Prakaethion
The 7th day of Warmwind, 2405th year of the Modern Era
People
The History of Prakaethion so far
On the continent now known as Aegrora, a great empire comprised mainly of Gnomes and Elves once flourished, where magical prowess was viewed as the ultimate sign of worth. As such they began a campaign of conquest of the world, using great spells, summonings and constructs to push out their borders and make good on their promise to bring their superior magical might to unite the world under their banner. When other groups banded together and developed new means of countering and dispelling magic, however their armies began to falter and they were pushed back. From their final stronghold deep in the Anvil mountians, they cast their most powerful and desperate spell, now known only as the End Spell. While the details are unclear, the spell killed nearly all life on the planet, including those who cast it.
On Aegrora, long ago, there was a noble and just society that claimed to be under the direct guidance of the gods of all that is good and lawful. They created many massive temples and churches as well as divine artifacts, including arms and armor for their holy guards and elite paladins. When a cult in another part of the world brought the evil god Zarrocke to the material world, they countered with their rituals of prayer, beseeching the gods of good for aid against these incomprehensible forces. The gods responded, sending armies of angels and other agents in force to reckon with the dark god. While they were successful in repelling the danger, the collateral damage from the global battle sent the kingdom (and the rest of the world) back to the stone age.
Current Species & Cultures
The Divine Empire of Larostria is a theocratic monarchy that holds up a trinity of gods as supreme, and all other gods are either sanctioned (and allowed to be worshiped of have temples) or banned. Larostria has a strong contingent of knights and does a passable job of enforcing law and order, mainly by establishing and regulating groups of guards in each settlement, but they are also driven to control more lands and peoples, which they see as their divine responsibility. While most of the banned religions are objectively evil or harmful, some merely offer opposing views or philosophies that challenge the monarchs.
Dorai Oln is a massive forest controlled by a primarily elven nation. They are an aristocratic society with many noble houses. In theory any family who contributes enough to the community in one way or another can become a noble family, but it requires more political maneuvering in practice. The people of Dorai Oln are much less densely concentrated, preferring to live in a series of smaller villages hidden in the trees, but there are a few larger towns and cities.
The Eastern Federation is a group of loosely connected city-states that are bonded through very few agreements. They will come to one another's mutual aid in a defensive war (primarily against Larostria), they will extradite criminals for major crimes, and they have a very basic standard of law to be a member city-state. Each member city can send two representatives to their council meetings. Beyond this, there is little that binds these cities together, and some suggest that if Larost were not such a threat, there would be no federation to begin with.
Lina Blanc is a relatively idyllic coastal nation. They are small but well defended as their surplus of natural resources has allowed them to have a large standing military, which is more accustomed to dealing with the monstrous threats from the mountains and oceans that surround them.
Tsok Sha is a desert nation primarily populated by scalykind (Dragonborn, Lizardfolk, kobolds.) They have become expert traders and are in good relations with nearly every nation they are in contact with.
The Anvil Kingdom is a primarily Dwarven nation in the mountains. Because of their discovery of the nature of the End Spell Calamity, they have taken a very pacifistic stance and a role of mediator with the other nations. In particular, they want to stop the war between Larost and the Eastern Kingdoms. They are in a particularly complicated diplomatic relationship with Tsok Sha, because while they appreciate that Tsok Sha helps to connect the two warring nations, they also know that Tsok Sha encourages the conflict so they can act as a trade intermediary.
Needs & Relations
Larost
They desire all nations to worship as they do. They need more military power to adequately defend from natural/supernatural threats, and they need more infrastructure to connect their nation, which they could get from the Anvil and Tsok Sha. They view Dorai Oln as their next target, but want to deal with the more pressing "threat" of the Eastern Kingdoms first and not split their forces further. They view most other nations with a slight condescension, either as pity or derision, depending on the gods they worship and allow.
Eastern Kingdoms
Easter Kingdoms need a reason to stay unified, or they will crumble. Only the outside pressure of the war with Larost is sufficient to keep them from fighting internally. While the wealth from their increased trade potential has been helpful, several of the stronger members desire all of this power for themselves. They trade with Tsok Sha to receive metals and stone (from the dwarves) that they otherwise struggle to obtain enough of. While viewpoints are widely varied from city-state to city-state, in general they are more concerned with internal politics and view outsiders as non-threatening but also not worthy of concern.
Lina Blanc
Depends heavily on trade and thus patrols the land and sea of the southern subcontinent to allow traders to move more freely and to keep their military busy. They are able to export exotic fruits and seafood, as well as mercenaries. They defend their resources bitterly, and while they welcome visitors and immigrants, they view other nations (other than Tsok Sha) with heavy suspicion.
The Anvil
The dwarves of the anvil are just trying to keep the other nations from all out war. They view Larost and the Eastern Kingdoms as particularly dangerous. As keepers of both the best mineral and metal veins, and also advance smithing and crafting techniques, they try to use these as points of leverage to keep other nations from going to war. They also see it as their role to focus Lina Blanc's attention on keeping their own lands safe. They get along very well with Dorai Oln, who they see as being the only force they don't need to worry about.
Dorai Oln
Dorai Oln primarily wants to be left alone. They view the Eastern Kingdoms as petty, but understand the need to defend from Larost, and so support them in what ways they can without being caught. They view Larost as a dangerous tyranny that would rip all of their traditions from them if they were allowed. They are grateful to Tsok Sha for connecting them to the other nations, and allowing them to export their high quality wood and medicinal herbs while importing spices, fruits, grains and refined metals. They appreciate Lina Blanc keeping to itself, but are glad to not be their neighbors either. They welcome ideas and visitors from other nations but view them as potentially disruptive to their current way of life.