Neuphany

The larger of the two islands is referred to as Neuphany

**Neuphany** is an island continent in the Tomyrian Sea, a collective of seven fiefdoms that act as an autonomous region under The House of Darcedon. It is located in some thousands of miles from Vostok Manda, and further still from larger continental powers. It is immediately northwest of the island of Tyrrhos and directly north of the Baerisian Islands.

The region's name comes from the Merovian dialect, *Neuf* and *-phania*, literally "Nine Divisions." Its largest cities are White Harbor and Certusa. It is divided into seven provinces: Arborea(literally "The Arbor); Arcadia (literally "The Arcade"); Cisteria (literally "The Cistern"); Laconia (literally "The Lacquer"); Gantelusia(literally "The Gauntlet"); Crotalusia (literally "The Crotales"); and Cascadia (literally "The Cascades"). The region of Bastria (literally, "The Bast") has been incorporated into Laconia.

The official language of Neuphany is Kasmirian Common, as it is a principality of Darcedon, but the most commonly spoken languages are Low Elvish and Merovian Common.

The Pontifect estimates that between 4 million and 7 million people live in Neuphany, though some scholars estimate that there could be up to 80 million people that live on the continent.

## Geography

Neuphany is the largest known continent in the Tomyrian Sea, with an area of 3.2mm sq mi. To the west and northwest of Neuphany is the Ivory Sea, a unit of the Tomyrian Sea and a sliver between Neuphany and the Astoric Ocean to the north; to Neuphany's east is the shallow Arpasian Sea, which extends all the way to Jigoku, the alleged lands of the Muzdash Empire. It is 3,300 miles long from its northernmost island to southernmost tip, and 1,400 miles across at its widest point.

Neuphany is a mere six miles from Tyrrhos at their closest points, and is at least 12,000 miles from Vostok Manda. The Arpasian Sea portion of the Tomyrian Sea is directly to the east of Neuphany. The Strait of Espios is directly south of Neuphany and separates Neuphany from Tyrrhos. The coasts of Neuphany are about 8,000 miles long, and are generally high and rocky, with long, relatively straight stretches of coastline, many outstanding headlands, a few wide, deep bays, and many inlets with various smaller islands off the coast.

The island is itself ancient and is mostly not earthquake-prone, save for the Astoric-facing coasts. Due to erosion, the island's highlands are formed of granite, schist, trachyte, basalt, sandstone and limestone, and stand somewhere around 900 feet above sea level. The highest peak is the Strangled Point at 7,000 ft, part of the Choking Peaks in the southern center of the island, as a part of the greater chain of the Mountain of Mountains. Other mountain chains the Orphans, with Mount Bulan at 4,450 ft in the north; the Chain of Manilusa and Sindanaro at 4,131 ft, running crosswise for 1,000 miles in the center; South Point at 3,468 ft, among the Long Heavens in the southeast; and Point Joy at 4,055 ft, in the New Princes of the northwest. The island's ranges and plateaus are separated by wide alluvial valleys and flatlands, the main ones being Castille in the valleys of Arcadia, and the Tiltyards in the northwest.

Neuphany has few major rivers, the largest being the Dancers, 894 mi long, which flows into the Ivory Sea; the Stormrun at 352 mi, and the Lasars at 166 mi. There are 54 lakes that supply water and food, including the unusually salty Salissan Sea in the center-south of Arborea. The major lakes are the Lake of Thorns and Lake Hegglar. The only pure freshwater lake is the Alabastron. A number of large, shallow, salt-water lagoons and pools are located along the coastline.

### Climate

The climate of the island is variable from area to area, due to several factors including the extension in latitude and the elevation. During the year there is a major concentration of rainfall in the winter and autumn, some heavy showers in the spring and snowfalls in the highlands. The average temperature is 65 °F, with mild winters and hot summers on the coasts, 50 °F in January and 78 °F in July, and cold winters and cool summers on the mountains, 33 °F in January and 68 °F in July.

Rainfall engulfs the island sporadically, with almost totally rainless summers and wet autumns, winters and springs. However, in summer, the rare rainfalls can be characterized by short but severe thunderstorms, which can cause flash floods. The climate is also heavily influenced by the vicinity and the relative proximity of the Astoric Ocean.

In CE 989, the island was hit by several cyclones, included the Great Cyclone, which dumped almost 18 inches of rainfall within an hour and a half. Neuphany being relatively large and hilly, weather is not uniform; in particular the East is drier, but paradoxically it suffers the worst rainstorms.

The western coast has a higher distribution of rainfalls even for modest elevations. The driest part of the island is the coast of Broken Gulf and the Castille, the wettest is the top of the Mountain of Mountains.

### Ecology

Neuphany is home to a wide variety of incredible animals, such as the sea lion, unicorn, mustang, griffin, elephant, leucrotta, and auroch. The lampago is also rumored to have been taken from Vostok Manda and brought to the island.

A variety of scaled beasts include the frost salamander, dragons, and basilisk. Neuphany is also home to many songbirds, such as the crown-of-birds, summer green jay, and crying wren. More predatory birds include the roc, honey buzzard, golden eagle, red-eyed owl, gale falcon, and leontophone. The hundreds of lagoons and coastal lakes that dot the island are home for many species of wading birds, such as flamingos.

Conversely, Neuphany lacks many species common in other parts of the world, such as venomous snakes, bears, and wolves, which can be found even in Tyrrhos.

## History

*For more information on individual provinces, see Category:Regions.*

### Prehistory

#### The Hellastian civilization

The first people to settle in Neuphany Preliturgy were the Tirahni people, have evidence of arriving from some unknown continent to the east and moving from a tribal, nomadic lifestyle to agriculture. Once arriving in the island of Avalon, they lived in the forests of Arendor with few developments. After the invasion of the neogi some time later, the eladrin spread from Arendor into Baredor, Selendor, and even as far south as Tyrrhos. With this, the peoples remaining in Cisteria became the ancient Hellastians, and those who sailed south into Tyrrhos in modern-day *Balencia* re-established Tirahn.

The Hellastians struggled for power among themselves until being united by Elemorya, whose death heralded the entrance of the great dragon Ghi, who helped maintain unity and peace among the Hellastians. Ghi perished in a battle with the Leviathan, and the Hellastian state of Prace collapsed into in-fighting soon after, with the city of Ghine in Ludor attempting to regain control unsuccessfully for centuries. This was also precipitated by the discovery of bronze.

An invading force from the Ions, a chain of islands to the northwest, attacked and put an end to these Ghinec incursions and conquered most of coastal Prace. However, the Hellastians fended off the Ionians by tapping into the innate magic of the Heart of Prace, resulting in the Sehanine: though the Ionians were driven back into the sea thanks to new elven designs in weapons and magic, the eladrin disappeared within the generation, as their children became the elves. Prace was also reduced from a great jungle of permanent spring into a land of great plains and spattered forests.

#### Sasceri developments

   During the Bronze Era and into the dawn of the First Era, villages in southern Neuphany were built around round tower-fortresses called Saskens. These towers were often reinforced and enlarged with battlements. Tribal boundaries were guarded by smaller lookout Saskens erected on strategic hills commanding a view of other territories. These were distinct from the constructions of the Subrason, as the Sasceri demonstrated unique, pragmatic styles and showed a culture closer to the giants of their lineage.

Today, some 7,000 Saskens dot the Neuphonic landscape, particularly in *Arcadia*. While early Saskens had a relatively simple structure, with time they became extremely complex and monumental, seen most notably in the Sasken Uram or Sasken Malor. The scale, complexity and territorial spread of these buildings attest to the level of wealth accumulated by the Sasceri people, their advances in technology and the complexity of their society, which was able to coordinate large numbers of people with different roles for the purpose of building the monumental Saskens.

The Saskens are not the only Sasceri buildings that survive, as there are several sacred wells around Neuphany and other buildings that had religious purposes such as the Giants' graves in the Mountain of Mountains, and collections of religious buildings that probably served as destinations for pilgrimage and mass religious rites, such as Sar Iridei in *Cascadia*.

Neuphany was, at the time, well linked by several commercial routes and it was an important provider of raw materials such as copper and lead to the Muzdash Empire, which was pivotal for the manufacture of the time. By controlling the extraction of these raw materials for this massive civilization, the Sasceri civilization was able to accumulate wealth and reach an unrivaled level of sophistication that is not only reflected in the complexity of its surviving buildings, but also in its artworks, such as the votive bronze statuettes found across Neuphany, or the gargoyle statues of Manilusa and Sindanaro.

According to some scholars, the Sasceri people are even identifiable with the Ionians, but this has yet to be confirmed. The Ions are likely a unique chain of islands and not an exonym for Arcadia, and the Sasceri share no resemblance to the Ionians in descriptions by survivors.

The Sasceri civilization was linked with other contemporaneous megalithic civilization of the Tomyrian Sea, such as the pygmies culture of the Baerisian Islands and the Subrason of Tyrrhos. Evidence of trade with the other civilizations of the time is attested by several artifacts bearing witness to the scope of commercial relations between the Sasceri people and other societies at the time. Most notable was their trade with the Muzdash Empire at the height of the rule of Nebonyses the Great, who leveraged their metallurgical skill to dominate most of Jigoku.

#### Judges of Arborea

During the Exodus of times Preliturgy, the *muhaphos* to the east cast out many
groups of people into permanent exile for various reasons, mainly
pertaining to religion or ethnic composition. One such grouped
worshiped Melakesh, and led by Melakesh
himself, the pilgrims intended to sail west. Unfortunately, a great storm divided the fleet. The ships that remained
 with Melakesh, the Serenites, continued to sail west and would form the kingdom of Serenity in a faraway land. Many ships sank, to the peril of those left behind, the Senerites, who settled in Neuphany.

Likely in the Early Bronze Era, a group of pastoral nomads called the
Masagatae sailed into Neuphany,
 onto the coasts of *Cantabria*. These peoples
were being pursued by a god-king from the former states of named Caronos, flanked by a massive army said to have been tall and all
in the same image of Caronos. What this looked like exactly is unknown, and the god-king was defeated by Tomyra the Great.

The native Senerites came into conflict with the Masagatae, but were no
match for the iron weapons and horses that the Masagatae could field.
They were made vassal states of the Masagatae under Queen Tomyra. After her eventual death, her daughters inherited her lands: Cantaba took *Cantabria*, Utet was given *Utetoria*, and for Malca, *Solernia*.

A younger brother of these sisters, Lenor, would later return from tutelage under a dwarf and conquer *Solernia* by allying with the Senerites and teaching them horseback riding, smithing, and strategy. Lenor would also eventually incorporate *Cantabria*, and *Utetoria* styled itself after the government Lenor created. His system of governance, called a *judgedom*, was a complex legal code that would last until the First Era.

#### Other Neuphonic settlement

At some point, the Subrason expanded from Tyrrhos into Cascadia in Neuphany, building the hypogeum tombs known as the Primordial Dolmens that mark the highlands of Phrygia. This is when the Subrason allegedly developed the metallurgy of copper and silver.

Prior to the Bronze Era, the so-called Decapitian culture, whose origins are unknown, appeared in Arborea. These new people predominantly settled on the west coast, where the majority of the sites attributed to them had been found. The Decapitian culture existed until the Bronze Era, concentrated around modern-day Jorif in *Illyria*.

There is some indication that Hyperboreans, a race of giants, lived
somewhere in the Orphans until the late First Era, though conflict with
the Madelians led to their emigration from Neuphany.

As time passed, most of the different Neuphonic populations outside of the elves appear to have become united in customs, yet remained politically divided into various small, tribal groupings, at times banding together, and at others waging war against each other. Habitations consisted of round thatched stone huts, and they were divided particular by their gods.

### Ancient history

#### Perth and Dinam

By the Second Era, the Perths had established themselves as one of the most powerful political forces on Neuphany. They had the first significant naval presence native to the Old World, and had alliances and trade partners as far north as the elves and as far south as the Baerisian Islands.

The region of Arborea was slowly assimilated or otherwise conquered by the Kingdom of Themyscria during the First Era, and after a series of revolts, became reformed into the Dinamid Republic. This loose confederation was structurally one of the most influential emerging cultures in the region.

The most common ports of call for the Perths and Dinamians were Port Rane, Hansus, Brach, White Harbor, and Anthos. Niniven del Brach, an Eighth Era poet, in his poem *So Sung the Sky*, stated that White Harbor (previously Nebopolis) was founded by "sons of Zadeh," probably at the same time of the foundation of Perepolis, in the early First Era. This trade connected distant cultures to one another, and Perthic ambition turned from purely commerce to desire for the exotic riches of a disorganized Prace. However, these aims backfired in a major way: Tyranno the Great, fed up with Perth's manipulation of the elves, united a majority of the kingdoms under his command and attacked Perth. In the process, the Sasceri's civilization collapsed.

After the fall of the Sasceri civilization, a melding of their people and their wood elf slaves begot the Omerad race, who took over Arcadia in mere decades. At the same time, Dinamid and Perthic armies were forged to keep this new threat contained in Arcadia, as well as taking them as slaves. These slaves overthrew their Dinamid masters in a few coastal cities, and an alliance between these cities and Perth led to the Perthic Wars.

Conflict between DInam and Perth did not cease after the First Perthic War, with Lonenbeing annexed and *Sardonia* refusing port of call to Perthic ships, making extracting silver more difficult for Perth to pay off war debts. Finally, tensions erupted into a global conflict that would effectively lead to the Magdamolia. The Second Perthic War was the first total war, as the erasure of the opponent civilization was the ultimate goal of each player. The result was the Caliphate being nearly wiped out and the Dinamid Republic having no further challengers on the continent.

Except for the mountainous interior of the island, which the Dinamians called *Barbaria*, the Dinamid Republic expanded throughout Neuphany and beyond through conquest, including parts of elven Prace and Tyrrhos. However, a growing dependence on Tyrrhosi agriculture, complex political schemes, and tensions between social classes culminated in the Castigation of Espios, in which the metropolis was called upon for a census, the implication being that it was now annexed by Dinam. For a variety of cultural and political reasons, this led to the collapse of the Republic and formally led to conflict across the Old World.

#### Gaius Olivius

Over thirty years of war ended when the son of the last Kaiser, Gaius Virilo, ascended to political prominence and eliminated his rivals around CE 30 until CE 33. Once *Solernia* was secured, he mustered the Olivian Army, an army of some hundreds of thousands at its peak, and conquered all of the Old World before setting off to conquer new lands by CE 78.

Even after his death, the Olivian Army continued to rule over Neuphany's provinces. These Goodfellow enclaves maintained a praetorian hegemony that would last for over two centuries, known as the Age of Black Banners. Their rule ushered in feudal society and stunted economic growth, save for the elven lands of Prace, which managed to break free of Goodfellow rule at its onset. Southern Neuphany would not have such fortune until the Ninth Era.

#### Name

Up until the Eight Era, Neuphany was known as *Stoavor*, or "Hall of Giants," in Elvish. Oepitorus notes that the southern Sasceri towered over the ancient Hellastians at nearly twice their height, and the valleys filled with Saskens, especially in *Arcadia*, would describe the island with great accuracy. However, with the emergence of the Ascani *parastels* in the Eighth Era, the historic name *Stoavor* became superseded by the official Ascani name of Neuphany, which was used first used sometime around the appointment of a prefect according to Ascani records. Neuphany, or *Neuphania*, literally means, "Nine Kingdoms."

### Falian conquest

The mysterious armies of the Falians conquered Neuphany in the latter part of the Eighth Era. Their rule lasted for about 20 years, up to CE 519. The Falians were a military force that broke apart Goodfellow rule quite easily, though struggled to maintain order especially after their initial khan perished and internal affairs led to its downfall.

Simultaneously, the city of Lenorum nurtured a new empire, Ascanium, and their alliance with the elves to the north helped prevent total Falian rule. Most of Neuphany declared fealty to the God-Emperor Saturn by CE 523, with the elves maintaining independence in the north. The Papetral Pontifect expanded as a method of maintaining elven feudalism in the Borean League to a larger, global force in an effot to maintain peace and open negotiations between the now unburdened nation-states, though conflict was still inevitable.

### Ascani Era and the Rise of the Fiefdoms

Neuphany remained in Ascani hands for the next 150 years, aside from a short period in which it was invaded by a Fabian contingent in CE 552. Under Ascani rule, the island was divided into districts called *parastel* in Ascani Common, which were governed by a magistrate residing in Lenorum and garrisoned by an army stationed in *Forœ Tacti*, or "tackle forts," under the command of the God-Emperor. During this time, the mystery of Saclis took deeper root on the island, supplanting the other heroic mysteries which had survived into the early Mythic Ages in the culturally conservative hinterlands. Along with this, the followers of monastic figures such as Rosemary of Jorif became established in Neuphany. The High Pontiff commented that the varying religions caused the southern inhabitants, the non-elves, to continue “living all like irrational animals, ignore the delights of the Pontifect, and worshiping wood and stone”.

The dates and circumstances of the end of Ascani rule in Neuphany are not known. Even with the death of Saturn, order was maintained at least through the Tenth Era, after which local legates were empowered in the face of the rebellion of Exarch Brandopol, and the first invasion of the Auber conquest of Vostok Manda. There is some evidence that senior Ascani administration in the Exarchate retreated to Anthos following the final fall of Perepolis to the Auber in CE 643. The loss of imperial control led to escalating raids by Auber on the island, the first of which is documented in CE 644, forcing increased military self-reliance in each province. Communication with the central government became daunting if not impossible during and after the Auber conquest of Arborea between CE 608 and CE 642. A letter by High Pontiff Velzar as early as CE 651 mentions the "Neuphonic lords", without reference to the empire, and another of his letters later refers to them as "little princes".

By the close of the Eleventh Era, the Ascani authorities no longer listed any imperial province as their own in their records, suggesting they considered the empire lost. A Niocletian family, the Mandolins, acceded to the power of Archon, still identifying themselves as vassals of the Ascani, but *de facto* independent. These rulers were still closely linked to the Ascani, both for a pact of ancient vassalage, and from the ideological point of view, with the use of Ascani Common, and the use of art of Ascani inspiration. However, they were only an economic power and held influence in title only.

In the late Eleventh Era, an attempt to conquer the entire continent was made by the Jackal King. The only records of that war are from Pri and Cyravine records have chronicled. The Neuphonic forces won, but after that, Ascanium was totally undermined and divided into nine small states: The Arbor, *Arborea*; The Cascades, *Cascadia*; The Arcade, *Arcadia*; The Lacquer, *Laconia*; The Crotales, *Crotalusia*; The Gauntlet, *Gantelesia*; The Cistern, *Cisteria*; The Bast, *Bastria*; and The Ossuary, *Ossuria*.

Whether this final transformation from imperial civil servant to independent sovereign bodies resulted from imperial abandonment or local assertion, by the Twelfth Era, the so-called *legedas* had emerged as the autonomous rulers of Neuphany. The title of *legedas* changed with the language and local understanding of the position, becoming the Neuphonic *princopol*, essentially a king or sovereign, while *benofeif*, literally "bequeathed (territory)", came to mean "fiefdom".

Early mythic Neuphonic political institutions evolved from the millennium-old Dinamid imperial structures with relatively little Ascani influence or otherwise. Prace remained under Papetral control, independent states that were not affected by imperial collapse.

Following the destruction of the imperial city of Lenorum, the House of Merovia led by Robaerigon and later his lieutenant and paladin Galmes the Bloody conquered most of Arborea and maintained what little imperial structures remained.

Although the fiefdoms were hereditary lordships, the old Ascani imperial notion that personal title or honor was separate from the state still remained, so the fiefdom was not regarded as the personal property of the monarch as was common in later feudalism. Like the imperial systems, the new order also preserved "semi-democratic" forms, with national assemblies called the Crown of the Realm. Each *princopol* saw to its own defense, maintained its own laws and administration, and looked after its own foreign and trading affairs.

The history of the nine fiefdoms would be defined by the contest for influence between the rival rising sea powers of Cyravest and Pria, and later the ambitions of the Crown of Darcedon.

#### Neuphonic Fiefdoms and Cyravine rule

Cisteria would not be united during this period, instead being controlled by individually powerful elven families who had become wealthy during the previous eras. However, as other human houses emerged, their rule became undermined and more lower-class elves sought human mates, a class conflict that resulted in further isolationism of Cisteria. Papetral rule was manipulated by emerging Merchant Republics, until finally a war between the two largest, Pria and Cyravest, resulted in Cyravine domination in Cisteria, and later the Old World.

Bastria had a hypothetical Lost Kingdom, and came to an end after the marriage of a *princopola* Delilah II, who had no prior heirs, of the House of Mandolin. The territory was annexed with grace by Acharon, Delilah II married to Alfonso Marques, with rulership being given to William III in CE 826 as a Crown Prince of the Jade House of Lords.

William III was told by his cousin Simon Daudalise, under instruction of the Cyravine Delphan, that he would be granted the rights of magistrate and a competent army if he surrendered Laconia as Cyravine territory. William III, born in Cyravest, agreed and so forth became the magistrate of Cyravine territory in lower Neuphany until his death, of which no heirs were produced.

It was not long after that William III of Cyravest sent a general, Arturio the Revenant, to conquer Gantelusiain an effort to incorporate the territory into Laconia. The only actual city in Gantelusia, Ketere, was well-fortified. Arturio the Revenant instigated conflict with Crotalusia by taking the ill-defended Onassus with his army, for a better foothold to capture Ketere. The Cyravine forces then fortified in Onassus, and were able to besiege Ketere until it fell in CE 854. The *principol* Hadrian IV fled to Tyrrhos.

After Crotalusia mobilized against Cyravine forces, its primary settlement in *Utetoria*, Thintergal, was annexed by the House of Merovia in CE 859. The *principol*, Ephistomedes the Elder, was allowed to continue his rule, only ceding authority to Arboreaand permitting military garrisons. Those from the region, descendants of the peoples corralled into *Barbaria*, were not resistant to what they saw as protection from the Arbor against Laconia. This alliance would later be broken when Merovia failed to provide aid during the invasion of Kasmir half a century later.

The Cascades, or *Cascadia*, deteriorated in its overall imperial presence due to local *shoguns* becoming the primary brokers of economic and military might: they hired their own armies, and ultimately relied very little on imperial control. Ambitions by the notable Auber tactician Varorobias succeeded in establishing independent shogunates across Cascadia. These functioned independently until CE 895.

Though protected well by natural landforms and myths of being cursed, Ossuria collapsed in CE 870, when the last *principol*, Niniven Malthus, a friend of Dante Vieta, was driven out by Zemori forces, who occupied the territory.

The *principol* of Arcadia, an elected viceroy by the name of Catogerix, successfully repelled advances from both Pri and Cyravine forces, though much of the marches of The Arcade were ceded to his neighbors. Ultimately, he sought help from Arborea in the last decade of the Thirteenth Era, relinquishing independent rule of Arcadia in CE 870 as part of a longstanding nonaggression pact.

The one unconquered fiefdom *Arborea* never surrendered to Pri, Cyravine, nor Kasmirian military. Its contemporary history is entwined with the attempt to unify the island into a single Neuphonic republic, a unification to defend against their relatives and former Kasmirian allies.

### Reign of Darcedon

In CE 880, High Pontiff Velzar established by a *motu proprio* a hypothetical Kingdom of Tyrrhos called *Medea*. He did so in order to settle the War of the Bloody Vigil diplomatically. This had broken out in CE 875 between the Jade House of Lords and the November Brotherhood over the possession of Kasmir and Laconia as a whole. Despite the existence of the indigenous states, the High Pontiff offered this newly created crown to King Alexander III, promising him support should he wish to conquer the territory in exchange for resolving the crisis.

In CE 895, in alliance with Arborea, and following a military campaign that lasted a year or so, the Darcedon Crown Prince Phillip II led a hussar army to not just conquer Tyrrhos, but all of Neuphany, naming them "*The Principalities of Neuphany and Tyrrhos.*" Taking the title, "The Dragon," Prince Phillip II engaged in a massive conflict between himself and five other major rulers in Neuphany that became known as the War of the Dragons. By the end of this conflict, Prince Phillip would either take through military might or marry into possession of most of the provinces or at least parts of such provinces. He would arrange for each state to be under centralized authority. He would sire a child with each ruling house, who had tertiary claim to his throne as collateral.

The *principol* of Arborea first promulgated the legal code of the principality in the *"*Charter of the Land", the *carta blanche*. The Charter was originally compiled by Bonafice V of Merovia, and was amended and updated by Bonafice's daughter and Prince Phillip II's wife, *principola* Justinia of Merovia. The legal code was written in Common and established a whole range of citizens' rights. Among the revolutionary concepts in this Charter was the right of women to refuse marriage and to own property. In terms of civil liberties, the code made provincial Thirteenth Era Neuphany one of the most developed societies in all of the world.

In CE 897, Duke Antonio VI of Darcedon, following Darcedonian customs, granted parliaments to the Principalities conquered by Phillip II, which was followed by some degree of self-government under a viceroy and principal independence. This parliament, however, had limited powers. It consisted of high-ranking military commanders, the clergy and the nobility.

The mostly independent Arborea maintained its parliament, which was thereafter called the "Crown of the Realm," or the Corophant. In this parliament, apart from the nobles and military commanders, also sat the representatives of each township and village. The Corophant exercised some control over the prince; under their rule, the prince could be deposed or even executed if he did not follow the rules of the kingdom.

Then was broken the alliance with the Crown of Darcedon. From CE 897 to 953, the Merovian Bonafice V and Hildern I, son of Justinia of Arborea, succeeded in allying with all of Neuphany except the heavily fortified Laconia, which remain as the only Darcedonian dominions in Neuphany.

In CE 953, Phillip III of Kasmir, the Ruby Prince of Kasmir and heir to the crown of Darcedon, defeated Neuphanonic forces at the Battle of Agabad. The battle was fought by about 45,000 Neuphaniard, Cyravine and Merovian knights, enrolled by their lords at a time when the population of Neuphany had been greatly depleted by war. Despite the Neuphonic army outnumbering the Darcedonian army, they were soundly defeated.

The parliament of the Corophant disappeared in CE 953, when its rights were sold by the last prince for 100,000 gold florins, and after some of its most notable men switched sides in exchange for privileges. For example, Alfonse di Grassi, with some claim to the crown being from a family related to both Merovia and Darcedon, was granted the title of Exarch of Duessel and feudal rights over Arborea, Cascadia, and Arcadia in exchange for his subjection to the Darcedonian monarchs.

Thereafter and into the Modern Age, the Principality of Neuphany was divided into seven smaller fiefdoms: The Arbor, *Arborea*; The Cascades, *Cascadia*; The Arcade, *Arcadia*; The Lacquer, *Laconia*; The Crotales, *Crotalusia*; The Gauntlet, *Gantelesia*; and The Cistern, *Cisteria.* Notably, *Bastria* and *Ossuria* were not reincorporated as fiefdoms, having their land inherited by other fiefdoms. *Arcadia* lost territory in its north to the benefit of inheriting *Ossuria*. *Laconia* inherited *Bastria* outright, to the chagrin of the natives.

The Papet was also succeeded by the Niocletians, who organized a military to enforce new charters in Cisteria and Gantelusia. However, despite the unceremonious end to the High Pontiff, the only tangible result has been the actual organization of its army in northern Cisteria as well as the abandoning of its use as a congressional by other houses.

### Modern Age

In CE 984, the Crown Prince of Darcedon Roland III was challenged by an alliance of Duessel, led by the House of Merovia, and two other dignified houses, Marques and Mandolin. Prince Roland III, displeased, attempted to organize the loose alliance of fiefdoms still bound to Darcedon both in explicit charter and by heritage. However, he disappeared while in White Harbor, leading to the Darcedonian army to invade Arborea, Gantelusia, and Cascadia. This War of the Lost Prince came to an inconclusive end after Duessel and its allies withdrew its claim about a year after it was placed, and an unsteady peace was achieved when Darcedon encountered too great of resistance to pursue military ambitions.

Recent developments have occurred, with an organized mercenary army known as the Ten Thousand have arrived on Arborea's southern border of Arcadia. The army, besieging the city of Arelon, was claimed by the Arcadian duke, with the intent to make claim to the title of Exarch. The Merovian Exarch ordered the army to be moved from Arelon by one week's time or Arcadia would be crushed by the Merovian army. It has since been one month, and where this leaves the world is unclear.

This period after the death of the High Pontiff Velzar has been called the Modern Age, one marked by war and increasing complexity in legal rights, ascension, and war. It is also a period of flourishing study and cultural exchange between the isolationist Prace and the southern lands of Neuphany.