The Gazetteer of Gastony

[sleepingdragon]

The information in this thread basically represents what a fairly ordinary Gaston peasant would know about the world, or be able to find out with some basic questioning. It is from the standpoint of what would be common knowledge and “common sense” for people from that particular place and time. As such, the information is certainly incomplete, and some may not even be true.

This document is written by two particular people, and I’ve done this both to amuse myself and to represent the split in the Virian religion between those who follow the Church (the great majority of those in Gastony), and the Malabites/Faithful (a minority in Gastony, but the majority in the remainder of the Virian lands.) In case you feel like playing one of the Faithful, you should pay more attention to Theobald’s comments.

Depending on your character’s skills, profession, and background, after character creation I may privately send you additional information to supplement and/or correct what is in this thread. For example, if your character has points in Knowledge (religion) you will get more information about the Virian Way and the old Gaston and Alanian gods, if you are from the nobility you will get more information about that class and current political developments, etc.

[sleepingdragon]

Hail, sons of Gastony! I am Wulfherth of Westgard, a scholar sworn to service of our King, Elfwine the Third, of the House of Canulf. I have been commanded by the Regent to set down a treatise to be used by the servants of the Church in the education of our young. This is indeed a great honour and I have been only too happy to render this service.

As well as this practical purpose, it is my hope that this document can be distributed widely, and be studied by Virians throughout the world. It is my hope to join the settlers travelling to Palania within the next year, and such a document as this may be of interest to the people of that land. If the information contained herein is of assistance in our efforts to rebuild civilisation and spread the word of God, then I will be most content.

Of course, the split in the Faith continuously frustrates such efforts, and is deeply injurious to God. In the spirit of helping to heal this rift, I have shown this work to a learned Brother of the Malabites, Theobald, who has added a number of comments. So as not to confuse the reader, these are written in a separate style, indicated below:

There is no split in the Virian world – there are but those Faithful to God and those who have chosen heresy. Nonetheless, it will be of some use to assist in your correction, Wulfherth.

Addendum – As you will no doubt note, Theobald writes (and speaks) quite haughtily, which is only to be expected from those proud enough to believe that learning and holiness can come about purely through the effort of individual men, without the guidance and tradition of the Church. Nonetheless, I have left his comments in the work, as they reveal much of how the Malabites view us and the rest of the world, and this may prove of use in reuniting the followers of the Virian Way.

This document has been divided into several sections, covering the most important subjects of our history and culture. A table of contents may be found below:

On the History of Gastony
-On the Fall of the Alanian Empire
-On the Rise of the Virian Way
-On the Division of the Virians
-On the Three Kindreds and the Ascension of Canulf
-On the Lordstrife and the League with Palania
On the Virian Way and the Precepts of the Church
On the People of Gastony and Our Customs
On the Peoples of Other Virian Realms
On the Peoples of Palania and Other Heathen Lands
On Monsters and the Dark Arts

For many hundreds of years, human civilisation has been in decline. The fair lands of the Alanians remain crushed beneath the heels of the foulest monsters, and the peoples of those lands have been exterminated, enslaved, or transformed into creatures of darkness. Now, at long last, we are beginning to recover our strength. At long last, we can begin to strike back.

And who is better suited for this than the men of Gastony? The other provinces of the Alanian empire fell to enemies or to revolt – but we alone remained true and free. The lands of humanity are now clustered round the Sea of the North – and we are the descendents of the great Gaston mariners. Other lands remain mired in heathendom – but we are the people of the Prophet, who were the first to take up the Virian Way and swear ourselves to the one God.

Truly, it is our divine mission to take the lead in this mighty task, the rebirth of our race. Go forth, sons of Gastony, under the light of the Prophet’s Star!

Wulfherth
11th of January, in the 227th Year of the Virian Way

[sleepingdragon]

Of old, the greatest part of the lands of the known world fell beneath the sway of the Alanian empire. Beginning approximately a thousand years ago, the Alanian horsemen rode forth from their capital at Alangard in the far southwest. Over the course of several centuries of warfare, they conquered the ancient kingdoms situated in the fertile plains around the great rivers of the south, the Alan and the Talis. In the east they strove with orcs, driving them into mountain fastnesses, and in the west they battled elf sorcerers, who they pushed deep into the forests.

The height of the empire proved the brightest age in all the history of humanity. The Alanians achieved levels of prosperity, peace, and wisdom that are unthinkable in this dark age. They expanded as far as the Sea of the North and settled cities upon the shores, such as our own capital of Malagen. But the prosperity and glory of the Alanians was not to last.

The turning point came approximately four hundred years ago, when the Alanian Emperor Matthias III, called the Mage, overturned the ancient laws banning the use of magic. He constructed a University of Magic at his new capital, Cannock, and extended an amnesty to practitioners of the occult, who flocked to the University.

Though many in the Empire opposed this foolish policy, the Emperor held great power, both politically and magically, and his reign continued for over thirty years after the foundation of the University. His sorcerers performed many experiments, attempting to learn the use of magic in all areas of life, from agriculture, trade, the worship of the heathen Alanian gods, and in war.

As Matthias grew older, however, his interests turned increasingly in one direction – the extension of life. Thus was revived the dreadful practice of necromancy which remains one of our greatest scourges.

Matthias' blasphemous attempts to prolong his life beyond the limits which God has set us were bound to fail, and so they did. Not long after his death, a section of the Alanian priesthood and nobility orchestrated an attack upon the University, hoping to see magic perish along with the Mage. However, the mages were strong and fought back, and in the long years of the Mage's reign many Alanians had grown accustomed to magic and some of the comforts it could bring. The Empire was ravaged by a civil war which ended only when the Empire itself had fallen beyond any point of recall. As monument to Matthias' folly, some years later the city of Cannock itself was completely destroyed by a terrible blast of magical energy, so great that even to this day none of any race have been able to re-enter the city.

By some means that we shall perhaps never comprehend, the revival of magic strengthened and revitalised the monstrous races the Alanians had defeated centuries before. The elves, who were most attuned to magic, seemed suddenly to gain tremendously in strength, and elf warbands, bolstered by bound demons, ravaged the south and west. Goblin pirates harried the coasts and orcs poured from the mountains. Worst of all, the dread creatures of legend, the dragons, returned, each commanding armies of the undead and of the dragonspawn, humanoid creatures in the image of their creators. The central regions of the Empire fell utterly, with the capital of Alangard razed by elf warlocks. The Alanian humans were slain, enslaved, or transformed into the undead. Only the distant regions of the Empire, huddled round the coasts or sheltered by mountains, were able to maintain human civilisation.

[sleepingdragon]

During these years, a number of non-Alanian human tribes began to enter the boundaries of the Empire, and settle in different regions. One such tribe were our own ancestors, the Gastons, who originally hailed from the Gaston archipelago far to the east of the Empire. Our ancestral lands were ravaged by Goblins and many Gastons were carried off into slavery. In the end, the archipelago was conquered entirely, and our ancestors fled by ship and sailed towards the Empire, settling in the imperial provinces of Maseda and Palania, approximately three hundred and fifty years ago.

Though the culture of our own ancestors was rude and primitive compared to that of the Alanians, the Empire was desperate for additional manpower to combat the invasions, and permitted them to settle in exchange for military service. Our cousins in Palania soon revolted and took that land for themselves, however our ancestors kept their oaths, fighting against the clans of undead and dragonspawn that invaded down from the Ringing Mountains.

After many years of struggle, the Empire withdrew its troops in a desperate, and ultimately doomed, attempt to defend its central provinces. While there remained a remnant of the Alanian noble families, attempting to provide some leadership, this was to no avail and soon Alanian Maseda had dissolved into a number of quarrelling kingdoms.

At this time was born Wulfric of Barthenfold, which was then only a small Gaston village on the outskirts of Malagen. He was of a good family, the Ornolfings, who had spread far across the Gaston lands but recently fallen in fortunes due to the ongoing wars. Wulfric was a man of subtle skill, and he became a silversmith, crafting pieces both of beauty and use.

When Wulfric had completed his apprenticeship he moved to Malagen in search of work, and soon he wed the fair lady Celhild, the daughter of a high magistrate of the city. They had two sons, Leofric and Osric. Wulfric’s work became famous, much used to decorate the temples of the Gaston gods, and he rose to high esteem and status in the city, taking the role of priest of the god of craft and skill, Cenwulf.

We would do well to reflect upon this – that even the Prophet was once steeped deeply in heathendom. But God’s patience is great, and thus we may have hope for all, even the most sinful. Until he learned better the Prophet himself put great store in ritual and ceremony rather than faith and learning – a lesson the Church of the heretics have forgotten.

During this time a great plague ravaged the land, which none thought could be cured. The dead were beyond counting, and even the flies and birds would not touch the bodies. And unbeknownst to him, plague entered into the house of Wulfric.

Before it could become apparent that the plague had struck Malagen, Wulfric went to Barthenfold to visit his kin. Celhild was great with child at this time, and did not wish to be separated from their children, so Wulfric travelled alone. For two days in Barthenfold Wulfric was in good spirits, but on the third he was suddenly stricken down.

Some of his kin first attempted to tend to him, but when it became clear that he had been struck with plague, many in Barthenfold urged that he should be slain. In disgrace, even many of his kin betrayed him, but Wulfric’s cousin Elfhelm brought him forth from his sickbed, and led him from the town.

Elfhelm’s intent was to lead Wulfric to a healer he knew, but Wulfric was in despair and did not wish his cousin to fall ill as well, so in the night he fled. In delirium he stumbled across the plains, until he came to the foot of Mount Maragar, which was then held sacred to the Gaston gods. Only the brave ventured up this mountain, for the beasts of the Ringing Mountains were about, and the gods were said to vent their anger on those who did not climb without first sacrificing to them, but Wulfric was heedless and in despair.

As Wulfric climbed, the apparitions of the gods of the Gastons appeared before him, sounding their anger that he had not propitiated them as he should. Spirits and wraiths struck at him, burning his soul with fire, but Wulfric would not be stopped until he came to the top of the mountain.

At the summit of the mountain, Wulfric found himself before the king of the Gaston gods, Osoltan. Osoltan cursed Wulfric for his sacrilege, and mocked him saying that Celhild and their children had also been stricken, and even then lay dead in Malagen. Soon, he said, Wulfric too would die.

In rage Wulfric rose, realising now that these false gods were truly demons, sent to bind men to their will. Wulfric smote Osoltan and wrestled with him. Osoltan drew a knife and sank it into Wulfric’s side, but Wulfric’s rage would not be withstood, and he overcame Osoltan and lifted him, and flung him down from the mountain. Exhausted, Wulfric sank to the earth and awaited death.

But Wulfric did not die. The spirit of Celhild appeared before him, explaining that he had been selected by the one God to be his Prophet and Messenger, to destroy the false gods and ensure that humankind should not pass from the world. She had been permitted by God to appear beyond the veil of death, so she could prove to him the truth of her words.

Then the Spirit of God came upon the Prophet, and wave upon wave of revelation. The full knowledge of the Virian Way was upon him, and he knew it would be his task henceforth to teach men to obey God and follow his virtues.

Once the Spirit left him and he returned to the grey world, the Prophet saw that night had fallen. The wound Osoltan’s knife had made was healed, though his blood still lay on the mountaintop, and he felt himself hale and healthy. Feeling his purpose, he descended the mountain and made for Barthenfold. As he went, the Prophet realised many months had passed while he was on the mountain, for it had been the season of spring when he fell ill, but now there was chill in the air and frost on the grass.

The Prophet arrived in Barthenfold in the morning, and his kinsmen were amazed to see him, for all assumed he had perished. He began to instruct them in the Virian Way, and the Spirit moved in him so powerfully that Elfhelm and many others were immediately and wholly converted.

A great commotion rose, for not all were willing to turn from the false gods, but the Prophet and his men had the mastery. The heathens were routed and utterly defeated, and the temples of the false gods torn down. At the orders of the Prophet the slain were heaped in a great pile and burned, for the Spirit of God had warned him that humankind would contest against the dragonspawn and all other necromancers, and they should leave no bodies behind to be used so unnaturally.

The Prophet rested in Barthenfold for but a day before he determined to set out again, for he wished to return to Malagen and pay respect for his wife and sons. Though the plague had now moved on, Malagen was utterly ravaged, and almost half its citizens had perished, and those remaining were wracked with famine.

The Prophet then began his ministry, urging the people to renounce the false gods. For one year he preached, going into the streets each day to teach the Way and bring the people to God. While many of the Gaston folk came to embrace the Way, the lord of Malagen was very anxious, for the bands of dragonspawn stalked the land scarce miles from the walls of Malagen, and he feared the Prophet’s preaching would anger the false gods and bring ruin upon him. The king thus began to persecute the Virians, arresting them on false charges and breaking up their congregations.

The Prophet was much grieved at this, as the king was a distant kinsman through the Prophet’s departed wife. However events soon forced his hand, for when the king saw the Prophet would not leave the city willingly, the king’s men began to slay the Virians in the street. Though the Prophet might have fought, he did not wish to cause such strife with the peril of the dragonspawn so near, and in the city he loved dearly, so he prepared to leave the city and ordered the Virians to follow him.

As we often see, the heretics forget the lessons of the Virian Way. The Prophet was the greatest of men – but he was nonetheless a man, and not God, as he always made clear. The Flight from Malagen occurred because the Prophet feared for his life and the survival of the Virian Way, not out of mawkish sentimentality. To feign that the Prophet did not fear like other men is to breathe heathendom and idolatry into the Virian Way, and to make mock of his magnificent achievements.

Thus the Virians departed from Malagen, and many of the Prophet’s kinsmen from Barthenfold joined him, and they began an exodus to the city of Meringas, on the eastern shore, whose king had promised the safety of the Virians.

In Meringas, the Prophet and the Virians began a ministry of five years. In this time, through the skill of the Prophet's tongue and the healing he provided to the afflicted, the largest number of its citizens came to follow him, as did many of the tribesmen in the countryside. One of those who came to the Way was the king's son, Hengist, and when the king passed away Hengist renounced his claim in favour of the Prophet.

By this time, the dragonspawn had spread far, and much of western Maseda had fallen, though Malagen still held out. However, dread news soon came that the mighty wyrm, Ancalagon, had awoken, and the largest part of the dragonspawn had sworn themselves to him. Thus the Prophet resolved to march to the relief of Malagen. Before they departed, he forged himself a blade of silver, for these were the bane of the undead. He spoke also to Hengist, naming him as his Judge and bidding him to establish his Church and continue to spread the Virian Way, and to this day Meringas remains the seat of the Church.

Though this falsehood is of obvious utility to the heretics, it is manifestly untrue. Hengist was bidden only to defend the city while the Prophet was elsewhere.

The army of the Virians marched to Malagen, which had now been besieged by the forces of Ancalagon, and the wyrm set about the countryside, burning at will. The king of Malagen had been slain and the defenders were in despair, but the Virians struck boldly and broke the siege. Ancalagon was drawn to this fierce battle and swept down, resolved to destroy the Virians with his fire. But the Spirit of God was upon the Prophet, and he sped through the air towards the wyrm, driving his silver blade deep into the belly of the beast.

Thus the siege of Malagen was lifted, and the people were amazed, for the Prophet had never had any great training as a warrior, yet his feat was as great as any of the Gaston heroes of legend. Thus the people of Malagen came also to the Virian Way, and named the Prophet as their king, and as the Prophet loved the city greatly it became his capital, and it still remains as the seat of the Gaston kings.

With the death of Ancalagon the spirit of the dragonspawn was broken, and the hearts of the Gastons turned to the Prophet, for they saw plainly that he was their saviour. Throughout the land, the idols of the false gods were razed, and the great temples cleansed, and consecrated to the glory of God. The cities and clans of the Gastons came together and gave to the Prophet the ancient rank of High King of the Gastons, and he took also the title of Emperor of the Alanians, for only here was the advance of the monsters halted and thrown back.

While the Prophet reigned, the advance of the Virian Way was irresistible. The dragonspawn in the west were flung back to the Ringing Mountains, save some isolated pockets that remained in hidden fastnesses, and in the south the armies of the Prophet began to advance into the lands of the Swennings, who had never been conquered by the Alanians.

After a score of years as Emperor, the Prophet went to visit his kinsmen in Barthenfold, which had expanded greatly as many flocked to the land where the Virian Way was revealed. The Prophet retraced his steps and one day he went alone to the summit of Mount Maragar, to commune again with God. As the hours lengthened and night came his men became anxious, but before they could go to see to him, they watched in amazement as a great light shone from the peak. The light rose, shining with many colours, and fixed itself as a star in the northern sky. And still the Star of the Prophet remains, to remind men of their obligations to God, and of His promise that the world would be reclaimed so long as they follow Him.

[sleepingdragon]

After the passing of the Prophet, the Virians fell into deep mourning, for he was universally loved as the saviour of the bodies and souls of the Gaston race, and none knew how best to continue to uphold and spread the Virian Way without his guidance.

The most particularly pressing issue was of the succession to the Prophet, and on this there was much confusion, for the Prophet had left no clear instruction on who was to follow him. Some argued for the ancient Gaston tradition, that a new leader would be selected from amongst the prominent families. Others, however, pointed out that the Prophet had assumed the position of Emperor of the Alanians, and this indicated that the hereditary principle of Alanian law should be followed. In the end this view was deemed best, and the leadership of the Virian realm passed to Elfgar, the son of the Prophet's cousin Elfhelm.

This was ever an error. Had the Prophet intended us to follow a hereditary principle, why did he never remarry?

This pressing question might have been resolved for all time had Elfgar's reign continued for long, but after only four years he was slain in a skirmish with dragonspawn on the western frontier, and at that time his son Goderic was but eleven years of age.

When the lords of the Virians came together to select a new Emperor, they found the debate was heated and closely split. A compromise position was eventually reached, whereby a Regent, Raedwulf the king of Shara, would rule until Goderic came of age, and then a final decision would be made.

When the time came, however, a small majority argued Goderic should be crowned, but Raedwulf would not accept this. So, only eight years after the passing of the Prophet, the bitter wars of Virian against Virian began. These dreadful conflicts, so hateful to God, have lamentably continued to this day.

Raedwulf was ultimately slain, but then years later his son Cuthbert returned and began a new war against Ceneric the son of Goderic. During these years of bitter strife the Swennings revolted and returned to heathendom, and the dragonspawn regained their strength.

Because all sides in these terrible wars had claimed the favour of God, the Emperor Ceneric judged that it was necessary to bring about some separation between the worldly authority of the Emperor, and the spiritual authority granted by God. Though these had been unified in the person of the Prophet, none were left with his wisdom.

An absolute absurdity and blasphemy! One can no more separate the worldly and spiritual than separate a man from his soul! The very essence of the teachings of the Prophet is to follow the spiritual laws of the Virian Way in all worldly endeavours, and of the supremacy of God in determining the course of events - in short, the absolute unity of the worldly and spiritual. It is little wonder that some scholars of the Faithful name you heretics as 'Cenerites', for the pernicious and anti-Virian deceptions he perpetrated are the root of your folly and heresy.

Ceneric began reforms of both secular law, firmly establishing the hereditary principle, and requiring the lords of the Virians to swear him allegiance as his vassals, and in spiritual law, granting autonomy to the Judges, the most learned scholars of the Church in Meringas, to best spread the teachings of the Prophet and guide the Emperor.

Over years, these reforms caused much controversy, and at length they would prove the end of Emperor Ceneric. While he and his children made humble pilgrimage towards Meringas one day, leaving behind their weapons, they were set upon by the followers of a mendicant preacher, Brother Willard, who named themselves 'Faithful'. With great cruelty these brigands slaughtered the Emperor and his children, slaying even his youngest son, who was but a babe of two. Thus the line of Elfhelm, the kinsman of the Prophet and the first of all converts to the Virian Way, was utterly spent.

The blessings of God upon His great servant Willard, and may the heretic Ceneric rot in Hell forever.

[/blockquote]

[sleepingdragon]

Ninety years after the revelation of the Virian Way, the line of Elfhelm was extinguished. None were now left alive that could claim any kinship to the Prophet, save in the most tenuous and distant degrees, and it appeared once again that the Virian realm would be wracked by civil strife.

Thankfully, this was not to be. Though many looked to the line of the lords of Shara, Edwy son of Cuthbert had died young and his only children were two daughters.

The throne of the Empire was ultimately claimed by Clovis of Malagen, the head of the most powerful Alanian family remaining in Maseda. Clovis brought unity by marrying Rowena, the eldest daughter of Edwy of Shara. He rapidly defeated those few challengers who disputed his right to the Imperial throne, and the assassins of Emperor Ceneric were captured and crucified. The Virians were for now sated of one another’s blood, and during the reign of Clovis they remained at peace with each other, and turned their attentions to repelling the dragonspawn who had once again come to trouble the west.

Sated of blood, save that of those who remained Faithful, who were sorely persecuted. It is of little wonder, for Clovis’ ancestors had been those who had first oppressed the Virians and driven the Prophet from Malagen, and had never accepted the Virian Way save in the most grudging manner. However the Alanians were ever fond of heathendom and ritual, and therefore the Church of the heretics gladly assisted their rise and continuous oppression of those who remained true to the Prophet. This is what the heretics call a ‘separation’ of worldly and spiritual matters.

[/blockquote]The Emperor Clovis was able to again establish the imperial authority over all the Gastons, and he greatly strengthened the Church, ruling with their favour and guided by the wisdom of the Judges. In the south, however, the Swennings had left the realm of the Virians, and had wholly reverted to heathendom. As well, during the civil wars, many of the Erse people, fleeing from the devastation of their southern homeland by the Orcs, had sailed to Maseda, and began to settle in the east.

It was left to Clovis II, son of Clovis and Rowena, to restore the full Virian control of Maseda that had been lost after the passing of the Prophet. The Swennings and the Erse were scarcely able to resist, for they were deeply divided, battling each other as fiercely as the Virians.

Over a series of campaigns lasting twenty years, Clovis II was able to conquer the whole of Maseda. Firmly outlawing all forms of heathendom, the Church began to undertake the great task of bringing the Swennings and Erse to the Virian Way.

There is much distortion in these words. Though it is true that the greatest part of these peoples remained heathen, the Faithful in exile had already long been at work in bringing them to the Virian Way, and it was as much to suppress us as for any other reason that motivated the conquests of Clovis. Praise be to God, the persuasion and knowledge of the Faithful was to prove more fruitful than the tyranny of the Church, and, though the trials were great, the heretics would ultimately fail to crush all Virians beneath their heel.

[/blockquote]The greatest of all the Emperors save for the Prophet, the reign of Clovis II lasted over thirty years, and he was the last to ever rule over a unified Virian Empire. After his death, the throne passed to his grandchildren, who were lesser men and unluckily doomed to short lifespans.

Under the reign of his successors, the revolts he had suppressed broke out again with renewed force. As ever, the first true outbreak began in the realm of Shara. Though the rulers of Shara remained Gaston, over many years the Erse had come to comprise the greatest part of the population, and they now claimed for themselves the banner of Faithful Virians. The Sharans rejected the rule of the Empire and the Church, and became independent, and many other Erse and Swenning realms joined them. The Emperor Clovis III made the greatest attempt to crush this revolt, however he was slain in battle. The sons of the Church were slaughtered throughout the south of Maseda, and the Malabites established control throughout these lands, coming to accommodations with the converted Erse and Swenning rulers, most particularly the powerful kings of Shara.

Some mercy was had upon us, however, for in their secret circles and seminaries they had developed in their years under Clovis, different groups of Malabites had developed many obscure doctrines in departure from the Virian Way, and without the authority of the Church, these disputes could not be settled by any way save the shedding of more blood. Further, these new realms were of two different races, and even amongst themselves the Swennings and Erse had old blood feuds stretching back before their days as Virians, and so they battled each other as fiercely as they had battled the Empire. This disunity of the schismatics continues to this day, and shall forever as long as the wisdom of men is placed above the Church of the Prophet.

You would accuse us of departures from the Virian Way, heretic? Whatever your falsifications of history, it is a clear fact that your Church was established by the Emperor Ceneric, and not by the Prophet. If we err in our attempts to understand the will of God and the teachings of the Prophet, it is because so many records have been destroyed during the persecutions of Ceneric and his successors, and we were driven from the lands of the Prophet and forced to live in exile.

[/blockquote]In the midst of these tumults, a new terror arose in the Ringing Mountains. In the years of Clovis II, a powerful heathen king of the Swennings, Garawn, had been driven from his throne, and fled into exile with some loyal retainers. One hundred and sixty years after the foundation of the Virian Way, rumours began that Garawn was to return. Using some terrible heathen sorcery, Garawn had been transformed, becoming a vampire, and establishing control over the greater part of the tribes of dragonspawn and hordes of undead in the Ringing Mountains. Now the realms of the Virians were exhausted, and a new Emperor, Clothar, had just been crowned in Malagen, and Garawn chose this time to strike.

Once again, the westlands burned, and the followers of Garawn knew of no distinction between Virians, for his beasts ravaged the lands of the sons of the Church and the Malabites alike. Declaring his intention to utterly destroy all who followed the Virian Way, the beasts of the Dark Lord slew without mercy, and slowly they advanced towards Barthenfold, bent on desecrating Mount Maragar and defiling the lands where the Prophet was born.

The Emperor Clothar was a weak and foolish man, and the armies of the Gastons knew little but defeat under his leadership. As the beasts ranged south, slaughtering the warriors of the Swennings and the Erse, some far-sighted lords begged him to make league with Shara and other Virian realms, but he was obstinate and was unwilling to make any pact with the Malabites, even as the Virian Way faced destruction.

Within five years, all the lands west of Barthenfold had fallen to Garawn, with indiscriminate massacre. Each death only strengthened the hand of the Dark Lord, for the slain were reanimated as his followers, and his number swelled greatly.

Facing the possible defilement of Mount Maragar, many warriors throughout the Virian lands flocked to defend these holy sites, disregarding for this time the division in the Way. Coming to prominence at this time was a veteran of the southern wars, a powerful warrior of common birth, Canulf of Valfold.. Realising that the spirit of the Virians would be utterly broken if Mount Maragar fell, Canulf gathered round him the bravest warriors and launched a surprise raid upon Garawn’s camp. Though the vampire fled, Canulf and his men had the favour of God and wreaked a terrible vengeance upon the monsters. Losing his sword in the midst of the battle, Canulf fought on with his bare hands, felling many foes and strangling to death the most powerful of Garawn’s dragonspawn captains. For these feats, Canulf would forevermore be known as Red-Hand.

It is notable that one of the traits of the greatest of your heretic kings was his unusual willingness to befriend and learn from the Faithful. As you have also been willing to seek Faithful guidance in the task of writing this work, perhaps this shows there is still hope for your poor soul, Wulfherth.

[/blockquote]The tide now began to turn, for more victories were soon won, and lordship of the western lands was granted to Canulf for his actions. However, the Emperor Clothar became jealous, and he sought to eliminate one he saw as his rival, granting him forces insufficient to defend his lands, hoping he would therefore be slain.

For a year this continued, and more than once Canulf was nearly slain. However the hearts of the Gaston people were now turning to him, and he knew that no final victory could be won over the Dark Lord so long as Clothar remained on the throne. However, he did not wish to reignite the old wars that had been waged over the succession to the Prophet, and therefore he first approached the Judges, asking if the Church would support his ascension to the throne, for the sake of the salvation of the Virian Way.

At length, they relented, and publicly declared that Clothar had lost the favour of God and was no more fit to reign as Emperor of the Virians. Clothar was made to join a monastery, under oath of celibacy and silence so he would not disturb the peace, and Canulf was crowned as new Emperor in Malagen.

With the blessings of the Church, Canulf sought to reconcile with the realms of the Faithful, proposing alliance with Shara to battle the Dark Lord. The Sharans, however, were unwilling to make league with one who still named himself Emperor of the Virians, for they would not recognise that Canulf or the Church had any authority over them, and would only make league with him on equal grounds.

Therefore Canulf agreed that he would renounce claim to lordship over any save the Gaston race, and the House of Canulf has never again claimed the imperial throne, naming themselves instead the kings of Gastony. By this means, the boundaries of Maseda were set, and with only minor changes still remain, as the land of the Three Virian Kindreds – Gaston, Swenning, and Erse.

[sleepingdragon]

Forming an alliance with Shara and other Malabite realms, King Canulf assembled the forces of Gastony for battle against the Dark Lord. For seven years, battle raged between the Virian and monstrous forces, a conflict now known as the Great War. The western lands were virtually depopulated, save those in the cities and a few farms around Barthenfold, as the forces of the Dark Lord struck down from the mountains, seeking Virians to slay and reanimate. Some of the Dark Lord’s forces were able to elude Virian patrols and establish hidden fastnesses in the forests and hills, and even today some of these remain.

Despite attempts by agents of the Dark Lord to sow discord, the combined forces of the Virians were too strong to be resisted, and Narvyd, the Dark Lord’s mountain stronghold, was besieged. This battle was so fierce that the Dark Lord himself sallied out to do battle, and King Canulf went forth and fought with him, and slew him with his own hands.

The forces of the Dark Lord were dealt a fatal defeat, but we Virians suffered greatly too, for the King was sorely wounded in his struggle, and perished shortly afterwards. Amongst the common folk some believe that the King feared he had contracted vampirism during his fight with the Dark Lord, and slew himself rather than be transformed, but none know the truth of this.

The throne of Gastony now passed to Canulf’s son, Elfwine, who had been born to a farmer’s daughter long before King Canulf had achieved any fame. At this time Gastony had been wracked by war, both against the Dark Lord and previously against the Malabites, for nearly fifty years, since the reign of Clovis II, with scarcely a pause. Its people were exhausted of conflict and, by some records, almost half the population had perished.

Fortunately, for this time at least, goodwill reigned between our kingdom and those of the Malabites that had allied with us against the Dark Lord, and, save some skirmishes with the remnants of the Dark Lord’s armies, the reign of Elfwine I was one of total peace. To strengthen the House of Canulf, he wed a lady of the House of Haragmyne, the most powerful nobles of the realm. Having little knowledge of politics himself, he leaned heavily upon her advice, and those of his lords, who gained a level of independence they had never known under any Emperor.

The western lands were resettled, and the populace flourished under the long peace. Due to ill luck, however, after the death of Elfwine I instability returned, for his son Elfwine II reigned for only four months before he died in a hunting accident, and each of his two younger brothers also ruled, but after only seven years they had both also passed away. During these years, some lords, feeling themselves strong against the weakened Crown, began to pursue private feuds, and there was a brief, inconclusive war against Shara.

The throne then passed to Edgar, the nephew of Elfwine I. He made peace with Shara and, at some length, ended the open warfare amongst his lords, though some skirmishes continued. This was, however, only a brief pause, for the authority of the Crown had been badly undermined, and would be challenged again.

In the two hundred and tenth year of the Virian Way, Edgar I passed away, and his young son, Edgar II, became King. Almost immediately, he faced a significant challenge from Ethelstan, Duke of Gassan, who refused to swear him allegiance. A number of lords rallied to Ethelstan, and the skirmishes of previous years broke into a full civil war.

The struggle between those lords loyal to the Crown, and those siding with Ethelstan, was bitter, and in many places pitted brother against brother. For the most part, those lords of the west, many of whom had been ennobled under the House of Canulf, remained loyal, while the lords of the east joined with Ethelstan.

However, in the fourth year of the war, following a great victory for the King, the true reason for Ethelstan’s revolt was discovered. Secretly, the Duke of Gassan had come to reject the Church and accept the false doctrines of the Malabites, under influence of his Sharran mother, and he plotted to claim the throne for himself and destroy the Church of the Prophet.

And now we see how the hearts of the Gaston race have begun to turn against the false Church and return to the Virian Way. Though in truth, the Duke Ethelstan was ever more interested in the throne than in spiritual matters, God often does His handiwork through unlikely persons, and the end of Ceneric’s heresy is not now far away.

With this, many lords who had hitherto supported Ethelstan returned to their senses, and the Duke of Gassan was forced to flee into exile in Shara. Immediately, a great clamour arose in the Malabite kingdoms, and, led by Shara, they declared war upon us, insisting that Ethelstan be restored to his duchy.

Once again, the people of Gastony faced invasion by implacable foes of greater numbers. The southlands, the site of the war, were ravaged, and many people, this writer among them, fled north. The Malabites would gladly shed the blood of any who remained true to the Church, with little respect for sex, strength, or age.

Did the Church ever show such concerns for us during the reigns of the Emperors?

[/blockquote]Ten years ago, Edgar II was slain in an ambush, and his son, our liege Elfwine III, was but a babe of three. To save the realm, the King’s cousin, Hrothgar the Duke of Haragmyne, was named Regent.

I remember well the terror of those days, for many believed the Holy Church and her sons were surely doomed. As ever, however, the greed and folly of the schismatics brought them low.

Though led by Shara, six of the seven Malabite realms had joined their alliance. Some did not share borders with us, and would have difficulty in taking for us any land. Fearing that our loss would be Shara’s gain, the Regent succeeded in persuading these kingdoms to make peace with us, and soon some went to war against the Sharrans.

While still outnumbered by the Malabites, the Regent followed up this diplomatic victory by riding to the castle at Barsenburg, which was besieged by the Sharrans, and utterly routed the Malabite forces there. With this victory, the Sharrans were convinced to sue for peace, and without loss of Gaston territory.

However, the Regent did agree that Elfric, the heir of Ethelstan, would be restored to the rule of Gassan. Further, those Malabites in the realm would be permitted to continue and were not expected to rejoin the Church, though they were not permitted to defame the Church, nor seek to pass their errors on to any save their own children.

The Faithful, will, I am sure, leave the passing on of errors to the Church.

[/blockquote]Several years of famine and disease followed as Gastony struggled to recover from this latest war. During this time the Regent received emissaries from the ruling Council of Palania, whose people are also of the Gaston race, though largely heathen. Palania was ravaged many years ago by the dragon Caragaur and his minions, and much of that land still lies waste. The Council begged to form a league with us, asking us to send aid in resettling that land.

At first, the Regent did not accede to this request, for Gastony itself had not been fully resettled. However, two years ago, the Council repeated their request, and some leading Ealdormen became sons of the Church, and vowed to allow the Church to come and spread the Virian Way in this land of our cousins.

And thus we come to the present juncture. The Regency shall continue for three more years, and the league with Palania and the efforts to spread the Faith in this new land will be the kingdom's greatest priority. Though some efforts have made made in the past, especially under Elfwine I, to settle in other lands outside of Maseda, these have thus far had little success, for in those instances we could expect no help from the human population of those lands, or else there were no humans there at all. Though still less than one of every ten Palanians has accepted the Virian Way, the first missionaries there have reported many successes, and they share our Gaston language and some aspects of culture. Shara remains embroiled in wars with her erstwhile allies, so we do not expect any new war in the near future. So we set forth, now in small groups but soon, I pray, in much greater numbers, to venture to Palania and the reclamation of that land.

[sleepingdragon]

I have previously described the historical circumstances which led God to reveal the Virian Way to the Prophet, and will not repeat these here. Rather, I will describe the tenets of the Way in greater detail. With the assistance of the learned Brother Theobald, this section will also describe some of the doctrinal differences which has led to the split in the Virian Way.

Though I am uneasy with these terms and use them little elsewhere, for convenience I will herein use the names created by heathen scholars to describe the two branches of the Virian Way. These are Cenerite (those, like myself and the great majority of the people of Gastony, who follow the Church of the Prophet based in the city of Meringas) and the Malabites (the self-styled Faithful, who deny the authority of the Church.)

At the root of the Virian Way are certain foundational principles, which the Prophet named the Certainties. Whether they are Cenerite or Malabite, all Virians fully accept the Certainties. Those who deviate from or dispute these Certainties are heathen, not Virian, and a Virian lord may justly expect such persons to repent and return to the Way, or else rightly be put to death.

Monotheism: There is but one God, and He is the creator of the world. The one God is all-powerful and all-knowing, and His justice and goodness are without limit.

Responsibility: At the beginning of beginnings, the Lord God was alone, and desired the fellowship of those unlike Him. Therefore He created humanity, the children of God. While the first humans were greatly content to serve God as their master, He loved them and would not suffer them to be dominated by any, even Himself. God therefore granted to His children the right to choose, and ruled that they would prosper or suffer as a result of their choices.

Purity: When granted freedom, some of the children of God came to resent His power, and wished to possess it for themselves. These proud ones came to defile the world God had made through use of the blasphemous force, magic. With this force, they were transformed into demons, and used their magic to oppress the children of God, leading Him to withdraw from the world for a time to suffer the consequences of the choice He had permitted them to make. It is God’s will that His children should remain free of the tainted power of magic, and it is the duty of Virians to put to death those who would seek to steal God’s power.

Finality: After many years, God revealed His will, the Virian Way, to Wulfric of Barthenfold, the First and Final Prophet. The revelations of the Virian Way are complete and no further revelation is, or ever will, be necessary to understand God.

Service: Though we are free, it is God’s wish that His children should serve Him, and honour Him through worship and following the tenets of the Virian Way.

Thearchy: The rightful King of Earth is God. God granted the Regency of Earth to the Prophet, who sought to restore the rule of God from the usurpations of heathendom and magic. All righteous realms must base their laws and customs upon the acceptance of the Virian Way.

Mastery: Humanity are the children of God, and He granted us stewardship of the Earth and rule over the beasts of the field. The monstrous races are abominations, created by men when they rejected the will of God by wielding magic. It is the duty of all Virians to struggle against these abominations, and restore control of the Earth to the children of God, who alone can follow the Virian Way.

Ministry: It is the duty of all Virians to seek to bring knowledge of the Virian Way to those who remain heathen.

Virtue: The Lord God wishes to see His children act with the same nobility of spirit as Himself, and to reject evil courses that cause injury to their fellow children of God. All Virians must strive to follow God’s virtues and the example laid by the Prophet.

Pilgrimage: At least once in their lives, all Virians must strive to journey to the summit of Mount Maragar, to behold the blood of the Prophet that still lies there, and to witness the land where the Virian Way was revealed to the Prophet.

Cremation: In the beginning of days, the evil humans who rebelled against God sought to turn His children against Him by force through the use of the most evil of magics, necromancy. God has commanded us to burn our dead, that they might know peace and be free of this evil.

Eternity: Though the Lord God has granted us only a short span in the grey world, it is His desire that we should live forever as He does. Those who defy God and cause injury to His creation shall be cast into Hell, while those who please and serve God shall be resurrected and enjoy His splendour forever.

The Virian Virtues

Of the Certainties, that one which requires most elaboration is most generally that of Virtue, for this is no simple matter to understand and requires much study of the life of the Prophet, who was tasked by God to be the exemplar of Virian Virtue.

Scholars amongst almost all Virians, save some obscure sects amongst the Malabites, generally accept that there are twelve Virtues that are considered most important, just as there are twelve Certainties. These Virtues are typically thought to belong to three types of behaviour - those requiring determination (requiring us to struggle against others or against natural forces), those requiring discipline (requiring us to struggle against our own natures), and those requiring understanding (requiring us to appreciate the need to root our actions in the Certainties of the Virian Way). The twelve Virtues, and their commonly understood meanings, are:

Courage: The determination to uphold the Virian Way and remain true to God despite obstacles and danger.

Fidelity: The determination to honour the oaths we make to our fellow children of God.

Honesty: The determination to seek and bear witness to the truth.

Patience: The determination to hold fast to the Virian Way over the whole course of our lives, understanding that neither God nor our fellow children owe us immediate satisfaction.

Industry: The discipline to use the time God has given us fruitfully, meeting our needs through labour and avoiding indolence, which causes hardship to others.

Prudence: The discipline to use only what is needed, and not waste what is made through our own or through others' industry.

Temperance: The discipline to refrain from, or to moderate passions that could cause us to act in a manner contrary to the Virtues of the Virian Way.

Serenity: The discipline to overcome the corrupting influences of hatred, greed, and fear in order to achieve communion with God.

Wisdom: The understanding that our initial reactions may mislead us, and that we should engage in self-reflection to ensure we remain true to the Virian Way.

Humility: The understanding that we are flawed and must seek to improve ourselves and others.

Piety: The understanding that God loves us and is worthy of our service.

Mercy: The understanding that we have all at times failed and injured God and therefore, we should show lenience and toleration to those who fail and injure us.

Symbols and Practises of the Virian Way

In this section, I will again focus on those areas which are common to both Cenerite and Malabite Virians. Of course, there are great differences on these areas as well, and these can be explored in greater detail in their specific sections.

We Virians use a number of symbols to represent our faith and its different aspects. As I have told previously, upon the death of the Prophet, his spirit ascended to the sky, and there it shines as a star that had not existed before, fixed in the location of north. The Prophet’s Star is the most beautiful sight in the night sky, and all who look upon it, Virian or no, have noted that it seems to shift in colour and hue. To honour the Prophet, we have adopted the Star as the chief emblem of the Virian Way, drawn as a star with three colours – red, representing determination; blue, representing discipline; and gold, representing understanding.

Of course, this symbol was not used during the life of the Prophet, and other emblems were common then, and remain to this day. Amongst these are the broken and bloodied knife, in commemoration of the Prophet’s victory over the false god Osoltan; the flame, to represent the spark of freedom that God granted us at the beginning of time, and our own ends in fire; the shroud, in commemoration of the Prophet’s terrible loss of his wife and children; and the silver sword, with which the Prophet smote the dragon Ancalagon, and proved to us that we Virians possessed both the might and righteousness to reclaim this world for the children of God.

Amongst the Faithful, we still hold firmer to these old symbols than the Church, and we add some of our own - the quill, to remind us that the Prophet's teachings emphasised the need for learning, over the ritual of the Church; and the dim flame or shuttered lantern, for in the days of our oppression we had no choice but to move in stealth and secrecy, and oft travelled at night to escape detection.

Apart from these symbols, the Virian Way and its practises are strongly connected to silver, owing to the Prophet’s profession as a silversmith. Parents will typically present their children with a simple band of silver, engraved with the emblem of the Prophet’s Star, upon their twelfth birthday. During feasts and celebrations, Virians will drink from goblets of silver, and the kings of Gastony and all other Virian realms wear silver crowns.

Another Virian practise that should be mentioned relates to art. Amongst the heathens of old, and indeed the heathens of today, the natural urge to worship God is corrupted, and turned instead to idolatry and blasphemy. The idolaters lack any great profundity, and imagine their base deities as like themselves, as opposed to the true ineffable nature of God. To aid in their own delusion, the idolaters make themselves great images, whether drawn or in carving, depicting foolish gods with human or animal faces. In rebuke to the idolaters, we Virians make no art which depicts the face.

The Virian Way does not encourage or condone frivolity and sloth, and by the comparison of the heathen faiths of old, perhaps, we have few feasts or holidays. In Gastony, we hold days to commemorate the lives of the saints, though these are typically marked by short public ceremonies which do not prevent us from continuing with our necessary labour. Virians have several major holidays, in memory of the great events of the life of the Prophet.

We hold two principal festivals, which each last two weeks. The first is held either two or three weeks after the beginning of spring, and this is named the Festival of Awakening. This is to mark God’s revelation of the Virian Way to the Prophet, and the Prophet’s victory over the false gods. Because the plague-stricken Prophet was rescued by his cousin Elfhelm, allowing him to experience God’s revelation, the Prophet instructed Virians to use these weeks to seek out the sick and afflicted and give them comfort and healing. As the Prophet defeated the false god Osoltan, Virians are reminded in this time to reject lies and struggle against heathendom.

In winter, we mark the Festival of the Veils. This is to mark the Prophet’s return to Malagen after his revelation. This was the beginning of the Prophet's ministry and preaching of the Virian Way, rekindling the hopes of humanity and turning round our fortunes that had seemed so dark. However, it also marked a period of unthinkable tragedy for the Prophet, for his wife and children had perished of plague while he was upon Mount Maragar. Therefore, this festival is a time of both joy and mourning, and the Virian Way teaches us to spend this time in contemplation of the new hopes that can emerge from the passing of old things. Owing to the time of year, Virians take rest from labour during this Festival, save in times of great crisis.

Virians have a number of further, shorter holidays marking other events in the life of the Prophet, such as his flight to Meringas, his slaying of the dragon Ancalagon, and his crowning as High King and Emperor. This last day is typically used by kings and lords, to summon their vassals to feast with them and renew their bonds of fealty.

As mentioned previously, as well as these, all Virians are under the duty to travel at least once in their lives to Mount Maragar, unless they are utterly prevented by ill health, dire poverty, or war. Mount Maragar is the most sacred site in all the Virian lands. It was here that the Prophet slew the false god Osoltan, and the blood the Prophet lost in that struggle still stains the snow at the top of the mountain, two centuries later. It was here that the Virian Way was revealed to the Prophet, and here that the Prophet returned to years later and passed from the grey world. It is the will of God that the Prophet should be the last one to perish upon the mountain, and the last to have his blood spilled there, and an absolute interdiction is laid upon all Virians, forbidding them from doing any harm to those undertaking pilgrimage. Even in the bitterest of our wars with the Malabites, no Virian warrior has ever been so rash or foolhardy as to risk the wrath of God by breaking this interdiction.

Of old, even when we were bitterly oppressed, the heretics would not kill any of the Faithful once we had come to the mountain for our pilgrimage. Of course, this did not apply to us whilst we travelled to the mountain, nor on our return journey...

The Sacred Texts of the Virian Way

The principal text upon which we rest our understanding of the Virian Way is the Theophany, which is the account of God’s appearance before the Prohpet on Mount Maragar. This text was written directly by the Prophet during the most perilous days of the persecution of the Virians in Malagen, and is a highly poetical explanation of the Certainties.

While the Theophany provides the basis of the Virian Way, it is the sole written account left by the Prophet himself, for his years as Emperor were spent in warfare against Swenning heathens and dragonspawn, and he had no time for further elaborations. To supplement the Theophany, we turn to the Scrolls, which are accounts by diverse persons of events during the reign and life of the Prophet, typically furthering our understanding of specific aspects of the Certainties or the Virtues.

The origins of the various Scrolls differ widely. Some bear clear signs that they were written after the Prophet had already passed from the world, though this does not, of necessity, prevent them from being considered worthy. The authors of the Scrolls are too numerous to mention. Because of their unclear origins, the exact Scrolls we consider authentic or inauthentic, and the lessons we derive from them, are among the principal reasons for the division of Virians. Though some scrolls are considered authentic amongst both Cenerite and Malabite Virians, the majority are only accepted by one or the other. Indeed, rival seminaries of the Malabites do not even fully agree on their own Scrolls, and argue against one another as fiercely as against the Church.

God wills us to learn and understand, not to memorise by rote.

Cenerites and Malabites

We shall now turn to the practises of the Church, and will conclude with a description of the typical doctrines of the Malabites. To ensure order, I shall set down the teachings of the Church here, and Brother Theobald will set down the teachings of the Faithful (or, at least, his own seminary). The reader may be assured our sections have been written separately from each other, without knowledge of what they will contain, in order that we may emphasise what aspects of the Virian Way our traditions consider most important, rather than simply contradicting one another.

The Church

Historical record shows that Hengist, the son of the king of Meringas, gave up his claim to the throne of that city in favour of the Prophet. When the Prophet marched from Meringas to the aid of the beleaguered city of Malagen, he spoke to Hengist, saying that henceforth, the Prophet would serve God principally as a warleader and ruler, and he could not expect to continue his preaching and his ministration to the sick and outcast any longer. Hence, he gave to Hengist the title of Judge, and commanded him to continue with the good works that had won the hearts of the people of Meringas to the Virian Way. Amongst the Malabites, this is disputed, and they claim only that Hengist was commanded to protect the city whilst the Prophet was away, however we have many examples of such commands the Prophet gave later, and none contain the clearly spiritual character of his instructions to Hengist.

Our epithet as Cenerites is given us due to the support given the Church by the Emperor Ceneric, who strengthened the Church and gave it full independence from the secular power of the Emperor. The Malabites have distorted this into a foolish tale that the Church was 'created' by the Emperor Ceneric, ignoring all previous historical mentions of this institution. Of course, the Church's full independence did not come until the Emperor Ceneric – but this was hardly needed, as previously the Emperor had been the Prophet himself, and subsequent to this came devastating civil wars that did not permit the opportunity to enact the reforms needed.

The Church has preserved a number of doctrines which the Malabites dispute, and do not form part of the Certainties. The doctrines of infallibility and prophethood are the most contentious. We believe that when the Lord God granted the revelation of the Virian Way to the Prophet, that he was imbued with infallibility for the remainder of his days, for why would God wish his chosen Messenger to be capable of error? As evidence of this, we point to the fifth cycle of the Theophany, in which the Prophet describes the revelation upon Mount Maragar, and writes that he '...felt the Spirit of God upon me, effacing all lies and error, that my mind and tongue should know naught but truth'. As further evidence, we may see clearly that the Prophet succeeded in all things throughout his life and reign as Emperor, despite impossible odds.

All Virians believe that it is God's Will that we should be united in one Virian Empire, that would encompass all the world. In the Church, we believe that the only ones that would be suited to such a task are those of the bloodline of the Prophet. The Prophet himself sprang from the clan of the Ornolfings, however this line was extinguished by the assassin Willard and his cohorts. Therefore, we believe that when the time has come and the whole of the Virians have again return to the fold of the Church, the Prophet shall be resurrected and return to us, to take his rightful place as our leader. This shall herald the end of this grey world, and be our sign that the Day of Apocalypse is at hand.

The Church teaches us that the people of the Virian Empire are reasonably expected to be of many types, suited to many different tasks and displaying most prominently different Virtues. The Church asks all to uphold the Virian Way, as they best understand it, however we realise that not all are suited to scholarship. The Virian Empire shall be home to craftsmen, warriors, farmers, merchants, and many others, and these are no less worthy for not having read the full Theophany and the complete canon of Scrolls (and it may be noted that in all Virian realms, including those of the Malabites, the majority of people simply cannot read.) We believe the most important duty of a Virian is to display Virtue, in whatever station God has assigned to them.

Those who most notably and consistently display Virtue within their lives are rewarded by God. We hold that these persons are raised as Saints, to sit at the hand of God and enjoy His splendour, and to learn what they shall require to best govern the Virian Empire that is to come. The greatest of our saints are Elfhelm, the Saint of Fidelity; Hengist, the Saint of Piety; Ceneric, the Saint of Wisdom; and Clovis, the Saint of Courage, however, the numbers of the saints are too large to detail here. When a saint is raised by God in His realm, the saint will send miracles into this grey world, that we might know that God has favoured them. The Judges meet in conclave several times a year, to ponder these miracles and determine whether to proclaim that a person has indeed become a saint.

Of course, it is deeply important that learned people should study the teachings of the Virian Way, else we would lose all knowledge of what the Prophet taught, two centuries ago. The Church therefore has established monasteries. From these monasteries come scribes to translate the ancient Scrolls, record all that has gone before, and ponder the meanings of the Prophet's teachings; and the priests, who minister to the people, teach them the meanings of the Virtues and the Certainties of the Virian Way, who lead the community in celebration of the festivals of the Way and of life's great events such as birth and matrimony. Those who enter the Church swear an oath of service, giving up, if they are noble, all rights of inheritance and their own surname. It should be stated that in the lands of the Malabites there are those named Teachers, who perform much the same role as priests, but without the guiding knowledge that comes of integration into an institution that has withstood the test of time.

The Church is directly in control of the sacred cities of Meringas and Barthenfold, and from this they derive wealth which is poured back into ensuring that the Virian Way is upheld as well as possible. The most significant of these is in their commitment that all in Gastony should be able to undertake their pilgrimage to Mount Maragar, as God has commanded. While in the realms of the Malabites, some are unable to undertake the journey owing to poverty, the Church ensures that the poor are still able to travel, and that their costs are met in full. It is, therefore, virtually unheard of for anyone in Gastony to fail to undertake pilgrimage due to poverty, though some may fail if they perish of disease while very young, or are crippled by terrible illness or wounds.

As there are twelve Virtues and twelve Certainties, there are twelve Judges who are the highest leaders of the Church, selected for life from amongst the holiest and most learned priests. Six Judges reside in Meringas, and six reside in Barthenfold. Each year, one Judge is granted the title of Patriarch, who has the duty to bring together the Judges in conclave, and who holds the casting vote in matters of great dispute (though there are no historical examples in which this has yet been needed). The title of Patriarch rotates each year, passing from a Judge of Barthenfold to one of Meringas, and so forth.

The Faithful

Against the heresy and blasphemy of the Church, we Faithful argue that, in keeping with the Virtues of Wisdom and Humility, it is not possible for anyone to be certain that they are fully upholding the Virian Way at all times. Therefore, what is most important in a Virian is their knowledge and understanding of the Prophet's teachings, and their faith that God will not mislead them.

Within Gastony, this has been perverted by the Church, which has monopolised the task of learning about the teachings of the Prophet and placed them in but few hands, and the hands of those, typically, who have had the same experiences of life, being almost wholly from the nobility. This has utterly corrupted their understanding of the Virian Way, and led to the promulgation of outright heathen doctrines.

We believe it a matter of utmost importance that God chose to reveal the Virian Way to a human. A person displaying the Virtue of Wisdom might ask why God chose to do this, to ask a man to restore the children of God to their right position as masters of this Earth. God might, simply, have returned to the world Himself – all Virians, after all, agree that He will do this, one day.

We believe that in keeping with the Certainty of Responsibility, that God wishes us to serve Him of our own free will, despite our propensity for error and misunderstanding. It is for this reason that we cannot possibly abide the Church's pagan deviation, which claims the Prophet himself was infallible, as though he were a divine hero from the foolish tales of the ancient Gastons. Though the revelation upon Mount Maragar was the voice of God Himself speaking to the Prophet, and is therefore free of error, all the Prophet's own subsequent actions were his own, not God's, and as capable of error as any of our own. We might reasonably say, for instance, that the Prophet erred in not explicitly making clear his desire for who should succeed him as Virian Emperor.

This error of the Prophet's has had many lasting consequences, regretably. The Church developed an absurd doctrine, that of heredity by blood (as if Virtue were bequeathed by birth!), which was rendered most obviously foolish when the Prophet did not remarry, and later when the clan of Ornolfings was extinguished from the Earth. We argue that the Virian Empire shall be reunited only when the heresy of Ceneric is fully ended. Then the seminaries may then meet and elect from amongst us the holiest and most learned Virian to the position of Emperor, as successor to the Prophet.

We utterly reject the heathen institution of priesthood, which was breathed into the Virian Way by the heretic Church under the influence of Emperors of Alanian race, who still longed for their previous blasphemies. Though we have our own Teachers, who have studied at seminary and typically lead our services, it is not at all rare for a Faithful Teacher to stand down in favour of any man in the congregation, provided they feel the Spirit of God moving them.

In the lands of the Faithful, we have built seminaries, to be repositories of knowledge and to train the most intelligent and pious Virians as Teachers. Unlike the Church, very few of those who enter seminary are of noble birth, coming more often from the urban classes, or from the serfs. Those who are promising, but too poor to afford the modest fees to attend seminary, are taught without charge. Those nobles who do enter seminary are by no means required to renounce their titles – for what could be more of a blessing than a ruler who has devoted their youth to understanding the Virian Way? Indeed, the last five kings of Quraysha, which elects their king from amongst the prominent nobles, have all been Teachers, contributing greatly to the prosperity of that happy realm.

Of course, not all those who are pious are suited for seminary. For myself, I may say, that as a young man I was a foolish idiot, capable of no wisdom and filled with vanity. Therefore, my own application to seminary in Shara was roundly and rightly rejected, and I spent a year drowning my sorrows in wine before I returned to my senses. Then, in shame, I repented of my sins and decided I would take the path of a Brother. We Brothers are mendicants, in the tradition of the great Brother Willard, and we walk the lands preaching the Virian Way and tending to the people. For myself, I am of Gaston race, so I determined that I would repair my flaws of pride and stupidity by entering the realm of Gastony in disguise, and there seek to remedy my race's understanding of the Virian Way, corrupted as it is by the Church.

There are many Brothers (indeed more of us than of Teachers). Though we have not studied as thoroughly, to our shame, we attempt to make up for this with our faith. In time, a Brother who proves themselves is often considered of equal worth to a Teacher, and in my own congregation, myself and the resident Teacher are equally likely to lead a service.

It should be stated that there are many seminaries, and our exact understandings of the Virian Way do not match exactly (though they are the same in their fundamental principles). The Church thus gives us the name of sects, ignoring that it is, simply, a very large sect, which has sustained itself through coercion rather than argument. We hold that our division into different seminaries is not a weakness, but a strength, and shall contribute to the creation of the wisest and most holy Virian Empire in the years to come.

[sleepingdragon]

As I have told, hundreds of years ago, our ancestors fled the Gaston archipelago, and sailed to the Empire to settle in the imperial provinces of Maseda and Palania. The Masedan Gastons flourished, soon comprising the majority of the population of that province, and, remaining true, we warred against the Empire's foes, both monstrous and human. For a time, with the foundation of the Virian Way, the Gaston race extended its sway south across the whole Masedan peninsula, conquering the Swennings, which the Empire had never succeeded in doing. Over time our power has receded, but still our kingdom of Gastony remains the heartland of the Virian Way, and the most powerful realm of humanity that still remains today, home to over a million persons.

I have already told the full history of our kingdom, and to recount its episodes here would do little good. Instead, I shall tell of our land as it is today.

Governance

Gastony is a kingdom whose rule is based upon the principles of heredity and vassalage, which have now been largely adopted in all Virian lands and also amongst the Gavishmen of Tonelda. The ruler of Gastony is the King, presently Elfwine III of the House of Canulf. The lands of Gastony are divided between eight Dukes, and they in turn have their own vassals, earls and barons and minor lords, who maintain their own land. A vassal owes allegiance to their liege-lord and must do him homage, fight against his enemies, and obey his commands. In turn, the liege owes his vassal protection against their foes, to defend the rights of their vassal's lawful heirs, and to ensure his commands would never bring dishonour to their vassal.

At present, owing to the youth of King Elfwine, the rule of Gastony is adminstered by Regent, who is Hrothgar the Duke of Haragmyne. He shall remain Regent another three years, until Elfwine comes of age at sixteen and may rule in his own right. In gratitude for the Regent's exceptional services during the Lordstrife, the King is betrothed to the Duke's daughter, Sybella, who is of an age with him.

The Duchies

As mentioned, our land is divided into eight duchies, which I shall briefly describe below. The eight dukes are the most powerful lords in the realm, and indeed their duchies are almost like small kingdoms, in some cases more powerful than the kingdoms of the Swennings, Erse, and Gavishmen. For ease, I will describe begin in the west, and work my way east:

Westunscir: The hilly land of shepherds known formerly as Ascinland. Ascinland was utterly depopulated by the Dark Lord, its people almost wholly reanimated into his armies, save those that were able to flee. The lordship of this land was given to Canulf Red-Hand, however when he became King he passed it to one of his loyal warriors. Westunscir has been repopulated by settlers from the other duchies, however it remains remote and weak, and its people, perhaps unsurprisingly, are notably grim. Even today, they are the first line of defence against the dragonspawn.

Haragmyne: The land of our Regent, and the wealthiest part of Gastony. It is protected by its two great castles, Muthdun and Leofingas, each of which withstood sieges of almost a decade by the Dark Lord. In this land are fabulously rich silver mines.

Alanscir: At the very northern tip of Gastony, in this land the customs of the Alans remain firmest, and the dukes of this land, and many of its people, still give themselves names in the Alanian tongue. Much of this land is covered in perilous forest, which contain pockets of the Dark Lord's armies we have never succeeded in rooting out, and the Alanscir coast is continuously harried by pirates of goblin and human race.

Istenland: The fertile farmlands of the Isten river, which flows down from Haragmyne past Mount Maragar, and empties into the sea by the capital at Malagen. Situated near the centre of our kingdom, Istenland is a quiet and peaceful duchy, whose people are the most kindly and amiable of the Gastons, and are renowed for their leatherwork.

Wolsete: A duchy in the footlands of the Ringing Mountains, and extending into the mountains as well, where its people battle dragonspawn and Swenning raiders. The greatest part of the armies of the Gastons are equipped with weapons from the Wolsete iron mines.

Hamunscir: A land of fishermen and farmers upon the northern coast of Maseda. This land sees fewer goblin raids than our other duchies, though they are not unknown. The great King Canulf hailed from the town of Valfold in this realm, and the monasteries at Garfleote are the greatest outside of the holy cities of Malagen, Meringas and Barthenfold.

Gassan: A hilly realm, bordering the Erse kingdoms to the southeast and Swenning lands to the southwest. Owing to its location, the people of Gassan are ferocious warriors. The duke of Gassan has become a Malabite in recent years, however the great majority of Gassanians remain true to the Church.

You shut your eyes to what you do not wish to see. Truly, at least a third have become Faithful, despite the fact that we are forbidden to seek to correct the Church's errors.

Withmark: The borderland along the Withenflood river. Owing to the rise of Shara to the southeast, the mighty castles of Barsenburg, Virburg and Osdun have been raised here, to ensure the Sharans cannot come up by land towards Meringas. The finest of our knights hail from this land, as well as some of the truest and most pious sons of the Church.

The Lands of the Crown and Church

Apart from these eight duchies, the capital city of Malagen itself is the direct fief of the king, as are the lands around the capital. Malagen is the mightiest city of the Virian lands, home to nearly fifty thousand persons. As the royal court is here, Malagen is home to the finest craftsmen, scholars, and singers in the realm, and the activity in its port never ceases.

The King, as well as the Regent and indeed this writer, are resident at the Prophet's Hold, the castle the Prophet built atop Malagen's highest hill. The royal residences are adorned with marble brought from the lands of the Fryderi. The most famous sight of the Prophet's Hold is the great skull of the dragon Ancalagon. This has been set in the hall leading to the throne room, its mouth open, so that petitioners seeking the King must pass directly through the dragon's great maw.

As well as the Hold, the famous sites of Malagen include the Hall of Ashes, which was the home of the Prophet and his family before it was razed owing to plague; the Silver Sepulchre, which is the royal cathedral, and is home to the sword with which the Prophet slew Ancalagon; the University, a place of learning dating back to the time of the Alanians; and the Grand Gardens, built by the Alanian Emperor Kamrich who succeeded in bringing Maseda into the Empire.

Barthenfold, the birthplace of the Prophet, and Meringas, the city that first accepted the Virian way, are sacred sites, and rather than belonging to any duke, they are administered by the Church, with six Judges living in Barthenfold and six in Meringas.

The People of Gastony

In Gastony, in the main, there are two sorts of people; the nobility, who rule the land and are tasked with taking up the professions of arms and governance so that Gastony may be safe from threat and free from misrule; and the serfs, who work the land that all might have bread. The serfs owe service to their lords, and the nobility owe protection and good governance to the serfs.

The nobility are, in the main, descended from the Gaston clan chiefs of old or the ancient, prominent Alanian families, though some lords in Westunscir were raised up from warriors of the peasantry following the Great War.

At the lowest ranks of the nobility are the minor lords and landed knights, who might rule over as little as a single hide of land. These small holdings are principally owned either by those who have been raised up from the peasantry (and often fall back into it), and by those from cadet branches of more prominent families, who are more successful in holding onto their lands.

The most numerous of the smaller lords are the barons, who might rule over between ten to fifty hides of land, and whose fief typically contains at least one sizeable village and a small keep. While the barons possess little might of their own, they have been known to combine to press demands upon their lords. Most notably, in Hamunscir the barons, during the chaotic reigns following the death of Elfwine I, were able to depose the duke and raise up one of their own in his place.

Among the most powerful nobles are the earls, who might rule between thirty to a hundred hides of land, and, with very few exceptions, have their seat in a castle capable of withstanding lengthy siege. Finally there come the eight dukes, whose lands are great in territory and are owed allegiance by many earls, barons, and lesser lords.

Of course, it must needs be said that these descriptions are great simplifications, and also that possession of a high title such as duke does not prevent one from also holding lesser titles. For example our Regent, the Duke of Haragmyne, is also holder of three baronies and more minor lordships than he cares to tell.

Following the precedent of Alanian law, in Gastony a lord's fiefs are inherited wholly by their eldest legitimate male heir. This has enabled us to maintain relative stability and avoid the strife common in the lands of the Gavish and the Swennings, where a lord's demesne is divided evenly amongst all male heirs.

While this means younger male heirs are not, by right, granted any land, there are nonetheless many paths these men can take. Those of larger families are typically granted a barony or other lesser lordship once they have proven themselves, while those from the lower nobility will generally either become courtiers to a greater lord, or else take vows within the Church.

The institution of knighthood is worthy of some note. A knight is a noble warrior who has sworn an oath to the Holy Church to fight for the Virian Way and serve as an exemplar of Virian Virtue. They are bound to uphold the rights of the just rulers of Gastony, to defend the peasantry and other lower orders, and to protect the innocence and honour of women. The knights of Gastony are without peer on the battlefield, though they have known some defeats. Their methods of combat are moded somewhat on the Alanian cavalry of old, though with some advances. The knightly weapons are the sword, mace, and lance, and they fight from horseback and are clad in the finest mail.

While a knight's principal responsibility lies to their lords, and to upholding their vows, some knights have begun to organise knightly orders, which emphasise specific roles. These include the Reliquary Order, who seek relics of the Prophet and the saints; the Order of the Silvered Blade, who hunt and destroy the undead and other monsters; and the Order of the Unspoilt, who ensure women are protected from physical and moral threat.

The largest proportion of Gastony's lower order is the class of serfs, who comprise the great majority of the population and are tasked with tilling the land, the rearing of animals, the clearing of forests, and labour beneath the earth. Serfs are bound to their lord, and may not leave their service, save in special circumstance. Serfs owe a proportion of their produce to their lords, and in exchange receive defence from outlaws, monsters, and invasion, as well as the administration of sure and even justice.

In the main, the serfs of Gastony are most content. Owing to their understanding of the Virian Way, there have been very few instances of serious misconduct from the serfs, which have been common in other lands such as those of the Erse, Fryderi, and, we have heard, the distant realm of the Lattish. Some few abandon their duties and become outlaws, and since the famine after the Lordstrife these have proven a larger problem than in the past, but in the main they cause few problems for the Gaston people.

Do you include among your instances of 'serious misconduct' the persistent loyalty to the Virian Way shown by the Faithful of old, who came almost to a man from the serfs? If we have more disruptions in the lands of the Faithful today, it is because we hold to the Virian principle that a man's worth is determined by faith and learning. These are not to be restricted only to men of noble blood, and only through disputation and examination can we remain true to the Virian Way.

There do exist free peasants, who also work the land, most often land which they possess or is possessed in common with other peasants. A number of these are families which were once minor nobility, but have fallen through debt and ill-fortune from that station, but most often they are families which have demonstrated significant service to their lords and thus have been rewarded. This demonstrates most clearly that it is possible for Gaston serfs to rise in station, provided they remain serious and hard-working, and loyal to their lords.

The writer knows this most clearly, as I can attest that his own grandsire was such a raised serf. I do not speak to how often this phenomenon is repeated, however...

[/blockquote]There are also two other significant sectors of the Gaston people, which are the burghers, who dwell within the cities, and the various educated persons who have been taught the art of reading and writing by the Church. The burghers are derived mostly from free peasants who have migrated to the towns and cities, while those educated by the Church come principally (though not solely, as I can attest personally) from the younger sons of the nobility.

Regardless of our social background, the Gaston people are noteworthy as a sober and serious people, exceptionally skilled in war. We tend towards a greater height than our neighbouring races, and our colouring is typically fair.

[sleepingdragon]

By the strength of arms of the Gaston race, and the virtue provided through our devotion to the Virian Way, our forebears were able to wholly conquer the peninsula of Maseda. Though this rule could not be maintained, we were successful at ensuring that heathendom was extinguished in Maseda, and the southern half of our peninsula is under the control of two other Virian races, albeit ones who have been misled by the pernicious doctrines of the schismatics.

Swennings

In the southwest of Maseda dwell the Swennings, who name themselves the Swylledd. Before the coming of the Alanians, the Swennings were masters of the whole of Maseda. The ancient Swennings were a barbarous and primitive people, worshippers of clan spirits and practitioners of malicious sorceries.

Hearing of the mineral wealth to be found in the Ringing Mountians, the Alanians travelled to Maseda and conquered its most fertile regions, pushing the Swennings into the south where they still remain. Having lost the plains of what is now Gastony, the Swenning race dwindled. During the age of the Alanians, Swenning raiders from out of the mountains were a persistent problem, however there is only one recorded instance, in which they recorded any noteworthy success, managing to besiege Malagen. By means of the arrival of Gaston settlers, this attack was defeated, and the Swennings have not since managed to equal this feat.

Through easy consultation with a map, and a rudimentary knowledge of history, one might note that the sway of the Alanians was significantly further south than what is currently the kingdom of Gastony, encompassing for instance the castles of Gwllych and Caer Gontar, and thus conclude the Swylledd have succeeded, to a degree, at recovering some of their more ancient lands.

Under the Prophet the Swennings were conquered wholly, and accepted the Virian Way. They subsequently returned to heathendom following the tumults around the succession to the Prophet, however the Emperor Clovis II was able to reconquer Maseda and bring the Swennings, as well as the Erse, to the Virian Way. Once again, the Swennings came to revolt when the strength of the Gastons grew weak, save this time they turned for justification to the teachings of the Malabites, proclaiming themselves truer Virians than the people from which the Virian Way had sprung.

Proud fool, the Virian Way sprang from God, not any race of men!

[/blockquote]In their years under the rule of the Gastons, the Swennings came to adopt some of our customs, such as vassalage, though Swenning inheritances are divided amongst all male heirs. Owing to their late acceptance of the Virian Way, the Swennings maintain some barbarous customs, and do not stress the importance of birth within Virian wedlock as we Gastons do. As well, owing to the relative poverty of their lands, there exists much greater fluidity between the Swenning peasantry and nobility, for where there is not far to rise, there is not far to fall.

Swenning lands are largely mountainous, rocky, and poor, and are not able to support populations of the same size as Gastony or the kingdoms of the Erse. There are, perhaps, one hundred and fifty thousand Swennings. Of old, this population was much larger, however in the years of the fall of the Empire, the greatest Swenning city, Caer Calorn on the western side of the Masedan Gulf, was destroyed by the dragonspawn.

Swennings are a quarrelsome and martial people. Their peasants are, it may be said, more trained in the arts of war than our own lower orders, forming themselves into militias for defence against the dragonspawn and other creatures of the mountains. The lands of the Swennings are ill-suited to the rearing of horses, and so they have few heavy cavalry such as our own knights. Of course, the position of knight would be impossible within the lands of the Faithful, for knighthood involves vows to the Holy Church. In imitation of knighthood, the Swennings derived their own institution, that of the paladins, whose role may be considered analagous to our own knights. Paladins are generally more poorly equipped than our own knights, and some are actually raised up from the peasantry. The notion of the paladin has spread to other realms of the Faithful, and now even in Gastony, for a small number of the knights of Gassan foreswore their oath to the Church, in keeping with their liege, and now name themselves paladins.

The Swennings are presently divided into five kingdoms, whose kings are all related by various degrees of kinship. The most powerful Swenning realm is Abernavon, centred upon Aberwy, the most ancient city in Maseda.

The Swennings are a more slight people than ourselves, and of darker colouration. They are noted for a wild and riotous temperment, and their overfondness for drink calls into question their devotion to the Virtue of Temperance.

As your own distortions call into question your devotion to the Virtue of Honesty. Given the numerous attempts by the Gastons to conquer all of Maseda, is it reasonable to accuse the Swylledd of possessing a more riotous temperment than yourselves?

Erse

The Erse, who name themselves the Kuffrah, entered the lands of the Alanians from a land from the distant south, fleeing an unknown cataclysm. They settled in the peninsula of the southeast, now named Ersenland, however over the years that land has been gradually overrun by orcs, and some Erse came to travel to Maseda, no more than twenty years following the passing of the Prophet.

The Erse and Swenning races are not notable for their fondness for one another, and quarrels broke out immediately. The Erse, hardened by many years of war in their homeland, were the stronger party and succeeded in seizing the fertile lands of the southeast. Some also came to settle in Shara, then principally a Gaston city, and over time they accepted the Virian Way and came to comprise the majority in that city.

After the passing of Clovis II, the Erse, like the Swennings, took up the banner of Faithful Virians and rebelled against the Empire, led by Shara. The last Gaston king of Shara wed his lone child, a daughter, to the most powerful Erse clan chief, and by this means they came to rule over the city. In time the Erse pushed north, extending their boundaries nearly to the Withenflood and seizing the castle of Ethencestre. In the south, the Erse continued to dispute with the Swennings, and pushed west to the river Dryn, which is now generally regarded as the boundary between these races.

There are approximately six or seven hundred thousand Erse in Maseda, divided into three kingdoms of which by far the largest is Shara. The city of Shara is ancient, founded by the Swennings in the distant past, and conquered by the Alanians. Though the largest part of the population of Shara is Erse, there still remain sizeable numbers of persons of Swenning and Gaston race, of which the latter category includes our own Brother Theobald. Shara is home to the largest, most prestigious, and most disputatious seminaries of the Faithful, as well as marvels such as the Bridge of Merin. The Sharran kingdom extends north to only a few leagues before the Withenflood, and has only been prevented from besieging the Holy City of Meringas through the construction of powerful castles along our eastern shore. The Sharrans have in recent years expanded onto the Isles of Lundfera, which fell to goblins years ago. While goblins remain in control of the greatest part of the isles, the Sharrans have settled a noteable town, Damitha, upon the largest isle.

As well as accepting the Virian Way, the Erse have adopted many Gaston laws and customs, indeed moreso than the Swennings with whom we have had far longer dealings. Erse paladins are virtually akin to our own knights, save they do not swear oaths to the Church, of course. Two of the three Erse kingdoms, Shara and al-Dasqa, operate modes of vassalage and inheritance that are identical to our own. The remaining kingdom, Quraysha, also generally holds to this model, save one curious custom that is a remnant of Erse culture, that their king is elected from amongst the nobles, rather than simply being passed down from father to son.

This was – and I note Wulfherth does not draw the reader's attention to this – also the custom of the Gastons of old.

The Erse are exceptionally skilled craftsmen, especially as stonemasons though they also show tremendous skill at all forms of metalwork. Owing to their experiences in Ersenland, they are exceptionally good at siegecraft, though, mercifully for us, they have more practise in defending castles than in attacking them. They are notable as the inventors of the crossbow, a fearsome weapon able to punch through even the thickest mail. This weapon is not well thought of in Gastony, and by dictates of the Church it is not used when our own quarrels turn to blows, however the Faithful are not bound by the demands of the Church, and it is no sin for one of us to use this weapon against the schismatics.

In apperance, the Erse are a most unusual people. Their skin is copper in colour and they are the darkest race in all the known world. While amongst the Swennings, it is not unknown for a child to be born with golden hair through some previous intermarriage with our own race, even Erse with Gaston ancestry are dark haired. Unlike their cousins who remain in Ersenland, the Erse of Maseda are noted for their cheerful disposition. They are more given to deceit than our own people or the fierce Swennings, and, lacking the intercession of the Church, are given excessively to pleasures of the flesh.

[sleepingdragon]

In the main, we have had little contact with those who remain heathen. Not only is there great difficulty caused by their embrace of false gods, but there is also the great difficulty of actually travelling to other lands. Since the fall of the Empire, the lands of humanity have been cut off from each other, islands amidst a sea of brutality and monstrosity, and we are only able to reach one another by perilous sea voyages. As the sea routes are plagued by goblin marauders, regular trade has been impossible. Only in these recent years, where there has been some abatement in the goblins’ numbers, has the sort of expedition we are now undertaking to Palania become possible.

Palania

Some five hundred years ago, when the Alanian Empire was at its height, it began to seek expansion across the Sea of the North, and its first, and final, outpost on the northern shore was Palania.

Almost nothing is known of how the conquest was achieved, for it was only a minor achievement amongst many for the Empire, and shortly afterwards began the civil wars that threw the Empire into terminal decline. The Alanians oft showed little gentleness in their relations with foreign peoples, and the grim likelihood is that those people who lived in this land before the Alanians were utterly obliterated.

Whatever the truth of this, the mastery of the Alanians in this land was very short lived. The beginnings of the civil wars coincided with the migrations of our ancestors to Palania and Maseda, and once the Gastons of Palania came to outnumber the Alanians, they seized the land for themselves and refused any further allegiance to the Empire.

Since these days there has been but little contact between ourselves and our Palanian cousins. In the last year many hundreds of Gastons have traveled to this land, and we have received some reports from them, however scholars have had little chance to verify them, and many are in contradiction with each other, being based on immediate reactions, and often the reactions of those with little learning. Therefore, the majority of the information of this section is based upon what we had learned from the reports from the three great missionaries, the saints Ethelmar, Thenghelm, and Winifrith.

The first of these to travel to Palania is Saint Thenghelm, approximately one hundred and fifty years ago, during the reign of Ceneric. At this time he found the Palanians maintained the old Gaston clan structure, each clan naming its own kings from amongst the prominent families of the clan. This practice is still maintained to a significant degree, in the form of the Ealdormen. The different cities and settlements of Palania maintained semi-independence, although during Saint Thenghelm’s time a High King had just been crowned, who was engaged in a degree of centralisation of power in his own hands.

Sixty years later, Saint Ethelmar found the situation much changed. In the intervening years the terrible dragon, Caragaur, and his minions had ransacked the land. Though Caragaur had died, the capital city of Phalen had been razed and lay in ruins, over half the population had died, and the line of High Kings had perished. No one new had come to claim that mantle, nor have they ever in the years since. Further, bands of the Fryderi people from the northwest had sailed to Palania, attempting to settle there, and there was much strife between the Gastons and Fryderi.

Finally, sixty years ago, Saint Winifrith travelled to Palania, fleeing from Maseda and the depredations of the Dark Lord. He found that many Fryderi had come to settle amongst the Gastons, though they remained a minority and had come to speak the Gaston language. At this time, the Ealdormen had come together to form a rudimentary Council that served as the governing body of the whole Gaston people in Palania, though the settlements remained autonomous and often quarrelled or even went to war.

This situation remains, from recent reports, still true today. The population, currently numbering approximately two hundred thousand persons, is widely dispersed across many settlements. A tentative resettlement of the capital of Phalen was begun about ten years ago, but even parts of the city itself remain under control of monstrous tribes, and many regard the resettlement as a foolish vanity project. Pockets of monsters remain throughout the Palanian peninsula, cutting settlements off from each other and making trade and travel perilous. In the main, the land to the west of the river is safer and more densely populated than the land to the east, but neither is at all secure.

The Palanian people blend the hardy and quarrelsome nature of the Gastons with the cunning, savvy, and trickery of the Fryderi. Due to interbreeding with the Fryderi, the Gastons of Palania are slighter than us, and of darker colouring. They retain elements of Gaston warrior culture, however their isolation and quarrelling since the end of the line of High Kings has prevented them from developing any regularised military more advanced than the militia. Palania is not noted as a land of horses, so the Palanians have no knights as we do, and their warriors prefer to fight afoot in shieldwalls.

Historically, the people of Palania worshipped the heathen gods of our own ancestors, and many still do. However, changes have been wrought in the wake of Caragaur's devastation and the influx of Fryderi settlers. The Fryderi have brought their own strange cults, with their emphasis on magic and ancestor worship, and many Palanians have turned from their old heathendom to a new one. Fortunately, there have also been missionaries of the Church at work, and perhaps one of every twenty Palanians has come to accept the Virian Way.

Would the Church attempt to escape us by sailing over the sea? I believe it is time the Faithful too should begin to work in Palania.

Frydenland

The city-states of the Fryderi are the oldest and most developed civilisations that were never part of the Alanian empire. Their people were noted as deceptive and crafty merchants during times of peace, and bloodthirsty pirates, slavers, and sorcerers in times of war. A number of attempts were made in the late empire to conquer these cities, however Alanian was never a noted naval power and Frydenland remained beyond its reach.

The exact number of these northern city-states is unknown, its most famous being the fur trading city of Tylan and the gold mining city of Sedanta. A new city, Balagost, has become infamous, for a sorcerer seized control of the city nearly a century ago, and has ruled ever since, prolonging his lifespan with unnatural magic. The Fryderi cities have not been ravaged like most other realms of humanity, for they are quite remote, bordered by mountains and a frigid tundra not capable of sustaining more than a few orc tribes.

We now have few dealings with the Fryderi cities, for those missionaries who have been sent there to spread the Virian Way seldom return alive. Many sorcerers have come from these cities, often travelling to other lands and making themselves masters of monstrous bands. In recent years, the number of pirates raiding out of Frydenland has increased, and what little information we have had from captives suggests failing harvests are the reason.

Historically the Fryderi city-states were mercantile oligarchies, however the collapse in trade following the destruction of the empire has led many to turn inwards, and now the majority of the cities are controlled by tyrants.

The Fryderi people are short, dark of hair, tend towards roundness, and have narrow eyes. Their lands are very cold and they dress in the furs of wolves and bears to ward off winter.

Tonelda

Like Maseda, the Toneldan peninsula was conquered by the Alanian empire in its late days, but was then settled by a refugee people. The settlers of Tonelda were the Gavish race, a tribe of horsemen who had been driven from their homelands far in the west and warred for a time with Alania before making peace with them.

Geographically and culturally, Tonelda may be the most alike to Gastony of any other land. The Gavish have, like ourselves, become a race of warrior-farmers, battling dragonspawn who raid from the western edges of the Ringing Mountains, and goblin pirates sailing from the many islands of the Toneldan archipelago. The Gavish are notable smiths of weapons and armour, and some among their nobility have begun to fight from horseback in heavy armour like our own knights.

Unlike Maseda, Tonelda has never unified politically since the fall of the empire. Their kings, of whom there are between half a dozen to a dozen at any one time, war enthusiastically against one another, however the Gavish custom that divides land equally between all sons has meant that no sovereign has been able to consolidate their holdings.

Like the Fryderi, the Gavish are noted for ancestor worship and mystery cults, though of a ruder and more primitive kind. Their tendency to build cairns over their dead has served them ill against the necromancers of the dragonspawn, but they have stubbornly maintained this custom.

During the reign of the Dark Lord, a number of Virian missionaries fled to Tonelda, and successfully converted the king of the city of Cirenz to the Virian Way. Alone of any land outside of Maseda, the majority of Cirenzians are Virian, and they are indeed part of the Church, though owing to distance and difficulty in maintaining communications, they have developed some unusual doctrines. As yet, the Cirenzians have had little luck in bringing their fellow Gavishmen to the Virian Way, in part because the Virian king was assassinated and replaced by a heathen, albeit one who has not outlawed the faith. Some rumours say this assassination was carried out by agents of the Faithful, though we do not know the truth of this.

Are we to be held responsible every time a heretic stubs their toe? If you will turn your back on God, you can scarcely expect Him to protect you from the heathen.

Latterland

Of old, this land lay outside the bounds of the empire, sheltered by mountains and the sea. There were fertile cities along the rivers, however the land lay open to the north and west, and the Alanians heard many tales of new waves of invaders from the hills or the tundra, sweeping down and displacing the former peoples of the land.

The dragons reawoke in the Targon Mountains on the southern edge of this land, and they laid waste to this land ere they turned on Alania. In the centuries that followed, the shattered lands were carved out between the dragonspawn and the hyena-men of the west, however these were in turn conquered by a new people, the Lattish, who emerged from the northern tundra approximately a hundred and fifty years ago.

Owing to the great distances, almost no Virians have been to this land, however rumour tells us that it is united under one ruler, who names himself Emperor and reigns from the great city of Latterveldt. The Lattish are a large and ferocious people, burly and red-haired, and skilled fighters with axe and spear. The mountains to either side of their realm remain infested with dragonspawn whom they war with continuously.

The Lattish are a superstitious people and worship animal spirits. Sinisterly, some have begun to worship dragon spirits, making diabolical pacts with the creatures that have long terrorised them.

Ersenland

The ancestral home of the Erse people, who have now in large numbers fled to Maseda and inhabit the southeastern regions of our peninsula. The copper-skinned Erse (who name themselves the Kuffrah) came out of the distant south in the late years of the Empire and settled in this land. Like our cousins in Palania, they rebelled against the Empire and claimed this distant region for themselves.

The Erse peninsula is not far from our own ancestral islands, and the goblins who seized our lands often raid the populated coastal regions seeking slaves. Meanwhile, orcs were driven east by the elves and burned as they went. These have now become the scourge of Ersenland, and over many centuries have succeeded in wholly conquering its southern regions, pushing the Erse to the north.

In time some of the Ersenlanders came to Maseda, but those who remained behind came to survive by mastering the arts of fortification, erecting stout castles and walled cities, such as Qulorim, Darurbad, and al-Izzaq. The Ersenlanders are divided into several realms, though these do not war with each other nearly as often as the lands of the Fryderi, the Gavish, or for that matter the Virians, simply because much of the countryside is controlled by orcs and the Ersenlander realms no longer border one another.

Though they are geographically sundered from each other, and separate owing to the conversion by the Masedan Erse to the Virian Way, there remains some contact and commerce between the two Erse kindreds. The Ersenlanders are the most skilled engineers and stonemasons in the known world. From my limited conversations with Ersenlanders, they appear aware and resigned to the knowledge that their land will be the next to fall wholly to darkness, but determined not to perish without a fight.

The ancient Erse worshipped pagan gods and focussed upon deities of the sun and the moon. Owing most likely to a combination of their grim circumstances and relative lack of contact with the undead (at least by the standards of Masedan realms), the Ersenlanders have come to the blasphemous worship of death. As in the Fryderi lands, mystery cults abound, promising extension of life. As logical extension of this, as recently as fifty years ago Qulorim came under the rule of a cabal of necromancers, however fortunately these tyrants were slain by their own people. Efforts have been made to bring the Ersenlanders knowledge of the Virian Way, especially by their cousins in Maseda, however this regrettably has meant they have been largely been taught the errors of the Faithful, and therefore virtually no Ersenlanders have converted.

The seminaries of Darurbad and al-Izzaq are far more impressive achievements than your Church's conversion of a single Gavish king and some handful of Palanian schemers.

[sleepingdragon]

I must confess, without shame, my general ignorance on these topics. I am no warrior and have never seen any monsters, save one dead dragonspawn when I was a child. Of course, like all Virians, I have had no contact with magic. However, I am competent at least to give short descriptions of the most common and organised types of monster in the remnants of the Empire. I warn the reader that these descriptions are by no means complete, that the creatures I have mentioned are hardly the only beasts in the world, and that if they believe they will come into contact with such creatures, they should sharpen their swords, make their peace with God, and consult with another warrior who has more personal experience with these fiends.

Dragonspawn

That monster which we have most experience with in Gastony are the terrible dragonspawn. These vile creatures are most notable for their skill in necromancy and other dark arts. They apear to be the most organised of all monstrous races, though, perhaps, this is simply that we have less experience with other monsters. Certainly, the dragonspawn are capable of gathering in large settlements and even cities – Taletheim, which was renowned as the most beautiful city of the Alanian Empire, has been defiled and is now home to the dragonspawn and their undead servitors.

The dragonspawn were created by the dragons in their own image, in twisted mockery of God's own act of creation. They are tall, standing between six to seven feet high at least, and covered in hardened scales. As well as their strength in arms, they are capable of breathing gouts of fire that have been the deaths of many good Virians.

We understand very little of how dragonspawn reproduce. We believe it is likely this is a very slow and arduous process, which explains their fondness for simply reanimating their own dead and those of others rather than engaging in a true process of creation. The dragonspawn eat and sleep like ourselves, however they seem to require food only at very irregular intervals. Owing to their fondness for necromancy, the dragonspawn spurn all honest labour, leaving this instead to their undead thralls whilst they battle for dominance.

The Undead

The undead servitors of the dragonspawn, or of human or orcish necromancers, are of too many sorts to be counted. The most common are simply reanimated bodies or skeletons, which appear to possess no wills of their own. However, it is known that the dragonspawn use the undead to undertake such tasks as the growing of food and the smithing of weapons, so some clearly possess some dark spark of intelligence. The most powerful undead we have encountered are the vampires, twisted creatures that feed on blood, and are capable of mastering humans and dragonspawn rather than be mastered by them. All types of undead hate the metal silver, for which reason the Order of Knights that hunts them is named the Order of the Silvered Blade.

Elves

The elves are creatures of primal nature, chaos, and raw magic. Completely insane, they are the implacable enemies of civilisation and desire the destruction of all human works. At the order of elven warlocks, the Alanian capital of Alangard was razed, and in the invasions of the Empire the armies led by elves inevitably razed, rather than captured, the towns and villages they passed through. We Gastons may be thankful that God has ensured that no elves are to be found in Maseda, though some small pockets are found in Palania.

Elves live in continuous contact with an unknown layer of Hell, and this conference with demons is doubtless the cause of their destructive and insane behaviour. Elves do not sleep like humans – when they are active, they need only an hour or two of repose a day to replenish their energies, and in this time they commune with their hellish masters. However, over time, elves find a need for lengthier rest. From the works of pagan wizards and heathens who traffic with elves, it has been learned that for every year of waking life, an elf must spend another year in a semi-hibernatory state, which they call Reverie, during which time they live completely in Hell.

Elves are the most powerful sorcerers of all the monstrous races, even moreso than the dragonspawn. They do not appear to use necromancy, however, preferring instead to summon demons to bolster their ranks.

Owing to Reverie, elves are compelled to live in settled communities, which they hide away in forests or secluded hills. They are known to practise limited agriculture, but survive principally through hunting.

Orcs

Orcs are the most suicidally aggressive form of monster which we are aware of. They appear to have no urges save to kill or rape, and form into clans for this purpose. Orcs are probably the most numerous type of monster in the former Alanian lands, especially in Ersenland. Unfortunately, they possess just enough discipline to be capable of sea voyages, so orc pirates have been known to attack coastal regions (though this is most often as part of goblin warbands.)

Orcs are capable of certain limited magic, however they lack the intelligence of the dragonspawn and elves and tend instead to use physical force against the children of God. Orcs are too lazy to engage in much craft and generally use human slaves for this purpose. A few humans have escaped the slavery of orcs, but by this time their sanity is typically broken through torture and rape. Orcs are an entirely male race, so far as any can tell, so their reproduction is done entirely through the rape of human (or goblin, or elven) women. Revoltingly, those slaves who have escaped from the orcs say they have no care for the gender or age of those they rape.

Cyclopes

A cyclops is a very large monster most notable for having only one eye in the centre of its forehead. Cyclopes are found mostly in the North, though some have spread to other lands, including to the Ringing Mountains in Maseda.

Although aggressive and much larger than a human, cyclopes rarely present a threat to any settlement larger than a small hamlet, because they are distinctly unintelligent and almost never capable of gathering into groups of more than half a dozen without turning on each other. Only when a stronger and more intelligent will is able to force or goad them into armies containing other creatures do they become a major danger to human realms.

Goblins

Our people's ancestral enemies are a race of the sea, and are never found far from coastal areas. This, unfortunately, is a fair description of almost all human lands. They are a very crafty race, capable of forging their own weapons, armour, and, of course, ships. They appear to possess little aptitude for magic, mercifully.

Goblins do not require food, subsisting entirely on liquid. Goblins have been seen drinking sea water or the outpourings of cesspits and sewers without any harmful effects. Their raids on human towns seem in part motivated by their hunger for human blood, though they also are fond of inflicting other revolting tortures on humans that I will not repeat here.