Most Serene Republic of Kalydon

**Kalydon** is a city and nation south of Daligrad, which was once wealthy and under the rule of the Azanese Empire. It is now barred off from the outside world and is ruled by an obsessive cult of personality centered around their self-proclaimed senator, **Archarom the White Wizard**. The population of Kalydon is monitored through an obsidian candle, which enables Kalydon to see all their actions and thoughts..

## History

Humans, alongside a small population of Dwarves, were already living in Kalydon (which at the time was already an established city) by the time it got absorbed into the Empire of Azan, two thousand years ago.

Because the city of Kalydon used to be a republic before Azan's annexation, many of its senior citizens and members of the senate were afraid that the Empire would hamper and restrain their freedoms. Even though this did not happen entirely - as the Kalydonians were allowed some form of self governance, they subconsciously strived to return to being independent. This feeling was hampered by the fact that Kalydon grew immensely - both population wise and in wealth - under Azan's rule. Kalydon turned from a medium sized city, into one of the largest cities in the west, a true center for technological, arcane and industrial rennovation and learning. In fact, Kalydon was the first place after Luden to the very far east to discover the means of gunpowder weapons and coal powered machines.

Kalydon prospered and its citizens even forgot about the old rivalry they had with Daligrad - a place they saw as vile, corrupt and decadent, with many Kalydonians now visiting the "*city of vice*" and investing in it. Things started to change as Azan lost its influence in the area, and unlike Daligrad, the Kalydonians were quick to attempt to take back the city completely under their control.

As the first Senate after the Azaneese conquest assembled (hundreds of years before that), the Azanese garrison was quick to retaliate, storming the Curia. burning it to the ground and in return killing many of the city's respect, senior citizens.

This angered the population, which at that point was split between staying loyal to Azan and rebelling, and many influential people were quick to storm out to the streets and preach against their Azanese overlords. One of those was Archarom, a wise and mysterious figure that served as court wizard in the Senate. His sermons enchanted the simple people of Kalydon, and even the most learned of the youth followed him. Archarom encouraged the burning of all books and religious texts that were written in the language of Azan, and the Azaneese garrison, now powerless to do anything and cut off from the Empire's heart, fled and left Kalydon to its own fate.

Kalydon, now independent, reassembled the Senate with Archarom at its head, and seized every property owned by the remaining Azaneese, hoping to increasing the profits that actually flowed in the city by doubling the tariffs Azan used to impose on their exports.

Kalydon enjoyed almost a decade of normalcy, athough relations with Daligrad detoriated, as for the time being had stayed loyal to Azan, and the garisson commanders there had launched sneak attacks on Kalydon, hoping to reclaim it. Archarom had grown wary and paranoid of Daligrad's and Azan's espionage and attempts on undermining Kalydon's independence, although his madness hadn't set in until his trip to the island of the Scarred Phantoms. There, he was bestowed upon a gift by one of his assassin friends (at least, that's what he claimed), an obsidian candle, an extremely rare artifact of mythical reputation that allows one to read the minds and communicate with people from long distances.

Archarom used that to read the thoughts of his followers and his senators, his mind clouded by the ever growing madness of paranoia. He deposed the Senate and brainwashed the peasants that they were secretly plotting with the Daligradians to annex their city. His propaganda campaign was successful, and Archarom grew even madder with his newfound power.

Archarom, in an attempt to paint himself as democratic as his predecessors, create his own council (the ministry of propaganda), which he used as his mouthpieces to enforce his every orders. He then started to weave his own web of lies, painting Daligrad as the ultimate demon of civilization and forbidding anyone from visiting there, under the penalty of death.

The city's society quickly became a mirror of Daligrad's. Absolute puritanism was enforced by Archarom and those devoted to him. Every marriage, from the council members to the lowest of peasants had to go through him first. Sex was forbidden outside of marriage, and then it was only done for breeding, and not for pleasure.

Gambling was punished with death. Any consumption or production of the "White Death" or any other narcotics was enough reason for a month's torture. Anyone who worshipped a god other than Archarom himself was locked into the terrible Maelgor's Keep Dungeons, never to see the light of the earth again.

It wasn't long until Archarom built walls around the whole province, with posts every few hundred meters to prevent anyone from getting in - or out. Kalydon, a city once known for its freedom ideals and mercantilism, was now completely millitarized. Traders and merchants began to avoid Kalydon, preferring to even go through marshlands and witch elf territory than deal with Archarom's mad minions. Prominent engineers and scholars either fled the city or were sentenced to prison due to their "heretical thoughts", effectively halting the miraculous industrial production that Kalydon had managed to forge.

Archarom began dwelling more and more with his obsidian candle, to the point where every ounce of sanity that he had was gone. He'd spend almost every waking hour or his observing the residents of Kalydon with excruciating detail.

It was not until a few months afterwards that Archarom unlocked the full potential of the obsidian candle by sacrificing everything he had left, including his most trusted advisors.

He was now able to read the mind of anyone in his realm. Thus, any person, no matter how insignificant, when caught by the lord himself thinking of dangerous thoughts, was immediately captured and interrogated. Simple things like a peasant having pleasant memories of his visit to Daligrad would be enough for the guards to come at his door at night.

Soon enough, Archarom became a total recluse, not bathing or grooming himself and barely eating. He'd only see his most trusted advisors, and that only to bark his orders for "spies from Daligrad with dangerous thoughts" to be imprisoned.

Years came and went, decades and then centuries passed. Despite the fact that Archarom was only a human that should have been long dead and buried, the normal Kalydonian citizens had been so brainwashed by that point that they had thought of Archarom as being immortal, forgetting how he sounded or looked, even his own name. They'd start calling him "our generous Father of Kalydon", forgetting that he was no god, but a mere human.

To this day, no one alive has seen Archarom, yet they somehow claim they are executing his orders, delivered to them "through divine measures". There have been rumours circulating around, however, that a pocket of resistance has popped up in Kalydon, possibly originating from the inner circle itself. If those rumours are true, and how they managed to avoid his mind reading spell are questions that still remain a mystery. Many conspirators claim that Archarom has been dead and buried for centuries now, but that his legacy is kept alive by his successors, who are using his obsidian candle - as well as the fear and fanaticism inspired by his image - for their own advantage, in order to control their subjects.

## Society, Economy and Culture

Kalydon was once a prosperous city known for its innovations and technological marvels. These days, however, Kalydon is closed off completely to the outside world, as Archarom had built walls all along its borders, forbidding anyone from leaving or entering, aside from very few trusted people in the government. In fact, in the past couple of centuries, the occurence of a simple Kalydonian leaving the country is so rare, that it's of those people we now know all about this strange land.

Not only that, but Archarom had torn down every building with Azaneese characteristics and features, and replaced them with pure white marble buildings of immense size. These buildings continued to grow in number, replacing older ones, until all trace of Kalydon's traditional architecture was gone, and the city came to be known as "the white city" and Archarom as "the white Wizard".

Kalydon, during Azan's rule and after that, had become one of the biggest cities in the west, but yet still ruled over rural lands that surrounded it. It is said that the most free minded (if there is such thing in Kalydon) Kalydonians fled to the countryside, where (apparently) the mind reading spell is not as potent.

## Religion

In times before Azan, Kalydonians used to worship a plethora of gods, including the Triple Gods of Scimitaria and other local ones, while the faith of Azan took a foothold after the conquest itself, and was the leading religion of the people for quite some time. After Archarom's takeover, every semblance of religion was destroyed, including temples, religious texts and more, and nowadays the only thing resembling religion in Kalydon is the adoration of "the Great Father of Kalydon".

## Warfare

Kalydon has a large army and navy patrolling its lands, with city millitias and rural magistrates commonly encountered as well, all loyal to Archarom and the state.

## Geography

Kalydon is comprised of many (now drained) swamps and marshes, covered mostly by temperate forest, with also a decent amount of meadows and plains dotting the land.

## Demographics

Although it's impossible to tell nowadays, Kalydon used to be majority human, with a decent dwarven population that had settled in that general area for millenia, as well as halfling merchants and settlers, mainly from Gvilderstaaten, and a small number of Witchelven escaped slaves that arrived to the city shortly before it ceded from Azan.

## Foreign Relations

### Daligrad

In the past, Kalydon had gone from being rival city-states with Daligrad, to having cordial relations under Azan's rule, to having these relations tarnished as soon as Archarom took over. Nowadays, Daligrad is seen as the personification of all evil, with its hedonism, decadence, widespread use of narcotics and more, a fact that Archarom and his minions have weaponized to turn the local populace against Daligrad, whenever something has gone wrong for the nation. Although Daligrad for the most part is indifferent towards Kalydon, they do keep an eye out in the border for any potential runaways that might net them valuable information against the republic, and keep a guard posted in case of any potential transgressions.

### Azan

Even though Kalydon as a whole had prospered under Azan, expanding its trading horizons to much of the west, the events that aspired around the time of its independence, and the subsequent takeover by Archarom and his propaganda against Azan, was enough to make the Kalydonias hate Azan, although not nearly as much as they do the Daligradians. The upper body of Azan's Empire would want one day to reclaim these lands that they lost, although the prospect of dealing with Archarom and the brainwashed fanatics of Kalydon is a grim one.

### Bog Witch

The Bog Witch has sent here minions time after time against Kalydon, but the largely manned walls and forts along the border, combined with the soporific effect of the Swaying Meadows means that every one of these raids has ended in monumental failure.

As for the rest of the world? Well, not much goes in or out, as Kalydon is barred against it, both physically, due to its high walls and navy patrols, as well as magically, with magic wards protecting the realm from any potential intruders.

If the Witch Elves were to storm and conquer Äelar'Ra, however, it'd be hard for them not to notice, as they'd surely be forced into action with such a bloodthirsty empire right at their doors..