RP Campaign

In November 2020, a number of literomancers -- Wizards of Words -- gathered for an annual competition called the Game of Tomes. House competed against House for word counts and bragging rights.   But the competitors weren't just being eliminated from the competition -- they were dying, and returning as the Undead Horde, controlled by the Night Monarch. A zombie apocalypse ensued, as one by one, Houses fell to the Horde, and the world as we knew it collapsed. Literomancy suddenly had more power than it ever had before.   All of these events may have been connected to the reappearance of the Iron Tome, an artifact said to have the power to make anything written in its pages real.   The Iron Tome was claimed by House Mollusca in a desperate last stand, supported by the survivors of other Houses. Coffee Quills, leader of Mollusca, wrote in the Iron Tome to resurrect the dead. But in order to do so, they had to erase some of the previously existing text, since every page was covered.   This had the effect of immediately drastically changing the landscape, causing additional disaster.   The Iron Tome was sealed in a vault at the bottom of the ocean, never to be used again. The changed world reorganized itself; the Great Houses of literomancers, with newfound magical prowess, claimed Protectorates throughout the world to protect from magical threats. Some became intimately involved in day-to-day governance, while others let secular authorities manage their own affairs.   But the Undead Horde returned the next year. This time, it was House Lapin that was the final House standing. They, too, wrote in the Iron Tome to resurrect the dead, but aside from yet another boost to the capabilities of literomancy in the Realm, any side effects of their editing has thus far been less obvious -- though one of these effects may have been the creation of an alternate plane of existence known as the Void.   Sable Aradia, the leader of House Lapin, decided to personally guard the Tome with her body, carrying it with her everywhere she went. She has been urging the Realm to prepare for the Horde's return in November 2022.   This had drastic consequences. Twice, she was the victim of an assassination attempt. The Tome took a toll on her energy and mental health. In asking for help in guarding it, she ticked it off and woke it up, and a number of Tome Knights were required to do a dangerous ritual to put it back to sleep. The ritual was successful, and the participants were named Defenders of the Realm.   In the meantime, between the wars, the Tome Knights have engaged in Tourneys to practice their skills, in April and July. And the Undead Horde is not the only threat to the Realm. An evil corporation known as the Company wants control of the powers of the Iron Tome and literomancy for itself, and they have been messing with House Lapin and House Meles for generations.   Now, there is a hint of an even greater threat on the horizon.   Our play-by-post campaign begins in early September 2022, as November rapidly approaches.