Dum Ramil

Shifting Sands

Eons ago, a massive entity known as The Eternal Empire stretched across the continent of Herja, its people achieving a prosperity that would be seemingly unattainable in today’s world. They built impressive feats of architecture, mastered arcane fighting techniques, and were masters of art as well as literature. At least, that’s what some historians believe, as all that’s left of them now are abandoned cities, surrounded by a seemingly infinite desert. One such city was actually adopted by a new set of owners—and has found itself among the prominent powers not just on the continent, but across the entire world.   A new chapter in the history of this land opened a few thousands years after the collapse of the Empire, when someone set their sights on the deserts of Herja. Ragon Stormrider. He was a Lord hailing from the coast of Kallonia and made it his mission to learn more about Herja to expand his influence past the ocean. Bringing a small fleet and plenty of crew, he began his journey. Sailing the seas was something he was used to, but the treacherous journey across the Desert of Kartagis left him like a fish out of water. He met a variety of small tribes on his journey but he and his crew had a couple of close calls—especially when encountering the terrifying, mutated beasts of the desert. Eventually, the group encountered a massive city, its walls reaching out to the sky, almost standing in defiance against the natural order of life and death.  

The Forgotten City

Venturing into the city through its dilapidated gate revealed a sprawling complex of houses, buildings, and monuments— but no people. The architecture seemed foreign—equally as impressive as it was strange. Everything seemed to have been abandoned a long time ago, but the walls still stood high and proud. Traveling through the city, the crew found many ancient books and scrolls, written in an indecipherable language. Picking one up, Ragon’s mind was suddenly filled with various images and knowledge foreign to him. The insights gained from the scroll allowed Ragon to grasp the fundamentals of a lost fighting technique from the days of the Empire—The Steelfist Arsenal. A subtle desire for power and control also entered his heart at this time, but it went largely unnoticed by the people that surrounded him. Creating a temporary base in the city was a must for him, as the discoveries here were too huge to leave behind. As the decades passed, rumors of a massive desert far to the South, full of treasures and artifacts had reached the ears of many tavern goers. The only respite from the brutal conditions from the desert was a lawless city, open to everyone. Many people took the journey to the city, either looking for treasures or searching for a fresh start. At first, growth was stable, but the more people came into the city, the more fearful Ragon became, eventually founding the Steelfist Gathering, an institution created to control the city and everyone in it. Over the years, he became stronger than anyone and mastered the technique that he gained, becoming the sole dominant power in the city.  

The First Sects

As the city grew in size from its immigrant population, many people found their own technique scrolls and artifacts, looted from the houses or discovered in ancient ruins. Despite this, the Steelfist Gathering strictly forbade others in the city to practice any kind of techniques and required everyone to give up their artifacts. Of course, those who chose to serve would instead gain access to these resources. This led to the creation of many secret societies, today known as Sects, that taught others techniques and shared information on Sacred Artifacts.   The number of conflicts the citizens had with the Steelfist Gathering rose with time, until Ragon himself started purging the Sects whenever he found them. Soon, he became suspicious of even his own followers and it wasn’t long before he began executing random people in the city. Nobody is fully sure what happened, but some claim he was possessed by rage and attacked anything or anyone indiscriminately, causing all of the Sects to call a state of emergency. Once rallied, the people fought back, but they were cut down. The battle came down to the wire, and ultimately an artifact was used to seal Ragon’s body and soul, freezing him in time and unable to act. Despite this, it could hardly be called a victory—many ended up dead, and Ragon’s sealed body spread a red mist which caused anyone that breathed it in to go into a frenzy, making part of the city uninhabitable. The Steelfist Gathering was disbanded and its members either fled or went into hiding, opening the way for the Sects to take the main stage.  

Dawn of a New Age

With such a large power vacuum in the city, the surviving Sect Leaders took the initiative and established an official state. The official name they chose was Dum Ramil which means “Strength above All”, taken from the Eternal Empire’s tongue and used as a grim reminder of how they got here. A council with 20 seats was created, made available to only the strongest warriors in the city. Thus began the modern history of Dum Ramil, as trade with other countries grew more prevalent and various sects became powerful entities that could rival entire armies in strength.

Belief in a Cruel World

The people of Dum Ramil do not follow any particular religion as most of the people are migrants and the amount of different faiths is almost the same as the amount of people in the city. Some decided to form their own religions, such was the case with the Rageblood Cultists. They believe that Ragon was an apostle of The Eternal Empire’s god of War, and the technique Ragon learnt allowed him to directly channel the power of that god. Whether or not this is true remains to be known, but one thing is for sure—they are definitely dangerous.

Conflicts across the Waves

Dum Ramil considers itself to be neutral in the war between Dragsa and the Redoe Alliance, although there are some Sects that are in conflict with the pirates from the Scareguard Archipelago.   Their stance towards the Disciples of Chaos is more neutral than any other kingdom, yet their influence cannot be ignored. Dum Ramil lives thanks to its trade so the destruction of all the kingdoms on the east side of the continent was not something they could brush off. At the present day, they have only two options. First is trade with their western neighbors, who need to cross large expanses of the desert before arriving near their first settlements. Not the fastest trade route. The second option is trade with the kingdoms beyond the sea, but this route goes directly through The Scareguards Archipelago—a territory under the control of the Republic of Misty Waters. And that brings us back to the Misty Water’s pirates. Their existence makes trade much more difficult. On top of that, frequent heists resulting in the theft of Sacred Artifacts deter a number of traders as they feel less safe while transporting goods across the Sea. To this day, there are many stolen Artifacts that have yet to be found, despite their powerful effects catching the eyes of some really nasty individuals.

Teleportation Trade

Dum Ramil’s economy is reliant on the Teleportation arrays that are found all across the Desert of Kartagis. At least after arriving at one of them, as none are located near beaches. Created by The Eternal Empire, there are several ruins that are connected through these arrays. Of course, all of them are under the control of various Sects and using them requires paying a hefty sum. Still, they are a much quicker and safer option than crossing the expanse of the desert. The teleportation arrays also allow them to be a large exporter of luxury goods—mainly relics from the Eternal Empire or rare materials from desert creatures. Due to a lack of natural resources in the sands of Kartagis, they are reliant on trade for numerous materials—be it ore, textiles or even food. While they don't lack skilled craftsmen, they are forced to use imported goods to turn raw materials into something with more utility. Then these things are sold for a healthy profit to the people of the desert. Thanks to this bustling exchange almost anything can be found in the city, as long as you are willing to pay the right price. It is also worth noting, that the use of these teleportation arrays is restricted by the fact that they only allow a certain amount of goods and people at a time, and need to recharge after each use. Currently, nobody knows how these arrays work, but they never seem to run out of power and seem to fix themselves if some elements are broken. Despite this, nobody is sure what limits are on these repairs, so several Sects call for higher restriction of their usage and better guards.  

Sacred Artifacts

A considerable part of Dum Ramil’s economy is supported by the various undiscovered Sacred Artifacts and Techniques left in ruins and crypts around the desert. Adventurers from across the world will travel to the city in order to join expeditions organized by the Sects, but their presence alone is beneficial as they pay for their stay. An expedition is an organized dive into an ancient ruin or abandoned city and the Sects pay a lucrative premium for this service, but the adventurers must risk their lives and give up any valuables they find. These artifacts usually go into the Sect’s vault, but in times of need, they can even be sold to various powers across the world.   These artifacts can even help to generate income on their own, by providing unique services or products. These can range from a workstation that allows the construction of magically infused equipment to a staff that can pull valuables out of the ground. There is no limit to the strange tools created by the Eternal Empire and some can even be duplicates, but they are all useful to some degree.  

Mutated Beasts

The Desert has many different beasts that underwent mutation during the fall of the Eternal Empire, and resulted in some creatures being hunted for high quality materials. Most notably, Basilisk Eyes are seen as a very rare commodity, used in brewing and rituals. They are able to turn most living creatures to stone with just a look and are thus very difficult to harvest, but the bounty for one is often quite large. While most adventurers don’t make it back, those that do are celebrated as accomplished warriors. Another highly sought after good are the scales of a Sandwyrm. They make for the perfect desert armor being both lightweight and resistant, but only the richest Sects can purchase them.  

Tribal Exchanges

Citizens and Adventurers regularly trade with the various tribes of the desert. Whether its a Lamia Warband or some traveling nomads, they almost always have something valuable to offer. The Lamia often hunt rare beasts for their blood, but don’t mind trading the materials they gather. Not everyone is as easy to trade with, though. The Jannah to the east are a group of mages that turned themselves into semi-immortal elementals. They are usually hostile and hunt adventurers in the desert, but some Sects have resorted to kidnapping and selling people to them in return for knowledge and artifacts. In secret, of course.

Sects & Their Role

Most of the citizens of Dum Ramil are in one of the Sects— they are organizations that people join for safety and to grow stronger. Sects may only allow other family members to join, or may be open to everyone, only demanding a test of skill. The requirements to join are all dependent on the individual Sect. Joining a Sect is the biggest decision one can make— once someone joins, they are most often required to swear an oath that they will never betray or leave the Sect, making their choice a permanent one. These Sects give their members access to resources that would usually be unattainable for them, such as Sacred Artifacts and Technique Scrolls, but also offer basic services such as food and a place to stay in return for doing jobs for the Sect.   Turf wars are common between Sects as they can often have opposing ideologies or philosophies, but they are usually the result of personal disagreements between their members which escalate into full blown conflicts. The area and influence of a Sect controls can often change because of these wars, and some Sects can even end up being wiped out as a result. Internal disputes are not unheard of either, with multiple Sects originating from larger ones that fellapart. Of course, not everyone is part of a Sect. There are many people that are either not strong enough, or do not wish to align themselves with anyone. As adventurers from foreign lands often come to the city, they are also not part of any Sects, but the same is also true for foreign traders…  

The Land of Warriors

The culture of Dum Ramil is reflective of its past in many ways. Years of harassment from the Steelfist Gathering made the people value strength as a way to protect themselves, but the population ended up overcompensating, creating a warrior culture in which only the strong survive. Open combat within the city happens regularly except for the Trade Quarter (as it is under the private protection of the Golden Tongue) which can make it dangerous for anyone unfamiliar with the city. As a form of entertainment, some will choose to fight in The Ring, where a Sacred Artifact prevents lethal wounds and allows for fights to happen more often. Despite this, there are some that prefer to put everything on the line. An Honor Duel is a fight to the death between two warriors with no outside interference, where the winner takes everything the loser owns, including their life. Betting on these fights is a popular activity, as match fixing is much more difficult if the loser dies and both parties openly swear an oath to uphold honor.  

Founding a Sect

Many Sects exist within the city, with the vast majority consisting of small groups that band together in the Shrouded District. Having someone in the Sect with a seaton the council isn’t necessary, but is the only path to having any influence within the city. The only thing a person needs in order to found a Sect is some land within the city as well as a color they want to associate with, but this is often easier said than done. Sects are usually hostile to any newcomers, and many colors are already claimed, forcing things to be settled with a fight.   A Sect will usually have their own unique fighting techniques, taken from The Eternal Empire. Each Sect also has a dedicated Sect Leader, the person responsible for leading everyone. They are most often the strongest person within the Sect, and would have full access to their own treasury, where they would mainly keep any artifacts the Sect finds. There is no shortage of people looking to grow stronger in Dum Ramil, but the easiest way to find new members is to recruit the adventurers that travel to the city for expeditions.