The Athaeloran empire

For King and Country.

File:Athaelore.jpg

## **Athaelore, Drewnolas & Rodynia Strana**

Athaelore, Drewnolas and Rodynia Strana comprise the Athaeloran Empire, with Athaelore obviously on top. One of the two largest military powers on the Southern Continent, with the other being The People’s Happy Utopia, the Empire has a history of ambitious territorial expansion.

## Athaelore

This is a land of grassy plains, rivers and forests. The circumstances of your birth usually decide your experience; the hard, harsh life of the a peasant, the equally harsh and swift life of a member of the military, or the tumultuous yet decadent high life of the aristocrats and courts. Athaelore is currently experiencing a long-time-coming civil war between the new parliamentarians (who have control of the heavy industry, and have more popular support) and the royalists, who have the mages, church, king and aristocracy on their side. The conflict has involved significant use of gunpowder weapons.

The royal family’s claim to power was largely built on having been the ones to finally kill international magical menace Varamir the Revenant several centuries ago. That charismatic myth was shattered about thirty years ago by Varamir’s surprise reappearance at the Battle of Black Isle, setting the dominoes in motion that brought about the current conflict.

## Rodynia Strana

A staunch, old troll nation, a land of aqueducts, industry and might. The majority of Rodnians live in dense towns and cities, mining and labouring as a mass working class, with a small sect of controlling oligarchs at the top. Under the joint boots of the parlimentarian army of Aethalore and the brutal police force of the Troll despots, the Rodnians are a volatile and passionate people, and the civil war has not helped this unrest.

The power that flows from the mountains in Rodynia Strana is heavily centralised, resting mainly in the twin peaks of Ezny Dom, the capital. The Council of the Forge (Sovet Kuznis) meets here, a collection of wealthy trolls who act as the governmental force. The city is also the centre for industry.

Athaelore has controlled Rodynia Strana for around 60 years. Among the working trolls, there are fierce undercurrents of defiance towards their Athaeloran overlords.

## Drewnolas

An enormous, dark forest of ancient trees. The people who reside there live in small settlements, built where the dangerous roads of the darkwood intersect, or meet rivers. Most Drewnolians are constantly on edge, ready to fight or respond to an emergency at any moment. There is an almost defiant cheerfulness to the way in which many conduct themselves: Drewnolians are known for their nihilistic gallows humour, which they find hilarious.

The darkwood is dangerous. Strange monsters lurk within the trees, and it is very easy to become lost. Unable to properly farm the surrounding area, the settlements are dependent on the transports of food that make their way through the wood’s winding, dangerous roads. The ‘government’ of Drewnolas, therefore, is mostly an apparatus of bureaucrats, lumberjacks and forest rangers who keep the roads clear, keep the transports safe and escort the nervous Athaeloran tax collectors to where they need to go. The captain of a settlement’s militia is usually ends up being the de facto leader of the village.

Sections of the darkwood are unsettlingly quiet. Many travellers have reported odd sensations when traversing it, strange dreams of rot and fire of and dark, twisted figures slithering through the undergrowth. Some experience a ‘call’, a desire to leave the roads and walk out amongst the black, ancient trees. This call is not always resisted. People go missing in the darkwood. The remains of some are found in the days afterwards, having been attacked by wild animals or monsters. There is usually no sign of the person having struggled, fled, or even trying to get away. Others disappear without a trace. And from the deepest parts, there are even more disturbing reports. Recent tales have emerged of groups of travellers and settlers found standing in silent circles, dead but still upright, with branches, vines, and leaves growing around, up, and through them. According to these unconfirmed stories, every circle found had one identical feature. The forest around it was completely, totally silent.

## The Ectochoir Hunters

Since the early parts of the ninth century, one of the scariest groups in Athaelore has been the Reincarnation Agency. The Agency was formed under a simple premise: Enemies and traitors to the crown should not be permitted to escape royal justice simply because they have died. So the Agency hunts down enemies of Athaelore who have reincarnated as Ectochoirs, and been reborn as Spiritborn, and spirits them back to Athaelore. There, they are incarcerated in the notorious Strapghost Prison, to serve the remainder of their sentence. If possible, ectochoirs are exorcised instead, sometimes with the help of Traansadooran specialists.

The Agency’s members are known as ‘Ectochoir Hunters’ or simply ‘Hunters’. Tracking down state enemies who reincarnate or repossess internationally is obviously a very difficult task, so the Agency draws heavily on Rhunsari intelligence. The Agency has tremendous resourcing and political power, and operates largely independently and without oversight. It has largely avoided the recent political strife, remaining focused on tracking down its list of state enemies.

One particularly notable Ectochoir Hunter, active in the 9th century, was an elven man named Valentine. Valentine was extremely intelligent, a masterful warrior, and really loved to fight. Despite rising to a position of seniority in the Agency’s ranks, he would constantly dispatch himself out on interesting missions and engage in cat-and-mouse battles of wits with Agency targets. During quiet periods, he lent himself out to Athaelore nobility to oversee battle strategy, and usually personally joined the fight. After being poisoned, bludgeoned, pushed from a window, shot by multiple archers then run over by a horse, Valentine died at the hands of a Utopian assassination squad. A decade ago, he reappeared anew, as the Worldspirit of Battle.

**OOC Note:** These countries were the conception of player Will Glenn. All power to the Glenn.