Mesania Canon

Nobility and World Builders will edit this thread as the backstory evolves. Mesania is a growing, changing world, and does so through the roleplays on this site. Certain roleplays will be chosen as canonical, and any changes they make to the world will be recorded here, permanently written into the country's history books. If you have something to add to the canon, contact a World Builder.

Places

Just like any other world, Mesania is made up of places. Good places and bad places. Secret places and public places. Safe places and dangerous places. Fun places and dull places. Dungeons and homes. Bedrooms and bathrooms. Castles and shacks. Bars and brothels. And it is in these places that stories unfold. Here, you can find details about any significant places. If you have a place to add, contact a World Builder

Mesa

Mesa is the largest, and capital city of Mesania. The city itself isn't visible from the outer walls, though the mountain it's located on can be seen from almost anywhere in the surrounding countryside. In the six hundred years it's stood, from it's beginning as a small group of hunting lodges in the mountains to its modern state as a thriving metropolis, Mesa's inner wall has never been breached. The fields between the mountain's sheer slopes and the outer wall are littered with the ruins of catapults, trebouches, canons, encampments, and all manner of other instruments of war long abandoned by would-be conquerors.

Mesa owes its imperviousness to the topology. The city is located on a mesa which juts out of the west side of the mountain, which in turn lies at the bottom of a deep, miles-wide valley which is ringed by the city's outer wall. All forest has been cleared from the terrain between the city and the wall, and the land slopes steadily down to the lake surrounding the mountain. The city, as a result, has a perfect, unobstructed view of everything on three sides, with no hills or copses of trees for an attacking force to hide behind.

The third side had been obstructed by the mountain until Mesa built the famous Eastern Watchtower, perched on the east side of the mountain opposite the city. The mountain below it is honeycombed with tunnels leading to canons aimed east, making any attack from the city's blind spot just as deadly as one from the west.

Thanks to a long-standing partnership with the Mages' Guild, spells are in place that disperse any enchantments meant to conceal an attacking force from view. These spells have the happy side effect of forcing anyone approaching the city to reveal any illicit goods or ill intentions to city guards or a resident Mage as soon as they see one. The spells protecting the city are complex and prone to deterioration, so the Guild keeps a group of Mages there at all times to maintain them.


Bordering Nations

Sea

To the west, Mesania is bordered by an ocean that is largely unexplored. Most ships stay close enough to land to see the shore. Those that venture farther though have come back with stories of ghost ships, pristine islands, bizarre geological formations, sea monsters, and in one case after a voyage several years long, a ship returned to port barely afloat, everyone on board dead or missing save for the captain, who told a story about after drifting lost for years, making anchor at random islands in hopes of finding food and water and people, they saw a land with huge shining spires that looked like crystal, metal boats as fast as fish, and flying machines flitting about everywhere. Fearing they had stumbled into the afterlife or some other place mortal men weren't supposed to find, they had quickly turned around. He said the route home was treacherous though. While they somehow had the good fortune to find themselves on a straight line for Mesania (so he realized when the ship arrived) the journey was so treacherous it killed his whole crew and nearly sank the ship. He refused to tell anyone in detail what happened though.


Andraste

Mesania is bordered on the north and east by Andraste, a militaristic, expansionistic nation. A high wall stretches the length of the border from the western ocean to the border of Sian, and is patrolled by royal soldiers, Blue Moon Coven Shadow creatures, and is protected by the Witches and Mages with powerful enchantments. Magic is scarce in that region, and Andraste relies heavily on technology and industry to take the place of magic. Their technology is mostly based on steam power and springs and clockwork, and they have a well-developed flight program involving zeppelins and other lighter-than-air airships. The wall and surrounding area are often the site of minor battles and small skirmishes as Andraste continues to test Mesania's defenses. Of late, Mesania's tactics have gotten more aggressive, with attempts to push Andraste back and claim territory from them. This is largely due to Arthur Ranion being promoted to General of the Royal Army. He feels that if Mesania is to be free of Andrastean attack, they need to take a proactive, aggressive stance to discourage future incursions.

Andraste has an expansive, totalitarian government that strives to control every aspect of its citizens' lives, from the way they dress to what they eat to when they can leave their homes and where they can go. The country has four Bureaus which keep an iron grip on the populace. The Bureau of Information tightly controls the exchange of information throughout the country. It operates the only news outlet and constantly broadcasts propaganda to every radio in the nation. The Bureau of Defense manages all of the nation's military activities, from attacking and defending neighboring nations to quelling civilian uprisings. It has a sub-bureau called the Department of Intelligence which works closely with the Bureau of Information. The Bureau of Justice handles matters of law and order, and oversees the police force. Church of Ascendency is the fourth bureau, though it doesn't make it obvious that it is such. Using the national religion of the country, the Church generates prophecies and coverts Andrastean law into religious scripture. It also brainwashes zealots to be used as fanatical soldiers by the military.

The government keeps its citizens in line by keeping wars ongoing (their expansionist foreign policy, obviously, has dual purpose) and fabricating fantastic lies about the neighboring countries to keep its citizens terrified and positive that only by allowing the government complete control over their lives can it keep them safe. the church keeps them believing that only by perfectly obeying their government can the people reach ascendency when they die. It also maintains a vast rebel network used to route out real radicals, and also to frequently attack civilians, thus giving the government an enemy on the inside to allow its people to feel it is reasonable in controlling their lives. It's all for their own good.

A real rebel movement is in place in Andraste though, largely supported by Sian and to a smaller extent, the Baron of Caul of Mesania.


Sian

Only a small sliver of Sian borders Mesania, though this nation and Mesania are on good terms. The nation was formed after a citizen uprising was successful in forcing Andrastean military forces out of the area. Sian is heavily industrialized like Andraste, with similar technology, but uses their technology mostly for the production of consumer goods, rather than military hardware. The weapons they do produce are almost entirely used for fortifying the border between themselves and Andraste. Sian's magical community is made up almost entirely of Alchemists, many of whom journey north to study at the Mesa University or join the Alchemists' Guild.


Galatia

To the south is Galatia, a small kingdom with little in the way of military or economy. Galatia relies heavily on Sian and Mesania to keep it safe from Andraste, and often goes out of its way to stay in good favor with its northern allies.

Galatia's main export is medical knowledge, and their doctors and magical healers have saved countless lives throughout Mesania and Sian. The Blue Moon Coven usually sends a couple of Witches there every year to study as healers, and many have come back with healing powers far beyond anything the Coven itself has devised. All attempts to learn from the returned students have failed, and Coven healers have said that Galatia's healing instructors are mysterious figures, remaining cloaked and hooded all the time. No one has ever actually seen one's face, and it's theorized that they use a kind of hypnosis magic to implant some of the healing knowledge directly into the student's subconscious, to make sure that only approved teachers can teach their arts, so that unfriendly groups don't get unauthorized instruction.

Groups and Organizations

Mesania is made up of a wide variety of groups, ranging from educational, to illegal, and everything in between. In the beginning, these groups are disjointed, and mind their own business, but as stories progress, they will become increasingly intertwined in increasingly complicated political and economic relationships. Alliances will be formed, and ties broken. If a change needs to be made to a group, or one needs to be added or removed, contact a World Builder.

The University

The University of Mesa is the first and only official educational institution in Mesania, and people come from all over to study there. The University offers a diverse curriculum consisting of everything from history, chemistry, astronomy, and mathematics; to alchemy, spell casting, astrology, and divination; to swordcraft, hand-to-hand fighting, strategic thinking, and game hunting. While the courses taught by the University are useful and informative, many of them are merely introductions to their subjects, and anyone wishing to master a craft would have to approach a Guild for more in-depth, specialized training. The attraction of the University though is that a student can learn a great deal about their subject that can be useful in every day life without devoting their life to the craft. For example, the Alchemist's Guild could teach someone to turn a single drop of water into a raging waterfall, but not everyone will need that kind of knowledge.

While the more arcane arts are presided over by Guilds, the ones specializing in the earthbound sciences like math, chemistry, biology, astronomy, and others act as divisions of the University, providing accessible and in-depth study.


Sword Guild

The oldest guild in Mesania, the Sword Guild is not where all swordsmen are trained, but it is where the greatest come from. People come from all over the world in hopes of training at the Sword Guild, though only a special few are ever accepted. Each swordsman will take on an apprentice to teach everything he knows to. Everything about making, maintaining, and fighting with his sword. The Guild is governed by a council of six Master Swordsmen and one Bladelord. The Bladelord has the final say in all matters, though he can be overruled by a 4-2 vote of the six Master Swordsmen. His vote also breaks any tie.

In addition to swords work, Guild apprentices learn about making, wearing, and caring for armor, history, metallurgy, and farming. For other fields of study, they have to get their teachings from other guilds, or enroll at the University in Mesa.


The Mage's Guild

Mages deal primarily in ethereal magic, bending reality to their will. Mages are the only sect of magicians able to actually conjure new matter out of nothing. While Witches and Alchemists sometimes use the term "conjure," only mages are capable of true conjuring.

The Mages' Guild was founded centuries earlier by the successor of the first Royal Spellweaver. He felt that people needed to be taught the magical arts if Mesania was going to thrive and flourish, but his teacher felt that only carefully selected individuals should be allowed to learn. They compromised, and founded the Mages' Guild. Everyone enters the Guild as a Novice and works their way up through the ranks, with the Master Spellweaver devising a test to asceratain each guild member's readiness to advance to the next rank. When someone is granted the rank of Spellweaver, Grade I, they may take an apprentice of their own. They may take only one, and they are responsible for that apprentice's training and progress. If the apprentice they choose is incompetant, or poorly behaved, the Spellweaver will be punished along with their apprentice, and if the apprentice is expelled, the Spellweaver will be demoted and will have to re-earn their old rank. The reasoning behind this is that Spellweavers will only choose the most capable for apprentices, keeping the Guild strong.

Mages are born, not made. Only those born with the natural talent of the Mage can learn the arts. Being a Mage is like having red hair or brown eyes: it isn't about what you know, it's luck of the genetic draw. Even so, not everyone who has the gift will be chosen by a member of the Guild to learn to use it.

The Alchemist's Guild

Alchemists deal in physical magic, although many of them will insist it is not magic but science. Alchemists primarily work through a process called transmutation, where matter is broken down into its base elements and reassembled. The most powerful alchemists can break down matter on a subatomic level, turning metals into liquids and wood into gas.

The origins of the Alchemist's Guild are shrouded in mystery, largly because of a catastrophic fire that destroyed their laboratories and archives, and with them a book chronicling the history of the Guild.

The Alchemist's Guild works similarly to the University. Anyone can join and study with the Guild, making them about the most open Guild there is. However, poor performers are quickly cast out, and anyone who fails to turn air into water - the very first thing taught since the fire - is considered a failure.


The Blue Moon Coven

The Blue Moon Coven is a secret society of Witches shrounded in more mystery than the Alchemists. To become a member of the Coven, one must be born into it. Even though outsiders may be granted honorary membership for great services to the Coven, even they are only allowed to scrape the surface of the group. Witches deal mostly in the most ethereal magic, in reading minds, communing with spirits, and the summoning of shadow creatures, beings from other dimensions given a semi-physical form. Some can fly, most are animalistic in apprearace, like huge, anthropomorphic wolves and bears, and some sport guns that require no shot and no ram, and can down a dozen enemies in seconds. The Witches which summon these creatures are called Shadow Masters, and the most powerful of them, the Legion Masters, have summoned creatures bigger than elephants, and groups of shadow people manning a single huge canon, capable of launching a ball many miles.

Witches also work with natural magic, with herbs and plants and parts of animals, and with bending the elements to their will. Powerful Witches can summon or disperse thunderstorms and even natural disasters, though only one Witch in history has ever been known to gain that much power, and she is long gone. Those that specialize in directing the elements wield fire, lightning, wind and water like weapons.

Their capabilities are not solely destructive though, as the Witches of the Blue Moon Coven have often performed great acts of charity and healing. A Witch encountering a traveller in trouble will often stop to help, using their power over the elements or summoning shadow creatures to aid them. More than once the Coven has rescued the Kingdom's people from natural disasters or brought rain when droughts became so bad even the Mages found themselves unable to alleviate the water shortage.

The Blue Moon Coven resides in a magically shrouded castle far to the south of Mesa, thought to be the land's original seat of power prior to the founding of Mesa. Anyone approaching will find themselves right back where they started, even if they only walk in a straight line. Anyone who actually reaches the castle somehow will only see a vast network of walls and broken archways, with all else collapsed or filled in. The castle will appear to to have been abandoned for thousands of years.

To members of the Coven though, it's a magnificent castle with turrets reaching for the sky, of black and grey stone, with shadow creatures and Stunts (exceptionally inept Witches and Warlocks) patrolling the battlements in enchanted armor.


The Black Magic Society

A small coven of outcasts from the Blue Moon Coven, these Witches and Warlocks are truly evil, though their small numbers keep them from ever doing any real harm. Most were thrown out for particularly evil deeds or for betraying the Coven. Little else is known about them.


Theives' Guild

The Thieves Guild is a quasi-legal guild of, as the name implies, thieves. Their headquarters is located deep in the tunnels beneath Mesa, most of which are long forgotten. Founded by the King of Thieves just over a century ago, the only way into the Guild is to be invited by an existing member. Thieves are stealthy and adept at both spotting and avoiding security measures and traps, and so are often employed by the Royal Army as spies and espionage agents.

The Thieves' Guild operates on a strict code of ethics, never taking more than they need, never stealing from other Thieves, and never killing. Thieves are not murderers.

The Thieve's Guild is also involved in overseeing several highly organized gambling operations, as well as a prostitution ring. Of course not everyone plays by the Thieves' rules, so the Thieves employ mercenaries to protect these operations when things get out of hand.


The Orphanage

The Orphanage is a guild of mercenaries. They're mostly made up of swords- and bowmen, but there are several Witches, Alchemists, and Mages among their ranks, many of them outcasts from the other guilds. The Orphanage, unlike the Soldiers of Fortune, is choosey about the jobs they take and will only take jobs they consider "noble," or at least fair. They refuse to attack the unarmed, and will refuse to fight any opponent who is obviously far below their own skill. These are rules which have been in place and enforced since the first group of five began calling themselves the Orphans.
The name arises from a famous exchange between two of the founding members, where one asked "what would our parents think?" To which another replied, "we gave up the right to parents when we decided to trade blood for money."
Anyone joining the Orphanage is required to break off all ties to family. They feel that as people who take money to kill and destroy, they are unworthy of the luxury of families. They break ties to remind themselves that what they are doing is morally wrong, and also that those they kill likely have friends and families who will miss them. It's also to protect their families from the retribution of enemy survivors.

The Orphanage considers the Soldiers of Fortune to be an amoral band of thugs and murderers, and will take almost any job that brings them into conflict with the other group. They consider their one constant goal to be that of irradicating the Soldiers from Mesania.


Soldiers of Fortune

The Soldiers of Fortune are another mercenary group. Far less ethical than the Orphanage, they will take any job they consider to be worth the payout, and as a result have made themselves popular among the darker side of Mesania. Their willingness to take on almost any mission, no matter how needlessly violent or cruel, has made them popular among those of Mesania with hidden agendas, as well as bringing them into conflict with the law, the military, and The Orphanage. Many members are outcasts from other guilds and from The Orphanage.

People

People are the backbone of Mesania. Without people, it wouldn't exist as country, and nothing interesting would happen. Find out here about the important ones that history remembers. If you or someone you love is a memorable person, get in touch with a World Builder to have them added.

Mesanian Noble Families

Mesania is ruled by several noble families in a distinct hierarchy. There are gaps in the nobility due to families being added or eliminated. Some recent political turmoil has added to this, though the nation is currently enjoying a state of relative calm and stability.

Archer

The Archer family is made up of King Lionell and Queen Alia of Mesania, and rules over the region of Mesa. They also control the Southern Highlands and Lake Country regions by default since the ruling families had their noble rank stripped and were sent into exile. The King is often impulsive, and can be stubborn at times, unwilling to yield and quick to jump to rash action. By contrast, Alia is a gentle woman who prefers to find peaceful resolutions, and frequently reins in her husband, being one of the only people who can.
The Archers have no children, as Alia is barren. Despite the urging of his advisers, the King has chosen not to father a child by another women, nor to find a new Queen to provide him with an heir. Though they haven't named him yet, the Archers have stated that they have already selected an heir to their throne. This has caused much speculation and gossip among the other noble families, but the Archers refuse to say more on the subject until they feel it's the right time to do so.

Drake

The Drakes ruled the Southern Highlands from their castle city of Dragon's Keep until their disgrace and exile. When Viceroy Elliot Drake's eccentric son' home burned down and the young nobleman was found beaten and stabbed in the ruins, the Drakes took advantage of the situation to eliminate several people with whom they'd had disagreements in the past. When the Archers found out that these people couldn't even be reasonably suspected of the crime, and had not even been given trials, they stripped the Drakes of their nobility for the offense of usurping the power of the throne and exiled them from the country, and had Elliot Drake executed. The family currently resides in Galatia.

Seaver
The Baron Desmond Seaver reigns over the region of Caul, and is generally known as the Baron Desmond of Caul. He is a stern, no-nonsense man and doesn't tolerate disobedience or defiance. He ascended to the nobility from the military, his reward for leading a successful campaign against Andraste. He is the nation's foremost expert on the Andrastean military and thus has been given almost total autonomy to act as he sees fit to protect the border.
The Baron has two daughters, Alianna and her younger sister Abigail. The Baron's wife died shortly after the birth of Abigail, and since then he has lived alone in his home of Sentinel Fortress.

Alianna
Known commonly as Alianna of Caul, she is the eldest daughter of the Baron, and also the least favorite of his two children. Alianna is more concerned with things that the Baron feels women have no right being involved in, so she never really got the best of her father's attention. Instead she was either scolded or ignored, but when her gift for magic developed in her early teens, that was the final straw and the Baron, who, having never harbored any love for magic, sent her away. She took the opportunity to travel to Mesa and study magic first at the university, and later with the Mage's Guild. While at the university she also took up archery, hand-to-hand combat, and game hunting. Though she was never very talented with swordplay, she gained a reasonable level of skill with small knives.

Hold
The Holds are one of the oldest noble families in Mesania. They have held the Ducal rank since before the Archer family took the throne, ad have always held their fiefdom with a quiet kind of class that has earned them the respect of many members of the nobility and aristocracy. The Holds control the northern region of Great River from their fantastical city of Aquer, which sits suspended above the Regent River. Their region is smaller today than it once was, since they've willingly given up much of the northern portion to the Seaver family, allowing them to take over the duty of protecting the northern border.

Evelynn
Evelynn Hold is the eccentric Duchess of Great River, a woman prone to flambouant outfits and lavish parties at her estate in Aquer. Her husband, Zachary, son of the Viceroy Elliot Drake, married her for her money and noble rank and doesn't share her passion for social gatherings, and both have take consorts under the understanding that their marriage has no meaning beyond money and politics.
Evelynn is also positively obsessed with the idea that someone is trying to poison her, and insists o overseeing the preparation of everything she is supposed to eat herself.

Theology

Mesania has a diverse theology (which is still under development. Their current beliefs haven't been established yet, but I'm thinking something that maybe evolved from the myths of these "Original Gods")

Original Gods

The Original Gods are Shadow Beings, similar to those summoned by the Blue Moon Coven Shadow Masters, although they are capable of being completely autonomous and of a huge level of power. They've been absent from the world for many centuries, though their myths have lived on.

Rookyill

God of the sea and sky, appears as a giant serpent. Also controls the weather, and those who still pray to him do so for favorable growing weather, which he provides if he's so inclined. He rises out of the sea every evening to devour the sun, and night is his abyssal maw enveloping the world.

Dison

God of the Earth, plants, animals, travellers and the sciences. Created the world itself, and creates a new sun every morning to replace the one eaten by Rookyill the previous evening. Most pray to him for a safe journey and for seeds to take and livestock to do well, requests which he usually grants, which has lead to a long period of prosperity in Mesania. Also gave man Alchemy. Appears either as a man in a white cloak holding a hammer in one hand and a walking stick in the other, or as a beaver, nature's great builder.

Cleotara

Goddess of intellectual and creative pursuits, learned arts and sciences, and literature. Also holds dominion over life, death, creation, and productive destruction (Destruction as a necessary part of the creation of something else). Taught Dison how to make the world and sun, and taught Rookyill how to eat the suns made by Dison without getting burned, to pit the two against each other for her amusement. She appears as a phoenix, symbolizing the endless cycle of life and death, and the rebirth of each student as a teacher of others, and then a student again as they continue to learn. Also appears as a tall woman dressed in light blue robes with golden wings, and holding a golden staff topped with a cut emerald. Though she, like the other Original Gods, has almost no followers, her statue stands outside of the University in Mesa.

Morgoth

God of war, or more accurately, violence in general. Also, unproductive destruction. Delights in conflict and bloodshed. Appears as a huge wolf with red eyes and a bloody muzzle. Though he is always in favor of killing, he shows preferential treatment to those who kill for a cause, any cause at all, and do so with honor. One who doesn't fight for an ideal, one who kills for no reason, who doesn't even enjoy killing, won't see any kindness from Morgoth. He often gets into disagreements and fights with Cleotara, and sports a large bruise on his face from her staff.

Lianna

Goddess of tricksters, pranksters, thieves, gamblers, monetary and business ventures, and luck. Appears as a girl in her mid-teens wearing green. She's very playful, and likes to steal things and move them around to confuse people. She's thought to have instigated the intial fight between Cleotara and Morgoth, though no one is sure. Rumor has it that the Thieves' Guild keeps a statue of her in their headquarters. Also appears as a large gray tabby cat.