Heart of an Empire

I do have to admit that Antium is quite the fascinating region. The beating heart of a people, home to countless warriors and traders and mages and artists. Even the air and water seem to ripple with some strange energy.
— Darius Kaseidis - Emissary of the Arcane Hierarchy

I, Darius Kaseidis, disciple of the Kugiren Temple, Master of the Arcane Arts and Envoy of the Arcane Hierarchy hereby swear upon my name and honour, to be truthful and dedicated in the fufilment of this mission. I will complete an accurate report on the lands of the Ikaran Empire in all its facettes. Well aware of the disdain the Empire still holds for the Hierarchy, I will do my utmost to prevent any further escalation. Any additional information or comments will be added in special runes. Simply push a tiny amount of Mana into them and the letters will change. Now then, away from the boring stuff and toward the lands of the east. - Into to "Heart of an Empire - A Report on the Lands of the Ikaran Empire" written by Darius Kaseidis -

Remnant of a Cataclysm

by Ferdinand Ladera

Coming from across the Thenian Sea, the first thing one will notice of Antium is the large chain of mountains that surround it. Skypiercing peaks made from dark grey stone, reddish tinted lines glowing all over them whenever the sun's rays hit them in the right angle. The Ikarans call them Jaws of Larian and I cannot fault them for it. These mountains are not pleasant to look at. Jagged, cut and broken, many different types of stone reaching across their barren flanks like ancient battle scars. Their peaks are bend unnaturally, turning inward like the teeth of some primordial beast. The mountains and what they enclose are remnants of an ancient cataclysm. A star, at least that is what the legends say, slammed into the earth and annihilated the primordial world. Traveling toward these barren, unfriendly mountains, I can clearly see why this place is said to be born of suffering.

Through Eternity Gate

by Reuben Lane

A sight equally as imposing and far more impressive begins to emerge once you find yourself about an hour from the city of Antium. Rising from the ocean itself is a titanic wall, several kilometers long and over a hundred meters high. Anchored in the Jaws of Larian, this structure fills the space between two barren peaks and at its core is a cyclopean gate. This is the result of over seven centuries of ceaseless work. A fortress that can withstand even the greatest of magic assaults. This is Eternity Gate, its very name a challenge against time itself. Behind this very gate begins the dual city of Antium. A metropolis sprawling to both sides of a shallow channel, large peers and docks carved into the channel's sides. From there the city expands in what can only be described as orderly chaos. Planned street grids fuse with randomly errected slums, temples and marketplaces. Houses are build on top, in and under one another. Sun lit avenues mix with shadowy alleys, calm side streets, canals and stinking sewers. It is a mosaic of colour, sound and life. From atop their palace, built into the peak of an artificial mountain, the rulers of this city watch over a million people and one of the largest nations under the sky. This hive of activity is surrounded on all sides by walls. The Jaws of Larian themselves have been turned into a fortress with one, the so called Hollow Mountain being the headquarters of the Imperial Battlemages.

Toward Eastern Shore

The channel leads quite literally through the city and through another, smaller gate into the Antian Sea. It is what remains of the impact crater. A small ocean teaming with life. If a human where to circumvent it on foot, they'd need about two days of ceaseless walking. The edges of the sea are sharp cliffs that rise up to ten meters above the water. A myriad of small villages, noble residences and military outposts dot these cliffs with some having been carved into the stone. Of far greater importance are the eight large cities that form a ring between the sea and the surrounding mountains. One of these, the city of Rhomeia, is the goal of anyone wishing to travel east, as the main road into the hinterland begins there.

A Place of Evil

South of Rhomeia begins a range of mountains that noone wishes to speak about, at least not openly. Their peaks are always cast in shadow and rumour claims that a strange purple glow emerges from within their jumbled, twisted depths. Trees growing on their flanks do not seem healthy and no birds ever sing within their sickly, rotten crowns. After spending some time within the foothills of these mountains, I can safely agree with the name the Ikarans chose for this region, Heinous Peaks indeed.

Unnatural City

West of the mountains, deep within the rotten woods, there is a stretch of utterly barren land. At the center of this dead stretch lies a dead city. Build completely from black stone it lies there like a dark hole which will, even on the brightest of days, devour the light around it. The Ikarans state that it was already there when they came to Antium and the script found carved into the black stone is unlike any I have ever seen before. Life hates this place and any Ikaran attempt to explore or settle it has ended in desaster.

Sane people avoid this region and follow the great road east through friendlier territory. At the point where the mountains give way to the extensive plains of the east, the Ikarans have constructed a massive fortress. The Iron Gate as it is known, is one of many citadels the Ikarans have build to protect the gaps within the mountainrange.

Outer Lands

by Chris Cold

Beyond the Iron Gate, the plains of the Galean Reach stretch as far as the horizon. Hills, probably the furthest reaches of the caldera, can be found here and there, rising from the grassland like the pimples on a young boys face. The Reach is the breadbasket of the empire and nearly every spot of land is used to grow almost any plant that will thrive in this climate. Wheat, potatoes, corn and many many more, they all cover the earth and when viewed from the air form a mosaic of colour. Villages and farm houses are a normal sight, as are the so called Seedtowers. Special buildings, they seem to be at the centerpoints of an extensive canal network. This colourful monotony is only broken by the paved roads of the Ikarans. Trees are a rarity here. One would need to travel south toward the Woodlands of Geshin or north into the Antonine Hills to see anything other than crops... Finishing my thoughts, I cannot say that Antium and its surroundings are the most beautiful place I ever laid eyes upon. The mere existence of the Heinous Peaks makes that an impossibility. Nevertheless, the region does have its charms. There is a sense of ancientness about these lands. Something feels decidedly different here than in Hemea and I am unable to pinpoint as to why. Separating myself from these musings I will finish by saying that the Council should make attempts to better the relations with the Empire. This land would be a nice place for young mages to visit and study in, opportunities for trade abound. The climate is mild and the landscape intriguing, not to mention the beauty of its women. There is no doubt that nature and man alike took great care to craft this place.

Alternative Name(s)

Antium
Antian Caldera
Eternal Tomb

Location under

Western Aramea

by Antony Carlyon

Divine Punishment The origin for the name Jaws of Larian leads to a rather interesting myth. According to the Ikaran priests, the god Larian tried to put himself above the other gods, especially Coeran, Lord of Heaven and chief god of the pantheon. To do this he sought to devour the sun, the symbol of Hidara, Ikaran creator goddess and wife of Coeran. He failed obviously and as punishment was sealed into the earth. Chains of divine metal keep his jaws open and force his head to look directly upward. Over the millennia, his mouth became filled with earth and then stone and his teeth, dirtied and torn by the elements, became the mountains around Antium. Tribes of Ikara When the Ikaran people came to this land, over 900 years ago if I am not mistaken, they did so as a loose alliance of eleven tribes. After driving the natives away, these tribes split off and founded eleven cities. Nine of these were built within the confines of the caldera and are connected via a great road that hugs the cliffs of the Antian Sea. At the northern edge of the caldera, it cuts through a mountain five kilometres thick. The tunnel is built using magic and holds without the beams usually found in similar works.

A star carved its tomb into the earth and from it, Ikara carved itself a throne.
— Unknown

by Enrique Murguia

Memories of Violence West of the Jaws is the greatest remnant of the area's previous rulers. Ikaran history speaks of a great nation south of Antium, a mighty empire lead by a man whose blood was mercury and who had mastery over metal of any kind. These people, the accounts call them Kin, tried several times to destroy the Ikarans are one of the reasons why they fortified all entrances to the caldera with thirty-meter tall walls and citadels. The tomb is protected by a strong set of runes. The Empire has forbidden any attempts at opening it. Tombs and other buildings can be found everywhere around Antium. While most pre-Ikaran structures were destroyed or used as building material, a few survived and have become lost under the earth. Exploration of these is a privilege of the Battlemages and the punishment for disobedience draconian.

by Enrique Murguia

An Empty Mountain Not much is known or to be learned about this place. Rumour says that it was already empty, completely devoid of any material beyond an outer shell when the Ikarans arrived. Today, it houses the school, laboratories and quarters of the Ikaran Battlemages and is shielded by so many runes that even glancing in its direction sets my senses off. A shame, I have to agree, as the Ikaran way of Magic is utterly different from our own and to study and discuss it would truly be a dream come true for anyone wishing to call themselves a student of the Arcane Arts.