The
City of
Humans
fled to Thrune nearly eight hundred years ago. Where they came from, and what
they were fleeing is something of a mystery, hotly contended and debated by
scholars and historians, but “across the sea” and “strife” are the most
commonly accepted explanations, despite the fact that expeditions since have
failed to find evidence of this supposed other continent.
Thrune
was already an ancient city when the first humans arrived. The city was built
and populated by The Others, a strange race of serpentine humanoids who
admitted that even they had in fact built the city atop the foundations and
ruins of an even more ancient city, built and abandoned eons ago by unknown
inhabitants.
It is
believed that at first there was a truce and some trade between humans and The
Others. The humans were allowed to build small settlements and towns near the
city, and over time their numbers grew, perhaps aided by the arrivals of
further ships of refugees although the actual truth behind this has been lost
in antiquity.
Not
much is recorded about this time – man does not like to document his more evil
and selfish moments, but at some point between seven and six hundred years ago
the human numbers had swelled to the extent that they began to impact on
available resources in the region – in short there was no longer room for both
humans and The Others, so the humans rose up and attacked their one-time
saviours, killing thousands and driving the rest from Thrune and far to the
north to break against the mountains. The humans took the city and formed a
narrow empire that stretched a five-day to the north and nearly a twenty-day to
the south (distances in those days being rated on how long it would take a
rider on a fast horse to traverse the distance if he could ride without
stopping). The empire was necessarily narrow, hemmed in as it was between the
ocean to the west and The Serpent – a windy continent spanning mountain range
to the east.
The
new Thrune empire was very strong for several hundred
years, taking that time to expand into the lands vacated by The Others. Much of
the landscape is inhospitable, leading to cities separated by sometimes vast
tracts of barely habitable land, most trade between them being conducted by sea
or merchant caravans (which must be large and well guarded against bandits and
outlaw villages eking out an existence in the wilderness between the cities).
Trade itself mostly consists of foodstuffs and luxuries (more easily produced
or grown in the more fertile southern lands) in exchange for crimson ore – a
rare and extremely valuable iron ore only found in the Serpent range near
Thrune itself. Crimson ore is tricky to smelt and work with, but produces
extremely strong and resilient crimson-coloured steel that is highly valued for
its beauty as well as it’s strength and ability to
hold an edge far keener than regular steel.
Thrune
itself was curiously the only city of The Others ever discovered, and although
sections have been torn or burned down and then rebuilt many times over the
centuries, there are still areas and buildings that display the
characteristically “alienness” of The Others, who were apparently slightly
shorter than humans on average and who used curves instead of corners to join
walls. The only other known “original” area of the
city is the catacombs – an extensive system of tunnels beneath the city that
occasionally meet with the sewage system. These are largely unexplored and were
sealed early in the city’s human tenure. The odd and often clashing colours of
their architecture and artwork leads scholars to believe that The Others were colour-blind (in the red-green spectrum
anyway) but little else is known of them now as few records exist from so long
ago.
Around
two hundred and fifty years ago, the expanding southern edge of the Thrune
empire ran smack into the expending northern edge of another, previously
unknown human empire. Although seemingly friendly, the Assembly Empire, as they
called themselves, were expansionist, and greatly desired the Thrune land,
especially when they learned of the existence and properties of the crimson
ore.
The
Thrune disliked the Assembly immediately, in part for their desires on Thrune
lands, but also due to religious differences – the Thrune worship a deity known
as The Arbiter, while the Assembly Empire worships The Arbiter only as a part
of a pantheon of gods (unsurprisingly known as the Assembly), an unforgivable
heresy to the monotheistic Thrune. Conflict ensued and raged for four years,
becoming known as the Brothers War, with men battling men for the first time in
the history of either empire (on such a scale, anyway). It is unclear what the
result of this war may have eventually been however, as this was the time The
Others chose to make their return.
With
no warning whatsoever, The Others boiled out of the mountains to the north in
force, destroying everything in their path and heading as straight as an arrow
for Thrune, which they seemed desperate to retake. The Thrune Empire was lost –
they could not possibly fight two wars on different fronts, and so made peace
with the Assembly Empire (who were at least human).
The Assembly Empire pushed a hard bargain, and with dwindling options the
Thrune bowed down, surrendering their lands and annexing their cities to the
Assembly Empire in return for aid against The Others. The combined might of
both empires finally pushed The Others back again after a bloody three month
conflict that became known as the Serpent war and saw tens of thousands of
deaths on both sides and the loss of much of the lands north of the city to The
Others. City walls were later built for extra protection, and the city expanded
as well as watchtowers set to guard against the return of The Others.
That
was 199 years ago. Unable to expand to the North, the Assembly Empire has
largely ignored Thrune as a frontier city, notable only as an important source
of crimson ore and as the largest port in the region (but too far away from
“civilisation” to pay too much attention to). With a lot of the Thrune empire citizens
killed in the two wars, much of Thrune was repopulated by the Assembly Empire,
leading to a weakening and diluting of the Thrune monotheistic faith – the
average citizen happy enough just to finally know peace and prosperity that
over the years most have come to worship the pantheon of the Assembly. There
still exist a great number of Thrune empire loyalists however, who would like
nothing better than to break ties with the Assembly and return to their own
religion, which still has a small following (in the old city region, anyway).
The Others have not been seen for two hundred years,
and few believe that they still exist, although it’s also true that nobody
travels north much – there are few cities that way and they are small and
far-between. The average person doesn’t really know anything about The Others
anymore, and many (raised on bedtime stories featuring The Others as boogymen
in their youth) believe them nothing but myths and stories used to frighten
children with.
The
city (and in fact all Assembly Empire cities) is ruled in the name of King
Davard by a council of 5 – a soldier, a tradesman, a scholar, a mother and a
lawyer (with a sixth vacant chair – see the religion section of this document).
These councillors are selected through a public vote, but of course answer to
the king and his local governor general who has the power of veto over anything
they pass. Magic is universally feared – those of the Assembly faith fear it as
the province of the sorcerer (the evil sixth god cast down by the other gods
and worshipped by demons and users of magic). Those of the monotheistic Arbiter
faith fear it as it is thought to be a tool of the chaos lords and to use it is
to draw their attention. Consequently, the average man is terrified by anything
remotely magical or supernatural, and witch hunts and other such persecutions
are not uncommon events.
Thrune
Today
Today,
the city thrives. A steady (if small) stream of crimson ore is mined in the
nearby mountains to the east, and is channelled through the city to distant
southern Assembly Empire ports. Coming into the city are foodstuffs (to
supplement the nearby farming communities and the fishing industry’s efforts)
and a great number of luxuries. As the producer of the crimson ore, Thrune is a
wealthy city. There is also a boom trade for fishermen; the waters around
Thrune are unusually rich in nutrients, and the marine life is bountiful and
varied – the gathering and exporting of fish is second only in importance and
wealth generation to the crimson ore trade. Thrune is also the final stop for
any travel north, as none of the cities in that direction are port cities.
Travellers and supplies must stop at Thrune and join the vast merchant caravans
heading out to supply those towns and cities.
Geographically,
the city is split up into three regions. The
The
Finally,
there is what the locals call King City, the region of the city
encompassing the Sisters and the lands down to the Kings wharf. The First
Sister is a lookout fort that is continually on the lookout for anything
arriving from the north (the potential return of The Others, mostly). The
Second sister looks south and across the harbour, watching for the safety of
merchant and fishing fleets and keeping a lookout for pirates. The area around
the Sisters is lush and beautiful, and the land around first sister is
available for all citizens to use, making it a favourite spot for family
picnics and sports events. This is also where the castle lies, in which the
governor general and the council make their homes, council meetings are held,
and a residence for the king is maintained should he ever choose to come to
Thrune (he has never bothered to date). The Kings wharf is where the small
fleet of local Assembly Empire warships sail from in case of trouble with
raiders or pirates, and is also where the special cargo ships that carry the
crimson ore to the lands to the south dock and make their homes. This area is
guarded heavily, of course.
Immediately
to the north of the city (in the “shadow of it’s
walls” so to speak) lies the small farming community of
The
Assembly religion
History: In the beginning, there was
void. And throughout the void boiled chaos, formless and
purposeless. And the gods looked upon the chaos and desired that there
be form. So on the first day, the sorcerer captured the chaos, pulling it
together and working it, creating order where once there was chaos, light where
once there was darkness and matter where before there was void. And with it he
created the sun and the moons and the stars. And the gods looked upon them and
they were good, yet more was needed. So, on day two, the Smith took the
leftover matter, and worked it on His forge. From it he created the world, and
he made the oceans and the mountains, the trees and the rocks, the wind and the
weather. And the Gods looked upon his creation and it was good, yet a spark was
missing. So on the third day, the Mother made life. She took the last of the
matter and she birthed the beasts and the birds, the fish and the insects, and
last she made man, sending them all forth to multiply. And the gods looked upon
this life and it was good, yet directionless and overly bountiful. So on the
fourth day the Warrior taught the beasts and the animals and man to fight, that
there might be balance among the creatures of this place they had created. And
man fought the beasts and the beasts fought man and the numbers of each became
stable. And the gods looked upon this and it was good, yet man was not dominant
as was his place. So on the fifth day, the Sage took man and gave him
knowledge. He taught him of love and of passion, of fire and of shelter, of
hearth and of home. And man learned. And became lord over all
the world with dominion over all of the beasts that they might feed and
clothe him. And the gods looked upon this and it was good, yet it was still
chaotic. So on the sixth day, the Arbiter created order and law. He imposed
order on nature, structure on life and reason on man. Thus the world was as we
know it today, and the gods looked upon it and it was good.
Yet
the heart of the sorcerer knew jealousy. He had played with the formless chaos
of the void and had felt mastery over it. It had succumbed to his demands and
moulded to his desire. And thus he looked upon the order and matter and life They had created and it was not good. No longer would it so
easily bend to his will and obey his whim, and he knew anger. And thus the
sorcerer strove to destroy that which the Gods had created that he might once
again know dominion over the chaos, but the other Gods loved Their
creation and desired that it remain. Thus the Gods cast down the sorcerer and
denied him his wishes. And the Arbiter imposed order on Him, that it would be
ever difficult for Him to work with the remaining vestiges of Chaos to bend
them to his will. And the Mother turned Her back on
Him, that ever would all living things shun those who would work His sorcery.
And the Sage denied knowledge to Him, that ever would the search for dominion
over Chaos involve the tedious quest for information and knowledge. And the
Warrior declared war on him, that men for ever after
would hate and hunt those who would work the raw Chaos in service of their god.
And the Smith turned creation against him, that those who would use sorcery
would ever age and hasten their way toward death. And the sorcerer fled.
And
thus was the world made. And it is good.
Basic
Beliefs:
There are five Gods, plus a sixth who was cast down:
The
Warrior governs conflict, battle, strife, but also tests of strength and
prowess. A warrior about to enter battle will pray that The Warrior be with
him. One who is wounded in battle might lament that The Warrior turned his back
on him.
The
Smith is the lord over all forms of trade, commerce, creation and suchlike. An
armourer will pray that the smith guide his hand while fashioning a
breastplate, while a poor trade or shaky business enterprise means that the Smith
found disfavour with the deal.
The
Mother is the god of all life, love, beauty and happiness. All weddings are
done before a priest in the name of The Mother, that She
may smile down on the occasion, while an ugly woman is said to have offended
The Mother who obviously turned Her back on her.
The
Sage is the lord of all knowledge, learning, intelligence and skill. A smart
man is said to have found favour with The Sage, while a poor teacher or a fool
is said to have offended Him.
The
Arbiter is the lord of order, reason, justice and law. When one wishes to do
well in a sporting event, one might pray that the Arbiter judge in his favour,
while criminals are said to have found the Arbiters back (literally, he has
turned away from them).
There
was originally a sixth God, or so the legends say. He was the Lord of chaos and
sorcery, but He was cast down and his evilness banished.
The
gods made the world, and govern everything within it. Although individuals
usually worship a specific god (warriors revere The Warrior, librarians pray to
The Sage, lawyers to the Arbiter, and so on) an individual will also pay homage
to all the gods in situations where it seems prudent to do so (before a fight,
both sides will usually ask The Warrior to smile on them, expecting parents
will pray that The Mother bring them an easy birth, the condemned will beg
forgiveness of The Arbiter, etc). No prayer or homage is ever given to the
sorcerer (note that his name is always spelled in lower case) and those who do
worship him or try to work the mysterious forces of chaos (i.e. use magic) are
thus evil and deserving of a quick and painful death. This has led to a deep
superstition of anything even remotely supernatural or different, and
witch-hunts and other such persecutions are sadly not uncommon. Additionally,
because randomness and chaos is seen to be the domain of the sorcerer, gambling
of any form is seen by many to be a way of paying homage to Him. This doesn’t
sit well with the average citizen of course, but nevertheless gambling is
officially outlawed (usually with harsh punishments for transgressors) and
those who choose to engage in it must therefore pick their opponent carefully,
lest he turn out to be more devout than they and turn them in.
Traditions: There are six days in every
week, and five weeks in every month. Each of the days is named for one of the
Gods, starting with Arbiters Day, Mothers Day, Sages Day, Smiths Day, Warriors
Day and the sixth day, which presumably was once known as sorcerers day but is
now known as Noday. Services are held at all churches on every one of the first
five days of the week, worshiping all the Gods but especially the one whose day
it is. No services are held on Noday, which is viewed as a holiday by most
people (businesses close etc, like a Sunday on Earth but without the religious
tone). Events that may be important to certain gods will always be timed to
fall on those days; thus many weddings are scheduled for Mothers day, duels
will be organised for Warriors day where possible, legal proceedings that fall
on Arbiters day are treated with more deference, etc. Of course, everyone hopes
that their child will be born on Mothers day and that their new sword will have
been forged on Smiths day, etc.
Additionally,
each week of the month is named for one of the five gods. It is not known if
there used to be a 6th week for the sorcerer, but there certainly is
no longer. Thus you have Arbiters week, Warriors Week, and so on. Obviously, a
birth that falls on Mothers day during Mothers week is especially blessed, an
arrow crafted on Smiths day during Smiths week will be thought to never fail to
find its foe, and so on. These days are treated with much religious awe and are
always public holidays. Services on those 5 days per month honour only the God
whose name and week it is and are known as Holy days. The extremely wealthy
and/or important may be able to arrange special treatment on Holy days, such as
a wedding on Mothers day in Mothers week and suchlike, but this is well beyond
the purses of common folk.
The
world has a 366 day year. There are twelve 30-day months, and then a single
5-day “week” at the end of the year called Festival. During these 5 days,
everybody from commoner to royalty celebrate the outgoing year and the incoming
year with a 2 day sombre fast followed by a three day glut of dancing, drinking
and feasting, often sponsored by the local lord (the festival in Thrune is
widely renowned due to Thrune’s wealth and the council do not stint). The
actual twelve months are divided into four seasons: Planting, Harvesting,
Storing and Fasting. These are further divided into Early, High and Late, so
that the months go from Early Planting to High Planting to Late Planting, and
then to Early Harvesting, High Harvesting, and so on. Festival falls between
Late Fasting and Early Planting, which historically gave the farmers something
to celebrate before the hard part of the year started again. The years are
numbered from the (supposed) fall of the sorcerer, and the current year is
1491.
All
Assembly churches and cathedrals follow a similar design. The centre of the
building is a large open floor, where worshipers may pray and where services
are held. Around the floor are six altars, one to each of the Gods and an empty
altar that is never approached or worshiped. Services are oriented to point to
the God they are presently worshiping, which is why there are never any chairs,
pews or suchlike in an Assembly church. Worshipers are obliged to alter their
facing several times during most services, as the prayers always begin and end
with the God whose day it is, but cycle through all of the other 4 gods as well
during the service (except on holy days when the service honours only the god
whose holy day it is.
Assembly
Empire cities are ruled over in the name of King Davard. Each city has a
governor general, who speaks with the authority of the king, and has veto power
over any ruling passed. The day-to-day ruling is performed by an (elected)
council of 5, who honour the gods through their previous occupations – a
warrior, a tradesman, a lawyer, a sage and a mother. In the council chamber
there is a sixth chair that of course must always remain vacant.
Perceptions: Those of the Assembly faith
believe that those of the Arbiter faith are merely misguided. Their hearts are
in the right place as they do worship The Arbiter, but they do not pay homage
to the other 4 gods and for that they are to be pitied. It is hoped that one
day they will “find their way” and discover that they are merely worshiping a
single aspect of the Assembly. Some among the Assembly believe that the Arbiter
faith is merely a mutation of the Assembly religion, slowly changed over the
years, somehow losing the other four gods. This viewpoint is hotly denied and
abhorred by the Arbiter loyalists of course (who point out that the Assembly
are equally likely to have began worshiping The Arbiter and have since invented
four new false gods rather than it having occurred the other way around).
To
those of the Assembly, The Others are a vile race of magic using creatures (who
were possibly created by the sorcerer). That they were driven out is a
testament to the fall of the sorcerer and his weakness before the Assembly
gods.
The
Arbiter faith
History: Before the world there was
void, and in this place the fickle gods of chaos made their sport. In that time
there were no men but the sleeping god, The Arbiter, dwelled in the chaos,
deflecting it and drawing order to Himself. In time, the sleeping god awoke and
pushed back the chaos, imposing law on the other gods. For a thousand years
they battled, until at last The Arbiter defeated the gods of chaos, and by
doing so formed the world. By his will he brought into being the plants and the
birds and the animals, that by their very existence they might defy the
formless chaos. Lastly, he caused the first man and the first woman to appear
in His own image, that they might serve as guardians and protectors for the
world, ruling over all domains as was their right, maintaining order and
ensuring that chaos might never return.
But
chaos is like a plague; it seeps through the smallest cracks to make its
presence known. For in a time The Arbiter was not watchful, one of the Chaos
lords came to the first man and woman and enticed them, saying to the man, “See
her beauty and her strength… take it to yourself.” And the man took her. The
birth of the first child shattered the heavens, raining the pieces throughout
the skies. As the heavens broke, so did law, and all sense and order was lost
for many ages. Chaos returned and mankind was alone in the world, only parents
and children. This was mans first sin, for he created life with no right.
Children
coupled with children and many more men were born, man and woman both. And the
chaos lords returned and said to some, “See how the others walk your lands and
gaze upon your women… there is but one way to gain recompense.” And those men
took up weapons and killed their brothers so as to gain their brothers lands
and women. This was man’s second sin, for he took life with no right.
And
the Arbiter looked down upon the world that he had wrought. And he saw the
chaos that had established itself in the heart of man, his greatest creation.
And so he sent to man a prophet, one who spoke to us the laws of The Arbiter,
that by living by them we may banish the lords of Chaos from this world and
live in the praise and glory of Him. This prophet’s name was Xanar, and it was
from he that we learned our laws.
Basic
Beliefs:
There are two basic principles according to the faithful of The Arbiter:
Do
not take that to which you have no right, and
Do
not give that which is not yours to give.
This
roughly translates to “no murder, no stealing, no illegitimate children, and be
obedient to local laws” but of course those two principles should be applied in
any given situation. Mercy is valued, as are honour and justice. Priests of
course must live by the strictest interpretations of those laws brought down by
Xanar, and thus may never commit violence of any form (in case they accidentally
kill, duplicating the second sin), and must abstain from all sexual relations
(in case they accidentally create life, duplicating the first sin). As a fickle
and unpredictable force, sorcery is the domain of the chaos lords and not to be
practiced by man. The faithful cross themselves (drawing an “X” for Xanar
across their chest) whenever they encounter magic or the supernatural (they are
not quite as fanatical about facing it down as Assembly followers however,
which may be seen as a lack of faith or a surplus of good sense, depending upon
which side of the fence you sit).
Traditions: Most of the Arbiter religion
traditions have been lost over the years. It is known that they used to observe
a different calendar and different holy days, but the overwhelming dominance of
the Assembly faith has caused even devout Arbiter loyalists to forget those
roots and use the Assembly calendar and system. Arbiter loyalists consider
every Arbiter day to be holy (and Arbiter day on Arbiter week to be even more
so) and can usually not be coerced through any means to work on those days.
Perceptions: There are few truly devout
Arbiter loyalists in Thrune these days. Hundreds of years of Assembly rule and
traditions have diluted the Arbiter faith to the extent that most people have
now come to accept the Assembly maxim that The Arbiter is but one God among the
five, and Assembly sympathies have taken over. Many of those loyalists who do
remain are very devout in their beliefs and desire to expel the Assembly from
Thrune and return to the Arbiter religion. This has led to a curious dichotomy
between those who are devout enough to believe that any means will justify the
end if that end is the abolition of Assembly rule, and those who realise that
many of those “means” contradict one of the basic rules laid down by Arbiter
faith, to wit: no violence or murder. While the Assembly believe that the
Arbiter faithful are merely misguided by only worshiping one God out of the 5,
the Arbiter loyalists harbour a resentment and oftentimes fury toward those of
the Assembly faith for worshiping four false gods and lowering the status of
The Arbiter to a mere member of a pantheon.
Those
of the Arbiter faith view The Others as being the children of chaos (after all,
they used foul chaotic sorcery) and despise and fear them with a passion. More
than anything else, The Others represent the fall and weakening of The Arbiter
by their simple existence (assuming they still exist…)