Arcane Commonwealth of Illandria
The Arcane Commonwealth of Illandria is a magocracy held together by a fraying pact and the unrelenting ambition of its rulers. The nation is governed by eight powerful archmages, known as the Exarchs, each of whom reigns over their own province with near-absolute authority. Together, they form the Conclave of Eldarspire—a council designed to coordinate collective governance through majority vote. But the system, built more to prevent war than to enable rule, has calcified into paralysis. Though the Commonwealth speaks with one voice abroad, its limbs rarely move in unison.
When the Ithean Empire withdrew from its eastern provinces centuries ago, it left behind a region scarred by arcane fallout and overrun by warlords. For generations, this fractured land—later dubbed the Shattered Marches—was a battlefield of conjurers, petty nobles, and magical tyrants who clashed over the ruins of imperial infrastructure. Eventually, a cadre of powerful magelords forged a fragile consensus: they would end their wars, divide the land, and govern jointly through a shared council. Thus, the Arcane Commonwealth of Illandria was born. The number of Exarchs seated on the Conclave has shifted over the years—ranging from five to ten—reflecting assassinations, accidents, and crises that reshaped the balance of power. The present eight have held their seats for well over three decades, though stability in Illandria is always temporary.
The nation today is a study in contradictions. It is a place where tyrants call themselves “Exarchs,” where magic is both sacred and feared, and where the appearance of unity barely conceals a gnawing rot of paranoia. Each Exarch rules their province with absolute authority, from opulent palaces or haunted citadels, with little interference from their peers. National governance occurs at Eldarspire, a bleak mountaintop fortress built as the Conclave’s seat. There, once each month, the eight Exarchs—or their simulacra, agents, or illusions—convene to vote on matters of state. Yet no action can be taken without unanimous consensus. As a result, even basic decisions—such as the recent declaration of war against the Xvimnian Alliance—can take seasons to resolve.
Despite this paralysis, the Commonwealth endures. Its people are stoic and fatalistic, shaped by generations of magical oversight and intermittent catastrophe. Most are forbidden from wielding advanced spellcraft, and the use of arcane magic beyond basic cantrips is strictly regulated. Rogue practitioners are hunted by licensed mage-hunters—most of them mercenaries—granted writs of pursuit by provincial authorities. Each Exarch determines the scope and aggressiveness of enforcement within their borders. In some provinces, mage-hunters are little more than a formality; in others, they are feared as ruthless inquisitors who burn down entire villages to catch a single unlicensed warlock.
Yet even amidst dysfunction, Illandria commands awe across Vidrea. Its war arcanists are peerless, its scholars unchallenged, and its grasp of pre-Calamity relics unmatched. In a time of growing war and divine silence, the Arcane Commonwealth walks the knife’s edge—brilliant, brittle, and bound to a pact that cannot break without shattering the land in turn.
Goals
Illandria’s guiding principle is the preservation of arcane order—but not as a vision for the future so much as a barrier against collapse. The Exarchs see themselves as custodians of stability, bound by the Arcane Covenant to prevent the internecine warfare that nearly destroyed them centuries ago. While others view the Commonwealth as a decaying relic, its rulers believe the current equilibrium—cold, cautious, and slow-moving—is the only safeguard against a return to chaos. Chief among their concerns is the control of magic itself. All arcane spellcasting above the first tier must be licensed, with enforcement left to local agents and mercenaries empowered by individual Exarchs. They fear that unregulated magic, especially near the volatile Darkgrove, could unleash calamities far beyond political rebellion. Though enforcement varies by province, the goal remains universal: suppress magical anarchy, preserve arcane supremacy. The war with the Xvimnian Alliance has strained this fragile order. The Conclave’s decision to enter the conflict came only after Khaveran agents were discovered undermining local mage-courts. Now, Illandria sends battlemages and summoned horrors to the front—but sparingly, preferring to sacrifice mercenaries and apprentices over their elite casters. In these times of mounting pressure and war, the Exarchs have intensified their expeditions into the Darkgrove. Once sporadic and academic, these ventures now pursue relics and forbidden texts that might shift the balance of power. Whether to aid the war effort or further personal agendas, the Exarchs are united in one conviction: these secrets must remain theirs alone.Relationships
Though the Commonwealth publicly supports the defense of the Ithean Empire, relations between the two are far from warm. The Exarchs regard the Etesian nobility as pompous and ineffectual, relics of a fallen age. Yet they know the Itheans form the last real buffer between Illandria and the Khaveran war machine. The alliance is therefore one of necessity rather than trust. Illandrian spellcasters serve beside Etesian soldiers on the eastern front, but neither side shares tactics or intelligence freely, and both blame the other for recent defeats. The Khaveran Dynasty, by contrast, is viewed with cold fascination. Their faith in Bane and rigid military caste stands in stark contrast to Illandria’s godless arcane oligarchy. Yet some Exarchs quietly admire their order, even as they denounce their theology. Whispers persist that one or more members of the Conclave have entered secret correspondence with Khaveran strategists, perhaps to negotiate peace—or simply to hedge their bets. For now, the war remains a reluctant commitment, its progress slowed not only by battlefield attrition but by the Commonwealth’s own indecision. Illandria maintains a wary eye on the River Nations, whose mercenary companies form the backbone of its expendable military. These warbands are viewed as useful, if unstable: easily bought, difficult to control. Several Exarchs sponsor puppet factions within the region, using them as proxies to harass rivals or acquire magical specimens. Such entanglements are rarely acknowledged publicly, but they form a critical part of the Commonwealth’s strategy of externalized conflict. Relations with the Tyrennian Peninsula are marked by cultural contempt and reluctant trade. The Exarchs view the republicanism and religious fervor of the Tyrennians as antithetical to arcane discipline, and their diplomacy as vulgar and self-serving. The Cathedra of the Sacred Dawn has publicly condemned Illandria as a godless and dangerous nation, warning of its arcane hubris from gilded pulpits across the peninsula. Yet necessity compels cooperation—banks in Port Savona quietly finance projects through intermediaries, while Caspian merchants and smugglers provide a steady flow of magical goods Illandria cannot easily produce. The result is a tense, largely transactional relationship, undergirded by mutual disdain and strategic silence.
Type
Geopolitical, Magocracy
Capital
Alternative Names
Commonwealth of Illandria, Illandria
Government System
Magocracy
Power Structure
Confederation
Economic System
Mixed economy
Official Languages
Neighboring Nations
Related Species
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