Runic Age-1

A fantasy world where adventurers delve old ruins and slay magical beasts, while nobles plot and plan at court; where dwarves hammer at their forges, while distant elves shun the outside world. Most Vines lead to the Kingdom of Schild.

Type: Blossom

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Overview

Rune and Ruin is a fantasy setting focused primarily on the Kingdom of Schild, the dominant kingdom on its continent. It's a country with a modest adventuring community, and plenty of ancient forests, forgotten ruins, and dangerous magical beasts for them to deal with. But the true hallmarks of high fantasy are distant or absent; great beasts like dragons are (thought) long extinct or just plain myths, and sorcerors capable of bending reality to their whim with a gesture and a chant are in a similar state. A distant city-state of dwarves holds regular trade with Schild - or at least, with the Dukedom of Crossingway within it. The elves... they're out there. But they don't talk with anyone anymore. No one's sure where they are.

There is magic in modern times, but all of it requires specific implements known as mageblades. The metals and raw gemstones needed to forge mageblades are found in abundance in Crossingway... and scarcely in the rest of Schild. As a result, the province is a hotbed of intrigue; a fact only compounded by the numerous ruins, artifacts of ancient magic, and rare magical beasts to be found there. Duke Bartholomew Georgios de Tenebrae certainly has his hands full keeping order, especially with those jealous or suspicious of his position... and *especially* with the offworlders now showing up through the Vines.

But ever a canny man, Duke Tenebrae has embraced the connecting of worlds with the king's blessing; if he can stand at the forefront of change and reap the benefits of offworld knowledge and trade, the kingdom will benefit deeply... if only he can manage to wrangle those strange, unpredictable offworlders that wander in. And the suspicions of the people of Crossingway. In an effort to forge a better bridge between worlds than he himself could ever be, the duke has named his daughter, Octavia Alicette, to the position of official ambassador between worlds. Only time will tell how Schild and the rest of the tree will interact.

Rune Magic

Most magic in this world is a simple, elemental affair; everyone is born with an elemental affinity. To draw it out, one needs a long, narrow metal implement with a sharp tip, affixed with a special gem - a 'magestone'. One then inscribes runes in the air using that elemental mana, and an elemental spell is created. The various realities of the world have led to the most popular spellcasting implements being rapiers - locally dubbed 'mageblades'. Smaller holdouts, such as 'mage-knives' or 'mage-wands', are also occasionally seen, but not as popular, for their decreased output.

A simple, basic mageblade is expensive, but not cripplingly so; such a blade will only work for a stronger user, leaving those with weaker affinities out of luck. But their relative ease of procurement means that it's common to see the guard of a modest-sized city outfitted with them, just about anywhere in the kingdom. Far more expensive still are the mageblades crafted by the dwarves, using rarer materials, a higher standard of craftsdwarfship, and often engraving a particular user's most favored spells directly into the blade for quicker casting. Almost anyone can get something out of a dwarven mageblade, and stronger casters will find their talents even more pronounced.

Once, both varieties of mageblade were prohibitively expensive. But the discovery of mass quantities of raw materials for mageblades within the Dukedom of Crossingway has resulted in the prices of both dropping. Once the province of only royalty and select heroes of the kingdom, dwarven mageblades are now seen in the hands of almost all the nobility. Even the commonfolk are seeing much more in the way of magic-users than they used to, as common mageblades filter their way downward. Some towns will even spring for the town healer to be given a dwarven blade.

Apart from that, basic potion alchemy exists, helping to serve medical needs alongside those gifted with the water element. Basic magical (or rather, alchemical) artifice exists as well, using a combination of alchemical formulae and differing varieties of gemstone to move raw magical energy and create machinery. Nothing so complex as magical mecha is going to be striding the plains any time soon, but things like airships are an occasional sight.