Arkhosia

## Empire of Arkhosia

Map of Arkhosia, circa 6E 538

**Arkhosia** is a nation on Alterra located mostly in the continent of South Zelmaya. Founded over seven hundred years ago in 5E 1266, the Arkhosian Empire has slowly expanded to encompass the entirety of the continent, as well as parts of North Zelmaya, Helladis, Corellos, and Umaes. Aureus is the country's capital and largest city; other major cities include Haelid, Desdemona, and Ragnarai.

## Geography

### Sea of Straits

→ *Main article: Sea of Straits.*
The **Sea of Straits** is the ancient divide between the continents of South Zelmaya and Umaes. Dwarrow myth contends that the sea was carved out of the earth by retreating giants following the Third Valdic War sometime during the 3rd Era.

### Harvest Plains

→ *Main article: Harvest Plains.*
The **Harvest Plains** are a large area of fertile farmland encompassing much of south-eastern Arkhosia. The Harvest Range is one of the most populous areas of the Empire outside of the capital city, and is the source of much of the empire's food production.

### Hercynian Forest

→ *Main article: Hercynian Forest.*
The **Hercynian Forest** is a massive swath of untamed forest along the eastern shore of the Sea of Bronze leading to the foothills of the Silios Mountains. Druid circles are known to meet deep within its reaches, where few civilized men dare to tread.

### Silios Mountians

→ *Main article: Silios Mountains.*
The **Silios Mountains** are a large mountain range dominating much of eastern Arkhosia. Rich in mineral resources, the Silios Mountains are home to many Arkhosian mining outposts and draconic lairs alike.

### Scale Hills

→ *Main article: Scale Hills.*
The **Scale Hills** lie to the north of the Sea of Bronze. Primarily grassland and low, rolling hills, the Scale Hills are littered with the ruins of places long-forgotten and since-conquered.

### Mount Celest

→ *Main article: Mount Celest.*
**Mount Celest** refers to the seven mountains to the west of the Scale Hills in the northwestern region of Arkhosia. It is believed to be the seat of the Arkhosian Pantheon, where the gods reside on Chronias peak. The vaunted monastery of Ephesa stands roughly halfway up Mount Celest, home to the Stillheart followers of IO.

### Ebonstone Peaks

→ *Main article: Ebonstone Peaks.*
The **Ebonstone Peaks** make up the mountain range running along the southwestern portion of Arkhosia. The Ebonstone Caldera resides here, characterized most notably by Mount Adazi and the Boiling Lake. The treacherous Tulin Stone Forest lies to the north of the mountain range, making passage all but impossible.

### Verdant Wildlands

→ *Main article: Verdant Wildlands.*
The **Verdant Wildlands** occupy much of the southern border of South Zelmaya. It is a relatively uninhabited portion of the continent, peopled mostly by criminals, outlaws, and barbaric tribes that refuse the rule of Arkhosian law.

## Environment

The climate of much of Arkhosia is reminiscent to that of the real-world Mediterranean, with many temperate forests and rolling grasslands.

## Society

### Demographics

The majority of Arkhosian citizens are dragonborn, tieflings, and humans.

### Politics

The three major elements of the Imperial Arkhosian state are the central government, the military, and provincial government. The military establishes control of a territory through war, but after a city or people are brought under treaty, the military mission turns to policing: protecting Arkhosian citizens (after 6E 312, all freeborn inhabitants of the Empire), the agricultural fields that feed them, and religious sites. Cooperation with local power elites is necessary to maintain order, collect information, and extract revenue throughout such a massive and still-expanding empire.

Communities that demonstrate loyalty to Arkhosia retain their own laws, can collect their own taxes locally, and in exceptional cases are exempt from Arkhosian taxation. Legal privileges and relative independence act as an incentive to remain in good standing with the state. Arkhosian government is thus limited, but efficient in its use of the resources available to it.

#### Central Government

The political authority of Arkhosia is vested in the Arkhosian Senate (Draconic: Senatus Arkhosianus), a governing and advisory assembly. Legislative, executive, and judicial power all rests with the senators, a convocation of five hundred members. Under the empire, one could become a senator by being elected quaestor, but only if they were already of senatorial rank. In addition to quaestors, elected officials holding a range of senior positions were routinely granted senatorial rank by virtue of the offices they held. If an individual were not of senatorial rank, there were two ways for them to be appointed senator. The first involved the emperor manually granting that individual the authority to stand for election to the queastorship, while the second involved appointing the individual to the senate directly by imperial decree. The emperor's power over the senate is absolute.

The current head of state is Emperor Medrash Ixis of House Ixis. He is in his 68th year. His law is absolute throughout the empire.

#### Military

Since the success of the Vraelic Wars, the Imperial Arkhosian army is composed of professional soldiers who volunteer for 20 years of active duty and five as reserve officers. The transition to a professional military began during the 5th Era, shifting away from an army of conscripts that defended the homeland in campaigns against a specific threat. For Imperial Arkhosia, the military is a full-time career in itself.

The three major divisions of the military are:

* the garrison at Aureus, which includes both the Vulpesh and the *vigiles* that functioned as police, firefighters, and city watch;
* the provincial army, comprising the Eternal Legions and auxiliary forces provided by the provinces;
* the navy.

#### Provincial Government

An annexed territory becomes a province in a three-step process: making a register of cities, taking a census of the population, and surveying the land. Further government recordkeeping includes births and deaths, taxes, and judicial proceedings. Each year, the government sends hundreds of officials to govern outside of Aureus. Among these officials are the governors: generally, magistrates elected at Aureus who in the name of the Arkhosian people governed senatorial provinces. Governors are required to make themselves accessible to the people they govern, but may delegate various duties. Their staff, however, is minimal: comprising only of official attendants including lictors, heralds, messengers, scribes, and bodyguards; legates, both civil and military, usually of equestrian rank; and friends, ranging in age and experience, who accompany them in an unofficial capacity.

## History

The capital city of Aureus was founded in 5E 1266 by Arkhos the Red, the first king of Arkhosia. According to legend, Arkhos and his brother, Aurus, co-founded the city together, their children going on to establish the Arkhosian noble houses. However, the brothers quarreled over where the city would be established until Arkhos was forced to kill his brother. Thus, Aureus began with a fratricide, a story that was later taken to represent the city's history of political strife and bloodshed.

Seven kings ruled Aureus, lasting from the founding of 5E 1266 to 5E 1454, when Lucius Anvintus Satnav conquered the nearby city of Myrna, becoming the first emperor of the newly-established Arkhosian Empire.

### Expansion

The Arkhosian Empire spread to encompass its neighbors - namely, the people of the Scale Hills and the Silios Mountians - before conquering the empire of Yua in 6E 366. With the Empire's victory in the Vraelic Wars, Arkhosia conquered further, expanding their influence in the first of many conflicts with Eoriin until the all of South Zelmaya was controlled by the Arkhosian Empire.

Desdemona was the last remaining bastion of Eoriin government over South Zelmaya. However, it too was eventually conquered, joining the rest of the Harvest Plains in provincial government under the Arkhosian Empire. Desdemona remains an important center for travel and trade, being the third-largest city in the empire.