The Kingdom of Macedburg

The Kingdom of Macedburg is governed by beings known as the Sviatochi (singular: Sviatoch, or "Holy One"). These are extraordinary individuals whose ideas, talents, or reforms are deemed so profound that they border on the divine. Through their actions—military overhauls, economic miracles, cultural revolutions—they have historically elevated the kingdom to new heights. The cycle is unbreakable: when one Sviatoch vanishes (whether through death, ascension, or mysterious withdrawal), another emerges instantly to assume absolute power. No true Sviatoch has ever failed in this role.

The current ruler, however, is an anomaly. He is called the False Sviatoch, or simply Borgia. While he displays superficial marks of divinity—charisma, proclaimed miracles, an aura of sanctity—his reforms have delivered neither catastrophe nor prosperity. Instead, they have reshaped the kingdom in subtler, more insidious ways. The economy now depends heavily on pleasure houses: fully 50% of all business consists of brothels, ranging from discreet salons to sprawling marble palaces of indulgence. Sex has been officially enshrined as the kingdom's second legitimate currency, equal in status and legal tender to Shillings. Taxes, wages, debts, and even fines can be settled in "bodily units" at standardized rates. This is not scandal—it is doctrine: the "sacred economy of delight," as Borgia himself decreed.

The cities of Macedburg are monuments to this obsession with permanence and cold beauty. Long, perfectly straight avenues are paved in white and pink marble. Buildings—palaces, temples, markets, homes—are clad in marble facades, columns, statues, fountains, and intricate reliefs. The mania for marble is near-religious: any new structure lacking it is deemed impious, unworthy of the cycle. Brothels, in particular, gleam with opulent marble interiors—polished floors, sculpted beds, marble baths, and statues of entwined figures—reflecting an eternal, unchanging decadence.

Yet there is one deliberate exception: libraries.

All libraries in the kingdom are constructed entirely of wood—dark oak, pale birch, carved pine panels—no trace of marble is permitted. These wooden san