Artaria

## History

The first era of the world, since recorded history first begun, dragons ruled and humans were their slaves. The Chromatic Flight, so named for the colors of their scales in shades of red, blue, black, white, and green, were a wicked race of dragons and dominated most of the earth. The Great Metallics, whose scales glimmered in beautiful golden, silver, bronze, brass, and copper, were heavily outnumbered and overpowered by the Chromatics, and while they sought to aid the humans they stood little chance.

The turn of the tide came when Saint Marius Tyrindall led an uprising against the Chromatic Flight with the help of a guild of dragon slayers led by Thudan Thunderfury, the mightiest warrior of his time. In their success, Saint Marius became the self-proclaimed king of Artaria and simultaneously created the Great Dragon Concordat, an agreement with the dragon god Bahamut that as long as a Tyrindall held the throne, the land would be safe from dragons. This began the second era, where humans ruled. However, Thudan didn’t think that enough and sought to destroy all remaining dragons. At the same time, the rest of the humans began enslaving the Dragonborn race as under Artarian law they were not considered full dragons and it would have been considered murder to kill them.

Some prophesized that the line of Tyrindall would eventually end and dragons would return to enslave mankind once again. There are others that don’t believe the Great Dragon Concordat was even made, and that the eradication of the race was done solely by the Dragonrend guild.

The year is 2E, 466. For thirteen generations the Tyrindall line has ruled Artaria since the Fall of the Last Dragon and the Great Dragon Concordat that birthed the new era. For 466 years, the land has been in relative peace and prosperity, reclaiming it from draconic rule. Currently, King Dunstan Tyrindall wears the crown.

However, tragedy has befallen the Tyrindall family as the queen and all heirs to the throne were murdered the previous year without any evidence as to who or why. For the first time in recorded history, the Counts and Countesses of the ten provinces of Artaria will come together in an election to determine the new King or Queen.

There are some who believe the prophecy that tells about the return of the Chromatic Dragonflight who will scorch the land and devour all life. Alternatively, most people believe the abolishing of Dragons to be the work of the legendary guild Dragonrend and not the Great Dragon Concordat, and do not fear the coming election.

## Provinces

Artaria was divided into ten provinces by the end of Saint Marius’ reign, each ruled by a Count or Countess under the king’s rule. At around two billion square miles, Artaria was difficult to control for only one leader, so the responsibility is now partially shared with nine others.

## Races

The land is currently home to many races, some native and others not. Artarians consist mostly of humans, as well as: Elves, half-Elves, half-Orcs, Gnomes, Dwarves, Halflings, and the currently enslaved race of Dragonborn. It also holds a slew of bestial races and monsters, some of which are yet to be discovered. Recently, there have been discoveries that lead to the possibility of a long-lost race of Elves referred to as the Light Elves, though hardly anything is currently known about them.

## Technology

There have been many recent feats in the technological race. Gnomes, specifically those living in Nalgort, currently lead with the recent discovery of a naturally formed gas that is lighter than air. Using this gas, the Gnomes were able to fill a giant balloon and tie it to a small ship to create a floating craft called a zeppelin. After some difficult trial and error (the first involving the zeppelin flying away into the sky without control), the zeppelin was perfected and is now used for transport between the city of Balmor and Nalgort.

The same Gnomes of Nalgort have also been successful in creating piloted mechanized suits driven by steam. They use these robotic marvels to defend the port city, as their capital has no military to dispatch to their aid.

## Laws

The practice of Necromancy has been outlawed from Artaria since 2E, 310, as it was seen as an unnecessary magic and had no place in the world.