Adamantium

The **Adamantine Imperium**, commonly referred to as the **Adamantium**, is the oldest extant human nation in Morgaea.

In the Dark Ages, it was the considered the pinnacle of human civilization, as its power was unrivaled, and its borders stretched across nearly the entire continent. In modern times, the Adamantium is a shadow of its former self in both size and power. It is still relatively powerful, however, and a major nation of Morgaea.

## History

### Ancient history

When humans first came to mainland Morgaea around **-3100D**, they belonged to a single tribe known as the Oremeni. They settled along the coastline of the Oremeni Bay, where they were met with hostility from the ruling elves. By **-2850D**, legend says that the elves had distanced themselves from the humans, whom they called "quicklings," fearing that human contact was depriving them of their immortality. This gave the Oremeni free reign to expand further into the continent.

It's believed that around **-2800D**, the Deceivers began whispering to humanity from the Golden City. They taught the Dreamers of the Oremeni tribes magic, and those mages became the priests and rulers of their people. In **-1700D**, the Oremeni tribes eventually split into four kingdoms: Oremenia, Stiria, Estagon, and Phabet. By **-1610D**, Phabet had disappeared under mysterious circumstances; legend says that it was destroyed by the Deceiver Vemon for scorning his Apostle.

In **-1595D**, Proteus, Apostle of Vemon, claimed to have personally contacted Vemon in visions and learned blood magic, which he used to declare himself king of Oremenia. Though Proteus is often believed to be the first blood mage, mages of the Adamantine Ministry now believe that blood magic was actually learned from the elves of Elveshaal rather than the Deceivers. Proteus established temples to worship Vemon, turning dragons into a symbol of divine power and popularizing worship of the Deceivers. He is also credited for creating a mage ruling class, as many of his own pupils founded the noble houses that still rule over the Adamantium to this day. In the kingdom of Stiria, mages established the first Institute of Magic as closed societies, presumably to train and study their magical talents. They established a council of their most talented mages, known as the Court of Magisters, which convened in the City of Adamantium and mandated the use of magic throughout the kingdom.

In **-1207D**, Carinius, the High King of Stiria, took the Oremenian throne from his uncle, uniting the kingdoms of Oremenia and Stiria under his rule, laying foundations for the Adamantium. During Carinius' reign, the Court of Magisters became the royal court, with the magisters as the only recognized noble class. In **-1200D**, Carinius also became the first human to successfully ally with the dwarves of Nar-Lodahr when he went into the Underways and forged an alliance with the dwarven King Endark Stonehammer, establishing significant trade between their kingdoms. A body of dwarven representatives titled "Legatia" was established at that time to advise the Stirian leaders and manage trade relations between the Adamantium and the dwarven kingdoms.

In **-1195D**, marked as **O AE** in the Adamantine Calendar, Carinius married Queen Athana of Estagon, joining his kingdoms with hers and founding the Adamantine Imperium. Carinius declared himself the first Archon.

### Destruction of Elveshaal

As the Adamantium grew westward, settlers started to encounter elven scouts at the edge of Hathalas Forest, which they had previously believed was uninhabited. As it had been more than two millennia since the elves had retreated into their own kingdom, it's possible that memory of first contact had been lost to time. When the Adamantium realized that the settlers' claims of a magic-using nonhuman race were real, they sent emissaries into the forest. When none returned alive, they built a fortress near the border and set up a permanent watch.

Contact between the two races became more frequent, and more violent, in the following decades. In the summer of **-998D**, several Adamantine settlements vanished into the forest. This led to Archon Tullus declaring war in **-981D**, marching into Hathalas Forest to lay siege to the capital of Hathalas, allegedly with demons and dragon thralls at their side. Six years later, as the Ghiesh tribes took advantage of the war with the elves to attack the Adamantium's northern settlements, Archon Tullus and the magisters sank the city into the ground with blood magic to bring a swift end to the conflict. Elven survivors were enslaved, adding a vast population of slaves to the Adamantium almost overnight.

By the year **-895D**, the Adamantine Imperium had significantly expanded, bolstered by its new elven slaves. It claimed nearly all of southern Morgaea, and started conquering lands across the Narrow Sea, settling the island of Westenia in **-880D** and staging several campaigns to subjugate the Drahanim and the Cleve around **-71D**.

### Civil Wars and Expansion

The magisters believed that magic was a favor of the Deceivers rather than an accident of birth, and refused to acknowledge the mage underclass of elves and newly liberated foreigners. When Archon Mettius chose Rodarion, a lowborn mage of Anamene blood, as his apprentice, the resulting outrage from the Magisterium led to Mettius' assassination in **-692D**, and a civil war that lasted for over seventy years. Mages fought against mages for the first time since the fall of Hathalas. The civil war finally ended in **-620D** when Archon Varthenius, former apostle of Vemon, finally admitted the Laetans to the temples and gave them three seats in the Magisterium.

During its expansion, the Adamantium conquered as far north as Nordain and as far west as Ghallen, subjugating the local tribes with brutal force. It commissioned the construction of the Adamant Highway to connect all lands under their rule for the purpose of trade, though the project was never completed due to resistance from the Drahanim tribes. Between **-575D** to **-555D** (620-640 AE), a large civil war erupted when the two most influential magisters warred for the vacant Archon's throne, threatening to split the Adamantium. Though order was eventually restored, this conflict marked the end of the Adamantium's golden age.

### The First Scourge

According to the Ministry, in **-395D**, in a misguided attempt at apotheosis, a group of magisters sacrificed hundreds of slaves and used up two-thirds of the lucenium in the entire Adamantium to physically enter the Golden City in the Dreaming, returning as the first Fiends. The Archfiend Vemon led the First Scourge for nearly two hundred years, ravaging the Adamantium and shattering its power. Civil unrest added to complications until the newly founded Grey Order finally defeated the fiendish hordes.

### Wars of Independence

With their vulnerabilities exposed to the world, the severely weakened Adamantium became the target of the first Crusade, led by the former slave Sibylla and her husband Thetsoll. In **-180D**, they brought an army of Drahanim from across the Narrow Sea to destroy the Adamantium and spread word of their god, the Watcher. Sibylla's campaign inspired elven slave revolts in cities throughout the Adamantium, compounding the threat of the encroaching Drahanim armies. The invasion ended when Sibylla was publicly executed with her generals in **-170D**, after being sold out to the Adamantium by her husband in exchange for the lands of northern Morgaea. In **-160D**, Archon Janerius, the ruler at the time of Sibylla's revolt and the one who had executed her, forcibly converted the Adamantium to the faith of the Watcher and revealed Thetsoll's betrayal in a period known as the Transfiguration. Magisters who refused to convert were violently overthrown.

In **-120D**, Ghallen's war for independence from the Adamantium began, which distracted the Adamantium from reconquering the Freemarks. Western cities of the Freemarks rallied to Ghallen's aid, and after the Battle of Tammeryn in **-53D**, the Adamantium abandoned its western territories.

### Ministry Schism

When Emperor Volantus I founded the Ministry in **-3D** and declared Matron Augora I the official head of the Sibyllan religion in **1A01**, it caused great distress in the Adamantium, which had been organizing the religion on its own terms for over a century. Though they initially tried to appease the newly formed Ministry by reducing the Archon's authority over the faith and transferring it to the grand clerics, relations between the two were strained from the beginning. In **2A80**, the Ministry of Maudet called for a Crusade on Alepool, which had been under Adamantine rule since **2A45**.

In **3A87**, the Adamantium split from the Maudesian Ministry and formed its own Ministry under a mage, Patron Severian, primarily over disagreements on the meaning of the Watcher's second commandment, "Magic exists to serve man, and never to rule over him." The Fourth Age and Fifth Age saw several Crusades ordered against the Adamantium by the Matron, known as the Red Crusades, in an attempt to force the Adamantine Ministry back under their control. The Crusades only stopped because of the advent of the Fourth Scourge in **5A12**. In retaliation for these assaults, the Adamantium refused to send aid to the other nations of Morgaea against the encroaching fiendish hordes.

### Orcimar Crusades

Morgaea was first attacked by the Orcimar in **6A30**. By **6A42**, much of the Adamantium had been conquered in the conflicts. Determined to retake its lost territories, the Adamantine Ministry took part in the Orcimar Crusades alongside the Maudesian Ministry during the Seventh Age (**7A25**–**7A84**). In total, three Crusades were declared against the Orcimar. In **7A84**, the Adamantium, alone out of all the human nations, refused to sign the Loweyn Accords, the armistice which ended the war with the Orcimar. As such, the Adamantium remains at war with the Orcimar to this day, vying for dominance of southern Morgaea. The island of Verullus has been a particular point of focus throughout the centuries.

In **7A34**, Archon Hanthius was elected directly from the Institute of Magic. He abolished laws that prohibited mages from participating in government, allowing the magisters to openly retake their place as the true rulers of the Adamantium.

## Geography

### Settlements

* **Asarien**
* **Byrantium**
* **Canatha**
* **City of Adamantium** - capital and largest city in Morgaea.
* **Corvinium**
* **Fort Vyridan**
* **Myonagra**
* **Narbonal**
* **Noreia**
* **Oremenia**
* **Pharium**
* **Ventara** (formerly known as 'Estagara')
* **Sitanos**
* **Thermisos**
* **Tomis**
* **Vol Bethar**

### Regions

* **Artosus Straits**
* **Hathalas Forest**
* **Eyes of Noceas**
* **The High Reaches**
* **The Hundred Pillars** - Massive pillars made of a strong material identified only as a "hard dust"; the material isn't stone, and is similar to a mortar (concrete).
* **The Silent Steppes**
* **Valarius Fields**

## Culture

Adamantine society is notoriously decadent, yet also takes great pride in their history and achievements. The Adamantium treasures their past and preserves it, as indicated that everything they've built has been carefully preserved and renovated. Ambition and magical ability are the hallmarks of its ruling elite, the magisters. The ancient magister lords ruled the Adamantium in the Institute of Magic (before their modern incarnation), maintaining a tight hold over its people through the power to infiltrate their dreams using blood magic. Though blood magic is now banned in the Adamantium, mages who practice it are quietly acknowledged as the most proficient dreamers and diviners. The ban is really only paid lip service to; even the most devout mages in the Adamantium know at least the basics. This circumvention is often necessary in order to simply survive the deadly rivalries and competitions for power and influence amongst the noble families, who only ever put aside their constant bickering to unify in the event of a major crisis such as acts of insurrection amongst the indentured populace.

The centuries-long war with the Orcimar has taxed the Adamantium significantly as resources are strained, with hundreds of refugees fleeing to the capital, the City of Adamantium, the splendor of which is chafing greatly everywhere outside the spires that house the Adamantium's Institutions of Magic.

In the Adamantium, same-sex relationships between nobles are largely hidden, but nowhere prohibited. These relationships are even encouraged with favored slaves.

Adamantine architecture uses strong horizontals and verticals, accentuated with high-contrast materials. Much of their buildings are made with the help of magic, allowing them to raise massive pillars from the earth, and make use of dramatic designs. The Adamantium also has access to vast quantities of precious stones and metals, which they make good use of.

### Religion

*Main Article: Adamantine Ministry*

The Adamantine Ministry is now the main religious organization in the Adamantium, replacing the abandoned worship of the Deceivers. Unlike its northern counterpart, the Adamantine Ministry is accepting of magic, and allows men into the priesthood.

### Social classes

Adamantine society is highly divided, with citizens classified into different levels depending on their ancestry and magical ability.

#### Soporatus

All common citizens of the Adamantium who are non-mages are considered part of the **Soporatus** ("sleepers") social class. This is a mainly human class which is allowed to own property, and serve in the military, but they have no real power in the nation's governance and are unable to attain a higher rank in the Adamantine Ministry than mother or father. Often they are found to be merchants or publicans (civil servants and leaders of the Legionnaires). However, when a Soporatus family produces a mage child, which is greatly desired in the Adamantium, unlike within the rest of Morgaea, it allows them entrance into the Laetan class and thus a higher social standing. In general, the Soporatus and ruling mage classes exist in a state of tension due to the inequality of their standing in the nation.

#### Laetans

The next highest social level is that of **Laetans**, who are mages born into families that had, up to that point, shown no magical ability or who have been mages for generations but have no link to the higher Altus or Dreamer class. One third of the Archons throughout history have been Laetans. Archon Rodarion was the first Laetan to become Archon, and the outrage that it caused among the Magisterium led to a civil war that lasted over seventy years. The magisters believed that magic was a favor of the Deceivers rather than an accident of birth, and refused to acknowledge the mage underclass of elves and newly liberated foreigners. The civil war was only ended in **-620D** when Archon Varthenius, former apostle of Vemon, finally admitted the Laetans to the temples and gave them three seats in the Magisterium.

#### Altus

**Altus** mages are believed to be descendents of the dreamers or magisters who possessed the ability to speak to the Deceivers in the Dreaming. The Deceivers are no longer objects of worship, but the descendents of these powerful mages are still held in high-esteem and are often the most high-ranking mages in the Adamantium; indeed the majority of magisters are Altus. Interestingly, there was a time in which these Altus mages were scorned for their seeming part in creating the Scourges, as the corruption of the Golden City transformed these seven of these mages into the first fiends. As a result, many such mages were slain during the period of Transfiguration when the Adamantium became Sibyllan. Since then, the Altus mages have returned to the upper echelon of Adamantine society.

#### Slaves and Liberatus

In the Adamantium, slavery is not only legal, but officially sanctioned. While Adamantine slaves used to be predominantly elven, they are now mostly a mix of elves and humans. Mages can also be enslaved, though this is extremely rare. While slavery is officially outlawed everywhere outside of the Adamantium, slavers operate throughout Morgaea, luring and kidnapping people to sell them into slavery in the Adamantium.

Slave uprisings are frequent but rarely successful, as are attempts by Adamantine politicians to abolish the practice.

Slaves can only be legally freed before a judge, with their owner present to make the decree, or by the owner's will upon their death. However, freed slaves are still not considered citizens of the Adamantium. Those who achieve freedom are instead sectioned into another class known as the **Liberatus**. The Liberatus functions as a subclass, and those within it are granted limited rights. Liberatus are able to act as an apprentice in a trade or join an Institute of Magic. Liberatus are also able to own land and property, but they cannot join the military and rarely have a say in governance.

Most of the Siccari, the Adamantium's elite spies, come from slave families. Their families are kept safe, as a promise and a threat, to ensure that the Siccari never flinch from their duties.

### Politics

The Adamantine Imperium is still governed by powerful magic-users through a form of magocracy. It is almost universally reviled by other nations. Its nobility is known to be over-indulgent, and slavery is still practiced. The Adamantium is the center of the black market, smuggling (including the harboring of mage fugitives from other lands) and the slave trade. The Adamantium would crumble without slaves, given that it is the only way to support their economy. History shows how deeply committed they are to the practice; when an archon once outlawed slavery, the archon was quickly assassinated. Though slave rebellions occur frequently, the Adamantine Senate unites in the face of "sedition" to suppress them. Though merely a shadow of its former glory, the Adamantium is still a very powerful nation with considerable military might. It would turn on the northern nations were it not diverted by the constant wars with the Orcimar.

The Adamantium draws a variety of soldiers from its territories to form an impressive army. Most noted throughout Morgaea, however, is the use of elephant mounts that have been imported into the Adamantium for centuries through the coastal colonies near the southeastern jungles. Their cavalry also fights on the backs of dracabulli; reptilian-horses related to dragons. The City of Adamantium is also famously protected by a trio of gigantic war golems purchased from the dwarves known as the Juggernauts. Women's roles in the Adamantium military are heavily restricted.

The Adamantium's capital is the City of Adamantium. It is located at the southern end of the Adamant Highway. The Adamantium has its own versions of the Ministry and Institute of Magic, and both are led by the Patron; his authority, and indeed the existence of the Adamantine Ministry, is not recognized by the Ministry in Maudet. Likewise, the Adamantine Ministry refuses to recognize the authority of the Maudesian Ministry and its Matron. The Ministry calendar is in use everywhere except the Adamantium; although the Adamantium used it briefly when it was introduced.

The legislative body of the Adamantium is known as the Adamantine Senate. The Senate is divided into two houses: the Magisterium and the Publicanium. The Magisterium is the upper house and is responsible for making laws and choosing a new Archon if there is no approved heir. Members of the Magisterium are known as magisters. The Publicanium is the lower house, and in contrast with the Magisterium it holds no true power and is considered a bureaucratic body. Senators of the Publicanium are elected officials.

Magisters constantly compete with their fellows to rise into a higher position in the Magisterium, though they come together to put down slave rebellions, which they view as sedition. Raising one's position can be achieved through wealth, magical prowess and/or support by fellow senators but almost always requires relying on forbidden magic. There are various means by which an enterprising mage may enter this company. Furthermore, each of the seven Institutions within the Adamantium selects a magister for the Magisterium, and this mage is often an older Senior Arcanist, but never a First Arcanist as they are not eligible for a seat. Each of the grand clerics of the Adamantine Ministry and the Patron himself hold a seat as well. A mage may also inherit a seat from a magister rather than earn it through magical ability or station within the Ministry. A final means by which a mage enters the Magisterium is by being appointed directly by the Archon, which is a power the Archon may exercise at any time.

The Archon is the true ruler of the Adamantium, and the magic he wields gives him a god-given authority over others, whether that god is one of the Deceivers or the Watcher. As noted above, he may appoint magisters to the Magisterium at any time and has final say on any laws under consideration. The role of Archon is generally an inherited one and oftentimes these men are relatives or perhaps the apprentices of the previous Archon. In the event that an Archon passes without an appointed heir, the Magisterium steps in and names the next ruler, provided he is not already part of the Magisterium or a member of the Ministry. Prior to the Fourth Age, however, the Archon hadn't been allowed to be a magister or hold rank in the Adamantine Ministry.

### Relations with other nations

Because of its history as conquerors and slavers, the apparent role magisters played in starting the Scourges, and the current Schism with the Matron in Maudet, the Adamantine Imperium is the most maligned and demonized nation in Morgaea. It is virtually impossible to find writings from the Adamantium outside its borders that have not been heavily altered or outright forged. To most Morgaeans, it is a corrupt and degenerate magocracy that must be feared until it can be converted. Conversly, Admantines themselves view the rest of Morgaea as barely civilized savages who lack proper reverence for tradition and respect for authority.

#### Elves

Though the elves no longer have a nation per se, the general relationship between them and the Adamantium is largely self-explanatory, and very poor.

#### Dwarves

The Adamantium has enjoyed a long and fruitful alliance with the dwarven empire since the dark ages, in which both empires were at the height of their power. The lucenium trade is the primary reason for their close alliance, and the magic-centric Adamantium is mainly dependent on Ondrathum to meet its immense demand. Dwarves also provided the Adamantium with golems, the most notable of which are the trio of Juggernauts that protects the City of Admantium. Besides the trade alliance, it is also known that the dwarves helped the Adamantium during the Fourth Scourge by lifting the siege of Arretius, for which they received many accolades of the ruling Archon; one dwarf even became an Exemplar.

Many surface dwarves living in the Adamantium are not considered citizens but rather foreign dignitaries, even if their houses have existed in the Adamantium for ages. The Admantine Imperium hosts numerous dwarven embassies since the days of Archon Carinius and his alliance with the founding kings of the dwarven empire, Orseck Garal and Endark Stonehammer. There are dwarven embassies in every major city, much like dwarven settlements in other countries in Morgaea. However, unlike dwarves in other countries, Adamantine dwarves have their own branch of government, the Ambassadoria. The representatives of the Ambassadoria are elected by the dwarves to advise the Archon and the Magisterium. The Ambassadoria is more of a lobbying group than a parliament.

Dwarven embassies in the City of Adamantium, Oremenia, and Ventara are situated entirely underground, and are considered by dwarves to reside within the Stone-Mother, allowing those in the embassy to retain their caste. Some dwarves serving in Adamantine embassies never leave these underground refuges. No dwarves are known to be kept as slaves in the Adamantium, presumably due to their fundamental importance to the Adamantium in providing lucenium. They can also be hired by homes as overseers to the household's slaves.

Despite this close alliance, there are two known cases in which some of the dwarves secretly breached this pact. The first was with providing safe harbor in Cham'golar Hewnhold for the ancient elves who were fleeing after the destruction of Hathalas. The dwarves of Nar-Lodahr were informed of this so they attacked Cham'golar hewnhold and killed everyone within in order to hide all the evidence from the Adamantium. The second occasion was when Coltherstone was held by the Cleve. The Adamantium at that time were trying to conquer Nordain, and the dwarves secretly traded with the Cleve beneath Coltherstone.

#### Orcimar

After the Orcimar Crusades on Loweyn, a peace treaty was signed between Orcimar and the rest of Morgaea. However, the Adamantium refused to accept it and has continued the war against the Orcimar ever since.