Protectorate of Menoth

Founded during the First Cygnaran Civil War, the Protectorate of Menoth rose to become a major power in the Iron Kingdoms over the course of only a few short years despite being relegated to a strip of barren and inhospitable lands along the shores of the Meredius on the fringes of the Bloodstone Marches. The Menite's uncompromising faith served them well in this harsh and unforgiving landscape, as did the discovery of heretofore unknown natural resources in the desert sands, including plentiful diamonds the upstart theocracy used to finance its expansion, as well as flammable oil that it refined into the potent weapon known as Menoth’s Fury. These assets helped the Menites conquer and convert many of the region’s native inhabitants, most notably the numerous tribes of Idrians who called the desert home. They also helped the Menites expand their military until it was large enough to challenge their neighbors to the west and north. The Protectorate even conquered part of Khadoran-occupied Llael during its Northern Crusade, taking the city of Leryn without firing so much as a single shot.

Following the will of the Creator has never been an easy calling, however, and the primacy of the Protectorate was not to last. Skorne emerged from the depths of the Bloodstone Marches to harry the theocracy, and the Northern Crusade spread the nation’s troops too thin just as divisions within the church were leading to an eventual schism in the ranks of the faithful.

When the Claiming began, infernal agents were revealed to have infiltrated much of the Protectorate hierarchy, undermining it from within. Despite the miracles performed on the field of battle at Henge Hold, dark days followed for the Protectorate, even after the forces of the infernals had been driven back into the Outer Abyss. During this bleak time, the young and idealistic sovereign Tristan Durant received a vision that he believed came directly from the Creator himself. Leading a pilgrimage to Henge Hold, Durant directed many of the faithful through the gateway to the unknown worlds beyond Caen. After the massive gate was destroyed, the sovereign was struck with another vision, this one telling him to take the remainder of his flock to safety on the southern continent of Zu. Known to his followers from that moment forward as the Prophet of Menoth, Durant led thousands of Menites on a pilgrimage to this distant land, where he founded the settlement that became known as New Icthier.

With so many of its people gone and divisions still rife among those who remained, the Protectorate collapsed. Although the nation’s borders continued to exist, they did so only on maps. A skeleton clergy continued to hold church services in once-grand cathedrals and to denounce ancient and modern enemies of the Creator, but fewer and fewer of the faithful heard their words. Today, the few Protectorate citizens who remain are subjected to a ruling priesthood that has become increasingly paranoid as it searches for the next threat to energize the ailing theocracy.

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