LORE 7: Entertainment

There are many different forms of entertainment in Craszava as the people there are rich and they can afford to spend on entertainment. There are a few common types of entertainment such as songs and dance which will be held in the pavilion near the central of Craszava. A few other unique entertainments will be shadow puppet show and the chicken fight show. Shadow puppet show originated from Thrium and eventually it moved into Craszava. The shadow puppet show is the best past time for all ages, they are easy to understand and the show times are always at night. Shadow puppet shows are held in the central pavilion and it will start at 7pm on every alternate night. They are put up by a group of professional shadow puppeteers who came from Thrium.

Another type of entertainment is the chicken fight show. It is a kind of fight show that Craszavians enjoy. Craszavians can bring the chicken that they raise to the fighting ring and it will compete with the another chicken there. Eventually, Craszavians start to bet on the potential winning chicken. The champion chicken will then be seen as a ‘celebrity’ in Craszava and it can fetch higher price in the market. The champion chicken will be champion till it is defeated by another chicken. This entertainment started with 2 chickens fighting with each other on the street over a piece of corn after they ran out of the cage in the market. That fight attracted many passers-by to stop and cheer on their ‘preferred’ chicken. The craze about chicken fight show started since then.

CHAPTER 2

Prince Batulh and Prince Wind arrived at the foot of the Mount Elpth in North Eastern Thrium. They have to cross over Mount Elpth to get to the town in Thrium.

“We might need to spend the night here; it’s getting dark.” Prince Batulh turned to look at Prince Wind.

“Why not we proceed a little further? I heard there’s a small waterfall in front. We can wash up over there too.”

The group moved on towards the forested mountain. The clutter of their horses’ hooves and the ringing of the bell on the horses filled the ears of everybody.

When they are in the forested mountain, the wind changes direction and the sky darkens even more. “The rain is approaching. We have to set up our tents somewhere now!” Prince Batulh raised his voice at Prince Wind.

The drastic change in weather is a bad omen for travelers, especially when they are on the mountain or in places where they are unable to navigate around easily.

Fog thickens as the time passes. Both princes lost their way in the forest as they kept moving back to the same spot after sometime. The visibility is low now and there isn’t suitable ground to pitch tents.

The knee-high grass is making the situation worse as they cannot see what’s in hiding in the grass. They didn’t know that there are a pair of evil eyes looking at them.

“Have you heard of the Thunder Fog? It’s the fog that’s casted by evil spirits to trap preys! Are we going to die here…?? I don’t want to die…” One of the attendant said softly to another attendant.

“You will not die here. We will get out of this.” Prince Batulh said firmly.

The both of you have to leave this foggy forested mountain without sacrificing anybody.

 

LORE 6: Celebration

The festivals that Crazavian celebrates are King’s Birthday, National Day and New Year. On top of these, there is a festival that is specially dedicated to the Atkello group, which is the “Kiatos Worship”. The reason for having such festival was because there was once, Kiatos, Atkello witch’s familiar spirit, came into the countryside’s cylinder houses and started to kill every villager there. The bodies of villagers were dragged miles into the woods for other Kiatos to feed on.

It was believed that the Kiatos were furious that Craszavian did not acknowledge their presence. Hence, it became a traditional festival to celebrate the birth of Kiatos on the first Friday of August.

Craszavian celebrates by laying out offerings in the woods and also by leaving offerings outside the main gate of their house. Offerings such as fruits, meat and wine are offered. Everyone will tie a blue ribbon on their right wrist on the day of festival to express their appreciation for Kiatos’ presence. This is because Craszavian will hold up their right wrist to their chest as a form of respect and blue is the colour of Atkello. Thus, by tying a blue ribbon on their right wrist their respect for the Atkello and also the Kiatos. The Imperial Palace’s celebration is slightly bigger in scale, there are dance and orchestra performances in the Central Palace. Not only that, miniatures of Kiatos are being paraded on the streets of Craszava with loud music and 20 soldiers behind the whole group. This festival is considered as one of the most important festivals in Craszava.

LORE 5: Law

Craszavians are very particular about having respect for the Craszava culture. For example, removing your shoes before entering any room in a Craszava house. They deem the ground outside as ‘dirty’ so you have to remove your ‘dirty shoes’ before entering in order not to dirty and spoiling the luck of the people in the room.

Besides that, nobody is allowed to question the legitimacy of the royal family in Craszava or ask about the Atkello witch tribe. If the offender is not Craszavian, he/she can be banished from Craszava if they are reported.

Craszava being a high context kingdom, there are many unsaid rules. An example will be, never spread rumours about the authority in Craszava, especially those that will tarnish their reputations. The punishments associated to the offences are not predictable. There were cases where the offenders are warned and in some cases, the offenders just disappear. There are many rumours that the authority of Craszava will keep offenders in captive when they are suspected to commit any serious offence. (The definition of serious offence is not clearly stated by the authority too yeah)

LORE 4: Architecture

Craszava flourished in the 400 BCs, architecture in the capital of Craszava was highly decorated including the homes of the commoners. Most of the houses were in the form of courtyard residence (A few halls and a square common courtyard in the middle) and each residence was separated by narrow street and alleys. This was due to the great increase in the population size in Craszava so there was high demand of houses at that time.

Craszavians were mostly affluent, including the villagers at the countryside. The houses at the countryside were mostly tall and had at least 3 storeys. They adopted a very interesting structure which the house was in a hollow cylinder shape. There was no starting point or ending point on the corridor. So you ended up walking big circles if you walked along the corridor without looking out for which door to stop at. In the middle of the courtyard stood a big kitchen and dining rooms for the villagers who were staying there.

LORE 3: Power

Ever since the start of the Kingdom of Craszava, the power to govern the kingdom was always in the hand of the one who is sitting on the throne. However, that was the official reply given to outsiders whenever they questioned the ruling of Craszava. There was some inside information about the success of Kingdom of Craszava and it was never made known to anyone outside Craszava, at least not officially.

Not all the outsiders knew that there was a witch tribe supporting the Craszavian kings all the time. To the outsiders, the main factor that allowed Craszava to flourish and eventually becoming the superpower in the region was the leadership of Craszavian kings. Little did they know that the kings of Craszava were all assisted by the Atkello witch tribe. The Atkellos would come together and cast spells over the field to increase output and also to increase the fertility of soil. Not only that, they would cast spells to adjust issues in almost any situation so as to idealize them according to plan.

The Atkellos became increasingly significant in directing the politics of Craszava. Numerous treasures were presented to them and the whole tribe became wealthier than before. As usual, greed destroyed everything. Corruption was prevalent in Craszava. That was when the King Denzh, King of Craszava from 404 BC to 380 BC, decided that the Atkello witch tribe had to disband. War between the Atkellos and Imperial Palace raged on for weeks, Atkellos witch tribe couldn’t withstand the ferocious attacks and hence the remaining survivors of Atkello left the Capital to hide.


Although they were defeated during the war, they still hold a significant position in the development of Craszava. On top of that, the prophecy that surfaces recently will elevate the status of Atkello witch tribe once again. It is not surprising if the Atkello comes back to influence the politics of Craszava again since King Loise, the current king of Craszava, decides to choose his successor according to the prophecy. Craszava might rise to superpower again when the Atkello witch tribe is back to the Capital.

 

CHAPTER 1

Both Prince Batulh and Prince Wind are paternal half-brothers. Prince Batulh appears to be anti-social towards anybody except for Prince Wind as they were taken care of by the same nanny since young. Prince Batulh took up the role of taking care of Prince Wind whenever the nanny was busy as Prince Wind is younger than Prince Batulh. Hence, they share a closer relationship as compared to other siblings.


It’s the 4th day after the Royal Edict was issued.

Prince Wind had came back from his morning blowdart training at the training field while Prince Batulh was reading through his Astronomy Journal. A servant from their mothers, Lady Eliza and Lady Lloza, came to inform both of you to meet your mothers in the General Meeting Room in North Wing of the palace.

Both of you arrived at the meeting room and was greeted by 2 servants. The servants kneeled down to remove your shoes before opening the door of the meeting room.

“I know you both do not want to fight for the throne, but we need to save your dad. King is sick again. I’ve heard that the Atkello group can help to cure illness too. Please set off soon to join in the search.” Lady Eliza said loudly and sternly.

“4 princes had set off during the past 4 days, my advice would be to start the search from a different place so that all of you can search more areas in a shorter time. I’m really worried about King’s condition so I hope that someone will bring the Atkello witch back soon.”

Map of Craszava

Both of you are standing at the back gate of the Imperial Palace with your entourage while waiting for the grooms to bring the horses to you. Prince Wind pulls out a map of Craszava and Prince Batulh is reading a list of pointers that he listed from his study of Atkello Group. There are 6 guards standing at the sides of the gate.

The clutter of the horses’ hoofs caught Prince Batulh’s attention. Prince Batulh then walks to Prince Wind to study the map together.

What will the both of you do next? Please also decide on where to start your journey together.

 

LORE 2: Kiatos

Craszava focuses on agricultural sector for their economy. Every household member has to work in the field and produce output according to the target set by the officials in the Imperial Palace. The great amount of agricultural products in Craszava had attracted many wildlife from around the kingdom to move to Craszava. There are sightings of many different wildlife around the forests and mountain areas of Craszava. The wildlife in Craszava consists of animals which are gentle to animals which are more aggressive in nature.

On top of all these, there were a few sighting of Kiatos, a type of familiar spirit in the form of dog, in the forest and also on borderline of Craszava. They are brown in colour and their fur are long and frizzy. They give off a stench when they are agitated but they will have a pleasant fragrance usually. It was believed that the stench is also a type of weapon for the Kiatos. The stench carries venomous microscopic worms which will attack the attacker’s lungs and it will spread from there on to the heart and brain, eventually taking over the body of the attacker. The body will be left in the forest for the birds to feed on.

There are rumors that these Kiatos are not offensive in nature but they will retaliate aggressively to those who tries to harm them. On the other hand, they will requite people who helped them in time of need. They always travel alone.

LORE: Atkello

LORE 1:

4 YEARS AGO
In 314 BC, a prophecy in Kingdom of Craszava foretold that the right to the throne goes to the one who is supported by the descendant of Atkello witch tribe.

CURRENT SITUATION
In 310 BC, Kingdom of Craszava is threatened by the fast expanding kingdoms around them. Craszava have been experiencing rather slow growth for years and their borders are often infringed by other kingdoms.

The current king of Craszava is old and superstitious so he wants to choose the successor to the throne according to the prophecy. He then issues a royal edict which says the one who gains the support of Atkello descendent shall be the next king. Since then, all the Craszavian prince set off on a journey to locate the Atkello witch tribe.

LORE 2:

HISTORY OF ATKELLO WITCH TRIBE  
The Atkello is the legendary witch tribe in Craszava which assisted the Craszavian kings since 531 BC. Their existence was not explicitly recorded in the history of Craszava but can be inferred from the events and rituals recorded. They were believed to be the ones who assisted the Craszava kings and led the kingdom to flourish.

However, a disastrous war broke out in 403 BC which wiped out almost 85% of the witch tribe. Hence, the elder in Atkello made the decision to isolate themselves from the world. They do not wish to participate in the governance of Craszava .


Both of you are the Prince of Craszava who will be going on the journey to locate the Atkello witch tribe.
However, before you guys set off, you have to decide your
1) Name
2) Appearance
3) Attribute Points (STR, AGI, INT)
4) Weapon of your choice
5) Size of entourage*
6) Luggage**

If you want, you can also include information about your background or a portrait of your character.

*Min: 1 ; Max: 3
**You are allowed to bring 6 items as your luggage, it can be anything that you think you might need it during the journey. Eg: Parchment paper and ink. Items that are complement will be counted as 1 item.

Bon Voyage!