¶ World Lore & History
¶ Lux Brumalis
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¶ Provinces
The world of of Lux Brumalis is split into nine major city states, each with their own unique people and stories, these are:
¶ Gratia Lunae (Moon's Grace)
The sound of gulls are never out of earshot when one walks down the famous boardwalks and through the busy harbours of Gratia Lunae, its people also darting as franticly as the birds, moving cargo and goods from warehouses to ships. It can be a shock for outsiders, particularly those of Solstice fervent areas to see devotion to the Goddess Nox in such open display, the people here are reliant on the tides she brings and so the Goddess of Death here is respected and her blessings are sought.
The district boasts many important and impressive structures, but none more grandiose then the Moon Pool, a gigantic hub of shipyards and drydocks that construct, repair and maintain the armada of ships needed to transport the various trade goods the world needs and many merchants will not deal with ships of lesser quality, built in lesser ports.
Behind the slick streets and endless warehouses lies the Bayou, these marshlands stretch for miles and are home to smaller communities that mostly keep to themselves, untrusting of the bustling city on their doorsteps that encroaches on their land bit by bit every day, and the people that damage their delicate home.
¶ Artifex Regio (Artists Region)
Artifex Regio is a city alive with sound, scent and movement. Where music drifts through every street and creativity is woven into daily life. The air carries the warmth of fresh bread and sweet pastries, mingling with the sharper notes of paint, oils and newly worked wood. Every corner feels intentional, filled with murals, sculptures and structures that reflect the individuality of those who create them.
By day, the influence of Solstice is unmistakable. Sunlight is captured and reflected through glass and pale stone. It bathes the city in warmth and colour, while open spaces invite performance, collaboration and shared expression. Life here feels forever renewing with growth and creativity encouraged at every turn.
As night falls, the city does not fade but transforms under the quiet reverence of Nox. Lanterns cast soft, shifting light across darker works of art and music becomes more intimate, measured and reflective. The night brings a different kind of expression, one that embraces stillness, shadow and depth without diminishing the vibrancy of the day.
Artifex Regio stands as a city of two halves that exist in complete harmony rather than opposition. Light and shadow, Solstice and Nox, they are seamlessly intertwined, creating a place where all forms of expression are welcomed and celebrated. A place where every individual is free to shape their own identity within its ever evolving tapestry.
¶ Lux Montis (Light of the Mountain)
Lux Montis stretches wide beneath an open sky. Where the mountain’s shadow never quite reaches. The first thing you notice is the light, constant, warm and unbroken, spilling across fields that seem to go on forever. You hear it in the rhythm of the place too: tools working soil, laughter carried on the breeze, the low hum of people who are busy but never rushed. It feels steady here, like everything moves with purpose but without strain.
The air is rich with life. Fresh earth, cut grain and the sweetness of ripening fruit linger as you pass between rows of crops and small clusters of homes. Meals are shared openly, often outdoors with long tables and easy conversation, as though abundance is something meant to be experienced together rather than kept. There’s a quiet pride in the work here, not boastful, just understood.
By day, the land almost glows. Sunlight settles into everything, be it the fields, the buildings or the people themselves,it gives the whole region a sense of ease and prosperity. It’s the kind of place where smiles come easily, where even hard work feels lighter under the warmth of it all and where the presence of Solstice is felt not through grand displays, but through simple constant growth.
And yet, just beyond the rise of the mountain, hidden by its vast shadow, lies a very different world. The contrast is hard to ignore once you’re aware of it. So much life and plenty exists here, while just out of sight others struggle without it. The distance between the two is small in measure, but vast in reality. Close enough to imagine reaching, yet far enough to remain untouched.
¶ Umbra Montis (Shadow of the Mountain)
Every thing in the sun casts a dark shadow, the same can be said of the great mountains that provide the world with its bountiful food, Umbra Montis is a forgotten place, hidden away in the darkness and left to fend for itself the people of this area are hardened like the ground they try to build their lives on, the lack of influence of either church is as obvious as it is needed, for no proselytizers would be welcomed even if they wanted.
Their once was signs of development but all were dashed as quickly as they came, but the little infrastructure they left has become the beating heart of the criminal empires that operate out of this dour, and sickly place, stone buildings last much longer then the rotten shacks the destitute can build and so these have been become safe havens of business best done in the shadows.
And if only the people of this easily forgotten patch of poverty had enough to deal with, whispers of the savages in the wastes moving closer, attacking those who dare venture out, and otherwise threatening what little hope there is, things are never looking bright deep within the Shadow of the Mountain.
¶ Magia Turris (The Magic Tower)
These dark woods hold many secrets and through the thickets and brambles it also hides many dangers, for those who would seek the knowledge of the academy of magics without its blessing find themselves on the wrong side of the warped woods, and gnarled thorns, although if one has the permission, or the fortitude, they will find themselves standing face to face with the great onyx black gates of the Magia Turris.
Part school, part laboratory, the great ashen tower holds all the arcane secrets of the world and spends its sleepless hours divining new ways to use the esoteric arts for those who wish its power, with enough housing around the tower to accommodate the many students and faculty, it has become an isolated, insular community, worried that those unworthy of passing the dark woods test might steal their work.
Although in recent years rumours of voices and campfires deep in the dark wood have been circling, whether these are lost students, opportunistic thieves, or an even more secretive communities that live in the darkest undergrowth, no one who learns the truth has survived to tell a soul.
¶ Clamor Metallum (Screaming Metal)
Sharp edges and sheer cliffs dot the impressive mountain range, often dubbed the "jewel box" of the world almost every ingot used by the craftsmen, and every gemstone by the artisans sees its first light in these mountains, its mineshafts and caverns run deep into the peaks into places Solstice's light would never reach, but faith in the Goddess is stronger here then even some temples, it seems the lack of her light in the depths makes those who delve appreciate her blessings when they can.
One of the church of Solstice's most impressive buildings, if not for its size but its location, is a small temple built on the peak of the tallest mountain in the range, its stained glass perfectly captures the sun throughout the entire day and built high up to stay bathed in her light as long as possible, the monks who live this high up are seen as some of the closest to Solstice's light, and many of the high priests start their journey here.
The mountains are not without their danger however, its name comes from the great howl that bellows through the peaks and passes like a scream of death, what makes this deafening noise worse is not knowing if it is simply the wind rushing through, or a great dragon roaring on the hunt, for the peaks are the favoured nesting grounds of the great lizards and many a life has been snatched in their talons.
¶ Aurea Porta (The Golden Gateway)
All the gold in the world is not enough to sate the greed of some, and the mints and treasuries of the Golden Gateway produce coins to keep the wheels of commerce turning and then some, feeding the pockets of the Nouveau riche and burgeoning middle class whose livelihoods can be summed up as a percent point on every transaction in the world; honesty has no place, and heart has no home here where finances and money move like arrows in a storm.
at the centre of the city lies the grand exchange, one of the newest jewels of the world, but don't let the glass and glamour of this enormous hall distract you or it will bewilder your senses and leave you without a single coin to your name, all in the game of finance. If however you look behind the sharks and bait you can watch investments and futures deciding the fates of lives they will never know.
Security is paramount in this financial powerhouse with mercenaries and solders in equal number all watching for any suspicious activity and protecting the investments of their employers, as such crime is almost non existent on these busy streets, at least not violent.
¶ Aurora Palatium (Dawn Palace)
Structure, order, and power, these three things are woven into the very streets of the Palace district, whether it be the rich smooth marble walls that clad the parlour houses and temples, the light touches of gold snaking like rivers through the walls and décor, to the lamps that flicker and shun the darkness even in the dead of night, you can feel the power that the church of Solstice wields here, a fitting home for the nobility, and the command structure of the Solsworn.
Away from the prying eyes and the delicate hands of the nobles you can find yourself in the heart of the Solstice war machine, great fortresses and military institutions that form the backbone of the armed forces and constabulary tasked with keeping order in this chaotic world, the Hearthstone Keep has survived countless battles against the untamed wilds and is a beacon of hope for any fervent to Solstice.
Of course there is a requirement of distraction from the affluent who call this city home, and the lavish nature parks, untouched by the advance in technology, to the mountains and tundra where the novel sport of skiing has taken root in the hearts of the young thrill seekers, Aurora Palatium's wealth and power can be felt in each corner like the warm rays of the light of Solstice.
¶ Caligo Vulcano (Mist Volcano)
It is a strange feeling to walk the soil of death herself, you feel her steely eyes watching you through the ash and mist of the great Volcano, waiting for its opportunity to strike, and it never has to wait long. Some have called the Mountain of fire the only light in Nox's eye, and the ever changing landscape would be hard enough to travel even if it was not also blanketed by the thick fog that smothers any life that dares to try,
The few souls that are daring or devoted enough to survive in this most hostile environment are certainly the closest in the eyes of the dark Goddess, each waiting for their chance to give their lives and souls to Nox, The stronghold of the Nocturn, the fallen souls of those who have given everything and more to Nox for all eternity.
An unknowable, hostile, and ever changing hellscape; where death is around every corner and its people welcome her.
¶ The Radiant Core
Written by jceballos833
A people bound by the belief that all creatures begin their journey unrefined, and are forged through trial, discipline, and purpose.
We hold many guiding principles but one that stands the most “we are not born strong, we are forged.”
At the center of our city burns the eternal flame granted by Solstice, not as a deity we worship, but as a constant we understand. For it is through fire that all transformation is made possible.
The flame does not choose who you become, she reveals it.
Our society is ordered by stages of refinement as rank. All things begin with Stone and Tin, where we learn through endurance and imitation the ways of our people and those before them.
Progressing further leads us to Copper and Bronze, where responsibility and identity take form, this pushes us to choose our paths of Steel or Silver
The path of Iron and Steel embody strength, discipline, and action.
Whereas Gold and Silver take shape in diplomacy, clarity, and truth.
Above all stand the Great Flames, who lead through example and represent the unity of all aspects of refinement.
We do not pursue comfort, as it weakens resolve. Instead, we guarantee that what endures the flame is changed, and through that change, we are forged stronger
¶ Facta Alvearium
Written by profmachine
While Solstice and Nox rise and fall, the people toil. They sow and reap, make and break, build and destroy. Most people have little time to write down what is happening all around them, if they can write at all. Their deeds, big and small, have a home in Facta Alvearium.
The city is dedicated to the recording and sharing of all knowledge and populated by people who go forth, collect this knowledge, and then return to Facta Alvearium. Each person is a member of an Ordo, which they join for life. The city center is a large circular building, The Principalis, housing much of the world's general knowledge with other smaller circular buildings, The Alvearia, for the various Ordines to keep and protect their specific knowledge.
Upon joining an Ordo, people shed their former identity, giving up their surname, any titles and inheritance, and take on a new last name representative of their new and final passion. Their lifelong pursuit becomes the selfless dedication to the gathering and preservation of one particular type of knowledge in service of this world.
As Facta Alvearium is interested in the collection and sharing of all knowledge, some adherents to Solstice or Nox have, at times, looked disfavorably upon the good works of the People and Ordines of this great city.
¶ Cor Vallis (The Valley of the Hearth)
At the centre of the Continent is this island, inhabited only by the Solsworn. The Cor Templi (The Heart of the Temple) lies near its center, defended by a garrison of loyal Solsworn. Little else is known of the island.