Setting » Golden Circle » Kitezh
Ragnarok has come…
Even before Ragnarok, Kitezh was a harsh land. Now it is simply inhospitable. For a character who comes from there, or a significant link, talk to the GMs or Viktor with that in mind.
Old Setting Below:
The land of Kitezh is a harsh one. The fjords and lowlands offer rich fishing and farming, but the winters are long and almost never leave the highlands. The people have always been fierce, organized by clans and fighting among themselves. Over time, the arts of boatbuilding and navigation were refined, and the Kites struck an alliance with spirits of the sea, who were fond of their songs and stories. These spirits showed them the way to distant lands in return for the singing of their songs, and the Kites became a threat to shadows all around them.
For centuries, the Kites were an incidental problem for Amber, occasionally clashing with the Sea Kings of Minos, but they were mostly considered an old wives tale. Until one king of the Kits, Mikhail, was shown the way to Amber on his vision quest. He saw this as the greatest challenge his people could face, and for decades, he set about unifying the more distant tribes, forming an armada the likes of which Kitezh had never seen, and sailing south.
This could not be so easily ignored, and Amber met this force upon the sea, under Gerard's leadership, and after bloody battle, Amber took the day. Mikhail died in the battle, knocked overboard by one of Gerard's mighty blows. Oberon recognized Mikhail's son Aubric, shortcutting the other Thanes, and returned him to Kitezh with surprisingly generous terms. Kitezh would not become a regency, unless Aubric failed in the tasks Oberon set him to.
Those tasks apparently involved some amount of modernization. Aubric's reign was a long and prosperous one, and under it, foreign learning, arts and science all found their way to Kitezh, fuelling a dramatic renaissance. Kite sailors turned their talents to trade and exploration, and while they are still a lesser naval power than Minos, that gap has been closing.
Aubric died a few years before game start, and he made what may have been a critical error, splitting his kingdom between his three children. To his daughter, he granted the city of Kitezh, the heart of the kingdom, and to his sons he left large but lesser tracts. This has created substantial tension - neither brother will strike overtly at his sister, for fear that the other will devour whoever is left standing, but between this and calls for a return to older ways, discarding the "weakening" influence of civilization.
Magic
- The ships of Kitezh sail through shadow, somehow tapping into the power of the songs and stories of her peopel to guide them.
- Warriors of Kitezh slain in battle rise, hale and hearty, at the next dawn
- Kitzeh occasionally fields berserkers who are truly terrifying in battle.
Contact
- Kitezh_bldr
External Links
Player-maintained Wiki: kitezh.roadtoamber.com
