| Continent |
Government |
Ruler |
Capital |
| Prenalia |
Military Hegemony |
Sunmarshal Overmost Baenor Rook |
The Spires |
Located west of
The Fraisian Grand Alliance on the Prenalian continent, Ephistius is built along an isthmus divided roughly in half by the Godsflow River. To the south of the river sits several towns that comprise the breadbasket of the independent country, while the north is concerned principally with the protection of the Sanguine and Scimitar Gaps that lead to the warmongering
Arnastian Grand Alliance to the north.
The country's government is fronted by its military, and is wholly staffed with devout clergy of
Xelin, the Created of Honor. The Order of the Bladed Sun are those devoted holy warriors that comprise the officer corps of the military of the same name, and Sunmarshal Overmost Baenor Rook sits at the head of this leadership, making him the guardian and protector of Ephistius.
History has shown that the Queendom to the north has a large appetite for angering the Grand Alliance system, but no real stomach for engaging in all-out war. It is for this reason that Ephistius is constantly under some form of probing skirmish at its northern borders and along its western coastal cities. This is not to say that the Bladed Sun has not pierced into Arnast in its own counteroffensives, and those diplomats in the Queen's Voice stationed in the capital of Ephistius frequently bring up self defense as a reason for the incursions from the north.
That capital is known as The Spires, and is crowned, as one might expect, with seven towers along its northern arc. The city is contained inside three layers of thick walls with two-hundred feet of barren, open land between them, making it a formidable fortress. Countersiege and air defense are the main purposes of the towers, as twice in recorded history has the capital been under such duress.
Several of history's most legendary warriors and siege engineers have their roots in this country, and its Codex Bellum, a bardic college stationed in Castle Rook, keeps the records and secrets of such discoveries. However, not all the peoples of the isthmus nation are keen on fighting to the death for kith and kin. The southern peoples of Ephistius prefer the trade with Elken to the south in
The Gravis Grand Alliance and with some trade from
Avaritia from the north, along with all the prosperity such trade brings. Theirs is a simpler way of life, more further removed from the usual drums of war that plague their northern brethren. When those drums come pounding along the sea, they know that they will be protected soon enough, either by the Gloryguard on the water or the Sunmarshal's forces over land. After all, light is a scourge and comfort.
