The Fountain Dominion

Standing in opposition to all of its surrounding neighborhoods, the Federative Nobles of the Fountainlands, the Golden River, the Claw’s Coast, and Ōmukade’s Legs, most often shortened to The Fountain Dominion, is the most powerful political entity on the Volcanic Continent.

History

Many millenia after the Great Eruption but before the monstrous and humanoid races created diverse cities and cultures, a hundred human and elf tribes called the land known as the The Fountainlands their own. They warred constantly, no one clan or collective ever gaining power for long before being cast down by another. The land remained mostly wild, dangerous, and unforgiving.

It was not until the arrival of a tribe of wandering Tieflings from the foothills of the Omukade. Said to be born from an Anima apparition called the Morningstar, they brought with them powerful fire magics and queer customs. They brought to the Fountainlands their noble customs and traditions, enshrined in ancient tableaux made from lavarock they claimed dated to before the Great Eruption. And they brought masterly crafted weapons forged by their dwarven allies within the Omukade.

In relatively short order, the regions that would come to form a new empire were conquered. From Omukade's legs this new polity swept south across the Fountainlands and all the way to the Claw's Coast, ceasing their conquest to the west only when meeting the resistance of more fully formed entities such as the Kingdom of Rema.

Hundreds of elven, human, half-elf, and other cultures were incorporated into this new empire. Many joined the tiefling noble classes, and some few even came to serve in the political entity that ruled the empire, the Senate.

Recent History: Rise of Severian

Much of the reason the Empire was able to sweep across the land was their tradition of appointing a military leader in times of conquest to expand the dominion of the Empire or defend it from external threats. However, this tradition has come to rob the Sentaroial leadership of all of their political power in recent times.

Because of unwanted criminal activity along the border with the Kingdom of Rema, the Senate appointed a High Elf named Severian to remove the outlaw bands and black markets from the border and reduce crime in the city of Sixpoints. Initially, Severian proved capable, if vicious, and in short order secured much of the border. However, Severian did not give up power, and turned his attention inward towards political rivals and enemies within the empire. Commanding the loyalty of the Empire's armies and especially the elite border force known as the Border Sentinels, Severian has retained control of the Empire for over five hundred years. The Senatorial class, once vibrant with lively debate and defined by its adherence to legal standard and principle(though still inevitably hobbled by their own classist principles), now exists primarily as a vestigial class of nobles whose engage each other in petty squabbles over land rights while desperately avoiding the ire of the military.

Major Locales

Sixpoints

Named for the six lava fountains within its walls, Sixpoints is the largest city in the Empire. Each district represents a different facet of the city, and one district could fit the population of half a dozen towns within it. While not traditionally the seat of political power in the empire, it is where Severian has made his home and commanded his forces for much of his reign, and has therefore become the de facto seat of political power in the Empire.

Kru

The oldest city in the empire and home to the Chamber of Bells, the grand building fromwithin which the Senate would meet to decide laws and policy, Kru was founded originally by Tieflings from the Omukade and retains much of their architectural influence, with grand, gothic buildings carved from lavarock towering many stories into the air. However, in the reign of Severian the city has fallen on hard times, with a rising criminal element fueled by the constant infighting of the mostly powerless senatorial class.

First Circle

Influenced by the harsh architecture of a tribe of wild and dangerous half-orcs, First Circle is and has always been a harsh town. Their famous battlepit is known far and wide for the sheer amount of blood that has flown into its grates. Since Severian has taken power, the city has grown into a military dicatorship unto its own, as it is the place of training and planning for the Border Sentinels. They often hold training excursions into the rocks and crags of the Great Volcano itself, and the trolls, goblins, and vampires hiding in that region have grown so fearful of these that myths of the "maroon boogeymen," are commonplace.

Goldtown

Built along the Golden River and with buildings that match in color to the shimmering waters flowing beside it, Goldtown is a quaint, pretty town where farmers from the grassy hills nearby bring their foods to sell and look for goods to by. It is largely a quiet and peaceful town.

Anima's Light

A town grown around a temple, Anima's Light boasts the Spiral Garden, a grand structure within which druids and clerics from a hundred Animus faiths pay homage. Situated perfectly between Kru and Sixpoints, the town is always busy, and pilgrims come from all over to see the grandeur of the town.

Seacow's Rest

Seacow's Rest is a bustling fishing and shipping town. Their docks are always busy, the smell of fish always pungent. The town his famous for its Seacow milk, suckled from the many Seacows who call the bay to the east of the town their home.

Stovetop

Stovetop is a mining town situated in the mountains of the Omukade. Denizens of the town claim to have built the worlds largest stove, which they have situated above a giant cauldron. Traditionally used for massive feats, Stovetop has gained a grim reputation under the rule of Severian, as he has sent many a political opponent to be executed upon the gigantic stove. This has utterly killed the town's appetite for cooking feasts in recent years.

Grand Amnoc

Grand Amnoc was a historic harbor town who once contained a high amount of nobles and a booming shipping economy. Both dried up centuries ago, but the town's historic decline left it largely unnoticed during the brutal years of Severian's reign, and for the most part the town has remained untouched by the political persecutions being inflicted upon others. Now, the town has had something of a cultural renaissance in recent years, and bards and performers often put on shows in the newly constructed amphitheater that can be found in the town.

Type

Geopolitical, Empire