Erchaea - Synopsis

[Trippy Hare]

For hundreds of years, Erchaea was the dominating city-state across the entire central landmass of Eshathar. It was the first genuine Kingdom, and its strategic location near the coast as well as the enormous, freshwater lagoon known as the Moonpoole, guaranteed its dominance for hundreds of years.

As other Kingdoms began sprouting up, the initial Erchaean response was one of indifference. After all, how could an upstart spattering of Elves possibly rival the glory of Erchaea? So while other Kingdoms were struggling to emerge as powers in their own right, Erchaea turned within, creating architectural wonders and vital infrastructure. It was the first city to have a sewage system, aqueducts, standardized curriculum in its schools, and even a brilliant method of heating the streets in winter.

Then came the War of Oblivion. Thrust into a fierce struggle to simply survive, Erchaea became less and less cultured and more and more warlike, as Kingdom after Kingdom, some longtime allies, were destroyed. The entire population was conscripted and trained in the arts of war. Through sheer numbers and a frenzied desire to survive, Erchaea survived the war, though the cost was high.

As other Kingdoms tried to rebuild themselves, the Erchaeans sought only to perfect themselves, so that they would never again suffer such losses. With a combination of alchemical enhancements, severe, lifelong military training regimens, and a brutally repressive society, Erchaea emerged from the war's aftermath as Eshathar's lone superpower...and lost no time in trying to crush the still-reeling Kingdoms under its heel.

But there was one primal force that the Erchaeans had overlooked: magic. Thinking that the hours of study and meditation were only for the 'weak', Erchaeans realized, to their cost, just how powerful the forces of Magic could be. In an ill-fated invasion of the magic-dominated kingdom of Failewyn, the Erchaean army was devastated by powerful rains of flame and ice. After losing most of its troops to the Failewyn mages, Erchaean berserkers broke through the city's defenses, slaughtered its mages, and were at the very steps of the palace.

Some say it was an Erchaean madman, searching for more power and prestige, that unwittingly cast it. Others theorize that a jilted lover of Queen Daeleth had researched the forbidden magics looking for a means to get revenge. Still others say that it was a man with ties to neither kingdom who had discovered a long-hidden secret. But regardless of who began it, the Rise of the Horde ended the Erchaean kingdom in one swift stroke, as fallen Erchaean soldiers and long-buried corpses rose from the dead and flung themselves upon the Erchaean lines. The battle was swift, the outcome certain. Erchaea was routed soundly, and the remnants of its enormous army fled back to their city, even as the bodies of their former friends pursued them. Though Erchaea sealed itself off once word of the Horde had spread, somehow the Horde infiltrated the city, opened the gates, and set upon the hapless remnants of the once-mighty Erchaea.

But death was not the end.

Now, the city is a mass of ruins carved into the face of a blighted land. The waters of the river Alamy are poisonous here, the ground is a harsh, blasted landscape of bare rock, sandy earth, and fetid swamps. Nothing lives anywhere near the city, and the very air is stagnant and reeks of rotting flesh.

The terrifying energy unleashed by the ensuing struggle transformed all life within the city into a twisted, eldritch abomination. The Undead that now inhabit this wretched scar of Eshathar have remained there, led by the very being that created their fate. He is known only as the Lich now, and all the Undead serve him unquestioningly. Any living creature unfortunate enough to find itself too close to the ruins is quickly murdered, only to be reanimated into one more body to serve the Lich's ends.

There is no infrastructure in Erchaea, as the populace does not need it. There are no farms, wells, or police forces. Though coins and other riches from the ruins of the living city are prevalent, there is no need for currency. Necrids leaving the Erchaean bounds are often given a large sum of gold, silver, and copper coins from the ruins of the living city, to aid them in keeping a low profile in the outside world.

Among Necrids, who posess much more free will and cognitive faculties than the hordes of mindless undead, currency and wealth take the form of iron coins, each bearing the sigil of the Lich. These are given to each necrid adept upon entrance to the city by the Lich himself, so a large collection of these coins means that the bearer would have had to have bested many such adepts in order to take posession of their coins. The Lich and his lieutenants encourage this behavior, calling it The Culling of the Weak, or just The Culling. It is an effective means of separating the worthy from the worthless, and one of the few ceremonial rites Erchaean society has. Surviving one's Culling is considered an impressive feat, though in Erchaea, failure to survive is not a permanent detriment.