Visaerie

The flag of Visaerie.

**Visaerie** (*viz-AIR-ee*) is a country in Southeast Calucin, currently ruled by King Otrix Roseforge II of the Roseforge Dynasty. The capital city of the country is Vis.

## **Geography**

Visaerie is land-locked from all directions but west, surrounded by neighbouring countries as well as a large mountain range that spans across a large portion of the centre of the known world.

To the north lies Far-Reach Hills, bordering Tris'Alore. Along with this is The Broken Woods (named so after the many attacks and assaults lead through them), bordering Qael'Tum and containing the capital, Vis.

To the east lies the long abandoned Crigmaw Mountains, once famous for the production of strong magical weaponry and many rich ores. These mountains border Sin'Elione.

To the south is the Foregone Fens and the Zogern Planes, the latter of which borders the Dravanian Empire.

### **The Broken Woods**

* Vis : The capital city of Visaerie and the largest city in the country. It is lead by King Otrix Roseforge II. This is the location of the main base of the Dragonknights.
* Woodhaven: A fairly large lumber-town. Has vastly grown in size recently due to increased farming yields.
* Bruuge: A very small boarder town, often a resting place for travellers seeking to cross to Qael'Tum.
* Phandalin: A recently revived town. Due to the recent revitalisation of Wave Echo cave many are passing through to reach their new working location.

### **The Broken Road**

* The broken road is a major trade path which winds its way from the north of Visaerie - from Qael'Tum - to the east, leading into Dravania.

### **Foregone Fens**

* Crowsrun: Used to be a fringe town, subsiding off sales of rare dyes and plants. Now a grave site.
* Cliffhand: A small town that has suffered the same fate as Crowsrun.

### **Zogern Planes**

* Notul Castle: Considered the capital of Zogern Planes, this is where Lord Notul spends his time. The majority of gold collection runs through here and its processed and sent to the Crowns Bank after being fully accounted for here.
* Boardertown: A town that has substantially grown since the rise of the Dravanian Empire, many of those classed as "undesirables" have been pushed to here, seeking refuge.
* Matlock: A small village that rests on the the outskirts of Visaerie.

### **Crigmaw Mountains**

* Crigmaw Castle : Long-Abandoned, Crigmaw Castle is considered the capital of the Crigmaw Mountains. This used to be a seat of immense power, wielding a large portion of the economy which came with the constant wealth from Wave Echo.
* Thundertree: One a village made to supply Wave Echo and Crigmaw Castle with food, this village was destroyed during the Ashfall.
* Wave Echo: A recently created village beginning to form around the newly discovered Wave Echo Cave.

### **Far-Reach Hills**

* Direham: A small village that rests on the the outskirts of Visaerie.

## **Environment**

With a climate similar to that of Central Europe, the south is generally much warmer, and the north is cold and mountainous.

The majority of the landscape is wild areas, with large portions such as the Crigmaw Mountains and The Broken Woods being uninhabited.

It is common for the Rosewood tree to grow here, with thick deep red wood and bright red leaves, the Rosewood is a sturdy wood that can be used for any task. The King keeps them commonly around the city of Vis as his families name is rumoured to have originally come from the name of the Rosewood tree.

### **Fauna**

* Owlbear: A large, fearsome creature with an owl's face and a bear's body.

### **Flora**

* Rosewood Tree: The rosewood tree, discovered by a previous king of the Roseforge dynasty has been made extremely popular among Visaerie, due to the use of it as a symbol of the royal family. It is a medium sized tree with dense, richly red wood and pink petals.

## **Politics**

The current head of state is King Otrix Roseforge II. As king, his law is absolute.

He continues to press the religious laws put in place by his father, in which the darker 8 of "The Wheel" are considered to be undesirable, shunning their worship, although it is not outright banned.

As a trained mage, King Otrix maintains a close relationship with the Mages Guild/The Khira Mage Alliance. His son currently studies as an apprentice there.

Due to extreme mental straight from the past 50 years of terrible events, taxes have greatly risen and the people struggle to maintain a living. This has caused many uprisings, the latest of which has lead to "The Vis Massacre", in which up to a potential 3000 rebellious peasants were slaughtered, exectued for imprisoned for causing an uprising after being left undefended from a strange necrotic disease.

Tensions have risen between Visaerie and the Dravanian Empire the latter continues to expand.

## **Demographics**

### **Population**

Despite massive losses several years ago due to the Ashfall, the population of Visaerie is approximately 152,819 - making it the second largest nation in Calucin in terms of population size, coming behind Sin'Dora by around 50,000.

Around 82% of the population is Rural, living on farms and supplying cities. The other 18% is Urban, living within cities and providing services.

They have a large mix of culture from the high population of non-humans, although their architecture is very similar to the equivalent of medieval european architecture, with use of wooden beams as decorations as well as overhanging sections and windows.

Due to being a major trading province, this country attracts many to their doors, causing the population to be fairly diverse when compared to the majority of other nations. This along with every "magical race" being pushed out of Dravania after their conquering spree has caused a sharp intake of non-humans.

### **Language**

The official language of Visaerie is Common, with around 96% of the population speaking Common. Due to the vast mixture of many races, there is likely a mass of other language that is used and popular among those living in Visaerie, Elven being a top choice due to the common trade and close proximity to Elven kingdoms, such as Qael'Tum. Approximately 35% of the population speak some form of Elven.

### **Religion**

Being one of the first country to adopt the Sanctus sect of The Wheel, the nation is still quite devided in terms of reglion. The current administration is fairly lenient on the religion allowed within their nation, which acts to attract a wide mix of cultures.

Despite the state religion being The Wheel (Sanctus), only around 25% of the population (mostly urban living folk) follow this format of the religion, with 65% of the population worshipping the whole pantheon.

## **Culture**

### **Housing and Architecture**

Following the typical Calucinian style (European). There are vast differences in how some buildings are built with important buildings being built in a somewhat gothic way, the defining features being the pointed or ogival arch, along with large windows.

Housing often takes on a style of steeply pitched gable roofs, elaborate masonry chimneys (often with chimney pots), embellished doorways, groupings of windows, and decorative half-timbering in the more middle and upper class regions of their cities.

Those of the poorer variety, commonly the rural folk, have smaller, less intricate houses, often having a hole in the wall for a window; sometimes they would have wooden shutters to keep them warm. They had to sleep on straw beds or a mattress filled with straw.

### **Focus on Magical Pursuits**

The Roseforge dynasty has always persuaded the ways of magic, with each successor to the throne successfully completing their training at The Spire before they take the throne.

The country reflects their magical desire, with one of the most prominent guilds, for both breakthroughs and for talent, is situated in Vis. However after recent events, they have some what lost their place as the best guild.

They also have the highest level of applicant to the mages guild per year compared to any other country.

## **Military**

### **Dragon Knights**

Commonly carrying folding spears with launchable heads, these heavily armoured but surprising mobile units are specialists, with only a select few reaching the stage where they are trained to be a Dragon Knight.

They don dark armour, commonly in shades of dark silver or purple, their helmet shaped in a similar way to that a dragons head.

They are commonly used as personal agents to the King and have the right to give commands to anyone other than the King himself.

### **The Roseguard**

Fulfilling the roles of generic guard or solider, the Roseguard is the name of the generic foot soldier in the army of Visaerie. They wear simplistic armour, wield common weaponry and sport a rose engraved on either a shield or their breastplate.

## **Religion**

Around 980, 2E, only 4 years before the death of the previous king, King Otrix Roseforge I, The Ashfall was blamed on the worship of the Dark Half of The Wheel, causing the King to split the religion, forming The Wheel (Sanctus), which promotes only the worship of the Light half of the wheel. With a dying and desperate population, they quickly took up the religion, praying as much as they could to the lighter gods in a desperate bid to stop the Ashfall. When the Ash stopped raining from the heavens, the civilians took this as a sign. Eventually the King succumbed to issues related to the toxic ash a few months later.

Each Temple reports back to the central temple in Vis, where the leader of said temple makes executive decisions, following what they believe the intended will of the Shinshoku based in Ise Jingu would wish, while trying to follow the kings rulings over religion (avoiding the social taboo of worshipping the Dark Half.

### **Approved Deities**

* Qael'Sadin
* Zygos
* Okul
* Liu
* Stein
* Tanjo
* Iseda
* Maylen
* Tijara

While other gods of this pantheon are not specifically illegal, they are heavily taboo and are rarely worshipped. Many look down on those who worship the dark gods and goddesses.

### **Accepted Religions**

* The Wheel (Full)

* The Wheel (Sanctus)

* Jinlong

## **History**

### **Sacking of Visaerie (960-70, 2E)**

→ *Main article: Sacking of Visaerie.*
For 10 years, the country previously known as Dravania (pre-empire status) set its eyes on the large sums of wealth provided from the lush farms within the Zogern planes, ransacking and raiding most of the Eastern Side of the country. Towns such as Conberry were wiped off the map and many suffered greatly.

Thought to have been lost during the raid at Conberry, a tome of great power known as Bowgentles Book was lost during this period and has not been seen since.

During this time, there was a great search taking place for the location of the ancient "Wave Echo Cave", which said to have enough riches to solve Visaeries new financial situation 100 times over.

### **Ashfall (980-985, 2E)**

→ *Main article: Ashfall.*
Just as Visaerie began to return to its previous position, after several years of suffering, the next disaster struck. Over the Crigmaw Mountains, Past the Oniyama Mountains lay a dormant volcano. However, something stirred and twisted within the volcano. A sudden change began, and the volcano was dormant no more. Dark, toxic Ash rained down on the surrounding area, the winds carrying the majority of it south, covering the northern section of the country.

This Ash was no normal Ash. Strange magical properties of the Ash caused people to become violently ill before turning into "Ash Zombies" who would seek to spread their affliction to any who they could.

The King, who was deeply religious, told his people that it was a punishment upon them for worshipping the Dark Wheel, creating a new form of The Wheel, where only light is worshipped.

This impacted Visaerie massively, putting a complete halt to the search of the Wonderous "Wave Echo Cave" as large portions of the population died and were culled by the powerful Dragonknights.

### **Discovery of Wave Echo Cave (Late Infelnosos, 1034, 2E)**

→ *Main article: Discovery of Wave Echo Cave.*
After the King Otrix I had passed, the new king continued his work. He raised taxes in order to fund the rebuilding of major settlements in the north, Phandalin being the first post to rebuild. Along with this he amassed a large and more skilful army in order to fight off any remnants of the Ash Zombie forces. This however pushed the finances of the kingdom to the very edge.

Gundren Rockseeker, a dwarven explorer from the North sent a letter to the king, explaining that he may have discovered the location of the cave and that he and a group of explorers would like to uncover it, as long as he was allowed to run the facilities that would then be created. Left with little choice, the King agreed to Gundrams offer.

A few short months later, the cave had been discovered. Gundren informed the king that the processes to build a mine and forge there had begun. This was the start of migration to the north of the country once again.

### **Corruption of the Forgone Fens (Early Vloekus, 1034, 2E)**

→ *Main article: Corruption of the Forgone Fens.*
A strange power began to form within the Foregone fens which seemed to spread rapidly, killing everything in its tracks, mutating any living creature it reached. Tight on money, the King decided that it would be best to task the mages guild to deal with this issue, while - in order to protect the capital - locking the gates from all sides.

This angered the populace as they felt as though the king was leaving them for dead.

### **Quarry Rebellion (Vloekus, 1034, 2E)**

→ *Main article: Quarry Rebellion.*
With the failure of the mages guild to protect his people, those left outside the wall gathered and began to demand entry.

Eventually, Head Quarrymaster, one of the most influential non-noble individuals in Vis convinced people to follow him, his workers fully supporting him. Under his rebellious banner others joined, preparing for a bloody entry into the city if that's what they must do.

Other groups formed around the outskirts, forming a disorganised, poorly equipped force of peasants and vagrants.

In his largest show of force the king ordered their immediate destruction, sending The Roseguard, led by the somewhat infamous Dragonknights, to squash the rebellion. This lead to what is now know as "The Vis Massacre", in which upwards of 3000 may have perished in a blood bath of a fight.

## **Notable People**

* Adrian Guildford: Royal Constable and Justicar, Member of the Kings Council.
* Alec Kazam: Owner of Magic Al’s.
* Barry Drendrar: Boy who was helped by party, became cursed when almost killed by The Nothic In The Manor, works as an alchemist/botanist.
* Emily Minton: Head of the Vis Mages Guild stationed there.
* Esmund Vespasian: Librarian at the Vis Mages Guild.
* Otrix Roseforge II: Is the king.
* Larry Priestman: Speaker of the 8, (usually speaker of the 16, although the recent religion change has lead to a name change).
* Pluck: Member of the party.
* Romano Stoutbane: Romantic interest of Illieth Norawaui and master craftsman.
* Sildar Hallwinter: An adventurer tasked with guiding the party to Phandalin.
* The Necromancer: A strange but somewhat friendly necromancer investigating The Shadow Council as well as searching for Bowgentle's Book.
* Visco Sindrago: A dark and mysterious figure who runs Vis from the shadows.