Town History

Britain - A Kingdom Rebuilt

Britain, the once shining capital of Britannia, faced devastation as the Codex War ravaged the land. As enemy forces closed in, its residents took shelter behind the formidable walls of Castle Britannia. There they remained, enduring bitter sieges that razed the surrounding town to ashes.

When at last the war ended, Britain's survivors emerged to find their great city laid waste. Where towering spires had stood now only rubble remained beneath smoke-filled skies. Yet rather than abandon their ancestral home, Britain's people set to work rebuilding within the castle's mighty walls.

Shops and homes found new life carved into the stronghold's sheltered corridors. The open courtyards became thriving marketplaces, the beating heart of a town reborn. Though much knowledge was lost, Britain rose gradually from the ashes, its new character defined by compassion and resolve in the face of loss.

Now Britain stands renewed - no longer a kingdom's capital, but a humble yet vibrant community. Its castle foundations remind all who walk its streets of sacrifices endured to endure against the darkness. Here Britain's residents carry on, their indomitable spirit guiding the land towards a new era of hope after history's darkest chapter.

Buccaneer’s Den

Among Britannia’s eastern isles, few lands remain as shrouded in mystery and menace as Buccaneer’s Den. A lawless hive of scum and villainy continues to endure, harboring only those willing to live by the pirates’ code.

In the chaotic aftermath of the Codex War, control of the isle passed between countless warring factions, each spilling blood in their lust for power. Through fire and sword the buccaneers carved their realm anew, abandoning all pretense of civilization.

Fortunately for traders plying Britannia’s seas, the pirates’ thirst for plunder now outweighs any urge for outright slaughter. Merchant vessels pay tribute to avoid ransacking, their cargo contributing to Buccaneer’s Den’s thriving black markets. Within, all goods forbidden or too disreputable find willing buyers and sellers.

At the isle’s heart stands the Den once more, its taverns and fighting pits ever rowdy. Here outlaw captains congregate, plotting raids and tallying spoils between bouts of revelry. Territory disputes still erupt into fierce clashes along Rumrunner’s shores, a visiting ship an easy target caught amid such chaos.

Yet for Britannia’s many scallywags and rogues, the lawless shores offer refuge without judgement or constraint. Within this untamed free port, might and merciless cunning remain the only arbiters of power and prestige. And so the pirates’ enclave endures, awaiting those willing to brave its tempestuous shores.

Cove - Shadows of Cove

Where the mountains once cradled Cove in safety, now only looming stone bears witness to tragedy. For it was from beneath these ancient sentinels that the orcs tunneled forth, betraying the tranquility of this sanctuary.

None remain who recall the reverence Cove commanded as a center of healing arts. Its mighty wall is all that remains. Within, only dust stirs at restless breaths of wind through broken archways.

Yet among the mountain passes some signs remain of Cove’s people. Here and there, etched runes preserve their final prayers and parting words for any who might find solace in memories of what once was. “Taken without warning”, one inscription laments, followed by a soul’s last vigil for loved ones left to an uncertain fate.

Rumor tells that deeper still, in forgotten fastness of stone, orc warrens endure. There remnants of that mountain realm’s dark victory manifest in bestial murmurs and the ring of hammer on steel. Few now dare venture where vengeful spears once fell, and orc patrols eye new prey with feral grins.

Cove’s legacy survives only as a reminder of trusted walls betrayed, and lives rent from homes without mercy or justice. Its empty walls stand as monoliths to innocence destroyed, shadows of a past when peace embraced these lonely heights above the world below.

Jhelom The Isle of Deeds Defended

Among Britannia’s towns, few withstood the invasions of the Codex War so staunchly as the island stronghold of Jhelom. Situated within the Valorians and long pilgrimage for warriors, its people were well-practiced in the arts of battle.

When word came of hostiles advancing across Britain, Jhelom’s citizens mustered arms and armor, forsaking comforts to fortify shorelines and hone skills of steel. The northern and southern Valorians fell switfly, yet the central isle endured weeks of brutal siege before invaders conceded to storm no further.

Through it all, Jhelom’s moongate served as lifeline, ferrying supplies from mainland havens still standing. And so provisions held even as corpses piled high around the isle. With each assault repelled, morale within walls grew while enemies’ waned.

At war’s end, Jhelom emerged among Britannia’s few sole undefeated cities. Where once tents sprawled between drills, now cottages shelter families in peace. Though sentinels still stand watch, no threat troubles the waters surrounding that stout fasthold.

Within, tales of the “Siege of Jhelom” join an anthology of triumphs remembered each winter’s hearths. Their deeds immortal in song and memory, the people of Jhelom passed to legend as a valorous few who held when all seemed lost to Shadow’s growing dominion.

Magincia - Walled Wealth

As war threatened Britannia’s shores, the wealthy merchants of Magincia leveraged their vast fortunes to fortify their tropical settlement against invasion. Vast stores of gold secured mages and materials for constructing an immense wall separating the town proper from the surrounding wilderness.

Further inland, workshops and mansions were adapted into defensible compounds should the outer fortifications fail. But Magincia’s lavish defences held firm even as cities across Britannia burned, sparing its aristocracy from joining commoners in flight.

Behind their wall, Magincia’s elite carried on untroubled by horrors engulfing the mainland. Extravagant masquerades continued as scheduled, and social fineries evolved heedlessly of the age’s upheavals. To this day the settlement remains a bastion of indulgence, largely unchanged but for even gaudier fashions.

Yet time’s passage has weathered Magincia’s barriers, as vines consume even the sturdiest ramparts. Parts of the wall have collapsed into the encroaching jungle, forcing increased reliance on hired guards and mercenaries. But within manicured courtyards, the nobles remain willfully blind to erosion of their pampered remove. Their wealth yet enables pretense of isolation from a world moved on without them.

Minoc - A New Minoc

High within the protective fastness of Crescent Mountain, a community perseveres in solace from turmoil below. Where Minoc once thrived by the northern sea, now its people have found refuge among stony peaks and woven lives from rock and rare earth.

When word came of Cove’s fall, Minoc’s leaders acted swiftly. Under veil of nightfall the town emptied, all seeking shelter in stony fastness looming above. There skilled miners and smiths went to work with all speed, carving dwellings from living stone.

Beneath clouded skies the new settlement took form, rising meticulously from the mountain’s bones. Home by home, shop by workshop, New Minoc emerged from persevering hands. And as invaders’ threat faded to memory below, no wish arose to return to lives formerly known.

Isolation has bred self-reliance, yet open arms also wait any fellow Briton needing respite. Behind stout natural ramparts, New Minoc endures proudly apart yet sympathetic to lands below persevering still from warmongering’s bitter fruits. Secure within crags their ancestors hollowed, here a people chose eternity over oblivion and built community from mountain’s very heart.

So among craggy peaks a sanctuary remains, shelter to all seeking solace on life’s rocky way. New Minoc stands as testament to souls who from peril fashioned peace, and found home where lesser travelers see only hostile stone. Their story shall not be forgotten.

Moonglow - Guardians of the Arcane

Perched upon the isle of Verity, Moonglow has long stood as a beacon of wisdom in Britannia’s darkest nights. When shadowy forces first encroached during the Codex War, this bastion of honorable magic rallied allies from afar with an urgent call.

Under veiled moonlight, Moonglow’s scholars emptied shelves and archives, ferrying all that could be carried to the sanctuary of the Lycaeum. There, intricate wardings were reinforced by arcane hands, focusing Britannia’s last wells of learning within hallowed halls.

As invaders’ tide washed over mainland shores, none could breach the Lycaeum’s mystical veil. Behind it, sages yet unlocked mysteries, committing all to protected tomes against a time when peace may let pens write freely once more.

Now, with Britannia gradually rising from ashes of history’s most tragic era, Moonglow’s scholars remain vigil at their post. Guided ever by honesty’s flame, within the Lycaeum’s refuge they nourish small lights of intellect against darkness’ return. And when shattered lands have fully mended, they shall emerge once more to spread illumination through nights made interminable by fanatics’ rage.

On this island, guardian mages stand vigilant, keeping the flame of hope alive for any who survived to see the new dawn. They provide solace through preserving knowledge against those who would suppress wisdom. The mages honor the virtue of honesty above all else, unchanged by the fluctuations of fortune.

Ocllo - Refuge of New Dawn

The secluded city of Ocllo endured the Codex War secured within its island aerie. While chaos raged across Britannia’s plains, invaders found Ocllo’s cliffs and narrow passes treacherous to assault. Many a ship was dashed against its rocky shores, unable to find safe harbor.

Behind the stout walls and fortifications erected by its masons, Ocllo repelled what invaders survived the perilous voyage. Though tested brutally at times, their defenses held firm, sparing the city from the devastation below.

In the aftermath, Ocllo lifted its veil of solitude to welcome survivors seeking refuge. Weary souls from across the land made the arduous journey to its heights, finding sanctuary to heal and begin life anew. Ocllo became known as a place of rebirth for those broken by war’s horrors.

Now, over a generation later, Ocllo remains a diverse haven for newcomers looking towards the future. Within its tavern halls, tales of inspiration overshadow stories of sorrow. And on its training grounds, new heroes hone skills to serve Britannia’s renewal.

Though the land still bears scars, Ocllo guides wayfarers towards hope rekindled. Its people understand the trials of war, and so their compassion runs deeper for those still piecing lives together after history’s darkest chapter.

Serpent’s Hold - Legacy of the Silver Serpent

While Britannia bled around it, the island fortress of Serpent’s Hold endured the turbulence of war untouched. For here the elite knights of the Silver Serpent held fast, manning shores against any who would invade their sacred isle.

When gargoyle fleets closed upon Britannia’s coasts, the Order mustered arms with preternatural speed. Fortifications were strengthened, provisions stockpiled to withstand an inevitable siege, and every able body put through rigorous training. Behind steel-hued banners the people rallied in spirit, committing body and soul to the defense.

Through seasons of conflict the Hold stood as bulwark against the tide. No force could breach the Serpent’s vigil, their borders impenetrable as the warriors within. Only with victory’s turn did Serpent knights stand down from constant vigil, their isle remaining one of few lands left whole.

Now in times of peace, the Order maintains its sacred charge, while below their stout walls villages have thrived in generations of protected farmers and tradesmen. So Serpent’s Hold endures, a sovereign island-state whose people will never know subjugation, kept secure through devotion to soldiers whose valor defied annihilation’s attempted conquest.

Skara Brae - An Island Reborn, Again

When word reached Skara Brae of invading fleets massing, its people scrambled to prepare their island redoubt for imminent siege. Resolute that no hostile foot would tread their sacred shores, families dismantled homes nearest the coast to clear fields of fire.

The ferry linking Skara Brae to Britannia was scuttled to block any channel-borne assault. Behind barricades of stone and steel, the settlement stood ready, unwilling to flee their cherished isle’s protection.

The onslaught tested Skara Brae’s defenses brutally, yet the people repelled each assault with cunning and courage. Though half the town burned before the hordes withdrew, Skara Brae endured unoccupied - bloodied but unbroken.

In the rebuilding, a great wall was erected to shield the island’s heart from future threats. The ferry was left sunken in its berth, a lasting warning to invaders. Now Skara Brae’s folk go about their lives once more in the shelter of their island, sentinels ever guarding against calamity’s return.

The town remains wary of outsiders who cannot prove themselves worthy of trust, but opens its gates to all demonstrating integrity and compassion. Within their walls, Skara Brae remembers well those who stood fast and saved their home against impossible odds.

Trinsic - Honor Reforged

Where battlements once guarded a jewel of Britannia, now crumbling towers stand reclaimed by verdant windswept shores. Yet among ruins of Trinsic, the virtue she championed lives on in hearts unvanquished.

When invasion storms first swelled, Trinsic’s bulwarks held against the churning tide through discipline of arms and strength of will. Paladin and peasant stood united with shield-brothers worldwide, resolving to prevail or pass gloriously into song.

Though walls fell at last in that fateful siege, the people’s mettle withstood even that blow. Led by those who carved legend in battle, survivors regrouped amid rubble to rebuild from ashes with honor’s flame undimmed.

Now upon foundations of sacrifice and sacrifice, Trinsic rises anew. Her stones are hewn through shared toil; her homes shelter families bound in bonds that outlast any fortress. And upon battlements walking, sentinels stand vigil as in ages past, ensuring none shall threaten the dreams of lives freely given in defense of virtues eternal.

So where destruction razed her former visage, Trinsic lives on in souls of her sons and daughters. Her fame is carried forth through ages still to see Britannia flower once more through faith that triumphed over tyranny’s darkest siege.

Vesper - Sunken Sanctuary

Where once fertile shores cradled Britannia’s sea town town, now only restless tides whisper of Vesper’s fate. When war first loomed, most residents fled westward towards uncertain salvation. Those remaining prepared for inevitable siege, yet none foresaw the cataclysm soon to befall their island city.

As conflict engulfed the land, chaotic forces unleashed magics to drown Vesper beneath merciless waves. Its last defenders vanished beneath the unrelenting swell, their final vigils claimed by the depths. Only crumbling walls and bridges remain visible below the surface, lonely sentinels standing over countless lost souls.

In later days, daring explorers have delved the sunken city’s convoluted passageways, seeking artifacts and knowledge from eras drowned forevermore. There they found streets turned perpetual midnight zone, remnants of lives bound eternally to the settlement they could not flee.

So Vesper remains, its hallowed halls open to those bold enough to brave the stygian waters shrouding all below. Within its silent walls, treasures of eerie beauty tempt plunder yet guard secrets that may be best left undisturbed. For what tragic tales or vengeful spirits still haunt those lightless depths, none can say. Only the sea holds vigil now over Vesper’s fate.

Wind - The Sealed Sanctum

As war’s dark tide approached Britannia’s shores, the reclusive mages of Wind took drastic steps to protect their isolated sanctuary. Already wary of outsiders, Wind’s elders invoked powerful magics to seal off access to their mountainous domain.

Behind newly fortified walls and illusory veils, Wind’s residents carried on their scholarly pursuits undisturbed by the chaos engulfing surrounding lands. Supplies were rationed and rituals focused on maintaining the etheric barriers securing their community against invasion.

Throughout seasons when other cities fell to fire and steel, Wind remained untouched, its existence all but faded from memory. Only when the Avatar at last triumphed did its mages reluctantly emerge, finding a world nearly unrecognizable from the era they had secluded themselves against.

To this day Wind endures in solitude, its entrance a puzzle that few can discern. Its people walk tranquilly through days and nights focused inward, indifferent to the lands below that have renewed themselves over long generations. Within their timeless halls, it is whispered secrets lay protected that the outside world must never know.

Yew - Rebirth Among the Trees

When war swept Yew away, nature reclaimed the land as its own once more. Ancient yew trees, for which the settlement was named, spread roots through rubble, their boughs soon obscuring all signs of habitation.

The displaced residents took refuge in Yew Abbey, rallying around its fortified walls as clashes raged throughout Britannia. There they remained for generations after the Avatar’s victory, building a makeshift town amidst monastery grounds.

In later years, as order gradually returned to the land, effort was made to rebuild Yew in its ancestral home. The old jail and courthouse were restored, bastions of justice and law. But the surrounding woods remained domain of druids and mystics, who jealously guarded their wild realm.

Tensions grew between Yew’s civil architects and those who cherished the untamed forest. Eventually the druids united under a champion called Lord Oaks, who now claims authority over the woodlands. Backed by primal magics, he enforces his edicts ruthlessly, leaving the rebuilt Yew to manage surrounding farmlands and pastures.

So the town endures half reclaimed from history’s upheavals, its full revival challenged by those who found power in the land’s scars. Yet its people remember Yew’s heritage proudly, and work to fully restore that noble vision one day.

The Lost Lands

Beyond Britannia’s western shores, Delucia and Papua remain shrouded in mystery. It was to these distant lands that many refugees fled, hoping to escape the horrors of invasion sweeping their homeland.

For a brief time, magic protected them from the tides of war. But with the Avatar’s fateful destruction of the Codex, some say the magic cloaking the Lost Lands vanished. Once more the western waters raged as in eras past, barring all access.

And so Delucia and Papua receded back into the mists of legend. None can say what fate befell the exiles who had found refuge within forests thought lost to memory. Some contended they yet survive, sustained by magics unknown. Others claimed the lands were but phantoms, their inhabitants long ashes on Britannia’s funeral pyres.

To this day, no ship venturing into the western deeps has returned with word of living souls within those clouded domains. If any trace what became of the Lost Lands and those who sheltered there, such riddles remain theirs alone to solve. In memory they endure only as questions left unanswered, one more mystery in an age defined by turmoil and loss.