Albedos: An Introduction

Haern

Hello, folks! As Razmael mentioned in the January 2013 thread I'm the builder head for Aetolia and currently head the Albedos project. Albedos came under my command roughly a year and a half ago and has seen significant progress. Of course, it's not at the speed I wish it was, but if wishes were fishes, etc, etc.

I figured for the first post I'd overall address what makes Albedos, well, Albedos. There will be a second thread shortly to address Delve and the surrounding region of the Dramedo Penninsula. I'm going to try to keep this on the edge of plotlines you will encounter, but I might tease a few things. If you ask specific questions, I may just shrug at you and tell you to wait. It will come.

What is Albedos?

Albedos is a land of danger. There's no doubt about that, as the Dreikathi Empire extends its proverbial reach throughout the southern lands with an iron-clad rule over villages and townships. The slave races no longer seek rebellion in the far south; they've seen what has come of that. Entire races have been eradicated, cultures crushed, and histories wiped clean. Rebellion is met with the full crushing force of the Dreikathi and the last thing you might want is a wyrm strafing your village with a Vierkathi overseer sitting atop it. 

Thus, each township serves a purpose to the Dreikathi and they are a cog in the great warmachine. Meravi is a center of fishing, whaling, and hunting for the vast leviathans that patrol the depths. Charnagol mines for dangerous alternatives to ylem, Materport works on ships for the Dreikathi's navy as they search the far north, and Uego is a trading center that is overlooked by the great shadow of Drakkenmont. For their services, the people of these towns are granted protection, caches of food, and a stay from being drafted into the army.

Protection, though, from what? The Dreikathi have grown long in the tooth and recent conflicts have only unsettled their weakening infrastructure across the continent (such as a bloody civil war that dethroned their once glorified leadership and left their bodies in the darkest dregs of the Drakkenvar). Savage things lurk in the wilds of Albedos; vast, untamed, and unexplored for centuries. Cults, mercenaries, bandits, monstrous creatures that have seemingly awoken from myth and legend. 

Great mountains rise from the landscape to scrape the heavens, deep lakes reach outwards across the lowlands, verdant river basins and fertile plains, deep jungles, and dead cities. Venturing into the wilds of Albedos will be no light task and players will experience that in all its glory. There is safety in the cities for they are bastions in a world that is out to kill you. (WELCOME TO RAVENLOFT/DARK SUN/WARHAMMERS, ENJOY YOUR STAY--really, look these things up. While the setting may not be relevant to us, the theme of "the world is out to destroy you and spit you out like a toothpick" is quite accurate)

Wait, so Albedos isn't a wasteland?

No, Albedos is not the fantasy version of Fallout with Delve being the proverbial Vault 13. The people of Delve are riddled with fear from a historical event that was blown into their memories some centuries ago and is now a very distant thing of the past. You will see the hand of the Dreikathi across the landscape of Albedos, most notably in the great Vakimal Wasteland which, mind you, was not always a wasteland. 

And dead cities?

Well, there's them too. Basrai was once a city that rivaled Delve and then the Dreikathi took the hammer to them. A very big, elemental-like hammer. More like a hammer with a bomb attached to it. A really, really big one. Basrai will be one that you encounter quite soon and you may even meet some people from it in the coming weeks. Nor is Basrai the only city that was blown away by the Dreikathi. Delve considers itself the last free city and that could very well be true.

And where's that leave Delve?

You should read about Delve in my next riveting post which will show up either tonight or tomorrow. Adventure!

Orisae

\o\      \o/     /o/ 

Exciting stuff! I can't wait for more information to be released in game for us to start chewing on!  

Damonicus

You had me at "Hello."

Haern

I'm actually going to close this thread and open up Q&A thread that will be open to this thread and all subsequent threads concerning Albedos. It should keep them in a nice MEGATHREAD for your viewing pleasure rather than scrolling through and searching! Reminder, that thread is JUST for Q&A!