Bernhardites

The Bernhardites, also known by outsiders as The Mountain Lords/Scholars. The Assembly was formed long ago by the great Hero Bernhard, who led our people in revolt against the gods and their servants. The hated White Sage God was ritually killed and Bernhard proclaimed the Bernhardites free and that they would bend their knees to no master ever again. The Plague King attacked the Assembly and slew Bernhard with a poison knife. Theysealed its mountain city to the world. Diplomacy was maintained with the outside world but no non citizen was allowed into the city.

Bernhard Territory includes Coil Island, White Mountain, and The Marissan Path. White Mountain is the main settlement of the Bernhardites. The Grand Cathedral is the largest building on the mountain and is used for religious ceremonies and political matters. The white walls are decorated with blue tile murals and massive columns line it. However the modern Bernhardites don’t have the means to restore the massive windows so the cathedral is exposed to the elements. The main city is constructed on the mountain slope beneath the cathedral. The path begins on the doorstep of the cathedral and passes through Coil Island before ending in the port city of Beriber. Coil Island was the seat of the White Sage before Bernhard unsealed a sleeping demon inside the island. The once populous island was destroyed in fire and the old sages and their god perished. Unfortunately the demon’s lava leaves the Marissan path impassable most of the year with little predictability.

The Grand Cathedral: Once decorated with intricate stained glass windows and marble statues, the windows are now gone and the statues headless. The aged murals were defaced long ago

Bernhardites: A long limbed and long necked people. While their elongated limbs may seem ungainly they are quite graceful and quick. Their warriors wield engraved halbards and take full advantage of their reach. The isolation from the impassability of the Marissan path has greatly influenced their culture. They collect knowledge and their scholars go on a journey at least once in their lifetime. Some salvage from the demons maw has been found by more intrepid explorers but most who enter never return. Sieges by followers of the Plague King have heightened their martial traditions as well as led them to further contact with the outside world. Fierce iconoclastic atheists they believe that gods are just powerful beings who can, and should, be killed like their own.

The Shadow Year: During harvest season, during the reign of Ella Godbane, the Eye of Morgan partly obscured the sun. It remained in place for several weeks, ruining harvests across Terra. There is a rumored connection between the Mountain Lords, Alice the Exile, and the eclipse but they remain just gossip.