Celle: The Jewel of Montcria

The largest and most powerful kingdom in the realm. Stone citadels rise above bustling cities where banners of the Calvareign royal family hang heavy with gold embroidery. Society is built upon strict hierarchy and tradition; humans stand at the top, while demihumans, dragons, and intelligent beasts are viewed as lesser, their freedoms and rights heavily restricted.The kingdom values brute strength and rigid discipline over arcane prowess, though magic is not absent – it is simply controlled and regulated. Knights in steel plate guard marble avenues, merchants trade spices and silks beneath ornate archways, and priests chant to the three great gods.Celle is a place of opulence and oppression, its beauty shadowed by unyielding rule. It is a kingdom where lineage determines worth, rebellion simmers in hidden alleys, and power is enforced not only by armies but by the silent fear woven through its grand halls.

the royal palace

The royal palace rises impossibly high upon sheer cliffs, carved from pale stone that gleams gold in the dawn. Arched bridges span across deep chasms where ocean waves crash far below, their spray reaching like ghostly fingers up the rock face. Blossoming trees and trained gardens spill pink petals down white marble steps, softening the fortress-like walls with fleeting beauty.From this palace, the Calvareign family looks down upon their kingdom – literally and figuratively. The halls echo with the heavy footfalls of armored guards, and the scent of sea salt mixes with incense drifting from countless shrines to Anon, Amecid, and Atrom. Its towers pierce the clouds, wrapped in banners of navy and gold, proclaiming human dominance to all who glimpse it from the villages and cities far below.

the royal family

The Calvareign History

Queen Cerilla Calvareign married Sir Marcus Pointe when they were teenagers, taking over the throne when her mother fell ill. She and Marcus had Prince Cerard when Cerilla was merely 18 and Marcus 19 (yr 1382). They were very much in love and wanted only one child, as birth was difficult for Cerilla. Tragedy struck Celle when Cerilla was poisoned and passed away when Cerard was 10 years old (yr 1392). Cerilla always told Cerard to follow his heart as that is what makes a good leader, so long as one has a good heart, and she knew her son had one. Because Cerilla was the royal bloodline, most believed Cerard would take reign of the kingdom as a young boy. But Cerilla never wanted that weight on her child’s shoulders; her and Marcus had arranged a plan that he would remarry someone with the Calvareign blood.In the year 1396, Marcus took Caela Calvareign as his wife and queen. That very year, Ezekiel was born, when Cerard was 16. Caela & Cerard’s relationship was tense but polite, no bad blood between them until Cerard began his diplomacy missions to the five kingdoms. This spanned the course of 5 years and Cerard wrote home often to not only his father, but his step mother, and his infant little brother. His last stop was Veylthorn, where he met princess Zyldove Lummera. All of his mother’s words about love and leadership suddenly made sense. During his mission in Veylthorn, Zyldove became pregnant. Cerard wrote to his father to share the good news – a symbol of the alliance between Celle and Veylthorn. When the child was born, they named him Carrion Adkas Calvareign (1401). Zyldove and Cerard were returning to Celle with Carrion when they were attacked. Their bodies were found with Cerard’s sword still in hand, the mortal wound on his neck nearly decapitating him, but his eyes were trained even in death on the form of his love, slumped with an arrow in her neck clutching the now empty bassinet where Carrion had once been.