Dark Fantasy

The Great Ones are an all-consuming force, existing outside the real world, but in the layers of Dream and Nightmare. Those that live in the Dream include: Pale Moon, Silence, Nuiva, Aquis. Those living in the Nightmare include: the All-Seeing one, the Rotting one, the Old Moon, the Raven God.

A secondary dimension created by the Creator to seal the souls of beings after their death. Here they merge with a huge mass of meat, also called the Blood Ocean, where they suffer forever and feed the local Great Ones with power. EVERYONE without exception ends up here after death. There are no alternatives. Everyone will suffer after death. It represents a distorted reality. Between the islands of distorted memories of the world lies a bloody ocean. Here the scorching rotten sun burns eternally - the Old Moon.

The secondary world, which is one big grave of the Creator, is a huge reservoir with crystal clear water, somewhere up to the knee of an ordinary adult. Sometimes there are islets decorated with Pale flowers and ancient Ugro structures. Instead of the usual day/night, here the Pale Moon flows directly into the waters, after which it emerges and illuminates the Dream again.

He died, he left. A new one came in his place. A neat business suit, a red tie, a white satin shirt and neat shoes. He feels like he's from another era. He doesn't give a shit about this world, absolutely. Therefore, no one controls the Great Ones, no one restrains their power and their influence seeps into the current reality. This is how terrible diseases, various creatures and ugly non-humans appear.

One of the schools of magic that involves using souls from the Nightmare as a catalyst for magic. Summoning spirits, curses, talking to the dead, horcruxes and many, many vessels for storing souls in the form of a variety of items.

A young direction of magic, which implies manipulation of any organic matter for one's own purposes. Even one's own body. Creating flesh golems, flesh weapons, stealing someone else's muscle mass or even a limb, two extra kidneys and more... No, of course you can use more humane plant organics for something like this, but firstly it’s for pussies, and secondly it’s not so stylish.

Any psionic ability, weak or strong, is an innate mutation of the nervous system. Psionics will never be respected by magicians and ordinary people, because they are mutants, and therefore not human, and therefore must burn in fire. They influence the psyche of their opponents, inspire pity in random passers-by, make you start hating your mother for a second or more. All psionics strive for one thing - to merge with the Noosphere, also known to the people as the Formless. The Great One, which is created from the many minds of psychically perfect people. To merge, a psionic must ideally master their abilities and then enter their own head to kill themselves in their own mind.

One of the most common areas of magic. Fire, ice and lightning. Magic elemental mines, elemental balls, blah blah blah...

Mystics make a deal with their chosen Great One, sometimes even against their will, and begin to regularly offer souls to him as sacrifices. And not animal souls, but souls of intelligent species, yeah. Therefore, mysticism is forbidden and persecuted by the Order of Ravens. The Mystic's abilities depend entirely on their patron. They always have their sigil tattooed on their back. The sigil is filled with the blood of any spilled creature and then with this blood the mystics create their spells. If mystics stop feeding their patron, they gradually begin to be deprived of limbs, if the patron is merciful, or their soul is immediately taken away, if the patron is a commoner.

When you have unnatural beings, mystics and Great Ones around you, you need to provide people with some hope. This hope is the order of children raised in the will of the Raven God — reapers. Pale, hairless, genderless, their flesh is grown by biomancers until they reach the state of an adult and they are encased in armor. The black blood that flows in these children is not afraid of poisons, and the body does not require nutrients. They are sometimes referred to as black-blooded or stillborns. Black steel and raven-headed helmets. Signatures. Prayers. Ravens are revered in themselves, and those that distinguished themselves on the battlefield are elevated to symbols of faith and icons are made in their honor. Father Lermey's Church is the main ray of light in this world. Perhaps the only contradiction is that each child is immediately marked with the sigil of the Raven God, but the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

A young Great One born to humans in the 1300s. He was needed to open a workshop to produce Reapers. His abilities? Black blood. Not real at all, a pure lie. Therefore, the reapers, aka the blackbloods, who are born with it, are also a lie. Lies are the main human tool, strong enough to fight off unnatural creatures. He doesn't make a deal, he just marks a few random women and they literally become living incubators. That's what the Order of the Ravens uses. He is the embodiment of not only lies, but also the idea of hatred towards the Great Ones... That is why he wishes death to all of them, including himself.

The Rotting One is the great one who is the embodiment and source of every disease, the lord of the Nightmare. A mass of corpses woven together. He is also often called the Great One who grants death, but he has no connection with death. Deals with him grant the ability to inflict fatal diseases on your enemies and at the same time not be afraid of them yourself. Well, maybe you won't be afraid of a severed limb and, as a bonus, you'll stink terribly...

The second highlight of the Nightmare program is the All-Seeing. The Great One, who is a black mass intertwining many eyes. He is able to look into all possible versions of the present, past and future, and then whisper in people's ears and change these timelines. He does this not to offend, but for fun. Those who make a deal with him will be able to see the cracks between normal reality and Nightmares or Dreams. It may also be possible to look into the future for a few minutes or learn about a person's past in front of him

The never-fading Nightmare Sun, the previous shell of the Pale Moon. Associated with suffering, betrayal and most importantly - Animal instincts. Doesn't make deals, but sometimes, for fun, marks a person and makes them a carrier of the Beast Plague.

The Great One, which is three separate Great Ones - the Young Moon, which is made of starlight and is the soul of the Great One, the Zenith Moon, which is forged from moonstone and an unknown metal - the armor, and the Waning Moon, also known as the Elder Moon, are the blood and flesh of the Great One. Together they are the Pale Moon.Associated with the endless flow of time and highly revered by warriors, as the Pale Moon itself is fond of dueling with other Great Ones. The Sigil of the Pale Moon will deprive you of old age, make you a master of combat and even change your character to a more "heroic" one.

The Ancient Great One, dwelling in the Dream. She was born in a time when silence was humanity's best companion, the main association with complete safety. And then people began to develop and the forces of Silence began to leave, but at the level of instincts, respect and fear of the Great One remained. She is a winged creature made of glass fragments, just like any other of her creations. Glass is purity, it is silence. Having received her sigil, the mystic will be able to easily read the emotions of others, know where to press to squeeze out the necessary information, effectively intimidate and perhaps manipulate glass a little.

Nuiva is a deceased Great One who seeks rebirth in pale moss, Bloom - the plague. In life, she was a humanoid with butterfly wings made of blooming white moss. Always associated with moths and white glowing moss. Her sigil grants mystics nothing more than sanity when infected with the plague.

Aquis is the Great, patron of aquatic life and purity. She is a giant jellyfish that somehow floats beneath the surface of the Dream. Her sigil grants immunity to Aquatic Disease and other various water-related abilities - breathing underwater for example.

The Duchy of Sizmund comprises two cities: Sizmund, the capital, and Armundi, a remote port city. It is located on the left bank of the Kareneli River, in a temperate climate zone, but a little closer to the north. Sismund is a large city and is divided into two parts - the Old and the New City. The city is separated from the outside world by a wall called the Outer, the parts of the city are also separated by a wall called the Inner. The old town is dirty, full of lepers, bandits operate here, sometimes even frivolous monsters are found in abandoned buildings, the Church of Father Lerma often holds public "witch" burnings and hangings of criminals. The guards here are biased and negative towards the locals. The new city, in turn, is clean, its streets are in order, the guards here are respectable and do their job well. The head of the Duchy is Duke Ludwig von Genier. His right hand is the "Owl", and his left hand is the captain of the "Cleaners", Jean Reteneli. The city is adjacent to the Great Ash Heap, the False Forest, the village of Shepetalovka, the Dark Forest, the Flaming Peaks, a couple of regular deciduous forests, a couple of coniferous forests, several other villages, and so on and so forth. Duchy currently has Bloom, Beast Plague, Grave Mold, and Carrion Flies.

"Man is an animal that hides from its primitive instincts behind thoughts and rationality, but all this can be taken away and then man will show his true face - predatory and insane." — Agrons Gerrald, first paleblooded hunter People who are sick with the beast plague do not show any symptoms except fever for a week or even a month, and then begin to transform and finally lose their minds. They understand the appearance of an animal, which is closer to their character, but this does not mean that if a person turns into a "horse", he will be harmless. No, absolutely not, any creature spawned by the Beast Plague is ugly, bloodthirsty, massive and has enough limbs to rip your body apart. Luckily, some people do not undergo the full transformation and become "naked werewolves" - pale-skinned predators with minimal fur, skinny and agile.

When Nuwa died, her "children" buried her in the depths of the present world, where the process of reincarnation began. It started a long time ago, but fortunately it never comes to an end. Radiant moss appears in random places, at random times, and each person's task is to destroy it as quickly as possible, because then the growth rate will accelerate. Radiant moss covers the surface so that when an animal or person comes into contact with it, it becomes covered in it and is then assimilated. Such creatures become nests for the White Moth, which is the second step to taking over some territory. Then, from the huge fused nests, a guard larva is formed, and then after some time it naturally appears. Guardians are huge moths that, despite their appearance similar to ordinary insects, are filled with the power of the deceased Nuwa. They create deadly rays of light or magical arrows from it. Sometimes they ram their victims with their bodies, forming a magical shield around themselves before doing so.

Grave mold is a fungal growth that parasitizes, as is already clear, on graves. However, this is a misconception, because grave mold grows with its mycelium from the dead body itself and all the way to the surface, where it already overgrows the grave. Infected graves and people are preferred to be burned to prevent the spread of mold. Tomb mold is extremely destructive to living organisms. If the spores accidentally get into your lungs, where the conditions are ideal for their development, they will begin to grow rapidly and eventually you will die. Either from drying out due to the mycelium pumping out the body’s useful substances, or from suffocation. You can often see them in the forests in places where someone died... Well, anyone, basically. Grave mold grows quite densely and lushly on various objects and has a dark green color with red spots - these are spore sacs

Carrion flies are like gadflies, only worse. They are about the same size, but much more aggressive, and they also carry a huge number of diseases. The bite site often swells, rots, and also fly eggs are often laid at the bite site. They can be distinguished from ordinary gadflies by their red abdomen, and of course, their desire to crawl under your skin. Carrion flies cannot tolerate the smell of incense, so houses often have special burners located under bowls of herbs. They are considered the main reason for the appearance of lepers in the territory of Sizmund.

It is unknown who is hiding under the mask, but one thing is clear - he is the Duke's trusted man and will stand by him like a mountain. On the Duke's orders, he equips the player at the beginning of his journey with weapons, clothes, and tells him about his first case - the murder of a pair of rabid lepers in the sewers. He understands magic, occultic science and is an excellent planner.

Jean Reteneli is the founder and commander of cleaners. Quite rude and criticizes everyone and everything, regardless of position and relationship with this person. Wants to legalize the purge of people with unconfirmed diseases, but cannot convince the Duke of the need for such a measure. If the player decides to contact him, he will most likely get a small job of destroying sick (possibly unconfirmed) citizens and full-blown sick people. If loyalty to him increases, the player can join the cleaners, increasing the rewards for work and receiving good equipment as a bonus. Awards for work(player isn't in cleaners): 1000±100ard Awards for work(player is in cleaners): 2500±500 Upon joining the organization, the player receives: twin blades with triangular guard cleaners uniform Cleaner's Pendant (Sword stuck in the skull)

Volunteer group of exterminators of various plague creatures. In a word - radical plague doctors. After all, in addition to preventing and fighting diseases at the stage of their conception, they are not against firing a bullet from a pistol' straight into the head of a violent infected person. Usually dressed in all black: coat, cocked hat, mask covering the mouth and nose, cocked hat, high boots, trousers and a white satin shirt. Weapons: rapiers, axes for chopping wood, pistols, light explosives.

The current currency of the Duchy of Sismund is the ardie. Ardies are bronze coins with the image of the Duke on one side and the denomination on the other. They can be denominated in 1, 2, 5, 10 ardies. The average cost of bread is 25 ardies, the average cost of a room in a tavern for one night is 100 ardies. Unfortunately, paper money has not yet been introduced in Sizmund. That's why you'll have to carry a purse of coins with you, and if necessary, more than one.