Heptarchy

The first of the Mage Sovereigns were a group of mercenary commanders who, unbeknown to their employers, all had ties to the Seven Swords by Seven, a legendary free company that had taken its last commission with the Regime in Caino. When the regular forces gave up on the campaign and withdrew, the Swords were abandoned and all but destroyed by Minotaur forces. Of some 350 mercenaries, only 23 survived to leave Caino with the company's eponymous Swords, raising seven new free companies in Yethera and working to gain the confidence of Remnant authorities with the intention of betraying those who had betrayed them.
The seven companies recruited, built their reputations and gained influence among the coastal militias. Their officers gained citizenship, becoming senators, gaining magisterial office, and using those positions to expand their power. By the time of their coup, there was little armed resistance and almost as little political pushback. The commanders of the seven companies took control of their new domains, restructured government and military organisations, and declared the City States of the coast to be a new trade and defensive alliance, known as the Heptarchy, that no longer paid homage to the Regime.
The initial response from the Regime was outrage, followed by an attempt to reclaim the cities. The Heptarchy was strong where the Remnant was weak, however, especially since many of the Remnant's own mercenary forces began to view the Seven as aspirational. As unrest spread across the Remnant, the Heptarchy were left to order what was now their own house.
Although mercenaries by trade, the Seven were all powerful magic users of one kind or another, and arcane philosophy informed their new order,as well as providing a model for the wider arcanography that rose in place of the Regime. The seven were also united in a common goal, a search not merely for power, but for immortality. Over time, their names were not merely lost, but obliterated, erased from history as a precursor to ascension. As such, they are known only by their chosen titles of power and office.
Argo was already a great trading power, with an unrivalled merchant fleet. The quarrier Dwarf known as the White King, marshall of the Crucible Shards, applied alchmical principles to every aspect of the city's function to create an unmatched mercantile empire, driven by the supply of goods of matchless quality and consistency. The city also became an internationally renowned centre for the study of alchemy, science and mathematics.
Oebes, City of Scribes, was the home of the Archives, a storehouse of knowledge gathered from across the Regime and throughout its history, covering every conceivable topic. Perched defensively on a high, inland promontory, the Archives drew the attention of the Librarian, an Elven wizard who commanded the Brass Wheel and loved knowledge more than people. The entire city was given over to the work of the Archives, supported by a new 'low city' at the base of the promontory, to attend to non-essentials such as agriculture and infrastructure.
Perhaps the least remarkable of the original cities, the harbour town of Colchea was claimed by a Vagabond druid who transformed the coastal basin into an unlikely grove, the Great Sanctum, whose trees are said to be indestructible. Taking the name of Hecaton, the sovereign of Colchea and former warchief of the Red Teeth is said to have fed this verdant crucible with blood and fear, even while showering the city in plenty.
Acadma was taken up by the Gnomish artificer who took the name the Scholar, as leader of the free company known as the Scholastica. A rival to the Librarian, unable to match the Archives' collected knowledge, the Scholar instead built up schools and workshops and laboratories to push the boundaries of knowledge and learn things that the Archive did not contain. As in Oebes, the city's other functions were subborned to this singular purchase.
The architect of the Seven's grand design was the elven warlock known as the Strategos, commander of the Iron Phalanx. Claiming the inland fortress of Stoiga, the Strategos created a warrior-aristocracy to govern and administer the city and its domains. While long-lived simply by virtue of being an elf, the Strategos' immortality and power came from a pact with an unknown patron, leading to a place of particular infamy in the annals of the Sacred Republic.
Damas was claimed by the Sevens' spiritual leader, the Hierophant. A Human zealot before the accession of the Heptarchs, the Hierophant created a new sacred order from their company, the Divine Fist. The Order of Presbyters went on to become the model for all later cults of magic, abandoning all gods in favour of the vain, yet apparently effective, worship of their commander.
The last of the thriving port cities, Zeras hid a secret. On seizing power, the one known only as the Archlich, master of the Regiment of Bones, broke the seals on the ruined Tower of Zerak-Sharn, raising the Palace of Bones to the glory of the Undying King, while cold and penetrating mists spread across the province.
Sustained by the charisma and absolute rule of the Seven, the city-states of the Heptarchy were all broken on a fundamental level. Held together by a mix of fear and respect, and sustained by magic, slavery or worse, they could last only so long as their leaders did. It was also in these experimental domains that the eventual downfall of the Sovereigns was born.

Type

Alliance, Generic