WIP

COMMON HISTORY

For generations Zürkefold has enjoyed peaceful existence. A prosperous land of considerable size with abundant natural resources and no significant threats, native or otherwise, to the inhabitants.

This all changed a decade ago.

It was at this time, the King of Zürkefold, Konstantin Upióri <you-pure-ee>, mysteriously diverted large contingencies of the kingdom’s military beyond Zürkefold’s borders. Widespread misfortune settling on the land soon followed.

Official decree stated the soldiers set off to a far-away land in the east, in support of one of the king’s allies. A just ruler besieged by savage barbarians of the Thule nation. Diplomacy and reasoning lost on a people more beast than man.

With few details released to the commoners, the distant war with an unknown barbarian enemy remained the secretive topic among Zürkefold’s nobles and elite…

Yet, throughout all recorded history, soldiers of the kingdom never set out beyond its borders. The common man needed no further explanation or information, to form their opinion; the actions of the king were a bad omen destined to bring trouble to Zürkefold.

Where the learned toil to comprehend, the simple sleep well. The misfortunes throughout Zürkefold did indeed persist.

Five years ago, the king himself set off from Castle Upióri. He and his entourage of hi-guard, departed to the east, leaving his Viceroy, Frey in charge. While nobles of the kingdom all have a different story for the king’s motives and his current wherabouts, none argue the fact that King Upióri has yet to return.

In the past five years the misfortunes settling throughout Zürkefold intensified.

Despite increasing taxation, Viceroy Frey squandered Castle Upióri’s wealth, sending it into disarray and releasing most of the court. It is said the Viceroy takes extended leaves of the castle, leaving it in a practically abandoned state.

To avoid the highest taxes in the realm and general gloom of living in castle Upióri’s deteriorating shadow… most of the inhabitants in Vosrab, the large town built in the castle’s footprint, have relocated to other parts of Zürkefold.

A once powerful central point of power for the great sprawling lands of Zürkefold, reduced to an eerie, impotent husk.

The desolate, diminished nature of Vosrab and castle Upióri reveal themselves as the mere tip of the heavy misfortune befalling the realm.

• A sickness now spreads with all too common frequency throughout Zürkefold. Thank the gods, it doesn’t prove fatal to most, but instead, casts anyone who falls ill to it bed-ridden for days on end.
• Crops throughout all of Zürkefold suffer for the fifth season straight. Despite acceptable weather, many crops simply never take. Those that do seem afflicted by numerous common health ailments and higher than usually insect damage. In the end, food yields have been extremely poor.
• Despite the Viceroy’s lack of public appearance, the king’s tax collectors still manage their rounds. Upióri’s ongoing foreign war stretching already thin food supplies even thinner.
• Most recently, the seasons of the realm seem out of pace. Storm clouds endlessly congeal in a once bright blue sky. A constant grey gloom befalls the entire land and rain falls as often as the inhabitants’ spirits.

Yet, Zürkefold is not yet a doomed land. As drab and difficult as times have been of late, life pushes on. Smiles are not uncommon. Few go cold and hungry. The large port city of Bistroba still bustles.

As rough as it might seem to outsiders, there are no tyrants in Zürkefold. Viceroy Frey is not without his compassion and sense of justice. There is no maltreatment to the farmers and peasants. The soldiers that remain in the realm, though now wielding a heavier hand against infractions to make up for their fewer numbers, still carry the support of the people. They remain respected, not feared.

But make no mistake, patience wears thin. The misfortune presses the people with each passing day.

As the people of Zürkefold are not generally well traveled, they know not the truths of the kings war in the east… only that the people here at home struggle on multiple fronts and if something doesn’t alleviate their woes soon, one can only wonder…

How much longer can the levee hold before the dam breaks?

 

 

POPULATION CENTERS

CASTLE UPIÓRI

Population: Rumored less than 12     Currency: Zürke Crown

 

VOSRAB

Population: Unknown     Currency: Zürke Crown

 

BLACK CHURCH (BISTROBA)

Population: 100,000     Currency: Zürke Crown

Bistroba is the largest city in Zürkefold, especially now that most have left Vosrab. The only sizeable port city in the land, commonly referred to as Black Church, for the large church made of black stone at the city’s center.

Technically an island city, Black Church sits in the middle of Volstahd bay which feeds the Volstahd river; the largest river in Zürkefold.

The single land based connection to Black Church is the King’s Highway, the elevated stone road that cuts right through the bay and river.

Ferries and private boats shuttle back and forth from Bistroba to the south shore, where a scattering of hamlets live in the great city’s shadow. In all the years, none have settled the vast marshes of the north shore, though many from the city make their living fishing and crabbing the marshes on a daily basis.

REGIONS

 

POINTS OF INTEREST

DEVACTO CANYON

In the eastern mountains surrounding Castle Upióri exists a fantastic gorge of jagged rocks and twisting passages known as Devacto Canyon (Devacto being the local term for devil or demon). The river running the canyon’s floor is fast and turbulent, creating a relentless series of growls and roars that echo throughout the entire area. Known as a shortcut to the northern lands beyond Zürkefold, Devacto Canyon has sent many a courageous, impatient, desperate, or just plain ignorant sailors to their demise.

For every person surviving the passage through Devacto Canyon, a dozen rumors spring up telling tales of a dark supernatural element to the canyon. However much truth exists to the rumors, one thing is for certain, no one ever attempts the Devacto Canyon a second time.

THE KING’S HIGHWAY

A marvel of engineering, the stone road of the King’s Highway is most known for the elevated stretch cutting through Volstahd river and bay, leading into Black Church. The run of road above water stretches for over two miles and rises twenty feet above the water during high tide.

THE PROMENADE

After a short distance when the King’s Highway moves from the bay to the river, it widens into a 300′ circular promenade. The main elevated road continues west for another quarter mile, before turning north and connecting to dry land, where the King’s Highway officially continues all the way through to Castle Upióri.

From the promenade, another stone elevated road crosses to the north, to the old Abbey. An area no longer populated or visited with any frequency.

Lastly, a wooden bridge of 200′ extends to the south. Massive gears allow the bridge to separate at it’s midpoint with each section swinging out to opposite sides. The opening of the bridge allows larger vessels to pass on deeper into the Volstahd.

THE OLD ABBEY

A marvel

 

PEOPLE OF ZÜRKEFOLD