Since we’re here, I may as well do my character.
Nation/Kingdom Name: Wasterealm of Xynia
Government Type: Contested, Tribal Fiefdoms, ‘Free’ Towns of Outlaws
Coat of Arms or Banner: A Dreamcatcher of Raven Skulls/Feathers
Capital: Contested. Either Xynia in the west, or Shan Hua in the east.
Ethnic Groups/Species: Swamp Elves (30%), Goblins (45%), Humans (20%), Other (5%)
Religions: Church of the Flayed God (5%), Night Wicca (30%), Kazjor, The Sea Beast (15%), Creole Religion (25%)
Imports Foodstuffs, Weapons, Metalwork, Stone, Gunpowder, Slaves, Exotic Monsters, Plunder
Exports Scavenged Artefacts, Medicinal Fungus/Herbs, Timber, Fish, Scrimshaw, Ships
Hallmarks: Disturbing Swamps, Ancient Ruins, Bandits & Tribes.
Signature Weapon: Tentacle-Cutter - Part glaive, part rhomphaia, a curved crescent-like polearm with a serrated inner edge capable of severing heads and limbs. Often wielded by tribal ‘Witchblade’ berserkers.
National Dish: Golshar Gumbo, an extremely hot and spicy broth of mushrooms and assorted shellfish cooked in marsh-strider milk.
Interesting Things About Xynia
- Much of Xynia is a dark, gloomy, ice-blown swamp where nature has overtaken civilization. What scant society does exist is isolationist and savage. Nomadic Swamp Elves, vicious tribes of Goblins and men, and monsters from the shadows of nightmares dwell amongst the ruins of Old Golshar, whilst ‘Free Towns’ of pirates and slavers rise upon the coast.
- Long ago, Xynia was an idyllic country known as the Sultanate of Golshar. Sitting between several different kingdoms, it grew into a wealthy empire through trade, building through sorcery vast towers that scraped the heavens. Alas, its wealth and splendour soon corrupted into decadence, and after its prince spurned their witch-lover, and the realm was forever cursed. The land is still slowly sinking into the ocean.
- The old palaces and gardens of Golshar are now thorn-entangled ruins haunted by ghosts, wandered by the mad and the lost, and hide horrific monsters conjured through magicks of flesh and blood. Packs of vampires, feral demons, and lumbering undead wander the vast marshes, but far more danger comes from its lush and often-venomous ecosystem, host to packs of velociraptors, fist-sized wasps and house-sized spiders. The flooded, mucky soil is thick, black, and bubbling, playing host to flesh-eating diseases and poisonous fungi. When the dreaded, shaggy shapes of tyrannosaurs emerge from the moss-encrusted rubble, there is little you can do to stop them.
Characters of Xynia
- The Swamp Elves once lived deep underground, until they turned away from evil. They travel everywhere by boat or upon stilts, wearing ash and mud-caked robes and veils to ward off insects and the harsh sun. They communicate through whistling and singing, and their songs and old stories are capable of waking the dead. Tribes of barbaric humans, steeped in witchcraft, scantily clothed and heavily tattooed, roam the fens as well.
- The Free Towns are bustling and often-violent hubs of activity, frequented by crews of pirates and slavers who reave further up and down the coast. Most humans either arrived in chains, or chose to settle in Xynia as they wished to be left alone. Lycanthropes, Brain Flayers and vampires find these towns more tolerant of their conditions than most other lands.
- The Goblins of Xynia were once slaves of Golshar. As the kingdom collapsed, many left to join the conquering hosts of the east, but some chose to stay. They hunt, they gather, and they have learned to tame the giant spiders of the wood as mounts. While most think them small and vicious little monsters, they’re wise and plucky survivors.
Places of Interest:
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Xynia - The largest settlement in the lands of Xynia, and the source of its name, sits on a tidal island just off the coast, within view of Thuzaradin to the west. Beyond its massive, vine-tangled stone walls, a cramped and dangerous burg filled with the wailing of slaves, the singing of sea-shanties, the clank of shipwrights and the roar of crowds (and beasts) from its gladiatorial arenas. The Prince of Xynia is a corrupt and indolent merchant-lord, who, whenever he is not copiously feasting with his harem, hoards a vast menagerie of monsters from across the known world. The arenas and fighting pits of Xynia are legend.
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Olsh’Aragraar - Once capital of Old Golshar, vast black towers linked by flickering bridges of sorcery emerge rising many miles above the sweeping canopy of shaggy pines and gnarled oaks. Statues of nameless, forgotten gods weep black tears of ooze, and its once grand libraries are now covered in vast silvery spiderwebs, and living shadows that feed on the unwary.
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The Orchard of Immortality - Somewhere, deep within the swamp-forest north of Shan Hua, lies a circle of apple trees upon a small island, tended to by gentle, white-robed witches. Savage half-giants guard it greedily, for cider brewed from the apples of these trees will extend the life of a man by centuries. This cider is only given to those the witches deem pure of heart, clear of intent, innocent as doves, courageous as a lion. Anyone who fails their tests are cursed forever, becoming creatures neither man nor beast.
Politics And War
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The Free Towns are anarchic and brutally run. Leadership often falls to those tyrannical pirate captains who are wealthiest and strong enough to bully or bribe the rest of the community into their service. Most tribes of the swamps are matriarchal, ruled by elder women and their daughters, covered in fine tattoos that detail the entire history of their people, and contain powerful sorceries of shadows and vines.
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The Free Towns are protected by amoral but highly professional mercenary bands. They fight with halberds, crossbows and matchlocks, but rely most of all on vast assemblies of cannons and ballistae perched high upon their settlements’ walls.
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The tribes of the forest fight drunk on intoxicating brews of mushrooms and blood. They swing their Tentacle-Cutters with ravenous, frenzied rage, frothing and screeching the forbidden names of the swamp gods. These berserkers spurn armour, tattooed across their bodies with dark, natural sorceries that deflect oncoming arrows or cripple oncoming swordsmen with visions of nightmare and terror. These berserking ‘witchblades’ normally keep any attacking army engaged long enough for volleys of poisoned arrows and darts to fly at them from seemingly every direction, before packs of spider-riders and risen zombies arrive to web up and devour those who survive.
Inspirations/Cultural Analogues:
Gothic Horror, Dark Fantasy Pirates, Pre-Roman Germany, Indo-Saracenic Architecture, Finnish Forests, Deep South Folklore, Blair Witch Project, Dagobah from Star Wars, The Korcari Wilds from Dragon Age, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within