The Gravis Grand Alliance
Those that make up the Gravis Grand Alliance are routinely at the forefront of innovation and the strange occurrences that go along with risk in those fields. Situated in southern Prenalia, the countries of Boltare, Elken, and Maure transition from temperate forest in the north to frigid taiga in the south. While the countries vary greatly in their approach to progress, they all share that common goal.
The Guilds of Boltare
The government of Boltare is a system of guilds of all sorts. Guildmasters gather in the capital of Gaddoveryn to discuss matters concerning their trade, and the Council of Guilds is the de facto deliberative body and principal wielder of power in the nation. Boltare has a royal family that rules over it, but it has been reduced to little more than a figurehead government in the wake of economic progress. The Merchant's Guild, Shipwright's Guild, and Jeweler's Guild lead the Council of Guilds on most matters. While the Targana royal family provides input and a face to the wider world, even the lesser Tailor's and Farmer's Guilds have more power. Regardless of political structure, the people of Boltare pride themselves on the advancement of capitalism and free trade, having pioneered both ideas to great success, despite their small geographic footprint. All their cities flow with the obvious spoils of their renowned trading prowess, but their capital bears the most ornate and excessive evidence. While Boltare supplies the least number of people to the Gravisian Garrison, its contribution to the military wing of that Grand Alliance is more than made up for in terms of ships, arms, and raw supplies from its vast trading network.The Technocracy of Elken
Owing much of its dominance of Gravisian politics to its outside military and mastery of its burgeoning technology, Elken's rulership embodies a passion for advancement at any cost. The Cymadev Dynasty monopolized gunpowder production in the Age of Five, and no other group (save the drow of Indai) has been able to replicate the secrets of actually getting the substance made en-masse without catastrophe striking. Czar Lubov Cymadev IV is said to personally oversee the manufacture and development of the arcane technocraft in the Elken capital of Khudansk. Having recently taken the throne from his father within the last decade, Cymadev is said to have been the mind behind several of the recent advancements. He eagerly seeks to rebuild the Elken Expeditionary Fleet after its disastrous attempt to colonize distant Tichozen. The technocraft of Elken is legendary, representing the pinnacle of the fusion of the arcane and ever-developing technology. The majority of the country is wired up with cheap electricity produced from the arcane coal plants that dot its cities, and the bore of industry has carved deep into the belly of the country to haul it kicking and screaming into the future. Elken men and woman form the bulk of the Gravisan Garrison, as Elken is by far the most populous member of the Grand Alliance. They rely on Maure for its magecraft and Boltare for supplies, but could easily take both nations in a conventional war, if the need arose.The Mageocracy of Maure
The Calendrium Covenant is a group of five archmages, styled 'Lord Seers,' that run Maure, the southernmost region of the Gravis Grand Alliance. The Calendrium from which they rule is a place of learning for the mage already well-versed in magic theories. Its soaring silver spires sit atop a floating disc of force that suspends the entire institution above a great, yawning chasm that sits beside the capital of Chronobourne in which the academy resides. Maure focuses primarily on matters of the Deep Arcane. The commonplace schools of magic that The Colleges of Arginwood concern themselves with are largely eschewed in favor of the Five Esoteries of the Deep Arcane, namely chronocraft, dracocraft, hemocraft, primecraft, and storycraft. These are, respectively, the studies of time and its manipulation, the inherent magic of the dragons, the magic of blood, the magic of the living Prime Deities Deities, and the magic inherent in stories, as popularized by the sinnarntae of T'vathi Ithrondil. They contribute strategy, reconnaissance, and wisdom to the Gravisian Garrison, along with the occasional mage that doesn't fit well within their Esoteries, but little else.
