The League of Dukes
On the planet Caltera there are 7 main continents and hundreds of smaller islands. The largest continent is Meridia. In the year 1562 the Kingdom of Meridia was united and under the rule of the Rall royal family. Under their watchful gaze they split the land into 13 sections, one for each Duke and the royal family. When King Rall the 3rd took the throne many things changed. He was a lazy and lustful king! He would delegate much of his work to the Dukes of the land and if there wasn't enough he would elevate those around him to the title of Duke! Over his short reign of 30 years he would gain a total of 50 Dukes under his command.
Many Dukes were furious with this! Not only were they losing their political power, but their Dukedoms were being divided and given off to people that were made Dukes only for a lazy King! Over his 30 year reign King Rall the 3rd slept with countless woman and spread his seed all over the land. On his 35th birthday he was poisoned by an unknown assailant. All hell broke after this. With his death every Duke raised their army and backed one of the many many bastard children for the throne. To even lay their own claim to the throne they even had these bastard children marry into their family.
Fortunately the Denir family, the Royal Steward, rallied the Royal army and pushed the Dukes out of the capital and the Royal lands ruled by the Royal family. Atasian Denir the head of the Denir Family and Royal Steward vowed to keep the Dukes out of the Royal land and Capital till a new King was chosen. For the next 200 years a king wouldn't be chosen and the Denir family would keep their promise to guard Royal Land till a true successor is chosen.
By 1762 the Kingdom of Meridia has become the League of Dukes. Of the 50 Dukes only 37 remain. 7 of them were the strongest and wealthiest dukedoms named the Major Dukes. They were also the 7 of the original 12 Dukes from before the rise of King Rall the 3rd. The remining 30 Dukes, called the Minor Dukes, were given their titles by King Rall the 3rd. Even with all the fighting and death between the Dukedoms not every Duke wishes to take the throne any more. Many have lost the appetite for the throne with the blood cost to sit upon it. Even some of the Major Dukes wish for this blood war for the throne to end. Though they do not wish to see other Dukes on the throne given what they have done for said throne.
Although not every Duke was the same. Some wanted a quiet life and make their people happy, while others wanted nothing more then to rule the largest content with an iron fist. Duke Bria of the Igith Dukedom rules the southwestern most part of the Meridia continent. Her dukedom is little more then 600,000 square miles and 1.2 million people under her rule. Her dukedom has over 50 towns scattered around, one major port and the crowning jewel, Castle Igith, as the major capital of her land.
Being one of the Minor Dukes, House Igith and Castle Igith are all relatively new. Though even if Castle Igith was one of the youngest castles in the League it was a marvel to see. With the power of Earth magic the very earth and foundation where the castle sits was raised 500ft above the flat lands around it. Not only was Earth magic used to raise the foundation where it was built, but magic was also used to create an artificial canal from the port city Lushia to Castle Igith.
A concentric castle built from white white marble and polished stone; Castle Igith stands atop a man made plateau. Surrounded by 4 separate walls varying from 1-4 miles apart. The inner wall was the main land directly surrounding Castle Igith. This is where anyone working in the castle lived. The second inner wall was for other minor nobles and upper class, Lords and Ladies, under Duke Bria's command lived. The 3rd wall was the residual district. This is where most of the population of the capitol lived. Behind the 4th wall, the first line of defense, was the shopping and crafting district.
In the crafting district is an artificial canal that connects a river between Castle Igith and the port city Lushia. This canal allowed for very fast transfer of goods to the main city. This caused the crafting district to quickly gain materials and sell lots of goods. Castle Igith is actually one of the wealthiest cities on Meridia. Many rivals eyed this jewel hungerly. Although one small town would birth a person that will influence the shape of the nation.
A small town named Litwik sits just on the edge of the canal from Castle Igith to Lushia. This small town only has roughly 50,000 citizens. Many of which work for the local Adventures guild or Crafter guild. Being near the canal allows this town to sell their goods in the capital and get fresh food from the ocean for a cheap price. Litwik wasn't known for much besides its abnormally high dungeon spawns
Dungeons are pocket dimensions where adventures and soldiers go to train. There are 3 types of dungeons, Blue, Red and Purple dungeons. Each dungeon also informs a person the name and what level a person needs to be to complete this dungeons, if a person is higher then the recommended level they will not gain any experience. Blue dungeons are some of the safest dungeons, although no dungeon is truly safe. One always risk their life when entering. Why Blue dungeons are safe is because, if you are not in a fight, the adventurer can leave at any time they want. Though they will need to restart the dungeon from the very beginning.
Red and Purple dungeons are much different. Red dungeons give better rewards and experience, but are much deadlier compare to Blue dungeons. On top of that once a person enters a Red dungeon they must complete the quest given before they can leave. Some adventures get stuck in these dungeons for weeks at a time. That being said many people can enter these dungeons at any given time, but are all brought to their own separate dimension, unless they are in a party. Those in a party together can enter dungeons together and work with one another to complete. Experience and loot are divided amongst the party, but dungeons with parties will have more and harder enemies.
Purple dungeons on the other hand are the worst and when one is found, if the Duke of the land can not handle it themselves other Dukes will put their differences aside to help defeat these. Purple dungeons are also nicknamed Broken Dungeons. There are many theories on how Purple Dungeons are made, but they all have the same outcome if not defeated. Called Broken Dungeons because if they are not beat in a certain amount of time the Dungeon Dimension will break into the real world bringing whatever monsters and abominations it held. Once a Purple dungeon breaks it permanently opens and corrupts the land around.
When a Purple Dungeon fully breaks open a Duke must quickly have a barrier built in a 5 mile radius of the dungeons location. This barrier must also be guarded to fight back the monsters pouring out of the break. Some Dukes let this dungeon break happen and use it as a way to train their soldiers. This is frowned upon as there is a risk the monsters breaking free and attacking other towns and civilians. That being said there is a way to close a broken dudgeon. One must fight their way through 5 miles of monsters, enter the dudgeon and complete the quest. Easier said then done.
The problem with trying to close an already broken dungeon is the monsters. They will continuously pour out of the dungeon into the real world and if they aren't killed on our side they can follow whoever entered the dungeon without any restriction. The Purple dungeon isn't easier, but now much harder. If others, not in a party, try to follow a person into the dungeon they will find themselves un able to enter. They are stuck in our world having to fight the monsters allowing the person inside to complete the dungeon.
This is also another reason Dukes will work together to close these Purple Dungeons. Normally they are too strong for one Duke and their army to handle. No one wanted to conquer a dead land. Although having a Dukes army on your land always has its own problems. Coming up with a solution the Dukes came together to create the Adventurers Guild. Every month each and every Duke will donate gold to this 3rd party to act as guards against these Purple Dungeons. Litwik is also one of their major headquarters.
Not only is Litwik in Duke Bria's domain, but is also a major headquarters for the Adventurers Guild. Although mainly just a training area for lower level adventurers. Litwik is known for its abundant amount of Blue dungeons and a handful of Red dungeons. This makes the town a haven for adventurers of levels 1-30. Though there other towns with similar situations, Litwik is special as it was given to the Adventurers Guild from Duke Bria herself. Although she technically owned it she forged a strong relationship with the Guild.
Even though Litwik is a small town of 50,000 citizens it was well kept. It was also one of the very few towns on the entire continent to be completely build out of stone with Earth magic. It had a large 20ft wall surrounding the town. It looked as though the town was carved from a single rock. No building was taller then 4 stories, besides the one in the very center. The center building was 8 stories tall and acted as both a watch tower and main headquarters for the Adventures Guild.
On the edges of the town, still well within the protection of the wall, is a small stone house only 2 stories high. A wooden sign with a depiction of the skin of a fox and knife hung above the main door. "Skinned Fox Tannery" read just below the picture. Inside the shop was stone counter and dozens of different furs and leathers on display. Furs from normal and magical beasts were scattered around. Some furs were normal black, grey and orange coloring. While others were more exotic in a variety of different shades of blue's, green's and purple's.
The second floor was the living space. It had a standard kitchen with magical appliances, a bathroom, a living room and a bedroom. Only one person lived here, Ellias Klov. He inherited the house when his parents died when he was 14. His parents were low level adventurers and died when helping Duke Bria destroy a Purple Dungeon. Now at the age of 17 he still used the skills his parents taught him of skinning and tanning hides. He reopened the store they owned and took management himself.
On the very roof of this building sat a young man with an athletic build. He has famers tan from being in the sun skinning beasts and dusty brown hair. His brilliant green eyes examined the magical beast in his hands. Around him was other furs of normal beasts that clients hired him to skin and keep as fur or turn into leather. But the fur in his hands was the most special to him. The fur of a Snow Tiger. It was left to him by his parents and he spent the last 3 years mastering his skinning and tanning skill be able to work with this fur. Even though he had no class he still was able to learn useful skills.
As he sat with the hide of the Snow Tiger in his hands he looked over his skills to double check he was ready for this.
[Ellias Klov: No Class Lv 0]
[HP 30]
[Skills: Skinning Lv 3, Tanning Lv 3, Hide Crafting Lv 1, Leather Crafting Lv1, Dagger Lv 1 and Bow Lv 2]
A bright smile appeared on his face as he read his stats. For a classes person he was a step ahead most with his skills. He defiantly thought he would become a Warrior tomorrow on his 18th birthday when he touched the Class stone. Just like his parents. He looked back down at the light blue fur with white stripes and began to imagine his life as a Warrior. He wanted to master the bow and dagger similar to his parents and become a hunter in the Adventure guild! He daydreamt about hunting large magical beasts and collecting their hide to turn into armor befitting the Duke, He wanted to be known as a world class hunter that not only could hunt beasts, but also make armor and weapons from them!
As the sun started to rise, the light shone into his eyes and woke him from his day dream. He shielded his eyes from the sun and smiled. Only 2 more days till he would be 18 and become the Warrior he always wished to be. He turned himself around allowing the warm sun to shine on his back. He picked up a skinning knife and began to shape his personal birthday present!