2.4 Charne
2.4.1 Description – Charne is a massive ruin that once used to be a bustling city that was located in the middle of the Tulk Valley which is in the middle of the Sarphine Jungle and to the west of the Mindas Rift. It is also located far to the west of Ib. The ruined city is made mainly of dark grey stone that resembles marble. All of the buildings are craved from this stone as well as all of the giant cobblestones that make the streets. The only structure that is not made of this marble like stone is the huge pyramid that sits at the heart of the city. Whereas most of the buildings in Charne are relatively short with flat roofs, the pyramid stands out because if it’s height. It towers over the rest of the city with a lone temple that sits at the very top of it. The pyramid and the buildings within a few blocks of it are the only structures that have not been claimed by the jungle. The rest of the city has been slowly taken over by the plant life of the jungle. Some of the structures on the outer edge of Charne are little more than piles of rubble due to the jungles encroachment. The ruins have been long since picked over by looter and nothing of value remains.
2.4.2 History – The city of Charne wasn’t always a huge city. It started out as a small village. It wasn’t until Sephira and her husband Cain settled there that the village began to grow where it eventually became the city that it was. When Sephira and Cain came to settle in the village, the natives of the village saw a massive population bloom as birthrates jumped and the abundance of food seemed to mysteriously increase. This led to not only the city growing because of natives multiplying, but also growing because of many people immigrating to the area to take advantage of the seemingly supernatural life bloom. Charne grew rapidly until it became the huge city that it was. When her husband died of old age, Sephira became one of the main draws from both near and far to the city since she seemed to have the mysterious ability to cure any ailment short of death and old age. She set herself up as a healing woman in order to support herself, never demanding money or wealth, all she asked was that the people that she helped would help her with her basic needs, food, clothing, and repairs to the home that she and her husband had shared. As her reputation grew in not only the region, but the world as well, everyone wanted her help. This led to the ruler of Charne, a paranoid man, to make decisions behind Sephira’s back by blocking requests for her to travel to other cities to help the people there. The ruler was afraid that if she were told about any of the cases that could not be brought to her that she would leave to go to them and not come back because the people that she would travel to go see would prevent her from returning. This is what led to the Ibians eventually taking up arms against the city of Charne since their requests for the healer had been denied several times. Ib’s king was deathly ill and the Ibians were just wanting Sephiras aid so that their king could live. When the final denial came back to them from Charne, they decided that is she would not come to them, they would go and get her or, if possible, her source of power. Ib brought the full force of it technological might against the city of Charne, slaughtering all that stood in their path. The few survivors of the attack buried their dead and then mysteriously vanished into the fog of history.
2.5 Westerfield
2.5.1 Description – Westerfield is a medium sized city that has not grown much over the many years that it has been around. It is one of about two dozen cities of equal size that make up the Republic of Bethel. Bethel rests far to the south of New Babylon across the southern Andronicus Sea. Westerfield is the oldest city of the state and because of this is the capitol of Bethel. The city itself is not what most would expect of a capitol city. It has a very “wild west” feel to it with how open the city is. There are no real walls around the city which is customary of all the cities of Bethel, instead they have fencing that surrounds the cities with short watch towers scattered along the perimeter. Westerfield is surrounded by many acres of developed farm land that fills the gaps between it and the other cities that form the state. The farmlands all have housing and barns that are close together inside a fenced in area similar to the cities.
2.5.2 Districts – Westerfield, like all the cities of Bethel, has no discernible districts other than a marketplace that is set aside for shops, skilled tradesmen, farmers and traveling merchants. Everyone is seen as an equal as long as they pull their fair share of the work to keep things running smoothly.
2.5.3 The People – The People in Westerfield, indeed all the people of Bethel, are a hardy and rugged folk. They believe that hard work and good strong moral principles make a man (or woman) respectable. Everyone is seen as an equal in the Republic of Bethel and as such, every man has a vote with which they can use to choose a representative who will take a place for two years in that capitol to help create and uphold the laws of the land. There are very few criminals among the people; this is mainly due to the harshness of the punishments for committing crimes in Bethel. The people of Bethel have been tempered over the years from not only hard work but also dealing with the undead plague that comes from the west.
2.6 Yggdrasil
2.6.1 Description – Yggdrasil, also known as “The World Tree” or “The Tree of Life”, stands to the far west of the Republic of Bethel. Its branches once stretched high into the sky reaching higher anyone could have thought possible. The great tree was once green and full of life, supplying and abundance of life-force to the planet. Its massive roots once provided shelter for weary travelers and were large enough that people were known to settle under where they rose up forming a natural shelter. It would take days to walk around the trunk of the great tree, not because of the obstacles caused by the root system, but because the tree itself was just that massive. But all of that is in the past. The great tree is slowly dying. It has been dying for hundreds of years, ever since Sephira was murdered at the hands of the Ibians. Somehow her life-force was tied into the life of the great tree and once she was killed, Yggdrasil started to wilt for the first time since the tears of Sila fell upon it. Now the tree is a pitiful sight to behold. Its limbs are almost completely bear and what few leaves remain are all wilted and blackened with rot. The wood of the tree itself crumbles to the touch as decay has taken its toll. As the great tree withers the life of the planet slowly dies. What was once a lush place full of life is now filled with death. It is believed that the great tree can be restored but, as each day passes and the tree decays a little more, hope is turning to despair.
2.7 Sila
2.7.1 Description – Sila is the silvery western moon. It rises in the northwest traveling to the southeast as it trails across the sky. When it is full, Sila is bright enough for people to see clearly at night, even seeming to break through the clouds to illuminate the earth below.
2.8 Illsa
2.8.1 Description – Illsa is the golden eastern moon. It rises in the northeast and sets in the south west. Illsa is slightly smaller than its sister satellite Sila and instead of putting off a bright silvery glow as Sila does, Illsa appears to be a faint golden glow as it travels the sky. The light from Sila always outshines Illsa with the exception of when Sila is eclipsed by Illsa.
2.9 The Wastelands
2.9.1 Description – The Wastelands surround the city of Ib and are a result of the curse that was placed upon the Ibian people as a result of the horrific nature by which they received the Moonstone. The lands are blackened and filled with twisted coniferous plant life that makes travels though the wastes a dangerous task. Not only do travels in the wastes have to deal with the plant life, but they also have to deal with the strange metamorphic creatures that inhabit the wastes. No one knows where these monsters came from or what they used to be before the Wastelands twisted everything within them. Over all, the wastes look fairly barren as it is not suitable to sustain life for most forms of life in the world.
3. Key Events (not for public eyes due to spoilers)
3.1
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