🜁 Kashern

"The stone remembers. The root binds. The beast knows."

Kashern is the ancient forest kingdom of the Kasherni — a race of Earth Elves bound to stone, soil, and beast. More a living network of clans than a single ruled state, Kashern is a realm of deep-rooted traditions and nomadic kinships. Its people shape the land as it shapes them, and their mastery of Breathform and beastform alike makes them both respected and feared. Kashern stands apart from the power plays of Kaedrith and the Seraveth North, its loyalty given only to the old ways and the voice of the root.

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☾ Geography & Environment

Climate: Ancient forests; deep river valleys; stonelands and vine-choked ruins.

Notable Locations:

  • Flurde (Capital): Loose capital — a shifting meeting place of the clans beneath ancient rootbound stones.
  • Rootbound Paths: Living forest roads only accessible to those of Kasherni blood or spirit-bonded allies.
  • Rhakzuhl’s Spine: Mountain-temple to the Dragon King of Bone and Mountain.
  • The Verdant Forge: Hidden crafting halls where stone, metal, and living root are fused.

☾ Culture & People

Dominant Races: Kasherni (Earth Elves); some Driftline Pact members accepted; occasional Veydrathi or Nyrraheli guests under oath.

Religion:

  • Veneration of Rhakzuhl — Dragon King of Mountains and Bone.
  • Honor of Kallan the Huntsoul — guardian of the wild hunt and beastbond rites.
  • Deep reverence for the Old Way — ancestral Breathform casting tied to memory and earth.

Social Structure:

  • No single ruler — governed by **Clan Moots** of elder voices.
  • Highly ritualized clan bonds; lineage and spiritual deeds valued over bloodline alone.
  • Strong beastbond traditions — many Kasherni train and bond with beast forms as family and guardians.

Factions:

☾ Magic & Combat

Common Magic:

  • Earth, Bone, Verdance Breathforms.
  • Old Way rites — memory-tied glyphwork, spirit calling, beastform communion.
  • Stone-Bound Crafting — fusing living material with enchantments bound to place and memory.

Combat Styles:

  • Stoneflow Form — core Kasherni martial style.
  • Stoneflow Apex — advanced variant mastered by Orrek; embodies restraint and unbreaking will.
  • Rooted Hunt Dance — hybrid style used by beast-form warriors and Huntsoul adepts.
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☾ History & Legends

Kashern predates the rise of Kaedrith and the Seraveth North. It has long been a land of the wild, where the forest and mountain are both home and kin. The Kasherni first allied with Maesa’ka in ancient times, their shamans and beast-speakers among her earliest protectors. Through the Ashwake and Golden Ages, the clans remained largely neutral, though individual Kasherni warriors — such as Orrek and Thornik Vahl — played key roles in shaping the fates of the wider world. To this day, Kashern remains one of the few lands where the Old Way survives unbroken.

☾ Current Status

Ruler: No single ruler — governed by **Clan Moots**.

Kashern continues its path apart from the wars of gods and kings:

  • Occasional envoys from Queen Allan respected but watched carefully.
  • Kasherni artisans and warriors increasingly sought for Breathform purity and Old Way knowledge.
  • Clan divisions emerging over how much to engage with the rising **Threadborn Initiative** and Mask & Card systems.

☾ Threats & Oddities

  • Verdance-warped beasts — ancient mutations bound to corrupted roots.
  • Rogue Kasherni shamans experimenting with forbidden Mask/Old Way fusion.
  • Whispered stirrings of a forgotten Sliver Grove deep beneath the Verdant Forge.
  • Bone Choir agents seeking to claim Rhakzuhl’s deeper mountain temples.
  • Strange memory storms — raw ancestral echoes manifesting as physical phenomena in remote glades.
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