Bailia is one of the last wild places in all the planes the gods can access. It's a land of magic; everybody who lives here has magic of some kind and everybody who has ever set foot here gets magic for the duration of their stay. They worship the same pantheon the Valisian plane have forgotten but here Zefiryn exists on the same ranking as their local goddess, Bailia herself. She is called Mother and is a strange half-wild deer woman, tall and dark-skinned and with magnificent antlers crowning her head. The Bailian continent is huge but is comprised of a single country and there are no feuding queendoms; only the Authority and the Gaze and the Voice in the capital, Diadema. They are unaware if there are continents outside of theirs; the surrounding sea remains largely unexplored for lack of wanting. Although the timing varies powerful villains are not uncommon; sometimes there's a gap of a couple years, sometimes a few decades. |
Ten years ago Nightingale, Rhythm, Cherub and Vellichor came to Bailia from the modern plane as kids. The oldest of them, the so-called chosen one, Vellichor at 16, died while they were on their quest, and three years later the three survivors went home. They defeated a man named Sonder who had killed two of the Bailian queens and the last Voice and their thanks were to be stripped of their magic and returned to a world they no longer knew. This is the Bailian cycle; when a villain arises, as one inevitably does, the Gaze delivers a prophecy and Mother finds children who might fulfill it. They must always be children; Mother believes that if adults make the change between the planes and receive magic in Bailia then they will die. When the villain has been defeated the children are returned home, whole-bodied but with memories intact. Mother can open doors between Bailia and any other plane she wants but she usually chooses heroes from the modern plane. |
Their government is comprised of the Authority, the Gaze and the Voice. The Authority is made up of three queens, women who have risen to great esteem by virtue of magnificent magical talent or other impressive accomplishments. Queens can be named at any time but traditionally a new queen is chosen only when a previous one retires, dies or wishes to take a less active role in the government. The current Authority is Serendipity, Idyllic and Zenith. The Gaze is a person of any gender chosen by Bailia herself to see prophecies. The Gaze is given a fragment of Mother's powers to see these visions and shares them with the Authority when necessary. They usually work hand-in-hand with the Voice. The Voice is a woman also chosen personally by Bailia, picked to represent Mother's interests and presence within the Authority when she is elsewhere. As Mother frequently sleeps for decades the Voice is an important aspect of their ruling. The current Gaze is Minnow and the current Voice is Darling. The national langue is Bailian. |
the thirteen houses
All of Bailia's people belong to one of the thirteen Houses, the name of which serves traditionally as a surname and also allows every person a structured support system should they need it. You are born into your House and you do not leave it; marriages can be between people from different Houses but children are named according to the mother's House. The Houses are huge and you are often not blood related to the majority of the people in your same House.
Bailia's cities are traditionally split between the Houses; Goldgrave, Wildgaze and Voicelead are councilors and scholars, Dawnglade and Bluelark are the merchant class, Foxhall, Whitehoney, Robinwell and Seaborne are the supply class and Bowguard, Crowfield, Godsridge and Woodwind make up the soldiers and guards. House careers are not necessarily guaranteed; the Houses exist in specific castes and usually raise children for that specific role but people are free to pursue other careers. The queens in the Authority, the Gaze and the Voice can come from any House, though the council and scholar Houses are historically favored.
council & scholars -
Goldgrave
Wildgaze
Voicelead
merchant class -
Dawnglade
Bluelark
supply class -
Foxhall
Whitehoney
Robinwell
Seaborne
soldiers & guards -
Bowguard
Crowfield
Godsridge
Woodwind
Bailia's cities are traditionally split between the Houses; Goldgrave, Wildgaze and Voicelead are councilors and scholars, Dawnglade and Bluelark are the merchant class, Foxhall, Whitehoney, Robinwell and Seaborne are the supply class and Bowguard, Crowfield, Godsridge and Woodwind make up the soldiers and guards. House careers are not necessarily guaranteed; the Houses exist in specific castes and usually raise children for that specific role but people are free to pursue other careers. The queens in the Authority, the Gaze and the Voice can come from any House, though the council and scholar Houses are historically favored.
council & scholars -
Goldgrave
Wildgaze
Voicelead
merchant class -
Dawnglade
Bluelark
supply class -
Foxhall
Whitehoney
Robinwell
Seaborne
soldiers & guards -
Bowguard
Crowfield
Godsridge
Woodwind