The Dawn Marches

The Dawn Marches are a loose coalition of city-states forming one of the four major kingdoms in the Known World. Formerly the Moon Kingdom, the Marches were formed following the destruction of the Intruder Moon and the death of the Moon King.

## History

The free cities of Keldoon, Casmir, and Bankhara have existed since antiquity as isolated settlements. In the Black Age, the city of Javarra splintered away from Tar Lath Lien, becoming a fourth free city.

In 8:52 Imperial, King Aulder Rhoam Casmiri of Casmir discovered the Moonseed that had fallen into the Bay of Casmir. This relic granted him enormous sorcerous powers and gradually subsumed his being until he was nothing but a hollow slave to the Intruder Moon.

Shortly after, following decades of war with Javarra, the tribes of Hobb were united by Mills Boulderstride into the fifth and final city.

King Aulder allied with the Archmage Raven of Javarra and constructed the Siege Castle, a mighty engine of war. The Siege Castle, alongside Aulder's army, invade and decimate the city of Keldoon. Aulder cursed all survivors of the massacre to transform into trees. King Aulder became known as the Moon King, and his lands the Moon Kingdom. Following his first conquest, the Moon King brokered a deal with the Deep Kingdom of the merfolk. He raised the tides around Bankhara, and granted control over the dominated city to the Deep King. The Moon King then began a 16-year siege against Hobb, before he finally broke their defenses and decimated the city. Finally, Javarra was invaded and much of it destroyed, keeping only the assets that could be useful to the Moon King's war effort.

In 9:1 Silver, when the Moon King seemed poised to expand his conquest to the remainder of the Known World, he became increasingly reclusive until he disappeared from the public completely. The Moon Kingdom was left a devastated no-man's-land, inhospitable and nearly abandoned, for almost a century.

In 9:98 Silver, the shades that would become known as the Dawnbreakers were awoken, the belated result of a magical ritual a century prior. Weak and lacking memories of their prior lives, they slowly began defeating the various lieutenants granted power by the Moon King and regaining their lost power. At this time, the Moon King become active again as well. The Dawnbreakers retook each city in turn, until they had amassed a small army of followers. They stormed the Lunar Palace, and, in an event remembered as Moonfall, defeated the Moon King. The Intruder Moon was shattered, ushering in the Ringed Age.

Following the fall of the Moon King, rule over the shattered kingdom was granted to the Daybreaker Adrasteia Casmiri, discovered to be the true heir to the throne of Casmir. Under her rule, the kingdom was renewed as the Dawn Marches.

## Geography

The Marches are large and varied in climate and geography. The southern portions of the kingdom consist of rocky plains with sparse shrubgrass and olive trees. The central territory is dominated by the vast Keldo forest. The forest gives way to the Caustic Wastes in the north, an arid, magically-irradiated badland. The northernmost tip is wind-blasted, rocky, and sparsely-forested. The Marches are the least-populated and least-settled of the Four Kingdoms.

The Marches are similarly varied in fauna. The Keldo forest is populated by monkeys, hart, crocodiles, and large bats. The lower Marches are home to wild horses and dogs and birds of prey. Dragons are rare but not overly so. The caustic wastes of Hobb are populated by unique fauna mutated by the thaumic radiation.

### City-States:

* **Casmir** - Capital
* Bankhara
* Hobb
* Javarra
* Keldoon

The Marches are covered with ruins of destroyed settlements and scars of the conquest of the Moon King.

## Culture and Society

The cultures of the Dawn Marches are so varied that it is difficult to make sweeping statements about them. Overall, however, marchers tend to value freedom. Their recent history of conquest has made them resilient and slow to trust institutions of power. More details about the cultures of the five city-states can be found in their individual articles.

The language spoken throughout the Marches is Marcher.

## Politics

The Marches are a united kingdom in only a loose sense. In actuality, they're a coalition of city-states nominally ruled by the monarch of Casmir. Javarra and Bankhara operate as vassal-states to Casmir, while Keldoon and Hobb are allied as the Green Pact.

Casmir has historically been a hereditary monarchy. Its current plans for succession under Queen Adrasteia Casmiri are unclear.

Keldoon is a theocracy following the leadership of Aoife, a nascent godling and member of the Daybreakers.

Hobb is ruled by a Clan-Moot of the leader of each individual clan, headed by a first-among-equals (currently Mona Redgrave).

Javarra does not have an official leader aside from the monarch of Casmir, but the Archmage of the College is treated as the de facto governor. The current Archmage is the Daybreaker Raven.

Bankhara is led by a council of the most powerful merchant-lords in the city. These lords are masked and kept anonymous, for safety reasons. The head of the masked council is known as the Duchess of Poppies.

The government of the Marches is young and unstable, and there is uncertainty of its ability to maintain coherence after the death of Queen Casmiri.

## Military

Due to the conquest of the Moon King, there is little trust in large military forces. As such, Queen Adrasteia only maintains a personal force of guards for peacekeeping within Casmir.

However, the Marches are home to the Golden Order, a martial order formed from the remainder of the Daybreakers' army. They obey no kingdom's command, although they do regularly convene with Queen Adrasteia.