Great War - The Corpsebloom

The Corpsebloom epidemic started when a Kushanese faction infected the Goran army via contaminated food. That army, in turn, marched across the bulk of the unclaimed territories between Kushan and the Tallet on its mission into the Tallet heartlands. The result of of these combined actions was the spread of the Corpsebloom throughout the world, the elimination of the Goran offensive army, and the end of any Tallet expansionism for the next hundred years.

The world as a whole suffered from the Corpsebloom, the plague responsible for preventing the population of the world from springing back after the Great War. So great was the effect, that even two hundred years later Soi is home to less than half of the sentient creatures it once was.

## The Global Merchants

Much to the surprise of the world, the Merchants rose from the ashes of the Great War and into the walking nightmare of Corpsebloom as the heroes of the plague. Eager to begin economic recovery and in recognition that they alone could not safely operate their caravans on their expansive system of roads, the Family Hearth went out of their way to transport and share the cure to the fungus with the world free of charge. Despite this effort, it still took decades to spread enough Purgeroot around to truly take an effect on the plague and many of the Family Hearth's roads were closed and temporarily lost until the second age of expansion. Likewise, no small number of caravans were lost during this period, victims either of bandits or, more likely, wandering masses of Corpsebloom victims.

The cure itself is grown in Kushan, with the Family Hearth responsible for negotiating the release of the cure and continued mass-production of it over the next century as they distributed it across the world. Payment for the cure was accepted by Kushan in form of an immense shipment of the nutrient rich topsoil they needed to grow Purgeroot in the scale required to end the pestilence. To this day each Caravan Master is to carry a chest of Purgeroot antidote with him when traveling the world.

## Kushan

Although the Phoenix and the Imperial family deny any involvement with the release of Corpsebloom into the world, the Kushanese people in general are still widely vilified as the harbingers of this doom. The faction within Kushan who was pegged as responsible for it were sent to their deaths at the hands of the Goran nation in attempt to appease Gor for the betrayal of his vassal nation before Kushan returned to their isolation. Due to the nature of the outbreak, the first twenty-five years or so kept Kushan generally unaware of what was occurring in the world. The matter came to a head when a large, heavily guarded Family Hearth caravan arrived at the northern gate and demanded audience to negotiate for the Purgeroot cure of the disease. Negotiations went quickly and the Family Hearth left with as much Purgeroot as the Kushanese could spare. Six months later, the merchants returned with an even larger caravan which seemed to stretch for miles, under escort by Ashed and Armored Riders en masse. This caravan had brought the standing hills of topsoil that had been taken in by the Family Hearth near the start of the Great War to Kushan, unloading the precious cargo into Kushan to facilitate the mass growing of Purgeroot needed to provide it to the world.

While the following free provision of the Purgeroot by Kushan has done much to alleviate the hatred of the masses towards the Empress and her people, much resentment is still had. This resentment runs strongest in the Ashed Confederacy which now houses a number of dead cities referred to as Necropolises which cannot be reclaimed and the many small unclaimed nations who suffered the most at the terror of the plague.

## The Goran

The Goran military was devestated by the Corpsebloom to the extent that the plague is attributed to have ended their involvement in the Great War. The entirety of their offensive army was lost to the plague and, despite the best efforts of Gor and the God-Speakers, there were a number of minor outbreaks in the Goran homeland. The Raewoods in particular are still places where Corpsebloom can occasionally rear up. The Goran have never forgiven Kushan for the betrayal of their vassal state and it is generally considered a matter of time before the Goran amass enough numbers to come streaming over Kushan's eastern wall.

This hostility was displayed during the purging of the Corpsebloom in the Goran nation, in which the infected population was sent to gather Dust from the old battlefields of the Circle. The contaminated soil was then marched south with the infected force and launched into sections of Kushan over their wall. Following the Dust-tainted soil, the Goran launched their own plague-riddled bodies at the Kushanese. The final act of the force was for the siege engine operators to present themselves before the wall and immolate themselves in fire as they chanted to their God. Any Kushanese doubting the promise of coming vengeance need only look at the charred skeletons and remains of Goran artillery outside of their wall.

## The Circle

The Circle encountered very little trouble with the Corpsebloom, being out of the initial path of the infection. By the time the plague threatened the Circle, they had started their own native production of Purgeroot and had spread it throughout their lands. Aided by their preference for ranged weaponry, which allowed them to eliminate roaming squads of the infected from a safe distance, the Circle's citizenry that survived the Goran are among the lucky who avoided the issue.

## The Ashed

The Ashed were perhaps the Great Nation hit the hardest by the Corpsebloom. Many of their southern cities fell to it entirely, becoming what are now referred to as the Necropolises. While the Ashed normally were quite able to repulse and deal with infected in a safe manner, these southeastern cities suffered from infected water sources and the disease was spread throughout the cities before the population realized what was happening. The spread of the plague was mostly stopped due to the valiant efforts of those populations and strategic deployment of Ashed forces by the 14th who acted to contain the virulence quickly.

## The Tallet

The Tallet Empire weathered the Corpsebloom relatively well. However, dealing with the Goran infected which massed and disseminated throughout the Empires lands was a long-fought battle. The law-enforced hygiene practices and general tendency of even small villages in the Empire to be walled and manned with ballista is largely contributed to protecting the population. The mass armies of the Empire as well had already been spread throughout the lands and engaged into suppression of rebellions, a deployment which found the armies conveniently located for stamping out the plague's infected, though the land was not fully purged until after the Family Hearth distribution of Purgeroot was complete.

## The Broken Kingdom

Thoroughly depopulated and perpetually armed for battle, the People of Stone were outside of the initial spread of the plague. Further aided by a resistance to the infection due to the heavy alcohol content of their diet, what little bit of Corpsebloom took root in or near the Kingdom was quickly smothered by fire and sword. Once a supply of Purgeroot was secured, small crusades began to leave the Kingdom to help spread the cure and stomp out the infected. One of these Crusades became a temporary order in and of itself and was joined in the task by volunteers from the Circle. After a hundred years of fighting Corpsebloom, said Order was disbanded their battles declared a victory.

## Mamutok

Corpsebloom does not survive the harsh cold of the antarctic. That, combined with the months of continuous sunshine in the summer, made the Stargazer Plateau virtually immune to its effects. Mamutok tribes took in several people from all nations during the start of the epidemic, but eventually had to start turning away refugees when they did not have enough resources to care for them. This led to some resentment between nations, especially the Goran.

## Unclaimed/Independent Nations

The small nations of the world were the hardest hit by the Corpsebloom. Lacking the large-standing military of larger nations and unable to execute cohesive maneuvers against large swaths of infected regions, some pockets of Corsebloom still dot the wilderness around these areas today. Despite aid from the Family Hearth in deploying Purgeroot throughout the world, a number of the weakest nations were lost entirely before help could arrive. In the bulk of these nations, the Kushanese people are now known as the boogieman of the world, creatures of deep and remorseless evil the stories of whom are used to terrorize unruly children.