Unity of Riedra

The Unity of Riedra is the most powerful nation on the continent of Sarlona, spanning most of it's landmass. It is ruled by the Inspired, whom the people believe are the chosen vessels for the il-Altas, the great spirits, who enact their will on Eberron. The Unity of Riedra contains a large variety of environments, as the lands it now occupies were once split between many other nations. In the south of Riedra, on their border with Adar, there are jungles. In the north, there are pine forests, and mountain ranges form a natural border between Riedra and the Tashana Tundra. On their border with Syrkarn in the southwest, there are deserts. Prior to the Sundering, roughly 1500 years ago, Sarlona was split between many different nations. These nations entered into a large scale conflict with eachother, known as the Sundering. Riedra rose during this time, and by roughly 1,300 years ago, most of Sarlona had been brought into the fold. The modern day provinces of Riedra roughly correspond to these ancient Sarlonan nations; Borunan, Corvagura, Dor Maleer, Khalesh, Nulakesh, Ohr Kaluun, Pyrine, and Rhiavhaar. The Unity of Riedra's borders have been closed to outsiders for the last 1,000 years, but their policy of isolationism has begun to soften in recent years. The Unity of Riedra sent representatives to each of the nations of Khorvaire during the Last War, and provided humanitarian aid to struggling communities. The cities of Dar Jin and Dar Ulatesh have opened districts to house foreign dignitaries, and some scholarly expeditions have been allowed to travel there to learn more about this enigmatic nation across the sea. During the war, Karrnath was reliant of Riedran support to feed their people after the famines hit, and Aundair also received a fair amount of support from Riedra. Q'barra has an active garrison of Riedran troops, which have helped to maintain order in the frontier nation. The Unity of Riedra has been at war with Adar for as long as anyone can remember. They have maintained a blockade on Adar for decades, which prevents most ships from coming and going, but there are still smugglers that take the risk. The Inspired teach that the Kalashtar that take refuge in Adar are possessed by altavar, "dark spirits", which seek to bring about the end of the world. Inspired will go out of their way to kill Kalashtar wherever they encounter them.

Life & Society

Riedrans are generally a driven people, devoted to the Path of Inspiration and to their community. Dignitaries sometimes find Riedrans to be unsettling, they don't engage in small talk or anything like that, if it doesn't need to be said, then they won't say it. Every Riedran knows what is expected of them and what they need to do, and as a rule they will do what is required of them to the best of their ability. Whilst it could be argued that Riedran life is more restrictive than it is in Khorvaire, most of the people in Riedra are content. They have a feeling of connection to each other, they're all bound by common cause, and they work to advance that cause. Similarly alien to those from Khorvaire, there are no shops, no taverns, and no restaurants in Riedran cities, they don't need them. Everything they need is provided for them by the state, and meals are taken communally in their garrisons or dorms. Luxuries are rare in Riedra, everything they do and have must serve a purpose beyond enjoyment or leisure, but Riedrans aren't disatisfied with this. They find joy in each other and in their communities, and in their devotion to the Inspired. Most of the people of Riedra are human, but shifters and ogres form a significant and valued part of the population. Riedran society also values changeling's, who's malleable forms are viewed as an expression of their spiritual nature and progress along the Path of Inspiration. Riedran children are raised communally, and generally not by their parents. A child's life may follow a different path to their parent's, and it's easier on the parent's if they are separated early. As such, Riedran's don't place strong emphasis on family, their bonds to the Unity of Riedra are more powerful than the bonds between any family members. As such, Riedran's generally don't have surnames, and in cases of several people having the same first name, will identify each other via their home village, or ward if they're from a bastion. Just as arcane magic is everywhere in Khorvaire, psionics are ever present in Riedra. However, most of the population of Riedra are not psionic, they don't have an equivalent of the magewright's in Khorvaire. Instead, those that are psionically gifted (which is mostly the Inspired) use their powers to create and maintain tools and infrastructure that benefit's everyone. Most people in Riedra aren't psionic, but they can use a tool that is infused with psionic energy, that guides their hands and intuitively teaches them what they need to do. This kind of infrastructure is everywhere in Riedran lives, crysteel windows serve as natural light sources during the day and psionic lamps at night, and the Voice of Riedra is able to broadcast messages to everybody in the Unity in an instant. In many ways, Riedra is more advanced than the Five Nations.

Government and Politics

The Unity of Riedra is ruled by the Inspired, the chosen vessels of the il-Altas. Only those chosen to be a host for one of the il-Altas is truly Inspired, but even those Chosen who are not actively being possessed are favoured for their potential to serve as a host body for one of the il-Altas. Riedran cities are called Bastions, and there will be a number of Inspired present at all times within each bastion. Only the Inspired are able to hold important government positions in Riedra, and they handle most of the administrative work to keep the machine that is Riedra running. There is no official room for open debate between the Inspired, but political disagreements do happen, they just debate their issues privately and it somehow circulates across the other Inspired.

The Dreaming Dark

The following information is known to the party via Kalshana, but is not general knowledge. View Secret

The il-Altas that the Riedrans worship are actually the Quori, spirits of nightmare from Dal Quor. The Adarans believe that the Quori caused the Sundering by manipulating the dreams of those nations leaders, and driving them down the paths that would result in them being taken over by Riedra or destroyed. The Inspired are possessed by Quori, and this explains why they've been laying siege to Adar for millennia, and also their persecution of the Kalashtar. It remains to be seen what the Quori hope to accomplish by taking over Sarlona, or what they're doing in Khorvaire.

Type

Geopolitical, Empire

Notable Members