(A brief background on the game
setting. Use to prepare and/or enrich your character stories. There
will (not) be a quiz on this.)
Talingarde is an island about the
size of England. It is very far away from anywhere else in the
world; there are other places out there where people live, but
visitors from abroad are extremely rare. The weather is temperate,
although the north is cold and snowy and filled with monsters.
Talingarde is devoted to ideals of
justice and law. The punishments for lawbreakers are severe but
fair. Knights take their obligation to protect the poor and weak
seriously, and paladins are legendary heroes. Clerics provide care
and healing, often at no cost. There is little social mobility, but
most, from the low to the high, are content with their lot.
Talingarde is ruled by King
Markadian V, the Brave. He is of the beloved royal house of Darius.
King Markadian has no sons, but he
has one daughter, Bellinda, who is twenty and unmarried. The king's
wife died in childbirth and he has not remarried. There are no other
full-blooded members of the royal branch, although there are many
relatives and cousins.
The king's ancestor, Markadian I,
was known as the Victor for his defeat of the former royal house of
Barca at the battle of Tamberlyn. The Victor is a national hero and
often the subject of plays, songs, and artwork.
The only permitted religion is
that of the god Mitra. The house of Darius has imposed monotheism on
Talingarde. Worship of Mitra's archenemy Asmodeus is punishable by
death. Worship of other non-evil gods is barely tolerated, and very
rare.
Mitra is a sun-god of light,
healing, leadership, and goodness. He is depicted in three aspects,
as a king, a healer, or a living flame.
The Church of Mitra has
representatives in every town and settlement around Talingarde.
Priests are important and influential. While they do not rule, their
word is rarely ignored. After the king, the most powerful man in the
kingdom is High Cardinal Vitallian of Estyllis.
Asmodeus, lord of the nine hells,
was once an important part of Talirean religion. While few
worshipped him, he was still respected and revered. Markadian IV,
the Zealot, outlawed the Asmodean faith, and with the support of the
Mitran chuch, every temple and high priest of Asmodeus was burned in
a purge twenty years ago.
Talingarde is protected by the
Knights of the Alerion, a legendary order of holy warriors sworn to
Mitra to uphold justice and fight for what is right. Their ranks
include both commoners and nobles, ordinary warriors and paladins.
Talingarde has six regions. The
Cambrian Ports are the three largest cities, which sit on the Bay of
Cambria. The Heartland is a farming and rural region. The
Borderlands are the northern part of the kingdom, shielded by the
Watch Wall. The Caer Bryr is a great wild forest inhabited only by
the savage Iraen. The Savage North is an ice wasteland where the few
monsters remaining on the island roam. The Lands of the Yutak are
northern islands, home to a strange, barbaric people.
Talingarde is protected from the
monsters of the Savage North by the Watch Wall, a line of twelve
fortresses that protect every pass and access point through which
the forces of evil might try to attack southward. Markadian V, the
Brave, won his name fighting on the Watch Wall.
Talingarde is at peace. The
kingdom prospers. No threats, whether from within or without, can
hope to stand against the power of the Talirean knights and the
all-encompassing light of Mitra. The king is strong and wise, his
daughter beautiful and even wiser. Certainly everyone would agree
that this is a golden age.