The She-Demon giggles as you ask such a ridiculous question in her eyes. "Poor little one," she chides, glancing about the decay around her. " We are here, that's all you should know!"
So Singear doesn't understand not everyone knows things as well as she does. Fear not, for I will "splain" you. First off the world we are in is called Marvadi. It is a land of chaos and fear. There are no main political factions outside Arcadia's rule. Most cities act as city-states, goeverning themselves, and usually they are "headed" by someone under Arcadia's power. Those that live outside her rule live in small tight knit bands and tribes of folk, usually out in the wilderness or in abandoned areas, like the setting of this ame.
The Castle of the Fallen is this castle, more commonly called, the Castle Darkness. The castle itself, as all the lands within the Valley of Silence are all considered his and the demon of Light. Light though is not as powerful as it once was, and seldom is seen, so the voice of this land falls to Darkness, or basically Singear.
How does Sin get a say in this, you ask? Sin and Darkness share a life link. That's a spell binding their souls together. And no, demons don't have souls, but Darkness has a constant form thanks to Arcadia's conjuring, and his constant form has a "borrowed soul", and that soul is what binds Sin to him. Should at any time the hold Arcadia has over him breaks, the soul will pass on and the bond between Sin and Darkness will end. Another spoiler here, but because of that link, Singear's life has been prolounged. She should be old and gray as the rest, but she still looks much younger thanks to the binding.
So all things in this world we play in is governed by Sin and Darkness. Does that mean every that lives under them is on the side of "good", for lack of a better term. Absolutely not. There are those like Nathyn, Odessa, and Denir who fight for ans seek a better world free of empires. They seek for something along a democratic method. Then there are the two siders like Darkness and Zan. Those are bound in one way or another to the rule of Arcadia and promoting the its longetivity, but maintain loyalties for a different reason with the side that opposes Arcadia. Then there are the thorns as i Call them. These are like Singear. They have their on ideals of the world in their own likeness and fight for their own self and no one else. The last are of course the spies. These work for and only for Arcadia. Theses are going to be those of the Dinsar race, and any others that feel that Arcadia is the greatest thing for this world, and though they may act as though the other sides are good, they always have Arcadia's way in mind.
Next on the list is the land itself. There is a large field to the east of the castle where most the food for everyone comes from. This is tended by Trity and all other elves that are of the plant magicks. Since I am too lazy to go into specific lengths, just know they are large enough to support a small village. To the west is a small forest also maintained by the plant folk, though it is left unattended to grow freely. Most the game like bush dragons, elk, rabbits etc are found within the forests. Of course some lower end demons and monsters are also found within here too. The forest extends until the coastline the only water border of the valley. To the south are mountains and the north is the vast valley itself and its soundlessness.
The valley is called the Valley of Silence because sound is amplified to destructive proportions within the valley. The castle, forest, fields, and some valley space (though not alot) is under the protection of Darkness and therefore not effected by the silence, but all the rest is fair game. The gentle rustling of the wind sends sporatic waves of energy that will shatter rock it dust as well as anyone unfortunate to be hit by a wave. To pass through the valley you must have the protection of the demon Darkness or his active counterpart Singear or else, assume your character dead. Do not fear, because both the Demon Darkness and Singear enjoy chaos and friction. To them, it promotes life to have difficulties.
Before the Curse that banished the sunlight from the world, this castle was the home of the Elavres, or this worlds equivilent to the High elves. During Arcadia hunting season (her orders to destroy the race of Elavres and Eladin), this castle became the safeground for both the races. Both royal families resided within it. Only the elders (Such as Singear and Griffon) or the immortal demons remember what a Elavres was and probably remember meeting one. Other than that, all that is known is there name and the fact that Arcadia feared them. WIthin the Castle are relics of the extinct race Elavres and the Eladin. Within the lands of the Valley and the mountain remains untapped energy for the Eladin's use which can only be harnessed and released to the Eladin by the "key" or the reigning member of the royal line.
Now... time lingo. There are "days" but usually the people of Marvadi will say "nights" or "rotations". The nights of Marvadi work on 24 hour cycles like our world. there are 12 hours of sight, and 12 hours of the dark time. People do not tell time in terms of hours, but in turns. There are 4 turns of light and 4 of dark (each turn is a 3 hour period). A cycle is a full change of the moons from full moons to full moons. Both moon change in unison, though on occasion on will be eclipsed (whole or partly) and not the other. There is onl one eclipse of the darkness, and that happens once a year. This is Hopesnight. During Hopesnight, even the dark time is lit, so it is the only darktime that no one fears.
Other phrases are used. Most popular are "leech" for the Vex, or "sinners" for the more demonic of the Eladins. "Runts" are those of a race born without their special abilities or features.
There is such a thing as slavery here. Most cities have at least one underground slave pit for traders to buy sell and exchange goods. Slaves can be permanent slaves or have contracts for a set number or turns, rotations, cycles, or years. There are also harvestors that will slay various races for the magickal potential of their bodies. And there are at least 2 Pleasure Inns in every city, though not all have the seal of Arcadia. Those that do are known for their cleanliness and lack of disease, but of course they are pricier than those that don't have the seal.