ᴛʜᴇ ᴅɪꜱʜᴏɴᴏʀᴇᴅ
- Intent: To flesh out an Illyrian province.
- Image Credit: Dark Souls III (Irithyll of the Boreal Valley; here); Alessandro Paviolo; Lucas Staniec (found here); Paul Chadeisson; Fernando Acosta; Yang Qi; Philippe Gaulier; Mateusz Katzig;
- Canon: N/a.
- Permissions: N/a.
- Links:
- Name: Regne de Sang or Blood Reign.
- Classification: Province.
- Location: Illyria.
- Affiliation:
- Illyrian Monarchy
- Fauvel Astier.
- Population: Moderate, about 10.000 citizens. (maximum capacity 20.000)
- Demographics:
- Mostly Illyrian humans.
- A small assortment of recently immigrated aliens.
- Wealth: Low.
With the downfall of its ruling House, Blood Reign has went through a serious devaluation after the assets of the main enterprise of the province, the Obsidian Bank, were seized. House Astier saw itself forced to take loans from the Illyrian Planetary Bank to finance the province and is currently indebted. The province has only retained its value in the form of historical infrastructure and fertile land. - Stability: Medium.
While discontent and disorder are far more common than they were barely three years in the past, Blood Reign has not fallen into complete chaos. At least not yet. Even if not very liked, the rulers are still sufficiently respected and keep decent control of their lands, for the most part. - Freedom & Oppression:
As long as the law is respected, the people of Blood Reign live fairly undisturbed lives and are free to go about their daily business with no unnecessary intervention from anyone. However, once a crime has been committed, the province is famously known for its harsh punishments should an offender be found guilty and death sentences are no strange occurrence.
Even if they are more lax in some aspects, like dressing codes, the people of Blood Reign still hold themselves to the ancient protocols and manners and double-standard morals that characterize Illyrian society. Do what you want, so long as there is no one there to see and enact judgement or risk becoming the laughing stock and shame of society. - Description:
Blood Reign, known in the past as Blue Rain, is one of the many provinces found in Illyria now reduced to a shadow of its previous glory. Most of its expanse is occupied by roiling hills, green and fertile plains and, most notably, lush and ominous forests. The natural landscape of the province is indeed a beautiful one, and has remained largely untouched besides the fields used for growing crops. It has often been said that Blood Reign could have become a prominent lumbering province were it not for the religious beliefs that led to House Astier banning any form of foresting in its lands.
There has always been a somber beauty about Blood Reign, made even more prominent in the recent years after such terrible fate befell it. Its skies are constantly shadowed by a thick and relentless mass of dark clouds which give the impression that the province is drowned in perpetual darkness. The lack of direct sunlight, which it very rarely gets, has turned its climate quite cold, with snow-packed winters and fresh, windy and stormy summers.
Sitting at its center is its crowning glory, the City of Blood Reign, home to House Astier and most other inhabitants of the province excepting those who farm the lands or the daring few who call the woods their home.
- The City of Blood Reign: An ancient city that once spanned for thousands of miles and housed hundreds of thousands, nowadays Blood Reign has been reduced to a fraction of its previous glory. Filled with buildings that have survived the test of time, its a true hidden jewel for historians and scholars, a city of darkened beauty and imposing presence, even now in its downtrodden state.
- The Widow's Wail: The Widow's Wail stands guard over the city of Blood Reign as its central crown. The seat of House Astier since the beginnings of the noble House, its a large fortified building which serves not only as the home of those of the Astier bloodline but as the capitol of the province, from where all its administrative affairs are tended to.
- The Obsidian Bank: The main enterprise in the province, it is owned and operated by House Astier. Although the bank has many branch offices distributed throughout Blood Reign, its main body is found within the city. It received its name after the dark pillars that line its interiors. As every bank should be, it is as heavily guarded as possible.
- The Red Market: The largest market in Blood Reign, the Red Market is visited by all citizens and there is very little that could not be found in its many stalls and shops. The red market is known to possess a shadier side that very few have access to, where items and artifacts of all kinds, rarity and nature are traded - for the right price. Pick-pocketing is common, better keep an eye out.
- The Court of Justice: A large building, the Court of Justice is the center of command of the policing forces. Here criminals are detained and public trials are held usually by an appointed judge and jury although more prominent cases may see the Head of House Astier appointed as judge. The Court has an internal yard, where all public executions either by beheading, hanging or burning take place.
- The Cinder Cathedral: The natives of Blood Reign are known for being devout worshipers of the Ashen Winged, a goddess believed to be the embodiment of the Darkside of the Force. The Cinder Cathedral belongs to the Ashen Church, and here its priests and priestesses lead the citizens of Blood Reign in mass. The most devout visit the cathedral on a daily basis, but it is expected of everyone to do so at least once a week. (interior)
- The Black Yard: Behind the Cinder Cathedral stands a massive wall, surrounding a large piece of terrain. Within it lies the Black Yard, Blood Reign's cemetery. Attracted by death, fog seems to forever plague the dark and barren land where the gravestones and mausoleums lay. The stories about the curses and monsters that wait within it are many, inspiring enough fear in the citizens that most don't even dare visit the resting places of their loved ones. Only the grave diggers and the priests of the Ashen Church dare venture into the Black Yard regularly.
- The Almshouse: In the past a place that took responsibility and care of orphans and the poor, in the present - without the credits to spare - a run down building where the most lucky among the most unfortunate can sometimes get a night beneath a roof or a bowl of food of questionable origin. However, there is one value to the Almshouse. Also known as the Rats' Lair, its occupants know the city better than the people who built it and have eyes and ears on every street and every corner. If information is wanted, this is the place to go...if its shady residents trust you.
- The Slums: The 'bad neighborhoods' of the city, the slums are the home to the poor, the dishonest and the criminals. If the general state of the city has seen a decline after the subjugation, then the slums have become a living hell. The place is to be avoided at all costs.
- The Ruins: Surrounding the city lay the ruins of the buildings that were lost during Blood Reign's last stand against the forces of King Adron and Queen Alessandra during the subjugation of Illyria. Without the resources to spare to rebuild, the remnants of the war remain untouched, a bitter reminder of their defeat.
- The Crainte: The Crainte is the name given to the large forest that covers most of Blood Reign's surface. Its name, in High Illyrian, means "Dread". Filled by tall and dark-wooded trees that have stood their ground for eons, the Crainte is known as the Realm of the Ashen Winged, the home of the dark goddess and all of its creatures. As much of a cursed place as it is sacred, the people from Blood Reign respect and care for it, but venture into it only with good reason or for religious purposes. It is a dangerous place, home to wild animals and, according to the legends, all kinds of hags and wraiths.
- The Blood Bark: Although all trees are considered sacred, the Blood Bark is regarded as the true chosen tree of the Ashen Winged's birds. When a priest of the Ashen Church dies, their bodies are hanged at the tree where they serve as food for the birds and, once too decayed to keep hanging, for the soil where the tree grows.
Low. Blood Reign used to be a better place before, and this is also true in terms of Security. While the city is safe enough to walk during the shadowed day, one must always keep an eye out for pickpockets or sly scammers. The streets are to be avoided once the full darkness of the night sets after dusk, and the uglier parts of the city must not even be visited unless strictly necessary. There are worse places to live in, but Blood Reign is certainly not for the faint of heart and cruel towards those who cannot protect themselves or pay someone else to do it. The forces at the service of House Astier, insufficient and handled as best as possible, are comprised of the proper Guard loyal to the Head of the House who are assisted by the Illyrian Planetary Officers assigned to the province.
- Notable assets:
In the past known as Blue Rain, the province saw its beginnings with the settlement of House Astier. For countless generations Blue Rain knew growth, and prosperity and advancement. The forces under the command of the many Lords and Ladies of House Astier saw its borders expand and foreign cities and towns taken under their domain to become a part of their ever growing province.
Blue Rain was always known for being a somber but beautiful place, a jewel of nature inhabited by terrible creatures, a dark cult and a House ruled by nobles who were always considered to be part monster, part human. Yet no amount of legends and tales could take from its grim charm, the ominous attraction that it inspired on everyone who visited it.
But the years passed and in a short period of time, suddenly, the power and progress would be exchanged for ruin and peril. After the defeat of House Astier at the hands of the newly crowned Illyrian monarchs Adron Malvern and Alessandra Malvern, the province was dragged into the same disgrace as their liege House. The enormous majority of its lands were taken away, their assets seized and the life of stability and wealth and ambitiousness its inhabitants had known was completely destroyed.
Only the center of the region, the place were it all began was left. A large city mostly in ruins, with only a small portion of it active and usable. A beautiful and obscure shadow that still weeps at the memory of what it used to be.
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