Art Gallery

Though hatched into slavery and having matured under the brutality of Naga rule, Phosis is one of the most fanatically loyal servants of the Magus Ssalsyin. He first caught his master’s eye decades ago, when he not only uncovered a plot against the serpent, but took it upon himself to put down the conspirators himself before bringing evidence to the Naga. This act earned him the name he now carries, and set the standard of the brutal pragmatism that would become his hallmark.

Should a threat to his master arise, or a task need be performed to further their goals, he would do so himself if it is within his power. Others should only be trusted at arm’s reach, and never given total autonomy lest their weakness fail their overlord. While many rewards could easily have been given for his service, he has asked for none; instead accepting what his Naga master gives of their own accord. Most recent of these gifts is an ornately wrought suit of armour, and five Janissaries – professional slave-soldiers elevated from the most cruel and dedicated – to act as his protectors.

On the left stands Circe, the witch-blood, and Ceto the armoured hulk. To his right stands Arae – the Janissaries commander – Satir the marksman, and Loke the duellist. Each of these warriors has their own bloody history left in their wake, for none achieve Janissary without proving themselves lethally sadistic and willing to serve the Naga to their own ends.

Art commissioned from Theme Finland, whom can be found here: https://x.com/ThemeFinland

Known by countless titles, the Naga known as Ssalsyin is unique among their cruel society in a few key aspects. First, and most obviously, is the physical: Ssalsyin is two-headed, where most of their serpentine kind only have one head – though all have four arms – and lack the split personality of the Mad Magus. Yet many have underestimated the unity of these two minds, or seen them as a simple madman kept aloft by violence and cruelty.

In fact, the twin minds of Ssalsyin are almost magnetically aligned and possessed of a fierce intelligence. Many of the most subtle or brutal technological advantages possessed by the Naga can find their origins in the Magus’ experiments. Their clockwork automatons are considered the finest, their flesh-wrought abominations the most effective in battle.

Despite this, and unusually for a Naga, this has not been bent into trying to leverage total control over the diaspora of micro-nations, juntas, and warlord dominions that make up Naga society. This seeming lack of ambition outcasts Ssalsyin amongst its own kind; seen as unnatural and strange, and only tolerated for their undeniable talent.

Yet, to say Ssalsyin lacks ambition would be patently false. There is some esoteric end that this creature desires; something more valuable than any subject, any relic or any power it could possess. The truth of this aim is a secret held locked tight in its own minds, while all else are nothing more than pieces on the board of the greatest game ever played.

Art commissioned from Theme Finland, whom can be found here: https://x.com/ThemeFinland

Oberon is a Drakkar – and one of the most vicious of his kind – the great horned beasts that sit atop the food chain of the Jiitai mountains. Mavan is his master, one of the exemplars of knightly skill from the city of Amexal that make it their trade to bond with such beasts and ride them into war.

Oberon was once known as The Beast of Nifrit Pass, a predator that had savaged a number of trade caravans and most of the hunters sent to put this fearsome creature down. Yet, when the creature was brought low, the hunter that bested them was able to capture the beast to bring it back to Amexal.

Mavan of House Krie is an old, venerable figure. Twice passed over for the position of Archon – remaining instead as Consul – he has been a steady hand and consistent advisor for three generations of nobility already, and a fourth are already taking his wisdom to heart. It was his calm temperament that was able to cool the fury of Oberon; melting them together into a warrior kinship far stronger than either of them could be alone.

Art commissioned from Theme Finland, whom can be found here: https://x.com/ThemeFinland

An ancient and heavy-set figure, Aketzalli is a paragon of the symbiosis between the Arkai Clans and the jungles of Xlan. Hatched to the P’akisqa Urqu – The Clan of the Broken Mountain – his talent in hearing and interpreting the spirits of the great jungle brought him into the care of the circle of druids when he was still young.

Under their tutelage his power and his wisdom grew, and he forged his place in the jungle: That of a nomadic spiritual advisor, ensuring the Clans do not upset the ficklest spirits, and in turn bringing the blessings of benevolent entities to those whom need them.

When his mentor died, he took their place upon the circle of ten Arch-druids and has now begun in earnest to train apprentices of his own to carry his wisdom into the future.

Art commissioned from Theme Finland, whom can be found here: https://x.com/ThemeFinland

A mighty suit of armour forged by the very last of the angelic host brought forth into this world during the time of miracles, the Imperial Panoply is both the first and greatest of the Nagarashkhal. The divine armour by which a mortal Saszrukai might challenge a Naga in single combat and, with skill, would have any hope of victory. Forged of a divine alloy of Aten’s own making, its metal will endure any hardship to bring its bearer to battle and allow them to grasp victory no matter the odds.

While the armour takes a great deal of training to use effectively, the two additional limbs it provides turns its bearer into a nightmarish combatant; more than capable of overwhelming any lesser opponent, and negating the greatest advantage of the Naga. This first suit was forged for Aiur: an act of recognition from one divine agent to another.

Art commissioned from Theme Finland, whom can be found here: https://x.com/ThemeFinland

When Aten and The Prophet forged their pact over a thousand years ago, their compact included an army. The god sent forth five thousand warriors; angelic beings that required no food, no rest, and would serve the faith with single-minded determination. It was in their image that the modern Legions of the Noble Houses were formed, and in emulation of their service that they fight.

Yet for all their power and might, and for every impossible victory they achieved, there were casualties. One by one their numbers dwindled, and while every fallen warrior was recovered and interred with honours, there was no stopping their decline. In the end, only a single warrior was left: a rank-and-file legionary, number four hundred and fifty-seven out of the original five thousand.

In honour of its fallen comrades, and to ensure its example could endure for future faithful, this angelic warrior chose to serve its faith in new ways. It learned the myriad arts of the smith, and produced relics of all forms to arm, protect and enrich the greatest champions of the faith. The Nagarashkhal are a product of its design, and proof of the skills and lore it has acquired in its craftsman’s journey.
Once a warrior who knew naught but battle, this Last Legionary now stands as living testament that even those made to be weapons can produce works of art.

Art commissioned from Theme Finland, whom can be found here: https://x.com/ThemeFinland

A leader among the enigmatic Aaondao – a loose conglomerate of Atal’s avian folk – Lao is an intense and taciturn figure. Holding tight to the traditions of his people and their belief in the Celestial Court, he is keen-eyed to the influence of his divine patrons; thus is one of few open to negotiation with those not already closely tied to his people.

Native to the high boughs of the Xlannic jungles, he has long been the lodestone about which the peace between the Aaondao, Cytrix and Arkai is maintained. It is his stern word that has cooled many a temper, and his clarity of purpose that has seen them through many a crisis. It is in this manner that his name has spread, spoken in quiet respect for keeping the peace, and in hope of resolving crisis’s yet to come.

Art commissioned from Theme Finland, whom can be found here: https://x.com/ThemeFinland

An outcast of the Aten-ordained caste system, Syla has always been one to battle upwards from the lowest of places. While she speaks rarely of her childhood and early years, it is clear they taught her the self-reliance and quiet wrath she carries with her to this day.

Syla has long been a figure known within the criminal underworld; getting her start in gemstone smuggling out of Celdara, but her ambition would not have her stop there. With the precise and measured application of violence, an abandonment of ethics, and a ravenous pace she expanded her operations time and again. With every new industry conquered, market cornered, or rival left choking on their own lack of ambition, her empire grew.

However, dominion over criminal affairs and the capital that brings does not seem to be enough for this jackal. Instead, she now seeks an even greater ambition: to turn her ill-gotten wealth and power amongst the lowest classes into political hegemony and elevate herself finally into the realms of true power.

Art commissioned from Theme Finland, whom can be found here: https://x.com/ThemeFinland

At the edge of the known world, under the gaze of a pitiless serpent, two warriors are reunited.

Bones will be broken, steel shattered and hearts rent in two. Where once they stood as brothers, bonded by oaths and loyalty to one another, only one can leave this place alive.

Neither of them are as they were when this all began. This conflict has broken them each and warped them far beyond recognition; yet the fate of their people hangs upon whose transformation proves the greater, and whose will remains the stronger.

Art commissioned from Theme Finland, whom can be found here: https://x.com/ThemeFinland

Hatched the son of a blacksmith in the Kingdom of Glenthaim, he was levied when he came of age into the armies of his king in a war against The Merchant Republic of Skaunburc. A man of considerable size and strength, it was here he served as a simple foot soldier for three campaign seasons; returning to his home and forge to winter.

In his steadfast nature and with the confidence of his comrades it was Bryhart that rallied the men-at-arms to the rescue of their monarch; when a cadre of hedge-knights broke through the battle lines and isolated the king on the field.

As a reward for his actions, he was raised to knighthood. He served his king faithfully for decades, learning the complexities of knightly life and training ceaselessly to be the warrior his monarch expected him to be. He stood at the side of the royal family when the nation fell into civil war, and was in command of the city defences when the capital of Halbergard was laid low.

However, rumours persist that this knight did not die that day. He has been sighted numerous times; hunting down the ringleaders of the rebel uprising that saw the Kingdom of Glenthaim dissolved and consumed by the Merchant Republic. Clad in a battered, burned suit of black full plate, he stalks the land.

It is whispered that when the city fell he was buried alive in the rubble; he should be a broken, shattered husk of a man if he survived at all. What fell powers or heretical pact could sustain a soul so long after death?

Art commissioned from Theme Finland, whom can be found here: https://x.com/ThemeFinland

The Lich-Queen, the doom of the Eastern Kingdoms, the Necromancer, the Thief of Afterlives. Cyrene Lougeld is known across the lands of Atyrza by countless epithets, few of them flattering, and yet her grip over the nation of Halfelth has remained resolute since her ascension to the throne. Even formal excommunication by the Council of Cardinals in Deora has not shaken the faith of her subjects in their monarch.

Hatched to a noble family in the southern city of Trewburc, when her supernatural talents were discovered she was sent to Deora to be shackled, as most magic-users found at a young age are across Atyrza. However, despite being taken in the company of a witch-hunter to ensure her safety and that she did not run from this fate, she never arrived in Deora.

It was assumed she had fallen afoul one of the many dangers of Atyrza, or failed to cross the mountains before the snows arrived with winter and lay frozen solid somewhere in the wilderness. Thus when she returned to her family two decades later, disbelief was the primary response. Yet they could not disprove her claim to nobility, despite numerous attempts.

Protected by a revenant she claims is the same witch-hunter that was supposed to deliver her to Deora, her schemes began. With her necromantic talents and a detailed knowledge of anatomy, she grew a following among the common folk; skeletons toiled in the fields when living hands could not, apothecaries were trained and diseases halted, and her undead creations even saved countless lives when a fire struck the city.

Leveraging a marriage of her relatives into the royal family, she travelled to the capital of Deugard with a growing cult of personality forming around her. Through dark acts no living eyes bore witness to, it was in the capital she simultaneously ascended to lichdom and seized the throne with a brutally effective coup. It is not known when or where she gathered the foul lore needed to achieve such a transformation; but the fact of it was undeniable when she was assassinated shortly after her taking the throne, only to return to life four days later.

Thus fell the lynchpin of the three-kingdom alliance, and in its place rose a new Halfelth in which the powers of magic and necromancy were tied inexorably to every-day life. Skeletal knights patrol the borders, ghosts and spectres dance across the fens carrying messages, and vengeful revenants hunt down the criminals that wronged them. Through it all, the lost and the dammed of the continent flock to their queen for shelter and training, as she welcomes all magic users that have escaped the clutches of the cardinals to her side.

Meanwhile, in Deora, talk of a crusade to purge this unholy abomination from the land grows. Witch-Hunter and Paladin alike sharpen their skills, as knights gather under the auspices of war. When the declaration comes, they will be ready; it remains to be seen if the unnatural powers of the Lich-Queen will be sufficient to endure their wrath.

Ancient beyond comprehension, this colossal being is a true-blooded Dragon; bearing the twinned pairs of horns that symbolise such potent heritage. According to its own testimony, Charnabel pre-dates all of the civilisations that currently exist in the world, and may have even destroyed a number of those whom came before.

How much can be trusted of this dragon’s own word, however, is uncertain. The creature seems to revel in manipulating mortals almost as much as it takes joy in the thrill of bloody battle. What is certain is where the creature was found: in a ruin of uncertain age, deep in the Kailai desert and buried underground. This lair was found strewn with the accumulated wealth and relics of countless dead, including the strewn bones of other dragons.

Rising from a slumber measured in centuries, what precisely such a creature will do is a source of concern for all those around it; though many hope the dragon’s bloodthirsty nature could be leveraged to turn it towards their enemies. Regardless of what course Charnabel decides upon, should it choose to unleash its wrath, the world will never be the same.

Art commissioned from Theme Finland, whom can be found here: https://x.com/ThemeFinland

An old soldier with a storied history, Aiur has many achievements of which he is rightfully proud; yet his twilight years may prove by far his most important.

Hatched in the trade-city of Nerkai into the noble caste, his youth was spent earning the right to join House Zerkash – the ruling House of Nerkai – when he came of age. Choosing to serve his lord in the through military service, he clawed his way through the ranks over two decades, ultimately rising to the post of Consul – the supreme commander of the Zerkashi Legions.

Yet all of this was thrown aside in the face of the Naga; an ancient and serpentine foe, one that had sought to enslave his people in the past, and would undoubtedly attempt to do so again. Against this foe, his philosophy was forced to shift; when he finally stood against them in battle, he chose the path of personal sacrifice.

Where this road may lead him, and what bounty may be gained in exchange for his loss, remains to be seen.

Art commissioned from Theme Finland, whom can be found here: https://x.com/ThemeFinland

A curious being, Lasha is never seen in public without their draconic mask, full body robes, and metal plating to cover every inch of scale they possess. They are undoubtedly a Saszrukai; their stature and frame matches that species, but little else is apparent about them.

Taken as an egg by the Priesthood of Aten and raised in isolation, Lasha immersed themselves in the great stores of lore held by the faith. Even going to so far as to assist in the compiling and editing of new entries into The Atal, the ongoing attempt by the faith to produce a comprehensive history of their world.

It is not known precisely why Lasha was taken, nor how the priesthood knew of them with such certainty prior to their hatching. Aten's faithful have shaped this creature into an odd recluse, replete with lore and history; but for what purpose remains a mystery.

Art commissioned from Theme Finland, whom can be found here: https://x.com/ThemeFinland

The first city founded on the continent of the Kailai, it is also the centre of the faith of Aten; for the city was founded by the first of the sun god’s faithful, and remains the holiest site in the world for them.

It is said that when The Prophet struck a pact with Aten, the god worked great miracles to reshape the land and gift its new followers with a place of sanctuary and security. Lake Arretal – the colossal body of water on whose banks Setara sits – is the result of one such miracle and the beating heart of the city.

Over the one-and-a-half millennia that has followed in the founding of the faith, the city has grown at an almost exponential rate. While a first city wall was build following the cities founding, the population has already grown such that the city walls have been expanded and re-built at greater distance two times; and still the city grows, spilling over the walls as over a million souls now call this place home.

Art commissioned from Theme Finland, whom can be found here: https://x.com/ThemeFinland