Tales of the Dispute

Jannissary Cant

The language of the Janissaries of the Legion Unending. It began, millennia ago, as a simple constructed war-tongue designed to transmit tactical information succinctly and clearly in battle.

Over generations, it evolved beyond its simple practical origins, slowly becoming more sophisticated. It's now a rich, detailed language with its own corpus of literature and poetry.

Most of the orta (battalions) speak the cant with their own distinct accent. Some of the more distant orta speak the cant in a specific dialect, barely intelligible to the others.

All Janissaries learn to speak it as children. Outsiders rarely learn it, and Janissaries are suspicious of any who do.

The Barrier

An engineering wonder of the old Empire, the Barrier is the vast wall-city separating the Dispute from the Empire Immemorial.

It stretches over thousands of miles, weaving east to west like a titanic serpent. Different sections were built in different eras, so sections of the Barrier can be wildly different in design and material. Typically, the more ancient sections are made of more advanced materials, not reproducible in these fallen times. The newer sections, mere centuries old, are constructed of common stone.

The Barrier once housed millions of soldiers, but has slowly been abandoned over the millennia. It is only fitfully patrolled in most places, if at all. In more remote sections, the walls have crumbled, allowing free movement to and from the Dispute.

Breach-Town

There are a number of broken sections in the Barrier between the Empire Immemorial and the Dispute. The largest is a gap called the Breach – a jagged hole in the ancient wall.

A team of Imperial engineers was assigned to seal the Breach over 250 years ago, but through bureaucratic inertia and corruption, they haven't yet started any work. Around their camp a settlement sprang up, which has developed into an actual town.

Breach-Town's economy is entirely based on expeditions into the Dispute, and the trade of artifacts from the expeditions that manage to make it back alive.

The House Inconspicuous

A small, devout sect that believes the gods are so hostile to the world that humanity must avoid their notice at all cost. They believe if the gods ever notice us, the Apocalypse will immediately commence. They generally work to influence others to avoid any displays of magical ability or elaborate public religious ceremonies.

Though small, they are well-funded, as many of the rich of the Empire see them as a method of keeping society stable.

There are more fanatical branches of the faith that take their beliefs further; taking a vow of silence, so the gods won't hear them, and living indoors or underground, so the gods will not see them.

The Constellation of Wings

A empire-wide network of aeries, used for long distance communication by messenger bird. Imperial officers, of the rank Çavuş, man the aeries. The Çavuş care for the messenger birds, feeding them, healing any injuries, and providing them a safe resting place.

The aeries themselves are stone towers carved with elaborate avian motifs. Some are designed to look like trees.

Çavuş are forbidden, by Imperial decree, from reading or interfering with any message. This is not to say that this never happens, especially in this corrupt and evil age.

The birds themselves are of various types, each specifically bred for it's purpose: common grey messenger pigeons, League Swifts for long distance journeys, and Imperial Blue Ravens for secure messages.

Imperial Blue Ravens

Commonly known as Babble-Crows. Large blue/black messenger birds specially trained to memorize and repeat spoken messages. They will only repeat the message if a specific key phrase is spoken aloud.

They are incredibly valuable, and killing or capturing one is a capital offense. They are usually used by Imperial officials or particularly wealthy merchants.

Notes on the Unusual Nature of Geographies, Fauna, and Flora of the Disputed Territories Beyond the Imperial Frontier, Known in Common Parlance as the Barrier.

Commonly known as “Beyond the Barrier”

A standard reference book written some 250 years ago by Seljuk, a scholar of the Imperial Ulama. It's the only known scholarly work about conditions in the Dispute. Seljuk claimed to have visited the Dispute himself, but modern scholars believe he was only parroting the tales of travelers.

There are bits of truth in it, but anyone depending on it as a guide to exploring and surviving the Dispute will likely regret it.