View source for Vinterra



=Government=
A tiefling named Luxure went on a large pilgrimage with his wife Opprimé left Wuxia to find a home with a large amount of oni kin and other tiefling to find a new home so that they can feel more comfortable. Along the way they invited some goliaths that lost their families during the bloody seven so that they can start a new life. Eventually, after a long journey they found Vinterra and settled there. After displaying his great leadership through out the journey he was made king and he began forming a government based on what he felt would be fine, thus creating the Vinterran Empire.


=Capital=
The capital of Vinterra is a city named Infernollia, this is where Castle Doleur is. Castle Doleur is where the royal family lives, the late king Luxure was able to see it fully built and live in it for a good number of years. He made the plans for the security for a place of this size but before he passing of old age, he passed the torch and his legendary katana to his son Fierté.


=Military=
Basic training in the Infernollian military requires all soldiers to follow the code of bushido and the way of the samurai they of course add their own spin on it, but it allowed for them to create unique ways of fighting. Common infantry soldiers are typically Infernal Fighters, which is usually the most popular path for young soldiers. Those that invest their time into becoming Infernal Fighters often take their training and job very seriously, the code of Bushido is quite literally beaten into them and once they make it out of basic training, it gives them a new way of life to think about and it bleeds into their daily life.
Meanwhile, Oni train anyone interested in becoming a Grim Giant Warlock they teach them their tactics and become their patrons by sharing a part of their soul to their warlock. Due to this each specific oni can have a certain amount of warlocks attached to them, with the limit of how many being determined by how much of their soul they are willing to give out, give out too much and they run the risk of soul fragmentation and do too little and you aren’t really doing too much for the military. Any oni that do become patrons luckily don’t have to fight much because they need to focus on staying alive to make more warlocks if any of theirs dies while on duty or so they can bring any information back to their superiors with the help of their warlocks in the field.
Thanks to the dedication of Luxure’s son and the ingenuity of the Goliath’s, the Hellbound Barbarians, were created. These soldiers are trained and broken down by goliaths both physically and mentally. Everyday of basic training for them begins and ends with an asswhooping. Drill Seargents beat the soldiers out of bed and have them work out and train endlessly until they get big and strong like a goliath, and all the way through the goliaths would tell stories of the horrors of the Bloody Seven in graphic detail to let soldiers know how terrible war is and that they are going to have fight just as viciously to protect their new home and to prevent that from happening there too. All of that to fuel the rage of these brick houses of muscle to tear through the battlefield like a devil from hell.
The royal guards that protect Castle Doleur follow the order made by Luxure’s family. These guards imbibe in the royal blood and allow it’s magical properties to change them so they can join the Order of the Scarred. These are blood hunters that are also taught the way of the samurai and bushido, but fight even more viciously. This is because due to them being royal guards the only reasons they will ever have to fight is for sparring, or if Castle Doleur is under attack so they are trained to never show restraint if they are in a serious fight. They walk around the castle seemingly unarmed and dressed as any other person that would be there so that they can blend in with civilians so that if anything shady goes on they can get the drop on intruders instantly since they store their weapons in their blood. The goal is to end any issues before they have a chance to become issues in the first place.
There is a special sector in their military called the Monstrosity Eradication Infantry or the M.E.I. This is the branch that focuses on using large weapons and more modern technology that has been imported from other countries. These large weapons are made to deal massive damage to the monsters roaming Vinterra, these weapons are made by reverse engineering imported weapons so that they can make them bigger. 

Despite there being multiple different branches of the military they all still share the same ranking system. Each soldier has a ranking but there is also a grading system to denote how powerful or dangerous someone is, this grading system is also appointed to monsters and enemies so that soldiers can immediately understand what they are and are not authorized to engage against. The grading in ascending order goes from grade 4 to grade 3 to grade 2 to grade 1 and finally special grade. Grade 4 denotes the soldier being at a basic level, pretty much fresh out of basic training for monsters and enemies  it usually applies to something that yields a very low threat level. Grade 3 is the grade that shows the soldier is a decorated fighter that can hold their own against anything within grade 4, most grade 3 monsters are things that grade 4 soldiers typically cannot substantially harm with their basic grade 4 authorized weapons so they often ordered to retreat and allow higher grade soldiers deal with it. Grade 2 is often reserved for high ranking commanding officers such as captains or any soldiers that are as powerful as those who took years to rise the ranks, this is also reserves for powerful creatures that typically cannot be taken down easily by foot soldiers or even a small company of soldiers. Grade 1 is reserved for generals and beyond, they are often those that proved their might and fought enough monsters and enemy soldiers to have extensive knowledge and experience to fight things from most grades except the final one. And special grade is reserved for the royal family, The Shogun Seven and powerful extraplanar entities and even gods. Things in the special grade are often massive threats that are either killed, sealed away, or left alone entirely.

''Weaponry''
Basic weapons made in Infernollia often range from weapons made for normal sized people or big and beefy buff people. Most weapons use the feathers of Skaroflames, which will be either katanas that are made of melted down feathers or large cleavers that have the feathers arranged like the teeth of a saw. Sometimes they will make large odachis, or more Jotunrathian like greatswords and other popular great swords. The oni also create their clubs with the resources around, the clubs are fancier than most other places. They have fancy obsidian inlay with volcanic stone to fortify the wood used in the structure of the ornate clubs, they wrap them with fancy wrappings to keep the wood clean and to give it a nice aesthetic.
	
The weapons made in the likeness of Wuxia are made with the Skaroflame feathers to make them very lightweight, durable and sharp to make for weapons that allow them to swing faster than Wuxian weapons but they don’t hit as hard as the best Wuxian weapons. Due to how easily the Skaroflame feathers conduct heat, the katanas, odachis, ninja stars and kunais can be heated up almost instantly to allow for quick and heated slashes to cleave and cook their targets to make up for their weapons being a bit weaker than Wuxian brand weapons.

Meanwhile, the Goliaths add some of their techniques from home and change it to suit the environment of Vinterra, instead of weapons being made of ice they create weapons made of lava with hilts made of abyssal chicken skin to prevent the user from burning themselves.

Thanks to their combined efforts the naval fleets have boats made of enchanted obsidian that can melt itself down into weapons and armor once the boat reaches land and the soldiers emerge from from the shallow water fully cladded in armor and weapons. Of course the soldiers can also bring their own weapons so they are unaffected in the melting process. These boats can also sail themselves on land by melting the bottom of the boat into lava and having it crawl along the ground like a giant slug.

The M.E.I is the branch that focuses on using large weapons and more modern technology that has been imported from other countries. These large weapons are made to deal massive damage to the monsters roaming Vinterra, these weapons are made by reverse engineering imported weapons so that they can make them bigger. 
Additionally, as they hunt these monsters, they take parts of the monsters they hunt and integrate them into their weaponry to use their natural weapons against them. The basic weapons they use are a Sword and Shield, Dual Blades, Great Sword, Long Sword, Hammer, Hunting Horn, Lance, Gunlance, Switch Axe, Insect Glaive, Tonfa, Magnet Spike, Light Guncannon, Heavy Guncannon, Bow

The sword and shield are in the group of weapons that are still relatively normal sized, these weapons are for soldiers that aren’t as big or strong as other soldiers that are able to use the bigger weapons. This is a bread and butter weapon for those that want a mix of offense and defense without sacrificing speed and mobility.

The dual blades are for those that want to forgo the defense of the sword and shield for even more offense and speed and mobility. The swords have enchantments that allow wielders to go into a devil frenzy allowing them to increase their speed and mobility and depending on the enchantment some can fight with such intensity that they can launch themselves into the air to attack enemies that are higher than ground level. After the frenzy, dual blade wielders need a quick break to recover from using such a taxing ability so good stamina is required.

The greatswords used for this are much larger than traditional greatswords, most Oni and Goliaths prefer weapons of this group because they have a good amount of heft for them to use their weight to their advantage, allowing them to lob limbs off of these large creatures and allowing for swings to use their full body to maximize damage. With these weapons being as big as they are, they can also be used as a shield for incoming attacks.

The longswords are still lighter than the greatswords, however, they are all about the size of a regular greatsword. These ridiculously large longswords are very sharp and made to be sheathed during combat to sharpen it more as it comes out. The sheaths are designed to have a whetstone inlay to allow them to stay sharp when being used constantly.

The hammer is also enjoyed by oni and goliaths it is the simplest weapon, aim for the head and knock the fuck out of the monsters, the hammer is great for knocking over and staggering the monsters so that allies with bladed weapons can cut the monster apart without worrying about the monster focusing at all.

The hunting horn is a large instrument made to allow bards to come along onto the hunt. These comically large instruments are made to be durable enough to be used as weapons against the monsters and for bards to inspire allies. They can range from large horns, to large guitars, and even portable pipe organs.

The lance is a simple but effective weapon, you bring a large shield and a large lance to protect yourself and poke the monsters with a long lance to stay away from damage. Bring enough lance users and you could have your own portable phalanx to help ranged weapon users have some portable cover. And if there are no ranged weapon users, the lance users can run through the monsters with their large lance.

The gunlance is similar to the lance but with a gun installed into the lance. This is to allow the lance user to stab the monster and shoot them right into the wound to bypass any strong hide and deal heavy damage to the insides of the monster. The shells of these bullets are rather large so each lance can hold only about 3 of these small tank rounds.

The switch axe is a weapon that allows soldiers to cut open monsters with a razor sharp axe that can morph into a sword. These weapons have a rudimentary device inside of it that heats up the blade and allows it to fire a small blast of heat. This device is powered by a skaroflame heart, it heats up the blade one the user mounts the monster and stabs it and then the heart is quickly overloaded with electricity and stopping the heart to allow for a small focused death burst to be guided through the blade into the body of the monster to deal massive internal damage and bypassing the hide like the gunlance. After this discharge the skaroflame is defibrillated to allow it to beat again for continued use.

The insect glaive is a glaive that houses a bug that flies out and searches the monster for any weak points. While the monster focuses on the soldiers, the bug will crawl on it and leave powder on parts of the hide that aren’t as thick as the rest of the body. Once the bug returns the users use the glaive to jump and attack from the air. A small thruster is installed at the bottom of the glaive so that users can get themselves air born to land on these marked spots to put all of their weight into a strike.

The tonfa is a simple weapon to allow monks to come and hunt as well. While a monk‘s fists are lethal enough on their own, the tonfa help add an extra amount of heft into a punch and integrating body parts of the monsters to allow them to really feel the damage and so that the monk has another option to fight other than punches and kicks. These tonfas are also built with shields in them as well to allow monks to block incoming attacks that they aren’t fast enough to avoid. The tip of the tonfas have spikes made to pierce monsters and firing small bursts of discharged energy similar to the switch axe but to a far lesser degree and allowing the user to blast and dash.

The magnet spike is used to impale large magnetized spikes into the monsters. When in impact mode or guard mode, the user can hit the monster to impale the spikes, or if the monster attacks them, they can hold the weapon ready at guard to pierce the monster on impact. When there are enough spikes in the monster the user can manipulate the body of the monster and pull it around using the strong magnetic pull of the weapon. Additionally, the weapon has a slashing mode once enough spikes are implanted into the monster so that the user can focus on cutting the monster.

The light guncannon is a small portable cannon that fires large bullets, most are designed with the intent to rapid fire the bullets. This gun is made to allow the user to be mobile and fire a quick volley of bullets. It also comes with a grappling hook to allow for gaining elevation or dodge quickly. There are two attachments a suppressor for more stealthy missions and a long barrel to allow for firing bullets from farther distances.

The heavy guncannon is a larger but still portable cannon that fires larger bullets that are almost big enough to be tank rounds. These guns are made to be low mobility but high in damage. These guns come with either a power barrel to fire out the bullets faster or with a shield to block incoming attacks. Both the guns come with elemental rounds, piercing rounds, explosive rounds and various other bullets that are used for efficient damage.

The bow is simple, it’s a bow and arrow. You fire arrows and some of them have special arrows that have different properties.

=Culture=

'The Church of The Nine Hells' - The Church of The Nine Hells was formed in Infernollia as a way of paying respect to the devils and demons that predate most of the tieflings that live and breathe today. The Church was first formed by warlocks and clerics who traveled on the original journey to find Vinterra. They put their differences aside to help out people on the journey working as substitute doctors. Eventually when the settlement was established they would come to an understanding and build a church and a place where warlocks could speak to their patrons and eventually the two places merged down the line. The Church grew in popularity because it allowed those that aren't tieflings or have any ties to the Hells to go there and continue worshipping their own deities but also allowing them to respect the tieflings by honoring them and their ancestors. Most devil lords are worshipped and respected not as gods but as common ancestors whose actions have one way or another set things in motion to cause those that live there to finally have a home that they can feel welcome in. Eventually, as time went on cleric started becoming less and less common as the old clerics passed on but despite their numbers dwindling a bit they are still respected. The person in charge of the church is known as the Archvicar, whoever is the Archvicar is not only head of the church they also are in charge of the officer's academy affairs and the Hell's Ronin, via approving any missions and operations. They are powerful and revered holy figures that even have the responsibility of being an advisor of the Emperor of Infernolia. This is to help the Archvicar get a better understanding of what the future nobles must know before getting their hands on any power in the Empire.

'Farming' - Typically when it comes to farming and growing food, all farming is done exclusively in the cold side to avoid crops and livestock dying in potential eruptions, however, soil and ash from the spires is often used since it is extremely fertile allowing the farming industry to explode over in this area and with more nutritious food and grass for livestock they end up being a lot healthier and in some cases bigger. A lot of older Oni and Goliaths typically have either their own family farms or some come together and have joint farms using their strength together to make great farms. 

'Landscaping' - With the mixed background in this area being so prevalent, the buildings were made by combining two different design philosophies. The look and aesthetics of Wuxia combined with the sturdiness and stone carving expertise of the Goliaths. This results in large and heavy building that have a very elegant design to them with a few volcanic flourishes since that is a very abundant resource. And with the abundance of obsidian, it is often used for fancy decoration rather than combat unless it is enhanced with magical enchantments. The oni and goliaths that work in the stone carving field in Infernollia are experts at carving, shaping and engraving obsidian without shattering it. They are able to expertly shape it into any shape without it breaking off. Obsidian is often used for fancy decoration but to get sturdier materials they would make portable lava pools and melt different types of rocks to make stone pillars.

'Food' - When it comes to meat there's lots of undersea options available, due to the volcanoes there's many undersea vents that release magma that is cooled making many deepsea cave systems, some of which can be accessed on land near the smoldering spires. On land there are many options as well. The culture of Wuxia and Jotunrath coming together is displayed perfectly in the food showing how two different styles coming together to make beautiful combos. Jotunrathian style food cooked using Wuxian spices, Wuxian style food cooked using Jotunrathian spices and both foods being cooked using new spices discovered in Vinterra and new dishes made in Vinterra being cooked with spices from both.

=Wildlife=
'Flying Creatures' - Eagle, Vulture, Blood Hawk, Giant Eagle, Red Crowned Crane, Hellwasp, Hippogriff, Griffon, Peryton, Skaroflame, Deep Crow, Skaroflame

'Mountainous Creatures' - Scorpion, Mountain Goat, Poisonous Snake, Axe Beak, Aurochs, Gray Render, Skaroflame

'Fields' - Poisonous Snake, Constrictor Snake, Lizard, Giant Lizard, Abyssal Chicken, Hell Hound, Phase Spider, Giant Elk, 

'Cave Dwellers' - Poisonous Snake, Stirge, Cave Badger, Fiendish Giant Spider, Cave Bear, Giant Subterranean Lizard, Elder Giant Lizard, Deep Spider, Bulette, Skaroflame

'Coastal' - Knucklehead Trout, Octopus, Quipper, Giant Snail, Giant Sea Eel, Reef Shark, Giant White Moray Eel, Hunter Shark, Killer Whale, Giant Shark, Sea Lion, Giant Salamander, Dugong, Sperm Whale, Crab, Dolphin, Dragon Turtle, Skaroflame

'Urban' - Pig, Rat, Sheep, Spider, Goat, Cow, 

'Volcanic' - Skaroflame

'The Skaroflame' - The skaroflame is a species of very large birds that have adapted to living in an environment with a lot of fire, heat and ash. Their feathers eventually hardened and tempered to protect themselves from that environment. They are now born with natural metal feathers and those metal feathers are tempered while incubating in pools of lava. The kind of metal they are born with is determined by their parents, as well as how hot the lava pool is during the incubation period. And finally, how deep the egg sinks into the lava pool determines how big it will be when hatching. They are fierce and relentless nocternal predators that stalk their prey at night at a distance and swallow them whole to attempt to boil them alive before digesting them. Their feathers are often used for making weapons and their hearts are often used for light sources, engines and make shift heaters. They also make great mounts, they fly silently and are naturally built tough. They are found in volcanos and caves, most of them make nests in underground caves directly under magma veins so they can take lava baths. They can also be found in the coast very rarely. They are very territorial and tend to avoid each other and live in pairs with their children, which stays in the caves until they can fend for themselves. The softer egg shells are usually as hard as iron while the hardest ones are usually as hard as (Tungsten or Damascus) and when they are ready to hatch they melt through the shells and are brought food by their parents.

The iron skaroflame is the most common variation of skaroflame, they live away from the volcanos and live in colder caves and only visit the lava pools to hatch eggs and to repair damaged feathers by taking lava baths. They aren’t as hostile or territorial as other variations but will fight wandering creatures if they get too close to their territory, they mark their territory by throwing feathers into trees, boulders and bodies like large knives as a warning. If encountered outside of their territory they can be docile and well mannered unless provoked, they can be great mounts and pets if raised from an egg.

The steel skaroflame is the more uncommon variation of skaroflame, they live in caves as well but they live in caves closer to water. They like to resurface on beaches and catch large fish and boil them in their furnace on their way to bringing them to their family. They still aren’t as hostile or territorial as other variations but will attack wandering creatures if they get too close to it, they mark their territory by leaving large gashes all over its territory and leave burned bone piles behind as a warning for non skaroflames.

The tempered skaroflame is a very rare variation of skaroflame, they only live directly in mountainous volcanic climates and don’t leave it very often. They are very hostile to other skaroflames and will fight other skaroflames for territory. Wandering creatures are absolutely not safe their territory. Tempered skaroflames do not stalk their prey, they will chace them on foot and if they are too fast they take flight while staying low to the ground and bulldoze through any obstacles that get in their way. They mark their territory by flying through rocky quarries and pulverizing rocks with their intimidating 80 ft wingspan.

The kilnwing skaroflame is an often unseen and undocumented variation of skaroflame, they only live and nest in the heart of volcanos and only leave to hunt. This version of skaroflame occurs when a tempered one settles a nest directly in an active volcano. There aren’t very many of them because when one sets a nest and another enters they fight to the death and the winner takes the nest and eats the young of the loser. Wandering creatures are absolutely not safe their territory, not just because of the magma but also because this variant is ultra aggressive to other living creatures that enter its territory. Kilnwing skaroflames do not stalk their prey, they aggressively and relentlessly fly over them like a vulture and wait for them to stop before swooping down and attacking.

The steamveil skaroflame is an illusive and undocumented variation of skaroflame, they only live in caves with water in them. This version of skaroflame occurs due to a genetic defect which makes their metal feathers develop into long and light blades. These skaroflames don’t bother other skaroflames and stalk their prey at night. The way their internal furnace works allows them to spew fire and magma like a precise bullet that pierces through most materials. Wandering creatures are not safe their territory and would know after being shot or shot at. This variant is stealthy and crafty, this is the only variation that can mimic sounds within its audial range.
	
The dreadnought skaroflame is believed to be a myth as far as the public is concerned but hunters and guilds are well aware of its existence, this variation of skaroflame only live deep underground in colossal pools of magma. This occurs when a tempered skaroflame egg sinks deep into a volcano, settles and hatches alone in these underground magma reservoirs.These variants are all born blind due to them living in isolation and it spends decades in darkness eating magma, hardening and sharpening its metal feathers to the point that they become much harder than damascus and grow to an unnaturaly large size. When these skaroflames emerge from their underground tombs after about 40 years of tempering and hardening its body to cause destruction it causes earthquakes and causes nearby volcanoes to erupt when it burrows out of the ground. These creatures never really get a chance to emerge because large groups of rangers, hunters, guilds and armies come together to kill any that are discovered to prevent them from destroying entire cites. Their internal furnace is so vast that is forms its own ecosystem inside of it making more survivable to be swallowed by this variation than others but very difficult to escape from. There are entire mountain ranges made of metal residing in this creature and when it is ready to use its desolate breath it rains molten tungsten inside of its furnace. Even some animals that are swallowed by this thing live their whole life without realizing its in another creature since it eats pretty much eats everything.

=Places of Interest=
'Mardrayan Monastery' - This massive monastery was built on top of the mountains and is supported by a massive tower build and a fixed with many sigils and magic glyphs within it to protect the Monastery on top from damage and to prevent it from falling even if the mountains were damaged. Below the tower is a large archway that separates the “Cold Side” and the “Hot Side” of Infernollia. The monastery is the headquarters of two separate entities: the Church of The Hells and the Officer’s Academy. It is one of the most well protected places in Infernollia. It is covered in well trained teachers that were either once soldiers themselves, strong warriors, cunning spellcasters, or experiences veterans. Anyone who enters the monastery unwelcomed with malicious intent becomes free game for the teachers. Once an intruder is detected the teachers play a game that they call, “The Death Hunt” where the teachers hunt the intruder down and place bets on who is going to get to them first once they get information on the situation. This place is also a religious site, this is main location for the Church of The Nine Hells in Infernollia and the most devoted worshippers come here every week to pray and communicate with other followers. In Infernollia, most devil lords and powerful entities from The Nine Hells are worshipped and respected not as gods but as common ancestors who’s actions have one way or another set things in motion to cause those that live there to finally have a home that they can feel welcome in. The monastery is home to it’s own elite order of Samurai called the Hell's Ronin, a private military funded by the monastery and the academy.

'The Hot Bed' - Surrounding about half the base of the smoldering spires are a series of places that are prime hot spots for enjoying the night life of Infernollia, and it doubles as a tourist trap to have places to go during visits and for those that live in colder climates to get a safe look at a volcano. There are many places such as taverns, brothels, buffets and even a few arenas for warriors to participate in friendly tournaments by the lava covered spires.

'Stardust Field' - This is a protected and sacred ground that is used for two purposes, clerics come to pray and conduct ceremonies while warlocks come to meet with patrons and the monastery uses it as a testing ground for classes to spar against each other in teams to better learn teamwork and practice war tactics. The field itself is a massive field covered in years of ash and soot making the ground appear a dark grey color and the terrain leads down to the water allowing waves to crash up the incline and meeting water and lava in the field. Leaving layers of ash and soot trapped under obsidian to make the ground shine like the night sky when the high tides are receding. Lava flows intensely during the day, the water comes in high in the afternoon and at night leaving a natural work of art behind for those at night to enjoy and view. During the early morning long before the lava flows make it to the field is where people come to get their business conducted.

'MEI Field Testing Grounds' - This is a place that soldiers go to field test some weapons and take out any invasive monsters that stray too close to Infernollia. This area has a few barracks and a small fort in case things get dire.

'Castle Doleur' - The Castle that the family of Luxure lives, he wanted just a simple house but the goliaths and oni were having none of that. For his bravery they built him a castle, he grew used to it though. When the castle was made a they made weapons for the family to be passed down throughout the generations. The King gets a katana befitting of a king, the Tondierrépée a katana that the wielder can use to invoke thunder and lightning to make it seem as if the wrath of Raijin is being brought down upon those who dare challenge the king. The Temersabrer the glaive wielded by the queen this weapon commands the sea and the storms above it to force the ocean to bend to her will in support of the king’s wrath this weapon invokes the wrath of Susanoo to churn sea. And the crown prince or princess would gain the Ventlame the wind commanding lance, this weapon allows the wielder to command the winds of the storms and ride the wind allowing the wielder to fly past and charge at their enemies with out a mount to command as if Fujin is guiding every strike. These three weapons together allow the royal family to cause unprecedented damage if they have to come and fight, if you fight them the sky and sea become your enemy as the people of the land march and come to fight and defend their home. The Tondierrépée was originally wielded by Luxure but before he passed he gave it to his son Fierté, who always preferred the lance and used Ventlame, switched to Tondierrépée to both honor his father and pass the lance to his son or daughter once they were born. Temersabrer was wielded by Luxure’s wife Opprimé who gave it up to give to the new queen once Luxure passed and Fierté became the king. The new queen, Fierté’s wife, now wields Temersabrer.

'Obelisk of Silence' - A large obelisk like black mirror, this mirror has an aura about it that makes people slightly uncomfortable but it makes for a great landmark and ancient artifact to study so they leave it there and have it in front of Castle Doleur as a center decoration in the main courtyard. Additionally this obelisk is imbued with a magical sound dampener that makes it harder to hear when one is too close to it.