Ryvallen Confederacy

Description

The Ryvallen Confederacy is a rising power located along the southwestern coast of the Eastern Steppes. It is comprised of five large and well-fortified cities, with farmland and smaller villages sprawling around the cities. One unique feature of the confederacy is that necromancy is perfectly legal, encouraged even. This has provided the confederacy with a tireless labor force, ample military force and plenty of subjects for arcane research.

Social Order

The confederacy is a strict magocracy where magical aptitude determines influence and position. Necromantic capabilities especially are considered important due to the versatility it has and how it compensates for the small population of the confederacy. Someone with sufficient magical talent can be promoted in rank if they are backed by at least two individuals that are at least two ranks above them.

The one exception being the Viziers who are appointed by the Archons of their city upon recommendation of an existing Vizier, and the Archons themselves who are elected from among the Viziers, by the Viziers. Those without magical talents can still rise to the rank of a Commissar or Knight by proving their usefulness to one of the Nobles of the confederacy. Especially inventive and opportunistic merchants can rise to the rank of Burgher which provides exclusive trade benefits with the nobility of the cities.
The highest ranks of the nobility are even allowed their own personal floating island within the city. Travel to these islands is strictly regulated through use of Teleportation Circles. The highest rank within the confederacy is that of Archon, of which each city has only two at any one time. The Archons are ultimately responsible for law and structure within the city and each has a spot on the Elder Council which maintains the alliance between the cities of the confederacy.

Immortality as a Status Symbol

In a place of magic and necromancy, it is no surprise that some would seek out immortality. Those who are capable of casting the spell usually have a few clones stored, but the very apex of immortality is considered to be lichdom. It is a symbol of status and the paths to lichdom are closely guarded by the Archons who are the only ones allowed to ascend to it. When they do they also sew their mouths shut and often only communicate through telepathic means to their attendants or Viziers to show the difference in status between them and everyone else. When they do speak (to cast a spell for example), they magically project their voices which sounds to others like an omnipresent whispering coming from all sides.
The other major form of intelligent undeath, vampirism, is not treated with nearly the same amount of reverence. In fact, it is reviled. Within the confederacy it is considered the most base form of undeath for its dependence on the living and they are viewed as lesser than regular humans and on the same level as slaves or mindless undead. No more than beggars or addicts, they are truly the lowest of the low and it is extremely rare to find one in the confederacy unless it is as a slave.

Politics

Each city within the confederacy is ruled by the local magic users through a form of magocracy. These mages constantly compete with their fellows for a higher position within the confederacy, to the point of ignoring anything going on outside of their cities. However to advance, one requires support from those of a higher rank than themselves. This has lead to plenty of nepotism and hurt pride, resulting in a system rife with petty grudges and intrigue.
Each city has its own legislative body called the Ordonae that enforces and introduces law within the city. However the Archons and the Elder Council are responsible for the general direction of law within the confederacy, leading to a certain homogeneity of law within its confederate states. One's rank within the Ordonae corresponds to one's title within the confederacy.

Culture

(See also Ryvallites.)
Magic is part of the everyday life within the confederacy. Their sprawling cities are filled to the brim with laboratories, enormous wizard's towers and plenty of alchemical and magical shops. To fit in all of this their cities are built very tall, quite literally. Buildings are stacked on top of each other and there are large towers everywhere. Thus one of the main ways of transport within the cities is the use of levitating dirigibles or (more rarely) flying carpets.
The confederacy has traditionally always focused on obtaining arcane knowledge above all else. Recently however there has been a change in the direction of the confederacy's policies. Seeing the success that other nations such as the Magvar Empire have had with their technological advancements, the Elder Council has decided to jump in on this new area as well. Using their large undead labor force, the confederacy has boosted their industry significantly over a short period of time, although they haven't necessarily caught up yet.

Soul-Constructs

One major advantage they have though, is their knowledge of magic and all matters arcane. Using this, they have developed powerful machinery that are a mixture of simple technology and advanced magic. Especially their necromantic expertise has proven useful, as they have discovered a version of soul-manipulating magic to create responsive automatons. By investing a quartz orb with sufficient souls and placing this within a clockwork automaton, they can attain a basic form of intelligence. These automatons can follow commands and are completely subservient to those who know the keyword that was used during their creation. One advantage they have over undead or golems is that they are able to process situations in a basic manner and act accordingly to most efficiently pursue their objective. This is a very recent advancement however and the invested intelligence is rather basic as it stands, but the confederacy is hoping to drastically improve this in the future. Currently they are trying to figure out new ways to combine these invested automatons with their undead creations to elevate their capabilities.

Bio-Thaumaturgy

Another topic they have started investing in recently (or rather re-starting as they tried it in the past as well), is bio-thaumaturgy. This is a form of magic that builds on principles of healing magic and concerns itself with reshaping, modifying and repairing living creatures. It is in many ways similar to surgery, with a greater level of ease in shaping flesh. Their main goal is to use it to create stronger laborers and soldiers, but they have also tried investing properties such as water-breathing via gills for infiltration purposes. As they have only recently re-started the projects, it is still in its infancy and the subjects are frequently unstable or die during the procedure. Of course that is often no issue for the Ryvallites who are fine with simply re-animating their deceased projects so they can still fulfill a role within their society. This has led to undead abominations that make fearsome guards on strongman laborers. For more refined purposes they do need something with the intelligence of a living being (or at least higher grade undead) however, so their research continues and they are working tirelessly to improve their methods.

Military

The confederacy has only a small population to draft soldiers from and regardless, the military has never been much of a priority for them anyway. Between their tall walls and magical wards, they are more than safe from any would-be raiders. However in an ever-changing world this peace may not last forever. Luckily for the confederacy, their enormous undead labor force can also double as a military force if needed. Beyond this, they also have made many undead monstrosities that turned out to be unfit for any other tasks that now purely function as a useful addition to the law enforcement units who are given command of these creatures.
Of course, the undead require mages to control and lead these legions. This is a task generally assigned to the Noble and Cardinal Mages. There is also a human component in the military and law enforcement for those tasks where intelligence is required, such as scouting, intelligence gathering or manning siege equipment. These human soldiers are often empowered with new magical technology such as shock gauntlets, stealth cloaks or fire lances.

Structure

-Nobles/Laton-
Archon
Vizier
Archmage
Cardinal Mage
Noble Mage
-Commoners/Urdon-
Knight
Commissar
Burgher
Commoner/no title

Waste no resource in the pursuit of knowledge.

Type

Political, Confederation

Demonym

Ryvallites/Ryvallen