What is the Everrot?

Birthed from the emptiness, in the beginning there was nothing. And then, a heavy breath, full of cinder blew light and dark across this realm. In a time long gone, this rotten land once carried another name; lost to the passing of time... They say the breeze still whispers of a world that thrived, fertile and well-loved. That was the Reign of the Gone, where Exilder, the last king - wisest of all, looked out over their lands with a swollen heart. Fond. Content with what they had achieved from what had been such a barren, unformed land... Oh, Lost One, what I wouldn’t give for that to still be true...

~ Master Librarian Lumiere of the Mad Court

 

Colloquially known as The Everrot, the Known Land of Birthright is a dark and desolate place. Stuck in a pseudo-Victorian era, The Everrot is a land ravaged by its Gods and left to rot in their wake.
Once, it was the apple of its creators' eyes. They loved the land, molded it and sought to see it grow.

One by one, from the immeasurable imagination of the gods, the children of new races were given life on the realm. Each new creation brought with them their own unique behavior and dreams; each presenting the gods with their own challenges and tribulations. By far the most complex creation was Man, the last race to walk the land. Though Exilder was not one to favor any of his children above another, there was a silent pride in watching these creatures learn to understand the world around them; their hearts endowed with a burning fire of passion that none of the gods could have expected. Unbeknownst to the gods, as their knowledge of the land grew, so did humanity's desire for more.

 

Humanity, however, was this flourishing world's downfall. Discontent with his share, Yhammux, the First Man, found himself looking to the goddess Li'Edithe with the intent to steal her away from her duty to the realm; triggering a long war between those Gods who fought to bring her home and between those who only wished her gifts upon themselves.

"Oppressive silence smothered them. It lingered in their breath; leaving them to mourn alone for what seemed like eons. And then, all at once came the whispering, the demented chanting... louder... louder... LOUD-.. LO-... L-L.. LO.. L..O..S..T.."

On that final day, the arms of Li'Edithe stretched far between loyalty and lust. And as they pulled, she gave a final wretched screech. For her blinded eyes no longer saw the world she had loved, and from her lips poured only darkness... The abyssal, the tormented and the lost. A mother's plague upon her orphaned realm…

In the wake of the vast destruction left behind by the Gone, the people of the land, their bodies changed and tarnished, emerged from the remnants of what was. For many years, the focus was not to rebuild but simply to survive. The world as they knew it was no longer the same. Waters that had run clear now caused their skin to pucker and burn. Fruits that had previously sated their hunger now pierced and drew blood from their gums. Some gathered what they could and hid, praying in fear for their gods to return. Others, driven mad by their god's silence began to whisper...

"Oppressive silence smothered them. It lingered in their breath; leaving them to mourn alone for what seemed like eons. And then, all at once came the whispering, the demented chanting... louder... louder... LOUD-.. LO-... L-L.. LO.. L..O..S..T.."

Abandoned of hope, for many these whispers became something more poignant - company. Little record remained of the time before the Blight, but those who had survived would speak as those the voices inside had always been there to guide them. For some, this demented chant rallied and mocked them for what they had become and for other mortals who still clung deeply to their faith it became a symbol of what they had lost. The voice of their Gone Gods reaching back. In later years, those who took it upon themselves to try to document the realms degradation would name it The Conscience and squabble over whether it had arisen from enlightenment or malady.

Centuries later, you stand now upon the land that was left behind. A land, forever marred by the choices of its ancestors. You are those who have fought to create new lives for yourselves, evolved with the terrible Blight and learned to shape your own futures. Yet you have never quite shaken the feeling.

You're still, very much, vehemently, forgotten.