Misty Isles Lore

100 yrs ago

Around 100 yrs ago, Magic went corrupt. No one can use it without fear of becoming corrupted themselves. The Fae were affected the most and their society began to crumble. They began attacking the humanlands of Kal'adaar. Not coordinated attacks, but more like savage attacks of mad men with magic. This would later become know as The Madness.

The Madness affected all forms of life, but all societies other than the fae were able to control it as they had less magic users.

The people of Kal'adaar, took heavy losses in the early days of The Madness. And still hold prejudice towards those refugees of Fal'daren, the faelands, because they believe they weren't responsible with their use of magic, even though most fae refugees can't use magic themselves, and there are little to no magic users left among their ranks.

A month before the madness, The Isles of The Gods to the North of the main continent, started to be covered in a mist like substance, which has never dissipated, and seems to be unnavigable. When inside the mist you can no longer see the sun's movement or see the stars. You can only see about a ship length ahead of you. This means if you see an object you are heading towards you are most likely going to hit it. This area is mostly referred to as The Misty Isles now, and vastly unexplored since the Madness. There are old maps of the The Isles of The Gods, but most don't seem to do any good since you lose all sense of direction while in the mist. The mist is said to whisper in some people's ears, making them go mad.

Since the Madness

Most "Mad Fae" don't try to cross the border anymore but some occasionally drift east into the humanlands. There are huge mountain ranges in between the faelands and the humanlands with only one pass in between, which is guarded by the crown's forces and high walls.

Magic Users

Magic Users are all looked down upon and also considered super dangerous to the practitioner and those around them.  Magic is heavily regulated, it has been determined an unlawful act to use magic, unless you are a registered magic user, and all registered magic users must submit themselves to the crown’s service for at least 15 years. So most magic users try to stay under the radar. It should be noted that small mundane magic such as starting a fire, moving objects slowly, and creating a light source, have been determined to rarely ever corrupt the caster, but there is a slim chance.

In recent years, there has been research into healing corruption from registered magic users, but one must be highly trained to perform such acts. These students of corruption are known as Soulweavers.

Most Soulweavers come from the Priesthood. They are and interesting bunch, as for some reason their "Magic" is not effected by the Corruption put on normal magic users. The Priesthood is a Faction underneath the crown, though they have their own internal affairs, not even the Queen knows about, they still answer to the Crown.

Inventions

Since magic is so dangerous, people started turning to science to deal with their problems, leading to some major innovations. About 40 yrs ago an inventor named Blain Bugshot I, invented a black powder that could make a mini explosion, oddly enough he made this by accident. He was trying to create something to get rid of bugs when it burns, but it ended up creating a small fire in his lab after a big pop. He named this powder "Pop Powder". This lead to the invention of cannons and guns.

Military

The invention was kept secret for 12yrs by the Kal'adaar royalty making the human realm the most influential and powerful nation. Cannon and gun manufacturing is controlled by the crown and highly regulated. You won't  see anyone, other than military or royalty, with a gun. Unless of course, they are wealthy and bought it on the black-market or it was stolen. Ammunition for these weapons are also really hard to find without knowing someone.

Military might in Kal'adaar, has been rising since the invention of "Pop Powder", by having all residents enlist in the army for at least 2 yrs at the age 18 years old, if they don't behave or disobey orders, most disciplinary actions are to extend their enlistment.

Piracy

Since the Mandate to enlist, there has been a rise in rebellions and piracy. Pirates are known for using the mist to their advantage, using them to escape capture or to surprise an enemy. The most notable is the ship Ragnor, which is led by Captain Black Star, thought to be a military deserter. But since no one has seen his face and lived, there is no way of telling who he is/was. Stories tell that if you see a white flag with black star in the middle, you should say your goodbyes and pray to the god of your choosing for a swift death. In the last 6 month's or so the Captain seems to be getting more ruthless and takes more booty than he used to.