The lore
The world was vast, and varied. Humanity thrived in a world that seemed almost morphed to their will. The oceans called to some, who travelled the waves and spread prosperity to new lands. The fields were home to others, who took to their mounts and galloped across the endless expanse. In more, peace was found in the quiet of the woods, or the silence after a snow in the mountains. Humanity chiseled their place into the world, through the thin sheet of magic that coated its surface.
Until magic fought back.
The creatures of magic; the fey, the transformed, the feral, the sick. They had always lurked out of sight, seen only in whispers and heard only in myths. And yet, a pulse was felt in the air on a morning as simple as any other... a surge. The air crackled and morphed, and the magic that lied dormant began to writhe. The world stirred as something deep changed in the order of things.
The attacks began soon after. The myths became stories, and the stories became news. Entire small villages, wiped with only traces of claw marks, or scorched grass, or wild magic fumes. The hissing and howls of monsters in the night became tales not meant for scaring children, but warning soldiers. Members of the community would disappear, and come back.. different. Mumbling in tongues, diseased with unprecedented illnesses, acting in ways that they never had before. The violence grew in the same way a shadow does at dusk. It loomed, almost silent in its encroaching presence. And at the peak of the dark- the seers, the fortune tellers, all those who sense what is to come, felt the same impending fate. A scar upon the certainty of humanities future. A day of reckoning.
Each culture, each corner of the world, had their day come. Each town felt the wrath of the wild, the shattering of the old, the blight of magic. And they all fell, each in their own way. One after the other. Embracing the fall of man, into the Malediction.
And yet, some remain.
Some are left stranded, somewhere in-between.
Who are you? What happened to your people?
And what have you become?
The cultures
Humanity thrived before the Surge, and the Malediction. Here are some who stood before:
The Seafarers
• Social • Explorer • Cultured •
Hailing from the eastern marsh, the Seafarers are known for their trade and hospitality, and for the grand cove in which their major town resides.
The Seafarers excel in exactly what you'd expect- fishing, boating, and business. Exploration is a large focal point of their culture, with exceptional sailors and navigators among their ranks. Outposts in the far reaches of the world are common for people so adept at travel.
They also collect and share knowledge, with a special taste for history, language- and of course, the pristine art of fencing. Seafarers tend to represent themselves with blue banners and clothes, often with accents of gold.
The northerners
• Resilient • Frigid • Reserved •
Far in the northern forests and mountains is where the aptly-described Northerners can be found. With large stone walls atop larger snowy peaks, it is the honor of very few to know anything of their culture at all.
The Northerners are a selectively reclusive group, with invitations to trade an uncommon privilege necessitated by the extreme conditions in which they chose to live. To the occasional traveling merchant, they might seem inhospitable- but to repeat visitors they can be quite warm and welcoming. Survival is key, after all, and trade provides the few resources that the Northerners haven't figured out a way to gather.
Studious with much time spent indoors; Northerners study efficient cooking, tracking, foraging, science and math- even alchemy for the more eccentric. Northerners tend to wave banners of red, to mark their scar in the white hills, and wear simple clothes along the scale of white to black.
The Flatlanders
• Wild • Tough • Fighter •
The southern plains are the homelands of a sprawling, semi-nomadic people; the Flatlanders. Often assumed to be barbaric and simple, their culture is more nuanced than most realize.
The Flatlanders hold both the wild environment of parties and the silent solace between battles in equal respect. Most of their wealth is hand-created or pillaged, but they do have some trade with the other cultures of the world.
Hand-to-hand combat, archery, lancing, brewing, and cardio are all of vast importance to the Flatlanders.
Flatlanders mark their territory with the colors of the earth and fields; Golden yellow for their plains, brown hues for the earth and leather, and green for the brighter colors of the land.
