Verrilas

Verrilas, Kingdom of the Immortal
Verrilas on the outside is known as a Kingdom of prosperity. The continent itself is hard to approach by water unless going specifically through to a port town due to a series of jagged islands to its west that are fraught with dangerous shallows. To most who know of it from the outside it is viewed as a solid Kingdom which manages to create happiness for its people under the singular rule of their leader known only as The Immortal.

Who is the Immortal? Some say a charismatic leader gifted with eternal beauty. In some stories it is a male, in others it is a female. When they make public appearance their body is always entirely covered and they do not speak, simply acting to show their intentions or letting other spokesmen act as mouthpieces. Others say a hideous demon or monster who turned from evil to guide people to a better future.

Regardless, this is not the true story. It is true that the Kingdom prospers, but under the rule of a totalitarian dictator who is unafraid to strong arm those who disagree with his views and mannerisms. Life is not necessarily bad, mind you - he is very good at what he does, as he has had over 500 years to practice it.

The History of the King
Over five centuries ago the Immortal King made his bid for power. As time has passed down and the information regarding what happened has been heavily suppressed, the truth of the matter is unknown by most people in the modern age. Some say they used a poison called Heartsbane and got their position through trickery and deceit while playing the political game. Others still insist they were a General who performed a coup using the full force of the army to remove the ineffective rulers of the time.

The truth is out there, however, and will be discussed with a GM to avoid metagaming.

The Seven Noble Families
There are seven families that have been established as nobles since time immemorial. While they themselves most likely do not remember their roots and why they were chosen, the truth is that these seven families are the descendants of the Immortal's allies and friends. People that he looked favorably on in his original lifetime were granted special consideration among their families which he still honors to this day.

The families vary in power, with the brunt of their worth coming from their ability in commerce. On top of that any one capable of true power such as a Mage or otherwise enhanced individual are treated as rare commodities. They play the Game, as any good Noble family does, and a large part of that is in actually hiding those among them who are capable of such feats. During particular times of competition it isn't uncommon for small scale battles between various Nobles to break out, which the Immortal tolerates up to a certain point before setting his or her foot down.

In the capital city of Laxyl they sit atop their mansions, looking down on lesser individuals. It isn't uncommon for the guards to ignore the happenings that go on in these grand places or any individual going about the night with their cloaks on. Each house has a specific symbol on their cloaks that practically grants them immunity from the law as long as they only disturb their own affairs.

The actual names of the families and their rankings will be added later.

The Culture
Beyond the nobles, the normal people who walk the streets have their own separate divisions. There are merchant class families that are very wealthy but unable to obtain nobility due to not having blood ties with the original seven. It is often their greatest aspiration to marry into a Noble family that perhaps isn't the wealthiest or in danger of losing their power in an area the merchant can support, providing funds for the family while ensuring their bloodline will be one of a higher rank.

Besides that, there is a large number of peasant class families, but very few of them are free. There are also those who provide useful services such as smiths, leather workers and such, but precious few of them are able to determine what they work on. This is because most of the peasant class citizens are known as the Unmarked and enslaved. They do the back breaking work that any good kingdom needs to survive. They plow the fields. They make horseshoes. They make wine, sew pants, serve houses and clean outhouses.

In Verriliasian culture, achievements are shown by tattoo. When any member of a family comes of age they are given a tattoo of their families crest to show their maturity. The Unmarked are clearly defined by their lack of such markings, indicating that they have no worth to society besides their functions. In Verrilas the greatest gift one can give another is a tattoo for a deed done. For example, if a hunter slays a dangerous creature he may get a tattoo of the creatures visage on his shoulder on top of his normal reward. A smith who crafts a particularly fine weapon chosen for ownership by nobility may have its hilt engraved on his skin, or a hammer.

The Unmarked enjoy none of these benefits and are given a grueling work schedule, but are taken care of. Those who serve in houses are sometimes even treated fairly well, although it is not uncommon for the opposite to be true as well. Races with especially long lives are given particular consideration as far as their value. Unmarked tend to stay in hovels by the dozen and for good work are given chips that can be turned in for food instead of money. It is extremely rare for any Unmarked to gain full citizenship. Breeding with any Unmarked is outlawed by a normal citizen, so it is not rare for many of them to end up missing if they become laden with a child.

The Technology
Technology in the Kingdom is one of the things that the Immortal focuses on. They particularly focus on alchemy and rune magic. For example, they will embed runes to keep containers cold - it isn't difficult to find a cup that chills itself or even an entire storage container for food for industrial use and the richer families. In public places it isn't rare for outposts to be embedded with a rune that sheds light when it is night. There are cooking applications that heat up when wet. There are other such wonders that would be considered rarer in the less civilized parts of the world.

The refinement of alchemical processes is among their grandest features, however. They can make fountains that spout purple water and produce rainbows when direct sunlight touches them. They can create a red wine that tastes like a white as one of the more simpler applications or add a relaxing 'fizz' to popular drinks. They can create apples that taste like oranges. The scholars who practice this art are incredibly secretive about their processes and art, however, and enjoy showing off their newest creations are pricey galas and other social gatherings to sort of one up each other.

The Immortal, however, has focused a considerable amount of his research into things that are good for wartime. This is solidified by the fact that his most important cities are protected by floating teal stones known as Arcanis Stones. They have the unique property to absorb magic cast within them and during times of war or when a particularly important investigation is taking place they will 'block' the cities in with protective shielding. Needless to say these are incredibly expensive to develop and are made of rare materials, and thus can only protect the bigger or strategically important cities of Verrilas. Trade ships are allowed in to gain new supplies, but are thoroughly searched before being allowed to leave.

It is said that if one could obtain a smaller bead size version of the stone they could carry around magic spells cast into them which could be activated to even let a normal human be able to do useful things, such as a teleportation back home or a fireball in a tight spot, but the processing and use of these objects are heavily regulated by the government.

While it is unknown by most people, lesser versions of these stones are used with emotion influencing magic to make the people of Verrilas more open to suggestion. In most of their bigger cities there are carefully placed 'guard towers' that spread this subtle influence across their borders. While the effects are subtle, it can have a larger effect over time for the people who spend their lives there. It is also commonly used in interrogations.

The Religions
There are three main religious figures in Verrilas, although worship is not extremely regulated or forced. The first is Lorstrom, God of Tyranny. The second is Tyrinel, Goddess of Justice. The third is Ohmga, God of Knowledge.

Lorstrom 's symbol is an upright black right hand. His followers believe that throughout history things have always been better when people followed the guidance of one chosen ruler. Naturally, this religion has received hidden support from the Immortal himself, as many believe that he is chosen by Lorstrom to bring them to prosperity. While he is the God of Tyranny, it may be difficult to tell that at first glance. His followers tend to give to those in need and often arrange public events such as festival and plays in which they perform wildly exaggerated shows of the Immortal's feats and how he protected his precious people.

While generally well liked by their people, they also act as a sort of secret police. If they hear rumors of anyone slandering the Immortal they will commonly bring it to the guards or even deal with it themselves. Religion is a large part of life in Verrilas, therefore they do have some sway with guards due to their connections with the Immortal.

Tyrinel is the anti-thesis to Lorstrom. Her symbol is balanced scales that rest on a warhammer. They are not viewed as well by the public due to rarely doing anything of note to purposely increase their popularity, often being viewed as rigid and self righteous. In truth, they probably house the few remnants of any 'good' people that this society can have.

Those who come here can often be trained to become adept in what they desire, whether it be physical, magical or scholarly achievements. The kicker is that, of course, the Immortal has his hands in here too. There is a special ceremony for those who are deemed to of mastered their basic capabilities called The Path which is mandatory in modern times thanks to the Immortal, who has placed his own people at the highest levels of the clergy.

Those on the Path must leave Verrilas to master themselves and learn more about the world, at least on paper. It is also meant to spread Tyrinel's name, but what they really do is get them out of the country that they may not see eye to eye with before they become problems. It's not unusual for particularly influential or charismatic individuals to seek their Path much earlier than it would seem to be on paper, and it has an added benefit to make Verrilas look good to the rest of the world by sending their genuinely good people out to represent them, which is part of why the way things actually work is so unknown by the rest of the world.

Ohmga is the God of knowledge. His symbol is a blank scroll, showing all the potential that could be held within. Ohmga members tend to be on the cutting edge of technology within Verrilas. They are responsible for development of alchemy, rune magic and research. They were the ones who pioneered the development of the Arcanis Stones and also the ones who made rune writing readily available to the public.

Indeed, one might be hard fought to find the religious overtones in their churches, which are more akin to universities. They find purity in the pursuit of knowledge and are often known for letting nothing get in the way of their research, even if that means there has to be a bit of suffering involved. Once animal testing has been concluded on their research they often take in older Unmarked for use in human testing.

One of their more famous yearly ceremonies is known as the Heretic's Inferno, a day in which they burn books that have been proven to have false or outdated information. This is a testimony to when books used to be restricted based on the knowledge inside or burned as the work of a heathen. That isn't to say this doesn't still exist - the Immortal is quick to ban books that speak out against him or describe his Kingdom as anything less than ideal - but generally the pursuit of knowledge has very little restrictions on it.

Tourists
For those who want to visit the Kingdom, they often need a sponsor. Any who come on boats have to show papers or register and it is heavily recommended to put in for a visit well beforehand. Those who are approved without a sponsor tend to be those with great potential for commerce or politicians from other countries. Most merchant or trading ships are able to obtain a temporary boarding pass to offload goods, but they are all quarantined to a specific area in which they cannot leave. Needless to say this area is heavily guarded. They often use a broker inside to actually sell the goods, but Verrilas has certain perks to trading with them despite the inconvenience when it comes to taxes to make up for the cut the broker gets.

Those who are approved are marked with a subtance called Aqualis which is an inky substance created through alchemy that provide a sort of 'temporary tattoo' so they are not mistaken as Unmarked. Of course, this is telling the entire world that they are new here, so they are commonly overcharged for goods and services.

In truth, the Aqualis provides an easy target for scrying spells in case anyone who has somehow gained the proper paperwork does anything shady. It is just another way of the Immortal micromanaging all that goes on in his territory.

Drugs
In a Kingdom blessed with such cutting edge alchemy, it is only natural that certain drugs would pop up as well. Verrilas houses all of the standard varieties but many a desperate alchemist has turned to creating something totally new. While they can mostly eliminate the physical side of addiction, they are unable to break the mental bit - and in truth most of them would rather ENHANCE the physical side of addiction, causing customers to become reliant on the drug.

Thunder is a yellow powder which is commonly rubbed along the gums of its users, although it can be snorted or taken in other ways. The most direct method is on the gums, so the true addicts looking for the best 'high' tend to do it this way. It is an amazing anesthetic, causing pain tolerance to heighten greatly. It also affects the adrenal glands which can lead to higher reaction time. Many an apprentice will use this to supplement their studies by circumventing sleep.

It is addictive, but it's not intensely so. A person could use it only once a month or so and most likely avoid most of the negative effects, which include risk of heart attack, seizures and tooth decay. The users tend to have yellowed teeth if they take it often, which can make a savvy individual able to pick them out from a crowd.

Verillian Synth is an alcoholic beverage and one of the Kingdom's main exports. Long have the practitioners of alchemy attempted to combine magic with their art, and in some small way this brew is a result of that. It's often referred to as the Empath's Brew because it changes colors based on the users mood. It allows for mild hallucinations that show colors around others to see what their current emotional state is and provides a reasonably pleasant body buzz, although that is mostly from the alcohol itself.

It is no more addictive than normal alcohol, but users who ingest too much of it will find a migraine inducing hangover waiting for them the next morning, as it directly affected normally closed synapses in the brain to allow the hallucinations. It can also be hard for those under its influence to focus due to over sensitivity to those around them.

Ransom gained its name because it often brings it users to be stuck with it. It is highly addictive. It causes an extreme increase in the bodies ability to intake information and thought processing, causing the world to appear in somewhat 'slow motion' for the users. On top of that it causes waves of intense pleasure to wrack the body for its duration. When under the influence of this drug the body has no limiter on its activities, allowing the user to easily use their full strength or will on their activities even if doing so would cause their own body harm, which is often does. The body has limits for a reason. That said, it doesn't allow someone to go beyond their bodies normal maximum capacity, it just allows them to access that much easier. It is often found in the form of a small pill, but sometimes liquid variants are on the market as well.

Despite the many benefits of the pills, it has extreme downfalls as well. The high only lasts for about thirty minutes for a first time user. Each and every time after is shorter unless you take increased dosages. Going over your normal limits will also cause the body to shut down completely if too much of it is ingested, especially since it ignores the pangs of hunger and thirst. It dehydrates the user as well, which can make them need to drink much more water than they normally would in a short period.

There are more, but these three are the most well known examples.

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