Dol'Vuldar
National Symbol: Skull
National Colors: Black
56% Undead
20% Human (Mixed Ethnic Backgrounds)
18% Dark Elf
6% Therianthrope
100% Agnostic
(Feudal Monarchy System of Government) The Undying Lands are ruled by the Lich King and his Banshee Queen. Both are undead immortal beings who are the supreme leaders of their dark domain. Unlike most kingdoms a vast majority of the subjects are either mindless zombies or skeletons, or enslaved humans that are treated more like cattle and food than true citizens so governance is regional and minimal. Underneath the Lich King are several powerful vampire lords who oversee the management of the provinces.
Badlands: Friendly
Cenovia: Hostile
Commonwealth of Dail: Hostile
Eldarian Union: Hostile
Elven Triumvirate: Hostile
Empire of Grundar: Hostile
Golden Dwarves: Hostile
Grand Duchy of Montia: Hostile
Granelian Protectorate: Hostile
Hassarian Oligarchy: Hostile
Highlands: Hostile
Ichi Shogunate: Hostile
Idelan Republic: Hostile
Iron Dwarves: Hostile
Kingdom of Aldania: Hostile
Naga’s Landing:Friendly
Orc Horde: Friendly
Sahalan Sultanate: Hostile
Shaneier Elves: Hostile
Steel Dwarves: Hostile
Taisan Khanate: Hostile
The Dark Covenant: Friendly
Theocracy of Vespa: Hostile
Wolven Marches: Friendly
Currency is minted with a Skull icon on it
Gold (gp) is used to buy luxury goods and high-end services
Silver (sp) is used to buy common quality goods and skilled labor
Copper (cp) is used to buy basic supplies goods and food
Average costs
Basic Food items: 1-3 copper
Luxury Food items: 10-15 copper
Basic Drinks: 1-3 copper
Luxury Drinks: 5-10 copper
Basic clothing: 25-50 copper
Average clothing: 25-50 silver
Luxury/High End clothing: 10-15 gold
Basic Lodging (Common Inn): 5-10 silver per night
Comfortable Lodging (High End Inn): 20-25 silver per night
Luxury Lodging (Private room with bath): 50-100 silver per night
Opulent/Noble Lodging (Private suite with multiple rooms): 10-15 gold per night
Transportation (Rented wagon/carriage): 10-15 silver per km
Weapons and Armor: Use Item costs
Undying Land architecture is best described as dark and Gothic in nature. The vampire lords have a flair for theatrically elaborate castles made of dark wood, dark stone and polished black marble. Bats, gargoyles and other such creatures are usually carved into the stones to give the structures imposing looks. Towns and villages are usually run down ruins that used to have inhabitants but are now just ruined landscapes crawling with skeletons and zombies.
Undying Land clothing is best described as fancy and Gothic. The Vampires that live there are fascinated with elaborate well-crafted finery usually silk or velvet, and in dark colors or black. They also adorn themselves with jewelry and precious stones favoring rubies and silver. Lesser vampires and thralls are almost always dressed in darkened clothing that is made of either wool or leather.
Food in the Undying Lands is barely available. Human slaves are the delicacy there, and so most of the food that is produced is done so by necromancers who use skeletons and zombies to farm the materials. This is done only to keep the human population alive and treated like cattle, and the breads and livestock meats that are crafted are tasteless and utilitarian. Drinks are mostly water. However the Vampires do have a thriving wine industry, which they enjoy pairing with their human meat meals.
Music: Undying land music is dominated primarily by violins and lutes. Singing is also valued but just about all the music created in the Undying Lands is melancholy or sad in tone. Many of the Vampires and thralls enjoy sweeping sad music that underscores a life that never ends.
Literature: Since the general populace are mostly mindless undead, literature is hard to find anywhere outside of the Vampire lord castles. However the vampires themselves do like to collect literary relics of the past, and tomes on dark magics. So they usually keep a library or archive on their own to safeguard books and scrolls they find of value to them.
Entertainment/Theater: Entertainment in the Undying Lands is not very available in the region as life is pretty bleak there. However the Vampire Lords do like to host elaborate dinners and ballroom dances amongst themselves as a form of political and social playground. Because of their close relationship with the Dark Elves they will also host orgies and hedonistic parties for visiting envoys and dignitaries from The Dark Covenant. When there is not a hosted event most of the Vampires prefer to simply sleep.
Technology in the Undying lands is very rare, unless it serves some necromantic purpose. With most of the population unable to even use it, most technology is hoarded by the Vampires for their use. Magic is widespread since it is what animates a lot of the population, and the dark magics at play are so widespread that it even affects the weather. Bathing most of the Undying Lands in black clouds to case shadows and to block out the sun. The air in the Undying is so filled with dark magics it can almost be felt.
Of the elemental magics in the world, Dark magic holds domain over everything related to corruption, death, and evil. Derived from the void of space itself this powerful cosmic force manifests itself in many different ways, but nowhere more prevalent that in the Undead. In the aftermath of the great war between the elves and dwarves, the Dark Elves wanted to created a master weapon to fight against the rest of the world. To achieve this they created the Lich King, and sacrificed hundreds of lives in the dark rituals and magics that were used to create him. A powerful lich beyond anything that had been done before the Lich King is darkness manifested into the mortal world. From a great citadel in the northwest the first thing the Lich King did was create a race of vampires. The Lich King disguised himself as a humble wizard, and then with promises of everlasting life, lured several prominent humans and elves into dark pacts that bound their everlasting life to him. These eventually became the vampire lords. With his generals secure, he took one as his bride, and established a new kingdom in the northwest. From there he began a system of dark magics that raised the dead from the ground. A powerful feat that took months but essentially created a whole army of skeletons and zombies to fight for his cause in extremely destructive ways. What came after the ritual resulted in a tidal nightmare felt in nearly every nation all at once. Across the continent the dead rose from their graves and started attacking things nearby. Caught completely by surprise every nation was suddenly besieged by scores of threats they were not prepared for, and it took almost an entire year before the undead were vanquished and put back down. From that time on all cultures now cremate their dead, out of fear they may one day be used against them. When it was figured out the root cause of the undead invasion was the Lich King a rare moment of unity happened across the continent. A joint alliance campaign was formed. Aldania, Grundar, Dail, Vespa, and the Elven Triumvirate assembled a great fleet of ships, and sailed around the continent to assault the Lich King’s Dark Citadel. The battle that took place was epic in scale, and in the end the forces of good prevailed, resulting in a grave injury that the Lich King cannot recover from due to the loss of his physical body. Unable to be completely killed the Lich King is now more of an ethereal ghostly entity, no longer able to create such powerful cataclysmic events like he had done before. However in defeat he is still a powerful figure, providing the everlasting life to his vampire lords, and influencing the darkness through his Banshee Queen. Much to the Dark Elves delight, their weapon has proven very effective. And nearly all other nations around the world now consider the Undead one of the world’s most dire concerns. The undead don’t care about anything other than spreading more darkness, and they will pursue it until the ends of time. Th Undying Lands as it stands right now, is a nation of dark and forbidden happenings, and focused on spreading darkness throughout the world.