The Elysian Federation

The Elysian Federation is a sprawling collective of twenty-six states, anchored around the ridge of the Skystone Peaks. While each has its own nomenclature and government, within the structure of the Federation they are known as the Twenty-Six Nomes, and their leaders as the Nomarchs.

History

When the expeditionary forces of the Regime and the Legions pressed into Caino, they met little resistance. The mobs of the north and the tribes in the north-east Skystone slopes faded away, striking from ambush if at all, while the Dwarfs of the peaks shut their gates. In the western highlands above the Grass Sea, however, three states existed with the organisation and strength to resist. The Kingdom of Oros in the western peaks, the High Plains Alliance in the far west, and the Union of Jileath in the north-western plains forged a treaty that created the Skystone Triarchy, a military alliance which repelled any advances by the imperial powers of Talahaea.
After the threat was settled, the Orosi Dynasty sent out emissaries to their partners, and also to their other neighbours along the north and south of the Skystone Range. With great effort and struggle, they convinced eight of these to join a closer political and diplomatic union that they dubbed the Blessed Concordance, sworn under the auspices of the Gods of Foundation.
As part of the creation of this alliance, the Orosi built a new city, Concordia, to be the capital of the Concordance. A constitution was agreed, the Concord of Foundation, setting out the rights and responsibilities of the allied territories - renamed 'nomes' - including the right to administrative and legal independence, save for 'matters of mutual importance, to be reserved to the Concordian Council. These matters were laid out in a separate document called the Code of Convergence, and included diplomacy with outside powers and relations between the nomes, as well as the governance of the Concordance as a whole.
Each nome was to appoint its own leader, by means of their own choosing. In addition to the Nomarchs, seven leading citizens of each nome are chosen to bear the status of Federal electors, charged with appointing a representative – usually, but not always, from among a royal court or a similar social structure – to speak for them on the Concordian Council - latterly known as the Council of Twenty-Seven - which would meet in the capital city of Concordia.
The religious connotations of 'Blessed Concordance' were a source of tension from the beginning, especially with the orcs of Storm's Eye. On the addition of a ninth nome, therefore, the name of the union was changed to the Elysian Federation, with 'Blessed Concordance' remaining as the name of the treaty and as an informal term for the original seven member states, with an explicit understanding that the 'blessing' was purely a courtesy.
It was never the intention to stop at eight nomes, and the Concordance at once set out to bring more into the union as allies, instead of enemies. Under the promise of advantage and the threat of violence, the Federation grew. Seventeen other nomes were added at various points over the next six hundred years, but no more in the fourteen hundred years since. The twenty-seventh seat on the Council of Twenty-Seven is taken by the Stonelight, the overall leader of the Federation, who is elected by the Nomarchs as a religio-political figurehead for the unified body politic.
Over time, the Federation has developed its own Customs which span the constituent cultures.

The Nomes

1. The First Nome, Nome of the Blessed Concordance.
   Joined: FY 1/CY 1.1
2. The Second Nome, Nome of the High Plains.
   Joined: FY 1/CY 1.1
3. The Third Nome, Nome of the Great Canyon.
   Joined: FY 1/CY 1.1
4. The Fourth Nome, Nome of the Stone Valleys.
   Joined: FY 1/CY 1.1
5. The Fifth Nome, Nome of the Skyward Ridge.
   Joined: FY 1/CY 1.1
6. The Sixth Nome, Nome of the Storm's Eye.
   Joined: FY 1/CY 1.1
7. The Seventh Nome, Nome of the High Seats.
   Joined: FY 1/CY 1.1
8. The Eighth Nome, Nome of the Low Plains.
   Joined: FY 1/CY 1.1
9. The Ninth Nome, Nome of the Waving Blades.
   Joined: FY 63/CY 7.7
10. The Tenth Nome, Nome of the Green Hills.
    Joined: FY 64/CY 7.8
11. The Eleventh Nome, Nome of the Deeping Damps.
    Joined: FY 74/CY 8.8
12. The Twelfth Nome, Nome of the Rain's Falling.
    Joined: FY 79/CY 9.1
13. The Thirteenth Nome, Nome of the Rivers' Meeting.
    Joined: FY 104/CY 11.1
14. The Fourteenth Nome, Nome of the Iron Hills.
    Joined: FY 149/CY 14.7
15. The Fifteenth Nome, Nome of the Eternal Riding.
    Joined: FY 215/CY 19.3
16. The Sixteenth Nome, Nome of the Broken Ground.
    Joined: FY 221/CY 19.9
17. The Seventeenth Nome, Nome of the Towers of Wood.
    Joined: FY 232/CY 20.5
18. The Eighteenth Nome, Nome of the Ancient Shadows.
    Joined: FY 262/CY 22.1
19. The Nineteenth Nome, Nome of the Boundary Mists.
    Joined: FY 270/CY 22.9
20. The Twentieth Nome, Nome of the Earthen Waves.
    Joined: FY 319/CY 25.1
21. The Twenty-First Nome, Nome of the Steaming Seas.
    Joined: FY 374/CY 27.16
22. The Twenty-Second Nome, Nome of the Cursed Waters.
    Joined: FY 403/CY 29.3
23. The Twenty-Third Nome, Nome of the Crashing Rocks.
    Joined: FY 455/CY 31.11
24. The Twenty-Fourth Nome, Nome of the Tall Ships.
    Joined: FY 459/CY 31.15
25. The Twenty-Fifth Nome, Nome of the Rolling Thunder.
    Joined: FY 614/CY 38.2
26. The Twenty-Sixth Nome, Nome of the Open Sky.
    Joined: FY 620/CY 38.8