Itascrius

(pronounced 'i-TA-scri-us')

Itascrius is a land of ink-dark forests, and cottages etched from paper-pale stone. It is a land of murky libraries, of shelves lined and hatched together like storybook woodcuts, of scholars shaping the world with the sweep of a pen. It is a land of books, and of those who tell tales.

For every person, there is a storybook, written by one of hundreds of Narrators, who dwell in hovels and castles and everything in between. They are united in service to the narrative they feel tugging within, tugging their ink into a Fate-set shape. However, they are united in another sense—escalating controversy.

Fate here is more comprehensive than many other nations. Words within 'fate-books' may be twisting and vague, but there are still undoubtedly more words than in any other tradition of fates. How many of those pen-strokes are truly Fate's, and how many are a Narrator's own additions? Could a tale look different if authored by another hand?

The Fraternitas Narratorum claims to be a loose and impartial collective to supply, support, represent and protect Narrators from outside interference. Storytelling, they claim, is a sacred practice and Narration serves only Fate, not cynical interests. To preserve their reputation amidst a world growing more sceptical of Narration, the Union has started revoking membership from those accused of corruption or biased embellishment—those they suspect of serving themselves rather than Fate. Those who are designated Unreliable Narrators will have to sell their trade without aid from the Union…

Known by all but the most pedantic as “The Collegia” or simply “The Universities”, the Collegia Astuum are a group of powerful and illustrious institutions. Founded to teach the Narration tradition, now each Collegium draws scholars from across the nations to study, philosophise, write and dissect some of the greatest problems of the day, including some who study fate itself. Gone is the era where places were only granted to those with curious and promising fates—but not so long gone, and elitism lingers like an inky shadow. Many still view the Collegia as their gateway to influence and glory.

Itascrius is in some respects a typical late-medieval society, with fairytale villages and bustling trading towns. However, it boasts an increasingly educated populace, a blossoming middle class and a thirst for writing the next chapter of society. As it prospers, it has begun a renaissance of questioning old power structures. These include Narration as both a spiritual and institutional practice; fates defining social strata via academic access; and the pipeline from the Collegia into networks of class or political power. Fate as a concept still mostly holds strong, but its societal implementation is beginning to strain.

Itascrius has, in the last century, become a parliamentary monarchy. Nobility still retain heavy sway in the government, and Narrators are regularly consulted to write the direction of the nation. However, the monarch’s role has been peaceably written back, replaced by a discourse-prone parliament in its pedantic, teething infancy.

You might have connections to an influential professor, a Collegia-polished noble, a source within the Fraternitas Narratorum, or perhaps even an Unreliable Narrator with underworld ties.