The Black Forest Inn

Yello Madlings, another week, another set of Legos. If you read this, you are invested in our world and are in for the long haul (or you live in the future). If this is the case, know there will be spoilers in what you are about to read. The web and all the big pieces have begun to intersect as more characters entangle their lives together. Last time, a dark ranger encountered two dangerously powerful pieces on the board. Today we return to where everything started.

Madlings, I have struggled with the Ultima/Gaia dynamic because I didn't know how "fantasy" I wanted my world to be. Do I make something outrageous or keep it toned down and relatable? I think I have decided to lean into the ridiculousness of escapism. Ripping the dragon band-aid made me realize this universe should be as chaotic as its author and friends. It also allowed me to cross out a question I had in my brain for a while concerning Luna's proficiency in magic and the limitations it could have.

Today, a group of outcasts has come together under their leader's banner of neutrality. The Black Forest Inn is located in the eastern area of the Obsidian Wail. Long ago, the Inn's original owner created a zone of neutrality in the demonic forest. Its owner believed The Obsidian Wail was not just a place of darkness and death; there could be beauty and hope in the forest. It took her a long time and the companionship of others to reach this point, but now The Black Forest Inn is a sanctuary for anyone, even creatures some believe are monsters.

Now you might be asking yourself Madlings, how can The Black Forest Inn demand an area of neutrality in a forest of monsters and a war? Why would the Erebus or Orion in Mors Luna Metus respect such a demand? The answer rests with its owner and those who follow her in a vision of peace in the darkness. Each member of the Defenders of Gaia has a tale of finding their mistress. A collector of broken souls, Lysandria Belladonna, has carved her sanctuary in her family's ancestral home.

Lysandria Belladonna Part Two

Lysandria had two significant influences in her life until the night of Twilight. First, her teacher Luminara imposed upon a young Lysandria the importance of constant progression in knowledge and skill. Lysandria diligently followed her teacher's instruction until digesting new expertise and new magic became second nature. Not to mention, her mother was a woman worshiped in novels as folklore and legend.

Lilith had learned from her mistakes from Belial sheltering the child away was a mistake. Lysandria was taught many things by her mother so that she could understand where she came from and the mistakes Lilith made. Over six hundred years had passed since Lilith entered the Sacred Glade, and she was exhausted from constant failure. Learning about her mother's origin taught Lysandria that her mother was always lonely, even in Argentum.

Lysandria Belladonna is the result of two people who should have never exchanged words falling in love. When Lilith and Luminara left Drakeskar to cross the Violet Sea to unknown territory, Lysandria was a baby, and her father was dead. In her roughly four hundred years of life, Lysandria has never once stepped into Drakeskar. If you ask Luminara where she is from, your answer will be the same every time: She “grew up” in Luna, but she gained wisdom in the Obsidian Wail. Just like her mother, the Obsidian Wail will always be her home.

She says all this because Lysandria would pay any price for Luna's nightmares to go away, just one night of peace in the last three hundred years. Nightmares of a dangerous zealot who stole so many gifts of life from Lysandria keep her awake even all these years later. Typhon did everything he could to ensure Lilith's bloodline, including Lysandria, died. Lysandria knew better than anyone that behind the shimmering glow of Luna lurked a disease more deadly than any creature in the Wail.

It was a miracle that Lysandria survived Typhon's crusade. His grand plan forever changed Luna, and most of its founders died. Luna was founded as a free-thinking haven for refugees from the other two nations. Long ago, refugees left Argentum to form Drakeskar. Luminara built a kingdom based on the same ambition of freedom from evil. The horror that grew after Luminara chose to do the unthinkable is nothing like its original goal. Luna was once a place for the lost and scared. Now, it is a shining gem seeking control in the name of their gods.

When Lysandria escaped her gilded cage and the torture she was enduring within the Temple of Solis, she fled Luna as quickly as possible. Smuggling onto a small transport vessel, Lysandria survived the trip across the Violet Sea without getting noticed. Somehow, Lysandria arrived relatively unharmed at Bloodtide Harbor, the oldest dock town in the Obsidian Wail. Typhon changed Lysandria; arriving in the Wail, she sought only to be left alone and escape from the world. Lysandria now understood why her mother spent hundreds of years alone after the curse.

During this time, the Wail was controlled by the Sons of Cain. The Sons of Cain were "Lords" who considered themselves stronger than your average blood-crazed Wail denizen. They were a family before the curse and lived in Argentum. Many of Argentum died in the two hundred years it took for the civilization to be extinguished from Lilith's mistake. The Sons of Cain and others decided to brave the wilderness and evil in the Wail. The Sons of Cain gained control through a warrior's survival of the fittest mindset. Most fled across the Violet Sea and developed the tribal nation of Drakeskar.

Lysandria didn't mind so much; she found the honesty of open hostilities refreshing. Luna was full of politics that had bled over from its roots in Drakeskar. Lysandria often wondered if the same backstabbing politics she witnessed in youth were in Argentum. She often wondered if the reason the Drakeskar Collective was broken up into tribes was because the Argentum refugees couldn't get along. Luminara had grown up in Drakeskar and taught Lysandria that politics was a necessary evil. She agreed that politics or at least open discussion of ideas was essential but didn’t understand why people accepted it as evil.

One week was spent carefully traversing the forest to get as far from the growing Dominion of Erebus as possible. When the soldiers found Lysandria in the Umbra Arborum, she wasn't prepared to fight for her life. Lysandria had been sheltered in Luna, and her mother kept her safe. As the strangers circled her like prey, Lysandria was frozen with flashbacks of her recent imprisonment and the horrors Typhon forced upon her.

The first soldier unfortunate enough to touch Lysandria screamed in terror as his fingers began to freeze. A simple ice spell traveled quickly up into his shoulder before Lysandria snapped it off the howling stranger, proceeding to beat him to death with his frozen arm like a club. With each strike, she focused on all the pain and anger within her. This was the first moment that the corruption of her bloodline claimed her, not the last.

Lysandria blacked out to everything that happened the first time she tasted a man's blood. The feeling was invigorating, and then everything went black. As the moment slipped from her mind, Lysandria was mortified to realize she was undressed in a bed and wasn't alone. The man had long black hair and an angled scar from his forehead to his left cheek. Lysandria had heard only stories of Lilith's first child; the man across from her was not the beast her mother described.

Since Lysandria set foot in the Wail, she had felt something tugging at her, guiding her. Lysandria wondered if Belial felt the same way. Once the awkward introductions were made, Lilith's children made quite a very effective pair. Belial wanted to get far away from Erebus and the Sons of Cain. At this point, Lysandria wished to be far away from everyone, so they set off to find a place to escape the world. This paradise was the Black Forest Inn.

It took nearly a year for them to complete the work that Belial insisted needed to be done by hand. He told Lysandria the Wail would reject them if they used magic to build their home. At the time, this premise was ridiculous to Lysandria, as magic was neither good nor evil; it was just a force in the world. She was just as naive as her mother. Belial should have told her of the Mystic then. Instead, Belial became a new nightmare to rob Lysandria of precious rest.

Once her brother was gone, Lysandria blamed herself for failing Belial just as their mother had many years before. History was repeating itself, and Lysandria's curiosity once more condemned her family to pawns in a game out of her depth. Lysandria Belladonna fractured and alone at the Black Forest Inn, closed herself away from the world. Lilith's daughter repeated her mother's sins and disappeared from time.

Aurora

Luna is a Kingdom of bright splendor, radiant crystals, and incandescent magic, and that magnificence has cast the darkest shadow upon the world. To those in Luna who did not conform to the high standards of the noble families, you were shunned and looked down on. If you were fortunate, you lived near the Castle, Rainbow Town, or maybe even the Frostweaver dormitories. The less fortunate were "trained" at Frostfang Bastion, along the Amethyst Docks, or even worse, outside the capital, roaming the tundra.

Aurora didn't know what unfortunate turn of events gave her life. Her earliest memories were around six; even then, she was in Frostfang. Life in Frostfang Bastion meant the Twilight Orthodoxy was training you. The Twilight Orthodoxy training condemned you to Frostfang immediately and put you under three banners: zealot, orphan, and criminal. Aurora came to Frostfang as an orphan, leaving it a zealot and criminal.

Within the walls of Frostfang, Aurora devoured the Doctrine of Twilight and, into her teenage years, never questioned its commands. Aurora was trained to believe that the word of the Twilight Sovereign was law, and to disobey it would anger the dragon gods that blessed Luna. The Doctrine of Twilight states the twin moon shines above Luna because Luminara gave her life to purge the evil Lilith from the world. The second silvery blue orb constant in the Luna sky was a gift to the faithful of Luminara, of the Twilight Orthodoxy.

Aurora was small and agile, and the Twilight taught her to be an assassin. In her youth, Aurora earned her keep spying on the more gullible nobles or delivering correspondence. As a teenager, she would pose as a servant at fancy parties where she might have been responsible for a poisoning or two; then, as an adult fully trained for years in Frostfang Bastion, she was a silent killer. Aurora was known to be very proficient in the art of an assassin.

By the time Aurora was in her mid-twenties, she had earned a reputation in the right circles. Aurora's effectiveness caught the attention of the Twilight Sovereign. Perhaps Aurora's life would have been different if she had refused the summons, something she had the right to do. However, Aurora was raised in the shadow of the Twilight's doctrine. When the Sovereign summoned her personally, her pride drove her to accept the invitation.

A young Emeric Solis had recently been handed the mantle of Twilight Sovereign from his father. Emeric was ambitious, like Typhon, and wished to remove the power balance from Luna. Emeric secretly collected monsters from the Obsidian Wail in the Solis temple's lower chambers. Emeric had set on a journey to understand more of what caused the mutations of the creatures.

Emeric desired to use his menagerie of monsters to enhance his strength and remove the trouble that was Althea Luna from the throne. The newborn Perlysia had made Althea rethink the world, and now Althea sought to bring peace to her daughter. This was unacceptable for the Twilight, who sought to exterminate the creatures from the world. Aurora's mission from her Sovereign was simple: eliminate the Lunar Queen.

Aurora, an orphan of the Amethyst docks, had spent her short life looked down upon by the upper classes. She had been trained in Frostfang to be obedient in the name of the Twilight's dragon god. When Emeric gave her the order, she didn't hesitate. The Queen would die to please the Twilight Sovereign.

The plan was simple: isolate Althea alone in her chambers, something silent that wouldn't raise suspicion. Aurora was a shadow in the Queen's chamber on the planned evening when she was supposed to be alone. Althea was not alone that evening; like a pampered child, she had an old dressmaker in her chamber for a private fitting. Aurora was ordered to get the job done. If it was loud and messy, that was okay.

Disregarding the older woman Aurora recognized as being from Rainbow Town, Aurora went straight for her target. This was a mistake; she had not expected the old raven to be so strong and agile. Aurora failed her mission; the older woman slowed her long enough for Althea to call the guards. Two against one was manageable odds. Fighting dozens of guards was hopeless, and Aurora was forced to flee.

Aurora had been in her profession for a long time, and failure in a vital mission would not be tolerated. She attempted to broker passage out of Luna as swiftly as possible, but it didn't work. Emeric had eyes everywhere in the city, and Aurora was instantly a wanted asset. Constantly paranoid, Emeric had Aurora shadowed, and ultimately, she was captured by someone she trusted.

In the lower chambers of Solis temple, Aurora was experimented on within lower floors she never knew existed. Emeric had invested interest in infusing the corruption of the Wail into a weaponized capacity. Aurora was one of the first human test subjects for Emeric's formula. The disappointment that nothing happened condemned Aurora to endure multiple experiments until they were able to achieve a change in her body. Ultimately, they turned Aurora into one of the creatures she was raised to hate.

When the hunger fell upon Aurora, she could shrug it off due to years of disciplined training. It took a few weeks, and she did some disgusting things she was not proud of. In the end, she was able to escape captivity utilizing some of the "mutations" her body was experiencing. This new affinity slowed her, and she didn't leave the encounter unharmed. Alone and wounded, Aurora found herself stumbling to the very alleyway that the Twilight Orthodoxy had claimed her from in her youth.

Althea's gamble to bring peace to Luna had brought some exciting changes as bold citizens from Erebus had journeyed to settle outside the Wail. Wounded and hungry, Aurora stumbled into a new establishment in the darkest corners of the Amethyst Docks. Instinct kicked in, and she assaulted the first person to touch her. She prepared herself for the backlash from the well-dressed man until a voice cut the air. The ancient raven that cost Aurora her target was in the middle of a ridiculous brothel. Again, Aurora witnessed something she wasn't supposed to see.

This would be the beginning of Aurora's second chance at life. Guided by the raven, Aurora leaves Luna in search of a place where she can be safe. Aurora was shocked to learn she was traveling as the personal guest of the Prince of Erebus. She learned a lot from him on the journey across the Violet Sea. When she arrived at the Wail, she set off alone to discover the location given to her by the old raven. Aurora was the first to find The Black Forest Inn and Lysandria.

Atius Lavire

Far across the Violet Sea west of the Obsidian Wail is the continent of Drakeskar, a vast crimson-red desert. Long ago, Argentum crumbled under the madness and corruption spread from Lilith's decision in the Sacred Glade. Hundreds of people decided to flee when it was clear there was no hope to stop the Atropos Whirlpool from spreading. Seven ships sailed across the Violet Sea to find a new home. These seven ships would spend months at sea drifting before locating what is now known as Drakeskar.

Arguments of what caused the corruption to spread in Argentum were the original fractures between the refugees. In the early days, it appeared that everyone had an opinion, but few wanted to do any work. For many, life in Argentum was simple and easy. The forest provided most of their needs, and there were few disagreements. Everything changed when the first ship crew, Majesty, redubbed itself the Skar Majesty and demanded they be rulers of the fledgling tribes because they were the first to land on their new home. Many tribes disputed this, and eventually, the Drakeskar Collective was formed.

It was agreed that each ship would pick an individual the crew chose to represent their ship on the Collective. It would take some aggressive persuasion, but peace was finally achieved, and all seven tribes found peace in cooperation. Over the next hundred years, each tribe of Drakeskar became specialized in the duties they provided. This created a dependent relationship where neither tribe could survive without support from the others.

Around the time Perlysia was born, there had been steady peace in Drakeskar for about four hundred years. In that age of peace, a young archeologist and member of the Reliquary eagerly wishes to make a name for himself. Atius Lavire was born in Sandsoul, but being locked in a stuffy city never appealed to him. Early in life, he would wander further and further from Sandsoul until he chose not to return on a whim.

Settling down anywhere was out of the plan for Atius, so he soon joined a crew surveying the desert. Atius joined in with Reliquary for adventure and excitement. Instead, he was dusting off rocks with a tiny brush. The crew was searching for ancient relics from a long-lost time, and Atius was looking for a pair of thighs to disappear into. Nothing serious, just a nightcap and a little wiggle of tongues easily forgotten in the morning.

The Quill was annoyed with Atius' constant skirt chasing while on an assignment, so she sent him on a "death mission." It wasn't a death mission, but Atius had a history with Furymaw, and the current Heart wouldn't be delighted to see him. Even worse, he wouldn't be accompanied by anyone to "help" him do the work. Atius alone would be forced actually to do his job. If Atius failed to bring something worth keeping, The Quill would ship him to Sirensong.

The journey across the scorched wastes was not simple for Atius alone. Miles of dangerous charred dunes needed to be traversed before Atius would arrive at Fury's Crest. Once years earlier, Atius had been warned never to return to Fury's Crest, or he would be strung up for the vultures. Atius rambled frantically to convince a ghost from the past that he was there to help them or that the Quill trusted him.

Furymaw was a tribe of warriors that left Sandsoul to create their own lives out in the barren lands. Most roam the Scorched Wastes as nomad warriors living off the gifts of the land. For those less prepared for the hardship of desert living, Fury's Crest would be their home. The place was excruciatingly hot, lacked any cover from the blistering sun, and water was rationed. In other words, he hated it here, and many here hated him.

Lucky for Atius, the job he was sent to do to help his old clan was simple. To the north of Fury's Crest, a molten geyser had begun to spout magma from the sands. Reports stated the magma hole was roughly the size of the palm of a hand. However, lines had started to splinter out, causing the Heart to fear that the lines would spread and the hole would grow. Atius was smart enough to understand that if this was a natural occurrence, there was little they could do but accept the lava hole and move on.

The site of the lava was not a long journey, and Atius was able to quell fears that it would spread quickly. A dozen or so splintered lines were now seared into the sand, but no further than 50 feet from the circle of clearly not lava, and the fluid heating the sand began to cool. Molten liquid had formed into a well nearly two feet in diameter and seemed to be pulsing out fluid in a rhythmic pattern. Atius had seen this kind of thing in a broken water pipe in the sand, but they were far in the desert with no architecture around.

Atius found the fluid to look like lava but was no hotter than a scolding cup of tea. Digging a trench for the fluid to pool into Atius attempted to dig deeper to find the cause of the pulsing liquid. Roughly ten feet under the sand, Atius' shovel struck a hard metal unfamiliar to him. It looked like obsidian rock but was metal. Obsidian was volcanic glass, which was delicate and could be chipped apart. Whatever Atius struck was not fragile, and the discovery piqued his adventurous nature.

Uncovering the source of the liquid left Atius with a flood of new questions. He could only explain the rectangular metal slab he had discovered as a coffin. Carved into the top of the coffin was an intricate pattern of tubes that seemed to pump whatever liquid was out of its lid. Part of the apparatus was broken and leaking. Atius believed perhaps unexpected corrosion over time was the cause. Atius' curiosity got the better of him, and against the orders of the commander placed to watch over him, Atius discovered how to unlock the coffin.

Prying a soldier's spear into the crack for leverage, he forced open the lid. As the air hit the fluid, it rapidly cooled, forming a solid obsidian cocoon over whatever was in the slab of metal. An argument between Atius and the commander instantly broke out when handling the obsidian egg. The Furymaw were superstitious and believed obsidian was only in the Wail after the corruption of Argentum, an ancient fairy tale. The Furymaw commander demanded the ill omen be destroyed and, with a great hammer, shattered the newly cooled and fragile obsidian cocoon.

Alcmene Lavire

Alcmene isn't proud of her first moment of "life." It was primal, instinctual, and destructive, and in the end, Atius would name her Alcmene. She doesn't remember much of the moment she awoke from the egg. Alcmene only remembers being cold and that, for some reason, she was early to an appointment. Alcmene never discovered that appointment because she didn't know what an appointment was back then.

It took days for Alcmene to understand she did something wrong when she "murdered" the giant man with the hammer. Atius told her they couldn't return, that people already hated him, and that they would "kill" them both if he returned to whatever Fury's Crest was. Alcmene didn't recognize the terrain she was awake in, and the creature Atius was the only thing that didn't attack her, so Alcmene agreed to travel with Atius to see a Quill. A Quill was somehow a person and a feather of a bird all at once, which fascinated her then.

Atius returned to the Reliquary’s vault with Alcmene and pleaded his case to the Quill of what happened in Fury’s Crest. The Quill promised to take care of them, but Alcmene would have to be separated from Atius for a while. Alcmene didn't mind the "testing" that the Quill ordered; there was no malice in the woman, just curiosity. The Quill helped Alcmene understand more of what she could do over the next few months.

Word about Alcmene had spread across Sandsoul, and the Quill was forced to present her to the Collective. Alcmene wasn't good with language then, but the few words she recognized scared her; she was a weapon. The vote was 4-3. Alcmene was a dangerous asset that couldn't be free. If Quill's hypothesis was correct, Alcmene needed to be restrained. In front of dozens of onlookers, the Heart arrested Atius for his "crimes" at the dig site. Then Crown attempted to subdue Alcmene and was not gentle, and neither was Alcmene.

The Crown presented a case that Alcmene was uncontrollable and could cause destruction on a mass scale. Unfortunately, Alcmene proved him correct on this occasion. Once subdued, the vote would shift 6-1 against her, with only the Quill defending her case. The Crown was making a political point, and Alcmene and Atius were pawns on the board. It was ordered both would be executed, Atius for past crimes, and Alcmene would die as a "preventative measure."

The Quill opened Alcmene's cell on her last night in Sandsoul. That night, Alcmene had more allies in Sandsoul than she knew, and miraculously, she and Atius were reunited. Quill instructed Atius to flee to the docks and locate the Eclipse as quickly as possible. Atius was used to creeping through the shady alleyways of Sandsoul, and they luckily arrived at the docks undetected.

Alcmene hated the trip across the sea to a place she was told would be safe for them. It was so frigid, and the further she got from Drakeskar, the worse that feeling of uncertainty grew that she was early for something. The journey across the Violet Sea would have been torturous if not for the first person who didn't look at Alcmene with fear. Aurora instantly connected with Alcmene, who adopted her and Atius as her "children." Atius told Aurora constantly that it was ridiculous because she couldn't be old enough to be anyone's mother.

Aurora playfully adopted the name Lavire and forced it upon Alcmene within a year of arriving at the Black Forest Inn. The three of them had become a family, and while Aurora played at being the mother, the real matriarch was the Inn's owner, Lysandria. With Alcmene and Atius added, Lysandria's little clan of misfits had grown to four. As Perlysia grows across the sea, so will Lysandria's Defenders of Gaia.

Over the years, Alcmene has developed a love for the forge. Her body was naturally resilient to heat, and metalworking came naturally to her. Lysandria asked Alcmene sometimes to do "dangerous" work with her, but mostly, Alcmene was allowed to remain at home in her forge, where she was warm and safe. Lysandria continued to collect broken, unwanted people until all in the Wail knew of the Black Forest Inn.

Yello Madlings, today marks a turning point in our journey. Everything started here in the Black Forest Inn nearly twenty years ago. In that time, I played many of these characters in various mediums. Starting next week, we will be talking about entirely new territory, new characters, and new interests as the world evolves. I am super excited to move across the Violet Sea and introduce the Drakeskar Collective and how national politics are slightly less subtle than Luna.

Once we have completed the Drakeskar Collective, we will loop back around to discuss landmarks and the scenery of the world we are creating. This will mean traveling back to the north to join Perlysia in Luna. Following that, we will do the same cycle of moving to the Obsidian Wail, then conclude again in Drakeskar.

I know this is a very long process, and I am moving at a snail's pace, but I want to understand all three Kingdoms before we start telling stories with these characters. There are many strings and stories to be told in our dark forest that I can write for years as long as we build the proper foundation. Anyway, that is it for today. Thank you, as always, for reading my little Madhouse. Blessed be Madlings.