Tepest

Tepest is a domain of sunlight, superstition, and smiling horror. At first glance, it appears to be a pastoral idyll: children play in the wheat fields, songs drift from cozy cottages, and families gather for harvest festivals under the waning sun. But behind every lullaby and every folk ritual lies terror, sacrifice, and the looming shadow of Lorinda, the domain’s hag Darklord.

Tepest’s only village, Viktal, is a place gripped by tradition. Its people survive through the strict observance of rituals passed down for generations—most notably the Tithe, a grim offering to the entity they call the Summer Queen. Outsiders are welcomed with warmth, but that hospitality masks watchful eyes and dark intentions. Any stranger might be chosen for the Tithe.

Life in Viktal appears quaint and joyful:

• The people are pious and polite.
• Festivals are frequent and lively.
• Local songs and children’s games carry an eerie, prophetic weight.

Yet no one speaks openly of those who disappear… or what happens when the Tithe is ignored.

Beyond Viktal, the forests and hills are cruel, sentient places. The wilds teem with fey creatures, twisted beasts, and curses that warp body and mind. Paths shift when untrusted feet walk them. Trees whisper old songs. Shadows flicker with half-seen eyes.

Even more feared are the Tepestani fey—malicious spirits who torment travelers or drag them into their strange games. These creatures serve or remember the hags who once ruled this land, and now they dance to Lorinda’s tune.

Long ago, Lorinda betrayed her hag coven, slaying her sisters in a bid to forge her own destiny. Twisted by loneliness, she created a child—a daughter named Reva—whom she now seeks to preserve in eternal innocence. To maintain her daughter’s idyllic world, Lorinda manipulates the people of Tepest into perpetuating the Tithe, a cycle of ritual sacrifice that keeps her fantasy intact.

Lorinda is rarely seen, but her presence is felt:

• In the seasonal festivals demanding “purity.”
• In the songs warning children not to stray into the woods.
• In the dreams of those chosen for the Tithe, haunted by Reva’s quiet voice.

Every season, the people of Viktal offer a sacrifice. Supposedly to the “Summer Queen,” but truly to Lorinda’s needs:

• Sometimes it is an outsider.
• Sometimes a villager chosen by lottery or omen.
• Always, the ritual is dressed in beauty: garlands, music, and wine—masking a brutal end.

No one dares resist. The price of refusal is said to be much worse: whole families vanishing, children born cursed, or the land souring overnight.

Tepest is a land of rural dread, where tradition justifies terror and innocence masks evil. Its people cling to ritual as a defense against the unknown, never realizing their faith empowers a monstrous lie. Behind the warmth of hearth and harvest, something ancient watches with a mother’s love and a predator’s hunger.

“Smile for the Summer Queen, child. Sing her song. And don’t look at the scarecrow’s eyes.”