Blackdawn: Overview(Wiki)

(This blog page with serve as the primary lore-dump page for the background lore of Blackdawn.
I will be editing this infrequently as the lore develops and expands.)

(P.S. please bear in mind that I have a bit more than I've currently posted, I'm just trying to keep things somewhat organized.(Jan.21))

The World of Thrassu {Circa 311A.R.}

The Nations of Thrassu {Post-Dusk}:
-Agrakh
-Ahj'kya
-Oullpgh'kya
-Qol Kiivesh
-Ra'asdnya
-The Empire of The Black Sun.
-The Kingdom of Krolv
-The Dominion of Hkh'aas
-The Vgha'kghnol Confederacy
-Ul'lvor
-Vynnland

The Empire of The Black Sun {Circa 311 A.R.}

The Provinces and Territories of The Empire:

Provinces;
-The Capital
-Ataria
-Alshabiin
-Dutrogesh
-Seichigo
-Sythria
-Sorenheim
-Raafluur
-Thraise
-Vinethros

Territories;
-The Burning Steppes
-The Borderlands
-Cachetht
-Khomulur
-Korrvesh
-The Oni Enclaves
-The Moonlands
 

The living are the minority of the Imperial population, but they are growing.
They exist throughout the Empire, and are it's First Class citizens.

They are free to choose how they live so long as they observe the tenants of Lord Death's Inquisition, and the laws of His Empire.

They are encouraged to have children and settle down to raise families, but many seek more adventurous lives in their youth, as it is a good way to elevate one's personal status.

((Jan.21:afternoon) Intend to re-write this section later, posting now anyway. VERY ROUGH:)

Most of the running water within The Empire is confined to mainly 7 provinces:

Beginning in Sorenheim, Raafluur, and Ataria as great rivers, it riddles through Vinethros and the Capital in caves and lakes, through the south and middle of Seichigo as streams and brooks, and out from the hotsprings of Thraise, from whence it flows in rivers in The Borderlands down to The Boiling Sea.

The Borderlands are great canyon networks that run throughout the super-continent, and are treated as neutral territory that the Empire's provinces share the responsibility of keeping general order in, but are forbidden to claim for themselves. This is where the poorest and least reputable characters live, and it is also where the Imperial trade routes overlap.
The Burning Steppes are a volcanic hellhole territory squabbled over constantly by Efreeti(Fire Genies). They use mainly Insect-people, and whoever else, as slave labor and food. Wealth is meaningless compared to raw power here.

Thraise is very mountainous and full of underground hot-springs and geysers.
Dutrogesh is very volcanic, has constant tectonic activity, and is heavily industrialized. Ruled by the only Prince of Hell that has been accepted into the Imperial Pantheon: Ahzlan The Conqueror.
Alshabiin is fantasy-desertland, basically Egypt/Arabia/Judea wrapped together with lots of Yuan-Ti and Lizardkin.
Raafluur is fairy-forestland, most of the military that is living is composed of Halflings, and they are mostly river-people. They are socially divided based on who flies, and who doesn't.
Seichigo is Fantasy Japan/China/Thailand, mainly Japan, with a few other influences I can't remember right now. :)
Ataria is very much fantasy Britannia.
Sythria is elf-forestland.
Vinethros is fantasy-italy, both vinethros and Thraise are very Dwarven.
Sorenheim is barbarian/dragon-land, very "Conan" in theme.

The Capital is very akin to if Mordor was necromancy-oriented, and also the center of the world. Think crypt-city Minas Tirith, and also a bit of The Elder Scrolls Cyrodil. Throw in a dash of Warhammer 40K's overcrowded feeling with the hive cities.
Only the dead may live permanently within the Capital city, and you can only be eligible for this if one of the current residents of the city sponsors you, very much like Ancient Rome. The vast majority of the Imperial Capital's population are Vampires.

(/Section end)(I swear to god I will improve this part very soon. I just wanted the raw info available to people sooner rather than later. :P)

Lord Death holds constant court in the ground floor of the spire in his Great Throne Room. Anyone who his church vouches for may make pilgrimage to the Imperial Capital to hold court with Death, and ask personal questions.

All Necromancers must do this as their first task, and stand before Death's judgement themselves before being trusted to guide the dead. Necromancers are exclusively of the living, but it is quite common for Necromancers to rise after death, Lord Death himself denying them the eternal oblivion.

The Imperial Pantheon:

Demons and Hell in Blackdawn:
Hell has 13 layers, each one ruled by a "Devil King" who presides over other great devils as "Dukes" and they then go on ruling lesser demons in this way. (Devil being a note for a particularly powerful and intelligent type of Demon, akin to most biblical themes.)

The Devil King that rules in the Overworld is considered their Demon Emperor, and rules in Dutrogesh.

They are all vassals of Lord Death.

A permanent portal has been established in Dutrogesh in it's capitol city, and Lord Death has recruited the forces of Hell itself to burn out the plague that infests the world.

This portal is called "The Hellgate"

It is connected to the top layer of Hell, and demons may request what is essentially a "work visa" from the Empire.
Because of this, Dutrogesh, even though it is the newest province, is also the most heavily industrialized, and their armies are enhanced with demonic magics and equipment, as well as troops, and war beasts. Technology that exists no where else in the world is common in Dutrogesh.
It has been relatively common, though, that other provinces have had questionable interactions with "The Demon Province." They are known to openly "flirt the line" of their contracts, and such. When the Inquisitors and Necromancers show up, they fall in line, but with anyone else they are not afraid to...be creative.

Ahzlan the Conqueror is the current Demon Emperor.

The Princes of Hell:
 

Ahzlan The Conqueror(see Imperial Pantheon)

Dragons in Thrassu:
The Dragons and Dragonkin of Thrassu maintain their own religion.
They live in clans, some of which are older than the Empire, mostly within Sorenheim. Typically the Dragons will form their own clans among themselves, and the Dragonkin form clans based on which Dragon (or Dragons) they trace their lineage to.

They all hail the Last Dragon-god Zahn as their Progenitor, the fabled "First God of Dragons" that sired both all other Dragons, and the old Dragon-gods, from his great voice, and burning blood.
They follow his teachings in tandem with those of other gods, a faith they know as "The Path of Trials", which revolves around mysterious monuments known only as "The Dragonstones." Dragonkin are very much averse to discussing this with Non-Dragonkin who are not devout worshippers of Zahn themselves.

Zahn, The Dragon God. The last one alive, and also the first to exist.

Dragons and Dragonkin know him as "The Progenitor", and he sits above all other gods save Death himself in importance to them.

Before The Dusk, the tale of The Progenitor was a myth among dragons, with no Dragon God stepping forward to claim the mantle in the old days. A legend that Zahn has proclaimed as the truth of his origins to "his progeny" since the apocalypse of The Dusk.

The legend claims that he fell to the world through the Ether itself in the before-times, when the continents and seas were still shifting, and he was wounded when he struck the ground. In his pain, frustration, and confusion, he let loose his mighty breath, and with this is said to have created the great desert that Alshabiin now occupies the remains of.

As his magical breath filled the air, droplets of his burning blood fell like rain to the ground, landing in all kinds of places.

These droplets, caught alight by Dragonfire, became the first Dragons.

The Known Old Ones:
Though dead, the Old Ones still persist. Their wretched influence continuing to pervert the world even in death, their hulking rotting corpses too vast and powerful to completely destroy.

Hastur