Places

Oun, Orondor and Rune are the countries formed by humans.

Oun was the first country, and is the most insular. It prizes knowledge of magic above all, because the ancient race of the atia had a large influence of its development.

Fifty years ago, half of Oun was raised in an invasion by the ghreal. These days, the people there try to reclaim the rest of their homeland.

Orondor was the second country, a cold land that made good woodsmen and hunters of its population. It was initially part of Oun, but the people there felt little kinship with their southern cousins. After a duel of their two leaders, Orondor became independent.

Sixty years ago, Orondor was ravaged by a war against the undead. Only one of their settlements remain in human hands, with the land infested with wandering corpses.

Rune was the third country, and became the greatest. It fought off two invasions to unite its people under a royal family that ruled for almost 700 years.

Twenty years ago, that rule was ended as the royal family was infected with vampirism, and slain. Since then, the various barons and nobles have bickered about who should take power, and now civil war is close.

The Scar is a hazardous mountain region full of exotic and dangerous animals. People only venture here either to hunt those animals, or for the trade route between Oun and Rune.

The Steppes are a vast plane of arid, rolling hills. Their close proximity to The Scar, and therefore the Dark Arc, has warped people who live here and turned them into a race of sub-humans called ferian. Most of the ferian live in the settlement of Fang. The steppes are often used as a trade route, even though it is longer than going through The Scar it is much safer.

Ghrea is close to where The Sundering took place, and its population, the ghreal, are tainted with the dark arc of magic. They are masters of magic and martial prowess, and constantly waging war on other races to secure power.

The ghreal suffered a civil war as they were about to destroy Oun, and are slowly rebuilding their strength.

Khator is also a place of dark magic. Since the Sundering, the six entities have concentrated their powers here, and those corrupted to their cause have erected six towers which attract black magic. Khator is a hot, dry land, and most cannot survive here for long.

Nethicka is the jagged homeland of the gilth, who are a skittish aquatic race of humanoids. They worship The Silent Sleeper; a rock which fell from the sky eons ago. Sometimes, they think the rock sends them on missions, which could be anything from small raiding parties to full-blown invasions of other lands.

Xakarah is a volcanic island home to the grellkin – a race of large humanionds who are highly resistant to heat and fire but highly allergic to sunlight. The grellkin are master smiths, and forge the best weapons and armour in the world.

Two hundred years ago, the ghreal stole something of great value of the grellkin, and forced them to forge weapons and armour for them to use in their wars. The grellkin did recover the treasure, but the ghreal still wield those items to this day.

The Dwarf kingdom was once the largest country in the world, but it is a shadow of its former self

Almost a thousand years ago, the dwarfs were forced to abandon many of their homes due to a dark infection know as The Chill. Only the mighty capital Vordaal to the north, and the isolated Melk to the south survive.

Inferis (not on the map) is a second plane of reality, through which the Dark Arc of magic seeped.

Races

The world of Iiosia is populated with a great variety of people, beasts, and monsters.

This area is divided into five sub-sections; The High Races, The Demi Races, Beasts, Demons, and Undead. Because there is a lot of information here (or at least, there will be), the details of each class of race, are shown on seperate pages. Click on each catagory to be taken to more information about that set of races. 

High Races

The High Races are those who have formed civilisations and cultures of their own. They have developed beyond the pure needs of survival, and construct elaborate dwellings and constructions, created culture, trade and, yes, hostilities between themselves and one another. The High Races have had the greatest impact on the development of Iiosia, and thus they are most frequently referred to within the world's lore and histories

Demi Races

Somewhere the relatively sophisticated dealings of the High Races, and the animalistic nature of the Beasts, Demi-races posses the ability to reason and understand, but due to a lack of intelligence, physical limitations, or natural behaviours, they are unable to form complex societies of their own, nor form them with others. As such, demi-races are found in primitive tribes, or possibly mingle within the settlements of the High Races, where their unique attributes may be of some benefit to them.

Beasts

Across Iisoia, monsters lurk in dark caverns, dwell in deep forests, roam barren plains, and perch on high cliff faces. Almost exclusively, they are thinking of their next meal, and will attempt to devour anyone who ventures into their territory.

Demons

Creatures of evil magic, manifested upon the face of Iiosia to wreak harm, death, and destruction. Demons are the most chaotic entity on the planet, and come in a myriad of forms. Some are almost mindless, driven mad by the need to inflict cruelty and suffering. Others are masters of magic, capable of commanding sorcerous powers humans mages could never hope to achieve. Others still are armour plated, or possess great strength, or staggering speed. Whatever their attribute, demons are a terrible race of beings, brought about by Dark magic and intent on destroying all they come across.

Undead

The undead are a collective term used for those concerned with the Dark magical aspect of Necromancy – the power over death. From macabre wizards conducting bizarre experiments on the dead, to the shambolic Restless, foul ghouls, the undead are an unnatural blight which is largely found within the north of Iiosia, roaming the lands of Orondor.

Characters

Nerralyth

The events below summarise a planned novel that is currently half-written (and has been for some time). It contains spoilers for that story, so don’t read on if that would bother you!

Nerra was born in the year 648 close to the Runish capital, Eishion. Her birth mother abandoned her on the doorstep of a church when she was a baby, and she was raised within a famous group of holy warriors known as The Stake. She spent her youth learning the healing arcs of magic in order to aid those of the group who became injured in their battles against the evils of the word, which primarily involved ridding the world of the undead. She was the favoured of the group’s leader, Rhonne, and he looked upon her as a daughter.

When she was nineteen, a vampyre called Saskia and her vampire coven captured Nerra in an act of vengeance against The Stake. Though the vampires intended to torture and kill her, The Stake tracked them down and launched a rescue attempt. During this attempt, Nerra bit Saskia and drank of her tainted blood, thus turning into a vampyre herself.

Members of The Stake initially attempted to cure her, but were unsuccessful and instead decided that they had to kill her. Nerra escaped, however, and fled to Eishion.

Nerralyth, the vampyre, spent two years within the city of Eishion. She hunted amongst the criminals and foul underbelly of the city, ridding it of many crime lords and corrupt officials.

Two years later, Nerralyth discovered that Saskia was attempting to overthrow the monarchy by infecting the then queen, Tarsis. Saskia was successful at this, but Nerralyth managed to expose the plot so that it did not come to fruition. Saskia was slain, and the royal bloodline disbanded. This led to the devolution of the royal family, which in turn led to the fracture of the country and eventual outbreak of civil war.

Narralyth, the reluctant and conflicted vampyre, met her end during these events. She did so gladly, knowing that she had foiled Saskia’s attempt to turn Rune into a land ruled by vampires, and that her unhappy existence as a creature of the night came to an end.

Hack Marrow

Hack Marrow was once a competent, yet unremarkable sailor who went by the name of Mack Harrow. Having no family or permanent abode to speak of, he found himself aboard trading ships doing long hauls within the Sea of Starrs, and across the Shining Seas to Xakarah. He earned enough to keep himself content within the various ports until he found another vessel which he could work aboard.

On one such voyage, the ship he had signed on met with a ferocious storm and veered off course, perilously close to the accursed land of Nethicka within the Sea of Stars. Despite the crew’s efforts and experience in seamastery, the vessel was dashed upon the ragged rocks of Nethicka, killing almost everyone aboard.

Only Mack survived; marooned on that craggy and desolate land.

Not long afterwards he discovered an odd-looking rock; deep purple in hew, smooth to the touch and seemingly emitting a low heat all of its own. He kept it for reasons he never quite understood. 

For months he survived amongst the rocks; eating small fish and other sea life which lived within the shallows. The sparse wildlife offered little in the way of nourishment, and to avoid starvation he was forced to feed off the crewmembers bodies that washed ashore from the wreckage of the ship; cracking their bones to get to the marrow. 

The native gilth would have eaten him had he not taken refuge in a small cave, which he made his home. He spent the nights in the cave, delirious with hunger, muttering 'Hack the marrow' under haggard breaths. He gradually fashioned a raft from the wreckage of the ship and bound them together with seaweed.

He began to hear whispering voices, first on the wind, then in his dreams, and eventually in his waking hours. At first they spoke little sense and he was able to ignore them for a time, until they began overwhelming his thoughts and influencing his actions over time.

Remaining on the island was unfeasible. Starving and with only a small supply of bones, he cast off on the makeshift raft into the open water with only the dimmest hope of finding rescue in is mind.

Time passed, not even Mack himself could tell how long. Eventually, half crazed and near starved to death, a trading ship happened to come across him and pulled him aboard.

What the traders came across on that raft was no longer a man, but a half-starved humanoid with bleached white skin and yellowed teeth and nails. When asked his name he babbled ‘Hack Marrow!” before collapsing and falling unconscious for several days.

When Hack Marrow awoke, all semblance of the man he had once been had gone. The magic of the purple stone, concealed in his boot, had turned him into something unnatural and haunted.

He slew half of the crew with his talons before the remaining members, in a desperate attempt to save their own lives, pledged allegiance to him. 

Hack Marrow became captain of his first ship.

The infamy of this new pirate captain grew over the following months. He offered ships he came across a simple deal; join his service or be killed. Soon, Hack commanded a fleet of ships, and raided up and down the coasts of Rune and Oun, collecting bounty and further vessels to add to his strength.

He sailed to Toruga – then a shanty town located in a sheltered but defensible cove - and although the locals put up a spirited fight, Marrow's force finally overwhelmed the meagre defences and established his base there. Under his rule and the riches which it brought, the town developed into a formidable shoreline stronghold for him.

In a bid to end the pirate menace,  Rune launched a force to attack and destroy Hack and his pirate fleet with a swift and unexpected strike.

The voices which haunted Hack’s waking dreams gave him forewarning of this threat and when the assault came it was met with a ready defence at the cove of Toruga which saw the attacking ships destroyed by an organised and stalwart pirate force.

Though successful in destroying much of the attacking forces, Hack himself never emerged from the aftermath of the battle. Attempts were made to find a sign of him or his body, but none were discovered. In the decades that passed, the legend of Hack Marrow only served to attract more pirates to Toruga, and it continues to thrive to this day, with many a pint of grog hoisted in his name.

The fate of Hack Marrow is a matter of some debate. Some say his ship was sunk and he drowned, or wanders the ocean depths and gathers an army of drowned crewmen. Others say he actually resides near Toruga, lurking in one of the caves above the town as he did during his time in Nethicka, waiting for the sea to call to him once more.

Draven

The events below summarise a planned series of novels, the first of which is Twisted Fates. The summary below contains light spoilers for that and following stories, so don’t read on if that would bother you!

Draven grew up as an urchin in the realm of Orondor around the year 620. Living on the streets, he honed his craft as a pickpocket and sneaksman, and became highly efficient at both. So good at his job was he that he was hired by crime lords and thief guild leaders to do work for them, and his freelance work earned him as much infamy as it did enemies among both the law and the criminal underworld.

In the year 622, Draven became embroiled in a heist within the city of Port Ironclad which led to the summoning of a powerful demonic enemy, known as Scythliea.

Scythliea swiftly destroyed Port Ironclad and turned its’ inhabitants into undead servants. She then began a campaign of destruction which, over the next year, led to the near entire destruction of the entire kingdom of Orondor, it’s government, and almost all of its inhabitants.

Draven, for the first time in his life, felt a sense of obligation and duty to stop it. He, along with a group of misfit allies, managed to invoke a banishment which rid the world of Scythliea. The damage to Orondor was irreversible however, and the land has been a blighted realm of wandering undead horrors ever since.

Iiosia Era Timeline

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