Game Thread

It has been nearly forty five years since the fall of the gods. With its fall, the proud empire of Cavazel was basically blasted into oblivion leaving the fractured Ruinscape in its wake. In the midst of a new ocean the storms of magic and fury -- the Eye of Elanehtar -- fling out curses to fall, like rain, upon the lands. Shielding a large part of the continent, the mountain range known as the Krakens hold back the worst of the storms -- but they protect what was once a fertile land and now is not.

For decades, the cities under the baleful shadow of Nod -- the Nightland -- have suffered without sunlight. Much has died in the constant eclipse, leaving only the heartiest, or most malevolent of flora and fauna to be found. In this time, the city of Corso has risen as the center of power in the Nightland. At the head of that city is a dragon -- a powerful sorcerer -- named Nulumriel. She has demanded fealty from all lands under the cover of eternal night. In either fear of her power or apathy they have all acquiesced. All but Somorrah to the north -- but it lies at the very edge of the Nightland -- half of it in eternal night and half with daylight during the day. Thus Nulumriel has viewed this as a technicality that enables them to be free. For now.

For awhile after the Fall, people held hope for the return of the gods. But when there was no help to be found and when real evil walked the earth without recourse, hope faltered. Hope turned to bitterness and despair. Eventually it turned to abandonment. There are no gods anymore. And there shall not be again. This is known. Nulumriel helps with this -- she has created an order of lawkeepers, the Reconciliators. They are charged with helping society to accept the new godless reality. Some assert they actively seek out any divine influence and eliminate it. Brutally.

In general the world has become one where if you hold power, money and influence you can literally do what you want. In Corso, this is as simple as paying an indulgence to the city. Did someone bump into your carriage and leave a scratch? He can be tortured, killed or maimed as you see fit so long as you pay the price. Does your neighbor bother you? Save up your earnings and you can murder him and remain on the right side of the law. Corso is a terrible place to be without power.

Each of you have come into the Afterworld well after the Fall. Each of you finds yourself in Corso.

You find yourselves in the Central Market of Corso. The Central Market is one of many market areas in the city. This one is nestled near the Nobles District. Not far away, the Tower of Reconciliation looms over Corso and the district here in the high city. It pratically punctures the sky as it reaches 3,000 feet into the air above you. Far above you can see the large metallic wings which adorn its top. Here in the Central Market, you can acquire anything that should happen to come to mind -- other than slaves. Those are to be found only in the Slave District.

People mill about, looking at the stalls. Here, on one hand, a merchant sells fine-looking cloth from rolls that tumble around haphazardly in his shop. There on the other, an old woman sells small hand-pies that steam when opened. In the near distance someone hawks "fine, unusual artifacts from the Ruinscape". About you, the shops are tastefully incorporated into the city's architecture with long flower boxes defining pleasant promenades. The people of Corso who frequent the market are well-dressed and move about discretely. This is no market-bazaar of the working class. This is a refined place, complete with high-end open-air cafes from which wafts streams of pipeweed smoke and the low hubbub of conversation.

Reojk is amused and finds the gaggle of mortals a place rich with opportunity. Dikaios, his mission foremost in his mind, doesn't see anyone obviously enslaved here. If they are, they are enslaved through means other than physical chains -- and he doesn't yet feel he can discern the chains of emotion or obligation or threat with clarity. Still, a man on a mission must eat, and it's been a few hours since he last had a morsel.

Dikaios has his opens open before him. There are a couple vendors with stalls -- with the backdrop of flowering plants and a lovely promenade, and there are open air cafes before him. He could choose the quick meal; at likely a better price -- or the more expensive meal where someone might actually wait upon his whim.

Dikaios' food comes in due course. It's a noodle dish of some sort. Rich in flavors, but not so rich in cost and it sets him back significantly. They slurp well, and at the end of the day they actually taste well, despite his apparent interest in food-as-fuel than as something to be savored.

Nearby, Reojk scans the trinkets out for sale. While many of them may have come from the Ruinscape, the vast majority of them aren't anything to shake a stick at. A few items here, or there, do seem like they may have some bit of divinity in them -- cyphers. But it's dangerous to be selling these -- especially in the shadow of the Tower. Reconciliators have been known to confiscate them and destroy them -- and those who are selling them are judged harshly.

In between noodles, Dikaios notes the other godling -- not knowing that's what he is of course. There's a faint... difference around him he has trouble placing.

The vendor looks on at both of you, a little frightened. There's a big one and a sneaky one. But, money cures all ills in Corso. So he bravely steps forth, "Hello fine sirs! Perhaps one of my trinkets from the Ruinscape itself has caught your eye?" He smiles widely and passes his hands over his wares, as if to remove a fog of uncertainty from around them. "Uncovered by the best treasure hunters to be found in the Afterworld! Here, clearly, is a sceptre with a glorious history! See the dents? Surely decades ago it was used to fight back the nefar hordes!"

It's certainly plausible the man is telling the truth. But there's no particular magic to the sceptre even if it was once used to bash an orc or a goblin on the head.

The vendor smiles happily at Reojk, "Interested? You have such fine taste!"