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Witch Storm is a Black Jewels Trilogy RPG based off of Anne Bishop's Black Jewels series.

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This site is an RPG based off of Anne Bishop's Black Jewels series. The canon is: Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, Queen of the Darkness (the main trilogy), The Invisible Ring, Dreams Made Flesh, the short story The Price published in the Powers of Detection anthology, Tangled Webs, The Shadow Queen, Shalador's Lady, and Twilight’s Dawn. This is a free site, and no money is being made.
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Chaillot Information
Topic Started: Jun 21 2008, 04:09 AM (394 Views)
Caelainn
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The Bibliophile of Doom

Chailot is one of the most western of the western Territories. It is a long island running north-south lengthwise. The eastern beaches in particular are famed for their beauty. On a clear day you can see the Tacea Island, the next island east where it is said there is an old Dark Sanctuary, now partially ruined. While there are a number of villages in Chaillot, the only real city of note is Beldon Mor, the capitol, situated at the northern end of the island.

The Province of Aycliff comprises the northern end of the island, including the city of Beldon Mor. It is the coldest region in winter, especially further inland, yet still enjoys warm beautiful summers. Some of the beaches have high bluffs or stark cliffs, yet there are still more than enough lovely sandy beaches for those on pleasure bent. The Province's main economic lifesblood all runs through Beldon Mor, though, a busy hub of trade and a travel destination for natives and foreigners alike.

The middle of the island is divided lengthwise, Wychaven Province taking the western stretch, and Cabrach Province taking the east. Cabrach has the strongest fishing industry and temds to produce most of Chaillot's produce. Inland farms and orchards also abound. Wychaven's coast is a bit more prone to heavy storms coming off the open ocean, and deep sea fishing is more vital than tourists to their livelihood, though they still have their share of the latter.

Covesea Province is furthest south and has the warmest climate, the balmy summer weather and tropical palm trees a surprise to visitors from the north. It possesses the Territory's most beautiful beaches and has the strongest tourist industry. The sport fishing for sharks and swordfish and tuna is very lucrative for the Province's and the Territory's economy. It also supports the international trade in aquarium fishes as the coral reefs here and the vibrant fish are part of a thriving ecosystem and full of colour. Because of these reefs, divers and snorklers are also very common.

Chaillot enjoys a moderate climate with woods and fields, and lovely summers, but gets cold enough in winter to be blanketed with snow, particularly in the northern half of the island.

The native population of Chaillot is short-lived and fair-skinned.

The hot desert Territory of Pruul lies not far off on the mainland to the southeast. Mainland western territories such as Dena Nahele lie further off to the northeast.
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Caelainn
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The Bibliophile of Doom

History

The formation of the male council in Chaillot is by now ancient history. To most people, it has always been this way. But to the more careful student of history would note that the founding of the council took place during the height of Rufus Vorturn’s power in Terreille. He never personally visited Chaillot, too far from Prince Vorturn’s home in Dhemlan--the other side of the Realm. But ideas spread, and Vorturn’s sentiments took root in the hearts of many a Chaillot male.

The last 20,000 long years of Chaillot history has therefore been one lengthy battle of the sexes. It has been a polite battle most of the time, an infinitely slow game of chess. There have been quiet generations in which an uneasy peace would hold for decades at a time, a century even. Then something would shift and the deadly game would begin again.

Protocol is not dead in Chaillot, as it is in so much of Terreille. Many Chaillotians who travel east are horrified by the extent to which other Territories have forgotten Protocol and Blood Law. Little do they realized that a visitor from Kaeleer would view them the same way. The surviving texts on Law and Protocol have been…judiciously edited. Rival editions exist, each with their own proponents.

In recent centuries, the game has revolved around several factors. A female council has been created, in theory to “balance” the male council. But since the male council was always in a stalemate with the Queens, the addition of a female council has tipped the scales toward female dominance at last. And after all, is that not the natural order of things amongst the Blood? There are a dozen aristo families that hold most of the power--in the Province courts, the Territory court, both councils, and in the economy. Despite being thoroughly intermarried, each family is engaged in its own drawn out games of maneuvering and power with each other. This generation, some families are solidly backing the interests of the Queens and the female council, some are just as solidly backing the interests of the male council, and some torn within themselves with interests scattered all over Chaillotian politics. It all depends on the force of personality of the leading members of the family, after all.

Slavery is legal in Chaillot, and has been for centuries though it is not rampant. There are, in theory, laws protecting people--men in particular--from being forced into slavery if they have committed no crime, but how well these are enforced depends largely upon the politics of the day, and how much bribe money changes hands.


Some Interesting Points of Custom and Culture:

Naming:
Through some strange quirk of fate and history—certainly not through design—the naming practices in Chaillot have come back to what scholars of ancient history could tell you was the old traditional system of the Blood. Females take their surnames from the female line and males take their surname from the male line. This makes tracing the family lines and aristo households rather bewildering to outsiders, but Chaillotians are accustomed to it. Just to muddy the waters, though, there are a few families with “foreign” notions in which the entire family will take the name of the more powerful spouse, whether that is the husband or the wife. Add to that the occasional bastard—or case where paternity was denied—and it would take training in genealogy to keep all the family connections straight...of course aristo families train all their children in genealogy.

Witch and Winsol:
There are two myths called Witch. One myth is practically a fairy tale, shining with hope about the Living Myth, Dreams Made Flesh, a person and yet a manifestation of the Darkness. The other tale is a dark legend about Witch, a Black Widow Black Queen named Ellisinia Phoris, said to be the most vicious and powerful tyrant the Realms had ever seen. Some say Lady Phoris never lived, that she is only a story made to frighten children; “be good little boy, or Witch will come in the night and snip off your balls.”

Similarly, there are two tales told about Winsol, though opinion is less divided on this matter in Chaillot. For time out of mind in Chaillot, Winsol, the holiday stretching across the 13 longest nights of the year, has been the celebration of Mother Night. Yet some of the oldest manuscripts, and indeed many travelers from other lands, claim that Winsol is a celebration of Witch. But to celebrate a near-forgotten fairy tale seems silly for such an important holiday, and celebration of the deadly legend of Lady Phoris seems even more ludicrous. So in Chaillot, people rest content that they have the right of it, and they dance to the glory of Mother Night in Winsol season.
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