Sihaya Legacy

## Sihaya

A large expansive city, generally safe by day with night quickly becoming a hunting ground for creatures of the night and beasts that use the cover of darkness to try and enter the city. Protected by the City Watch ridding the more feral creatures that inhabit the more decrepit buildings would prove more dangerous than simply maintaining their numbers. Established by Aelfinn Sihaya Valkyrion and Domina Sihaya Valkyrion, the city is ever expanding with various services or businesses. Travelers also frequent the city's port that welcomes commerce, and travel, with the occasional smuggler presence as well.

The people of Sihaya live there with the understanding that they are the main stopping force preventing the creatures access further into the mainlands and that has directly influenced the type of people you’ll find there.  Most men have the wide shouldered look of a seasoned blacksmith and the women are often the build of the average men of other, less hostile lands. All children do some sort of service towards the city for one years time beginning the day after their 17th birthday.  Parents will often have a sword made for their children to be given on that birthday night and entire city blocks take place in the birthday celebrations and the presentation of the sword. Everyone in the city understand what is at stake and often will continue their service after their first year with the occasional person returning when numbers are low on the watch. All understand that if the city falls the corruption can spread unhindered.

Deaths are not approached from a place of sadness, soldiers that fall are remembered by their comrades in arms often telling stories with humorous twists of battles the fallen were involved with with each surviving member toasting a drink at the end of each story.  Citizens remember their lost in a similar way, without the drinking. The family of the fallen will open their home to any that wish to hear the exploits and story of the person who died. All are cremated with a sword, often the one they were present on their 17th birthday, in a funeral service with a pyre made hot enough to completely burn away both body and metal leaving nothing behind.

Settled on the largest island on a tidal chain, narrow land bridges appear when the tide reaches its lowest point giving brief access from island to island for creatures that normally would be landlocked.  This is both boon and bane of these islands, helping keep the other islands populated with fauna, but also allowing the abominations that inhabit the other islands access. Animals seem to be immune to the corruption for the most part with only those closest to the source showing any sign of being infected with it.

Given many names by those that live within Sihaya they’re most commonly referred to as fiends or twisted depending on which of the two characteristics they fit most.  Both are a product of the corruption of the island and both spread their affliction the same way, through their bite or blood. Fiends are the more dangerous of the two as they’re the most agile and often attack with complete disregard for self harm relying on brute strength, large numbers and complete savagery in their assault.  They are barely recognizable as once being human anymore often with large open sores that has caused features of faces to fall or rot away and limbs and bodies to mutate and disfigure. Twisteds are the more devious. Their namesake coming from the way the corruption has twisted their body into unnatural angles and lengths, they seem to have some kind of conscience left and have sometimes been seen observing assaults from the fiends from a distance, it’s not known if they are doing so from a sort of command standpoint or if the pecking order between the two creatures prevents them from engaging.  Both creatures have been seen dragging people away or devouring them where they were caught.

The creatures use the land bridges that appear at low tide to move from island to island.  Their main assaults usually happen at low tide and at night, but it’s not uncommon to see them at random times and throughout the day.  Some scholars say this shows there is something coordinating their attacks, however that is pure speculation still as the main source of the corruption is not even known.