Amersham
Overview
The province of Amersham lies in the Beresto Mountains of the Nation of Grouce. Surrounded by immense walls and guarded by the labyrinthian city of Hallbefeld, the seat of the nation’s power could not be in a more well defended spot. Its countryside is dotted with tall, spiraling towers and fortresses of the various mages that have made their home here. Once further into the province, the various spires and outposts of the mage college's begin to appear, each a beacon of ornate architecture and part of the magical apex of the nation. The coalescence of these mage colleges now makes up the royal capital city, after which the province was named: Amersham.
The Royal City of Amersham has been ruled over by the Farlight family since 2300 BU after Amersham’s first king, Glidal Farlight , and his army of mages killed the Archlich Olziq that had been ruling over the area since 8500 BU. After being crowned king for his heroic deeds, Glidal went on to begin the development of the Farlight Mage College. The construction of this college and the sheer amount of mages and researchers it drew eventually formed the city of Amersham.
After the War of Unification , Amersham was finally able to serve not only as the magical center of the known lands, but also as the newly formed Nation of Grouce’s capital. The Farlights and the Council of Masters keep a tight rule over their own province. This is accomplished through the utilization of a National Mage Registry and the Amersham Code of Mages. The National Mage Registry is a complete record of all legal casters of sufficient power residing in the Nation of Grouce, while the Amersham code of Mages is a strict and heavily enforced ruleset that all mages who make their home within the protective walls of Amersham must abide.
Recent developments have put the security of Amersham, and by extension the Nation of Grouce, at risk. With the deaths of both King Rizem Farlight and Queen Cen Farlight in 403 AU due to a bout of bloodfire, the lack of any known legitimate heirs to the throne threw Amersham into a succession crisis as the Council of Masters tried to find someone to continue the Farlight line.
History
Establishment
The region of Amersham had been ruled for millennia by the Lich King Olziq. While there were moments of reprieve, such as the introduction of a new religion that quickly spread through the land, the lives of the people under the tyrant were a grueling existence. The Archlich often abducted whole towns to perform his heinous experiments or to torture for his simple amusment. But the darkest times create the strongest men, and as the people clamored for hope, a light shone bright in the distance to guide them to freedom and prsoperity. Glidal Farlight and his closest allies defeated dark lord and set the land free so that all men would be able to see the light of hope that he championed.
The people of Amersham praised the man that saved them and begged him to lead them to a brighter future. While Glidal initially refused wanting to spend his time teaching and educating people in the ways of the arcane arts he had mastered, he was eventually persuaded to do both. Not only did the new king set up a flourishing government, but he established the Farlight Mage College to teach his citizens about the secrets of the universe.
Mastery of the Arcane
As time went on and the Farlights continued to reign as benevolent lords, they established several codes and organizations to manage the kingdom. It was the 17th king Farlight, Marion Farlight, who first created a council of elders and trusted advisors to help him run the province. The Council of Masters was established both as the headmasters of the college and the leaders of the nation. The council would advise the king in matters and served as both diplomats and generals of Amersham. Marion and the Council established the Amersham Code of Mages in order to increase stability in the region and give a guide for how the people should master their craft.
By entrusting his allies with governing, Marion was able to focus even more of his time mastering magic. After years of studying, Marion crested the final mountain on the climb to total knowledge. With his mastery came the title of Arch Mage, used to denote those who are once in a generational prodigees who bend the universe to their whims. With this master came a new period of prosperity and dominance from the nation. Under the leadership of the first Arch Mage, Amersham showed an air of superiority over all other peoples.
Unifying the People
As Amersham continued to become a beacon for potential in the world they began to pity the lesser advanced nations surrounding them. So in an act of generosity in coordination with Veircourt, Amersham launched a campaign to bring the nations of the region together to grow strong in Amersham's presence and help one another. While their was some resistance at first, Amersham, with the help of the wonderful people of the world, was able to bring all peoples together to overcome the futile resistance of Sherpmel. Wanting to ensure that all could grow, Amersham still allowed Sherpmel to become part of the great nation of Grouce where they would be able to eventually overcome their barbaric ways.
Years of Prosperity
The grace of Amersham and Grouce has been felt by the all those who have come to call the beautiful nation home. Amersham helped to give the orcs a place to call home and start lives for themselves. They repaid Veircourt's kindness helping them to amass even more wealth and enjoy an even more indulgent life of prosperity. They gave Sherpburg guidance and helped to open them to the rest of Grouce. Vinmur has become a hub for craftsman and art unrivaled in any land under the tutelage of Amersham. Romborn has expanded substantially. Even Sherpmel, the greatest enemies of Amersham, have become well tuned and peaceful citizens who are able to serve their nation and their people to their fullest.
While Sherpmel briefly resisted the formation of the new nation even after becoming part of it in a futile rebellion, the problem was quickly solved. That fit of obstinance was the first and last time any province acted out against their new rulers. The nation has continued to grow in strength since its creation and is currently the most powerful nation in the world at large.
Geography
Amersham sits in the Northwest of Grouce along the Beresto Mountains and bordering the Effinigan Ocean. Only one direct road into the main province exists, but this is guarded by the walled city of Hallbefeld. Most of province's residents live within the the Royal City of Amersham, but many of the researching mages reside in laboratories and towers scattered throughout the mountains.
Adjacent Provinces and Countries
Climate
The climate is warm, with long wet summers and brief winters. The mild winters and hospitable climate have afforded the province relatively little issues. The western border of the province is prone to occasional flooding caused by the tropical storms that travel up the country's coast.
The climate is cooler here then anywhere else in Grouce with variable weather all year around from its location in the mountains. This issue was brought up in 43 AU with a proposition to keep the weather at a slightly cloudy, 55 degree day via warding and druidic magics. This proposition was turned down, both by the current Council of Masters not being able to agree on a temperature as well as the council's inability to find a druid conclave willing to disrupt the weather in such a way. The debate that followed ended with the inclusion of rule 17.68 being added to the Amersham Code of Mages:
No one shall modify the weather of an area larger then five yards around them in any manner which may disrupt the bodies and minds of their colleges, unless all those in the next largest aforementioned area can agree on an exact weather condition to be set.
Major Cities
Amersham has two major cities: The Royal City of Amersham and Hallbefeld. There is also Erholung, a quieter city along the peninsula. Despite only having these three main cities, Amersham boasts both the second highest population and second highest population density of all of the provinces.
The gateway to the mountain bound province is The Walled City of Hallbefeld, the second largest city in all of Grouce, only behind Lomren in Veircourt. After the city's purpose was served in the War of Unification, the decendants of High Mage Zaubeneir have held onto the generous terms given to their ancestor to continuing ruling the city as they saw fit. Much to the chagrin of the rest of Grouce, the current ruling mage - Norfane Zaubeneir has kept the 10% gold tax on the Road of Gold for all non-Hallbefeld citizens under her pretense that it "stimulates the local economy". Because of this, most merchants that want to trade in and out of Amersham have either gone through the process of becoming a resident of the city or just have accepted that a boat from Veircourt is just the better way to do business.
The capital of both Amersham and all of Grouce is The Royal City of Amersham. The city is dominated by the Farlight Mage College, which serves as an immense reservoir of magical knowledge for its students as well as the seats of both the Council of Masters and the Royal Family. The city is made of grand, sweeping, magically constructed architecture, often formed by the commissions of increasingly competitive mages looking to one up each other. Once any mage from outside of Amersham is able to cast 3rd tier or higher magics, they must make a pilgrimage to the city in order to put their name in the Mage Registry.
The city of Erholung is a costal city residing on the northern most tip of the province. It is a popular tourist destination, both for its magically enhanced beaches and for visits to the magical history museum known as The Sanctum. Most visitors who come to place their names in the Mage Registry are encouraged to stop and experience the peaceful town.
Demographics
Amersham has little overall diversity amongst its peoples. The original settlers of the area were nearly completely made up of human and elven mages from across the Effinigan Ocean and they have remained the most prominent peoples in the province since. Despite humans making of the largest portion of the population (nearly 70%), Amersham boasts the highest Elven population of anywhere outside of the Forest of Rhofan at 15% of the total population.
Economic Capability
While each province is responsible for providing taxes for the capital's coffers, its own citizens are also responsible for a yearly income based tax. Outlined in the both in tax documents and in the Amersham Code of Mages, this income tax is subject to as many exceptions as there are rules and many groups of the mages in the colleges write off anything they make as going back into research or tuition. There is also a fee that all are subject to when they place their name into the mages registry to fund the divining magics which power it of 500 Gold due at signing.
Amersham exports magical theory and academic advancements all across Grouce as well as across the ocean. In times of need, Amersham has also exported its highly trained mages as soldiers. The province imports food, construction materials, and magical components.
Culture
Every aspect of the culture of Amersham roots back to advancing their magic prowess and understanding of the weave. Despite nearly every citizen in Amersham being able to at least use basic magics, there are two separate cultural classes: those who use magic in a practical sense and those who use magic in a scholastic sense. While both groups value the importance of the other, the traditions of the province push towards the perfection of your magical craft. Because of this, most people in Amersham will only interact with people of a similar discipline on a day-to-day occurrence.
Literature, Philosophy, and Visual Art
While literature in Amersham is often relegated to dry and unending research papers on arbitrarily specific magical theory, some of the most important magical theses ever written have emerged from the Farlight college. In a similar vein, Hallbefeld's free knowledge policy has lead to the city collecting an immense library of knowledge across all fields of study and history from both on and off the material plane.
Despite the Servants of Heiliger being brought over by the original peoples who landed in what would become Amersham, the direct practice of the religion inside of Amersham has been slowly diminishing. While most citizens will still occasionally pray or pay tribute to the various gods, finding someone who is truly devoted is becoming more rare as the citizens of Amersham spend their time pursuing more personal paths of philosophical fulfillment.
Amersham's visual art is most prominently displayed in its awe inspiring architecture. From the soaring heights of Hallbefeld's upper districts to the immense geometric granite and marble buildings that make up the Royal City, magic has helped augment what a normal laborer would be able to accomplish twelvefold. The various schools residing in the Royal City, traditionally have put large sums of money towards the restructuring and improvement of the city around where their section of the Farlight College is located.
Food
All the food in Amersham has a distinct purpose kept in mind when it is being created, from the hyper calorically dense Magus Loaf that some scholars have bragged sustained them for decades of intense study, to the chefs creating legendary delicacies out of ingredients of the stars. These innovations in food sciences has lead to Amersham's chefs being called to all corners of Grouce and even to countries beyond the Effinigan Ocean.
Sports
While not classified as a sport by those who participate in it (rather "an educational exercise"), Research Duels are popular amongst the students of the Farlight Mage College. In a similar vein of not technically being a sport, the spinning of the Grand Fate in Hallbefeld often attracts an immense crowd to watch the law be carried out, even if only citizens of Hallbefeld can influence the wheel.
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