- Invitation Status
- Posting Speed
- One post per week
- Online Availability
- Weekdays, Monday-Thursday
- Writing Levels
- Advanced
- Prestige
- Preferred Character Gender
- No Preferences
- Genres
- Fantasy, Scifi, Horror, Superhero, and nearly all adventure genres
INTRODUCTION
The Roemheld Polity is a nation of faith and judgement that has endured for over four centuries. Its chief cleric, the Vicegerent, rules over a magnificent stretch of countryside. Its western lands harbor mighty rivers, great lakes, and temperate rainforests; while its southern portion is a single unbroken prairie. Along its eastern boundary the Eerie Mountains spread over three hundred miles. And it's there, beneath a mountain ravine, that the foulest wound of Roemheld persists - the Grand Chasm of the Chasmata.
The Grand Chasm is a cavern system so immense it takes two days travel to reach its opposite end. But unlike most of the the caves and tunnels under the mountains (collectively known as the Buried Realms) it has an extraordinary feature - daylight. Thousands of years ago, for reasons not yet known, segments of its roof collapsed; which allowed the sun to to finally reach down and touch its floor - tracts of it at least. So flowers bloomed and trees took root in pockets of daylight encircled by darkness.
A unique ecosystem was born. Birds and butterflies flew in to compete with cavern bats. Curious rodents climbed down through tree tops, and predators such as the lynx and badger quickly followed. Forest creatures adapted to the sunken woodlands and shadowed thickets below the mountains. But the most dauntless, ambitious, and dangerous species to descend into the Chasm, was humanity.
The Netherwood
One hundred and fifty years before our present day, pioneers of Roemheld plunged below the ravine. During their exploration they were alarmed to discover they weren't alone; bizarre civilizations inhabited the lower world. When news of the Chasm societies reached the Polity the ecclesia promptly judged them as heretics. And the theocracy would not tolerate an infestation of heathens.
Their first move was to carve a colossal stairway - which remains today - from ravine to Chasm floor. Once completed their follow up move was the construction of a colony, which they dubbed Basalnock. It would serve as their righteous foot in the door. Then brick walls and iron fences were erected to better protect the colonist from the "wicked creatures" they now neighbored. Finally, soldiers, chaplains, and friars of fire were marched in, and the crusade for the Chasm began.
Chasm Morning
At the war's start the battles overwhelmingly went in Roemheld's favor. They had the benefit of surprise as well as a unified force, as opposed to the unprepared and divided Chasm people. There was ancient ill-will between the underfolk which made them risk annihilation rather than cooperate. As a result, they continued to suffer defeat after defeat. But there came a point, when the fires of the crusaders burned in nearly every tunnel, that their contempt for one another was forgiven. So they banded together as one people - thereby known as the Chasmata - and swore to defend their homeland.
The organized resistance ground the Polity's crusade to a halt. And the stalemate didn't favor the invaders. Surface soldiers grew weary of the sunless battlefields and the confinements of tunnel warfare. As their spirits sank the ferocity of the Chasmata swelled. The tides inevitably turned. Week after week Roemheld forces were forced to retreat, until eventually, they were pinned behind the walls of Basalnock. The outpost proved a tough nut to crack. It took years before the Chasmata successfully stormed the colony, and when they did so they granted no mercy to their enemies. The ecclesia, disgusted by the campaign's failure, abandoned any hope of conquering the Grand Chasm.
With the war over the Chasmata had to learn how to be allies without a common enemy. It's proved an arduous project. Their covenant has been more or less upheld for nearly nine decades, but it's waning with each year. Skirmishes between the underfolk arise from time to time, but so far the leadership have prevented the sparks from catching fire. But how long can that continue before one of them breaks and renounces the alliance?
Roemheld is the ecclesiastical nation who presently rules 120,000+ square miles of countryside above the Grand Chasm. The religion that it's conformed with is known as the Imperial Church. Its faith has been practiced for millennia, but its organized form was created four and a half centuries ago. A woman named Evarda Treich is credited as its founder; she was officially canonized as a saint shortly after her death.
After just six decades of organization the Church supplanted most of the neighboring chiefdoms as the region's authority. It conquered them all before the nation's hundredth year. While Roemheld has endured its share schisms and revolts, it has been relatively unchallenged by serious outside threats. The faithful attributes this fortune to their ever vigilant patron angel.
Beliefs: The Imperial Church professes that a celestial war wages between angels and devils. Angels crusade to protect and inspire humanity on to greater heights, while devils feud to corrupt and torment them. Both otherworldly circles are (supposedly) affected by the actions and convictions of mankind. So the Church takes whatever steps necessary to ensure conscious creatures support the divinities of Heaven, and just as important, not service infernal agendas.
While the religion venerates all angels, one is worshipped above all others - Sigune, the Almighty Angel. She alone is the epitome of celestials. Conversely, her oldest and most depraved enemy in Hell is Baal, Lord of Devils.
Structure of Roemheld: The nation is divided into three primary departments, who all answer to the Vicegerent. The Polity, which administrates state concerns, is one department. The Imperial Church, which is responsible for spreading and maintaining the faith, is another. And the final department is the Militant, who defend and war for both faith and country.
• Polity Hierarchy: Pontiffs > Deacons > Prelates
• Church Hierarchy: Archbishops > Bishops > Priests/Chaplains
• Militant Ranks: Paladins > Templars > Cavalry/Crusaders > Militia
** Special Disciples: Saints, Ministers of Sin, Friars of Fire
Western Lakes Region
Bramstedt (city)
Ottoburg (city)
Reingard (capital)
St. Sunnhild (city)
Eerie Mountains Region
Altergott (city)
Dragsow (city)
Southern Prairie Region
Geldorf (city)
Altergott Cathedral
Roemheld Crusaders
The Roemheld Polity is a nation of faith and judgement that has endured for over four centuries. Its chief cleric, the Vicegerent, rules over a magnificent stretch of countryside. Its western lands harbor mighty rivers, great lakes, and temperate rainforests; while its southern portion is a single unbroken prairie. Along its eastern boundary the Eerie Mountains spread over three hundred miles. And it's there, beneath a mountain ravine, that the foulest wound of Roemheld persists - the Grand Chasm of the Chasmata.
The Grand Chasm is a cavern system so immense it takes two days travel to reach its opposite end. But unlike most of the the caves and tunnels under the mountains (collectively known as the Buried Realms) it has an extraordinary feature - daylight. Thousands of years ago, for reasons not yet known, segments of its roof collapsed; which allowed the sun to to finally reach down and touch its floor - tracts of it at least. So flowers bloomed and trees took root in pockets of daylight encircled by darkness.
A unique ecosystem was born. Birds and butterflies flew in to compete with cavern bats. Curious rodents climbed down through tree tops, and predators such as the lynx and badger quickly followed. Forest creatures adapted to the sunken woodlands and shadowed thickets below the mountains. But the most dauntless, ambitious, and dangerous species to descend into the Chasm, was humanity.
The Netherwood
One hundred and fifty years before our present day, pioneers of Roemheld plunged below the ravine. During their exploration they were alarmed to discover they weren't alone; bizarre civilizations inhabited the lower world. When news of the Chasm societies reached the Polity the ecclesia promptly judged them as heretics. And the theocracy would not tolerate an infestation of heathens.
Their first move was to carve a colossal stairway - which remains today - from ravine to Chasm floor. Once completed their follow up move was the construction of a colony, which they dubbed Basalnock. It would serve as their righteous foot in the door. Then brick walls and iron fences were erected to better protect the colonist from the "wicked creatures" they now neighbored. Finally, soldiers, chaplains, and friars of fire were marched in, and the crusade for the Chasm began.
Chasm Morning
At the war's start the battles overwhelmingly went in Roemheld's favor. They had the benefit of surprise as well as a unified force, as opposed to the unprepared and divided Chasm people. There was ancient ill-will between the underfolk which made them risk annihilation rather than cooperate. As a result, they continued to suffer defeat after defeat. But there came a point, when the fires of the crusaders burned in nearly every tunnel, that their contempt for one another was forgiven. So they banded together as one people - thereby known as the Chasmata - and swore to defend their homeland.
The organized resistance ground the Polity's crusade to a halt. And the stalemate didn't favor the invaders. Surface soldiers grew weary of the sunless battlefields and the confinements of tunnel warfare. As their spirits sank the ferocity of the Chasmata swelled. The tides inevitably turned. Week after week Roemheld forces were forced to retreat, until eventually, they were pinned behind the walls of Basalnock. The outpost proved a tough nut to crack. It took years before the Chasmata successfully stormed the colony, and when they did so they granted no mercy to their enemies. The ecclesia, disgusted by the campaign's failure, abandoned any hope of conquering the Grand Chasm.
With the war over the Chasmata had to learn how to be allies without a common enemy. It's proved an arduous project. Their covenant has been more or less upheld for nearly nine decades, but it's waning with each year. Skirmishes between the underfolk arise from time to time, but so far the leadership have prevented the sparks from catching fire. But how long can that continue before one of them breaks and renounces the alliance?
Roemheld Polity
Roemheld is the ecclesiastical nation who presently rules 120,000+ square miles of countryside above the Grand Chasm. The religion that it's conformed with is known as the Imperial Church. Its faith has been practiced for millennia, but its organized form was created four and a half centuries ago. A woman named Evarda Treich is credited as its founder; she was officially canonized as a saint shortly after her death.
After just six decades of organization the Church supplanted most of the neighboring chiefdoms as the region's authority. It conquered them all before the nation's hundredth year. While Roemheld has endured its share schisms and revolts, it has been relatively unchallenged by serious outside threats. The faithful attributes this fortune to their ever vigilant patron angel.
Sigune, Almighty Angel
Diety of the Imperial Church
Diety of the Imperial Church
Beliefs: The Imperial Church professes that a celestial war wages between angels and devils. Angels crusade to protect and inspire humanity on to greater heights, while devils feud to corrupt and torment them. Both otherworldly circles are (supposedly) affected by the actions and convictions of mankind. So the Church takes whatever steps necessary to ensure conscious creatures support the divinities of Heaven, and just as important, not service infernal agendas.
While the religion venerates all angels, one is worshipped above all others - Sigune, the Almighty Angel. She alone is the epitome of celestials. Conversely, her oldest and most depraved enemy in Hell is Baal, Lord of Devils.
Structure of Roemheld: The nation is divided into three primary departments, who all answer to the Vicegerent. The Polity, which administrates state concerns, is one department. The Imperial Church, which is responsible for spreading and maintaining the faith, is another. And the final department is the Militant, who defend and war for both faith and country.
• Polity Hierarchy: Pontiffs > Deacons > Prelates
• Church Hierarchy: Archbishops > Bishops > Priests/Chaplains
• Militant Ranks: Paladins > Templars > Cavalry/Crusaders > Militia
** Special Disciples: Saints, Ministers of Sin, Friars of Fire
Notablable Roemheld Locations
Western Lakes Region
Bramstedt (city)
Ottoburg (city)
Reingard (capital)
St. Sunnhild (city)
Eerie Mountains Region
Altergott (city)
Dragsow (city)
Southern Prairie Region
Geldorf (city)
Altergott Cathedral
Roemheld Crusaders
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