World Of Marin
History and Lore
The Fall of Feyshore that led to Marin today
Picture this, the South of Marin, 15~ years ago today" The North Shore and The South Shore formed one of the largest and time tested kingdoms in the entirety of Marin: Feyshore. Passed from Ramsalot to Ramsalot for generations, until the final heir, named Cleburn, was orphaned by a deadly shipwreck that took both of his parents. Whether poor fortune or subterfuge by the Mad King, the jury is still out. Cleburn was a wild ruler, even long before he earned the title of "Mad". He slept around, most notably with Adeline Scheer, the Queen of Ibethiel. From this deeply disturbing convenient, the downward spiral of Marin had been set into motion. Adeline was "blessed" with a child, a boy we would all later know to become the Rat Prince, Nickles Earlburt Ramsalot. Cleburn got syphilis, a debilitating ailment that would eventually take his mind. His descent into madness was slow, but undoubtedly noticeable. Dark Magics were performed on the Head Knight, bringing him back from the dead. A genocide against a community of half giants that inhabited a basin not too far from Stormalong was conducted. A purge against all magic users and non-human citizens, torn from their houses and burned at the stake. A monkey placed in a position of political office and fervent worship of a Corn God. None were spared from the Mad King and his seemingly ambivalent knights. So theres this guy, right? Bradai Maith. Came to Feyshore to kill some people that had sold him into slavery some 17 years prior. A capitalistic criminal, total slime ball. He was previously making his way from city to city, doing odd jobs and settling old scores. He comes to Stormalong and sets up shop in a tavern, the Greasy Piglet, in the Eastcliff Slums. Comes upon a score for a guy in Azaria, Dimitri Novikov had heard about his particular skills and was convinced that he would be the man for the job. Long story short, they become best friends in crime and make a lot of money. Hella cash. Cash Bradai uses to fund a small criminal empire running out of the Eastcliff Slums, sheltering those oppressed by the Mad King and fostering the growing resentment against him. Cut to the rest of Marin, scared. They are watching one of the oldest Kingdoms in Marin, an economic powerhouse, the symbol for Pureblood Supremacy, go by the wayside. There are a lot of people who would do a lot of things to keep things the way they are. Cleburn has to go. The Ice Lord Marshall Carter of the Witherlands, Princess Rosaria De Lancret of Araedia, Flower Prince Cad The process is long and arduous, the details of which are undoubtably the subject of another one of my Marin Info Dumps, but long story short, the majority of powers in Marin completely decimate Stormalong, crippling the economy of the South and splitting up everything for themselves. Bradai Maith notably got the entire bounty of the treasury, an amount of coin that would fuel his Great Isles Campaign and win him the title of Pirate King. The Carters would receive large connections and newfound notoriety in the South, unknowingly sparking the powder keg that would become the Brother's Rebellion. What no one would bet on, however, was the surge in support for the Shitbloods. Previous to this, Shitbloods knew their place in society. They were petty laborers and slaves, not bred or born for the position of leadership. This surge in power, the ability to overthrow a House that had existed for as long as anyone could remember, would change everything. Vronti Kelwynd's conquest of Terresol, for example, was brought on by the same fervor that struck Feyshore so many years prior. Bradai Maith found great success riding that same wave in the Isles, flaunting his shitblood status to gain support for his cause. Even Ibethiel, so deeply entrenched in the ideals of the Blood Caste was able to transfer power to the Carbonells, a Noble family, without so much as a riot. To this day, Stormalong is still destroyed, some venture to say beyond repair. There are few that have tried, but its occupation by multiple colorful characters throughout the years keeps it as alive as it ever was, albeit with a considerably darker bent.
The Story of Astoria
After the fall of Feyshore and the elites moved to North Feyshore, leaving South Feyshore to the rats and bandits; it festered for a long time. A campaign was launched to take back South Feyshore, and turn it into a reformed territory. Maybe factions moved to take it, with Randall Storm taking the lead. Anyanka Durkhan moved to help the man with his push into Stormalong, and in exchange asked for the boarderlands between South and North Feyshore to be turned into a duchy that would serve King Storm. They agreed to the terms, and when Storm took South Feyshore, Astoria was granted to Anyanka. Astoria is constructed and maintained by The Duchess' (Later Grand Duchess, even later Queen) personal followers from Amoroth, freed slave ships, and others who have joined her. After Randall Storm abdicated in South Feyshore, the territory was maintained by Eric Stafford, Randall's squire. Per her contract with Storm, if either of them should fall without an heir, their territory would return to the hands of the other. Anyanka presented this contract to Stafford, who helped her secure South Feyshore under her dominion. Considering it's size, Anyanka decided to break the territory up into lordships, and create a Court of South Feyshore to help run the individual territories. After taking South Feyshore, Anyanka Durkhan is technically Queen, though she uses the title of Duchess still mostly out of habit.
Amaroth and their Slaves
Slaves, to the people of Amoroth, exist in almost a third sex. There are incredibly strict gender roles that permeate Amorothian culture. Men are expected to be strong. They control production and protection. They till fields, they fight wars, die in them and litter the annals of history with their bones. They are strong and decisive, controlling a great portion of the desert wastes as riders. They, however, do not control nearly any station of Amorothian society. That privilege is only extended towards women. They are the ones that are taught to read and write, which when applied to every day life, means that anyone in any position of power is female. These were once the traditional roles for the Coastal Tribes of Myridia, but as one of their most powerful, the Vaughns, began to conquer from their holding of Xandria and move outwards, taking slaves and land through quick and decisive victory, their influence spread. The Xandrian Empire has now existed for some odd 100 years, and every region that falls under their influence must abide by these strict rulings. They are implemented to ... varying success, in some cases working swimmingly, in others breeding harsh resentment for the opposite sex. Slaves, on the other hand, are hardly beholden to these rules. They are, as Amorothians would tell you, the spackle that holds the foundation of their society together. Their station is their station. If a male slave is needed as a concubine, it is permitted that they read and write as to entertain their mistress. A female taken as a prisoner of war can just as well mine at stone. In some extreme cases, they are castrated and mutilated to show this difference. In most, however, they are simply branded and move on. MARIN AND THE BLOOD-CASTE SYSTEM In this universe, there is hardly any form of "racism" that is analogous to our own. There is really no distinction made between skin color or features. There are, as time and history became documented, some disputes created by nationality, but this only really lies in loyalties and allegiances. There is, however, a Blood-Caste. The system varies from culture to culture, but generally there are about six or seven different stations that you can be born into. Your holdings and station of your birth parents determines this. Kingsblood, Lordsblood, Bastardblood, Cantileblood, Knightblood, Swainblood, and (most notably) Shitblood. A slave, or anyone born without any real significant holdings or inheritances is considered to be a Shitblood. They are technically known as Serfbloods. This name does not accurately describe their station as well as the new title does.
Second War of the Desert Vipers
The Second War of the Desert Vipers started when border disputes between the Xandrian Empire and the Liran Empire The Liran Empire struck a few soldiers across the border into Xandria, and it just so happened at their provincial leader, a member of House Vaughn by the name of Kenna, rode across in an attempt to apprehend the attackers. They, knowing better the terrain some five miles into their borders, routed her and managed to escape. She had managed to kill two in her chase, but it resulted in her personal guard getting shot with poisonous arrows. He quickly died afterwards. While stranded deep in the dunes of the Yellow Sea (the desert that makes up the land owned by the Liran Empire), she was captured by Tribals. The history of the Tribals is more than tricky, because unlike most of the other groups in Marin and Amoroth, they weren't closely unified. There was no one national identity that they subscribed to. One of the most notable among them, however, went by the name of Jericho. He had acted for a long time as a soldier of fortune, fighting everywhere for the highest bidder. He had even, at one point, attended a council of Marin to represent a rural portion of Lira, although said nothing, instead opting to view. Jericho had a lot of facetime with a few of the Southern Marinese government, which included the Southern Isles. Jericho was one of the first to receive message, by the way of a horseman from his own tribe, that they had come into contact with a high profile political prisoner, something that they thought Jericho could turn for a heavy profit. Jericho had done a number of jobs for Bradai in less than savory business dealings. By that point in time, he and Bradai were on heavy speaking terms, and the fact that it came up in casual conversation was little to no coincidence. Bradai Maith had set his eyes on Amoroth for some time now, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to get in on the action and stir up some trouble for two of the largest slave holding nations in the known world. He managed to secure the tribals that had captured Kenna Vaughn, secretly smuggling her across the country of Amoroth and whisking her into the Southern Isles in disguise. This entire travel took some time, and all the while, she was almost raped by one of the Tribespeople. Jericho, who had been tasked with securing the hostage and bringing her to Bradai, quickly put a stop to it, but the resentment was already there. Kenna was slow to accept Bradai's peace offering, seeing as how she was technically a prisoner trapped in the middle of a large political conflict, but it made no matter to the Pirate King. He would use her as a bargaining chip, alleging to the Xandrians that she was being held within Liran walls, and to the Lirans that the Xandrians had recaptured her some time ago, and were using it as a front to fight and kill more Lirans. Due to the longstanding feud between the two factions, and the fact that the border conflict had now turned bloody, no one thought to ask the other if these allegations were true. Bradai negotiated the release of some 25,000 slaves in exchange for the return of Kenna Vaughn, the readmission of the tense peace on the boarder, and the removal of the Tribes from the Yellow Sea. They had become the focal point of this entire conflict, with both sides urging to commit atrocities against an already marginalized group of people. Jericho urged against it, and with the help of Bradai Maith, managed to move them to the eastern coast of Amoroth, where they would take root in a piece of nearly unlivable, sandy land. This area, sporting only one less than profitable port city, would be known as Corvus, and willingly given over by the Liran Empire in exchange for their Tribal problem solved. Kenna, unfortunately, was not nearly as lucky. The Empress and her older sister, Cordelia, had disowned her. A Vaughn, she alleged, would never have been weak enough to become such a pitiful bargaining chip. In the eventual handoff would result in Kenna being placed in a carriage, paraded around Xandria as the spoils of war, and sold back to Bradai Maith to the tune of around 7,000 slaves worth of gold. It was a small price to pay. Now with no family ties and a jaded outlook on life, she joined his Small Council in Jotun and Corvus. She speaks out against the Slave Empires with fervor unmatched, but that's mostly just because Bradai tells her to. It took months to break Kenna Vaughn. To list the amount of times she tried to murder or assassinate the Pirate King is a story in and of itself. Eventually, Bradai decided that she would be better a puppet then a governor and got her hooked on opium. She "rules" through a series of advisors and Southern Isles diplomats. Almost no one can tell the difference, and those that can are typically Maith loyalists. Jericho was also unlucky. He had abandoned the migration effort in exchange for a more lucrative dealing: The Kelwynd Conquest in Terresol. Vronti Kelwynd, then an ambitious and religious firebrand, had recruited Jericho into his personal forces to take down House Vortigern. While there, Jericho contracted a terrible disease, and was sent to Amoroth to recruit the tribes into fighting for House Kelwynd. He returned to Jotun and Corvus to find that the tribes were doing something no one thought possible: Surviving and getting along. While the lands of Jotun and Corvus were inhospitable to most, the Tribes had lived in the Yellow Sea their entire lives, and with the help of the 25,000 freed slaves and the Southern Isles government, began to bend the land to their will. Fully functioning mining operations now exist on the continent, and with the help of the Bradai Maith Trading Company, sell these goods to Marin at a slight mark up as compared to the slave produced goods. Jericho, nearing the end of his life due to an infectious disease, sought to return to his people, and found them changed. He moved to liberate them again, but to little or no success. After murdering around 200 citizens in Jotun, he was found by Spymaster Irene Kelly, a Southern Isles Diplomat, and put to death in an alleyway.
The Brothers Rebellion
While there is currently a provincial spat going on within Northwind currently, the last largescale war was known as The Brother's Rebellion, and took place in The Witherlands. It took place between the two eldest brothers of House Carter, who have historically the ancestral leading House of the Witherlands. The fight broke out between the eldest brother, the Ice Lord Marshall Carter, and his younger brother, the First Knight of Grand Stead, Felix Carter. While Marshall was more apt to trade and collaborate with countries to the south, in part to maintain their successes and in part to unify the continent, Felix felt it was more appropriate to stay separate from the rest of Marin, calling the south a "cesspool of corruption." This infighting eventually turned to war, where in Felix, the accomplished militaristic thinker and charismatic juggernaut of House Carter, gained the support of a surprising amount of Vassal Houses. He rode to the South of the Witherlands and began claiming the land, rallying his forces to charge upwards towards Grand Stead, the capital of the Witherlands and ancestral seat of House Carter. One of the first Houses to swear for Felix was House Vivayn. House Vivayne was positioned at Wingsway, historically known as the gateway to the south, and controlled a lot of the movement across the boarder. And while Petyr had ridden out with two of his eldest sons, he left his youngest at home. With sheer force and military mastery, Felix Carter's forced pushed up the Witherlands, more often convincing forces to lay down their arms and join their fight for usurpation then fighting any meaningful opposition. They would eventually find themselves outside the capital, at Grand Stead, preparing for a siege. Now, Grand Stead is not a place you want to siege. It is a military fortress, a great keep-city built from great, grey stone, mostly contained indoors, shielded from the devastating weather outside. There are stockpiles of grain, cured meats, and alcohol to last for years given rationing, and self contained siege engines to defend from any violent invading forces. The place is also almost fully surrounded by jagged mountains and an icy harbor, making breeching the front gates a significant struggle. But with the forces Felix had surmounted, the morale of a war almost won, and the almost the entire south of the Witherlands behind them, it seemed more than likely that Marshall would just concede that his rule was unjust and swear fealty to Felix. Marshall decided, however, to let them wait through the winter, Felix's supplies after all, were set to last fairly long, and resupply was to come often. That was until Marshall received a raven from Nathaniel Vivayn, who had retrieved the plans for the resupply. Nathaniel was the youngest son of House Vivayn, and was regarded as a strange and cruel boy. Having little to no regard for his father or his brothers, he made a deal with House Carter to assure the food was poisoned. Marshall, whose reign had been questioned by nearly everyone he had once held dear, and seeing no other options, agreed. Silently, ravens flew from Grand Stead and to Wingsway, making the transaction as silent as possible. As winter came and the weather really began to take it's toll on the siege, morale began to wane. Felix had banked on his brother conceding, and his men were beginning to grow restless. The caravan of goods, proudly waving the Vivayn banners, had arrived nearly a month late, but was shrugged off simply as complications for the weather. The result was devastating, but irregular. Death would come at night, as men began violently vomiting and stumbling out of their tents, leaving nearly a third of the army either dead or incapacitated, with another third tending to the infirmed. Felix, as if by providence, was spared. It would be in the morning that Marshall would declare that the Brother's Rebellion, fraught with treachery and betrayal, be solved in the most honorable way a Carter could conceive: At sunset, the brothers would duel at their old training ground. Felix would agree, and in the middle of the day, they would both silently depart, meeting on an icy shelf in the crisp, white sunshine. Marshall Carter would bring his family's ancestral blade, a longsword simply named Ice. Felix would don short sword and shield, and the two would duel. It is not known if they shared any words beforehand, or if anyone else had come to witness the fight, but some accounts tell of the duel lasting well into the night, long enough for a blizzard to consume the battle field. Marshall had trained as his father's ward for a long time since then, and as such, received a lot of the same training that Felix had. Felix, however, had the edge. He was, after all, an accomplished soldier. But it was, perhaps this belief, the signature cockiness that was present in Felix would result in a blade in his side. Felix was said to have fallen to the snow, rolling off the icy bank and into an alcove blow, where in Marshall jumped after him. The fall was only around ten feet, but in that moment the brothers, for the first time since the war had started, reunited. Felix had realized what he had done. Stories say that he began to weep, mourning his broken family in place of his own blood wounds. Marshall too, felt a deep sense of guilt, having relented to Vivayn and attempted to poison his own brother. Felix was surprised to hear this, seeing has how the amount of poisoned food was small, and was simply to have thought to have been spoiled or rotten food in place of subterfuge. Marshall refused to kill Felix, but as he began to pick him up and return him to the siege, Felix told the Ice Lord to leave him. He had betrayed the Witherlands and chose personal gain over personal honor, a sin he could only describe as grievous. He assured Marshall that his men would receive him, and the results of the battle, as the new law. Marshall left Felix half alive on the snow bank, and at the cost of his brother, won the Brother's Rebellion.
An Abridged History of Modern Ibethiel
Ibethiel was ruled for many generations by the Scheer family until the reign of Queen Adeline Scheer. Her parents also produced a younger sister, Princess Lucrezia, when she was 15. Adeline was a woman driven by her desires. It was believed that she slept with many of Marin’s most powerful men and became a major contributor to the spread of syphilis around the continent, including the king of then-united Feyshore, Cleburn Ramsalot. It was with King Cleburn that she produced a son named Nickles. Cleburn had no other male heirs of his own and insisted that he raise Nickles in Feyshore. Adeline, lacking motherly instincts whenever she was inconvenienced, agreed.