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Currently:
Current Activity
Visitors from foreign lands are beginning to arrive in preparation of an upcoming wedding!
A Festival Approaches!
The people of Rayneth rejoice! A festival is coming, and with it the princess Naeris Kol has sent out many invitations to princes of neighboring lands. Rumor has it that the princess has been under pressure to marry and secure an heir for the throne. Could this festival possibly be a method of doing so? Perhaps! But either way, the people of Rayneth are excited for a festival that does not require some terrifying, bloody sacrifice to the Titans. As usual, participants are asked to bring a little gift to the Titan that the festival is for (in this case the Titan of Ice). Such gifts can be purchased, hand-made, or whatever the participant desires. It is the thought that counts in this situation, and not the expense or beauty of the gift. Although the Titan of Ice is often categorized as cold and severe, the festival is sure to be one of excitement and enjoyment!
A Kingdom's Rebirth
The horrible Inquisition during the Ovkan reign would be a genocide that would be remembered for generations. The murders, tortures, hangings and public floggings grew to such an appalling state that the kingdom turned from fear of piety to disgust towards the ones they were supposed to be worshiping.
Riots started, demonstrations AGAINST the very deities that had once protected them. The Ovkan soldiers grew in number, and everyone could feel a civil war looming on the horizon. What saved Rayneth from such incredible bloodshed was the Titans themselves.
The creatures that were known for never having been seen sent part of themselves down in physical form; giants made of rock, water, fire, wind, lightning, and ice all descended upon Rayneth. It seemed to much of the population that the end times had come, and most of the rioters tried to make right with the great Titans to assure their after-life was pleasant.
However, it was not the inhabitants of Rayneth that the anger of the Titans fell upon. It was the Ovkans, who had twisted and mangled the religion into something dark and terrifying. The entire Ovkan force in Rayneth, including the Ovkan Inquisitors, were destroyed in one foul battle.
Then, in the aftermath of the impressive scene, the former princess of Rayneth, Naeris Kol, suddenly seemed to explode with light, a brightness that could scarcely be looked at. The priestess then spoke, in a voice that was other-worldly, explaining that the Ovkans had been misled, and had twisted the beliefs of the followers of the Titans. The Titans were providers, defenders, not monsters waiting to pounce on the slightest misdeed. The Titans felt that the emperor had presented them this way to assure complacent subjects, and they did not take kindly to that. The Titans urged the people of Rayneth to get back to their roots, to go back to trusting for the Titans to provide, not punish.
They left Naeris' body with the promise that they would send down wisdom to change their ways from the Ovkan's wicked ideas. After the events, the people of Rayneth went about purging everything Ovkan from the empire. The dead bodies were piled and burned, the torture devices and gallows destroyed, and the table of sacrifice broken down so a new, clean one could take its place. Rayneth was on a new track, one of happiness and trust. Naeris Kol was reinstated as princess, and was deemed Oracle, to deliver the messages from the Titans. Rayneth was finally on it's way back to being a strong, independent kingdom.
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Vlad the Impaled
September 07, 2013
Rayneth has been disrupted by death. Screams sounded in the night in the wake of a series of grisly and bizarre murders: families, murdered, the symbols of the Titans drawn in their blood. It did not take long for the guardsmen to act- they began to clear homes, taking families and residents into the streets in order to protect them from what was obviously.. a vampire.
Gregori Vladikov apparently went mad and was driven into a hungry bloodcraze. It was the defenders of the city- guards, archers, even spellrenders and templars, joined forces to down the beast that the librarian had become. Witnessed there was the Overseer of Magic, the Grand Inquisitor and the General (who is now known to be female)- among them, a tax collector, for whatever strange reason. Together, they took down the maddened vampire, but lives were lost.
Over the course of the week, temple services will be held more frequently, and memorials held for the lives of the guards that were lost. No short of twenty bodies were burned by morning, and the infirmary is filled with a dozen more. For now, the patrols of guards have doubled, day and night. The library is closed, and the guards keeping watch over it say it will be closed for some time.
As for Vladikov's body, his skull rests on a pike outside of the castle. As of yet, it bears the spit of many.
((Full logs can be found here. Have a read, it was eventful.))
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The Festival of Storms
Nothing could have prepared the city for what happened at the Festival of the Lightning Titan, and nobody is going to forget it.
The celebration started out very normally beneath a stormy sky, ripe with chatter and musicians, but when the oracle was announced, the entire festival took a startling turn. The Lightning Titan himself took control of the oracle- and the entire celebration!
Through the oracle, the Bringer of Storms demanded his festival be loud, and thus gave way to a night of rampant dancing, fast-paced music, hardy drinking- and nobody really quite knows who won that dancing contest! The celebration lasted many, many hours, and ended with most of the partiers waking up at morning light, still in the courtyard.
Miss the event? Here's the logs!
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The Festival of the Wind Titan
Fellowship and drinking abound at the celebration of wind! The festival was a success without any horrendous incident, much unlike the last two festivals. Without any contests or trials to endure, the people of Rayneth had a kindly time talking with friends and peers alike. It was a peaceful time in the city, with entertainment and merchants for the festival-goers.
A few announcements were made:
- To honor his loyalty to the Empire, Lieutenant Draconus Alexander Forest was promoted to Commander of the Spellrender Corps.
- A new unit of defense was revealed. The Cloudbreakers, spear-wielding guards on peryton mounts, can be seen patrolling the skies over Rayneth from this day forward.
- Aloran Nor'veilara, the previous commander of the Spellrenders, was announced to be the captain of the new guard unit.
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New Opportunities
Men and women in dire need of money, driven to poverty or kept there by the high taxes, rejoice. The Empire is starting a mining expedition in the Starfall Mountains, and all who wish to become miners will find themselves exempt from taxes.
Some who do not wish to have such a tiresome job, but still are in need of money, have instead contacted the Grandmaster Alchemist, who offers a viable alternative to this.
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In Honor of Her Fickleness
The festival in honor of the Titan of Water, taking place by the river, did not have a single idle second. From the chosen of the Titans, Quincy Bird, making a speech and bringing about the Titan's blessing in the form of heavy rain, to Noxi, bat messenger of the Regent and her announcement about the Empire's need of miners, to the food, drink and merriment and the swimming contest, there wasn't a single bored soul in the precinct.
Notable faces like the Tax Collector, Rufio Delgado, and the Emissary, Johann Malagrav, participated in the swimming race. Due to unforeseen consequences involving a school of dangerous and poisonous Ghostly Snakes, some of the participants ended up in the infirmary. The winner was a mysterious amazon lady called 'Pokey', who received the blessing of the Titans... and hasn't been seen since. The second place belonged to the local magician Jaspur's dog - a beautiful feathered hound named Symeon.
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Hard Times
In order to make way for the war effort, the Ovkan Empire has raised the living expenses of all that walk within their cities - taxes have raised and there are penalties for being unable to pay.
The town crier was certain to alert the capitol city of the change, and the tax collectors are visiting each establishment with an escort of guards.
The new taxes come in on top of what's already being charged. Twice a month, citizens and merchants alike are expected to pay a sum of money based on the amount of land they own, as well as a percentage of their current fortune. Yearly, one livestock unit is expected for every five owned, one tenth of all crafted goods a craftsman produces, and one sixth of all crops harvested.
A considerable ache is already spreading through the city, and many are searching for new means to earn the coin they're losing to the Empire's demands.
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After the Festival
One could argue that the Winter Festival, taking place in the Castle's gardens, was a success. For the most part, that is true. The entertainment was good, the food was great, all had fun.
What followed, though, was chaos.
A certain dessert had been spiked with an odd substance that produced random magical afflictions, annoying but rarely dangerous. Men turned into animals, changed color and gained odd tics or symptoms. Even high-ranked figures such as the Overseer of Magic or the Grand Inquisitor were affected.
An investigation is now taking place to find and punish the one responsible for such acts. There are a few suspects already...
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Respite
A rotten apple amongst the populace called the Titan of Snow's wrath upon Rayneth; it was just a matter of time until this rotten apple, this heathen was found and brought before the Inquisition.
Mere hours after justice was delivered, the blizzard before which even the Ovkan Empire trembled was gone, leaving behind only ruined crops, and many victims. And as a gift from the Titans, a large supply of food and goods was found in the edge of the forest. No one knows who left it there, but one thing is certain: in the following days, Rayneth will know no shortage of food supplies.
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The Blizzard
Rayneth hasn't seen this much snow in an age, and it's turned from a sudden flurry into an all-out snowstorm. The blizzard seems to have come out of nowhere, as if brought on by the Titan of Snow itself, and does not seem to be letting up anytime soon. Everything's been coated in heavy frost and ice, leaving Rayneth and the surrounding area frozen and shut tight, trapped up by sharp winds and piercing cold. Residents are staying inside, keeping warm in the sub-zero temperatures - venturing out for too long is as good as submitting yourself to the grave. It's best just to hunker down and get to know each other while priests try to appease to the Titans to end the punishing cold.
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The Fall
It all happened incredibly quickly. Their armies poured into the city, easily overwhelming the few guards that dared face them. The Castle was taken by assault, and within a few hours, Rayneth belonged to the Ovkan empire; once a Kingdom, now just another city under the rule of the invader. The people were broken; the Titans that had until now protected the Kingdom, now seem to favor these invaders.
Soon after the invasion, a Regent named Alzar arrived in town and took residence in the castle. Handpicked for the position by the Emperor himself, his job is to rule the land with some autonomy, while still taking orders from the Emperor. Obeying Alzar's every word is a battle-hardened general, Arak Mazanai - the same person who led the assault that took the Castle.
Current Plot
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Did You Know?
Rayneth has been under the rule of the Kols for over nine decades, with the exception of the temporary Ovkan occupation. Many Raynethians are starting to make their desires known that the princess should marry and continue the line of Kol.
