Dark Skies

This page is a temporary placeholder for the "Dark Skies" campaign of Fall 2018.

Overview
Pubterria exists in a magical reality where after eons of war and plague, a collective of all races decided to set aside their differences to create a new hermit nation, one whose walls both protect and imprison the citizens lurking inside. Pubterria is divided into seven different kingdoms, each worshiping one of God’s seven children, along with a capital known as the “Hine” in which the diplomats from each kingdom met in neutrality in order discuss the symbiotic relationship between each kingdom and the empire as a whole. Through thousands of years of peace tensions slowly began to rise as resources began to become more and more scarce. The story takes place at the height of these conflicts, the party being faced the tasks of uncovering the secrets of Pubterria in order to save it, fight for the army of their choosing, or even escape the walls and venture into the unknown.

Pubterria’s history is surrounded in myth but it is universally believed that Pubterria’s founding was a result of constant warfare threatening the very existence of life. The origin myth goes that the great being Ballarus and his seven children became worried with the outcome of the conflicts and had decided that the only way to preserve life itself was to create a safe haven, one where the conflict of the world could not reach them. Ballarus and his seven children traveled many miles over the course of two hundred years to reach a land which he had called Eden. He tasked each of his children to build a wall, one brick at a time, a task that they would spend the rest of their lives on, while Ballarus traveled the land collecting all the things of pure he could. Centuries pasted with no sign of Ballarus, even when the walls were finished, he was never seen again. The finished product of the children was a wall that expanded many hundreds of miles. With no direction the seven children had gone their separate ways, believing that their goal had been completed. Each child had begun their humble beginnings to what would eventually become an empire, the native people and creatures within the wall learned to adapt to the enclosure, and who’s people hailed the seven children as prophets, each guiding the natives into what would become civilization before leaving their followers to head to the center of the walls. The children once again met before establishing peace between tribes, even creating the first city in the center known as the Hine. Centuries passed, the children had passed on one by one and civilization had progressed from a Neolithic period well into the age of cities, religion, and magic. No one knew what happened of Ballarus, but Ballarus’ children had always thanked him for leading them to Eden and even claimed that magic was the great thing of pure he had set out to find.

Time had passed with each individual kingdom creating greatly differing culture based on the environment that they had evolved in, and based on the teachings of their founders. They had all existed for years without war or armed conflict, governed by the decedents of the children who had taken power of their kingdom, each with radically different priorities and objectives. The story starts at the beginning of the Great Upset, each kingdom beginning non-violent quarrels over resources creating tension that could easily devolve into war. The peak of this conflict was the extinction of the lineage of Clee, Ballarus’ second son, the carrier of fertility. Ironically his lineage had gone extinct due to a persisting problem with infertility and inbreeding in the lineage. As the lineage died the kingdom died as well, the people no longer having a voice to listen to, simply living in anarchy. The debate on who should inherit Clee’s kingdom evolved into the Great Upset, the first armed conflict in the history of Pubterria. Our party finds themselves at the center of this conflict, all former residents of the Kingdom of Clee having their lives dramatically changed by the raiding parties looking for all rare resources they could find, at any costs.

Physical Structure of the Seven Kingdoms
Each kingdom is comprised of a capital city, five civilian regions, two government-controlled regions, and a "wildlands". Each government-controlled region is approximate twice the size as a civilian region and has two main purposes. One of the two regions is designed to house those considered high priorities along with the containment of government buildings such as embassies, higher courthouses, and mage colleges. The other of the government-controlled regions is always dubbed as "Ancient Lands". Ancient Lands are the areas where the creator of the kingdom, one of the seven children, had begun their kingdom. These lands are often shrouded in mystery and controversy as no resource extraction had taken place within the grounds despite their size in comparison to all other regions. Despite the vast differences in each kingdom, each kingdom abides by a set of strict codes and rules for these lands and violation is always punished by death without trial, a punishment that is rarely given for any other crime. All entry by civilians is prohibited and those who do enter are said to never to return. Only sanctioned individuals may enter.

Running along the border opposite to the border facing the capital is a section of the wall. The walls stand exactly 7090 feet high and are comprised externally of borestone while the interior is made of an unknown substance. Each brick measures five feet in height by seven feet in length with the width of each brick being unknown as no one has ever seen the other side of the wall to measure it. While the exterior can be broken, all attempts to penetrate past four inches have ended in complete failure. What lies on top of the wall is also shrouded in mystery due to odd sensations of panic being induced in those attempting to climb the wall as stated by those who survived getting down. This intensifies the further up the walls one climbs until finally, the climber will succumb to the panic and simply let go, falling to their deaths, though the vast majority of climbers end up descending before this becomes the case.

Civilian regions are split up further into three sections: housing, resource extraction, and industrial agricultural. Housing sections are defined by small villages and settlements dotting the land with small farms not being common. Each town or settlement abides by its own laws in combination to the laws set by the kingdom and the empire, though these local laws only pertain to civil matters. Each town is structured to hold no more than seventy citizens with one citizen being chosen by the government to be the chief. A town is always composed of at least one courthouse, guardhouse, armory, shrine, and one government building, though the kingdoms of Golb and Gir do not feature government buildings due to looser governing styles. Each different kingdom features one unique building that is added to each town such as a hunter's club in the kingdom of Clee and a catacomb in the kingdom of Fueir. These distinctive buildings are reflective of some of the core principles of the kingdom's founder and as such are inducted into the culture.

The Seven Kingdoms
Each of the seven kingdoms is named after their founder and have vastly different culture reflective on the environment in which they inhabit and the beliefs of their founder. Each kingdom is required to follow an agreed-upon common law established by Hine but create their own laws reflective of their culture. For example, whereas a universal law of Hine is a law is deemed too important to be controlled by individual kingdoms such as that hording of arms is punishable by enslavement to the government, in the laws of the kingdom that are considered of less priority but still essential for the governing of everyday life are decided by the kingdom. One such example is the outlaw of restoration magic in the Kingdom of Gir as to maintain Gir's belief in the power of natural healing.

The seven kingdoms are as follows: The Kingdom of Gir, The Kingdom of Sept, The Kingdom of Clee, The Kingdom of Golb, The Kingdom of Colisa, The Kingdom of Fueir, and the Kingdom of Trivate.

Kingdom of Gir
Gir was the first daughter of Ballarus and the first child overall. Gir was described as a gentle and kind woman, very rarely outspoken and her kingdom reflects this. Out of the seven kingdoms, the Kingdom of Gir is considered the most passive in terms of land expansion and has generally avoided conflict with neighboring kingdoms. Gir's core beliefs were that nature provided the materials that were required to live a good life and that the complexities of an evolving world were of no interest to her. As such the kingdom of Gir is considered the second least advanced and developed kingdom out of the seven, favoring sustainability in closely monitored natural resources over means of agriculture or mining. The Kingdom of Gir is said to have the smallest population of all seven kingdoms, but due to nature's culture there has never been any sort of census performed. Gir's location is the furthest region to the south of Pubterria and as such is mostly comprised of semi-tropical locations. Most villages are extremely rustic, only containing the bare necessities as deemed by Hine with many settlements remaining uncharted and still immersed in tribal law. Even the capital city abides by the minimum standard of Hine while still being as rustic as many of the medium-sized cities of the other kingdoms.

The Kingdom of Gir's main exports is primarily spices and herbs harvested by natives, one of the few requirements they have to remain citizens. The most sought-after treasure in the Kingdom of Gir is the herb known as coralleaf, a very rare plant that is the basis in many high tier potions and medicines. Gir's military power is unknown but very likely very weak due to the nature of the kingdom, though some of the greatest wizards, mages, and alchemists have come from Gir. In replacement of the use of magic for everyday life, the citizens and doctors of Gir turn to either alchemy, as their vast assortments of herbs prove effective for this, or prayer. Gir's capital city is Gwar. Other notable information about the Kingdom of Gir is that there exists no death penalty aside from the laws set by Hine, as they seem to prefer the use of debt for most crimes. Debtors are often forced to collect a set number of herbs to pay to the government or to those that they have wronged before their basic rights are returned to them.

== Kingdom of Sept == Sept was the first son of Ballarus and the second child overall. Sept was described as a hot-tempered and volatile man, often referred to in insulting terms such as "The Bastard" or "Ballarus' wrath". These traits reflect heavily on the culture of his kingdom. The death penalty is used for even civil matters such as property disputes resulting in an accordingly low crime rate. Sept's primary beliefs were that the outside world was meant to be dominated rather than run away from and that his decedents would eventually return to the outside to ensure its domination. This had been one of the biggest conflicts for the Empire of Pubterria to date, resulting in harsh sanctions and debate of elimination of the state in order to protect the other six, though since these debates there have been compromises in order to ensure the health of both the Kingdom of Sept and Pubterria as a whole. With this, the Kingdom of Sept is the most monitored and governed kingdom both in its own government and under Hine. There exist almost no local laws in the kingdom as everything is governed by the kingdom.

Sept, despite its conflicts, plays a very major role in the long-term sustainability of Pubterria as it is the only kingdom that the invaluable catalyst crystal exists. The catalyst crystal is regarded as the most important magical item in existence as each crystal absorb the magical potential of one person and condense it inside, allowing the storage of the potential of thousands of magical users, allowing the user to wield enormous amounts of power. The capacity of each crystal depends on its size, quality, and location, with the crystal only being found in the Ancient Lands of Sept, rumored to be located in a singular cave system but the actual location of the crystals is a tightly kept secret in the kingdom, not even known to Hine. Knowing that if the location of the crystals was revealed to Hine, the likelihood that they as a kingdom would be attacked in favor of the extraction would be extremely high which resulted in the crystal's harvesting location being a highly secretive matter only very people know about. Each low-quality crystal is able to sustain the kingdom's economy for up to two months with higher quality crystals bringing golden ages of wealth.

Geographically the Kingdom of Sept is located in the northeast border the Kingdoms of Trivate and southeast border of Gir. Winter months are cold and brutal causing one of the highest death rates of the entire empire on a yearly basis. One of the biggest questions pertaining to Sept are the issues of civil rights, though this has been overlooked due to the importance that the kingdom has to the survival of the empire as a whole. There has been no formal census done on the Kingdom of Sept due to its unwillingness to cooperate with Hine. The capital city is Oct. Sept's military power is undoubtedly the largest in the empire due to the catalyst crystals, making the kingdom's power rivaling that of many of the other kingdoms combined. Magic is one of the most prevalent forces in the kingdom.

Kingdom of Clee
Clee was the second son of Ballarus and overall third child in the family. Clee was a very proud and energetic individual, taking great pride in the founding of his kingdom, yet still devoting himself to the empire as a whole. As the story goes, Clee was the driving force in the founding of the empire and leader in the negotiations to establish a group of universal laws. Clee was the first of the seven children to die, though the circumstances of his death are heavily debated. The Kingdom of Clee reflects his beliefs that one should take pride in what they do, and even further incorporating his favorite hobby of hunting into the everyday life of his people. The location of the Kingdom of Clee made hunting ideal as it featured a diversity of rare and interesting animals. The Kingdom of Clee is located to the east of Hine, bordering the Kingdom of Fueir to the southeast and the Kingdom of Colisa to the north. Out of all the kingdoms, Clee's government is considered the most democratic, though tied with the Kingdom of Trivate, chiefs first being elected by the townspeople before being sent to the capital city of Coors to be reviewed. Most individuals in the kingdom believe that true work and justice are the keys to being able to sustain their kingdom for eternity, even going as far as to declare that they have the best kingdom for the people.

Clee's main export is treated meats, iron, and silk. For the most part Clee's history has been free of conflict with Hine, as they are most reflective of the principles of Hine, though there have been a few conflicts concerning the Kingdom of Sept. Militarily Clee is considered be the middle-most power of the empire, spending less time prioritizing military power over the desire to prioritize the enhancement of quality of life.

Clee was considered the breaking point of the Great Upset as the lineage of Clee had expired due to infertility and inbreeding. With no decedent of Clee to represent the government, things were thrown into chaos almost immediately. For the first time, a revolution had broken out between citizens of Clee and the government, with many citizens refusing to abide by any of the commands given by the government. The government had attempted to seize the opportunity of civil upset to achieve total power much against the original will of Clee. This resulted in total failure, with soldiers completely abandoning their positions en-mass, the government had no forces in which to achieve power creating a rapid collapse within the period of three weeks. Never having foreseen the collapse of Clee, Hine had created an emergency conference to discuss the fate of the Kingdom of Clee, though the other kingdoms had other ideas. Raiding parties sponsored by various kingdoms had been sent out in order to salvage the resources of the once great kingdom, leading to the starting part of the campaign

The Kingdom of Golb
The fourth child of Ballarus, Golb was described as the most enigmatic and mysterious child of Ballarus. Very little is known about Golb other than a few notes confirming their existence. The few texts that do describe Golb say that they were the most intellectual of Ballarus' children, had constructed their section of the wall faster than the other children and had very little interaction with the natives in the area. Most natives saw them as a myth rather than a deity, however much of their actual interactions is unknown. With that knowledge, it is understandable that the Kingdom of Golb is the least advanced kingdom between the seven. According to legend, Golb was never actually said to have died, rather after a certain point in which they created a successor they had ceased to be mentioned in any myth.

The Kingdom of Golb was used mostly as an area to acquire resources for the other six kingdoms, though as time passed the kingdom became more sophisticated, developing a basic government in which the kingdom had been recognized as a proper kingdom. Golb is the only kingdom that has no main exports, and experts are unsure how the kingdom even sustains an economy, but somehow it still does. Out of the five civilian districts in the Kingdom of Golb, only one is inhabited with permanent residents. As the Kingdom of Sept and Gir, there has never been a census to determine the population of the kingdom, but there are thirty-five registered government officials, two members of the royal family, and one hundred and fifteen permanent residents on record. The number of savages is estimated at about two hundred and twelve making the overall population the lowest of any kingdom, though the number is debatable.

In the few established civilizations in the Kingdom of Golb there is no government buildings or guard stations, nor is there a courthouse, rather each settlement is ruled by a chief who is allowed to make decisions at their own will. Historically Golb's military was renowned for its power despite size, though in recent times it seems as though Golb has no military to speak of. Geographically the Kingdom of Golb is located in the north bordering the Kingdom of Trivate and Colisa.

The Kingdom of Colisa
Colisa was the second daughter of Ballarus and fifth child overall. Colisa had always been described as an eccentric individual, often using unusual means as to achieve her goals, though despite this she was also considered neutral in the affairs of her siblings. Following the ways of Colisa, the kingdom is most known for maintaining the middle ground in any and every conflict that happens within the empire, never choosing sides in favor of tending to its own affairs. Out of the seven kingdoms Colisa is considered to be the most prosperous and unique in terms of its culture.The Kingdom of Colisa had been rendered into an age of prosperity for much of recorded history, much to the resentment of the other kingdoms. Although the actual secret to this is unknown, the kingdom is most well known for exporting expensive but necessary materials such as marble, gold, honey, and magical ingredients. As for the kingdom's structure, the Kingdom of Colisa tends to have a more lax government in terms of the control of its citizens, letting many civil leaders hold greater power than those in other kingdoms. Individual towns and cities are self-governing, only paying mind to the required laws placed by the capital and Hite, and for one reason or another, this tactic has worked rather well.

Even with a strong local government, it is clear that the center still possesses a great amount of power as shown by sophisticated weaponry, well-furnished government buildings, and the third largest military out of any kingdom. As of the beginning of the Great Upset the Kingdom had maintained neutrality until the attack of the capital city of Oct in the Kingdom of Sept. This is the first time that two kingdoms have participated in an organized armed conflict since the creation of the empire, and at that, the first armed conflict features two of the most powerful kingdoms.The Kingdom of Colisa is located in the northeast bordering the Kingdom of Clee to the southeast and the Kingdom of Golb to the northwest. The Kingdom of Colisa's environment consists mostly of taigas.

The Kingdom of Fueir
Fueir was the third daughter of Ballarus and sixth child overall. Fueir was often regarded as sickly, ill, and mentally fevered, the deity has based much of her kingdom on the visions that she would see and the voices she would hear. Fueir had always feared the prospect of the outside world more than any of the children, so much so that the entire culture of her kingdom is based around the idea of keeping the walls intact. This fear had lead to one of the largest ongoing crisis in the entire empire, that being the requirement of civilians above the age of twenty to be forced to work on reinforcing the structure of the wall until the age of seventy, often working the civilians to death in the process. With all the adults working on the wall, only the elders were able to raise the children, each citizen also being forced to bare at least three children prior to their twentieth birthday, which was followed by mandated castration. The combination of the forced work and low age of childbearing women led to widespread child labor for the production of food, high rates of birth defects, and high infant mortality rates. This practice had been eliminated a mere hundred years prior to the current era, though the impacts it had were catastrophic. Throughout the Kingdom of Fueir during this period the only people allowed to be in any position of government were the elderly. This had extended to even the royal family as they were only allowed to take the throne at age seventy, though they often died less than five years after due to the health effects working on the wall would have.

Fueir herself had little mention in folklore much to the extent of Golb which led to little information is available in terms of her actual character. What is known about Fueir was that she had never left her palace after the meeting of Hine, she had very little interaction with the first people of her kingdom other than teaching them basic agriculture, sustainable hunting, and the importance of the walls, and that the last mention of her involved her sealing herself into the catacombs of her palace which is now located in the Ancient Lands. Despite the lack of direction by Fueir herself, the early people of her kingdom were able to build themselves up to one of the most advanced cultures of the time, managing to forge steel far before any other kingdom. How this is possible is unknown, but as it is Fueir's kingdom is still in a sustainable state. Fueir was considered the second most impoverished kingdom until the extinction of the fifty-year labor requirement but afterward had managed to become the third most prosperous kingdom due to the export of advanced metal works. Architecture in Fueir reflects her fear of the world through the practice of heavy reinforcement of building exteriors and structural bases with high-quality steel. Housing in Fueir is communal as to reduce the cost of buildings and even government officials live in the same houses as workers. The primary export of Fueir is their signature steel however they are known for the exportation of high-quality building materials such as concrete. Fueir's military power is unknown due to the secrecy of the kingdom, however, what information is known is that soldiers wield the most advanced armor and weaponry out of all seven kingdoms. Fueir is located to the northeast of Gir and southwest of Clee.

The Kingdom of Trivate
Trivate was the fourth son of Ballarus and final child overall. Trivate was often depicted as a hard worker and person of strength rather than intellect, often said to be the polar opposite of Golb. The folklore around Trivate is more intensive than most of the children through many of his adventures are held to be fables written by the early scholars of Trivate to serve as propaganda. What is known about Trivate is that he and Clee were inseparable, their cultures often mirroring each other with subtle differences, and that they held great resentment against Sept. During the Platinum Era, notes were discovered detailing Trivate's disdain for Sept and a plan to eradicate Sept and his kingdom to remove the threat of Sept venturing beyond the walls. This plan had mentioned an alliance with Colisa which had been the first time Colisa was thought to have picked a side in a conflict. This letter is important as it is the only hand-written document written by one of the children personally, this fact being proven by a signature in blood that reacts with the blood of Trivate's decedents. Trivate's demise was the only demise to be featured with excruciating detail whereas the demises of children such as Clee, Colisa, and Sept are less descriptive and far less graphic.

Trivate's death is described in two scrolls discovered in the Oilkm dessert dated to the Era of the Flask making them the second oldest documents to be found in the entire empire. As read by the scrolls, Trivate had been found barely alive, crucified on a marble cross, disemboweled, his throat cut from ear to ear, and his body mutilated with a number of cuts "as countless as the stars in the sky". Trivate had some how survived what would have been fatal wounds for three hours after he was found, even the strongest of men unable to pry him from his cross. Trivate bled there in silence, his eyes fixated to the southwest until the moment of his death. Trivate's body fused with the marble that he had been bound to. Scholars had traced the exact date of his death due to an odd event that had happened upon the moment of his death. "A great fire reigned upon the Kingdom of Sept on that day, the final act of a god left to die in the most demeaning manner possible, his wrath transcending his mortal form and placing righteous fury on the one who chose to abandon the path of their father". This event is connected to the fabled "Great Fire" of B. 183 in the Era of Flask in which the country was ravaged by wildfires killing an estimated fourteen thousand citizens and the queen of the kingdom at the time.

Trivate's culture reflects the power of the individual while still reinforcing the power of the whole. Trivate had the belief that hard work and innovation would be the key to great success in life, passing these beliefs onto his people. Six eras later Trivate's model lives on, the entirety of his kingdom modeled after the work put in by the individual for the betterment of life as a whole. The government of the kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with the king or queen actually having very little power outside of being a figurehead. Officials are elected yearly at a local level and in six-year terms at a higher level. Militarily the kingdom is considered the second strongest kingdom, though there is a large gap in power between the Kingdom of Sept and the Kingdom of Trivate. The primary exports of the kingdom are sugar, herbs for potions, minerals of alchemic importance, and livestock. The Kingdom of Trivate is located to the northwest of the Kingdom of Sept and southwest of the Kingdom of Golb.