**Death Eats Pie is an Alternate Reality collaboration.**
Excessum
Type: Country
Location: Hellbound
Description:
Excessum is one of the least understood regions in Drobec and among the most hazardous places on the continent despite the absence of any confirmed military threat, major predator population, or known hostile government activity.
The defining characteristic of Excessum is absolute technological failure.
The moment a person crosses the national border into Excessum, all technology immediately ceases functioning. The effect is instantaneous and universal. Communication devices shut down, powered systems die, advanced tools fail, and integrated technologies become inert the instant they enter Excessum territory.
This makes Excessum extraordinarily dangerous to:
Traiv
individuals dependent on implants
people using biomechanical prosthetics
citizens reliant on biotech medical stabilization
travellers using advanced support systems
For some individuals, crossing the border is potentially fatal.
Because of this danger, neighbouring countries — especially Vallastaar and Marstrom — maintain heavily marked border zones warning travellers not to cross unintentionally. These borders are not militarized but treated as extreme environmental hazards.
Despite the danger, Excessum is not known for aggression. In fact, almost nothing is known about it at all.
No outsider has travelled deeper into Excessum than a small structure called Sorrow’s End, located just inside the border and visible from Vallastaar territory. Beyond that point, the interior of Excessum is completely undocumented by the outside world.
There are no confirmed maps.
No confirmed cities.
No confirmed infrastructure.
No confirmed population centres.
For all most people know, the handful of individuals occasionally seen at Sorrow’s End may represent the entire population of the country.
The only regular point of contact with Excessum is:
Chicken Bone, caretaker of Sorrow’s End
several silent presumed natives
an unidentified female ambassador stationed in Drakkesburg’s capital building
Even the ambassador’s relationship to Excessum is unclear. Some believe she is a native citizen. Others believe she is merely a representative permitted to communicate on Excessum’s behalf.
No publicly known Excessum citizens are commonly encountered elsewhere in Drobec.
The country is deeply associated with religion, death symbolism, wetlands, silence, and isolation. Its dominant gods are Shad, god of night, and ----------, god of death. Their shared symbol — a raven atop a skull beneath a full moon — appears consistently throughout all known Excessum imagery.
To outsiders, Excessum feels less like a nation and more like an inaccessible reality operating beside the rest of civilization under completely incompatible rules.
Characteristics:
Instant and universal technological failure inside national borders
Dense wetlands, marshes, jungle, and flooded forest terrain
Heavy fog and high humidity
Minimal confirmed exploration
Extremely isolated population
Strong funerary and religious symbolism
Ravens commonly associated with shrines and graveyards
Predominantly wooden structures and manually maintained infrastructure
Silence and environmental sound dominance
Lack of visible modern development
Strong cultural association with death and night
Deep public uncertainty surrounding the interior
Border Zones -
The borders of Excessum are considered severe hazard areas.
Vallastaar and Marstrom maintain extensive warning systems near crossing points due to the immediate technological shutdown effect. Travelers are repeatedly warned before approaching the border.
Border areas commonly contain:
warning signs
physical barrier posts
lantern markers
emergency stations
notices regarding implant failure
medical advisories for augmented individuals
memorial markers for accidental crossings
Crossing the border is legal but heavily discouraged.
The danger is treated as environmental rather than political.
Sorrow’s End -
The only known safe location inside Excessum.
Sorrow’s End is a deteriorating wooden building positioned just beyond the border, visible from Vallastaar territory. It functions as a soup kitchen, shelter, cemetery maintenance site, and unofficial contact point between Excessum and the outside world.
Travelers who enter Excessum rarely go further than Sorrow’s End.
The building is maintained by a man known as Chicken Bone, one of the only publicly recognized figures associated with Excessum. He is known for feeding all visitors without payment or interrogation.
Outsiders are typically served a colorful vegetable stew.
The locals present at Sorrow’s End consume a separate bland-looking stew instead.
Rumors regarding the food are widespread:
poisoning
ritual preparation
biological incompatibility
narcotics
disease prevention
symbolic religious practices
No consistent explanation exists.
The atmosphere of Sorrow’s End is calm, quiet, and deeply unsettling to outsiders despite the absence of overt hostility.
The Cemetery -
An ancient cemetery surrounds Sorrow’s End and is actively maintained by Chicken Bone.
The graveyard contains:
weatherworn stone markers
partially submerged graves
skull imagery
raven iconography
moon carvings
hanging ritual ornaments
shrine structures
moss-covered monuments
flooded burial paths
The cemetery is not treated as abandoned or feared by Excessum natives. It functions as an active spiritual and communal location.
A visible shrine dedicated to Shad and ---------- stands prominently within the grounds.
Unknown Interior -
Everything beyond Sorrow’s End remains undocumented.
No reliable information exists regarding:
settlements
cities
roads
political systems
population size
infrastructure
wildlife conditions
interior geography
Stories regarding deeper Excessum vary wildly and are impossible to verify because technological recording devices cannot function past the border.
As a result, Excessum has developed a near-mythological reputation despite its physical proximity to major countries.
Religious Presence -
Religion permeates every known aspect of Excessum culture.
Shad and ---------- are heavily associated with:
burial
night
silence
transition
mourning
observation
death as continuity rather than tragedy
Their shared symbol — a raven atop a skull beneath a full moon — appears throughout:
shrines
grave markers
carved woodwork
lanterns
cemetery decorations
ritual objects
Outsiders often associate the technological suppression field itself with Shad and ----------, though no evidence confirms a connection.
The Ambassador -
A female representative associated with Excessum is stationed within Drakkesburg’s capital building.
Very little is publicly known about her.
Uncertainty surrounds:
whether she is truly an Excessum native
how she travels
how diplomatic communication functions
how contact with Excessum leadership occurs
Her existence confirms that Excessum maintains some level of diplomatic recognition despite its isolation.
For many citizens across Drobec, she may be the only known person connected to Excessum ever encountered outside its borders.
Ambience:
Excessum’s music is ceremonial, restrained, and heavily tied to ritual, death, environmental awareness, and communal spirituality rather than entertainment.
The region’s sound identity relies heavily on resonance, distance, silence, and natural acoustics.
Common Instruments -
Bamboo flute
Taiko
Zither
Koto
Gong
Bianzhong
Musical Characteristics -
Slow ceremonial pacing
Deep reverberating percussion
Long sustained metallic tones
Sparse melodic structures
Heavy use of silence
Distant flute melodies
Repetitive ritual rhythms
Funeral procession influences
Environmental acoustics integrated into performance
Sound designed to carry through fog, wetlands, and forest density
Environmental Audio Identity -
Common ambient sounds include:
swamp insects
ravens
distant drums
creaking wood
rainfall on flooded ground
mud and shallow water movement
ritual bells
jungle wildlife
wind through wet trees
nighttime chanting near shrines
Excessum rarely sounds empty.
Even in silence, the environment feels occupied.