The Politics of Primus

In the 2200 years of Immortal  presence on Primus, nations have waxed and waned. Grudges have formed, been forgiven, and forgotten. Alliances, treaties, hostilities, entire nations have risen and fallen by the wayside. Below is a summary of the general relations between the major players still present in Primus in the year 2200.

## Confederacy of Ashed City-States (The Ashed)

The fourteen city-states of the People of Ash maintain no formal alliances with other nations, although they have a strong economic relationship with a number of other powers. The rogue city-state of NorthGuard is the only presence the Ashed have away from the mainland and it is found across the narrow sea on the coast of the Ebony Isle. The Ashed are industrialists and as such produce much of the end products which the Family Hearth trade throughout the world. The Ashed are recognized as consummate professionals in any craft they take up. Their high-quality steel is purchased in mass quantity by the Broken Kingdom and their mass-produced goods fill the homes of many Tallet  citizens. They import massive amounts of raw material from the Unclaimed Nations and the Unduellar.

## The Family Hearth

The Family Hearth is a mobile nation with a long reach and little land they call their own. They have focused their energy on the creation of roads, establishment of trade routes, and control of international trade. They represent the strongest naval power and perhaps the weakest military in Primus. Their ships and caravans can be found throughout the world, the prosperity of many nations reliant on the transportation and middle-man services that the Family goes out of their way to maintain a monopoly on. The Family's presence in the world is felt through their control of trade, which is supported via trade hubs which are found in virtually every major city, large town, and nation in the world (although exceptions exist). The trade hubs of the Family Hearth act as branches of their bank, helping to further cement their power over the economy of the world. In recent history conflicts between the Family and Circle  have lead to the Trade War. Which eventually created a Hearth-Goran alliance.

## The Goran Nation

The Goran Nation is an immense and highly populous ab human  nation. The expansionist, religous ,and warlike culture stretches from the warm waters of the northern banks of the world ocean all the way to the frigid tundra in the south. The Goran nation essentially marks the split between the west and east of the world (with the Goran being considered the far west, moving past them resulting in one being in the far east again), as few aside from the Family Hearth travel their lands, and even the Family caravans rarely transverse the entirety of the Goran Nation. The Goran Nation is marked by its ruler Gor the Fire God who maintains a civilization of stratified castes and high fanaticism. As all land nominally belongs to Gor, anyone that is not Goran is an enemy of the Goran Nation. Exception to this is the Family Hearth who has pledged itself as vassal to the Goran Nation, joining in servitude to Gor.

## The Inisfall Confederacy

The Confederacy is a collection of city-states which encompass the coastal areas of the large land mass east of the Ebony Isle but north of the Tallet Empire. They share the large Isle of Dair with the Fratres Megatherii, who they previously fought with. These are a freedom-loving people who maintain a firm aggression against anything which may suppress them. This rebellious spirit leads them to perpetually break down any monopolies or oligarchies which form in their own nation, and a religious crusade against foreign powers who seek to establish such things. The nominal enemies of the Confederacy are the Tallet Empire which denies people their personal freedom and the Circle  which denies its people their economic freedom. Like most nations, the Goran are nominally considered to be a force of nature for which one prepares to endure, but cannot hope to eliminate.

## The Pillars of Ebony

The Pillars are coalition of the five remaining nations on the Ebony Isle. These are an isolationist people who seek little other than to drive away the invading forces from the mainland. They maintain trade relations with those who come to their shores, but are the devoted enemy of any who try to stay. The Pillars of Ebony have no true allies in the world, but count NorthGuard, the Tallet, and the Goran as their enemies.

## The Tallet Empire

The Tallet Empire is the expansionist nation found near the center point of most maps of Primus. Near the homeland of the Family Hearth and relatively isolated from direct contact with other Immortal nations, the Empire seems bent on world conquest. The Family Hearth finds an expansive market for their goods in the heavily populated Empire and is the closest thing the Empire has to an ally, although the Tallet are known to be on relatively good terms with the Kushan Empire despite the events of the Great War. The Tallet Empire is considered to be the nominal enemy of any Immortal save their own Faceless Emperor and the 14th Councilmember as there is a steep reward to be had for any captured Immortal brought to the Ivory City. The devout enemies of the Tallet Empire consist of the Broken Kingdom and the Circle, neither nation willing to forgive or forget the events of the Great War.

## The Circle (The Technocracy)

The Circle is a pragmatic empire found near the World Sea in the far east. Lead by the merit-based totalitarian council known as the Technocracy, the Circle labors to bring other nations into its growing empire by their own volition. The Circle is notorious for its missionary work, in which propaganda is spread to surrounding areas touting the high standard of living, technological achievements, and general well-being that the people of the Circle enjoy. With the Goran Nation just a mountain pass away from the Circle, the two empires have found themselves at war multiple times in history. The Goran  consider the Circle to be a rogue vassal, and thus resolution of the hostilities is unlikely to occur any time soon. In addition to the Goran, the Circle counts the Tallet  as a major threat and persistent enemy. Allied to the Circle are a number of minor mortal nations in its vicinity and the Immortal nations of the Broken Kingdom and Kushan. The three major nations together with the minor nations around them form the generally peaceful area known as the Eastern Block. The Circle represents the majority of leadership and initiative within the Eastern Block, as the other major powers seem content to wait for the outside world to come to them.

## The Kushan Empire

The Kushan Empire rests in the southern lands of the far east. A massive people fueled by their agriculture and rolling fields of grains, the Kushani boast a population out-stripped only by the Goran. Nominally isolationist the Kushanese have surrounded their land with a gigantic wall and tenaciously fight to keep outsiders out. Their interaction with the outside world is generally limited to bi-yearly trade festivals as negotiated by the Family Hearth. The Kushan have no real enemies save the Goran (like everyone), though tensions run high between Kushan and the Broken Kingdom. The Circle and Kushan are fast allies, although the Kushan Empire does not harbor standing hostility towards the Tallet  as the Circle does.

## The Woag

The Woag are a hardy, seafaring people who inhabit the northernmost landmass of Primus. Skilled sailors, dangerous warriors, and active raiders, these people represent the most significant challenge to the Family Hearth's global monopoly. While most nations have some manner of mixed relations with the Woag, not a single one sports a significant alliance. The only nation nominally and devotedly considered an enemy of the Woag people is the Family Hearth, due to the behavior of the merchants towards the Woag. The Tallet  are generally treated with hostility as well, due to the bounty they have on the Eternal Warrior, the Immortal founder and patriarch of the Woag clans.

## The Broken Kingdom (The Stone Kingdom)

The Broken Kingdom is a nonconformist power which resides northwest of the Circle, south of the Woag, and northeast of the Tallet Empire . Lead by their god-king Vahr Reitter, The Truest King and his Council of Twelve Royals, the Broken Kingdom is a generally neutral power which focuses on its own internal well-being. Home to a high structured warrior culture, leadership aside from the Truest King is determined based on a system of merit. The only source of specialized horses in Primus, the Kingdom has an unquenchable thirst for steel and all trade ultimate boils down to the securing of more of the metal. The thirst for metal seems to be brought on by the Kingdom's martial culture, which produces the famed Armored Riders (mounted warriors who encase themselves and their mounts in heavy armor). While Crusades often leave the Kingdom to interfere with international matters, the Kingdom itself has generally kept clear of world affairs aside from the Great War. The Truest King and the Kingdom as a whole are the devoted enemy of the Tallet, the only power to ever attack and occupy the Broken Kingdom. The hostilities seem perpetual, as the Kingdom holds a blood debt against the Tallet for the two out of three of their people who were slain during the conflict. The Kingdom maintains a military alliance with the Circle  and participates in maintaining the security of the Eastern Block, despite a heavy distrust of the Kushan Empire.

## The Stargazer Plateau (The Mamutok)

The Mamutok are a set of loosely-unified tribes inhabiting the Stargazer Plateau. They once had the potential to evolve into a single nation, but without the guidance of the Stargazer, many tribes took vastly different political stances during the Great War. This has led to a large amount of infighting between tribes and has delayed further progress as a combined group.