Still, many Pirates choose to volunteer to serve in Port Lyon, having heard of the treasure that Alfhild herself was chasing after through the same story that brought about the superstition: "I was once mates with Alfhild; she was one of the most tenacious elves I've ever had the pleasure of serving with, even back when we were toiling away as Jennies in Gaul. Obsessive to a fault, once she set her eyes to something, nothing, even the possibility of death or something worse, would stop her. Unfortunately for the lass, she bit off a bit more than she could chew with her last obsession before her petrification: the Crown of the Sunken Queen, a fabled artifact of the supposed 'sea elves' of legend, which was said to be able to grant its wearer the power to bend the seas to their will. Understandably, such an artifact would've made her career, so she dedicated everything she had to finding that blasted artifact. Her first attempt at finding the artifact... she had a ship charted to stop at a lone island, where she would dive to the bottom of the sea to try to find whatever ruins she believed existed at the seafloor... I don't know what was more maddening; her belief that she could survive such a stunt, or the fact that she actually did, and became even more obsessed with chasing that crown down than ever before." Reportedly, Alfhild was changed after surviving her dive to the seafloor. Her obsession with finding the crown had magnified, bordering on insanity as she dedicated her entire being to finding the Crown of the Sunken Queen. In her attempts at finding information and searching for the treasure map that would lead to her prize, she stepped on a lot of toes and crossed a lot of people. It was her manic attitude and utter disregard for social niceties that would eventually lead to her downfall, as one of her many enemies found the right time to exact their revenge, right when she was on the cusp of making another breakthrough. "On the agreed-upon time, I made my way to the boulevard in the wee hours of the morning, meeting her because of some new secret she had found that could help her locate the Crown. As I passed through an alley to emerge at the boulevard near the old bookshop, I saw her standing by the overlook, speaking to a figure that I couldn't identify. For once, she seemed calm and steady, not making any bombastic movements or loud noises as she spoke to this figure. But that was when the figure produced this ancient, ornate blade and stabbed her right in the back; poor Alfhild was close to retaliating and killing this figure, nearly cutting deeply into the figure's neck, but it was too late. She fell to the ground, her lifeblood staining the concrete as this figure fled into the night, never to be seen again. It was at that moment, when the figure left, that I saw the lighthouse's rays fall upon her body, highlighting her dead body in a macabre display of the consequences of obsession. The ray of light never left her body as I tried to approach, and I decided it was too risky. The following day, I returned to the scene of the crime, to find a group of Pirates and Travelers alike staring up at a stone statue that had sprouted in place of where she once was." To this day, Pirates and any sailors of Port Lyon have learned to dedicate a few Jennies and deckhands to watch the lighthouse and the statue of Alfhild Irileth. Methods have been formulated to make the sailors the fastest-deploying and docking ships of Verdane, but only to escape the consequences of Alfhild's greed. The legend itself has undergone a few permutations following the original pocketbook: some say that the statue disappears when a ship leaves with the express purpose of finding the Crown of the Sunken Queen, while others believe that departing on certain routes will invoke her wrath. Most dare not to touch the statue, as attempts to destroy it have proven temporarily successful, only for a new statue of the same pirate to sprout in its place the next day with no explanation. Pray that Alfhild herself will not sink you today.
The Shunned Mage (K'aamni)
"Sarta was a lonely little mage: she was too quiet, hiding in many corners away from her schoolmates and family. Her classmates always made fun of her for being shy, her siblings didn't like her for being blue to their red, and her parents didn't talk to her because she wasn't good enough in her studies! But Sarta wouldn't give up; she had a dream to become the best mage there ever was."
Children's books are a popular way to teach children for the action-oriented Verdanians; there are visuals that supplement the developing imagination of impressionable children, and less time is spent on reading wordy pieces of literature that the young ones may not fully grasp and understand. One such children's book is the popular story amongst children who wish to learn magic: The Little Blue Mage. This picture book tells the tale of a child who grows up shunned and ignored from the very beginning: her being born with a different look to both her siblings and her parents' own causes her to be neglected in favor of her siblings. As a result of this, her own social abilities and learning had been stunted due to the lack of proper attention needed for a developing child, causing her school life to suffer as well. "Poor little Sarta! While her classmates snap their fingers, holding onto their grass pods as they recite the words, producing their first lights of their lives, she can't even move her fingers to snap! (A pop-up illustration appears above this excerpt: the shy, embarrassed Sarta turning purple in her cheeks as her fingers fail to meet, while two classmates on both sides of her cast their first light spell, properly using the provided component with a snap of their fingers.)" Many bright young mages have attributed to their reading of The Little Blue Mage as their inspiration to starting their craft early. In particular, reviews of this little children's book has been heralded for its ability to provide children, especially the quiet and mistreated children, the drive to work towards their dreams in spite of their struggles. While the author herself isn't a mage, she's stated her work as an author/illustrator reflects the messages she wished to provide to children who underwent the same things that she did in a book that would be easily readable and accessible to children of any and all ages and social class. This is further reinforced by the book being available for free on most public libraries and being sold for a pittance at many bookstores. While there is no record of the author having ever had children of her own, or if the child in the story was based upon any single person, she nonetheless stresses that the spirit of Sarta's journey lives on in the hearts of those who work towards their dreams. "The little blue mage walks home, wet from the strong rain that fell that day. As she walked past the living room, hearing her brothers and sisters laugh at her sorry look, she quietly runs into her room and locks the door, before retreating into her little 'imagination tent', a small cardboard box covered by a piece of blue starry curtain, filled with her little drawings of herself as a powerful mage! Sarta wanted to one day become as powerful as the sages that she grew up idolizing! (A pop-up illustration appears right below this excerpt, with Sarta lying on her belly flat on the ground, dreamily staring at the pictures pasted onto the wall of the cardboard box with her head in her hands and her legs kicked up behind her, poking out of the curtain. In her eyes is the twinkle of a little star.)"
The message behind the children's book, while it may not be as subtle as the author's other work, resonates with many an individual who had grown up neglected. However, a few have noted that the children's book also reads as a critique into division, noting that the blue Sarta had only been treated differently from her siblings for simply being "different". While the book hasn't had any particular influence on the developing moral compass of children, some pediatricians have observed that children who have read "The Little Blue Mage" were more likely to work harder for themselves and to take chances at meeting other children who fit those of Sarta's type: the quiet, shy types. The author has since stated that while this was not an intended effect her book was supposed to provide, she is pleased that the children of Verdane may glean such a positive lesson from a book that was mainly intended to tide the children's often-short attention spans over with her colorful artistic style. "Her schoolmates, her siblings, and even her parents won't stop her; Sarta was determined to learn and master every spell in the book! Many nights were spent reading and practicing in her tent, flicking and waving her hands and reciting the words to the spells in her little journal of notes and dreams: creating sparkles of light, tiny crackles of energy, and little pieces of ice, one spell at a time, one step every day. Sarta learned a valuable lesson that day: hard work will get you everywhere, especially if you love what you do. (An illustration appears on the right page: Sarta's face surrounded by a circle of magic and elemental effects that she was able to conjure within the day, including sparks of light, little ice cubes, crackles of fire, conjured vines and other pretty pieces of greenery and flowers, and noises and sounds of small pet animals.)" There has been debate amongst the Council whether or not this children's book should be considered required reading across elementaries and nurseries everywhere, as well as whether it deserves the title of being considered a Cultural Treasure of Verdane, but the author has humbly refused all such accolades, believing that the book should be able to speak to children individually, instead of being applied as a general pastiche that could be easily replicated everywhere. Nonetheless, "The Little Blue Mage" remains a popular gift to be given to children. "On the day of show-and-tell at her school, Sarta walked forward to the front of her class, facing everyone in her frilly, butterfly-themed blue dress as she raised her hand. Then, as she clenched her fist, closed her eyes, and recited the words to the spell she had been practicing in her room. 'I'm doing it!', she exclaims as she opens her fist and says one last word to complete the spell: 'Aurora!' (The last two pages of the book are dedicated to one final illustration: Sarta standing in the middle with her hand raised in an open palm, as a dizzying, dazzling assortment of lights and colors appear right above her, almost appearing as if the young Sarta had summoned a sparkling rainbow from her fingertips.)"
The Abyss Stares Back (Faessi)
"...I reached into the depths of the abyss, and found enlightenment! There was a veil that was asking to be pierced, the absolute truth that it hid called out to me, tempting me to give my all in pursuit of this new reality. So I delved deeper and deeper... the shadow that once clouded my mind, lifted with every step I took on this resolute journey of mine!"
Magic, while well-regulated within the city of Verdane, is a respected and commonly-practiced craft, being used across all classes of society from the richest of Aristocrats to the poorest of Folkloriques. All schools of magic, even more destructive and harmful magics to society such as most powerful evocation and enchantment spells, or even morally questionable magics such as necromancy, typically possess at least one group of mages who are dedicated to their responsible use. However, there exists one school of magic whose practices are much maligned, so indescribably revile in its results that many Mystic guilds have specific possibilities outlawing any who dare practice this school of magic within their premises. This school is known as the Art of Black Magic. The first person who had reportedly discovered this forbidden, accursed school was a bright, young mage who had his future laid out for him going by the name of Charlemagne Bodhum: "He was a young lad, bright and ready to conquer the world with his prodigy-like ability to understand matters arcane. A scholarly, devious lad with a penchant for figuring out a solution to problems no one would've even began to conceptualize, betraying his utterly-ordinary appearance of an auburn human child, whose height failed to live up to the heavens he could've achieved. By the immaculately-young age of fifteen, Charles was capable of casting foundational spells of each and every accepted school of magic at a point where men and women twice his age would be considered mere apprentices." Charlemagne, born in an era where the focus of Verdanian society was on progress and not on whether or not some questions should've even been considered, dedicated his entire being to pushing the limits of what was possible. By the age of twenty-four, he had already been given his own laboratory to begin research on a set of fascinating hypotheses he had thought up. It was during one of these romps through the equipment, catalysts, and conduits that the young prodigy stumbled upon a certain reaction between spells held in various devices: the creation of a dark, pitch-black piece of magical energy that was malleable and manipulable in nature, having resolved into a single, gelatinous cube that felt soft to the touch, but was resistant to damage to its form of any kind. In his journals, Charles was noted to have fearlessly tested this cube of energy through any scientific and arcane means he had at his disposal. He named this dark cube of energy Black Matter due to both the unholy aura it produced, as well as the color of its form. However, it was during this round of testing that he discovered a property of black matter that would become a central property of the forbidden art of black magic: "Day 3. This black matter is confounding; there's no possible explanation for what it is even meant to be. It is simultaneously soft to the touch, to the point of being able to be formed into different shapes, yet it is hard beyond any material I've held in my hands, incapable of being scratched no matter what force I apply upon it. The smell is nondescript, and initial lick tests have provided the feeling of licking a flat, hard surface, even as I held it and molded it as I licked it. Under proper safety guidelines, I've cast certain spells; some have managed to dispel the black matter, suggesting it is a material of pure magical energy given a corporeal form, some have merely bounced off the black matter, while others, particularly spells that originate from my hand, were able to shape the cube as if I had touched it myself. Interestingly, it was during one of these tests with spellcasting where the black matter spread into a flat, rectangular shape that almost looked like a dark canvas. As I approached it in this form, I felt the hairs on my arms and my body rise in trepidation, as if there were some sort of threat that I could feel radiate from this flat canvas of black matter. In curiosity, I peered into the black matter, and felt something in the room watching my every movement, scrutinizing every single action I performed with a judgment that only a silent stare could impart. Curious. I have to study this more...." The story of Charlemagne Bodhum's discovery sent shockwaves across the Mystic guilds during his eras: if this black matter could be harnessed as a source of energy in a sustainable way, then it would catapult Verdane into a golden age of prosperity, being capable of producing a supposedly-infinite source of energy for whatever they needed. Thus, when he had revealed his findings, including a demonstration of the black matter cube, many guilds vied for his research, offering all sorts of memberships and benefits to the young researcher, but the man refused them all. It was only when the Mystics brought this matter to the attention of the Council did he finally accept the responsibility of making his project official, complete with a team of researchers, of which he was named the head. As an independent research team whose project could very well change the future of Verdane, his project was heavily scrutinized and asked for regular reports. In the months following the initial investigations, some progress had been made regarding the process in creating black matter as well as its properties, but barely any progress had been made in harnessing any potential energy from the black matter. The public eye had begun to notice something wrong with the researchers on this project. Some personalities had shifted from normally cheery dispositions to dour, irritable, or even downright hostile attitudes. Magic cast by some of the researchers was noted to be altered with some sort of unhealthy glow and aura. But most notably was the disappearance of the head researcher, Charlemagne Bodhum, from the public eye, having made little to no public appearances and increasingly handing off his reporting duties to the Council to his many assistants. It had been telling that even the presence of his family at his laboratory wouldn't even coax him out of his personal quarters. The other researchers who were relatively new;y-involved with the project had testified that Charles had been obsessed with this black matter, dedicating his waking moments to studying it, sometimes even skipping meals and other recreational activities. "Day 155. I can feel it teasing me. I've been cracking at this maddening cube for the past however long it is at this day, but it still refuses to tell me its secrets. The whispers have been torturing me, telling me that I'm ever so close, yet so far. But I refuse to give up. There is a bridge to unlocking the secrets of the voice that whispers to me, and I will stop at nothing to find, or hells take me, build that damned bridge myself. I am on the cusp of understanding the vision that was shown to me five months prior: of the promise for the power that lays within this blackened magic. All I need is a little more time, a little more suffering, and my life's work can be completed..." By the first year of research into black magic, as it was deemed, the writing was on the wall: it was unlikely that this line of magical research would lead to the initial promise of boundless amounts of energy, and that the project had turned into Charlemagne's own personal project, where all their funding was dedicated into prospects unrelated to its initial process. Several researchers had already been sworn off or resigned from the project due to the stress of working on such an uncertain project, and had testified that the project head seemed to have completely dissociated from even his own self, dedicating his entire being to the project and even muttering and rambling about "his life's work" in a manner reminiscent of an insane man's flow of thoughts. Finally, the Council decided to shut the project down, sending a number of gendarmerie to clean out Charles' laboratory and forcibly retire him from his project. On the day of eviction, however, when the cleanup crew had moved into the laboratory, they had found that much of the interior had been ruined beyond rare, with the appearance of the machinery decidedly corrupted with patches of black matter. As they moved to secure his quarters, the door had burst open before they could breach it, and right before the crew stood a man, blinded in both eyes with a smile much too curved to be natural. His hair had been bleached white, and his robes were stained the color of purest black, and he carried a large leather-bound book that seemed to be his journal. Then, the man began cackling in a manner that would haunt the men and women who were sent to retrieve him, freezing in fear. Finally, the man once known as Charlemagne Bodhum, walked forward in the middle of the main laboratory floor, stretching his arms in a jaunty, horrible manner, claiming to have unlocked the secret of everything about black magic, before collapsing, his life having been drained right in front of the cleanup crew's very own eyes. "Day
"I HAVE SEEN THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH HORRIFIES ME TO MY CORE."
Baldwin: His Forgotten Companions (Eris)
"The story goes: Verdane Baldwin and his Ten Companions, through insurmountable odds and a miracle, had made their way into the diplomatic city of Ascalon, which had been overtaken by Aquitani, including the High Demon Dragon itself. Your hero had cut through swathes of Aquitani soldiers and henchmen on the way with his companions, with only the eleven of them managing to break through. But let me tell you this: we Fjarăformă are not so helpless as to stand back as an opportunity to break free of our oppressors presents itself."
Deep within the forests outside of the walled city of Verdane, there exists a small community of taliyans living in relative harmony and peace with the nature surrounding them called the Calés Dacia. Consisting of wolf, snake, hawk, and rabbit tribes, this community of taliyans typically hide themselves away from modern civilization, keeping their community and families close at hand and claiming a large part of the forest as their own. Despite this, the community welcomes many travelers who happen to stumble upon their abode, provided they prove that they did not come to harm their people. While the extent of this welcome depends on the efforts of the visitors themselves to ingratiate themselves with the Dacian taliyans, those who do are given an honorary symbol of their welcome to the Dacian taliyans. Particularly curious travelers are invited to participate in one of their sessions of teaching the young ones of their people's storied history, as a way to help further educate them and help dispel any misconceptions they may have on the reputation of their people. One of the more notable stories that are told involves their side of history, surrounding the circumstances behind Verdane Baldwin's famous victory over the Aquitani that had taken over Ascalon: "The Verdanians do not often tell of our initial meeting with Verdane Baldwin, likely due to their contempt for us, following the actions of some of our brasher brethren from across the land. Do not worry; we shall dispel such foolish stories with the truth of our own involvement. The story begins as such: years prior to the famous event, the hero known as Baldwin used to be a mere soldier within the 51st Fizzart Platoon, as he himself told us Dacians. Our first tidings came when his platoon had found themselves lost within our forest, where our Vânător scouted their presence, heavily injured and fleeing from a detachment of Aquitani raiders. We had known about these foreigners, as word came of their arrival decades before. If they were fighting against our sworn enemies, then there was opportunity to establish ourselves allies to their cause. So, our Vânător led a small group of hunters to their aid, bringing the remnants of the 51st Fizzart Platoon to our Community. It was there where the young Baldwin, the idealist he was, sought to establish diplomatic relations with us, despite the protests of his fellow surviving soldiers, believing that we had been affiliated with the beasts that they had fought before. Understandably, this created a rift between us and these soldiers, even as our people willingly healed them without expecting anything but their friendship. But Baldwin was the one to stand by us, believing our words to be true and actions honorable, and so willingly stayed behind while our hunters escorted the remnants of his platoon to the forest entrance." Many of Dacia's elders will attest to the at-the-time low-ranking grunt, Verdane Baldwin, staying with the Dacian taliyans to educate himself on their culture, customs, and history for about a month's worth of time, halting his participation in the ongoing Half-Century War. There, the historians noted that Baldwin had grown from a simple grunt into a capable warrior of his own, being able of staying toe-to-toe with some of the wolves and hawks' finest warriors, while also capable of keeping up with the variety of spells the snakes and rabbits had thrown at him. At the end of the month, Verdane had fully ingratiated with the Dacians, earning himself the title of being an honorary taliyan, providing him with a means of contacting them in his time of greatest need, as well as a necklace lined with the tribal fangs of each of their tribes. After they had escorted the man outside of the forest, several of the hawks were assigned to overwatch and shadow him, to ensure that he would uphold his trust for them in the company of his peers. Several years later, after having observed Verdane Baldwin for the whole time after their first meeting, the fateful day would come, where the war would be decided by the victory of the war centered on the neutral city of Ascalon. "That day was the day where the Marseillians had almost lost the war. The Aquitani's overwhelming numbers and positional advantage had granted them an almost insurmountable advantage in the battlegrounds surrounding Ascalon. Outposts were ravaged in suicidal rushes, with the intent of destroying rather than a complete takeover. Whole platoons were ravaged thanks to the position of several ballistae emplacements on top of the perimeter wall of the city. All hope seemed lost... as the Dacians were not yet known to aid the Marseillians, we wished to avoid the utter destruction of our people, in case the Aquitani had won. But our scouts heard one piercing, screeching sound originate from the ruins of a blown-up fort, somewhere on the outpost... and on the fort walls stood Verdane Baldwin, and the ten survivors of his platoon. It was his call for aid in his time of need." Verdane Baldwin had a plan, but the scouts who had reported back to Dacia, and even the soldiers and hunters that occupied the community had agreed that it was a terrible plan: they would cut a swath through all the Aquitani that blocked their path to Ascalon's rivergate, where they would use the chaos of the war to infiltrate and slay the dragon that lay atop Ascalon's highest fort. But even with how suicidal and recklessly stupid the plan seemed to the Dacians, the scouts noted that Verdane and his companions possessed a zealous fervour and strength of will that would put even the mightiest of Dacian warriors to shame: they had known that they'll likely die if they go through with the plan, so he was staking his platoon's lives, as well as his Dacian allies' that they would somehow turn the tides of the war on their own. Many Dacians refused to join in the plan, but the leaders of the four tribes of Dacia saw it differently: "The greatest of us, Soan of the wolves, made a speech. 'When we had first accepted the 51st Fizzart Platoon into our community and treated them as we would members of our Gitano, almost all of them had been hostile to us and wished to group us in the same category as those who oppressed us. But one of them stood for us, stood by us, and even lived among us as one of our own. Verdane Baldwin staked his life for a group of people who he had not even known or had reason to trust. He has given us no reason to resent him, despite all of the scouting we had been performing of him behind his back. He has shown to us that he is a great man of character, and we are to abandon him at his greatest time of need? If no one will come forward, then us Conducă will resign our positions and aid him. But I ask of you now: Skadi rewards the valor of Fjarăformă who sacrifice themselves for their allies. Will you be found lacking when Skadi comes to judge you?'" With that speech, a majority of the Dacians had been roused to action, fighting not for the will of the Marseillians, but that of one man: Verdane Baldwin. When Verdane began his approach towards the river gates of Ascalon, he found himself accompanied by not only his ten companions, but also the combined might of many of the Dacian warriors. That day, Aquitani numbering several hundreds were blocking the path of Verdane and his warriors. With the combined efforts of Verdane and his Ten Companions along with the Dacians who had chosen to believe in Verdane, that number was reduced to less than ten. Several casualties were suffered on the side of the taliyans in their effort to help Verdane, but their help might've been enough to swing the war in the favor of the Marseillians, forcing the final confrontation between Verdane, his Ten Companions, and the High Demon of Ascalon. And the rest, as they say, is history.
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