Esteria

Esteria is the land of heroes and knowledge, a place both advanced in technology and stuck up on its own pride. The people of Esteria value loyalty, hospitality, athleticism, and justice above all else, as well as a strong and innovative mind. They have developed a system known as Magitech, a technologically-based school of artifician magic that can trace its origins back to the mythic city of Minios, which led what would otherwise be a very Mediterranean culture to take on aspects of Victorian industrial design. The system is so engraved in their culture that it's almost impossible to avoid when traversing any major city of the nation, with great buildings of marble housing ornamental clockwork statues between their pillars and pipes of bronze and steam running along nearly every street. Such aesthetic has even affected many of the people themselves, with the basic outfit of the Hoplite Army involving shape changing weapons and firearms, while the Oracles of Esteria, a group of powerful seers native to the nation, pull their power from clockwork mechanisms derived from the goddess Erathis.

Structure

1. Boule of Esteria
2. Regional Electives
3. City-State Elective Councils
4. Oracles of Esteria (Though this is a technicality. The Oracles don't actually hold any political power, but are simply relied upon by those who do.)

Culture

Languages

• Auran
• Common
• Elvish
• Gnomish
• Halfling

History

Esteria is by far the most advanced and debatably the oldest of the four greater kingdoms of the Known World, existing as a collection of Greek-like city states ruled over by an elected council of individuals hailing from each of the regions which make up the nation. While Esteria as a unified power has only existed for about 1,200 years, many of the cities which make it up can trace their origins back centuries before even the Sealing of Melekon, and the people further, back to the legend of Partheon and Minios, the City Beneath the Mountain. The legend has been told as such: 4,000 years ago, when the Singu'in Kingdom still stood within the Trossian Desert, a group of nomads from the Continental Steppe was led to the Clockwork Mountains by their leader, Partheon, who had been blessed with visions of a golden land by the goddess Erathis. When they finally arrived, a city was established in service to the goddess, named Minios, built in a valley between the two great peaks of the Clockwork Mountains. The city was founded as a place of progress, with great pillars and monuments of marble stretching from one side of the valley to another, and machines of steam and clockwork built into the very foundation of the settlement. Philosophy was celebrated, as was innovation and creativity, and the brightest of minds held the highest of governmental positions. Other settlements sprung from Minios, the greatest of which were Tros, Mathias, and Helio, creating a series of interconnected city states that ran from one end of Esteria to the other. Prosperity reigned for nearly 700 years, until a betrayal of Erathis by the High Oracle of Minios led to the destruction of the city and a curse on Esteria that brought twisted natural disasters and a plague of terrible monsters down upon the people until it was broken. The casualties and losses of this period were numberless, with almost all progress in the land being halted and the city of Mathias being sieged into nothingness, but the end result was the worst of it; for nearly 1,000 years, the city states of Esteria served as singular players in an ongoing series of diplomatic struggles and wars, oftentimes not even against the people they once called their own.
Despite this period of terrible struggle, however, not all was lost in the ruins of Minios. The city, while gone, did leave an imprint on its children, an imprint that can still be seen today. Throughout all of Esteria, heavy value was and is placed on loyalty, hospitality, athleticism, and justice, the founding morals of Minios. Marble and clockwork still makes up most of the land's architecture, with craftsmen and sculptors held in high regard. Philosophy and innovation never left the mindset of the people, meaning that even while the land was in chaos, progress never disappeared. Instead, it only stopped, waiting to be picked back up whenever Erathis' curse was finally broken. Then, about 2,3000 years ago, it finally was, when the great hero Kerciles, a reincarnation of Partheon, ascended Mount Asteris of the Clockwork Mountains and sat upon the throne of the Temple of Erathis, whereupon he fell into an eternal sleep, sacrificing his own life in favor of Esteria's wellbeing.
Within Esteria, the year of Kerciles' Sacrifice, marked 43 S.E., is the beginning of the nation's modern history, and known as the Age of Heroes. As the name would suggest, this was a time of great heroic achievement among the city states of the land, with many of Esteria's greatest champions and individuals hailing from the time period. Such achievements and individuals include but are by far not limited to:

• Aklimos, the Hero of Esteria, a demigod son of Pelor who made his name in wiping out thousands of monsters left over from Erathis' curse.
• Hephaldus, a gnomish inventor who's responsible for the creation of the first Warforged.
• Helio rose to prominence as the most powerful city in Esteria, marking it as the later capital of the nation.
• The Immortals, a now global faction dedicated to heroism and combat, were created.
• The mythical poet Icarus sealed the four Muses across Esteria and went on to ascend Mount Asteris.
• The island of Attilus was banished to the realm of water by Pelea, a Cleric of Kaliel.

This time period went on for about 1,100 years, up until the year 1175 S.E. when the Trossian War began, lasting for 14 years and leading to the fall of the Trossian Empire and leaving the City of Tros in ruins. The war was a united effort on behalf of the city states of Esteria to rescue Psyche, the Oracle of Athos, from the hands of the Trossian king Diometres, who had used the power of a genie to spirit her away as a wife for his son, Iakopa. This union of cities led to the formation of the Boule of Esteria, a collection of individuals elected from each of the city states who helped bring down the Trossian Empire dedicated to creating a universal governing force for the land. It was on the back of this council that the united nation of Esteria was finally born, and it is this same council that rules the country today.
Thus, looking at Esteria today, it is a nation of democracy and progress, where innovation and thought are valued above all else and, for better or for worse, those with great intelligence are held in higher regard than those who lack it. The values of their predecessors still stand strong in the hearts of the nation's people, and the various city states that make up the nation function a semi-independent parts of the greater whole. This, however, is only the base narrative. No matter how bright Esteria may seem on the surface, beasts of terrible power still stalk the nation's mountains and fields, while the echoes of Tros have never fully disappeared. Esteria is a nation of heroism now and always, because without it, the nation would topple under the own forces of its bloody past.

Founding Date

1189 S.E. (10,883 O.C.)

Type

Geopolitical, Republic

Capital

Helio

Alternative Names

Republic of Esteria

Predecessor Organization

• Minios

Demonym

Esterian

Head of Government

Achilles of Litrea

Government System

Democracy, Representative

Power Structure

Federation

Deities

• Aamar, God of Trade, Travel, and Wealth
• Devira, Goddess of Family, Fertility, and the Harvest
• Erathis, Goddess of Civilization, Invention, and Law
• Faethinn, God of Sport
• Hemon, God of the Sun and Light
• Kaliel, Goddess of Magic and Knowledge
• Maknor, God of the Sea
• Navu, Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt
• Sorestyr, God of Heroes and Courage

Related Historical Events

• 2357 C.E.
  Heroic Age Begins
• 1,189 S.E.
  Unification of Esteria