Elseworld: Legends of Total War - Now Recruiting
Have you ever wondered “what if”? What if the Teutonic Order had embraced their Slavic enemies instead of trying to eradicate them? What if the Angevin dynasty of England had successfully taken over all of France? What if the Classical Roman Empire had survived to the middle ages to contend with the knight-dominated armies of that period? This mod is an attempt to answer these questions and more. It is also a “fantasy mod” in the sense that it isn’t set on earth and includes some fantastic elements. Each of the factions has been designed to mesh several real-world peoples, nations, or organizations so that they resemble them, but aren’t copies. Their positions on the map are to make sure they don’t start out fighting enemies that they might have faced on our world. And now for something completely different, I hope.
Welcome to Acherra. It is a world much like our own, with deserts, tundras, jungles, forests, and oceans. Once there was a time when it had yet to feel the touch of man’s foot upon its surface. That time has been forgotten by the humans who now populate much of the world. Many have legends of powerful beings that brought them to this world to escape some tragedy in their homeland, a natural disaster, an invading enemy, or disease; none are quite sure anymore, as these legends are myriad and ancient. The last “arrival” occurred long enough ago that none now living can recall an ancestor who was alive at the time.
This setting is my own original creation. It’s been in the works for around four or five years now and I’d like to think it has almost as rich a history as some of the more well-known fantasy settings. The map is in its final stages and I will post it the next time I have some free time on my hands.
Factions:
(Listed with some of their real-world influences to give you an idea of how they will look and what they will play like.)
Imperium of Mance:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:Intro:
The Imperium of Mance has long been among the greatest powers on Acherra. It once controlled lands on every shore and the Imperator’s voice held sway over the entire world. Internal strife has shrunk its borders. Now, the Imperium is like a great beast recovering from a grievous wound. The Great Crusade of the Lucian Church cost the Imperium dearly. These so-called “holy warriors” cut a bloody swathe through the heartlands all the way to the capital. It took several years, but the Imperium has regained much of its former territory.
The new Imperator is mobilizing his mighty Legions, ready to unleash them on the Imperium’s foes, new and old. Most immediate are the northwestern provinces under the control of the usurper Torvinus. This opportunist took advantage of the Imperium’s time of weakness and, with a mercenary army at his back, proclaimed himself Imperator. His mercenaries may not have the iron discipline of the true Legion, but they are deeply entrenched.
South of the usurped provinces lies the last foothold of the Great Crusade, Neuholm. This abomination is an ugly stain upon the Imperium’s map and should be dealt with swiftly, before the Reisenic “Empire” and the Lucian Church reinforce the beleaguered crusaders there.
A true Imperator should never forget Mance’s ancestral enemies, the Iremites, across the mountains. The Mancean people will never forget the God-Kings’ claims of dominion over them and the long and bloody wars to reclaim their independence. A firm Imperator and strong Imperium have the potential to become greater than ever before.
Military: Mance’s soldiers are just that, soldiers. The Imperium has the most elite, organized, professional heavy infantry and cavalry in the world. Their lower tier soldiers are less than par, used only to fill gaps in their Legion’s line.
Culture:
Religion: The Manceans worship literally hundreds and hundreds of gods. However, there are seven that are acclaimed as the Most High, whose statues are in every city. These are Romana, Manus, Hector, Mithras, Minerva, Shaivus, and Ceresia. The central point of their belief system is the idea that when they die they go to a celestial city where they will wait to be reborn. All Citizens are given a fourth name at the time of attaining citizenship; called a Sacrenomen, it is the name of the god whose soul they bear.
Government: The Imperium was once a massive complex machine of bureaucracy. The Great Crusade caused much of the Imperium’s inner workings to collapse and it is now almost completely ruled by the Imperator and his Legions. However, the proper citizenry of the Imperium (the ones that are constantly reincarnated) retain a sense of individuality and political freedom and will not be trampled over lightly.
History: The first people to call themselves Manceans were actually the citizens of the city that Plato referred to as “Atlantis”. They arrived on Acherra with their proto-celtic slaves who promptly migrated away. Very soon afterwards the people of Troy came to Acherra, escaping the sacking of their city. These two clashed at first and then allied together. They began to conquer eastward, eventually coming upon the Angkor and Maurya peoples, whose culture and territory they absorbed. Many ages passed and the Mancean Empire rose and fell. Then the Romans came. A small detachment of a Legion from Britannia made its way to Acherra and founded the current Imperium. The founding Emperor was named Marcus Castus Leonius, who founded the capital city of Leonaeum, named after himself.
Iremite Empire:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:Intro:
Irem, the City of Pillars, has always been a place of wealth and a major power on the southern continent. Their civilization has undergone many upheavals in its long history, but the city and its hegemony have long held firm and are now in their third incarnation. Their control of trade routes fills their coffers and the ranks of their armies. The empire is ruled by a council of one hundred and one judges or Shofarim. These are the holy men of the dragon god Azhraal, who created the world and built the City of Pillars for his chosen people.
It was one of these men, giving false prophecy, who began the splintering of Iremite power. This renegade Shofarim has set himself up as a successor to the ancient god-kings in the south, calling his domain “the Kingdom of Azhraten”. This heretic will be the first target for the Shofaroh, commander of the Shofarim’s armies.
Close to home the Kagache have long been subject to the rule of the Shofarim. However, they have chafed under the collar of submission and their Khagan begins to murmur of independence, even Empire. His ambitions must be cut down before they are allowed to blossom.
To the east, beyond the Azhara Desert, lie the grasslands of the Scaoden. They have long been without central authority and therefore easy to manipulate for the cunning Shofarim. However, they seem to have found new purpose and their warriors begin to mass. Azhraal’s faithful will show them the error of their ways.
Across the Hades Mountains to the north, the Mancean Empire sits. They have long been the rivals of Irem, ever since the ancient demigod-kings were overthrown by Mancean traitors. The Legions may have discipline, but the purse of Irem runs deep and they can summon many soldiers to their cause.
Under a strong and decisive Shofaroh, Irem will rise again, perhaps even surpass its former glory.
Military Summary:
Irem’s armies are diverse. They are built around a core of slave soldiers, known as Nobutani, supported by mercenary conscripts from Irem’s subject peoples and lastly citizen volunteers. They are somewhat lacking in spear infantry, but this is made up for with a wide variety of troops.
Culture:
Religion: Irem follows the cult of the Dragon God, Azhraal. According to the doctrine, the primordial Elder Gods once ruled the earth. They created humans to serve and worship them. However, each God’s worshippers believed their god above the others. The Elder Gods were enormously vain and could not stand one being elevated above the others. They warred for a thousand years. At the last, they flooded the entire world, killing themselves and many of their followers. Then Azhraal hatched from his egg at the center of the world and broke through to the surface, drying much of the planet. The hole he came through was sharp and Azhraal bled. Wherever his blood hit the ground, new humans emerged. The humans created this way were the ancestors of the Iremites, whereas the men created by the greedy and corrupt Elder Gods are the ancestors of everyone else.
Government: All laws and state decisions are made by the council of Shofarim or their appointed representative, the Shofaroh. Iremites and those of Iremite blood are granted full citizenship by the Shofarim. The Nobutani, however, are nothing more than property of the state. Their men serve as slave soldiers and their women as household slaves. This is supposedly so that they will be penitent for their ancestors’ sacking of Irem during the time of the God-Kings.
History: The people of the city of Irem were one of the first to set foot upon the face of Acherra. They were proto-arabs whose city was about to be swept away by a violent sandstorm. Already living there were peoples descended from plains Indians and Vikings, whose tribal name has been lost to time, but whose descendants are now called the Kagache. Soon Semites from the city of Gomorrah along with Egyptians from the New Kingdom period arrived in Irem. This began the first Empire of Irem, under the God-Kings. The God-Kings conquered almost the entire southern continent, before they were overthrown by the determined armies of the Manceans. Then the Nobutani came, people descended from Samurai, Mongol, and Commanche. These honor-bound, yet savage warriors sacked the city of Irem, casting down the God-Kings forever. Hundreds of years later, Sassanid Persians came from the northeast and rebuilt Irem, making it once again a power. They swiftly conquered the Nobutani kingdoms that had been built near Irem and tricked their people into servitude. On the backs of the Nobutani, the new Iremite Empire was born.
Kingdom of Valena:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:Intro
The Kingdom of Valena is undergoing a rebirth as a nation. They are still recovering from a bloody civil war (funded by the Lucian Church) which ravaged both the nobility and the peasantry. There has been a long-standing prejudice between the two, but the new king recognizes the need to unite his people. What better way than to set them against a common enemy?
Valena’s first enemy comes from within its traditional borders. Some of the nobles who sided with the Church during the war have refused to recognize the new monarchy. They are still supported by some “renegade” Church soldiers and knights. These zealous defenders will prove a challenge for the still-rejuvenating army of the King.
To the north lies the frosty tundra of the Ruscaeny and the Erche. The Ruscaeny have long been a thorn in the side of Valena, with new warlords leading savage raids across the steppe every few years. The Kingdom would do well to end this threat.
The least threatening yet deepest wound to the Kingdom is the “Holy” Reisenic Empire. Their Great Crusade drew many knights away from Valena. They even sent knights to aid the Church in its coup. A vengeful King might look to punish them for this. The Kingdom of Valena has a long way to go before it emerges as a true world power, but a strong King and powerful army should set it on the path to greatness.
Military:
The bulk of any of Valena’s armies are knights. The knightly nobility of the kingdom are expected to fight in any major engagement. Their military reflects a nation still very much entrenched in the feudal system. Their low tier infantry are used really only to support and bolster the knights.
Culture:
Religion: Valena follows the Lucian Church. The Lucian Doctrine holds that there are two gods, Luceus and Cruxis. Luceus is a benevolent god of light and life, and Cruxis is a deceptive god of darkness and death. Cruxis has twice threatened to end the world, according to the Lucian holy texts, but each time Luceus came to the world of men and sacrificed himself to drive the darkness back. Their religious rituals are centered heavily around light and the dawn.
Government: Valena is a feudal monarchy, pure and simple. The King owns all the land and appoints his nobility to maintain it for him. The gap between the nobility and the common people is vast, as the nobility still view the common people somewhat as barbarians.
History: Valena was founded after the Order Wars, when the Catholic Teutonic Order Knights and the Templars (who were secretly Cathars, hence the Pope’s denouncement of them) both arrived on Acherra simultaneously and began to slaughter each other. At the end of the war, the two sides sat down together to reconcile their religions. During the war, both sides were infiltrated by Mancean followers of the Mithraic Mystery cult, who had recently been ousted from the Empire for fomenting a rebellion. The Templars went across the sea and founded their own kingdom away from the Teutons. The leader of the Order at this time was a Lucian Mancean named Artorius Castus Valanus. He became the first king of the kingdom named after him; Valena.
Kingdom of Icena:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:Intro
The kingdom of Icena has long been considered the vanguard of the Lucian World. They control the northern end of the Great Rift Bridge, that towering symbol of ages long past. This valuable trade route is almost constantly under siege and the kingdom has organized itself to defend against invaders. Icena would do well to secure both ends of the bridge.
However, there are many among the nobility who would say the best way to defend their nation is to take the fight to the enemy. The king might respond with asking “which enemy?” Icena has several to choose from. As with all the Lucian nations on the mainland, they must contend with the Ruscaeny and Erche nomads to the north and the Moravr sea raiders on their coast.
Icenan soldiers have a special hatred in their hearts for the Moravr, those sea-borne raiders who harry their coastline and the caravans that cross the Great Bridge, taking slaves and riches. A smart king would use this hatred and invade the Inner Islands where they live. But beware, there are many places a man can hide an army in those lands.
Icena has long been at peace with its fellow Lucian nations, but with the unrest in Valena and the expansionist policies of the Reisenics, this alliance may need to be re-thought. The king of Icena must not rest on his laurels, or he will find his nation torn from beneath his feet.
Military:
Icena’s king can call upon many types of professional troops, both noble and commoner. In the army of Icena, these men are all equal. Icena maintains the tradition of armored knights like its neighbors, but their need for speed concerning the patrol of the Great Bridge means they are less armored. Their infantry shows a penchant for polearms, pikes and halberds most commonly.
Culture:
Religion: Icena follows the Lucian Church. The Lucian Doctrine holds that there are two gods, Luceus and Cruxis. Luceus is a benevolent god of light and life, and Cruxis is a deceptive god of darkness and death. Cruxis has twice threatened to end the world, according to the Lucian holy texts, but each time Luceus came to the world of men and sacrificed himself to drive the darkness back. Their religious rituals are centered heavily around light and the dawn.
Government: Icena is a monarchy, though it holds itself to a different standard than its neighbors. Icenan nobility form a council, known as the Council of the Round; for the traditional round table they meet at. The Council creates the laws of the kingdom and the King is expected to enforce the laws and protect the kingdom’s people.
History: The Lucian kingdom of Icena was founded by a Valenan noble, Artor, who grew tired of the constant in-fighting of the feudal nobility. He went south and saw how the Cethic people lived, though there was infighting, it was largely ritualized. Artor married a Cethic queen of the Icenr tribe and took her name, becoming Artor PenDraegen. He invited Lucian priests to preach to his new kingdom, and Lucian commoners soon followed.
Grand Duchy of Krissom:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:Intro
Krissom has long been the black sheep of the Lucian world. It is a land of people so vastly different from one another, yet all living together. The Grand Duke or Mharaja, as he is known by the native Rajoi population, rules only by the consent of the Rajas. He is sworn to them just as much as they are sworn to him. He has done very little to change the way of life they have known even before his forefathers united them under their banner.
He must defend their interests as well as those of the Lucian nobility who call him Duke. Many of these nobles now believe it is in their best interests to go to war. Krissom has lain in tranquility in their fertile hills and valleys for years, only disturbed by the occasional nomadic incursion. Though their lands have been peaceful, the world around them is violent.
The Lucian nobles would have the Grand Duke turn his eyes south, to the lands on the eastern coast of Meridia, the southern continent. It is fertile ground there, ruled only by independent city-states. It would serve the dual purpose of showing the Church their nation’s piety, as the Rajas have long resisted conversion to Lucianism. In a world called to war by the church, the Grand Duke must do whatever he can to make himself a friend of the Arch Praefect.
However, the Rajas would call their Mharaja’s attention to the north, where the nomads have long plagued their lands and plundered their cities. Though there is little of worth on the Steppe, the Duke must maintain good standing with his Rajas, or else lose their support, both politically and militarily.
The Grand Duke and Mharaja rule a divided people. He must unite them and bring them to purpose, or choose one people to the detriment of the other.
Military:
The Grand Duke may call on a diverse variety of troops. As Mharaja, he commands ferocious tribal warriors wielding their traditional weapons. As Grand Duke, he commands traditional Lucian soldiers and knights with swords, spears, and lances, though they have been influenced by the traditions of their fellows. However, to keep all these types of troops, he must maintain two cultures within his lands.
Culture:
Religion: Krissom follows the Lucian Church. The Lucian Doctrine holds that there are two gods, Luceus and Cruxis. Luceus is a benevolent god of light and life, and Cruxis is a deceptive god of darkness and death. Cruxis has twice threatened to end the world, according to the Lucian holy texts, but each time Luceus came to the world of men and sacrificed himself to drive the darkness back. Their religious rituals are centered heavily around light and the dawn.
Government: Krissom is little different from feudal Valena. The Rajas and Dukes of Krissom are sovereigns of their own territories, but since the founding of the Grand Duchy, they have all sworn oaths of fealty and obediance to the Grand Duke. Each Duke or Raja may place their own laws, taxes, etc… upon their territory. The Grand Duke creates laws governing the behavior of the nobility and leads the armies of Krissom.
History: Krissom’s native people, the Rajoi, were first known as Rajputs. Then when the Manceans conquered the Maurya and Angkor, their refugees settled in what would come to be called Krissom. Years later and a minor Crusade would be called against the Rajoi. The lead knight of the crusade, however, began to realize how hollow his cause was and ended the war with a treaty between the Lucians and the Rajoi. He became the first Grand Duke of Krissom.
Holy Reisenic Empire:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:Intro
The Holy Reisenic Empire is considered by some to be the center of the Lucian world, ironic since it is far away from the mainland nations. The Reisenics are fervent followers of the teachings of Luceus and thus are supported heavily by the Church. Not so long ago, they launched the Great Crusade against the Mancean Empire. It was a temporary victory followed by massive failure. Their infrastructure is still recovering from that blow, and what better way for the Kaiczar to rebuild it than to bring more lands into his control.
The first place to look would be the northern lands of the Reisenic Isle. The nobility there, the Boyars, took the opportunity to declare independence while the Kaiczar’s eyes were elsewhere. The Empire cannot take this insult. Their punishment must be swift and severe.
Once that concern is dealt with, there are many options for expansion. Turn eyes northeast and the Empire will find pagans and heathens yet to feel the hammer of Lucian justice. The Ruscaeny practice their brutal and barbaric religion, while the Verenr have already defied one attempt to bring them to the Light of the one true God.
Then there is yet the stronghold of Neuholm in the heathen lands of the Manceans. An island of light surrounded by a sea of paganism. Unfinished business for the Kaiczar. He must decide whether to give up on the ordained crusade before its proper completion or to throw yet more resources at the problem. The Empire will rise again under a strong leader.
Military:
The Reisenic Empire’s armies are led by fanatical religious warriors determined to destroy the menace of paganism. These holy knights are supported by typically axe or spear wielding commoners and nobility. Their army suffers from a terrible lack of good missile troops.
Culture:
Religion: The Reisenic Empire follows the Lucian Church. The Lucian Doctrine holds that there are two gods, Luceus and Cruxis. Luceus is a benevolent god of light and life, and Cruxis is a deceptive god of darkness and death. Cruxis has twice threatened to end the world, according to the Lucian holy texts, but each time Luceus came to the world of men and sacrificed himself to drive the darkness back. Their religious rituals are centered heavily around light and the dawn.
Government: The Empire is a theocratic state, with the Kaiczar and the Arch Praefect sharing power. There is some animosity among the lesser nobility for this situation, but the threat of the Purge Knights and the Kaiczar’s armies keeps these dissenters in line.
History: The Reisenic Empire was founded after the Order Wars, when the Catholic Teutonic Knights and the Templars (who were secretly Cathars, hence the pope’s denouncement of them) both arrived on Acherra simultaneously and began to slaughter each other. At the end of the war, the two sides sat down together to reconcile their religions. During the war, both sides were infiltrated by Mancean followers of the Mithraic Mystery cult, who had recently been ousted from the Empire for fomenting a rebellion. The Teutonic Knights, now calling themselves Reisenics, stayed on the island where they arrived and conquered the pagan Slavs and Rus in the north of the isle.
Verenr Clans:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Intro:
The Verenr are a fiercely independent people. As the sole Cethic tribe to maintain their sovereignty, they must fight hard to keep their freedom. Since they threw off the oppressive yoke of the Winter Lords in ages long passed into myth, they have often fought amongst themselves more often than any foreign invaders. The newest proclaimed high warlord, or Kratesvern, of all the clans seeks to change this. Ironically, his first obstacle will be the clans who have united against him. They feel he is overstepping his bounds and must be put in his proper place.
There are many among the clans who are allied with the Kratesvern that seek to punish the Valenans for their war of conquest against Verenr land. However, Valena’s true king, who won his civil war and now rules, fought with the clans against the church faction who initiated the war. He now sends emissaries and wishes to ally himself permanently with the Verenr. The Clans must decide whether to honor this uneasy alliance or obtain retribution.
The Druid Order has begun to clamor for the “liberation” of the lands formerly belonging to Cethic tribes, claiming that the Lucians have strangled the life from them, adding strength to the imprisoned Winter Lords, meaning they may possibly break free of their cage and flood the world in eternal winter. Some of the more superstitious of the Verenr have supported this idea, fearful of the ending of the world.
Along with these concerns, the Verenr and their Warlord must ever watch their northern borders and southern coastline. To the north, the brutal Ruscaeny constantly raid, taking slaves. Their southern counterparts, the Moravr, do the same. Either of these would be worthy opponents to set valiant Verenr warriors to purpose. One thing is for certain, the Clans must decide on a course of action before they are left behind by the world.
Military:
The Clans rely heavily on shieldwall heavy infantry and the mighty longbow. Their elites are men who have won their position on the battlefield through perseverance, not by blood. The champions are joined by younger men who are eager to win similar position. Their armies are a conglomeration of different champions and warriors, all called to battle by their nobility, the Sverns.
Culture:
Religion: The Verenr worship seven gods, known as the Ternen; Dannen, Creanna, Moreanne, Gweden, Manawen, Belenen, and Cernen. These gods govern various aspects of nature and humanity. The Ternen are essential in holding back the Winter Lords, the evil gods who fight to drown the world in a perpetual winter. The Ternen collect the bravest of Verenr warriors to fight with them against the hordes of Winter. These warriors fight this battle every year at the end of winter and the beginning of spring. This event is celebrated by living Verenr as a festival called Wealterne, or the Dawn Battle. The Clans also place a huge emphasis on physical health, with athletic games held on a regular basis. Babies who are found to be unfit are drowned as a mercy, so that they can go to the Otherworld and frolic in the eternal fields.
Government: The Clans have long been held together by the Clan Covenant, arbitrated by the druid order from their ancient fortress sanctuary of Terna. The Sverns of the various clans generally govern their own lands according to their own laws and traditions, but each man is his own. Clans may only war with each other with the consent of the druids, and these conflicts are typically short-lived. There are nine Clans: Lluther, Gareth, Calbreth, Mordreth, Conal, Uther, Geffen, Cullain, and Cadairn.
History: The first known ancestors of the Verenr are the proto-celtic slave soldiers of Atlantis, known as the Kethii. When Atlantis came to Acherra, the Kethii quickly left them, sailing across the sea to find their own lands. They settled much of the northern continent. Soon after, Free Greeks of Athens, fleeing the plague that caused their city to lose the Peloponnesian War, arrived in the Kethii lands. The Athenians called them Cethen and the name has survived to the modern day. The two peoples intermingled and eventually became one. Different Celtic and Gaelic tribes arrived during this period, but it was generally stable. Then the Winter Lords came. No one knows where they came from, but they conquered much of the Cethic world. They ruled with terror and intimidation for hundreds of years before Llaw Geffen, supposedly half-Winter himself, overthrew them and was crowned High King before falling on his own sword. His followers formed the druid order and taught that no man of the Clans should be above the rest. Conn Cullain, progenitor of the Cullain clan, was the first Svern to agree to the Clan Covenant and the most powerful. The other nine soon followed suit. In more recent history, 30 years ago, a claimant to the Mancean Throne warred against the Verenr. They fought him to a brutal standstill and sued for peace. They were forced to afford him an army of ten thousand Champions to serve him for fifteen years. He died several years later and that army had to fight its way across half the world to reach their homeland, only to find it besieged by Valena. These valiant men are known as the Black Shields and they are revered among the Verenr today.
Ruskaeny Confederacy:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Intro
Brutality. That is the one word that summarises the Ruskaeny as a people. Their god, Kaen the Bloodfather, demands they kill and drink the blood of others in order to gain power when they die. In the past, they have mainly used each other for this purpose, with occasional raids across the steppes and the mountains to the terror of those on the other side. However, this will soon change. The shaman have examined the omens and called all the Chieftains of the Blood to the All-Thing. Despite their hatred of one another, they have chosen one from among their number to lead them to bloody glory.
There are many paths the new High Chieftain could take. So many ways to achieve greatness in Blood. He could take his people south, to the Lucians. Long have the Ruskaeny laughed at the puny god of light and his pitiful worshippers. However, many a raid has been stopped dead by the lances of Lucian knights and few are eager to join the ranks of those crushed beneath the hooves of their destriers.
The alternative would be to head southwest, across the Pale Sea, to the lands of the Verenr. These are respectable opponents, their blood brings much power. However, they bring little new. The Bloodfather would be displeased by this lack of imagination.
Even further west, and across the ocean, lies the Reisenic Isle. These lands are ripe for the picking. The Empire is weak from its failed crusade and its northern nobles are discontent. The High Chieftain must be careful with this course of action, as anyone who invades the land of the Purge Knights must be prepared for a fearsome retaliation.
That is all good. It only means more blood for the Bloodfather.
Military:
The Ruskaeny are rather primitive compared to the other peoples of Acherra. Their lands give them limited resources and their nobles must often follow the herds of Direbeasts around the steppe. Their cities are little more than fortified camps for the elderly and the women. Their warbands are centered on the (massive, horse sized) hounds and their riders.
Culture:
Religion: The Ruskaeny worship one god. Their tradition says that the Creator created the world and then the first man and woman. The woman disobeyed the Creator and he cursed them to die. They had many children, but chief among them were the twin eldest sons, Kaen and Abael. Kaen and Abael hated each other fiercely. They fought and when Kaen finally slew Abael, he drank his blood and gained his spark of divinity. Kaen slew the rest of his family in turn, until he came to his father. His father’s divine spark was stronger than the others, and a titanic battle took place. Kaen, empowered by the blood of his kin, smote his father and turned his attention to the Creator. Kaen slew him as well, with little effort, as the Creator was exhausted from the effort of creation. Kaen drew some of his own blood, spilled the drops upon the earth and created man, again. Man hailed him as the Bloodfather, but Kaen simply dared them to challenge his place in the heavens. Since then, the Ruskaeny have been fighting near constantly for the purpose of drinking their blood and gaining their strength. Men who cannot fight are seen as less than human, and women are the communal property of the men, in punishment for causing death.
Government: The Ruskaeny are technically ruled by the chieftains, who hold their power through intimidation and their mighty hounds. The Chieftains are semi-nomadic, traveling in hunting “packs” following the herds of direbeast. One direbeast kill can feed a small settlement for a month. The rest of the people live in small walled settlements, usually with the women occupying a communal hall.
History: The first people to arrive in the vicinity of the Ruskaeny lands were people of the Clovis culture of North America. These early men scratched a living from the flat lands for some time, until semites from the city of Sodom and Kainites came and showed them a somewhat more civilized way of life. Then this way of life was shattered by Norse invaders from what would be known as the Reisenic Isle, and Turkic invaders from the east, across the tundra. These men divided up the agrarian peoples and claimed dominion over them. These are now the chieftains and nobility of the Ruskaeny.
Xijini Nation: Descended from Ming Chinese, Pueblo Indians, and Turks.
Kagache Alliance: Descended from Mongols, Commanche, and Japanese
Hegemony of Cerexico: Descended from Greeks, Saxons, and Aztecs.
Moravr League: Descended from Vikings, Berbers, and Polynesians.
Scaoden Tribes: Descended from Saxons, Sub-Saharan Africans, and Plains Indians.
Exilant League: Descended from Templar knights, Teutonic Knights, and Greeks.
Kingdom of Azhraten: Descended from Egyptians, Semites, and Saxons.
Well, that’s my brilliant idea. Comments and criticism welcome. Anyone willing to help would be appreciated.
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Originally Posted by ♔Agamemnon♔
