Ages' Beginnings - An Arrow/Immaculate Reboot

I won't be able to make orders before midnight my time or somesuch. I'm not aware whether it will screw up my submission, I hope not. Midnight is in 9 hours or so.
 
Angst: Get your orders in tomorrow then? (before 4pm?)

Also, everyone,
Please send orders to both Arrow Gamer and myself.


EDIT: I am also very much enjoying the stories!
 
Spoiler :


A Kingdom in Tatters

-"Be careful with this! If it breaks, I'll have your head on a stake." The poor servant shook his hands in such a way that it seemed he had taken the threat very seriously. The precious cargo is nothing less than a complete collection of crystal goblets that are older than one might remember. And be quick, for God's sake.

Earlier that same day, Donan saw the king die, victim of poisoning. After witnessing the terrible scene, shocked, he had left one of his glasses fall to the ground, leaving it in tatters. Just like Auronas.

-"Daddy, Daddy"- A girl with blonde hair and dressed in a beautiful green dress came running, followed by a maid of austere appearance. -"Why are we leaving?" She said, gasping.

-"You should not be running around here. I told you to wait with your brothers." She looked at the floor. -"But I dont want to go!" Before Donan could say anything, the maid breathlessly said "I beg your pardon my lord, I tried to hold her."

-"Take her back and make sure she stays there this time." The girl began to protest, when the maid grabbed her arm. -"My love, I need you to stay with your brothers, you can do this?" With a sad look she nodded, and followed the maid into the garden.

The sun was going down. Soon, the last wagon was loaded properly. Walking through the gardens amongst beautiful flowers and majestic trees, Donan finally spotted a large house. Outside, about ten men dressed in blue cloaks were sealing their horses. A beautiful blonde haired lady, wearing a long purple dress decorated with golden lines, ran through the door, revealing a smile at the sight of her husband.

-"Everything is ready for our departure?" She asked eagerly. "We're leaving immediately." Donan could not restrain a smile, and received a warm embrace. -"I'm so glad to hear that! After the king's death, this city is no longer safe" she said. -"I know, that's why we're leaving." Certainly, leave the city even before the king's body cool down may seem suspicious, but staying is not an option. How long it would take for someone to poison me or my family?

-"What will you do when we get home?" asked her.

-"This is no place to talk about it. We'll get home before daylight, and then we'll talk." If we get there.

Within minutes, everyone was gathered. Donan and his family, accompanied by a retinue of bodyguards, would go ahead, aiming to arrive at Tareen as quickly as possible. The wagons with the luggage would go after them, being accompanied by guards. Seeing the lights of the capital disappearing on the horizon, Donan knew that he would have a great burden on his shoulder.

"The kingdom is broken," said his wife.

And looks like it will be me who will have to glue the pieces.

 
I will send turn 0 orders very late because I am celebrating gainful employment.
 
I'll be dropping out. Finals. I might try to join later if its an option.
 
sorry for the tardiness

-

Spoiler :
The Arots killed the King, they said. It mattered not to Deargwin II, for the death of the hallowed King presented to the Artheni a rare opportunity, an opportunity to regain independence from outside interference in their hallowed lands, to assert true and uncontested sovereignty, and perhaps even forge a new Empire in the ways of the true gods.

So it was that lords of the Artheni were summoned to the seat of the King to pledge renewed fealty to King and independent Artheni kingdom, and to declare ended the Hallowed Realm, for without an heir take up the claim so the courts scholars said, there was no legitimate authority which could claim dominion over the Artheni people and the hallowed throne was rendered void. All the Lords complied, for all knew, even those who might otherwise have opposed the Sovereign, that with an end to the Hallowed realm their liberty and power was increased as they would no longer face the scrutiny of forces beyond the Artheni lands. The majority of the sages of the old religion, likewise welcomed Deargwin II's actions, for too long they said had perfidious cults such as the Arots been permitted to fester under the hallowed Kings, to the disrespect of the ways of the ancestors and the great gods and feared as they were the lords would not publically at least go against their unofficial wishes.

For the people however, nothing much changed, farms were tilled, sacrifices made to the groves and the lords ruled as they always had. The outside head might be gone, but in the management of things nought had altered. Yet the old women whispered that storm-clouds were gathering on the horizon, and that dark things were yet to come. For with the throne empty, there would be many who would not take kindly to the independence of the Artheni, and within the realm itself lords might yet see opportunity to take up the hallowed crown for themselves if Deargwin II ever faltered in his dominion.
 
"How a man lives his life, is how he passes on to the next"
A man of the cloth dies with the words of the lord in his throats. A man who wields a blade dies of a blade.

For the king to die in the parlour of his own house, by the poison of a criminal, only shows that the King was but a name. A righteous king would have the honour to pass on the afterlife, amongst his brothers in arms cheering his name.

The Brotherhood of the Cowl would be staying neutral to such events as these, that takes the lives of the peasants as the Greed of the Petty kings grows to expand their empire.

Indeed the fall of a heretic, only goes to prove that the Gods are on our side, urging us to spread our influences far and wide. Did the Gods see this misfortune coming ? Yes, for they are omnipresent.
Did the Gods do anything to protect the hallow king ? No, for the Gods only aid the ones who has trust in them.

So the Brotherhood of the Cowl would neither mourn the murder of a king nor rejoice a fall of a heretic.
 
Here is our most recent geopolitical map.

We were able to provide almost everyone with the claims they wanted (to some degree or another) and many of you had your claims extended somewhat.

The only problem was Bonefang and the The Brotherhood of Cowl, who we moved north-east and is now situated on the coast (pink blob near shadowbound).

There are also a number of major NPC nations (colored lands not claimed by players) and more minor duchies/baronies who once were direct vassals of the hallowed king but now find themselves (mostly) independent and yet without claims to kingship (grey).

Spoiler big map :

 
Still awesome !!
A kind request, can we have the player names on the areas ? atleast Eu3 style kingdom names, including their vassals ?
 
Can I recommend that area of land east of the Terrin Bay be called 'The Throat'/'The Neck'? Whichever you think sounds better, but its a narrow land connection (the only direct land connection) between the south and the north. It likely has some name reflecting that.

Also, I second the request for names on the map.

Great Job on the map! It looks fantastic. Cant wait to start playing.
 
NPC Overview

The Royal Remnant is but a shadow of the former glory of the Hallowed King’s demesne. Once, the plains bloomed with fruit and grain, and once the mines were a roaring beast. But now the fields lay barren and the mines stay silent, for the local nobles are engaged in a bloody power struggle and the former court slaughter each other over tiny parcels of land. The outlying vassals are all but independent, and even those near the city are contemplating open rebellion, or formulating a power play of their own. Meanwhile, the smallfolk struggle to survive and die by the hundreds, of starvation, battle or raids. It is a dark day, and many in the contested lands long for outside relief. It is unknown whether their prayers will remain unanswered.

In the east are the plains of Arlen, fresh and fertile in summer, mild and dry come winter. The lands are a paradise, full of fields and rivers. But a paradise needs no changing, or so Arlen’s duke reasoned, and a populace with a full stomach has no need to innovate. And so Arlen is rich in grain and populace, but poor in cities and commerce. Its population is large, but spread out, a land of rolling hills and a patchwork of farms, but lacking in roads. Moreover, the people of Arlen are friendly as could be, and most follow bastardized version of the worship of the Old Religion, but along the coast and in the capital (located on the island of Tern in the south) the Arots are gaining traction. It is here indeed that many of the first migrants landed, and here indeed that the newly crowned king openly holds an Arot priest at court, even if he is not a believer himself. However, most of the populace is unswayed by the words of the Arots prophets, and are repulsed by the sacrifice by drowning, further deepening the rift between the rich of Tern and the poor of the mainland.

In the west are the plains of Tridia, brown and dry in the summer, lush and wet come winter. But it is not the plains from which the Tridians built their wealth--it is from trade. They control arguably the best port on the continent, at Tridia at the mouth of Zegat Bay, and all trade passing around the hook stop at one of the Tridian cities to resupply and repair before facing the summer storms that plague a western journey through the Shipwreck Sea. Moreover, their glass, cloth and pleasure houses are renowned throughout Auronas, and the five cities that make up the United Republics (Haria, Tridia, Orenaen, Ilynaen and Tyria) all have grown rich from their selling. The United Republics themselves are a unique case in Auronas: the five Pentarchs, one from each city and elected by the patricians, rule them, not a king or queen. They follow almost exclusively the worship of the Sunken Court, but temples of every type can be found in the great cities, so as a foreign sailor can always feel at home.

And in the north stands the Salt Kingdom, a land as harsh and rocky as the men who rule it with an iron fist. Men in the Salt Kingdom are one of two things: a fisherman or a miner. A seaman or a saltman. The sea and the mines are the lifeblood and the love of the Salt Kings and their people, and without them they would crumble. But their life is not easy--the coast is a tumble of rocks, with only a few stretches of smooth coast and the occasional sandy inlet, and the mines are back-breaking labor. But they survive and sometimes flourish. Their kings are harsh and unyielding, unwavering in their cruelty to those who displease them and unmatched in the loyalty they inspire in those whom they love. The salt men follow no singular religion, but predominantly the Sundered Knot and the Ihai religions are common.

OOC: The Kingdom of Arlen is the red in the east, at the top of the map. The United Republics are in the west, at the bottom of the map, and are brown. The Salt Kingdom is in the north, on the bottom left of the map, and are red. The royal remnant is green and in the center-right of the map. Any questions can be answered.
 
The night of Flames
Celebrating the descent of Ormus, the creator, on Earth.

To celebrate the creator, the people often participate in the Night of the Flames, on the 3rd full moon of the summer. Festivities begin with the introduction of the young adults, to the holy fire that has been lit in the centre of the town, an essential initiation rite, where they are given a Cao Virid, “the Book of Life”, as a guiding light for the rest of their lives.
This is often followed by the cleansing ceremony where the eldest of the Brotherhood would wipe the Ormus’s grove clean, as the commoners watches, in the mean time, offering of hops, fruits, harvest and animals are being deposited to near the holy fire. The Eldest taking up this menial task in often to serve as a reminder to all, that in the eyes of the Gods, we are all humans first, born as equals. As the flesh is roasted in the fire, the group of elders would then open up the first cask of mead, and offer it to the Eldest, as a payment for his services; this apparently is a gift from Ormus for cleaning up her grove.

By tradition, the Eldest would then offer to share the gifts of Ormus among all his people. This is also where the eldest, along with the other Elders at his side would announce the plans the BrotherHood has in mind to the peasants.


A bit about our Lord
Ormus, the Creator, is extremely beautiful, with ivory skin, long, flowing dark grey hair and eyes the colour of purple flames. She is associated with spring, fertility and the bringer of the good news. She is described in the as holding "Sceptre of Truth" in one hand and “Tome of Hermetic” in the other. The Sceptre of Truth, creates life in the most desolate of places, brings peace and spreads law and order among the populace. The Tome of Hermetic holds the records of events in the realm. Nothing that happens, even in the dark of the night or behind the closed doors gets past Ormus.
 
In which Ophorian performs his court mandated community service, and labels the geopolitical map with country names and player names. Hopefully I didn't make any typos.
Spoiler :
 
Good work Ophorian. I want to thank you and everyone else for really stepping up to make this game work.

I hope to have update 0 done by Monday evening.
 
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