The Falthren Empire
Beyond the Barmir Mountains lies a land drowned in gloom and shadow. It is a place where dark clouds constantly linger overhead and the sun is nearly unheard of. The hearts of the Falthren people are almost as cold and uncaring as the cities they live in. Here The Bulwark of Dawn desperately fight off The Sanguine Council, the ruling council of vampire nobles, and the hidden denizens of the bellow scheme for a way to come up and devour the world as a whole.
War, famine, sickness, roaming undead and beasts are all things that contribute to a short lifespan and the Falthren people have long since accepted their lives to be short. These hardy people just enjoy warm food and a bed to sleep in because that is really the best they could hope for. Among the Falthren people family means everything and the people put their family above the ruling councils of where they live. A peasant would take up arms against just about anything if it meant to protect his family, as it is to many the only thing they have in the harsh landscape. Travelers better do well to get to know the local customs to avoid suspicious eyes following them, and best not lay their hands on the peasants daughter or catch trouble from her whole family. Very few seraphs have managed to retain a foothold with the arrival of The Healing Church, but one that has managed to stick around is The Lady of Vengeance. Vengeance is important among the Falthren as none of them believe in turning the other cheek. A highly forgiving Falthren is likely to bring dishonor to their family and risks the chance of being thrown out to preserve the respect of the rest of it. With how much the Mithil Empire has hurt the Falthren people they see the nobility as heroes for driving them out of their lands and back behind their own borders. And will follow them without question as long as they do not feel wronged. The focus on vengeance is so strong that even the ruling vampire council try to not make their punishments personal, as when a Falthren has sworn vengeance they will pursue it single mindedly even if it means their ultimate demise.
Landscape
The lands west of the Barmir Mountains are a temperate and densely wooded area filled with hills and valleys. The further westward the more the lands flatten out into plains and later on into treacherous swamps and bogs ending up in treacherous cliffs bordering an icy sea to the north. The land is not suitable for heavy farming so the Falthren people supplement their diet with game they hunt in the eastern forests, and coastal cities employ fishing and whaling to the best of their ability off the coasts. What comes lacking in a hospitable environment the Falthren people make up for in terms of recourses, vast amounts of lumber, ore, stone and clay can be harvested. The Falthren people use these structures to make robust buildings able to stand through the bad conditions, as well as being able to trade off to other nations.History
The Fledgling Empire
The Falthren Empire was founded by a group of refugees wandering out from The Mithil Empire to the other side of The Barmir Mountains. Fighting their way through the dense forested area bordering the mountains, they found themselves staring at miles upon miles of unforgiving marsh land blending in with areas of bogs and swamps where creatures of the night as well as more natural creatures had been living for ages. Deciding to push onwards the settlers fought their way through the marshes, bogs and swamps they found flat pains ending out in cliffs. Upon one of these cliffs was a break leading down into a perfect area Wichthren the capital harbor city was founded here by a noble woman named Engel was the one who discovered the place that would be the future seat of the Falthren aristocracy. Other communities began to sprout up along the coast with roads being built between them, as well as settlers crossing back across the marches to settle within the woodlands in hopes of getting wood back to the new fledgling cities. A confederacy began to form around the cities with some of the more notable being: Fleuch, Veirz and Zeitzherdal. The cities grew closer in trade and eventually formed up into the Falthren Empire named after the founder of Wichthren Engel Falthren as Wichthren held the most power within the new empires borders. And so they expanded trade and built more efficient roads to connect to the Barmir Mountains to begin on mining opperations. While land of The Falthen empire was not known to be dangerous nor filled with predators near the coasts there were still signs of people disappearing without any traces.War Against The Mithil Empire
Tensions had long been brewing amidst the two empires with the Mithil Empire claiming taxes from the Falthren people as they were direct descendants of the Mithil people, but one day the Falthren Empire say it fit that enough was enough and declared war on The Mithil Empire. It was a brutal war and a near slaughter of the Falthren people as the Mithil Empire had better trained soldiers and generals. If not for the dense forests splitting of the soldiers of The Mithil Empire the Falthren Empire would have fallen, but they persevered and managed to hold back the advances of the Mithil Empire as they began to construct camps and supply lines. Though one day three decades into their war a huge earthquake shock the region collapsing the camps of the Mithil Empire and some of the Falthren Empires villages. Though this did not deter the Mithil Soldiers.The Black Mist
Something old and sinister had made itself known as the skies above Wichthren and the surrounding area were filled with a dark necrotic energy as a black mist began to seep from the cracks of their streets. In some places these tears were big enough for people to look through, and what they saw was an underground complex underneath their cities. The aristocrats desperate for some sort of tool to defeat the Mithil soldiers sent expeditions down into what they called The Bellow, the few rapports that came back told of an underground necropolis filled with the walking dead, with the marble like structures broken and glowing with a deathly glow. They also told of a strange onyx altar in the middle of the city which seemed to whisper to the explorers as they got close. While more and more explorers delved down into The Bellow one group came back screaming of danger as the other explorers who had not come back were slowly rising from The Bellow with an undead horde behind them. The Falthren Empire was now fighting a war on two sides, sending an adventuring company down into The Bellow while mages from The Raven's Scantuary aided in sealing the largest fissures. Though the undead from The Bellow were not done with those above as a year later a strange malady spread throughout the elite of Wichthren, killing them and making them rise as vampires. The undead quickly overran the government and put themselves in the seat of power. During the wars 35th year they moved against the Mithil soldiers along with their undead soldiers aiding the mortal ones pushing them back behind their mountains, destroying their encampments and winning the battle. To this day today the two empires are still at war with neither one of them having any stort of advangate as when one side pushes over the mountains to the other, they are forcefully pushed back as the Mithil have the dwarves and gnomes of Frathwarí and the Falthren have their vampires and undead hordes.Rise of The Hunters
With their inner disputes resolved the vampire council sought to gain control over the upper class of the cities, this resulted in the founding of The Healing Church which was dedicated to no god instead it was a place where one could receive healing from the healing blood which was found down in The Bellow. This blood could cure any disease though it was highly intoxicating and the nobles got hooked on it, and with The Sanguine Council controlling the flow. Though with the rise of The Healing Church more and more beasts began to show themselves throughout the lands, and they were infecting others with The Scourge of The Beast was spreading like wildfire among some of the smaller villages and cities. To this end The Sanguine Council formed the Church Hunters who worked with The Healing Church to rid the land of Beasts. Though the hunters tried to protect themselves they were not immune and so some of their own began turning causing great amounts of trouble within their circles and paining the Vampires who wish for the whole ordeal to be over with. While everything else is happening The Black Mist is still darkening the skies above the Falthren empire, with the youngest generation of Falthren people having never even seen the sun.The Falthren People
War, famine, sickness, roaming undead and beasts are all things that contribute to a short lifespan and the Falthren people have long since accepted their lives to be short. These hardy people just enjoy warm food and a bed to sleep in because that is really the best they could hope for. Among the Falthren people family means everything and the people put their family above the ruling councils of where they live. A peasant would take up arms against just about anything if it meant to protect his family, as it is to many the only thing they have in the harsh landscape. Travelers better do well to get to know the local customs to avoid suspicious eyes following them, and best not lay their hands on the peasants daughter or catch trouble from her whole family. Very few seraphs have managed to retain a foothold with the arrival of The Healing Church, but one that has managed to stick around is The Lady of Vengeance. Vengeance is important among the Falthren as none of them believe in turning the other cheek. A highly forgiving Falthren is likely to bring dishonor to their family and risks the chance of being thrown out to preserve the respect of the rest of it. With how much the Mithil Empire has hurt the Falthren people they see the nobility as heroes for driving them out of their lands and back behind their own borders. And will follow them without question as long as they do not feel wronged. The focus on vengeance is so strong that even the ruling vampire council try to not make their punishments personal, as when a Falthren has sworn vengeance they will pursue it single mindedly even if it means their ultimate demise.
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