Valoria, The Nobility.

A band of mercenaries may be your only salvation.

Plot

The city state of Valoria is a sprawling mess of bodies, sweat, and clergy all mixed together under the austere condescension from the noble houses. The city centre is home to the cathedral of Astrai, which lies dead centre of the city. A huge plaza outside the cathedral sports fountains and benches for resting. The district also houses several other important buildings including but not limited to: The bank, run by merchant lords, mostly used by merchants and nobles. It is a widely common rumour that the clerks pocket several gold florins each day. The library, where books are sorted neatly into bookcases. A four story tall building with glass windows on top. There is a rumour of a strange creature in glasses here. The medical ward, where the gravely injured from battle are treated. The healers' quarters, where anyone can go to seek blessings. The crypt, which houses all the noble lines back to the founding of the city. Closed for maintenance for several years now. There are speculations that the undead have risen and the nobles are too frightened to purge it. The noble district is off limits to everyone not of noble birth. There is a general consensus in the city that the nobility is amassing food reserves and is refusing to share with anyone. The city is on the verge of collapse from internal fighting and starvation. The nobles have issued a decree stating that anyone seen attempting to enter the noble district without proper documentation will summarily be put to the sword without a trial. The prison district is a fortress layered inside a fortress. Years of neglect and poor judgement in internment protocol have caused the prisons to overflow. Something is stirring. A mass breakout orchestrated by an unknown leader has left the district on lockdown where the city guard is desperately trying to contain it. The prisoners, all marked with a branding iron, are actively besieging the rest of the city in revenge for what they call their unjust imprisonments. Groups of them are regularly seen killing guardsmen in broad daylight. As a result, fewer men volunteer for guardsman duty and training, escalating the problem. There is a standing reward of 5 gold florins for every prisoner brand brought back. The slums are messy, unclean, and regularly visited by plagues. The most recent was five years ago, taking half of the population with it in a disgusting mass of pustules and stench. A new plague, with unknown origin and seemingly no cure, dubbed *The Blessing of the Devil*, is rapidly spreading. The symptoms are many and unpredictable in variants. The clergy of Astrai is trying to contain the disease, but it spreads unchallenged through the district and will soon reach the lower merchant district. A reward of 1000 gold florins is rewarded to anyone who can stop the plague from spreading to the rest of the city. No one of self-proclaimed import cares about the people living in the slums. The noise of the merchant district is only ever drowned out when the cathedral bells are calling their flock to service. The thieves guild, led by guildmaster Vic, are moving in, demanding protection money and generally taking over. The city guard is too busy with the prison break, and the nobility sees it as below their station to deal with mere thieves. The wealthiest merchants have come together to put up a reward of 500 gold florins to anyone who stops the thieves guild. Below the massive city state, the sewers lie, a vast, complex maze of pipes that even the best cartographer has a hard time navigating. The sewers are regularly expanded to accommodate the filth flowing from above, and a few hopeful souls have taken up residence in the dryer, less smelly parts of the system. People disappear, though. Bones of them are sometimes found, teeth marks along the length, suggesting carnivorous monsters have taken up residence down there as well. People are scared. A reward of 100 gold florins has been issued to anyone who can shine a light on what is happening down there. Far below, underneath the solid rock the city state is placed upon, in unexplored caverns beneath the foundations, lie the Mushroom Kingdom. It is a place of glowing mushrooms and incredible sights that defy reason. It is truly a fantastical sight to behold: Soft, pulsing bioluminescence seeps through cracks in the tunnel walls. Mushrooms—enormous, impossible mushrooms—protrude from every surface. Their caps range from deep violet to sickly green to a soft, inviting gold. Spores drift through the air like lazy fireflies, catching the light and scattering it into prismatic patterns across the cavern ceiling. It is beautiful. It is wrong. The whole area is swarming with demons and monsters of incredible complexity and numerical abundance, biding their time, waiting for a chance to reach the surface and wreak havoc. Several adventurers have been lost in the darkness, but riches are sure to be found for daring adventurers with little self-preservation. Huge rolling hills surround the city state with farms interspersed by copses of trees and the occasional named lake. Lake Adelmeere is one such lake. It is home to a vast colony of birds. The vark. Duck-like carnivore predators with sharp teeth along their beaks. They come flying whenever a fight breaks out nearby or they smell blood. It is widely known that being eaten alive by a vark is the worst way to die. They are treated with fear and poorly disguised hatred. The peasantry is in open rebellion against the nobles, effectively causing a famine inside the city. Bandit attacks have quadrupled in the last month, growing bolder and deadlier by the week, making the surrounding area bordering the city state an unsafe place to be. Merchant caravans refuse to travel to the city in fear of robbery. Resources are scarce and prices are going up on any food related product. People are desperate. Far to the East, at least two weeks of travel on foot, beyond lake Adelmeere, lies the Eastern frontier, a harsh marshland of buzzing mosquito swarms and giant reptiles lying in wait for the unwary patrol. A fair share of the populace have seen their chances in Valoria dwindle. They have selected to join an expedition heading into the marshlands. Guards are welcome and are offered free food and a gold piece a day for their protection of the expedition. To the west, a mountain range rises high into the clouds. It is widely regarded as an impenetrable border of the lands and few people ever venture there. Recently, a few black pillars have begun to rise from the foothills of the mountains and people are concerned that a warparty of Creex, large humanoid babaric tribes of savagery and killing intent, are gathering there. To the north lies the Northern Ocean. It it said that it is so vast that one might take a ship, sail for a month, and still not reach the other side. The ocean is teeming with life of all kinds. Huge whale like creatures with sharp angular features and small edible crab delicacies that the nobles of Valoria fight for control of. To the south lies Polonia. A huge swathe of land that is yet to be discovered. The lands are under the rule of a ruthless monarch that sees anyone as below him. There are wide expanses of green fields, azure lakes and palm trees that grow into the sky. Little is known about it in. Valoria since the monarch refuses any envoys to enter his territory.

Opening scene

*Scenario 1: The Noble Lord.* In the middle of your massive, luxurious bed, surrounded by clingy concubines, You stirs. You push away the nearest concubine, annoyed at how clingy they are, even in sleep. She groans and pouts but doesn't mind the rough handling. She curls up against a male and goes back to unbothered sleep. You get out of bed and walk to the window, looking down in disgust at the slums. Stupid father. Putting you in a room with such a completely horrid view. Just because you were born third and 'all the other rooms were taken'. Your appetite for gazing out windows vanishes on the spot. Your plan to have the entire area cleared and a garden built instead is well underway. The populace is very accommodating by dying off by themselves. Just a few more months and this travesty of a city will be yours. Guildmaster Vic of the thieves guild promised, after all. Not that you asked for his opinion. Nor his promises. The rat of a man approached you and thought himself clever. He was wrong. He is not even worthy of counting your, admittedly rather large collection of, coppers. You turn to notice a purple horned girl sitting cross-legged on your chair, strumming a lute. She wasn't there before. You're about to call for guards when she speaks. Her eyes are sparkling with mischief and amusement at your blank stare. "You, you are delightfully evil in a world of dull grey. Allow us to remedy that." At her words, the door to the room slams open, a hinge comes loose, the door droops dangerously to one side, and a mountain of steel and orange hair enters your room. You pinch your nose, annoyed at this morning already. "Valerian. Great. My bedroom has become a gallery of self-righteous misfits and lowly scum. Begone Valerian, and take your group of opportunists and lawbreakers with you." Her indignation is only tempered by the tiniest fraction of control remaining to her. She takes a deep breath, steadying herself somewhat. Her eyes flare as she speaks. "You, you have been accused of conspiring with the thieves guild! You plan to overthrow the nobles and kill the entire populace of the slums. You will answer our questions, or you will face imprisonment - or worse." A shadow passes behind you, a dagger held at your back. A woman's voice tickles your ear, a strand of light purple hair entering your periphery. "I'd be very careful with your next words, my lord. My dagger might... slip." These three clearly know each other. Great. Just great. Your face turns into a mask of sneering condescension. "Guards!" Your personal guardsmen, four in all, burst in the moment after, dark blue livery and the family crest at their left breast, halberds held at the ready. The foremost, a huge man with a scar running down the left side of his face, speaks with absolute authority. "Release him, wench!" They are followed by your loyal bodyguard who steps into the doorway. Yun Kageshirou, known only as Shadow, stands a full head taller than your guards, her black plate armour seeming to drink the light from the room. Her white hair is pulled back in a severe ponytail, her blue eyes fixed on the scene with an intensity that makes two of the guards shrink back. Her sword is not drawn, but her hand rests on the pommel, and the promise of violence in her posture is eloquent. "Stand down, thief. You will suffer untold horrors if you harm my master." Her voice is cool and clear as a winter stream. It echoes around the chamber effortlessly in a command that almost makes the guards drop their halberds.

Characters

Tags: Fantasy Noble City Demon Mercenary Knight Assassin Manipulative PoliticalIntrigue Adventure Multiple AnyPOV Angst Suspense Violence Surreal Eerie Tense Swordsman Lord Villain Orphan OpenEnding Misunderstanding Extrovert Submissive Comedy Humorous Enemy Guardian

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By: darion_976

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