Kingdom of Salandi

Salandi resides just north of the Katawani Desert, with a range of mountains acting as a shield between them. Legend has it that those who lived here were visited by a powerful creature who bestowed the knowledge of magic to them. The use of magic persisted in the area even though it was lost to the rest of the continent after the cataclysms. This allowed the formation of the Celestine Assembly, a powerful group of mages that ruled over the area and studied magic zealously. However, the War of the Warlocks has caused great destabilization. Though the assembly still technically rules, they are under the watchful eye of their conquerors, the Almaridian Empire. The once prosperous land has unfortunately begun to fall apart, many of its mages fleeing to nearby nations.

History

Post-Cataclysm

The region of Salandi was poor and mostly left alone to its own devices after the First Cataclysm. Its people were merely interested in surviving during the dark first years of the Post-Cataclysm Era. Settlements were tribal in nature, sticking to their own borders, relying on themselves and their families for their needs and occasionally trading with other settlements. One day, an exploring band of travelers came upon a cave in the side of a cliff and went into investigate. Upon entering, they found a sphinx that had been secluded for some time. Not reacting to their presence, the travelers fled from it and began to talk about what to do. Some of them wished to try and attack it, believing it a threat, while others thought it a beautiful creature worthy of their reverence. The two groups debated hotly, until finally the former decided to simply depart to slay the beast. However, one member of the former group went to warn it, telling it of the plan the others had to kill it. Though the creature had no trouble foreseeing this on its own, it thanked the one who had tried to warn it by blessing them with some power, and used magic to bring rain to its people's land. The land of the area would become known as the Kingdom of Salandi, and the rain brought to them would slowly cause the desert to recede back to the Badland Gates.

As the years moved on, the Kingdom of Salandi would ally with the surrounding regions, who would also benefit from the supposed rain created by their guardian, known as Adephine. A local cult sprang up for a time, who worshiped Adephine, being granted power directly by her. By 1601 P.C., what is known today as the Kingdom of Salandi had been officially united from the former tribes and lesser kingdoms of the area. The fertile grasslands allowed the formation of larger cities, better agriculture, and a way for their civilization to thrive. During this time, there were more practitioners of the magical arts in Salandi than all other nations of Vadovass combined, excluding Tilliden. While there were warlocks who had served Adephine, sorcerer bloodlines were being traced back and sought after, with those hoping for their family to enjoy prestige and power willing to marry into these lines. Those who could afford it and had the aptitude joined the Keystone Academy in Starguard, one of the few schools for wizardry during this time, training the first wizards that had likely been in the region for over 1,600 years (though few students or instructors could cast even basic cantrips). Having the ability to use magic became more of a status symbol, and the nation began to fall into a state of chaos as some started to misuse their power. Crime syndicates composed entirely of magic users began to appear, becoming warlords, brigands and cult leaders. To bring everything back into order, the monarch of Salandi established a council known as the Celestine Assembly, composed primarily of the most experience and powerful practitioners of magic in the land. Their goal was to act as an administrative force to keep those who knew magic from abusing their powers, and making sure those who may have had less than noble intentions from getting them in the first place.

After the establishment of the Celestine Assembly in 1689 P.C., the nation slowly returned to a more stable state, and skill in magic generally increased as the regimen of the practice became greatly regulated. Though stable, the Celestine Assembly would continue to vie for more power, and would steadily be given more authority and control over the practice of magic in the country. Because magical power was a status symbol, the Assembly had great influence over the aristocracy and managed to use them politically to get even more power. This eventually resulted in the monarchy becoming more of a figurehead of social and diplomatic affairs, while the Celestine Assembly held much of the real authoritative power.

Age of Restoration

The return of magic was both exciting and worrying for Salandi. Its rulers were worried they would lose their monopoly over much of its knowledge but also eager to find and exploit new sources of magic. It was also shortly after the return of magic that Tilliden began to operate as a policing force for magic, working by themselves to regulate the spread of magic around Vadovass. Those in Salandi who wished to profit off the knowledge they had, found themselves losing money as regulations were politely enforced upon them. The monarchy saw it as a infringement upon their nation's sovereignty, while the Assembly saw the act as an insult to the competence of their own administrative ability. All were frustrated that nations further away from the watchful eye of Tilliden could get away with practicing and studying magic at a much greater pace than Salandi could. Many saw that Salandi would soon lose their niche in the world as a magic superpower if something was not done.

In 10 A.o.R., Salandi made an official alliance with the Holy Kingdom of Kildranos. In addition to being a military ally and having many of the same descendants, Kildranos' ambassador and leader of the state religion known as Malik managed to convince the Assembly that Tilliden was a threat to both of their nations, and the world at large. Afterwards, the Aestren Republic to the east of Salandi also joined their alliance as a way to practice magic safely, defying the orders of Tilliden. By 12 A.o.R., Salandi was studying, practicing, teaching, and developing new magic at an unprecedented rate while Tilliden continued to threaten that action would be taken. On the 1st of Ekeros, 14 A.o.R., the Dominion of Tilliden declared war against what was known as the Coalition of the Black Sun, which included Salandi, starting the War of the Warlocks. Salandi used their mages to decimate their enemies forces, and it wasn't until after their ally the Aestren Republic fell that they were put on the defensive. As the war began to turn to attrition, some of the mages of Salandi, including some former members of the Celestine Assembly, began to use new magical knowledge to develop powerful curses to give them an edge. However, as their enemies drew closer and many began to speculate their war as unjust, the kingdom surrendered to the Almaridian Empire on 4th of Brynholm, 18 A.o.R. The war would end soon after.

Since the war's end, the country has become ruled primarily as a satrap of the Almaridian Empire. The nation was mostly in disarray as the Celestine Assembly could not administer well enough to keep the country stable, being forced to help the Almaridian's in their search for magical power of their own. Many of the mages that once helped tend to cities and act as administrators fled to different countries seeking asylum for their actions as war criminals. Many of those that remained behind either were sentenced to death, with the only course for reconciliation being to help their new rulers, or forced to travel to the heartland of the Almaridian Empire to serve the same goal.

Social

The government of Salandi put great emphasis on education and culture, resulting in many of the citizens being able to read and write multiple languages. At their height, the kingdom was home to the most advanced academy for the study of magic and several colleges and schools for different trades and studies, including bards, cartographers, historians, philosophers, alchemists, astronomers, astrologers, and of course mages. Being highly educated is a mark of great pride for many of the upper class, with nearly every member of the government possessing some kind of diploma. Many nobles and people of the higher class had magical items or even the ability to use magic as a sign of status, with many paying great sums to come into possession of even minor items in order to gain a social boost. Competitions between magic users were fairly common, being held in different areas several times a year.

The kingdom quickly changed from a mode of thriving to that of survival once they lost the war. Though they had surrendered, they had still fought for 4 years, killing thousands of soldiers of the Almaridian Empire and New Elven Union. The Almaridians forced massive payments in reparations, which the country simply could not afford. In response, the Almaridian Empire decided they had no other choice than to occupy the nation, confiscate all magical items held by the nobility, and wait until the Celestine Assembly and the monarchy could afford to pay the remaining sum. While the lower class has not been too harshly affected aside from the increase in banditry, many of middle and higher classes have become poorer and lost the ability to sustain themselves.

Political

The Celestine Assembly controls all affairs of magic, military, and most domestic administrative issues while the aristocracy below them works on the government of local areas. Meanwhile, the monarchy acts as ambassadors and foreign officials, working as representatives of the nation. Since the occupation of Salandi, many of these groups lost at least some of their power, with it being handed over to General Sigfried Voller, the Satrap of the area. Nearly any major decision must first go through the general. This includes matters of state and even policing of the nation. Occasionally, more power is requisitioned and forced to be surrendered to the general. While this is upsetting to the nation's leaders, there is little they can do.

Economic

The state of near lawlessness in some areas of Salandi due to a lack of guards has resulted in the economy nearly collapsing. Trade has slowed on the outskirts of the nation, and only moves in cities where the Almaridian Guards patrol. Even when money does flow, it eventually finds its way into the hands of the Almaridians, where it is taken back to their homeland and kept from returning to Salandi. This even includes raw materials and crafted goods, which are sometimes demanded by the occupying force to be sent back to the empire. Salandi has been slowly bled dry, with only some trades going unaffected. While some mages still offer their services, many of these are also demanded by the Almaridians for serious discounts or simply for free, with their lives being on the line should they refuse.

Religious

Before their alliance with Kildranos, the region was mostly composed of those who worshiped the Wizgaran Pantheon. Afterwards however the region quickly became devout members of the Children of the Black Sun. Over the course of the eight years of the war, worship of the Wizgaran gods nearly vanished, only being held out in specific locations. However, once the nation surrendered, a term demanded by Tilliden was that the worship of all Shrouds be outlawed completely. Though unpopular, the Assembly had no other choice but to accept. Since then, most of the people have slowly reverted back to the Wizgaran Pantheon, the time they spent worshiping the god of the Black Sun, Monolith, mostly remaining a bad memory at most. Occasionally though, someone is revealed to still be worshipping Monolith. Their fate is imprisonment or death.

The Cult of Adephine is still alive, if not less popular than it once was. Many believe Adephine to have been or currently be a servant of Darmena, who was known to have Sphinxes that gathered knowledge and possessed magical power in the material plane in ancient times. The cult is now relatively secret and selective about who they present themselves to, but many still worship Adephine as her own separate deity.

Military

Though the kingdom had the mightiest battle mages during the War of the Warlocks, their military is now a shadow of its former self. Since they are under occupation, only small guard forces are allowed to exist, and even these are closely regulated. Salandian guards are only even to patrol in groups up to a certain size, and only a limited number of guards can be in one city at once. Furthermore, none of the guards can posses magical abilities or venture out more than ten miles from where they are based. This results in many settlements unable to be properly patrolled and watched over, making lawlessness and banditry an increasing problem. While the Almaridian Empire has a strong military presence, they only help occasionally, as they are there to occupy, not enforce. While mercenaries are used to substitute guards, few have the money to hire experienced mercenaries for long stretches of time to act as guards. Most areas are left to fend for themselves by organizing militias. Unfortunately even militia sizes are restricted, as to keep armed revolts from forming.

Foreign Relations

Salandi is surrounded on nearly all sides by former enemies. While they are not hated, they are mistrusted. The mages that worked to create curses to fight their enemies has awared the entire nation a bad reputation, and many believe the upper class to be pure evil. However, some nations have offered amnesty to those mages who are considered war criminals by their former enemies, hoping to gain their magical knowledge. In current times, few deal with Salandi directly, but instead do so through the ruling general. Many already consider Salandi a province of the Almaridian Empire, believing it only a matter of time before the kingdom asks to become a vassal themselves, or have vassalage forced upon them.

Magic

The magical advancement known to the Salandians was second to none in Vadovass. Home to thousands of magic users, it was perhaps the only place in all of Galledall where magic could have been called common. Since the end of the war their numbers have dwindled as many magic users lie dead, in hiding, or forced to help their occupiers learn magic. Some have been employed as craftsmen of magical items, while others are teachers or instructors. Many of the most famous wizards and sorcerers that reside all across Vadovass were trained at the Keystone Academy in Starguard before the war. The most famous magic user from the area is the former headmistress of the academy, Didact Melvia, who was a talented spell crafter, and is attributed to being the maker of the first curses used by Salandi in the War of the Warlocks.

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom