...By Steel and Blood

*By Steel and Blood* is a low fantasy role-playing game franchise created in January 2016.

The first campaign in the BSB setting, *The Crimson Mountains,* was completed to great success in May 2016.

A second campaign, entitled *The Final Will,* has begun in April 2023.

The setting revolves around the Kingdom of Tirrenor, a medieval feudal kingdom, and the Empire of Bruxia, a powerful empire with a massive class divide. Each nation is engulfed in a host of political and civil issues, extending to corruption, religious fanaticism, civil war, and revolution.

As of *The Final Will* campaign, the calendar year in Tirrenor is 553 ACR (*ad condita regnum,* "from the founding of the Kingdom") based on the founding of Tirren as year 0.

There is a certain *fog of knowledge* in the world, meaning a great deal of distant lands, nations, and history is vaguely known to allow for free expansion and minimal retcons in future stories.

## Major Characters

### In *The Crimson Mountains:*

Player Characters:

* Nilos Kallistratos
* Kairos Kallistratos a.k.a. Druid Obediah a.k.a. Lord Tyrusz
* Ser Darius Straton

Allied NPC's

* Inquisitor Caius
* Lucien Bladeborn
* Zenia Kallistratos
* Eliza Straton

Antagonists

* Mikael Asterius
* Archon Plexipus
* The Condor
* Col. Rhys Sighard

### In *The Final Will:*

Player Characters:

* Kaveth Bruxus
* Rango Foré
* Unish
* Nilos Kallistratos

Major Non-Player Characters:

* Emperor Fazael Bruxus V
* Caius
* Praetor Draco Basilius
* Nadia Bruxus

## Factions

### Nations

* The Kingdom of Tirrenor
* The Empire of Bruxia

### Ethnicities

* Tirrenians
* Bruxians
* Yuricans
* Condorian Tribesmen
* Dixari
* K'loni

### Religions

* Creed of the Five Gods
* Doctrine of the Goddess
* (Yurican Religious Philosophy)
* "The Chasm"

### Noble Families of Tirrenor

* House Basilius (Royal Family)
* House Kallistratos (High Family - Blackwall Hold)
* House Nereus (High Family - Sea March)
* House Pyrrhus (High Family - Timbervale)
* House Straton (Blackwall Hold)
* House Mason (Blackwall Hold)
* House Reinhold (Blackwall Hold)
* House Alexius (Blackwall Hold)
* House Andronikus (Former High Family of The Verge; Annihilated)
* House Asterius (Exiled; Annihilated)

### Mercenary Companies

* The Gold Legion
* S&S Security
* Whitewater Security Co. (Disbanded)
* Crimson Mountain Company (Disbanded)
* The Sons of Aquinas (Disbanded)

### Criminal Organizations

* Stoneshade Thieves' Guild
* Vassilli Cartel
* The Birchmen

### In Bruxia

* Bruxus Dynasty
* Vox Populi
* Yurican Liberation Front

## Explanation for the Title

The name, *By Steel and Blood* is a motto known to various factions in the lands. It is a line in the traditional Tirrenian oath of fealty ("If called upon, I will defend thee... by steel and blood.), used in the initiation of the secret religious order of Acolytes ("You are bound to the will of the gods... by steel and blood."), part of the Bruxian Dynasty's branding ceremony ("I give my life to the Empire... by steel, and blood!") and known otherwise as a popular saying which acknowledges the violent history of the continent.

The phrase is rumored to have been coined by the mythical Draven Basilius, the first king of Tirrenor, over five centuries ago.