Ishlan
the land of gods and magic, Ishlan is home to the Aasimar and the reverent of all gods and deities, filled with towering castles and beautiful architecture that forms colossal cities and fortresses of the nation. it is a land of many temples churches and worshipers. in Ishlan one can expect to find places to worship all gods that have not been censored by the Knight orders and the Imperium millennia before hand. it is called the land of one thousand temples and has been home to many crusades and violence in the name of gods, it is lead by a council of priests and acolytes of the different deities that fill the pantheon of the North. currently they are lead by the Will Gadrian Lorel and her council of priests that look towards the prosperous nation of Nordica next door, for vengeance and profit.
Structure
the country of Ishlan is lead by a council of priests headed by a pope like figure called "The Will" who is chosen by a specific god to speak for them. every time a will dies another is chosen from the champions of the gods, it does not matter which god it is only that the individual is chosen to be their champion. it is a religious society that runs on the peoples faith in the gods and by extension their high priests and esteemed followers in the society. in terms of decisions made the council, the priests each voice their gods concerns and wants for the city. then the will will decide which requests are worth listening to and following up with, and money and effort will be directed to these specific tasks. the word and conclusion of the council is enforced by the Chaplains who look after the individual cities, these chaplains are in charge of ensuring that the will of the council is carried out through the cities. they are also responsible for the administration of each city's religious actions and the powers of the individual temples. the chaplains have direct control over the guard force as well, essentially having control of the religious and military aspects of the different Ishlan cities. the fact that they are in control of so much means that many times the Council will have to cater to the needs of the many different chaplains and their cities since it would be a big problem if a dissatisfied chaplain turned their city against the main council and the Will. below the Chaplains are the Deens, they control the wealth that flows into and out of the cities, they are also responsible for the maintenance of the infrastructure in the cities and towns such as sewers and roads. then the individual priest and temple staff will report to the Deens with their profits and their problems within the city. if the problems are beyond the Deen's preview they will be reported to the Chaplains and then to the Council for further evaluation.
- the Will: a being chosen by gods to do their work in the world and actually able to communicate with the diety that has chosen them to be a vessel for their will in the world. as such they have the final say on any issues that the council deliberates on.
- the Council: a group of the different temples most holy and esteemed priests that serve from the capital's larger temples to the gods. they ensure the voices of their faith are heard in the deliberations of the council when they decide on the actions of the nation.
- Chaplains: chaplains control individual cities acting as pseudo mayors who control the guard force and the churches based in the city. they ensure that news and concerns from their city reach the ears of the council
- Deens: the treasurers and administrators of the cities that make sure that the infrastructure of the cities keeps working, they report directly to the chaplains of the different necessities and needs of the city for every month.
- the commune: people who run individual temples and churches that monitor the society and the general well being of the city. they also compile reports for the deens to review for their monthly reports.
Public Agenda
the goal of Ishlan is to maintain the faith of the old world. they practice and attempt to spread their devotion to religion to different regions in the Northerlands. they also have a particular hatred for greenskins (Orcs, Goblins, Hobgablins, and any creature that shares their blood) they seek to eventually start a crusade to wipe the greenskins from the Northerlands entirely. this coupled with their extreme religious devotion puts them on the watch lists of the Grey Watch and their neighbors especially Nordica which is comprised of orcs and goblins. they want to bring the religions of the old gods back to the world to spread them among the people and convince them to start the holy purge of the unclean from their sacred lands of the north. on the other side of this it is commonly known that behind the facaade of holy purging and hatred towards the orcs is the fact that Nordica has greater trade and power in the overall region and in the year P.C 457 Nordica cut all trade with Ishlan. Ishlan in reality just wants to get back at Nordica for their transgression against them many years earlier. but the leaders of the country disguise their agenda with words of holy prophecy and divine revelations driving the people to follow the ideals that are lain out before them.
Assets
Ishlan is filled with natural resources and wealth the council has a misc spending limit of 918,000 GP and many live in jeweled palaces in the capital city. Ishlandic craftspeople are excellent at producing magical weapons and trinkets to help bolster their economy, they have the most abundant supply of magic and magic tools compared to other countries in the Northerlands, the kingdom of Ishlan have the most abundant amount of cities and fortifications being very fond of building large intricate castles and keeps to display their architectural prowess. the forces of Ishlan are most famed for their Artock cavalry who ride atop large wolves when charging into battle with magic lances gleaming in the starlight. Ishlan also has a considerable naval presence as it is on the eastern coast of the Northerlands where there are sloping beaches instead of the rocky cliffs in the west. this presence of naval forces is less for trading and more of an insurance policy against forces like the Nordica navy which is derectly north of them, and the vikings of Fjordland who come down the rivers to conduct their raids on small settlements of Ishlandic peoples. Ishlan also possesses the "minds eye" a magical tome that once per year answers any one question that is asked of it. it is oft used to gain power and more wealth for the civilization. and though ishlan does not make use of it their land contains one of the largests deposits of Promethium discovered since the end of the war of extermination, which gives them good leverage on the Mechanicus and the Grey Watch who often use more archaic tools and weapons from the old world that require such materials. all things accounted for Ishlan has the largest trading network and flow of resources of any country aside from Nordica in the Northerlands making them a target for envy and plans of war.
History
the legends from Ishlan itself claim that the civilization was founded in P.C 117 when an Aasimar named Yohan Ishlarid gained a premonition from his god "Danica the Cloudess" that gave him a vision of a promise land to the north. a place filled with resources and residual magical energy that would be sufficient to found a nation of promise and life for the people of the south. Yohan gathered his most trusted allies and his tribe and started a trek across the Skaljar strait and the Skybone peaks to the north. over the course of 10 years Yohan and his tribe trekked across the landscape, they were lost in the mountains for 7 of those years. every night they were assaulted by chaos astartes and shadows of the ancient destroyer. several times the clan was almost turned back or destroyed entirely, but through the guidance of Danica the clan eventually made it through the mountains and out of the mists of chaos. however they had lost their champion on the way, Yohan was killed in battle with a band of astartes in the 8th year of their journey. the next time the clan saw their ex leader he was strapped to the back of a chaos chain axe being paraded around by the followers of dark gods. the mantle of leadership then fell upon Darius Dawnbreaker who had been quick to gain supporters after the death of Yohan. when they reached the prescribed promise land it was not Yohan but Darius that lead the people of Ishlan and he had many plans for the rich land. the settlers occupied a forgotten keep of the Grey Guard and named themselves Ishlandics after their leader and prophet, in P.C 177 the country was officially established in the ruins of a fortress from the first crusade. but to claim the rest of their promise land the people of Ishlan first had to eliminate the original inhabitants, which were an insect like people who worshiped one of the older ancient gods named Carillion the gilded. the ishlandics disagreed with their heritage and their faith, in P.C 195 they started a holy war to reclaim the holy land from these clear invaders and heretics. the insect peoples (the Carilis) were survivors from the first age and thus were exceedingly physically gifted and experienced in combat and magic, the war was not easy and would last 20 years and run through 3 different holy leaders of ishlan, the Carilis were finally defeated in P.C 215 at the battle of Kaldors ridge by Ishlan leader Vixanis Goldenglow leading the first Artock Cavaliers. they defeated the Carilis people through a flanking strategy, by presenting a weak center formation they drew the heavy Carilis infantry to their center. this is when the Ishlan forces split into two groups and caught the column of Carilis in a pincer attack lead by cavalry and light infantry. when the conflict ended, the Carilis were forced underground to the caverns of the North to live among the drukari and the shadows of past ages. the Ishlandic people took time after the war to build upon their new land, atop the ruins of the enemies razed cites they build massive castles and temples to their gods and heroes that had seen them through the journey to the promised land and their battle with the heretical Carilis. they made contact with the Grey Guard and commenced trade, as well as the people of Fjordland and the sky cities of Skylos, by the year P.C 285 they had established themselves as a full religious kingdom with trading partners and over 20 cities and settlements filled by a renewed population of Aasimar, Gnomes, and Half Aeldari. they had established the council in P.C 289 when the first chosen appeared, Helen Foulian was an Aasimar paladin who was chosen by the god Danica once again guiding the civilization. at 27 years old Helen stepped up to be the first Will in Ishlandic history, and soon a council of priests formed around her as advisers and servants, effectively starting the basis of what would eventually become a rigid system. over the next 20 years the council would become rigid and more formal of an affair, they would get more power in P.C 324 when Helen the chosen passed away from wounds that she suffered in a battle with ogres and orcs. with the death of the will, the council took control of administrating the people lead by high priest Lother Grimmik, who started the process of making the council a permanent instillation in the culture of society, he was still working on the process when the plains wars rolled around into the perview of the North. when the Grey Watch called for aid, Ishlan was highly unprepared to provide any meaningful forces, bit still over 10,000 palidins, clerics and fighters volunteered their services to stem the oncoming daemon hordes of chaos. many of these brave volunteers would never return to Ishlan from the war, but their individual services mad great contributions to the efforts of the fight against the corruption and madness that chaos brought to the world. while the war raged a new will was found, this one was chosen by the lord of death Xephon the lantern bearer. the chosen was just a child. and while the child was only 1 year old it was abducted by Lother the high priest for conditioning into a person who would continue his methods and reforms to the council. by P.C 390, the child had reached 20 years old and had superseded Lother in his ruler ship of the council and the people of Ishland. and through revelations with his god the will (Gunther Grimmik) started a crusade against the what he perceved in his vision, an unfathomable darkness under the ground of the north. but his expidition could not be fufilled as soon his city was besieged by the remainder of the Dusk reavers which started a siege that lasted until P.C 310 when it was broken by reinforcements from the Grey Watch. soon after the Will was assassinated by workers of the Court of Blades from Fenthas, once again leaving the cities leaderless, and so it has been for 100 years. the cities fell into the routine of daily life, with their gaurd forces becoming lax and their citizens beginning to take safety for granted. in P.C 510 another Will revealed herself, Gadrian Lorel a servant of Theros the god of trade and commerce. with her arrival old hatreds of the orcs and Nordica were rekindled in Ishlan, and for the next two years they would begin to prepare for another war, for gold and glory in the eyes of the gods themselves.
Demography and Population
the population is mainly comprised of Aasimars and celestial based people but they have a reasonably sized population of Half Aeldari and gnomes, with very few humans. they despise the green-skins and dragonborn as well as lizard folk so they dint have many other races around the Northerlands. the overall population is somewhere around 100,000 individuals that live in the area.
- Aasimar: 60%
- Half Aeldari: 20%
- Gnomes: 15%
- Humans: 5%
Military
the military of Ishlan is unpracticed and untested, having been at peace for a century the guard force and the individual military has lost the edge that it had during the plains war hundreds of years earlier. most are inexperienced and compared to other formations in the Northerlands they are terribly inefficient and non versatile in combat and their general duty. most have never drawn a sword to strike at anything other than a training dummy or to threaten the odd thief.
Technological Level
Ishlan has a technology level of a feudal civilization from the late fifteen hundreds, but have not advanced further because of the existence of their advanced magics and mages that can perform the same feats that modern science could. thus they seen no need to advance their science and tech to the standards of the previous age.
Religion
the pantheon contains all the gods that have been sanctioned by the knight orders millennia before the creation of the nation during the events of the first crusade. they include all non chaos gods that have dedicated temples and places of worship all over the city.
the individual religions and gods are described elsewhere, but the main god of worship in Ishlan is Danica the goddess of good and soft light as well as the gentle sky.
Agriculture & Industry
the Ishlandics have a near monoploy on the production of magical weapons and crafts. they have established many different magical workshops all over the nation as well as 2 major companies. Nerethals Magical wares, and Frost Born Magic being the large manufacturers of magic items and objects for the use of the general populace.
the nation is near to lakes and rivers and has the capacity to grow lumoswheat and other engineered foods, they also farm taurox and fowlings for meat. but most of their grain comes from Etheria the land of farms and crops that they have had a trade agreement with for over 50 years.
Trade & Transport
Ishlan has magical means of transport between cities but these are expensive and can only be used by the ultra wealthy and important members of society. these can also be used for instant shipping but once again the process can be very expensive. other than that they have extensive overland trade networks and wagon trains that travel to almost every other country except Nordica.
Education
there is no standardised system of education but there are tutors that will teach children who have parents wealthy enough to pay fo an education in writing and religion from a specialist. aside from that devout worshippers at temples can send their children to be taught at the different temples and monasteries that fill the cities, the education is crude and filled with religious indoctrination but teaches the children rudimentary history and writing but nothing as fancy as the private tutors of the wealthy.
Infrastructure
all cities are equipped with sewer systems courtesy of the previous residents the Carilis who were a very together society that care about the well being of its citizens and sanitation. the cities each have a guard force employed by the biggest temple of the city. and many have small up cropping boarder towns and villages outside of the walls. the most advance thing within the cities is the warp gate which uses a teleportation magic to transport people and objects to different locations that share the same markings and magic
The Grace of the Gods
Founding Date
P.C 177
Type
Geopolitical, Country
Capital
Alternative Names
Godsland, High Crest, Lordslight.
Training Level
Trained
Veterancy Level
Recruit
Demonym
Ishlanics
Leader
Head of State
Government System
Theocracy
Power Structure
Feudal state
Economic System
Traditional
Currency
Material by weight (gold, silver, copper, electrum)
Major Exports
the people of Ishlan export all things magic, wizards, magic items, scrolls, and magic healing. they are the most magically apt nation in the north and the other nations covet the use of magic as an extremely valuable commodity and thus it can be sold for extortionate amounts of money.
Major Imports
they people of Ishlan import most of their food and cloth as the soil there is not great for mass farms of cotton growing nor flax plant. thus they must import a good amount of lumosgrain and fabric. specifically from Etheria and the farmers that grow mass farms in that nation.
Legislative Body
the council of priests that controls the general observances and loose laws that bind the society of religious fanatics and worshipers. the council respond to the Will that is chosen directly by the gods of the religion and receives divine revelations directly from their deity and that are then followed or acted upon by the council and the people.
Judicial Body
the Crimson Judge deals justice to the people who disrespect the rules of the society. they serve the divine presence of Sanguinia the red justice, who deals in a particularly brutal type of rules and retribution. the people of the crimson judge deal justice in a similar mannor, dealing it similar to the German SS in Nazi Germany during world war 2. they break into houses encourage spying and usually outright slaughter people who break the few rules that dictate the operation of the country.
Official State Religion
Parent Organization
Location
Related Ethnicities
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