Veridia

By Andrea Spurio

This book speaks about the places and the people living in the fantasy world of Veridia.
Veridia is distant world that resembles our own during the Middle Ages. Technology is rudimental, but the presence of mysteries and magic makes life unpredictable and exciting.
Everything is seen through the eyes of a fictional scholar, living in this place.

Veridia is not a novel. Thus, you won't find an overarching story and recurrent characters. It is, instead, the collection of facts and events that made the history of a world and its people

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trisfald
• Release date: May 25, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393502067

Book preview

Introduction

Veridia is the name given to the lands known by men. It spans from east to west for more than one thousand kilometers; it's surrounded by water in every direction except north, where there are instead territories hostile to humans.

Actually, only a subset of Veridia, consisting of the lands close to the sea and the islands, is inhabited by people.

Depending on the specific zone, the citizens sustain themselves with farming, hunting or fishing. Over the years, many civilizations have emerged. Some of them are closely related one another either because of their geographical location or due to similarities in their cultures, while others have grown in total isolation.

Humans have studied and developed a variety of disciplines for the most diverse of objectives; few notable examples are: crafting, carpentry, herboristery, magic, philosophy and warfare.

Small towns, huge cities, castles, stone walls, temples, these are all common sights in Veridia. Differences in architecture are indeed present yet usually not really noteworthy, because men have been travelling back and forth from various countries with regularity in ancient times already; as an old saying goes, ideas travel faster than wind in Veridia.

The so-called mainland has long history rich of joyful and sad event alike. In principle there were only small villages. Under the guidance of capable leaders, these centers became larger and larger up to the point where they could started to be considered small states. Then, the stronger city states subdued the weaker ones, and so big countries appeared.

The flow couldn't be stopped and even these powerful nations had to be sacrificed for the sake of the almighty Empire, seemingly the pinnacle of human civilization. Which, evidently, it was not, since few centuries later it crumbled under the pressure of humans' futile power struggles. The countries made a return, somewhat competing each other for supremacy, as always.

Of course, ambitions didn't die there. The time for religion to shine was not over, the Knight Orders began to leave their mark on the world, magic was always there strong as ever. People sought new lands to colonize, first in the nearby north-east and then in the distant south beyond the inner sea. However, with expansion new challenges arose: keeping peace and stability, minimizing wealth inequality, promoting tolerance.

To make the matters worse the unexpected happened. Savage tribes invaded the southern human colonies and put thousands of lives at risk. Not much later, supporters of a new discipline defied the Council's authority, an event that shook many layers of society. Veridia overcame even these emergencies and although nobody knows what else it will have to face in the future, the confidence is there to say that the outlook is promising.

A solid monetary system, based on the Empire's historical currency, the deli, is shared between all countries; in every corner of the world the right amount of deli will buy you food and shelter. The deli itself is built upon the intrinsic value of the precious materials of which the coins are made of, whilst its worth is kept in check by a joint effort of some governments, the merchant guilds and the Mage Order.

Magic is well recognized around Veridia, yet common people don't have many chances to see wizards in action. The greatest research efforts go into developing recipes useful for warfare, not mundane tasks.

The main artifact of magic are spells; in simple terms, those are patterns to achieve what normal people deem impossible. They come with a lot of variants and different flavours; the Council is very proud of its work in categorizing and documenting almost every type of magic. All that is left shrouded in mystery are forbidden practices and supposedly inferior currents.

Objects infused with magic are uncommon and extremely expensive. Furthermore, the item needs periodic reinforcements to retain its supernatural properties.

Part I:

Countries

Here are presented the states in which Veridia is divided today.

For each, after having explored its history, we describe the lifestyle of its inhabitants and introduce the most iconic places.

Chapter I: Cerunia

History

Between the inner sea and the great ocean lies the biggest country of western Veridia, Cerunia. There, the human civilization has ancient roots; in fact, the first man powerful enough to be worthy of the title of king was of Cerunian's lineage. He was the first of the famed yet short-lived Roothrig dynasty, and ruled for the incredible length of 63 years.

Magic is the pride of Cerunia, even if its exact origins are rumored to be from somewhere in Lyr. However, there's no doubt that today Cerunia is the center of the magic society.

After a bright start in the beginning of the first millennium, the Kingdom of Cerunia had to endure a period of stagnation, caused mostly by an unlucky string of irresponsible or simply bad rulers. As rebellion has never been in the local people's blood, the situation improved only after the Empire took control of the land; it was a pleasant time for the country's economy because it could benefit from the technological innovations made in the more advanced Lyr and Luminia.

The Empire's fall brought a short moment of disorientation for Cerunia. However, the Magic Council was quick to take action, putting on the throne a weak king, easy to manipulate.

The huge amount of power exerted by the Council and later also by the Mage Order, has saved Cerunia from falling behind the rest of western Veridia in terms of wealth and reputation. On the other side, it has created a strange equilibrium in which the royal family is almost a puppet in the hands of two masters. Thus, excluding the events involving the magic society or the knights, few noteworthy episodes have happened in Cerunia in the last five hundred years.

The people have, by now, put aside their bitterness towards Lyr; the old clashes between the two states are nothing more than a distant memory, almost forgotten.

The country

While its territory is large, Cerunia's population density is average at best, surely much less than the one in its neighbour countries. The majority of people live in the big towns or in the middle sized centers situated along the great roads. These roads are impressive infrastructures built by the Empire to improve the commercial routes; Cerunia has three main roads and another five, minor ones, that connect the towns on the ocean to the rest of Veridia.

Far from the travel routes life is rural; there are vast spaces rich of vegetation and wild animals, with a sporadic fortress or watch tower placed in a key location.

The climate is temperate and it benefits from the sea's presence. Cerunia is considered a good place to live in, for what concerns the weather and the lifestyle; the latter has a nice balance between the time spent doing social and work activities and the time spent around nature.

The Cerunian citizens are not the richest or the most interested in science, but they usually have good survival skills and a considerable familiarity with magic. Speaking of which, Cerunia is home to the well-known Council and the principal schools of spellcrafting. It's every wizard's dream to study in one of the country's prestigious academies, or, even better, to be part of the highly praised Inner Circle.

Due to the high concentration of practitioners of any skill level, magic services are cheaper than in the rest of Veridia, so cheap that even commoners can afford one from time to time.

The best shops have also magic items available for purchase, like mantles or tunics, albeit at a quite high price; it means that, in practice, only the rich can afford these goods. Anyhow, the possibility to acquire such peculiar items is still a remarkable fact.

By the way, Cerunia is the only place where the city guard regularly uses the wizards' help. Spellcrafters are hired to set up defensive enchants in the most crowded locations, to protect the citizens, or to put countermeasures against criminals or thieves.

King Mark Aguus sits firmly on the kingdom's throne, his family notoriously supported by both the Order and the Council. He's not at all a bad leader: like his father before him, he has shown on multiple occasions to possess notable wits and wisdom, of course in the limits of what his 'restricted' authority let him do.

The Cerunian royal family, as well as the national army, has little relevance on Veridia's political scene. After all, Cerunia is best known for hosting two formidable independent organizations, not for its modest aristocracy.

The Mage Order has a firm grasp over the country's local affairs; currently, it's more concerned about the events happening in the rest of Veridia, and it's organizing an ever-increasing number of abroad expeditions.

The Magic Council is dealing with a bit of internal turmoil caused by the Cerunian elemental schools. The latter are divided about whether or not they should expand their presence outside the country's borders. The less influential schools support the expansive policies, with the hope of getting a chance to acquire prestige in new lands, while the oldest, well-established ones are content with the current situation and oppose any potential change in the balance of power.

Theoretically, the Inner Circle should be above such petty disputes, but since it's composed essentially by the top members of these schools, it's impossible to completely avoid political pressures, that then might cause repercussions on the Coucil's stability.

Places

Thirteenth tower

It's the most famous of the Council's towers. Here, since the sixth century, when the structure was built by order of the high archmage Ittori, magicians of every school discuss matters of the utmost importance.

The tower has gone through several modifications during its long life; it's common practice for the high archmage to abandon his former laboratory, then settling in the thirteenth tower and modifying it to his liking. A demonstration of power or, perhaps, only a cheap showing of vanity.

Everhope

Everhope is the biggest fortress of the Mage Order. Situated near the country's capital, it has large spaces dedicated to the knights' living quarters and educational facilities. Also, the arguably mightiest prison of all Veridia is right under the fortress, guarded night and day by some of the Order's most skilled combatants.

Unlike others important buildings, Everhope can be visited freely by commoners,