Distant tales of the Dichotomy

Prelude 

A Short History of the World of D.T.O.T.D

 The territory of the Dichotomy is only about one-fifth of the continent of Arboritia, which is itself only about a third of the territory known as the holy Emporium of the Ortumocorvis Empire, otherwise called the Realms of Fidelsatera. That was, of course, before the Great Fall of the six titans and the conquest of the Seven Nations of Sorrows (also referred to as Sphelorius, or the Nation of Sphel). The Dichotomy is now just a shell of its pre-Fall self, but it once deserved the title of great nation. In truth, it held power over the entire continent of Arboritia for centuries before it was dethroned by the sacred crows of Ortum during the age of the Great Fall.

Even though the Dichotomy held such power, it was more of a front than a reality. In actuality, two separate dynasties ruled its legacy. The Wyrnias were the more prominent of the two. They ruled during most of its glory days and gained the fame that came with it, but their rule was known to be cruel and vindictive, and they were true tyrants in both appearance and action. In contrast, the real heroes were the TeneDentes. They were the first to conquer the lands of Arboritia, and they brought the other five kingdoms to their side to rally and fight in the first Wrath of the Beasts War, which was caused by the ambitious yet sinister organization known as the Seven Nations of Sorrows. The kingdoms joined forces and allied in order to find new shelter for their many races of residents, all hoping to escape their homeland.

In reality, Sphelorius had begun to rot and decay. It was already well known at that time that the Nation of Sphel was the oldest surviving nation of Fidelsatera’s antiquity, and the place where all magic, curses, and other sources of power had once emerged. One day they would return to those sacred grounds, as the prophecy of the Three Astral Saints of Faith foretold long ago: three saints, sent by fate, would save the world from tyranny and pain and bring an era of righteousness and dignity. (This prophecy was uttered by a TeneDente, Yornis [TeneDente] the Just, a few hundred years after the first six great families colonized Arboritia.)

Spells and curses aren’t exactly precise in the world of D.T.O.T.D.

To put it plainly, anyone who wished to place or use a curse, spell, blessing, or reincarnation rite had to be trained by a witch, a wizard, or a religious high priest, or be born of ancient blood and guided by a blood-dreamer to awaken and hone their usually unique and powerful magic. The difference in base power between a trained Umunculy cursurer or spirit-seer and a natural-born one is overwhelming, but experience is always the deciding factor in any one-on-one altercation.

Once a person has been schooled in the hows and whos of incantations and spirit rites, he must venture out, seek, and convince a spirit, demon, angel, elemental, faerie, or any other supernatural resident of the realms to lend him temporary powers or advantages, provided he meets all the specific criteria and demands of the being in question. Bad encounters with those creatures often left the undeserving with instant regret: they either vanished into thin air or suffered an extremely painful brain aneurysm, soon followed by an equally gruesome death. In all honesty, both fates were terrifying, and they were the main reasons magic was avoided by so many and feared by even more.

Only the royals of the six first great families could use magic, but sadly it was nothing to boast about, apart perhaps from the TeneDentes and the Wyrnias. They were the leading clans when the six great families first colonized Arboritia, and for that reason they retained most of their primal blood from Fidelsatera (the primal land of faith). Both clans had established splendid covenants and guilds in which under-kings, knights, and even nobles knew basic magic and incantations, but only true blood royalty from the two primal clans could muster enough power to compete against the western Goliaths of the Seven Sorrows and the holy crows of Ortum.

A Brief History of the Kings and Rulers of the Dichotomy and Nearby Regions

Before the Great Fall of the titans, the TeneDentes and the Wyrnias were essentially the only users of magic in all five kingdoms of Arboritia. Such power quickly made them comfortable and lazy. After their first conquest, with Yornis leading them, the kingdom boomed. Only a single generation passed, however, before their heirs began dying mysteriously, most of them before the age of twenty-five and barely five years after their coronations. A couple more political marriages later, a new line of strong, powerful, and charismatic heirs ushered in a new era called the Golden Wind of Wyrnia. Wyrnia, the third and final wife of Yornis, was known as Wyrnia of the Setting Sun. He wed her after his sixtieth birthday, and she bore him three healthy boys with glistening golden hair like their mother’s. That hair contrasted sharply with the dark, ashy, carbon-crimson hair of the TeneDentes.

The first boy, older than the rest by a few years, was named Salor Wyrnia. He was the first to take the crown from outside the TeneDente line, and he was only nineteen, which was highly unusual, since every other king had been twenty or older when crowned, a tradition kept alive for generations. The second boy was Helion Wyrnia, who succeeded his late older brother after his passing at fifty-six but sadly perished himself a measly thirteen years later, at sixty-two. The third brother, Sirius Wyrnia, had no taste for politics but served his two brothers loyally for over fifty years as the great valiant knight of the king and general of the royal army of Fidelsatera (which was sadly wiped out and disbanded after the Great Fall of the titans).

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Yornis’s previous wives were Flore TeneDente, his second cousin, and Casmanda Mayfeld. The two women were sisters and daughters of the under-king Woliam Mayfeld (the Iron Wall), leader of the third most powerful house of Arboritia. Flore TeneDente produced two heirs for her high king: the eldest, a girl named Reva TeneDente, spear of the night, and Elior TeneDente, the Rightful. Sadly, she perished in the first Wrath of the Beasts War, where most of Arboritia’s population was wiped out. The second wife, Casmanda, married Yornis to unite and strengthen the bonds forged by the defeat of the first attack by the Nation of Sphel (W.T.B.). Her queenship did not last long. She died only five years later of the Rot of Sorrow, an illness that began spreading soon after the first W.T.B. war, and she never produced any heirs, since she grew sick incredibly fast and battled the illness for years before succumbing to a painful death.

Elior became the second high king of Arboritia after his father’s death, but five years later he died mysteriously in his sleep. He was found in his chambers, dead and naked, on an oak chair that had been burnt to a crisp. Soon after, his half-brother Salor Wyrnia, prince of the New Era, became king in his stead. He then married Reva TeneDente and promised to make their firstborn son heir and rightful high king upon his death. They had two sons and a daughter: Talianna, Elias, and Yornis the Second. One would assume that Yornis the Second, the eldest, would have been crowned, but it was Helion the Usurper who stole the crown, killing both his nephews in a rebellion that also left Reva dead.

Helion’s reign was much shorter than his predecessor’s, but he fathered two heirs: Oakley, the Tower of Wyrnia, and Phosphor the Fallen. Oakley, the eldest, earned his name from his enormous physique and his impregnable defense in duels and tourneys. He married Lady Valkar of House Dandel, eldest daughter of Hermans Dandel, who had greatly helped the Wyrnias during the Rebellion of Winds (Helion’s rebellion). Phosphor chose to wed Talianna of House TeneDente. He loved her deeply, since they had grown up together, learning from each other, and he grew fonder of her over the years they spent together. This was one of the reasons he earned the nickname “the Fallen,” as the TeneDentes were increasingly seen as an old, treacherous dynasty rather than the founders of the Dichotomy.

This union drew a definite line between the TeneDentes and the Wyrnias, as the sons and daughters of Phosphor took the name TeneDente, thanks to the dark reddish hair they shared with their mother. After this, no marriages between the royal families of the TeneDentes and the Wyrnias were made until centuries later, so the two families constantly fought over the role of rightful high ruler of the Dichotomy and all of Arboritia. The two daughters and two sons of Phosphor grew hateful and bitter toward the Wyrnias, as throughout their childhood they were often disregarded in favor of the sons and only daughter of King Helion, who were seen as the only rightful heirs to the high seat. The TeneDentes, in turn, were branded blasphemous traitors, even though it was really the Wyrnias who had betrayed their own blood. But as in all stories, only the winners tell their side.

Multiple generations and countless wars later, we finally arrive at the modern era, in which the Ortumocorvis Empire has reigned for 125 years. They are well established as the supreme rulers of the three realms, high kings of Arboritia, and tyrants of Sorrows. None dare oppose their reign, as their holy crows have proven their worth countless times by winning unwinnable battles and overcoming odds far too thin for any mortal. This led to the rumor that the holy crows and their leaders were demons in human skin, and their obsidian-black hair and unusually large reddish eyes did not help their case. Besides, the Ortumocorvis were powerful mages, with powers far beyond anything the Arboritians could accomplish. Even the Sphels had to admit defeat under the enormous pressure of the holy crows.

Their strength was such that even the Goliaths of Sphelorius, the biggest and most powerful beings of the Nation of Sorrows, bent the knee faster than any other Sphelorian race. After only one fight against the royal crows, the Goliaths had already lost all hope and begged for mercy as the crows devastated their lands. Of the Seven Nations of Sorrows, only four bent the knee, two were completely eradicated, and the last was never found, as if it had vanished from existence, though no one had ever seen it in the first place. Even in this era of domination, the holy empire of Ortum leads research parties into the Nation of Sorrows in search of the remaining heretics, or so they say. Few Arboritians ever ventured further than Fidelsatera, so the customs and religion of the Sorrows remained a mystery even in modern times. Only royal crows and the holy-blooded knew the truths of the nation, but soon fierce adventurers of ancient blood arose, ready to learn and reclaim their legacy.

The first to follow his destiny began his journey in the Shallow Gallows of Vows (the under-city beneath the Dichotomy’s leading city, a.k.a. the Citadel of Vows). All he needed was someone to guide him, and soon that someone came.

A Quick Course on the Currency of the Realms of D.T.O.T.D

Names and Nicknames

Glims: The lowest-value coins are called glimmers, or glims for short. They bear a stamped stick, and the sticks vary by era, though the ideal behind them never changes. For this reason, they were also called Sticks in some areas.

Shims: More valuable than glims but still not the peak of wealth, shimmers are rarer and shinier than glims. Common folk and high bloods alike often called them shims or shimmers, and also Daggs, since they usually had two or more daggers stamped on them.

Brills: The rarest and most valuable currency of the realms, Brilliants, or Brills, were named for the vibrant, glowing gold metal they were made of. Tales were often told of wealthy men who used polished Brills to wander moonlit nights without having to light a torch or hire a wandering mage to traverse the dark winter nights. Brills were also called Suns, for the blazing suns engraved on them.

Material of the Coins

Glims are made of a weak, soft alloy called langar. It has a bronze tint but is often very dirty and appears a dark grey copper.

Shims are made of Folsefyr, a polished mixture of elements that includes silver and iron, which together make a shiny yet robust coin.

As for Brills, their actual forging method is unknown to the public, but one can assume they are made of gold and another substance that gives them an intense glow that no other coin can imitate or emulate.

Value of the Coins

100 glims are equal to 1 shim.

1,000 shims are equal to 1 brill.

100,000 glims are equal to 1 brill