And then to me did she speak, her silver radiance in the deep dark agleam:
"When the Bleeding Moon looms and casts its shadows long and darkness deep, her voice shall call forth in the raven woods where below the trees she sleeps. There, upon the dusken sky a Moon Tear then shall flow for the one who heard her call of sorrow, taken in hand he must cherish well this gift of the Deepest Shadow. And upon the End of Time when all shall wither and die, drink deep he must this Bleeding Shadow, turning the Kiss of Death into the Kiss of Life rebirthing there the Divine in the Time of Strife, she they call the Lady of the Everdusken Sky." - Arcavius 17:4, the Book of Luna Ruica.
As Above, So Below...
The Archmage, the Last of the Ravens, is dying...
And with him, a great age of magic that has lasted for over 600 years.
Thyl, the Continent scarred by the calamity known as the Stormwrack, knows a modicum of peace between its five nations and citystate for the first time in its history.
But peace is never to last...
Somewhere, ancient bells toll.
The moon is close, closer than it has ever been. A bad omen of things to come. And it casts a dark shadow.
Far to the South, at the edge of the Kingdom of Stormbreak, built from the ruins of Ancient Vaz, in the arcane academy of Ravenwood our story begins and takes root.
On the steps to the Gilded Gates, a young Ribbet out of time, a stranger in a strange yet familiar land, holding what yet remains of his beloved brother, ascends to find the answers he so desperately seeks.
At the precipice of the Great Hall, a young Elven ‘princess of ice’ seeks the status befitting her noble heritage, letting them all know, with prestige and pride, that she has made it. Whilst secretly hoping to find her brother.
Waiting at the doors to the Dark Moon Labs is a Half-Halfling, Half-Orc woman who communes with the spirits of nature for that which is most important. Home. Something threatened by a force of darkness.
In the gloomy corridors of Dark Heart Campus, a flamboyant Katari tells tales of her many adventures and seeks answers to the numerous questions surrounding the disappearance of her beloved mentor.
Gazing up at the darkening sky that lies ahead of Moon-View Tower, an old Galapa, wizened but not yet a dullard, senses forces beyond comprehension coming to haunt his present as they did his ancient past.
And at a late night ball, leading up to the first day of school at the prestigious Ravenwood Academy, a lonely little witch girl plots her thieving scheme that strangely sets in motion the unpredicted series of events that will alter the fated end to this ancient tale.
Whilst a young, shy, purple-skinned and blue-haired Elven girl makes unlikely friends who will one day change her life forever.
All the while, a darkness descends upon the land. Something ancient awakens. The Three Headed Dragon plots. The great noble houses scheme and vie for power wherever they can find it. The Everdusk draws near. The truth of this world remains yet obscured behind the thick veil of fog and mystery. And the sands of time are running out...
Most of the setting is comparable to a dark fantasy, twisted version of the Late Middle Ages.
Featuring high & dark magic, swords, machines of war and the first few artillery and cannons.
Whilst the clothing and architectural styles in the Campaign, especially that of higher society, borrows from the styles of the Rococo & Victorian Eras.
The Citystate of Fynd is the most technologically and magically advanced city in the world of the Campaign, and thus borrows its aesthetics a bit from the Belle Époque Era. Giving it a slight steampunk edge, but not leaning too much into it as it still fits with the rest of this gothic dark fantasy world mostly inspired by the Late Middle Ages.
Most of the early Campaign is set at Ravenwood Academy, a prestigious arcane school for magic users young and old who wish to get better at their craft and perhaps become a part of the organisation known as the Alchemists of Ruic, one of the dominant arcane factions on the continent of Thyl. It is at this school that our Player Characters came to know each other.
Ravenwood was founded long ago by the Last Archmage, a member of the Order of Ravens. They who discovered the Arcane 662 years ago and changed the world forever.
Decades after that discovery, with the Old Gods now declared a lie, a magical cataclysm known as the Stormwrack (or simply the Storm) ravaged the continent of Thyl for many years. This cataclysm reshaped the land and brought doom. The Dragons, once a primeval force of the world, were all destroyed. And the Archmages, the Order of Ravens, were picked off one by one by the mysterious figure known as the Lord of Lies.
After the Storm, Thyl, once a continent of five nations divided, came together under the Thylian Council. A then novel institution that still stands today.
Many more wars were fought over the centuries, but now, for the past fifty years, the continent at large has known peace.
The question remains, how long will it last?