Fantasy The Lost Continent [Postapocalyptic Fantasy]

[TanteRegenbogen]

Plot: On one of the world's great continents and apocalyptic calamity happened that was stopped before it could spread to the other domains of the world. However it left the continent almost void of sapient life (meaning humans, elves, orcs, ogres, dwarves, goblins). Elements of the calamity still exist, a beast and undead army with no leader split into multiple factions. There are parts of the continent that were virtually glassed, leaving a barren desert and other parts that have been corrupted by a miasma, producing abominations of its former wildlife.

In the other continents, it seems that pamphlets have been spread trying to lure in people to repopulate the continent. The pamphlets are mostly targeted at adventure since they can hold their own against the now dangerous environment.

The pamphlet reads: "Are you seeking new adventures? Do you want a fresh start or a second chance? Do you want to create your own legend as a hero? Come to the lost continent! We await you! Whether it is on the shores of the Blood Coast or in the Plains of the Queendom of Raadalir, there is a new home waiting for you!" On the bottom in fine print it says: "Warning: Only recommended for those who can hold their own. Dangerous creatures roam the lands."

A lot of people think it is a hoax, some think it is a trap by some evil force, but there are also those who have been captivated by the idea.

Seeking who made these pamphlet, the only clue is: "Produced by the homeland ministry of Raadalir."

Stories from others say that the Lost continent is called that way for a reason. They tell that no one lives there anymore except for the ghosts of the fallen and malevolent entities. Other stories tell of a group of heroes that set out to kill a witch in the Kingdom of Raadalir, only to never return. But most stories date the last communication with the lost continent to be decades ago and that no one travels there because any ships that went there never returned.

So you ended up going to the lost continent with a number of others. You and a couple companions you made along the way landed in a village on the Blood Coast to find it at least populated, but in a somewhat desolate state. You fought your way through watch the villages called a relatively safe route towards Raadalir. In the vast land of Raadalir, nearly all towns and villages are uninhabited. There are only skeletons and occasionally ghosts there. The few ghosts who mean no harm and are willing to talk, tell of a massacre of epic proportions and the fall of Raadalir. It seems suspicious since the pamphlets supposedly came from Raadalir. You and your group travel onwards to the capital. While the capital doesn't have much damage, it is at first absolutely devoid of life. But soon you find out that a handful of people live here. These people are mainly the "ruler", a few knights and what remained of the heroes that travelled to the lost continent.

You can also turn in bounties for goods and services. Also you are given a basic home on a plot of land as a start.

Playable species: Humans, Elves, Orcs, Ogres, Goblins and Dwarves.

Note: Ogres here look similar to elves, but with horns and more muscular. Orcs can have green, grey, brown or black skin. Goblins and dwarves are about the same average height.

Magics: There are different kinds of magics. They are elemental magic (fire, water/ice, wind, earth), dark magic (such as curses), light/healing magic (including lifting curses), summoning, necromancy, combat (enhancement) magic, taming magic and abyssal magic (stuff like summoning demons and horrors).

Magics also come in different forms (schools): Ancient magic is based on creating spell circles that require magic to activate but will immediately materialize the desired effect/element. Modern magic uses element aligned mana that first turns into the desired element/effect on target. And then there is unaspected mana which mostly only has use in combat magic for enhancing strength or speed.

The most common dominant form of magic is the modern magic though. Ancient magic is rarely known and usually comes with the disadvantage that it is slow to use unless you have practiced it for decades.

Locations:

Raadalir: Once a vast empire spanning a third of the lost continent. Now it is an almost completely depopulated land after a string of unlucky events. While some managed to escape to the other continents, most of the citizens perished in the calamity. Only a few settlements are inhabited by a handful of people who managed to hold up against the strong enemies and dangerous environment. In the capital, most, if not all of the current inhabitants aren't even originally inhabitants of the city. The current queen isn't of the old royal dynasty as all of the royals and their relatives perished. Basically the calamity came to a miraculous stop when the land was fighting with it's last reserves. It is said that the current inhabitants of the capital including the queen and the remainder of the heroes managed to defeat all of the leaders of the invading forces.

Blood Coast: The Blood Coast is the southern coast of the continent. It is possibly currently the most populated part of the continent with a number of fishing villages and a small town. However most of the inhabitants of the Blood Coast don't dare to travel further into the continent. The Blood Coast may be a good base for adventurers willing to push into the dangerous parts of the continent.

The Glassed Lands: A former nation of the continent, it was as the name implied glassed. Everything within it was scorched beyond ash. It is said that it wasn't the invaders who did it, but a massive spell that went wrong and backfired, destroying everyone and everything in that country. In some places, there are the crystallized remains of people. Literally turned into a glass like substance.

The Miasma Jungle: Former a beautiful forest, now a hell of mutated creatures and toxic air. Always make sure you have a healer here, because breathing the air can damage your health.

The Abyss: A cracked landscape and flowing lava everywhere. A massive dark gaping hole that seemed to have swallowed half of a large city. Most of the rest of the city lies slanted on a massive rock on the edge of the abyss. No one lives here because it is difficult to navigate, too warm and there is fear that the rest of the city will fall into the abyss too.

The Northern Range: A mountain range in the north of the continent. The few who live there are barbarian tribes. Unprepared adventurers will quickly freeze to death there. There could be exploitable mines and dungeons with vast treasures there. But beware of the dragons. The worst ones are undead or miasmic.

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

Asphia the Manaeater

It was a suprisingly sunny day after over a month of grey skies. The capital seemed to have slowly become livelier over the past year. They started off with just a handful of residents, but were up to many dozen, maybe even 150 people. It still was relative emptiness in the city that once had a population of nearly 80,000 before the calamity. This was all through the efforts of the queen and the heroes of Raadalir. The nation was a lot safer than it was years ago, but it was still pretty dangerous and most of the survivors were the toughest the nation had to offer. The rest had either died or fled to the other continents.

The current queen of Raadalir, had put in a lot of work along with the heroes of Raadalir to try to set up a basic functioning nation with some safety around populated areas. But they still needed people and manpower to clear the invaders out of the continent and rebuild everything. They had therefore made a campaign with flyers and sent out a messenger to hand them out in the other continents to lure in adventurers and people seeking a new start. While the turnout wasn't great, still a number of adventurers showed up.

Asphia reminisced of days bygone, when she was an outcast just surviving during the calamity. Well surviving is an understatement. The invaders were wandering buffets for her. They contained much magical energy and even when they had the mana and life sucked out of them, their husks still made delicious meals. The invaders also seemed very willing to offer up their mana to her, at least in Asphias eyes. They attacked her with all their magic just for her to suck up the mana as if it was a long string of ramen noodles. And even if they did physical attacks, she also knew how to defend herself decently. In emergencies, she could just fire pure mana or fire out of her mouth for defense.

While before the calamity, people called her a monster and a blight for being a mana vampire, she embraced the identity during the calamity. But eventually, she found the capital and the remaining three knights in it, whom which she joined. Long time they were the only four in the capital and she made herself a name and got a lot of respect. Eventually, it was agreed that she should be the new queen to lead Raadalir and for the knights to serve and have a purpose again.

With plenty of riches still found in the capital and the need for more safety for Raadalir, they worked towards repopulation and Asphia needed a constant source of mana to quench her nigh insatiable thirst for mana, which her body could barely produce itself. If she couldn't get decent living prey, she would need mana crystals, because she didnt want to ask others for a little of their mana or fall victim to the hunger.

Though back to the present:

Asphia exited her cottage on the grounds of the ruined palace. She wore a knee-length blue-ish tunic with black tights, boots and a cloak. A plain black choker as black as her horns adorned her neck. Some of the arriving adventurers weren't used to seeing ogres as they were mainly found on the Lost Continent and the large archipelago between the Lost Continents southeast coast and one of the smaller continents of the world, though pockets of ogre civilization existed on other continents. The most ignorant would assume her to be half demon of some sort before realizing she was the queen and being explained that Asphia is a female ogre. Other ignorant people who knew of ogres knew of stories saying that ogres were ridiculously strong brutes that ate other sapient species and could tear them apart with their bare hands. While most of it is true, ogres don't just go hunting for dwarves, elves or humans just to eat them. Ogres were far more civilized than that. Just eating such beings if they had done evil or out of necessity.

Asphia went down the steps of the palace courtyard to the central plaza and sat down by the fountain to wait for any adventurers. Someone had come earlier to tell that adventurers had been spotted on their way to the capital.

 

[Eonivar]

The siege had lasted weeks.

The young brash Queen of what was left of Istaria maintained in her stubborness "that that the ancient keep would hold and that they would be delivered by the ancient ways and traditions of the great nation of Istaria."

His forces were overwhelmed at the walls and they fell back.
They fought a running battle back to the inner keep, the royal palace of the Kings and Queens of Istaria, more and more of his forces fell. It was attrition.

His best childhood friend, Ser Benjamin Crowley fell at the main gate of the palace. They fell back.

His own young squire whom he was going to knight if they were to survive this battle, Cam York, took an arrow in the courtyard and died instantly. They fell back.

They made their final stand in the throne room. He took down five armed men himself, his shield shattering, taking several wounds before falling, and watching his Queen run through by her very own bastard brother, another close friend of his. The shock on her face as the blade entered her body. Ending the Istarian civil war and probably Istaria herself. Part of him saw this coming, and thought the young Queen too brash and too overcomfident to rule...much like her father before her.

The bastard, his friend, granted him mercy and peace. They let him go. His name was well known amongst all them, they had nothing but respect for him. They knew he did all he could to fulfill his oath. They knew that everything that happened was not of his choice. They could see that he was done and that he would no longer seek to fight for the green and blue of the now lost nation of Istaria.

They let him go and he left, taking the remainder of his meager wealth granted to him, and going to the Lost Continent to find the piece of himself that he had lost in all of those years of war.

---

An armored tall broad dark haired bearded man mounted on an large armored alabaster warhorse, accompanied by a roped and trailing packhorse appeared at the gates of the nigh deserted city that day. His spear mounted banner shown the device of a black raven in flight on a grey background, as did his shield that hung off the side of the large white horse, its massive hooves echoing on the stone cobbles of the streets. Accompanying them, its croaks filling the air above them, was the knight's avian raven companion.

Ser Morgan Roh, The Raven Knight of Istaria had arrived at the gates of Raadalir.

He shook his head at the raven's audacity. He spoke out at the bird who circled around them, his deep bass voice now filling the area. Hearing that there were some inhabitants and that the tiny settlement seemed peaceful, he had removed his helm and hung it on his saddle.

"Qark! Be silent for once. I do not need an announcement!"

The bird seemed to respond with a croak before going silent. The raven followed them through the quiet streets, the horses and bird attracting the attention of the few inhabitants. He, grateful for some human contact, proceeded as directed by the few locals there to the palace.

The large warhorse trotted as if on parade into the Central Plaza before stopping before the fountain and its waiting Queen.

The raven flew circles above the fountain and landed on top of it, content to watch the happenings from there.

Ser Morgan gazed and regarded the Ogre woman at the fountain quietly, allowing the quiet sounds of the fountain and the winds that blew through the nearly empty city fill the air.

"My name is Ser Morgan Roh, formerly of the fallen nation of Istaria."

 

[Kaylemm]

“Girl, be quiet if you know what’s good for you!”
“Do as you’re told and maybe you’ll get fed today.”
“Oh, her?” The man before her chuckled, his face dark as he didn’t even glance in her direction. “She’s just something I picked up in place of a few debtors. If nothing else, she’ll be good bait so our more important people can flee.”
Ishelia shook her head as looked around, hidden within the only shadow between the final few houses and shops and the dock where she would finally be free. She could not afford to get distracted now. The guild master must have heard from his goons that she had fled, and would have all the escape routes she had thought of covered with those able to capture her.
She had to get out. She had to run away. If not, would lose the last remaining piece of her that made her alive. She had almost lost it, but she will stubbornly cling on for as long as she can before she is forced to part with it.
And this, this was her only chance. The half elf clutched the flyer in both her hands. The paper was already wrinkled and fading in spots from how often she had done this. The Lost Continent; the one place that even the guild master wouldn’t step into without years of preparation. This was the one chance she would get to be free. The one chance to protect her will to live outside of the life of a puppet that she had raised to be.
And right now, the only thing stopping her was the tortuous length of distance that didn’t have a big enough shadow for her to teleport to and not enough mana to summon a minion to distract those she knew was waiting for her.
Ishelia forced out a breath; her mana was almost out, so she would have to make a break for it. She steeped herself before dashing out of the shadow at full speed; helped by a little push from the shadow itself as the last of her mana was used.
Those who were just wondering about the dock immediately focused on her, and at least half of them started for her. She quickly weaved in and out of their grasps, but not without sustaining a few injuries from the weapons they had brandished. She could live with them. They weren’t trying to kill her, after all.
It felt like it had been hours before she reached the boat. She had just managed to make it on the deck, to the surprise of the crew aboard, as it had begun to set sail. Ishelia looked back at the crowd of mercenaries staring back at her; her face not giving way to the ecstatic joy racing through her thoughts and heart. She had done it. She had escaped.
Ishelia slid down the side of the boat, almost collapsing in exhaustion. Mana depletion did not feel good after the adrenaline started puttering out. But she felt the sea breeze on her face, and she let out a small, barely noticeable smile.
She was finally free.

…………..

After a long journey, Ishelia arrived at what seemed to be a deserted city. From the few people she had encountered at the port, she knew this had to be Raadalir, but it was more desolate than she had expected. There wasn’t any obvious signs of life, nor movement that she could pick up on around her.
Well, she didn’t come all this way because she thought it would be easy.
The half elf quickly adjusted the shoulder bag she had procured at the port and walked at a brisk pace toward the center. That’s usually where the important buildings were in places like this, right?
As she walked, Ishelia did pick up on movement in the buildings and alleyways. This made her uncomfortable, so she tugged the face mask up higher on her face so that only her sharp, naturally narrowed eyes showed. She felt like she was now on display, or walking right into an ambush, and both notions made her skin prickle.
As she got closer, she saw two people already there, though one seemed to be an outsider while the other seemed more relaxed; as if they were used to the air and atmosphere of this place. She stopped a ways away from the man and just held out the well-worn out flyer, indicating this is why she was there. She could only hope this is the one she had to seek out.

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

(if the dialogue text color is hard to read or needs better formatting, let me know)

Sitting at the fountain taking in the quietness of the once bustling central plaza, interrupted by the occasional conversation or sounds of footsteps, Asphia noticed the sound of a horse trot approaching her location. The ogre woman looked up as the tall, burly man approached her and introduced himself to her in a thundering deep voice as Ser Morgan Roh. The man was of similar height, if not even taller than Asphia.

Asphia smiled and welcomed the man to Raadalir: "Welcome Ser Roh to our humble city. I am interested why you chose to speak to me of all people here in the city. Has word traveled far enough that people say that an ogre woman holds a high position in Raadalir?" She stood up, put her hand on her chest and bowed to the newcomer. "Then I shall introduce myself. I am Asphia the Manaeater, Queen of Raadalir. I thank you for heeding my call."

Asphia noticed a half-elf woman come into the plaza. It was an unfamiliar face, so she assumed it was another newcomer. "I see we have another newcomer. Why don't you come over here for introductions and a briefing of what I offer you and what you could in turn offer not only me, but the nation, if not the continent itself?" Asphia called out to the half-elf woman.

"Anyways, I will start over. I am Asphia the Manaeater, Queen of Raadalir. Me and my associates that made flyers that were disseminated around the other continents. Though since we don't know all the languages of the known world, the flyers were written in the old lingua francae of Antequesarian and Faucontian, though I doubt those empires may still exist, many probably still know the languages." She explained.

Looking at the state of both newcomers, she tried to make the explanation more brief. "I bet you are exhausted from your long journey here, braving the dangers of the continent, possibly needing weeks just from the coast to here. So I will try to make this brief. In turn for your allegiance and loyal citizenship, I offer you a plot of land and a basic living situation. I don't care what your background is for you could be a former criminal, mercenary, even a general of a demon army. I don't care about it. If you seek a new start and agree to not cause trouble, I will be willing to lend you a hand. But should you only come here to murder and pillage, you will face capital punishment, even if I have to hunt you down myself."

Asphia made a brief pause, before continuing: "For your living situation, I can offer you something within the city or out in the outskirts where you can potentially expand your plot size, depending of your deeds. We have many dangers in our nation and you can be rewarded no matter if you defeat enemies or provide services to those who go on quests. Normal quests can earn you money and resources. But special missions and milestones earn you royal tokens. With royal tokens, you can seek to get more land or gain special perks and services. That about wraps up the summary of your situation here. If you have questions, even questions about me, just ask away."

 

[Eonivar]

He bowed at the Queen's introduction, a measured bow of respect to a new Queen.

Ser Morgan had glanced over at the elven newcomer bearing the flyer, a non-judgmental dark eyebrow raised in curiosity for a moment, giving the elf a bow of the head in respect to the newcomer, before turning his focus back to this horned Ogre Queen of Raadalir with a curious name, Asphia the Manaeater. His deep voice carried and was strong and unwavering.

"I am pleased to make your acquaintance Queen Asphia, I was directed by word of mouth here to these lands and given word of an opportunity for a new life. Either of you may address me as Morgan or Ser Morgan, the title is more of a past formality at this point since the kingdom who bestowed it is no longer in existence. That being said I have spilt blood and spent most of my life with that title so use it if you wish or not, it makes no difference to me. I do not have any bias via kind or gender, I have served Kings and Queens, I have fought alongside other kinds such as elves and dwarves...and i have heard of and respect the might of Ogre-kind. Everyone gets a chance with me, from the poor to the noble."

He paused a moment and then continued.

"I was told of an opportunity to aid in the rebuild of this kingdom. To be frank, I did not know of your name until I arrived here when some of the present inhabitants told me of your position and location, and that you would be the one to speak to in order to partake in this opportunity. I would very much like to assist you in the rebuilding of this kingdom as I too am looking for a new life and a new opportunity."

"I have been trained in combat and to be a knight since I learned to walk. I was knighted on the battlefield at seventeen. I have managed and administered large tracts of lands and households, as well as commanded and managed armies on the field and in fortifications. I am also a trained blacksmith as well as experienced in the raising and training of horses. I have also trained others in riding and combat."

"If you wish my expertise here at this castle, I am happy to stay here and assist in any way I can, otherwise I would like a tract of land to start a smithy and raise horses, as well as as the opportunity to personally go out into the field and take care of any problems the kingdom may have. That, Queen Asphia, is what I seek."