Jun 27, 2017
(Ignore my amateur photoshop skills) A rough representation of the different regions of Verdula.
seen from Spain
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seen from Spain
seen from China
(Ignore my amateur photoshop skills) A rough representation of the different regions of Verdula.
The Sunrise Company Logo, by @afraiddave
The Calender of Seaheim.
340 Days.
16 Months.
21 days a month on average.
Months.
Airi (The Stag) 22 Days
Nefer (The Hound) 21 Days
Taibus (The Cat) 21 Days
Biska (The Fawn) 21 Days
Navan (The Salmon) 22 Days
Mero (The Sapling) 21 Days
Clave (The Hornet) 21 Days
Tyrol (The Rain) 21 Days
Myse (The Flame) 22 Days
Horu (The Moon) 21 Days
Jin (The Phoenix) 21 Days
Famaj (The Panther) 21 Days
Sidir (The Plague) 22 Days
Yris (The Smoke) 21 Days
Urul (The Swarm) 21 Days
Vanik ( The Void) 21 Days
The Elves were the first to mark their days, and qucikly became the standard. Each month that starts a season has an extra day for the solstice or equinox. It’s also a lunar calender, with each first day being the full moon.
Seven days in a week, using the old Norse days. Each Solstice is it's own day, named after the faerie lord/lady who rules that season.
Senhan, Lord of Winter and Sleep
Gyr, Lord of Spring and Delirium
Danva, Lady of Summer and Night
Hasin, Lady of Autumn and Decay.
The Dark Masses
TENETS
Honor the dead, lest their sacrifice be in vain.
Avoid frivolous crime, it is beneath you.
Let the shadows surround you, and you will always be at home.
Honor your family above all else
The Speaker is the voice of Thazarix, a vessel of the Chill.
The Dark Masses are a church of necromancers that worship Thazarix, an ancient god of cold and death. An outcasted god of the Verdulan pantheon, he followed his people when they were sold into slavery by King Ferondan to the Kraken Lord. Thazarix is believed to be able to inhabit the world of Seaheim, but only as the strange aurora over Dustlight known as “the Chill.” The leader of the church, known as The Speaker is Siri Bleakhall, a female half-elf of Valask ancestry. Although the Valask allow anyone to live is Dustlight and worship Thazarix, only those of Valask descent are allowed to become true priests. Non-Valask, referred to a “ninchka”, or “foreigner.” They may achieve the rank of Toller, or someone who is allowed to ring the sacred bells during one of the five times they are rung during the day. Five is a sacred number to the Masses, as it took five betrayals of their people for them to thrive.
The church is very strict in how it handles things. Every member of the church, whether unarmed or military has to handle recording of their day to day activities. This keeps order in church for the most part, as the church members are usually skilled in magic and thus can often get the truth themselves if they need to. The other reason for this is for when a church member dies, their logs are used to allow the Soulscribes as to which undead caste they will belong to.
UNDEAD CASTES
Patron: The very top of the caste system, these are honored dead who have done great deeds for their house or order and for the Valask in general. The exorcists of the Dark Masses remove the soul of the dead person, and transform it into a ghost that is allowed to inherit a Death Mask, the case of a house patron, or an Heirloom Weapon for a military order patron. These objects allow for the patron to give advice to champions of their house or order. Patrons are at the top mostly because they operate outside of the caste system, putting their cause above all else.
Soulscribe: The next caste are the Soulscribes, given only to the most powerful of magic users that die among the Masses. These are the undead who govern the caste system for the most part, and do the bureaucratic work for the church. They decide who goes to what caste when they die. The process of becoming a Soulscribe is similar to becoming a lich, but done in a way that doesn’t require the souls of the living. This process also turns their log book into a powerful phylactery.
Arbiter: The upper middle caste are the Arbiters. The ranks of the Arbiters include many former adventurers, and these undead are the backbone of Dustlight’s militia and army. They resemble what they looked like in life, as the corpse is kept in decent condition, but can told apart from the living by the lack of pupils in their eyes. Arbiters gain supernatural endurance in the process of becoming undead. Adventurers who become arbiters often keep abilities they had in life, which helps to keep the peace.
Runner: Runners are small, agile undead used a couriers and emmisarys. This role is given to those in the Masses who die young. Blessed with supernatural intelligence (relative to their age) Runners have to go through an intense period of training before being allowed to handle documents. The most elite runners are employed by the Senate. These undead handle seriously classified information, and are rewarded handsomely for work, or for bribes from rival senators.
Huncher: Called so because the large hunch they often get in their back from all of the manual labor they are used for, hunchers are the dumb muscle of the undead. This is reserved for heinous criminals and others who die disgraced by the Masses. They are the famous cart pulling, boat rowing zombies the Valask employ.
The Sunrise Company
The Sunrise Company is an order of adventurers that seek to map the world. They are led by the veteran explorer, [REDACTED]. The Sunrise Company were the first mortals to use the “Swell Seal” spell, allowing for more permanent homes to be made in the ocean, thus allowing for adventurers to explore further into the world. The main base of the Company is located on a massive Swell that was sealed by the Archmage of the company, and island referred to as The Reprieve.
The symbol of the company is a golden, grinning sun on an indigo field. They are also known for being guardians of sponsored inns, allowing for certain inns to be “Sanctuary” for adventurers of all...backgrounds.
The Boiling River
A river runs through the heart of Seaheim. Once known as The River Nosca, it has been more commonly known as “The Boiling River” for years now. It’s history is bloody, because underneath the river sits a leyline, a leyline is a remnant of Vemor’s blood when he sacrificed his power to save the mortals of Seaheim. Leylines are pure arcane magic, and radiate power that attracts ambitious humanoids and greedy monsters, who almost always clash with each other in order to sieze the leyline. The most famous of these was a battle between the Fire Giant Emperor named Rosheen Cinderbellow and the Ancient Red Wyrm Vekonolox.
The two met each other with mighty blows and powerful magic, but found that they couldn’t damage each other through each of their various defensive wards and such, which were amplified by the leylines. Days later, they each succumbed to exhaustion, where a nearby Snakefolk regiment had been lying in wait for the perfect oppurtunity to strike. Weakening them with debilitating poisons, the Pitmaster leading them sliced each other the gargantuan combtants throats, then threw the blade he used to the bottom of the river. The now dead creatures bled for years, the magmatic blood in their veins causing an endless boiling effect.
Years later, several powerful wizards founded the Eye of Vemor, a group of magic users dedicated to preserving and making sure nobody abuses the leylines. They can be found undercover near known or unknown leylines, as such they have many outposts in fishing villages along the Boiling River.
The Magic Users of Seaheim. Part II: The Divine.
The clerics of Seaheim worship gods in a way that the gods themselves don’t understand. The divinity sees their clerics as little more than agents in a never ending proxy war. All clerics, regardless of alignment, have animosity towards clerics of a rival god. Usually, terms of peace are laid out, and an uneasy truce is set. However, most clerical orders have a militant branch for a reason, usually containing paladins. The most famous of these are the monster hunter clerics of Kaz, who roam the world hunting down evil with no remorse. Just as well known are the Warpriests of Tynse, who are often more akin to fighters blessed with divine intervention than the usual cleric.
The gods of Seaheim are not dependant on worship. They were here before the mortal races were, and they will exist long after they are gone. The gods do not hesitate to remove the abilities of a cleric that do something that displeases them, nor are they above giving their agents boons as reward for particularly good service.
Nature gods such as Vera, Diphycys, and Tristarios also employ rangers and druids to their causes. Often these druids are given an innate spark of magic when they are born. While not required to be a druid or ranger, the spark gives them an innate connection to nature which proves invaluable. Not all druids and rangers revere gods, and some draw from the primal elements of the land and nature around them for their magic. Some races, such as Firbolgs and Elves are more likely to become druids. Vera is especially fond of the aforementioned races, while Diphycys prefers Tritons and humans, and Tristarios prefers an evil being.
The Cosmology of Seaheim is released!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wnTUKBw0ntNMlWqlNoD1IKL7bAoIKjjSSIIruCT8yqQ/edit?usp=sharing
Stay tuned for a post on the demons of Seaheim coming later on, as well as smaller lore posts between now and then!