Sybarus & Utterdark
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Deep below the mountains of Terel lies the Utterdark. Its tunnels
lead to the fabled Sybarus Cavern where the Faithful dwell, cradled
within the waters of a sunless sea. There they pledge unquestioning
loyalty to the Gods of Avenir, that the Source might always shed its
light upon Sybarus. They serve their demanding masters with equal
parts adoration and fear, and their rewards are both terrible and
astonishing to behold.
Sybarite Society
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The Sybarite society is a complex one in which each of five (of the
six Genesis) races fills a specific niche. This fosters both a racial
interdependence and separatism perhaps unique to this isolated nation.
An individual's rank within his or her racial niche is often determined
by wealth, livelihood, dedication to the gods, and affiliation with Noble
(elven) Houses. Slavery is a major economic force in Sybarus, and many
slaves are those who have shamed themselves and their families and lost
rank to such an extent that they and their children must choose between
enslavement and death.
Yet for all its seeming social harshness and rigidity, the Sybarites
lead lives of comfort and even luxury. The Utterdark yields its mineral
wealth to their skillful ministrations, and the bounty is traded for
other goods with the Outlanders. The Gods come First, and after that,
Sybarites are encouraged to dedicate themselves to the dual pursuits
of pleasure and happiness.
Outlanders are unwelcome in Sybarus due to their ignorance of and
subsequent violations of local custom. The Gods, when offended, are
both swift and arbitrary in expressing their wrath, and the Faithful
often suffer for the misdeeds of others.
It is said among the Sybarites that darkness in Sybarus is a God's
way of telling the Faithful to burn more Infidels. In times of prolonged
darkness the High Lords of Sybarus have been known to do just that,
making living torches of blasphemers in hopes of regaining the gods'
favor.
The line between the spiritual and the temporal planes rubs thin here,
and it is not uncommon to come across the shade of one's great-father
battling some dread spirit-creature on one's threshhold, or to meet an
enfleshed god seeking the pleasures of that flesh as can only be
experienced in Sybarus.
Entertainment
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Entertainment and excitement are important aspects of Sybarite Society.
Dancers of the veil, Mummers, public floggings, bath houses,
and pleasure palaces, to name a few, provide endless stimuli that prevent
apathy and boredom. Excitement comes in the form of hunting the creatures
prowling the depths of the tunnels and the dark, still waters of the sea.
The nobility of Sybarus, the Shadow Elves, reserve for themselves alone
the exhileration of the Hunt on the Holm of the Icondite.
The pleasures to be experienced within the Forbidden City are merely
hinted at by the Sybarites themselves, but rumour has it that some
Outlanders have been Within, and left that city both sated and dazzled
beyond all prior experience.
Avenir is a land where the distinctions between what is good and
what is evil is necessarily blurred, or rather, a matter of perspective.
To the Faithful, any action taken in pursuit of the Gods' Will is good,
and all who oppose them are evildoers.
