The Once Great Empire of Pallandia

**Government type:** City states governed by a monarchy appointed council.

**Age since founding:** At least two thousand years

**Territory size:** About… North America (Formerly) New York (Current)

**National religion:** Polytheistic, “Pantheon of gods”

**Primary trade:** Magitech (Formerly), Heroes (Formerly), Tourism (Current)

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**Description**

Ruins everywhere. Lots and lots of ruins… while old and decaying, they show signs of once belonging to a highly advanced culture… Running water, baths, agriculture, and so forth. All of it simply abandoned where it was.

Mixed climate. From vast plains in the west to the acidic swamplands in the east, and frosty mountain peaks in the north.

Most of the region was abandoned due to being rendered effectively uninhabitable due to neglect and the spread of dangerous wildlife.

Some areas are not even safe for visiting due to the magical fallout.

The rest is all either uninhabitable, empty spaces, or under control of the various city-states and their governments which are managed by the council that is running under the orders of the current monarchy.

The religion is polytheistic in nature with various offerings and sacrifices to be made to their gods and goddesses for everything from making the sun rise to protecting seafarers from storms. They are also told that they are living in the promised land and are the center of the universe. That and no other gods exist, etc, etc.

The original export of the nation used to be magic powered technology until the queen’s disappearance a millenia ago resulted in the trade and a great many things simply ceasing to function. This was eventually followed by hero promotion under the orders of the Pantheon of gods… until it attracted the “dark one” and the blessings ceased completely. That was eventually replaced by princess tourism… the details are a tad fuzzy, but the twin royals are incredibly popular and selling merchandise brings great income from outside territories.

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**Religion**

Technically, the entire polytheistic religion of Pallandia is a giant farce of a con created by the original council in order to cover up the sudden disappearance of the queen… which got twisted and distorted into a rather perverted version of itself.

In other words, the old council used what they could from what was left from the queen’s departure and basically made themselves “like gods”, convinced the people that they’ve been like that since the beginning of time in order to keep them in line. However, as time passed… the council eventually forgot the truth of their own roles and in effect became the deities of their own little world.

Eventually the different “divines” began to select “champions” from the ranks of their followers in order to meddle in the affairs of their rivals… either out of boredom or petty rivalry causing an an already crumbling nation to become far more unstable than it was.

This went on like a cycle of pain and suffering until "according to the texts", a great evil appeared from the shadows and began a reign of terror so great that all of the gods went silent.

This “reign of terror” only ended with the greatest of their champions sacrificing their own life to seal it away forever… and they built a monument over the site in order to protect it.

Priests from all the corners of the “known world” come there to maintain the seal, ceremonies, sacrifice, chants… etc. Of course… it’s actually empty and never had anything in it, their “gods” are all dead and gone now, but what the current council doesn’t know won’t hurt them… right?

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**Legends and Lore**

For a start… The kingdom-empire of Pallandia (for lack of a better name for the region) was once ruled by a great and powerful sorceress who had a loving family and the respect and admiration of all her people.

Over the many long years of her reign, she performed many great deeds… Introducing knowledge and wonders that would not be witnessed in the wide world until millennia after.

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To continue and reiterate… While I can say not all that much about the ancient queen other than her being a powerful sorceress, the fact her people loved her not for her benevolence, but for everything that she could offer is something I can explain.

You know how they have that whole phrase give a man a fish and he eats for a day, but teach him to fish instead and he’ll eat for a lifetime? Well… let’s just say that they became so reliant on her power that they absolutely refused to do anything themselves. She had to plan cities, cure disease, control the weather, feed her people, and pretty much anything and everything.

The country spread out and grew past it’s original borders, invading neighboring nations and taking everything they had for themselves, dabbling in darker magic and cruel arcane experiments just to keep on going while greedily snapping anything and everything they could.

At some point, the queen had become so overwhelmed and desperate that she started seeking other means to keep her people happy… what she had never seemed to be enough and she herself could only go so far on her own.

Very little is known of what happened next, just that a dark haired stranger with eyes like rubies and dressed with fine clothes had visited the castle one day… and the next she was never to be seen again.

She simply vanished. No sign or trace.

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Without their queen on with they relied to do everything for them… crops began to rot, their borders shrank, and the wildlife and elements consumed their land. Pallandia as it was known was no more… and only a small patch of land remained and even this blew away in the wind.

While her descendants rule to this day… None of them has shown even the slightest inclination of her potential and the The once great nation fell into decline and ruin, the once vast lands diminished to a shadow of what they once were… ruins of the ancient civilization dotting the landscape for miles..

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This is how it was until the more current era… Twin girls, both alike in (almost) every way were born to the king and queen… The very image of the ancient they was long lost.

There was cause for celebration.. until one was stolen away by marauders that very night with no sign of intent or ransom… and the small babe to be never seem again.

The other that remained blossomed and grew over the years, taught in the ways of her people… All hoping she might show the spark that was lost until one day she was lost to them as well.

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They say that one day she might return not alone, but with another… The lost child will return with her and the kingdom will be restored to its former glory. Others say that the lost queen herself might come back and rule instead.

However… The truth is always more complicated than it appears.

Her followers still look for her return to this day… and their gaze now lies on the two daughters born to the remains of the once great royal house. They seek to revive their lost queen.

The truth is what they seek is revive a lie formed from distorted memory at the expense of all others. A moment that should not come to pass.

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I tell the tale of a wise and benevolent ruler loved by her people, a land blessed by her hand… a people she provided their every need.

I speak of a queen desperate to serve her people that left on a quest for greater power and was lost to the ages.

I speak of her legacy… twin daughters, hair the color of blood and flame, the very image of their ancestors.

I speak of one fated to follow her ancestors footsteps, and the other gifted and cursed with everything the other lacks.

I speak of the people they left behind so desperate to regain what they lost and willing to do anything for it to come to pass.

I speak of a meddler who knows of things that were meant to be forgotten who lies in wait as a trap for the tempted and the child he took under his wing as his own.

I tell a story of a place that wanders too and fro, dancing to an unknown tune and those who stay there but a little while.

I have much to say and so little time… Everything is connected… Somewhere, somehow.

One day… they will all meet… in the ruins of Pallandia.