Allegiant Kingdoms
The Allegiant Kingdoms are the backbone of the Grand Alliance and the majority of it's citizenship and lordship outside of the cosmopolitan districts. It is a loose coalition of established political powers from before the Cataclysm concerned with mutual security and prosperity against a hostile world that would see them destroyed. Comprised of the Dwarven, Elven, Gnomish, Human, and Dragonfolk nations, the kingdoms have deep commitments to nobility, honor, faith, justice, and sacrifice in the name of your homelands and are fiercly proud of their cultural heritages. Striving to represent these high ideals, its many different peoples all contribute their martial, artisan, arcane, and spiritual wisdom toward the shared goal of preserving order and their own livelihoods within the Dragon Marches.
Description
The Allegiant Kingdoms are an evolution of the original Alliance formed at the dawn of the Cataclysm, and the memories of the allegiances and idealism of the Alliance of the old world―centered in the homonymous continent―served as the ultimate inspiration for the new Alliance of the present day. The kings of this era worked in unison to unite and seek refuge at what would become the city of Drakkenfall and were instrumental in the prosperity of the nascent Grand Alliance. Seeking aid from the Dracthyr Empire and it's greatwyrm leader Andranach, they managed to preserve life during an age of befalling darkness. In the generations since the fall of the known world, the kingdoms have risen to the challenge of governing their new nation. This state's power is highly decentralized; each individual ward serves as it's own city-state and largely acts according to its own interests, with the parliament of the Allegiant Kingdoms in place to ensure that pursuing those interests benefits the common good. Some critics state that the kingdoms together are little more than a glorified city council for Drakkenfall's inner wards, though it is just as often praised for its citizen's prosperity. Proud and noble, courageous and wise, the kingdoms work together to disseminate benevolence and order for the betterment of their countries. They are driven by honor and tradition and are bound together by a sense of brotherhood and a deep commitment to uphold their common noble ideas. These races tend to look out for one another and every member is expected to provide aid to members in need, whether they human, gnome, or otherwise. Yet despite these noble ideals the kingdoms have twisted over the centuries. While priding themselves as the moral vanguards of Drakkenfall, with their strength, courage, and unity, they have equally adopted seemingly draconian measures to ensure that their moral code remains the only code by which one may live and prosper within their kingdom. And members of the kingdoms are equally likely to resort to backroom politics against one another to further the goals of their own people, rather than the whole of their parliament.Figures of Interest
Organizational Structure
While the faction is comprised of many separate empires and noble houses, the kingdoms are also known to unite their forces in specific organizations that operate in tandem to unify their disparate goals. Thusly, the Allegiant Kingdom's ranks are comprised of those in the Five Kingdoms themselves, the order of magic known as the Thaumaturge, and the religious sects of the Ecclesiarchy known as the Requiem Brotherhood.The Five Kingdoms
The five kingdoms consist of the Dracthyr Empire, Dwarves of Clan Ironthane, the Elven Kingdom of Myrindel, Gnomish Autocracy of Gnogremmar, and Human Baronies of Middenland. These noble monarchies hold chivalric honor and respect to nobility above all else with those who pledge loyalty to their kingdoms serving apart of the most storied knighthoods in all the lands. Each knighted member of these kingdoms served as tenured agents, warriors and spellcasters to the cause, but they also tended to double as wise diplomats and envoys for their pledged nobility. They are dedicated to the ideals of a chivalric code, known as the Oath and the Measure, that dictates their goals and idealogy through general aspirations and specific codes of conduct. The knights of the five kingdoms emphasizes ideals of loyalty and obedience, courageous sacrifice, and wisdom through tenure. Their motto emphasises this in full: "Est Sularas oth Mithas", better known in the common tongue as "My Honor is My Life". To seek out and destroy threats to their homelands, knights and agents of the five kingdoms must be highly trained at what they do. Few can match their skills in the field and cunning in political maneuvering. They fight for the glory and security of their people and for the lords who rule over them, and they do so with pride. However, the kingdoms can only survive if its members and nobility "play nice" with one another, which requires certain measure of diplomacy.The Oath and the Measure
As an outline of the collective nation's ideals and as an indoctrination tool, the knighthoods of the five kingdoms utilizes The Oath and the Measure, a chivalric handbook which outlines the nation's codes and conducts thusly: "For code of conduct, for duty and honor, for chivalric belief; The Oath and the Measure binds us—the five kingdoms of Dracthyr, Gnogremmar, Karak-Karn, Middenland and Myrindel—together in unity and prosperity. By that of our noble kings, queens, and nobility; the electoral counts that govern are nation, and our siblings in arms against the forces of chaos, we bind our lives to the following tenents: Death is inevitable; one can only avoid defeat. To fight for justice in the name of the five kingdoms. Victory for our allies, defeat for our enemies, and justice for all. When Allegiants march forth, ridding the world outside of Drakkenfall of the evils of selfishness and greed under the pristine banner of justice, we know who we are and what we fight for, unapologetically. In our eternal forward march, we must stomp out evil all across the unknown wherever it may grow. Leave no stone unturned: the roots of one ignored weed will inevitably corrupt the whole of the garden. Even in the deepest darkness we shall remember that our honor is our lives.
Five Kingdoms Faction Ranks
| Renown | Five Kingdoms Rank |
|---|---|
| 1 | Squire |
| 3 | Errant |
| 10 | Chevall |
| 25 | Castellan |
| 50 | Warduke |
The Thaumaturge
The Grand Thaumatic Circle of Theurgists, simply known across Drakkenfall as the Thaumaturge, is a company of mercenary magi operating under the order allegiant kingdoms drawn to the calling of equality and truth through magic. They consist of the greatest mages within each kingdom's walls not already belonging to a royal court and are a mostly benevolent and knowledgable faction with spellcasters of many types commonly drawn to their ranks. The common folk of the five kingdoms adore the circle of mages and many of the Thaumaturge's spellwrights became folk heroes and celebrities for their miraculous acts, which ranged from transmuting raw timber, mud, and straw into full-fledged houses in minutes to keeping spirits high across the streets with their impressive showings of the arcane. But wonderworking, despite the massive income of gold and political power it brings to the circle, is far from their only goal. Not only was there a need to uphold the present from calamity, but the mages of this arcane order realized they must also prevent future "surprises" of the nature that destroyed their old ways of life. They additionally seek any forbidden magical artifacts and hidden scrolls they can acquiesce, safekeeping them in vast-spanning vaults within their college grounds. The chief priority of this fellowship of powerful arcane specialists is best summarized in their adherence to maintain the Truth of Magic, a strict code enacted to never again allow the rampant misuse of magic seen before and during the Cataclysm. Despite their appearances to the public eye being one of critical aclaim and popular consensus, members of the Thaumaturge keep their intentions past helping the common folk a secret out of necessity. The existence of the order is common knowledge, but their logging and routine checks on anyone of significance found to be practicing magic is largely kept secret to the public. The reach and sight of the circle is not without limits however, and many dark and terrible dealings manage to escape their notice regardless.The Truth of Magic
The Thaumaturge's myriad rules on the use and misuse of magic are innumerable—detailed at length in centuries of amendments made to the full text of the Truth of Magic. Though the Truth’s bizarre intricacies are left to the annals of their vaults, the Truth’s preamble establishes three unbreakable edicts: “In the Eternal interest of the Preservation of Harmony within the realm of Drakkenfall and it's further claimed territories, we the Grand Thaumatic Circle of Theurgists establish the Truth of Magic, and three Edicts from which none shall stray. Those Theurgists to Grand Thaumaturges found in gross violation of the Truth will be punished by the full extent of this Order—outside of any local law. Though the school of Necromancy shall be restricted to none, in the interest of magical study and Understanding, the animation of the dead is a Violation of the Truth. The Arcane is a tool to be wielded for the good of the People. To use its Power in the pursuit of wanton Destruction or unjust Murder is a Violation of the Truth. In addition, though the Jurisdiction of the Grand Thaumatic Circle of Theurgists supersedes the power of local laws, a mage who willfully breaks the laws of the land is in Violation of the Truth.”
Thaumaturge Faction Ranks
| Renown | Circle of Miracles Rank |
|---|---|
| 1 | Theurgist |
| 3 | Arcanist |
| 10 | Thaumaturge |
| 25 | Spellwright |
| 50 | Grand Thaumaturge |
Requiem Brotherhood
Under the holy scriptures of the Divinity, clerics, druids and paladins who have been drawn to the calling of faith and vigilance spend their lives training within the requiem brotherhood. These miracle workers protect the downtrodden from the depredations of evildoers, uphold balance between the Divinity of the pantheon, and act in secret to weed out worshippers of dark powers in the city of Drakkenfall. The brotherhood is a dedicated, tightly knit group of like-minded individuals driven by religious zeal or a finely-honed sense of divine duty to the Ecclesiarchy: the largest congregation of priesthoods in the city of Drakkenfall. They worship the entirety of the cosmic pantheon, each member embodying their Divinity's knightly vestiges or priestly armor before uniting it to their clergy through the presence of a bright silver gauntlet on their right fist. Because of these various priesthoods the brotherhood is united under, its tenants preach that friendship and camaraderie are important to its members regardless of their divine preference. Just as the cosmology of the realms must keep itself in balance to prevent ruin, the brotherhood does so within its ranks as well. Despite this righteous task, an imbalance has struck itself within the order as worship of the realms of Life, Light and Order have gravitated towards outnumbering the priesthoods of Chaos, Death and Shadow. Perhaps it is due to the later gods' role in the Cataclysm, or that the once warring enemies and now political rivals of the allegiant kingdoms, the Black-Iron Pact, served as warriors to these powers during the last war. Regardless of its cause, the priesthoods of the brotherhood seek to expand the spheres of influence over the lesser worshipped gods, despite the best efforts of a powerful few within the dominant sects of the order.Requiem Brotherhood Ranks
| Renown | Order of the Silver Hand Rank |
|---|---|
| 1 | Questor |
| 3 | Templar |
| 10 | Sentinel |
| 25 | Vigilant |
| 50 | Chapter Master |
Basic Information
Type
Governmental, Senate/Parliament
Capital
Alternative Names
The Five Kingdoms
Training Level
Trained
Veterancy Level
Trained
Demonym
Allegiant
Government System
Monarchy, Constitutional
Power Structure
Federation
Parent Organization
Location
Neighboring Nations
Faction Information
Beliefs- Take pride in your homeland and kingdom. It is our most important connection to what once was.
- Excel at battle and politics in equal measure. A noble allegiant is no more a blade as he is a royal.
- If civilization is to survive, all must unite against the dark forces that threaten it.
- Duty above all. Your land is your hope, your pride, and your greatest light in darkness.
- Bring honor and glory to one's leaders and one's homeland.
- Maintain a strong coalition against the forces of disorder.
- Ensure the safety, prosperity, and control of cities and other settlements of the Alliance.
- Identify evil threats such as secretive power groups and inherently evil creatures.
- Aid the weak, poor and oppressed.
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