Important Locations

Deathwish

The City-State of Deathwish is a large settlement on the Von plateau in the center of the Avalloc Mountains by the historic Lake Daguenet. The city is characterized in modern day as being ostentatiously southern gothic in the traditional American sense. The vein-like streets are lined with classic wooden-built buildings with grandiose facades, its summers feature extreme heat waves, its denizens take on cowfolkish appearances, and the governmental structure- while being monarchic at first glance- more closely resembles that of a wild-western town. The majority of the town, in comparison to other settlements, also appears to be mostly “monsterous” races with very few “traditional” humanoid species being amongst the population. While small and strange in comparison to many modern settlements, having less than a thousand civilians, Deathwish is the oldest continuously inhabited zone in all of Metrianda and one of the more controversial factions outside of The Sun. Deathwish is currently led by the black dragon Cyprus of Revelation who has led the city-state for thousands of years. She has acted as the head of the Monochromatic Council of Dragons since its establishment prior to the Tenebris Coup- this council is said to have inspired Tenebris in terms of structure and name for his eventual government, to the point that the Monochromatic Council of Dragons had to add the prefix “Monochromatic” to their official title in order to differentiate them from the larger, newer, fascist Council of Dragons. Cyprus is one of few original members, and Deathwish is the only remaining original Council of Dragons settlement that is still under the control of the original council.

Deathwish has remained independent of the greater world powers for its entire life, and was the first settlement to ever be able to summon anyone in the history of Escherin- including both civilians and heroes- even prior to the arrival of The Matans and the subsequent establishment of the summoning system. Despite this, many factions have tried to influence and lay claim to the city of Deathwish throughout history- the most recent being directly tied to the temporary insanity of Cyprus, commonly believed to be a symptom of intense Tenebris influence following the tragic death of her husband and partner- Verne the White- and three of their children, Mhyst, Ryven, and Urruo. During this temporary insanity, which lasted for about 60 years, Cyprus- under the pseudonym Revelation- created and headed a cult out of Deathwish; The Heart of Revelation. The Heart of Revelation, originally intended to be a peaceful organization that balanced power between The Overglass and Underglass, slowly shifted downwards into establishing Revelation as a deific figure that could ‘ascend’ to Godhood to replace the gods of Deathwish that Tenebris had killed during his coup as well as a revenge-focused organization that specifically targeted Heroes primarily from Overglass factions. Cyprus during this time became more manic, power hungry, and grief-striken- as did her followers. Many non-cult Deathwishians were targeted and either forced out, assassinated, or driven insane by Tenebris agents including a vast swath of those close to Cyprus who were attempting to bide and ease the tension and return the city to normal. These forces failed. Over the next 60 years, with assistance from direct Tenebris forces who had infiltrated her hero system and victims in a similar mental state to Cyprus at the time (including Benjiro Liebowitz- then under the pseudonym Edward Silverthorne, Cecilia, and Vizovya Levynskya), The Heart of Revelation abducted, killed, and transformed over 500 heroes across Metrianda. The heroes underwent a procedure invented by Dr Liebowitz and his then fiance Dr Nizan wherein they were strapped to a mechanism in a Subglassian well, fed an intense amount of magic, and tormented- at the very climax of their torture their keys- in a mechanism similar to the one they were strapped to- was bent and stressed until microfractures formed in the glassial metal that made them up. The keys were never directly snapped- a process known to create dangerous uncontrollable creatures called Omens- but the stress they were put under forced the heroes into a similar situation. With the threads that bind them to their keys severed and strained- and thusly the binds to Metrianda and their being- the half-lucid bodies of heroes were dumped into the well and held submerged as their keys were flooded with magic- a process that severed the heroes from their key and functionally killed them. Following this the bodies- hearts still beating- were removed from the well, unstrapped from their mechanism, and paraded through the streets to a second Subglassian well within Deathwish where they were submerged for a second and final time. The exact transformation that these bodies underwent is unknown even now- but eventually they would climb from the well minutes later as long-limbed strange shadow-black figures. The Tenebris agent and Deathwish Hero Warden Glashart would, using a device shaped like a baton, conduct the long limbed creatures before them and outfit the creatures with a permanent mask with features made specific to reference the hero they once were. These creatures are called Glasshearts and serve as a security force to protect the city of Deathwish. While no more Glasshearts are being made and while the Heart of Revelation is officially disbanded and destroyed by the Heroes of Robasa- the remaining Glasshearts are still being used by the city, with hopes that they will be decommissioned and buried once the city fully recovers and is able to protect itself again.