Bay of Fangs

Fenblith is an old city, already established as a port of call well before the first Beast rose from the dead. Its name comes from the old Iseronian name for the bay on which the city sits: the Bay of Fangs.

Named for the ragged white cliffs jutting up from the water at either side, this bay formed aeons ago as the river running through present day Fenblith carved through the earth. Now, the Bay of Fangs forms the link between the lands upriver and the global network at large, which has given Fenblith considerable local influence for generations.

Recently, the Bay of Fangs has seen more ships than ever before as people from all over the world have sought out the city’s Starsteel. But in order to get it, they need to be able to offer something the Council of Fenblith wants.

Council of Fenblith

When they turn eight, every Fenblithian is assigned a vocation. These vocations are separated into four Classes. The Providers grow, forage, mine crops and resources, and create food and medicine. The Makers create the city’s tools, furniture, buildings, and weapons. The Traders assure Fenblith has everything it needs but can’t provide or make itself. The Protecters maintain the population’s health and well-being and fight against the Beasts.

Fenblithians enter their service as Novices. Once they fully understand their vocation, they become Ranked. The most skilled among the Ranked become Adepts. Those Adepts who master every facet of their vocation become Masters. It is these Masters who select the members of the Council of Fenblith from among their peers, twenty-one for each of the four Classes. These groups then each select one of their own as their Class’s Speaker.

The Speakers are the one’s actually proposing, debating, and voting on the Council’s decisions. The other Masters are expected to serve only as advisers. Thus, the Council uses the collective knowledge of the eighty-four most skilled and experienced people of Fenblith to efficiently lead the city. There is, however, an eighty-fifth member of the Council of Fenblith who stands apart from the others.

Sage and Sagelings

In principle, all Fenblithians are expected to work. However, the people of Fenblith understand that there are those who are unable to do so. Those born with ailments to their bodies or minds are therefore dubbed Sagelings and allowed to live in the Seat, the largest and oldest building in the City of Fenblith and host to the meetings of the Council.

As they are not given a vocation and are therefore not members of any Class, the Sagelings are considered neutral. Thus, one of them is selected to be the Sage, presiding over the meetings of the Council of Fenblith and voting as a tie-breaker when necessary.

Selected and trained by their predecessor, each Sage has extensive experience studying the issues Fenblith faces and is therefore often called upon by the Speakers for advice and insight, which the Sage doles out equally. This has sometimes led to Sages being more influential than they were originally envisioned to be. Indeed, it is said by some that it was the Sage who first suggested the creation of the Hunters of Fenblith, and it certainly was the Sage who broke the resulting tied vote in the Hunters’ favour.

Hunters of Fenblith

For generations, the Defenders kept Fenblith as safe as they could, fending off the Beasts. It was a tough fight, hardened warriors barely succeeding with what Starsteel the Traders could get them, often at the cost of their limbs and lives. Then Fenblith’s Miners discovered the world’s largest deposit of Starsteel just beyond the city’s bounds, and everything changed.

A fierce debate rocked the Council of Fenblith as its Speakers struggled to decide whether to trade away their Starsteel or invest fully in their own Defenders. But eventually – with a tie-breaking vote from the Sage – the decision was made to turn the Defenders into Hunters and take the fight to the Beasts.

The Hunters were equipped with better weapons, including Starsteel blades larger and purer than they had ever seen and the first Starsteel ammunition for their firearms. They received better training, too, learning how to work together in small and effective teams. Then they ventured beyond Fenblith’s walls, and began to slay the Beasts. First, they only fought near Fenblith, creating a perimeter of safety around the city not seen since before the coming of the Beasts. But soon, other settlements were asking the Hunters for aid.

Iseron

Iseron once housed a monarchy that ruled from a court that travelled across the land. When the Beasts tore this monarchy asunder, the City of Fenblith rose through the resulting tears, its position as a natural trading hub making all other surviving towns in the region largely dependent on it for their survival.

Now, the people of Iseron ship their resources – and, when necessary, people – down to the Bay of Fangs to meet the Council of Fenblith’s demands in exchange for food, medicine, fuel, tools, and the protection of the Hunters. Thus, they carve out a life in a land that was once a lush realm but is now merely part of a web of barely safe waterways spanning the globe.

Through this constant exchange with the City of Fenblith, its customs have spread across Iseron. Almost all towns in the region know Providers, Makers, Traders, and Protecters. Similarly, they are almost exclusively led by elected specialists, though none sport the same number of Masters as Fenblith and very few can afford to care for their own Sage and Sagelings. Moreover, the towns under Fenblith's influence tend to share its religion. 

Saints and Saintmarked

Before the Beasts came, religion was a fundamental part of day to day life in Iseron. Its god, Cwencynig, was a benevolent but demanding deity, and most people saw regular worship as natural and necessary.

Many found it hard, however, to square the benevolence of their deity with the coming of the Beasts. Thus, as the Dark Ones’ minions carved through the land, people forsook their worship, finding salvation instead in the deeds of their fellow humans. Prayers made way for stories of past loved ones around the fire, often inspiring people to strive to match or even surpass those who came before them.

Over time, this developed into a system in which all dead ancestors are revered and the most accomplished among them are anointed as Saints. Although not an organised religion, this practice does inspire deep reverence and even worship in many, and those who were close to a Saint during their lifetime – particularly those chosen by Sainted Masters to study under them – are referred to as Saintmarked and expected to achieve great things, leading to lines of Saints and Saintmarked running through generations.