Darkkling/BernatakHarga

Bernatak Harga (/ber-na-talk/ /har-ga/) is the name of the setting as it is known by the people who live there. To those outside the area, and migrants before they become fully integrated into their new location, this setting is known as the "Seas Above the Winds."

History

The region was discovered by explorers who got lost trying to reach Rathess. The y traveled down the wrong fork of the river and ended up traveling further than they meant to, and in the opposite direction. They eventually reached the region at the mouth of the river to the north where it touches the sea. There they realized they might have found something significant. Investigation of the site leads to the uncovering of massive ruins on the site, probably a large city of some sort. They make camp and explore. Then word is sent back to bring supplies and reinforcements. These arrive after a long time, and the original encampment has expanded as much as it can to become a small town. The people arriving are from all over and many are craftsmen, soldiers and professionals. They build the foundation of what will become.

There aren't enough people, so the explorer influences the Guild to encourage people to resettle, and for the next 200 years, people arrive in slow procession from all over Creation. The Realm takes an interest and sends Immaculate monks and a political representative. After about 150 years though the place is stable and they are mostly self-sufficient. They have expanded East and West into new areas, but few have yielded the same results as their initial find. Guild interest drops off as does strong support, and only a few merchants find it worthwhile to make the journey.

After about 300 years trouble begins in spades. Without Guild forces they lack the manpower to sustain large settlements and the jungle is full of dangers. Colonies begin to complain of hardship due to encroaching jungle, wild beasts in the night, barbarians, plague and evil spirits. The central government is spread thin as are the armed forces. Around 350, everything goes wrong. One settlement is eaten by the forest, almost literally. A messenger leaves to request help and supplies, and when they return, nothing is there except the bones of the settlement, no trace of what happened can be found. In another location, a city is attacked by Wyld barbarians and beastmen; the military forces are destroyed utterly. Another city begins to sense hostility and under the direction of the military everyone flees to the seas, where they know they will never be welcomed anywhere controlled by the ruling government, so they take to life at sea and among the many islands to hide them. The will of the military snaps and mutiny occurs on a grand scale. Troubles near the capital had cause most of them to be recalled, and when news reaches them of the mass desertion earlier, they rest of the military mutinies, leaving the capital en masse eastward to a stronghold where they fortify themselves there. Only the master general remains with the remaining fifth of the military, a force not nearly suited to holding the empire together. The various colonies begin to rebel, knowing that the central government cannot hold them any longer, especially with the troubles they currently face, mainly an increasingly hostile jungle and its denizens. The barbarian culture nearby has grown restless and hostile, revolting in the outlying areas and burning crops and building, massacring the people they find. The central government rallies the people left to the capital, founded in the ruins of another grand city, where they hold position and wait out the assaults. Time grows short though as they essentially have trapped themselves inside with no access to resources. Meanwhile, the rebellious military gathers to the west, waiting for an opening to take the city and take control of everything.

One day a man in black appears and offers them a solution, in return for a single favor of his asking sometime in the future, whenever he should return. They hastily agree and the man in black takes the field against the attackers, wielding sorcery and martial arts against thousands. He slays hostile barbarians by the dozens each second and raises a grand flood to destroy the leading units in the approaching army. Ultimately, he succeeds and returns to the city triumphant. Happy but wary, the ruler greets him and asks his favor. The man in black replies that it isn't yet time and gives them specific means, written down in secret, by which they will know him when he returns. He has yet to return. This battle is the origin of martial art's importance in the region. Afterwards, the ruler used many resources to rebuild his city and forces, adopting martial arts as a primary fighting style for the military and promoting it among the people. Despite history, the capital remains the focus of region due to its control of river access, and all of the other settlements, which are now turning into city-states in their own right, travel there and the martial arts culture permeates the region, with the help of an annual tournament held in the capital. This all happens by around 400.

From here, things progress as they do in a post-colonial setting. Cities develop into city-states and develop their own character based on environment and population demographics and conflicts. Small wars break out amongst various locations. Barbarian attacks and peace, disease and famine, but nothing that rocks the very structure of the region. The Realm purges the Cult of Dark Water from the Immaculate Order, many of the monks flee to various places, a few come here and establish a monastery, supposedly as an entourage from the Realm. There are already a few monks that have established monasteries and temples in the region, but nothing that has the same influence in the Realm(~500 years in). The Cult of Dark Water finds more acceptance here than other variants of the Immaculate Faith due to its focus on Dana'ad and devotion to her. Overall, the Cult, along with the other Immaculates, do much to encourage the martial arts culture, merely by their presence.

Around the same time, a handful of enterprising Guildsmen come together to establish their own form of the Guild, though their success is much less due to the large amount of independent traders on the seas, though many do employ them, especially for longer trips and for the lower costs that they can provide on products from outside due to their contacts among the Guild. The flow of products into and out of the region stabilizes and takes on a predictable regularity. The region begins to develop particular products that are worth money outside, as well as artifacts, and rare and exotic items are brought in for trade and purchase. Mostly though the area becomes stable and self-sufficient.

The present day exists 200 years after the purge of the Cult of Dark Water.

Player Characters

(no player characters have been made yet)

NPCs

(forthcoming)