Maut

## History

Centuries ago, Maut was a prospering kingdom. The people worked the land and were happy. Unfortunately, good fortune rarely lasts long. One day the land ceased to nurture plant life. The crops that sustained its people refused to grow. The king, seeking a solution to this issue, began looking to magic for a solution. He poured over tomes that he had shipped to the island from all over the world. As his arcane power grew, his people starved and began to die. Then, as the first snows began to fall, some began to blame the king's magic for stealing life from the earth and starving their crops. Finally, desperate for a way to feed their families, the people revolted against the king and attacked his castle. The king's men did their best to defend the castle, slaughtering 20 of the attacking men for each one of the king's men that fell. Unfortunately, there were simply too many men to fight off and eventually the invading peasants took the castle. They killed the last remaining forces of the king as well as his family. Finally, they took the king, tortured him, and burned him at the stake, believing the flames would cleanse the land of his evil witchcraft. As the flames licked at the king's flesh, he yelled out to his people, "Why do you hate me so? I have done nothing but try to provide for you! If death is all the thanks I receive, then death is all I offer you all!" Soon his throat turned to ash and he was no longer able to speak. He died feeling betrayed by the very people he had sought to save.

The flames enveloped his body leaving nothing but bones in their wake. The people, sure that they had rid their land of a great evil, left the king's bones where they stood as a warning to all who might be swayed by the dark ways of magic. No one is quite sure what happened next. Some say the king had prepared a ritual contingency in case of such treachery. Others say that the king made a deal with some dark power using his last dying breath. Regardless of the actual details, unknown to all who was there to witness, the king's soul was not about to go peacefully to rest. That night, as the usurpers slept in their beds, the king's bones began to move. They stood amid the ashes, devoid of flesh, with only a crimson glow in his eye sockets.

Using dark spells that he would never have considered, much less have been capable of in life, he brought life to the bodies of all of his fallen soldiers. Then he brought life to all of the bodies of the fallen people who had attacked his castle. But this was not true life. It was the cursed life of undeath. With his undead forces, he slaughtered all of the people who had betrayed him, sparing only the families of his loyal men. His vengeance complete, the king returned to his castle and resumed his magical studies.

The king eventually did find a way to feed his people. Though the land would forever after be covered in ice and snow, the king managed to create a strain of crop that would thrive despite the land's refusal to grow anything and the endless cold that would choke out all plant life anyway. These crops fed the people that the king had allowed to live and their descendants still live there today, ever loyal to the skeletal king whose name has been lost to time. However the once mighty kingdom has long decayed and been reduced to a handful of villages scattered across the island.

Despite the cold, the living on Maut lead a rather comfortable life. Countless mindless undead toil in the fields, cultivating food for as long as their bodies last. Since they have no need for sustenance, the food they grow all goes to the living people who give their bodies to their king upon death to join the ranks of undead. Their surplus is traded with other kingdoms in exchange for any other needs they may have. The undead are so reliable as workers that some people from other islands have come to the island to trade for the undead. With no need for food, pay, shelter or rest, they make the perfect labor force and are highly prized by anyone who needs obedient labor.

## Cities

The island of Maut currently consists of 5 cities, each of which was founded around old fortresses that once protected the land from invaders. These fortresses now serve as the seats of power for each city's leader.

### Divinity

A military town under constant attack by hordes of undead. The people here are strong soldiers and would probably have invaded the rest of the island's cities and ultimately taken them over were it not for the constant attacks they must defend themselves against. The leader is General Melinda Gray.

### Goodrock

A peaceful and prosperous town filled with highly skilled artisans. Their leader, Edward Von Gehirnhaus, has eliminated both poverty and crime of any kind thanks to the strict, ever watchful eyes of the Iron Fist.

### Kingsport

The only active port on the island as ice bergs make water travel in and out of the island treacherous. It is ruled by a shrewd businessperson named Sam Goldsman.

### Walton

A mining town where the wealthy live behind the protection of a mighty wall. The ruler is the mysterious Aria Ravens, who throws lavish masquerade balls every night.

### Windshire

A quiet farming town known for its wheat and windmills. Officially the town has a mayor who changes regularly, though no one really knows whose authority places the mayor in office or where the new mayors come from. In reality, the mayors are puppets of Seilus Godfrey, a vampire who secretly pulls the strings of the town.