The Emissary

“Come at me with your best shot!”

Legends tell that long ago, while the Floresctival was still in its infancy, Stygians and Treatlings of every form came together to fight in a tournament of swords. To fight for the title of Champion. One year, a new competitor appeared. An Emissary from a different world. She had been interested in the customs of the Floresctival, choosing to enter the Tournament as part of her research. A surprisingly skilled warrior, the Emissary won round after round until she reached the final round; against the Champion. 

It was a hard fought battle. At first neither competitor gained any ground. For hours they fought until finally, the Champion yielded. The Emissary had won.

She was crowned the Champion of the swords tournament and gifted the ceremonial sword. And then she simply disappeared. No one saw The Emissary until the time that the Floresctival rolled around again. Once more she fought in the Tournament to defend her crown. 

This became the cycle of the Emissary. Every Floresctival she would re-emerged to defend her crown only to disappear once more after she had won the tournament. She became somewhat of a legend amongst the denizens of the Floresctival. Hundreds of visitors would come to the Floresctival just to watch her battle in the tournament. It was great for business.

Then one year, tragedy struck. During her final battle against a particularly fierce opponent, her sword shattered. While she was still able to win the round and maintain her title, something inside the Emissary had broken as well. She did not appear the next year. Nor the year after that. Success of the tournament dropped drastically without the presence of the Emissary. The denizens of the Floresctival started to erect statues of the Emissary and held the tournament using only swords in her honour. Yet despite their efforts, the Emissary never appeared again.

The Stygian

Razia - or Raz as she is often called - is heard before she is seen. Loud and boisterous, Raz fills any space she occupies. She lacks any kind of volume control or filter - whatever she thinks, she says and often she isn't thinking to begin with. Many find her rude or vulgar, and perhaps they are right. Too bad Razia doesn't really care. Raz doesn't see the point of beating around the bush or softening her words just to preserve another's feelings. 

More often than not, Razia is seen engaged in a brawl or trying to taunt someone into a brawl. She loves the thrill of a fight and is always seeking larger and larger challenges. Her body is littered with the scars of her conquests. Her missing eye is perhaps her most noticeable scar. While Razia doesn't tell the story of how she lost her eye, she does show off every scar, cut, and bruise she gets. To her these are just another form of trophies. It doesn't hurt that it enhances her intimidating image. Razia never backs down from a challenge once she issues it.

Most do not stay around long enough to witness it but Razia's memory is…. Terrible to say the least. She is known to be scatterbrained. She often forgets tasks half way through them after being distracted by something. Items are often misplaced for the same reason. Her short term memory is bad, sure, but that's nothing compared to her long term memory. She… she can't remember most of her life. There's scattered memories that float in her head; memories of a facility, of research, of something beyond the realm of Dreams and Nightmares. And yet none of them make any sense to Razia. Was there more to her life than the world of Nightmares? Than the life of brawls and battles? 

Maybe. But did it really matter now.

The Kingdom 

Echoes of the Festival

You enter the Floresctival - or at least you think it is the Floresctival. Maybe it was once the Floresctival. But now it is completely devoid of other Stygian. It is still decorated with lanterns, banners, bunting, flags - everything was still in place. Even Booths are still lined up in neat rows. You can hear the sounds of vendors calling out, the clank and hiss of cooking dishes, distant music and laughter. Yet it is all muffled, distant, as if you were listening to a memory.

If you choose to approach a booth you will find it staffed by a strange shadowy being. It's form is indescribable - always changing - and while you can perceive that is it there you cannot see it's shape. You may ask for the booths service and the shadowy being will serve you, silently. You will recieve your goods and the being will accept no payment, offer no conversation.

Moving through the festival you will find the Tournament Arena; a large field of dirt, fenced off from the rest of the festival with huge wooden stands overseeing the duels. At the 'head' of the field where typically the most important guests would have their seats, are a semi circle of stone pillars, six of them to be exact. Sitting atop one of the pillars towards the centre of the semi circle, is a statue of Razia herself. It is certainly her with those many tails and the sword clasped in large claws. But something seems wrong with her face. Why is it so devoid of features? Why is it so smooth? And what is with that strange charm hanging on her?

Points of Interest 

The Shadowy Booths

The Arena

The Stands

Empty Pillars of the Festival Gods