The nations of the world of Eld

The Imperium

  • Full name: The Imperium of Adhistabor
  • Founded: 476 years ago by Canisius Thurinus and Marcus Traian
  • Comprised of 7 Reigns (provinces)
  • Ruled by a Caetoran who is in turn supported by a senate, called the Prodessium
  • Each of the 7 Reigns fields its own army, which is commanded by an arch-general
  • Each Reign’s government is helmed by an individual titled the Corajus
  • Capital city: Empyria, home to more than a million people
  • Is expansionist and militaristic
  • Conquered its neighbour, Tharghest, 13 years ago
  • Starting 4 years, has repeatedly attempted to invade Kalduran
  • Current Caetoran: Janus Tyrannus
  • Considers itself the natural successor to the United Empire of Adhistabor, which was even more violent in its expansion and which collapsed 720 years ago
  • Shuns outsiders and has an almost entirely human population
  • Fears magic to the extent that it has almost eradicated it from Imperial bloodlines

Kalduran

  • The newest and southernmost province of the larger Drasken Empire
  • Ruled by the Baltanos, a military supervisor working directly for Drasken
  • Capital city: Varanos
  • Sparsely populated and rural, with only 3 cities total (including Varanos)
  • Currently home to 4 fielded armies
  • Has been involved in skirmishes with the Imperium over Tharghest, which sits between them
  • Embraces magic
  • Joined peaceably with Drasken around 700 years ago, following the toppling of the United Empire of Adhistabor

Drasken

  • Full name: The Drasken Empire
  • Founded: approximately 4,500 years ago, by Darin, Vala, Aharon, Kora, and Ranka (the first Varkommer)
  • Ruled by the Varkommer, a council of 10 immortal mages
  • A Keizer/Keizer is elected for a 20-year term from the Varkommer ranks to serve as overall ruler
  • Capital city: Kaltoren
  • Champions magic
  • Is home to the Sky Fleet, a huge armada of militarised airships powered by magic
  • Aristocracy and nobility comprised almost wholly of immortals
  • Boasts all of the magical academies in the known world, including the largest, Ren Câdern College
  • Is more than twice the size of the Imperium
  • Borders the far north of the world
  • Has been engaged in hostilities with mercenaries on the Karhes for generations now
  • Its noble classes, due to their immortality, are only permitted 2 children per couple

Tharghest

  • Once a traditional monarchy, now the ravaged property of the Imperium
  • Barely half the size of Kalduran
  • Capital: Aukruna
  • Populated almost entirely by Dontili (grey-skinned, horned humanoids)
  • Was conquered 13 years ago after the Iron Wolf, an Imperial arch-general, murdered its entire royal family
  • Is comprised mostly of grassland
  • Bordered to the north and south by mountain ranges

The Karhes

  • An immense expanse of grassland, steppe, and plains
  • Not a cohesive nation; too large to be conquered or even reliably traversed
  • Home to wandering nomads in huge Shifting Cities (moving metropolises powered by magical engines) and entire mercenary fleets
  • Forms the heartland of the entire continent
  • Is several thousand miles from east to west, and north to south
  • Hosts all three known races of the planet: humans, Dontili, and Vasipan (canid humanoids)
  • Merc natives of the Karhes have long been engaged in hostilities with Drasken
  • Is bordered by 5 different nations on three sides
    • The Thousand Kings to the west
    • Borria to the south
    • Drasken, Kalduran, and Tharghest to the east

The Thousand Kings

  • Full name: The Empire of a Thousand Kings
  • A disparate tapestry of various nations united under one name
  • For the most part, its component political entities are allied to one another
  • Contains city states, duchies, kingdoms, and princedoms
  • Fears magic
  • Is currently being recruited, nation by nation, by a warlord named Lord Indro, who seeks to unite them against Drasken
  • Most recognisable city is Sinnis, a dilapidated metropolis bordering the Karhes

Castrio

  • Full name: The Castrian League
  • An oligarchical nation to the south of the continent of Indaver, on the desert continent of Dunstria
  • Hosts the only known surviving Atlas Gate, a portal that allows travellers to move from one planet to another
  • Due to its geographical separation from the rest of Indaver, little is known of Castrio
  • Currently allied to the Imperium through the marriage of the Caetoran’s brother to a powerful Castrian politican

Borria

  • Full name: The Borrian Princedoms
  • Founded: around 600 years ago, by a warlord named Caranus
  • Was once part of the United Empire of Adhistabor; it established itself after that entity collapsed
  • Is comprised of 4 princedoms: Borria, Abaran, Sirpalia, Kanotus
  • Each princedoms is ruled by a prince; the ruler of Borria, the central princedom, is titled the High-Prince
  • Capital city: Bor, in Borria
  • The city of Bor began life as a Shifting City in the Karhes
    • Bor’s ruler, Caranus, grounded his city, settled in Borria, and established the first princedom
  • Is home to a huge population of Dontili, as well as Karhes natives who naturally migrated south alongside Caranus
  • Took in huge swathes of Dontili refugees from Tharghest fleeing the Imperium’s persecution
  • Has since closed itself off against the Imperium