The City of Veldonia and the Ker Nethalas Necropolis

The City of Veldonia stands as the heart of the Alderworth Kingdom, a sprawling metropolis situated on the kingdom’s eastern shore. Once a beacon of prosperity and grandeur, now it epitomizes a fallen glory, haunted by its history and the sinister forces that lurk beneath its streets. Gothic architecture dominates the landscape, with gargoyles and grotesque figures adorning every edifice. The streets are narrow and winding, perpetually cloaked in a shroud of fog and shadows. Dark alleyways and hidden passages crisscross the city, providing both refuge for the desperate and haunts for the city’s less reputable citizens.

Long ago, Veldonia was a thriving center of knowledge and arts. Scholars, alchemists, and artists gathered within its walls, creating a hub of culture and learning. But ambition and greed, fueled by arcane secrets, soon corrupted the city's elite. The once proud nobility, led by the royal Silvercrest family, has slowly but surely drifted into the most abject decadence, rarely exiting their palaces.

The masses, oppressed both by the nobility and the suffocating myriad of religious cults that demand both worship and taxes, can do little else but endure lives of misery and hard work. Their resilience and determination offer a stark contrast to the moral corruption of the ruling class, and occasionally a promising individual rises above its peers and sets up to make a better future for themself.

Below the streets of Veldonia lies Ker Nethalas, known as the Midnight Throne, the City Below, and a myriad other similar names. Once the capital of the fallen Vaelorian Ascendancy, this veritable labyrinth stretches well beyond the walls of Veldonia, deep into the earth and kilometers away from its walls. Within it, the remnants of a civilization based on the art of necromancy still remain, both radically different and strikingly untouched despite the hundreds of years of complete abandon and isolation. Despite most Veldonians pretending Ker Nethalas is nothing but a myth (especially those in the upper echelons of society), it is very real, as the Obsidian Wardens assigned to guard the few entry points into it can attest. Horrors lie within, and Veldonians do everything in their power to keep them well below their streets.

Outside of the powerful (but still insignificant on a global scale) Alderworth Kingdom, a vast world of different cultures and empires stretches in all directions. From the Azari archipelago to the west, with its fierce warriors and strange customs, to the progressive Helvonia, a tiny country known for its artificers and engineers, there is an endless array of cultures and individuals from all walks of life. Many of them end up in Veldonia, attracted by the city’s ancient status as one of the seats of power in the world.