Qerric Empire

The Qerric Empire is a massive, imperial state located in southwestern Murandoa. It is bordered by the Sapphire Coast and Arqesh to the northwest, the Gravelands to the general north, and the Dregaushei Congregation to the east. It has the largest territory of any single state in the known world, and its capital is the metropolis of Zashaler, overlooking the Sea of Jewels. The Empire is a multicultural, polyglot state, containing its ruling yuan-ti as well as sun elves, Siridani half-elves, halflings, genasi, fire giants, Nhemen humans, and medusas. Its various provinces are often ruled according to local customs, but all ultimately owe allegiance to the Qerric throne and are supervised by imperial-appointed prefects. The Empire is ruled by a yuan-ti God-Emperor, currently Basilisk Sethlua XXIV. Worshipped as the earthly incarnation of the Qerric god Basilisk, he is one of the most powerful people in the known world as both the spiritual head of the Qerric faith, and the temporal ruler of the Empire.

Territories

The Qerric Empire has the largest controlled territory in the known world, extending over 5.5 million square miles and consisting of nine provinces.

Zashaler

Zashaler is the capital province of the Empire, considering the namesake city. It is populated predominantly by yuan-ti.

Nhema

Nhema is the northernmost province of the Empire, and the home province of the Nhemans. The Nhemans are a dark-skinned race of humans originating from the continent of Ahndar, far to the southwest. The Ahndari previously controlled a large maritime empire which extended up into southern Slederon and Murandoa during the Age of Arcana, but experienced an economic collapse shortly after the Lucine Empire, their main source of trade income, fell to ruin. With trade routes in shambles, the Ahndari who remained on Murandoa built the Nheman civilization, which flourished in the final days of the Age, but was eventually conquered by the yuan-ti.

Mal'ar

Mal'ar is the home province of the Mal'ari elves.

Nagai

Nagai is the largest Qerric province, and home province of the Qerric-aligned naga.

Parsedon

Parsedon is an island province off the southwestern coast of Murreth. It is the home province of the medusas.

Man'jihar

Man'jihar is the home province of Qerric fire giants and fire genasi.

Gea Descent

The Gea Descent is the home province of the Qerric earth genasi.

Alkhana

Alkhana is the home province of the Alkhan halflings. While once contiguous with the Empire and sharing a border with Gea Descent, the Dregaushei invasions have cut deep into both of the once-large provinces, leaving Alkhana dependent on naval connections to the rest of the Empire.

Goria Frei

Goria Frei is the Empire's colonial province on the large jungle island of Moj, to its immediate south. It is inhabited mostly by the island's native tabaxi.

Path'tu Desert

The Path'tu Desert is a sparsely-inhabited territory in the interior of the Empire. Instead of being ruled as a province, it is left virtually ungoverned, as the vicious wildlife, unbearable dryness, and persistent firesand storms make permanent settlement exceedingly difficult. Only a few nomadic tribes of genasi and Nhemans inhabit the region with any kind of permanence.

Namia

The Emirate of Namia off of the Sapphire Coast is a former city-state which was captured by the Empire during the Siridani Wars. It has been retained ever since as a military stronghold, watching over Lailuem from across the channel.

Religion

The Qerric Empire follows a unique pantheon of serpentine deities, many of them either ancestral Great Serpents of Ubbo-Sathla or gods local to the planes of Atlas and Moira. Some Archons are also present in the pantheon. Qerric religion focuses heavily on reflection, reincarnation, and recursion. Its principle god, Ouroboros, personifies the constant reincarnation of the yuan-ti and the eternal cycle of the world's birth, destruction, and rebirth - unlike most other religions, the Qerric faith suggests that this world is not the first of its kind, and hidden knowledge of previous iterations may be embedded in this world's past (which, in Qerric philosophy, is akin to our future).

Deity	Alignment	Domains	Symbol	Lucine Equivalent
Amphisbaena, god of cunning and symmetry	LN	Order, Trickery	A taijitu-like symbol of two interlocked snake heads.	None
Andrenjinyi, god of music and frenzy	CG	Arcana, Beauty	A rainbow serpent wrapped around a snake-charmer's pipe.	Israfil
Basilisk, god of leadership and statecraft	LN	Forge, Order	A cobra coiled in the shape of an eye, with a crown above it	None; possibly Kassiel
Chthonian, god of earthquakes and vermin	NE	Death, Trickery	A writing worm with a squid-like head	Ubbo-Sathla
Cockatrice, god of savagery and murder	CE	Blood, Trickery, War	A rooster head with a fang-filled beak and snake-like eyes	None; possibly Ygravone
Couatl, goddess of the sun and prophecy	NG	Knowledge, Light, Peace	A muticolored feather, stylized like a peacock's	None
Hydra, goddess of warfare and strategy	LN	Forge, War	A radial icon of nine attached, identical serpents	None
Leviathan, god of the ocean	CN	Nature, Tempest	The gaping maw of a viperfish	Dagon
Medusa, goddess of envy	LE	Trickery	Front profile of a medusa's face	Envicria
Naga, goddess of the moon and magic	CG	Arcana, Mind, Twilight	A cobra wrapped around a scroll	Penemue or Suriyel
Ouroboros, god of death and rebirth	N	Grave, Knowledge, Life	A self-devouring snake in a circular pose	None
Python, god of mundane reptiles and obedience	LN	Nature, Order	The skull of a constrictor snake	None
Salamander, god of fire and the desert	CN	Nature, Light	A curled lizard or newt surrounded by fire	None; possibly Cthugha