Albion

## The Island on the Edge of the World

The mystical Island of Albion lies far to the west of the Zyreema. It has been hidden behind a thick and supernatural wall of mist for as long as mankind can remember and it has been considered a myth to the rest of the world until recent events proved its existence.

## Life on Albion

For a very long time (up until very recently), Humans were the only Mortal Race on Albion. For the most part life on Albion is hard and dirty. Houses are typically little more than wooden huts, good steel is rare and chain mail was the latest development for personal protection up until Mordred's Invasion. The land is united under the rule of King Albrecht and has been mostly peaceful for the last centuries since the fall of Orkney.

Albion is also special insofar that nowhere else you can find Nature Spirits or fey-like beings in that quantity or that strength. Here brownies, fey, leprechauns and pixies are part of daily life, although they virtually never show themselves to mortals openly.

Seemingly in exchange, the density and diversity of Magical Beasts is much lower compared to Zyreema and those few types they have tend to be different from their relatives there, like the Silver Dragons or the Fey-Unicorn.

## Religion on Albion

While the island, since even before it got cut away from the rest of the world by it's mystical mists, has been populated primarily by followers of The Light a unique trait of Albion are its wast numbers of nature spirits and fey-like creatures and their influence everyday life on the island. Offerings and ceremonies dedicated to the spirits often go hand in hand with the services to the Light Gods. In the more rural (some might even say backwater) parts of the island the local spirits are considered even more important than the Light. But in the island's more densely populated (and better educated) areas the very existence of these spirits and fey-like creatures is a matter of speculation due to their elusive nature. There the olden traditions are slowly fading into superstition and old stories, or fading away altogether.

The Light is followed primarily on the island, it's priests and their magic a part of everyday life, but what is not commonly known is that, unfortunately for the citizens of Albion, all the true temples of The Light (ones specially constructed and blessed so as to allow those who follow The Light to commune with it directly) on the island were destroyed in the winter war about 250 years ago - the event that got Georg O'Connell declared a Saint - and with them the knowledge to consecrate new ones.

Thus the priesthood of Albion was rendered deaf to the voice of The Light until just recently, where The Party went on a quest at the behest of the young Argenta and brought back a priest from the City of Byzantinopal (as well as a group of envoys from the Shining Concord Empire) who restored the sacred temples to their former glory.

Still, the people of Albion still follow the old traditions and venerate the Spirits of the land in the more remote regions of the island. Rather than deities they show a certain amount of respect (and fear) towards these beings so that they may live in peace with them.

They respect ancient boundaries that have within the woods and leave offerings at small shrines outside villages and towns. Villages near the coast especially make it a point to offer regular offerings to *"The Spirit Of The Mist"* on small floats of the coast or on small shrines on the beach. Offering which by the next morning, according to the locals, vanish as the mist "moves closer" and "pulls them in".

## The Truth About The Winter War

On the mysterious Silver Island, atop the permanently veiled Misty Peak there is a shrine to *The Spirit of The Mist*, the guardian that has kept Albion hidden from the rest of the world for millennia. The ones who have been protecting this shrine for almost since it's creation are the mysterious Silver Dragon Clan. Almost three centuries ago the Silver Dragon Clan was visited by a strange man claiming to be a pilgrim from beyond the mist and this pilgrim befriended one of their kin.

But, as it turned out, this was no ordinary pilgrim - but the Dungeon Keeper Mukrezar in disguise. He slowly but surely confused and corrupted the mind of a young and strong but naive Dragon under the guise of friendship. So subtle was this fall from grace that even the Dragon himself did not notice when it was that he turned from Albion's guardian to the one razing Temples of The Light under the cover of darkness. When finally confronted by the rest of his kin, who were outraged by his evil actions, he claimed to be doing it **for** the people. That blindly following the words of The Light was no different then slavery and that by ridding the island of the temples which were used to commune to the Light Gods would free the people of Albion – such were the lies that Mukrezar has planted in his mind.

Soon, the island was covered in ice and a fierce battle ensued between the *White Wyrm* and his saddened kin. But, it was not the Dragons who laid their brother low and ended The Winter War, but the spear of the man who became know as the last Saint of Albion - Georg O'Connell.

But the victory came at a mighty cost. All of the temples which allowed the people to commune directly with the Light were destroyed and the method for creating them was lost.

Now, littered across all of the corners of Albion, there are many post-Winter War temples. Many of them only serving as monuments to the futile attempts to regain communication to with The Light and the scars the war - and Keeper Mukrezar - left behind.

## The Festivals of Albion

### The Great Summer Festival

A week long event that takes place during the time of the summer solstice. Towns are decorated, colorful costumes are worn and parades are held during this period in every major town of Albion. Plays are held in honor of great events that took place on Albion, such as the creation of the Summerborn Dynasty and the slaying of the White Wyrm. The climax of the festival comes when the large straw and wicker statues carried on the parade floats, representing the Spirit of Summer, are set ablaze at high noon of the day of the summer solstice. These fires shall not spread nor will they stop burning till sunset of the same day.

### The Winter Festival

During the days leading up to the winter solstice Albion is shrouded in almost pitch black darkness and tradition dictates that no one leaves their homes for the seven days leading up to the event. The Winter Festival follows immediately after, as the citizens of Albion celebrate the steady return sunlight, the lengthening of the days and the worst of winter being over. This celebration is mostly done indoors, as families bring home their cooking together and make merry in the largest abode within the area.

## Notable Traditions of Albion

### Proposing

The act of proposing marriage on Albion is primarily done by a man to a woman, where the man offers the woman a necklace that threads through the coins that make up the woman's dowery. Tradition dictates that the necklace is the property of the wife and, should she be mistreated, the funds on the necklace are her's to use to return to her family home or so that she may find a place to live without her husband.

These necklaces are usually made with thick mundane string and are lined a combination of copper and silver coins, but nobles and the very wealthy adorn these necklaces with gold coins. It is considered bad taste however to make a necklace purely out of gold coins (as it is customary for the bride to wear the necklace on the day of the marriage and the celebration immediately after).

Tradition also dictates that should the mans proposal be rejected he is honor bound to toss the necklace away over a cliff or into the sea.

## Locations of note:

### *Sweetwater*

- the capital city of Albion and home to the Royal Family. Built where the two biggest rivers merge it is also an important hub of trade.

### *Silver Island*

- the strange island of just off of the west coast. Because the mist covers up half of the islands strange phenomena are reported there. A shrine to the *Spirit of the Mist* is supposedly located on the top of Misty Peak, the tallest mountain on the isle. But unknown to the rest of the world Misty Peak is not only the location of the very real shrine but is also the home to a tribe of Silver Dragons who have been charged with guarding Albion for hundreds of years.

### *Yellowfield*

- Home to Baron Leopold and his squire Argenta. The city is famous for its agriculture and the fields that gave it its name feed a good portion of Albion's population.

### *Evercalm*

- A larger town within the domain of Baron Leopold. A base of operations for Jared. When Mordred started his invasion nearby, the forces of Albion gathered here.

### *Eastpoint*

- The east most largest city on the island. It, and the territory surrounding it, are all secretly under the control of the Silver Dragon Clan.

### *Whiterose*

- A village some ways from Sweetwater. Some of Albion's older traditions regarding Spirits are still followed here. Home of priest Alexander Mason, Henry's grandfather.

### *Windholm*

- The coldest city of Albion and an important mining and fishing city with the largest port and shipyard on the island. Cordoned off on one side by a mountain range most travel in and out of the city is done by going the long way along the coast until one reaches Greenbreeze. There are a lot of ruins in the province around the city dating back to the time of Orkney.

### *Iron Briar*

- The largest mining city of Albion located near the center of the Island. The buildings seem to grow out of the wall of the mountain, squeezing tightly together so they don't fall into the river below. The higher up the mountain someone lives the more important they usually are. The highest point of the city, even above the Duke's mansion, where the mountain becomes too steep to climb is an old fortress from the times of Orkney, but nobody lives there. Many miners worship the Spirit of the mountain, the so called "Face in the Stone", and regularly offer sacrifices to its servants, the mountain gnomes.

### *Beloveno*

- Located in the city of Beloveno is the Institute of Higher Learning, **the** place to study magic on Albion. Most of the learned minds of Albion (and every Court Wizard since the first King) have, at some point in time, studied here.