June gaming element challenge – Varuulan Empire

Item Type: State

The Varuulan Empire covers the entire expanse of the continent of Trevasse, to the west of the Immersea, and holds most of the islands within two hundred miles of its coastline. Trevasse was once home to two dozen nations, all of which were subsumed under the empire in the last thousand years. The most recent conquest on the continent was of Sladivostok, at the northern end of Trevasse, completed roughly fifty years ago. Instrumental in the victory over the Sladivosti was a Varuulani lieutenant named Lachlan Hope, a recent graduate of Sandwyck, who took command of the ironside Tania when the ship’s captain was killed at the Battle of St. Angus. Since the conquest of Sladivostok, most of the military action seen by the Varuulan Empire has been of two types: putting down rebellions throughout the empire and working to secure islands in the Immersea. Rebellions have taken place throughout the empire in the last fifty years, in coastal regions such as Sladivostok, Angevale, Punjab, and Maimac Provinces and more inland regions such as Constansa, Tuscana, and Anjoui Provinces. This has not stopped the imperial policy of expansion into the Immersea, however, a policy put in place by the late Emperor Daros III and continued by his son, Sesto VII.

Sandwyck is the most prestigious training academy for those intending to go into Varuulani military service. Many noblemen send their sons (and from some provinces, daughters) to Sandwyck in the hopes of their winning a prestigious command or even title someday. The Academy’s student population is largely noble in extraction, though some particularly skilled individuals from other levels of society can test into the institution. Then children of particularly honored enlisted personnel from the Sladivosti Conquest have been afforded the opportunity to attend the institution should they possess the right skills and temperament. Most of the admirals and all of the High Admirals of the Varuulan Imperial Navy graduated from Sandwyck.

The land and coastal waters that Sandwyck rests on are part of a grant given by the Emperor Cipriano II to the first Duke of Stafford. Sandwyck was established during the first Duke’s lifetime and have been maintained by both the Dukes of Stafford and the Imperial Crown ever since.

Sandwyck is located on the eastern coast of Trevasse, three hundred miles northeast of the Imperial capital of Varlanium, at the mouth of the River Taemes.

Social ranking structure
The Emperor (there has not been an empress regnant in five hundred years)
The Imperial Family
Dukes Imperial (including cousins of the Imperial family)
Dukes
Marquis
Earl (Count)
Viscount
Baron
Baronet, Knights, and high-ranking members of the armed forces (if they hold no other title)
Gentry and merchant-class
Artisans
Peasantry

June gaming element challenge – Moonstone shield

Item Type: Artifact

The shield is oddly lightweight and quite translucent with a faint blue tinge to it. There are designs—perhaps letters in a lost tongue?—written around its edge. It is circular with a four-foot diameter, but its weight is half of what one would expect from a steel shield of the same size and shape. Attempts to break the shield, whether through magic or physical attacks, fail.

June gaming element challenge – Sorores Maritimae

Item Type: Religious order

A female monastic order that settled on Windfall after the fall of the Basilica del Mare. The Sisters are responsible for many of the island’s festivals, having preserved many of them from the days when the Basilica stood. They are quartered in a domed cathedral on Windfall, in the hills east of Freeport. The cathedral is said to be a partial replica of the Basilica del Mare and is dedicated to Immeria, Goddess of the Sea.

June gaming element challenge – Kami no Kyoudai

Item Type: Religious order

A monastic order that arose on Nido after the fall of Basilica del Mare. Many of these pacifistic brothers, however, were wiped out when the island was attacked by Varuulani forces during the sacred Tsuino Shukusai – the Festival of the Twins. The Brothers were said to harbor a secret treasure. The nature of this treasure, contained in a heavy chest measuring approximately one meter by a half meter by a half meter, is unknown—none of the Brothers who survived the attack knew what was in the chest, only that it was sacred and was said to have been carried from the Basilica del Mare when it fell over seventeen hundred years ago.

June gaming element challenge – Song of Imantheia

Item Type: Lament

Dimly, my light doth shine,
Softly, my song comes.
Our end is nigh,
But, lo, our hope springs
Eternally, desperately.

The Gods have cried out
O, sons and daughters,
What have thee done?
The gifts we have granted thee,
Thou hath squandered,
Misused, and now thou art damned.”

And so we are lost.
We are the accursed ones,
The gifted ones.
The Lost Ones.
The ones who lived on.
The ones who might have died
If not for the mercy of the Gods.

We are what remains,
We are the ones that remember.
We are the ones that pray
One day, we shall be redeemed.
One day the sky will burn
One day the sea will boil
One day the world will begin again.

June gaming element challenge – Fellowship of the Moon

Item Type: Organization

A religious order with a strong associated lay confraternity, the Fellowship of the Moon is dedicated to Cassian and Daciana, the Divine Twins that are represented in the heavens by the moons that bear their names. Many of the very old traditions of the Fellowship have been lost in the intervening centuries since the fall of the Basilica del Mare, though they still preserve some—such as the Carnivale during the Festival of the Twins, celebrating the birth of the Divine Twins, and the traditional candle-lit Festival Delle Luci Nascoste (Festival of Hidden Light), which occurs during lunar eclipses.

June gaming element challenge – Keys of Power: Ardoris

Item Type: Artifact

Orange, with a hint of flame to it, this key is yet a grand mystery in many ways. Some sketches of it give an alternate title to it of the Beacon, though any tale that explains what it does or what the appellation means is either rare or lost. Given its coloration and some of the illustrations, scholars assume that is related somehow to fire and flame. The truth of the matter, however, remains unknown.