A Primer of the Kingdom of Abelanth
A detailed description of the kingdom and all it contains
About
The kingdom of Abelanth is a medieval kingdom home to all kinds of winged beasts; dragons, pegasi, felines, phoenixes, canines, and all the hybrids between them. It has seven regions, each with their own biome and Labyrinths, with several cities and towns scattered within. These Labyrinths are mobile mazes, with the layout changing every time one enters. But that’s not the only danger - a plethora of traps and monsters wander within; traps and monsters that get more and more dangerous the more people are in a group.
In the center of these Labyrinths is a special crystal known as an oracle crystal; a magical obelisk that holds back the blight from the world. Without it, this curse creeps in like a disease, spreading rot and death to anything it touches. Even animals and people aren’t spared - turned into rotting, undead monstrosities with no hope of recovery. Those with a strong will have their personalities warped by the blight, while the weak-willed turn into mindless horrors. Even killing them only perpetuates the blight, as it simply sinks into the ground beneath them to root in its corruption. Because the blight is only held back by these crystals, a group of ancient masters of magic got together and created the Labyrinths to protect them. But it’s not just crystals and monsters inside; precious metals and rare plants that cannot be found outside the Labyrinths lie within, thriving off the ancient magic. Reagents used all over the kingdom for a variety of means.
The kingdom is ruled by a royal family of dragons, though that wasn’t always the case. Long ago the royalty of Abelanth were winged, saber-tooth felines, but they became greedy and lustful of power. And it was they who first brought the doom of the blight into the world; a blight that, while it can be defeated and pushed back out, it cannot be destroyed. A civil war was fought once the source was discovered, and once the aftermath of both war and blight were settled, the greatest heroes were made nobility, and the greatest of them queen. And though the Architects gave their lives raising the Labyrinths to protect the oracle crystals, none in the kingdom of Abelanth have forgotten their sacrifice. For it is thanks to them and those who fought to push back the blight that everyone lives today.
In actuality, the blight can in fact be destroyed, though that wasn’t discovered until recently. If a poultice made of each elemental star ground into a fine powder, king's lace, seeker's bloom and blessed by an old runes unicorn is coated on a dagger made of oracle crystal, then that weapon can attack and destroy the very blight itself. Unfortunately, destroying the blight within afflicted individuals can’t save them - once infected, there is no being saved. Not even by this.
Though of course, that doesn’t stop people from using what they made for their own self-interest…or even doing the unthinkable: damaging the very crystals that keep the blight at bay.