Setting Overview

Eshanas Empire

In ancient times the land was a world of myth and magic, with humanity but one of many races that occupied these lands. Many different races and cultures existed and to be powerful meant being capable of great feats. The Old Gods reigned supreme, granting mortals boons and laying curses upon them to play out their rivalries through their followers. Nearly 2500 years ago a mercenary captain siezed control of a small kingdom put a stop to that. Barethus Talvus destroyed their temples, killed their acolytes and representatives, and smashed their artifacts. His hatred and fear of old powers led him to commit horrible atrocities while establishing his Empire, and by the end little was left. Imperial mages spread to the far lands, drawing a continent wide ritual circle and sealing the entire world off from the other realms. With The Sealing, as it is known, the age of magic was over, and the age of humanity had begun.

His Empire took the name of his people, the Eshanas, and rules over the whole continent with an iron fist. Barethus grew to be worshipped as the only God throughout the Empire after his death, and his Church has continued to squash any signs of heresy. Power in the Empire primarily is divided between three factions, the Barethustrian Church, the Imperial Military, and the Ducal Council. Of these the Ducal council is the weakest, and the Church arguably the strongest due to piety being one of the qualities most prized in military officers. However, in addition to the traditional power structures a new class is gaining power with the advent of new technologies; the merchant class. In recent decades, locomotives, telegraphs, and steam driven factories have been transforming society and generating enormous wealth amongst those who have been able to capitalize on it.

Still, even after all these centuries old powers hide and slumber in the shadows, surviving out of sight and waiting for a time when they may rise again.

The Royal Society for the Containment of Unusual Entities

The third ruler of the Empire and great-granddaughter of Barethus, Empress Mirka Talvus, inherited a very different world from the one her grandfather was born in. All positions of power and influence were held by humans, the military maintained absolute control, and all forms of magic were hoarded by the church. Her influence was relegated to negotiating between the different institutions her father left behind. She did what she could to stop the oppression, but both the Church and the military continued to pursue the suppression of anything that threatened their power. There was one thing she controlled, however; her family's wealth. Towards the end of her life, she hatched a plan: she founded a monastary and hospital in a remote mountain valley under the control of a small order of ascetic monks. Underneath the monastary a large secret facility was built, and the Royal Society for the Containment of Unusual Entities (RSCUE) was founded. She tasked them with a mission, the only thing she could think of to undo some of the damage her family had done: to find, contain, and protect what little remained of the old world.

Soteria Monastary

The main base of RSCUE is located under Soteria Monastary, far to the North-East of the Imperial capital nestled on a south-facing side of a large mountain valley. The valley is deep in the Hursag mountains, so while rain does occasionally reach the valley, it is still quite arid. When Empress Mirka comissioned the Monastary, drainage channels and large cisterns were built in order to capture what little rain does reach it and the monks have used these resources to grow a wide variety of edible desert plants able to support a large population of monks and guests. The monastary itself is a haven for the downtrodden; they are fed, clothed, and taught skills to take back into the world. The monks themselves live an ascetic lifestyle, eschewing wealth and charging no money for their services. Through goodwill and a lack of ambition, they have earned the trust of the Imperial authorities and are allowed to continue their work undisturbed. For much of its history, travellers to and from Soteria took a winding road that connected mountain passes at both the Eastern and Western ends of the valley, but 50 years ago a small rail line was built along the road to the west, allowing easier passage to the city of Lutemu. From there travellers can easily take trains along main ateries, including the Galseli line that connects the Western and Eastern ends of the continent.

Under the monastary and protected by the trust they've earned, RSCUE has built a massive compound named after the Monastary, Soteria. The oldest, highest layers house the administration and operatives, but below them a whole city has arisen. Mixed in with containment facilities for the most dangerous of entities, diverse groups of refugees have settled to create a patchwork of tens of thousands of people representing dozens of races and cultures all thriving in secret in spite of the anthropocentric policies of the Empire. Their communities stretch in a dense jungle of buildings and bridges throughout a massive cavern. Towering phosphorescent mushrooms are tenderly cared for and light up the streets and buildings in a dazzling and surreal display of color. Towering walls of fungi and algae along with giant isopod ranches and large pools of water full of cave fish and crustaceans supplement the food provided by the monastary. Languages and practices survive here that have been eliminated everywhere else in the world, and the old gods are still worshipped by devout followers trying to preserve their memory.