Hiburn

Hiburn, with its ethereal capital Sawhya, occupies a curious and uneasy position in the war surrounding Waliarus. Nestled between several of the invading powers yet sharing no direct border with the empire itself, Hiburn has refrained from launching an invasion of its own. Instead, it plays a more subtle, yet deeply consequential role in the conflict—acting as a supplier and enabler. While not a battlefield participant, Hiburn provides the invading nations with a steady stream of weapons, provisions, medical supplies, enchanted gear, and battlefield reagents, becoming a critical logistical artery for the war effort.

This involvement is not born of hatred or vengeance, but of calculated fear. Encircled by ambitious and militarized neighbors, Hiburn’s leadership determined that neutrality would be interpreted as hostility. Refusing to assist the coalition might have provoked invasion or economic retaliation from its far more aggressive neighbors. Thus, in a desperate effort to preserve its own borders, Hiburn chose complicity—a reluctant contributor to a war it neither started nor desired.

Hiburn is, above all else, a nation of magic. From architecture and agriculture to medicine and education, arcane energy pulses through the very fabric of its society. Even its political structure is steeped in magical tradition. While the nation is technically ruled by a monarch, the true architects of Hiburn's policy are the Council of the Veil—an elite assembly of the realm’s most accomplished mages, scholars, and arcanists. This council holds immense sway over the king, guiding both internal governance and external diplomacy with a wisdom honed in centuries of magical study.

Sawhya, the capital, is a city of shimmering towers, floating spires, and libraries that hum with silent power. It is home to several of the world’s most prestigious magical universities and academies, institutions that produce the most brilliant arcane minds on the continent. These mages, while largely uninvolved in direct combat, have been instrumental in enhancing the supplies provided to the invading powers—imbuing weapons with minor enchantments, accelerating healing processes, and fortifying rations and clothing with protective spells.

Though Hiburn’s hands remain clean of blood—for now—their complicity in the war has not gone unnoticed. Should Waliarus survive and recover, Hiburn’s position may grow increasingly precarious. For now, the nation treads a dangerous line, sustaining the ambitions of its neighbors in the name of self-preservation, while wondering if neutrality by proxy will be remembered as betrayal in the eyes of history.