KINGDOM OF TORALECH
Land
Folk & More
The Land
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The Kingdom of Toralech boasts breathtaking sights. It looks taken straight out of a painting: its lakes, its forests, its rivers, its valleys, its caves, its waterfalls, everywhere is teeming with nature.
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It’s impossible not to wonder why a land so beautiful could have so few inhabitants or even visitors.
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According to legend, those who dare step foot on Toralech will perish at the happiest moment of their lives. While this claim has yet to be proven, what is certain is that most who venture into King Haralach’s lands never return.
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Of all the lands in Alor, this is the one nobody wants as their enemy.
Canterbach Castle, Home of the King
Illustration by Lauma Sliņķe
The Folk
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To say Toralechians are reserved is quite an understatement. They are very secretive, and even the few who travel the world are wary of what they share with friends they have known for years.
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As depicted on their banner, Toralechians believe in the Three Paths of Life. Ironically and despite the name, they symbolise the roads that will inevitably lead one to death: Age, Misfortune, and Foolishness. While Age is a path that all mortal beings must walk, Misfortune, or death before one's time, is not a consequence of one's choices. Foolishness, on the other hand, is death resulting from one's poor decisions.
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Toralechians would rather die of Misfortune than of Foolishness, though preferably of old Age.
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Toralech is ruled under King Haralach's vigilant eye. Considered the wisest king among the Vasarigan rulers, he has won every battle he has partaken in. It is rare to see the king leaving Canterbach castle. When he does, it is atop his loyal steed, Vylriach.
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His hatred for daylight is well known by his subjects. He spent a small fortune covering every window with beautiful drapes, blaming the sun for his long history of terrible headaches.
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King Haralach has little contact with other Kingdoms, yet joined forces with King Volkgam II of Nordruna, convinced that eradicating the Osvarii would return balance to the world.
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Unlike most of his royal peers, King Haralach consults his advisers frequently so that he can make, in his own wording, “the least foolish decision”.
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The King earned his nickname, “The Heartless”, after surviving a bolt shot right through his heart. From then on, all of his armors have been specifically crafted with a hole on his chest, a bizarre sight that haunts those who face him on the battlefield and survive to tell the tale. How King Haralach continues to live without a heart, not even Toralechians know.
King Haralach "The Heartless"
Illustration by Lauma Sliņķe