Empyrean Free State

The Empyrean Free State is a special autonomous zone on eastern Izus, and one of the more noteworthy nations in Abinor. While the majority of it's territory is uninhabited, the EFS is mostly known for the Empyrea Metroplex, which the entire nation is named after.

## History

The city that was once called "Neverwhere" was founded in 1733, when the region was a slightly more inhabited sandy prairie, by the eccentric Elven billionaire Novis Empyr. The project was originally supposed to be a new form of arcology that would allow for more amenities and "natural development", but in it's early years the city was a wreck, with insufficient inhabitants, struggling to stay afloat. This would, however, substantially change during the buildup to the First Occult War, where tensions and skirmishes that broke out across the largely unstable and underinhabited Izus led many rural people to flock to urban areas. Empyrea strategically adopted an open borders policy, heavily increasing immigration and bringing much needed labor and wealth to the city.

In 1843, Neverwhere would build it's Citadel, as a form of preparation for a possible future conflict. This was a massive construction undertaking, as well as a promised safety measure against the possible war. These two factors combined caused Neverwhere to explode, doubling in population over a single decade from a respectable six million to nearly a dozen, a number which would quintuple over the next few years as the outlook became increasingly bleak. This explosion led to a massive amount of overcrowding, and in response developments for the city were continuously revised with larger and larger towers, eventually leading to the development of the first Megabuildings in order to house the massive population of incoming residents.

Neverwhere would remain as a populous and well-managed Citadel during and after OC1. However, in 2012, it would mysteriously vanish off of all communications and radar, leading many to believe some kind of arcane accident had occurred. In reality, the governing council had chosen to cease contact with other Citadels and go completely independent, as they grew increasingly annoyed at what they believed was poor management on the part of many other cities. Less than half a century later, that same council would fall.

In 2066, a rogue terrorist cell set off a chain of Arcane Diffusion Bombs during a Council Summit, leading to a complete government decapitation. Despite one of the most intense searches in history, the operatives would never be identified or caught, and were also never seen nor heard from again, leading to a variety of conspiracy theories about this specific group, their motivations, and their resources. Regardless, E-SEC saw the opportunity. Empyrean Security had long been the dominant corporate force in the city, essentially serving as a private police and military organization, and so with no official government left, they had by far the easiest time seizing power.

Zero, now the defacto head of the government, immediately ordered preparations for a return to the surface. This would be a long-term project over the course of a century and a half, but it did succeed, at least initially. OC2 would follow almost immediately, but due to extensive technological developments, Empyrean Security would actually manage to repel the force. No breach into Empyrea occurred, and their defense of the city remains renowned to this day.

The city became an undisputed global powerhouse. Negotiations with the relatively weak and recovering kingdoms allowed the city to demand a large swathe of nearby land as it's own territory, leading to the development of the Empyrean Free State. It is at this point that the city itself would be renamed to Empyrea. The city would also become a major global leader, establishing the Post-War Settlement Coalition in 2245, and becoming the first nation to grant unrestricted rights to Aversions in 2289.

The Red would not extensively effect Empyrea, but due to their proximity to many who suffered under it's weight, the city would continue to grow in size, and would implement several major quarantine measures. The infection would lead to the city adopting and becoming the major headquarters of Callista's Pest Management Company, which would later be merged into E-SEC as their so-called "Pest Management Department". Empyrean scientists would also be major players in the development of the Matrix, the technology for which had been developed for a long time in the city. The Matrix would officially go live across PWSC nations in 2440.

## Regions

### Empyrea Metroplex

The Empyrea Metroplex is the primary beating heart of the nation, and the central government and authority thereof. Approximately 95% of the nation's population resides within the Metroplex alone. For more information on the culture and geography of the Empyrea Metroplex, view the main article here.

### Greydome

The Greydome is the only other major settlement of Empyrea, with about 3% of the national population. The Greydome is a multi-organization corporate arcology, which serves partially as a corporate city and partially as a "reformist" camp for captured nomads and criminals, who are essentially used as slaves.

### Greylands

The Greylands is the term used in Empyrea for everything outside the Metroplex. The Empyrean Free State originally had the land surrounding it ceded to the Metroplex because the area is an Ash Desert, a type of Magically Generated Zone with silver sand. Like most deserts, however, it is mostly uninhabitable, with only a few wandering nomad groups outside of the main settlements which are able to harvest groundwater.

## Government and Politics

After the collapse of the council, Empyrea does not technically have a central government. Empyrean Security has acted as the permanent "interim government" ever since the fall of the council, and while they may not be the state leaders *technically*, in practice the nation is a corporate monarchy ruled by Zero. The only thing keeping the megacorps somewhat in check is The Genesis Group, a union of Empyrea-based mages, though even they are not exactly friends of the people and tend to only act in their own self-interest.

Due to this complicated status, it is difficult to say with certainty exactly what the nation is. It has socialist policies despite being *essentially* an anarcho-capitalist state, it has a legally recognized code of laws despite the fact that the government who enacted those laws are technically no longer the legal authority, and the closest thing it has to a head of state is an ancient dragon who only really acts like the head of state when it's convenient for him. Additionally, the Greylands outside of the Empyrea Metroplex are largely lawless, with E-SEC essentially not caring enough to enforce much order out there. This means most of the smaller shantytowns and Nomad camps are completely anarchistic, or have their own individual leadership structure.

## Inhabitants

The Empyrean Free State is naturally unlivable and has no native Metavariants. Due to the city's history, the Empyrea Metroplex is essentially a free zone for any and all Metahumans, with full citizenship being granted to almost all Metahumans and a large variety of Metasapients. This does have some exceptions, Drow in the city are widely discriminated against and treated as a second class due to the long history of corporate conflicts with the native underworlders, and there is some (albeit substantially less) discrimination towards nomads and wastelanders, who are often called "Villa Dicance", a term that while not inherently demeaning can and is used in a demeaning way.