StoneWolf18
Within the Depths of a Dream
Now, I have been playing a bit too much Dishonored as of late which soon gave birth to...I don't even know what the hell it is or where I want to go with it. So if anyone would be so kind as to toss in their two cents, please don't hesitate. ^^
And before you ask, NO. I am not intending for this to be a medieval zombie apocalypse.
Carstvo. The greatest empire in the this medieval world. When they had begun as a much smaller kingdom, many didn't think they would survive due their strange customs. The ruler known as the Empress, a woman with her husband in second command. That, however, wasn't the only backwards law they had. Humans and those of other species were allowed to live in peace among all districts and not segregated like they were in many other nations. Although there was one very specific thing that made them no different than their allies and enemies. Their military was a religious order, swore to serving their god, Voluna, and persecuting all those who didn't practice or followed their own path. This wasn't that much of a big deal, however. Rarely were people tried and or burned at the stake for supposed witchcraft or other such “evil” doings. And it remained that way for decades until they grew to the size they are now, ever prosperous in trade and manufacturing.
Up until a year or so ago.
The plague then broke out. No one was sure how it had started, yet it is carried by the filthy rodents that are found on most street corners. With no official name, it had been dubbed, “Carstvo’s Bane” or “The Rat Plague.” Already killing off a fourth of the population, it was clear there was no discrimination against age, gender, race, or class. It was mainly rodent-borne yet was also transferred by bodily fluids. Symptoms of one who had been infected began as a simple cold that then progressed to bleeding from the eyes and gums along with slight deterioration of the brain which kept the infected in a delirious state until their eventual death via organ’s rupturing causing immense pain. No other nations had seen anything like it and quickly refused help, not wanting to risk their own people. Blockades had been formed, borders shut off, leaving the dying empire to fend for themselves. Now the military has been forced to become more strict, bullying everyone from the lowest peasant to the strongest noble just out of spite and fear, having to remove those with the illness out of the few districts still in operation out into those that had been long left to rot with the many corpses and rats that remained there.
Yet the question on everyone’s mind aside if there was a cure, is how it began?
That's the interesting part.
The military of Carstvo is known as The Discipleship of Voluna, and unlike common belief, it's a cult dedicated to the worshiping of a forbidden goddess that many had been shunned for following in the past. Unhappy with the current rule, the overseer, the one in charge of the military as their sick priest of sorts, had fasted and prayed vigorously day and night for a way to take what was rightfully theirs. His pleas answered, the man cried tears of blood, an ordinate stone chalice to collect them. Being the first infected, he managed to convince the more faithful of his men to drink, thus causing them too to be carrying the disease. Yet once they had gone mad and died, rats feasted on their corpses but were immune, now responsible for the continuation of the illness...
Up until a year or so ago.
The plague then broke out. No one was sure how it had started, yet it is carried by the filthy rodents that are found on most street corners. With no official name, it had been dubbed, “Carstvo’s Bane” or “The Rat Plague.” Already killing off a fourth of the population, it was clear there was no discrimination against age, gender, race, or class. It was mainly rodent-borne yet was also transferred by bodily fluids. Symptoms of one who had been infected began as a simple cold that then progressed to bleeding from the eyes and gums along with slight deterioration of the brain which kept the infected in a delirious state until their eventual death via organ’s rupturing causing immense pain. No other nations had seen anything like it and quickly refused help, not wanting to risk their own people. Blockades had been formed, borders shut off, leaving the dying empire to fend for themselves. Now the military has been forced to become more strict, bullying everyone from the lowest peasant to the strongest noble just out of spite and fear, having to remove those with the illness out of the few districts still in operation out into those that had been long left to rot with the many corpses and rats that remained there.
Yet the question on everyone’s mind aside if there was a cure, is how it began?
That's the interesting part.
The military of Carstvo is known as The Discipleship of Voluna, and unlike common belief, it's a cult dedicated to the worshiping of a forbidden goddess that many had been shunned for following in the past. Unhappy with the current rule, the overseer, the one in charge of the military as their sick priest of sorts, had fasted and prayed vigorously day and night for a way to take what was rightfully theirs. His pleas answered, the man cried tears of blood, an ordinate stone chalice to collect them. Being the first infected, he managed to convince the more faithful of his men to drink, thus causing them too to be carrying the disease. Yet once they had gone mad and died, rats feasted on their corpses but were immune, now responsible for the continuation of the illness...
And before you ask, NO. I am not intending for this to be a medieval zombie apocalypse.
