SC23 Prep: Theme 1 - Power
This article is a part of the Summer Camp 2023 Prep series.
Which are the powerful organizations within your world setting? Who are the powerful individuals? What kinds of power do they wield and what are their weaknesses and needs?
Vath'azen (Military/Strategic)
The battle for our independence has long since passed. Now begins the war for our identity.
Even though numerous Kynekin factions have chosen different paths, sixty-one years after the Signing of the Thee'nor Accord the fierce nationalism found amongst the residents of the Kingdom of Vath'azen, combined with its sheer geographical size, and population still places them atop the list of most powerful nations in Gokrenxia. Vath'azen boasts the largest organized military, ample natural resources, a plethora of land- and sea-based trade routes, and exceptional strategic positioning. Recent events have highlighted how the fledgling nation suffers from a lack of vision around what it desires to become. Vath'azen desperately needs vastly improved alliances and diplomatic relations with surrounding Kingdoms to solidify its place and ensure long-term stability.
The Elven Kingdoms (Arcane)
Foolish pup, you cannot buy the wisdom of ages with blood and blade.
The once authoritarian rule of the Elves may have been shattered and their lands largely carved into a myriad of patchwork Kingdoms with squabbling Lords, but no military might could hope to obtain the coveted secrets of the magical arts borne from a millenium of careful study, experimentation, and practical application. The Kynekin may have taken the library at Stoverj (a fact which the Elves find wholly offensive), but to translate that knowledge into true power without proper instruction is a difficult and dangerous game. For now, the Elves' greatest remaining leverage is their command of the magical forces of the realm.
As Amari Wa'la's armies of Kynekin marched Eastward across Gokrenxia during the Great War, a tidal wave of Elven refugees flooded North and East, all the way to the coastal regions. Now, the surviving Elven lands are horribly overpopulated and woefully underresourced to support them. The once bright towers of the Elven cities now cast deep shadows over the impoverished masses and the Elves begin to taste firsthand what Kynekin life must have been like in servitude throughout the First Age.
The Stormbreak Dwarves (Industrial/Influential)
Do not confuse the length of my arm with the breadth of my reach...
Capitalizing on the natural obstacles to travel created by the far-stretching Stormbreak Mountains, the great Houses of the Dwarves collectively monitor, track, license, tax, and otherwise maintain a stranglehold over the land-based movement of goods, people, and services across Eastern Gokrenxia. This has left them very wealthy and well supplied, but lacking in friends and allies.
Problems on the home front continue to hold the Houses back from achieving their former greatness. Since the fall of Kurzniert, the Dwarven capital and Northernmost stronghold has been under a combined Mahnkii/Vyrian occupation force. Worse still, that tragic event left the Houses without a definitive ruler leading to ceaseless bickering and infighting.
Problems on the home front continue to hold the Houses back from achieving their former greatness. Since the fall of Kurzniert, the Dwarven capital and Northernmost stronghold has been under a combined Mahnkii/Vyrian occupation force. Worse still, that tragic event left the Houses without a definitive ruler leading to ceaseless bickering and infighting.
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