Introduction to Elladia

Elladia, a gigantic and beautiful world that is the home to mankind and so many other species. Born eons ago, this planet has been testament to many important events. Across its vast stretches of different biomes, many different species and races live, each different yet similar to each other in some way. Many of these species live together in harmony, but that is not the case for the humans and Argonites.
For the past thousand years the The Sanguine Imperium consisting mostly of humans and the Aegean Empire consisting of the Argonites have been at a brutal and neverending war. Despite many attempts at rapprochement, they have all failed and the war continues to take the life of hundreds if not thousands every day. Both sides are at a deadlock, making little progress but are just as ready and passionate to finish off the war.
Unbeknownst to them however, a sinister being is casting his shadow all over the world, foretelling his return after eons of isolation in the void. The Dark god Arkanos is amassing his armies, ready to take over Elladia and begin an age of darkness. Across the entire world, symptoms of his return can be felt. It is only a matter of time until the final war begins. The war that will decide the destiny of Elladia.
Unless all of Elladia put down their petty conflict and unite together, the world will fall to darkness. And the few survivors, those few tortured souls will envy the dead.
For a fate far worse than the cold comfort of the grave awaits them.

Setting

The setting of the various stories in Elladia are mostly on the eponymous planet, but some parts of it take elsewhere too such as in elemental and magical planes, other dimensions, the moons of Elladia etc.

Elladia

Keplers discovery by https://www.deviantart.com/chromattix

The eponymous planet that is home to the characters of the world, Elladia is a terrestrial planet that is slightly larger than the gas giant Uranus. Consisting of wide varities of biomes both magical and non magical, it is home to many species that are constantly interacting with each other. Four moons orbit this planet, located at various distances ranging from the distance between the moon and Earth to over ten times that distance. The planet is also located at around twice the distance from its parent star than earth is to the sun, resulting in longer years. Despite this, Rilvaran ( the parent star) looks the same as the sun from the surface of Elladia owing to its larger size.

The four moons of Elladia

Jernael, Lasintara, Velkronia and Jil"Kandral are the four moons of Elladia. Lasintara is the largest moon, being slightly larger than Earth and also being habitable like Elladia. The four moons are places that will be visited by the characters of the various storiesthat will exist in this world in their numerous quests.

Elemental and magical planes, other dimensions and planes

Magical planes and other dimensions also exist in this world, and are visited by the numerous characters in their dreams sometimes and more importantly, during their adventures and journeys alongside their companions.

The Major Players

Elladia is also home to numerous Kingdoms, Empires, Tribes, Clans and geopolitical entities. At present however, the The Sanguine Imperium and the Aegean empire dominate the field, with the entire world being practically divided between them. However, a new player is rising, and it is far stronger than the ones currently battling for the domination of the world

The Sanguine Imperium

The Imperial Standard by Daniel Warren

The Sanguine Imperium is a gigantic empire consisting mostly of humans but also includes undead races such as vampires, lycanthropes, ghouls as well as other human related species. Formed around 10 millenia ago by Mathias Christiansen during the unification wars, the Imperium is one of the two global superpowers besides the Aegean empire. Despite their relatively young age compared to the Aegean empire, the sanguine imperium is just as powerful, for they stand united and contribute their utmost to the well being of the Imperum

The Aegean Empire

The Aegean Standard by Brian Rollason

The Aegean Empire is the only other global superpower besides the sanguine imperium, being older than it by tens of thousands of years. Throughout their history, the Aegeans have witnessed many events and battles on Elladia, and this has made them much more experienced than their younger counterparts. However, they know fairly well to not understimate the Imperials, as they have been given a good number of lessons by them during the course of their war.
The Aegeans can be thought of as even more zealous to their empire than the Imperials. They fight till their last dying breath to protect the glory of their empire and their god, fighting with religious zeal against the forces of mankind.

The Sanguine War

The Sanguine War is the main and currently only WIP set in the world of Elladia. It is set mainly on Elladia with parts of the story taking place on the moons of Elladia and other extraterrestrial locations. The story revolves around the battle for Elladias future between the forces of Arkanos and the inhabitants of Elladia.

Main Characters

There are many characters in this saga of blood, death, destruction, hope and unity. However, only a few change the course of the entire story.

Hans Christian Danielsen

The Current Emperor of The Sanguine Imperium, Hans bears an incredible grudge against the Argonites for butchering his entire family. He cares deeply about humans and humanity in general, and is ready to go through hell to protect them.

Casper Christiansen

The younger brother of Hans and his only surviving immediate relative, Casper cares deeply about Hans and also has a softer heart than him. He serves as the regent of the Imperium and assists Hans in his administration as well as his military ventures.

Maximillian Christiansen

A nephew of Hans and Casper, Maximillian is treated more like a brother by his uncles. Known for his incredibly violent temper which beats even that of Hans, Maximillian is a prodigical military leader and has become a decorated soldier at the mere age of 20.

Inarra Keras

A vampiric woman who serves as the queen of Tenebria , Inarra is incredibly sympathetic to the Christiansen brothers and looks upto them as her brothers. Despite being much older than them, she still acts childishly and enjoys giving them company in their adventures.

Hakon Morrigan

The personal guard of Inarra, Hakon is an incredibly brave warrior who would kill every last enemy of Inarra if given the chance. He is at grudge with Maximillian due to him looking down on people of non noble birth but respects his bravery and ferocity in combat and is also sympathetic towards his misfortunes.

Victoria Elrina Astridsson

The commander of the Boreal Chevaliers, Victoria is a childhood friend of the Christiansens and especially of Maximillian. She takes them as her inspiration and attributes her successes partly because they inspired her.

Argo Larius

The old yet ever vigorous emperor of the Aegean empire, Argo has seen quite a bit in his life. From the death of his father to witnessing some of the largest battles in history, Argo has been emotionally scarred but also strengthened by these ordeals. He considers the imperium to be his biggest enemy and has vowed to eradicate them from this world, but also respects the valour shown by Imperial soldiers and their commanders on the battlefield

Themes of the Sanguine War

Arguably, the biggest theme in the Sanguine war is the benefits of unity and how disunity can ruin everyone. Embroiled in their petty wars and feuds, the Imperium and the Aegean empire as well as other races are woefully oblivious to the looming threat posed by the forces of Arkanos. Unless they unite and fight the dark god with all their strength, a dark age will set upon Elladia. Besides this other themes are also explored such as war, peace, camaraderie, the effects of war, vengeance, sacrifice for the greater good etc.

How did i get the inspiration for this World?

One day, i was sitting in a restaurant waiting for a meal after school. I had brought a lot of fantasy books with me that day so as to introduce some of my classmates to fantasy. I decided to start reading one of them and picked the Gardens of the moon, which is the first book in the wonderful Malazan series by Steven Erikson. Reading the novel started stirring up ideas of a new WIP in my mind.
A few days later, i was incredibly bored and decided out of all things, to watch a documentary on one of the India Pakistan wars ( myself being from India). The documentary struck even more in my mind and i thought of a fictional world where two geopolitical entities were at a constant state of hostility with each other, kind of mirroring India and Pakistan. Over the next few months, the ideas would coalesce into what is now Elladia today. Thus, my second WIP was born.