About KMUX
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KushielMUX - What is it all about, exactly?
The Setting
KushielMUX is a game based on the Kushiel's Legacy setting of books. If you've never heard of Kushiel's Legacy, that's alright! This page is here to help you. In fact, even if you have heard of Kushiel's Legacy or read the books, you still ought to read this page -- our setting is not the exact same one as the books. If you haven't read them yet - what are you waiting for?!
Kushiel's Legacy itself, the series, is based on an alternate-history mid/late-medieval/early-renaissance Europe; each country is differently named, with somewhat different customs than real Earth history - for example, what if the Saxons had never invaded England? What if the Aragons had won the Spanish civil war? The Kushiel series explores, thus, an Earth where things are sort of like reality, but not quite. Make sense? No? Oh.
When you first create your character, you should keep all this information in mind. Right away you'll need, for example, to pick a name that's appropriate to the setting. If your character is going to be a d'Angeline, for example, your name should be French; if you're playing a Skaldi it should be Norse-esque.
In the series, Europe is divided roughly into five different nations - Terre d'Ange, where most of the action takes place, Alba & Eire, Aragonia, Skaldia, and Caerdicca Unitas.
Terre d'Ange
Terre d'Ange is the fantasy-esque equivalent of France; however, in Terre d'Ange, the scion of Yeshua's blood (Jesus) and Mary Magdalene's tears, named Elua, walked the land of early Europe with a troupe of eight fallen Angels at his side who had turned away from the One God. When they ceased their wandering, seven of the angels formed a land called - you guessed it - Terre d'Ange, each of them making their own province within it. The eight angel, Cassiel, decided instead to remain with Elua. Elua's primary precept was Love as thou wilt, which essentially means "love whoever you want to"; it firmly dictates the ability of choice in all things. Each of the seven angels seem to have taken this to heart, since within a few thousand years the land was filled with their mingled angel-human offspring - called d'Angelines, known for their beauty, grace, refinement, and general civility.
Alba & Eire
Alba and Eire are the fantasy equivalents of England and Ireland; they're so closely tied together that they might as well be called one country at this point. This is a UK that was never invaded by the Saxons, however - after the Tiberian Empire (the fantasy Romans) left, the place was thoroughly settled by the natives, who live in a sort of semi-barbaric matriarchal tribal society ruled by the Cruarch. The Eire.. Eireish? Eirelands? They, on the other hand, have a High King but are generally about the same as their neighbours.
The lands of Alba and Eire are two islands to the north of Terre d'Ange; Eire is to the west of Alba and is somewhat smaller. Geographically the two islands are fairly diverse, enough so that whatever one country is lacking the other can usually provide. This gives them a fair degree of autonomy while being free of mainland influences. In the past, the Master of the Straight has kept ships from passing through the channel to Terre d'Ange to Alba, but with his recent silence the storms that usually filled the channel have vanished and trade has flourished between them.
The capital of Alba is Bryn Gorrydum, though a number of other smaller towns and cities are scattered through the lands; old Tiberian roads connect them even still. In Eire, the capital is Tea Muir. Both nations retain an individuality of their own and individual tribes within the countries are in a loose coalition.
The people of Alba and Eire are a fairly barbaric lot, compared to the civilized and refined D'Angelines or Caerdicci. They are a tribal people, living in clans within their country; the loyalty of a person to their clan is of paramount importance. The lands are divided very loosely between each clan, though territories shift as each clan raids or invades the other from time to time. Like the Aragonians, their disputes rarely dissolve into true civil war and the chieftains are quite quick to make peace with their neighbours.
In Alba, the society is nominally matriarchal - the leader of the clans, the Cruarch, is passed from the current Cruarch to his sister's eldest son. Marriage is a foreign concept to them, though they still form deep bonds with their prospective mates. In Eire, they use a traditional High King patrician monarchy, though both women and men are afforded the same status in society and the military.
Physically, the people from both nations are fairly tough and sturdy, with generally pale skin and red or blond hair. The warriors tattoo the symbols of their caste on their face and bodies in blue woad-ink, giving them a fairly fearsome appearance both in and out of battle. They are fairly uncivilized compared to most other nations (except the Skaldi), and like the Aragonians, tend to lack subtlety - though there have been some most definite exceptions before and people are unlikely to underestimate their potential. The people of Alba and Eire are a mix of distrusting and envious of the other nations, and quite willing to make deals with any of them should the situation arise.
Aragonia
Aragonia is the equivalent of Spain, both geographically and culturally. While the books didn't go into much detail about this large and rocky country, our game has added some background data to it that helps flesh it out somewhat. In particular, the land is, like Alba, semi-barbaric, the place divided into three large provinces that routinely declare civil war on each other to determine who's next in line for the Aragonian Throne. They tend to keep to themselves, though.
Caerdicca Unitas
Caerdicca Unitas is the remnants of the old Tiberian (Roman) Empire, which once stretched from sea to sea. Now it's in ruins, though the land itself (Italy) is formed of a number of individual city-states -- a "city-state" is a province within the country that is ruled and protected by the city, though there's no actual government of the country and the nation itself is not clearly united. In our game, CU has become firmly entrenched in a true renaissance, and their inventions, art, and philosophy have greatly influenced d'Angeline culture.
Skaldia
Skaldia. Poor, poor Skaldia. The nation of barbarians - geographically they are equivalent to Germany, and various other European nations, encompassing a very wide swath of land east of Terre d'Ange. Culturally however they are far closer to the Norse - they like strength and bravery, tend to wear beards, like using axes, and even worship the Norse gods such as Odhinn One-Eye and Freya. They live in tribes and steadings scattered through their land, but because of their sheer numbers they can be a staggeringly powerful enemy if they're ever united. Thankfully, in our storyline the Skaldi have become slightly more civilized; they've even formed a main hub city, Berolinum, comprised of ambassadors from each tribe who travel to and from their settlement to exchange news and trade.
The Hazaran
This country is unique to our game and shouldn't be taken as direct canon from the Kushiel series. Essentually, the Hazaran are the Mongol Empire -- the group of likeminded steppes nomads who, at around 1100 AD, formed a coalition united by the Great Khan and invaded China and swept into the Balkans and the Middle East, forming the largest single empire in Earth history. The Hazaran are similar- they are focused for the moment however on the Hanzu (the Chinese), but beyond a doubt they will eventually see the riches and wealth displayed by the d'Angelines.. A Hazar is crude, barbaric, and generally disagreeable with anything except his brethren, a good steppe war-pony, and a bow.
Our Setting - The Important Bits
Our game is similar to the series - however, our storyline begins roughly 120-150 years after the end of the Kushiel's Legacy series. Most of the world has begun the very early renaissance period, with quick leaps in technology and rapidly changing fashions and ideals across the globe. The Skaldi have been fairly quiet lately, too, which is somewhat suspicious for them - however, this is almost certainly because of the wars happening in the distant Far East that is making them quite nervous indeed. The Hazaran (Mongols) and the Hanzu (Chinese) have been entrenched in a bitter and violent war for nearly a decade; the warlord Tiemuzhen Khan, merchants from the Far East have said, might be planning on turning his horde westwards once the Hanzu are conquered..
In addition to the uncertainty growing in the world, Terre d'Ange itself is growing more fragmented. The elected Senate, who once held quite a bit of power as the Ministers of the nation (such as the Minister of Finance, Minister of Foreign Affairs) were disbanded by the Queen in retaliation for their signing of several laws without her seeing them first - and, more subtly, because they were beginning to become more powerful than the Crown itself. The Ministers, of course, rather didn't appreciate the loss of their influence.. so they do all they can to regain it. The conflict between the Senate and the Crown could very well lead to civil war.
The various Duchies are also, as always, circling the throne like sharks and waiting for blood in the water. The Game of Thrones never ceases.
Unfortunately for Queen Eliresse Andelieu de la Courcel, she had fallen in love with a commoner of shady reputation by the name of Mathieu Ghyselin and decided on a whim to marry him -- the ties between Alba and Terre d'Ange had become so interlinked that it was now almost expected for the d'Angeline family to wed with the Alban royalty and cement those bonds. Her decision caused panic among the d'Angeline nobility. Coupled with the fragmentation of the Senate..
On May 9th, 1180AD, Queen Eliresse died in childbirth with the nation's only heir. There were no other Courcel family members remaining - no direct ones, of course, but there were plenty of cousins and nephews immediately snapping at the bit. Thus the Throne remains empty and everyone points the blame at everyone else -- then the physicians declared the death a murder by poison and it became much more serious.
Just as the nobility were convening in the city with a variety of diplomats to usher in the Royal Vote for the new Royal Family (the last King declared that a Vote would take place in the event of the Courcel line dying out), a chilling winter descends upon the world, enfolding Terre d'Ange in a frigid blanket of white. Even Tiberium and southern Aragonia have seen snow for the first time in recorded history. The Skaldi have taken to calling it the Fimbulwinter.
All contact has been lost outside the City of Elua and all the gathered nobility can do are weather the storm out in the confines of the city walls, and try to help those few that manage to stumble in the gates-- all roads are nearly impassible and the Avaline River is almost frozen over. The future looks bleak indeed.
The next page you might want to visit it the KMUX FAQ found here!
