Vesperan Archonate

Flag of the Vesperan Archonate

**Vespera**, officially the **Vesperan Archonate**, is a magocratic monarchy which is located in the eastern part of the southern continent of **Brusanica**. The Archonate is led by the religious and political head of state, the Archon, who is the head of the **Arcanalium of Magikos**, also known as **Magikanitas**.

Vespera emerged following the coalescing and tribal unification of the Vesper peoples of the plains of north-eastern Brusanica. Their people are naturally strong magicians, and hear the call of Magikos from the Aether extremely strongly, and so, following His commands they built temples and performed ritual sacrifices, pooling the souls of their strongest wizards forming the 4 Magisters, the strongest elemental beings consisting of thousands of Vesper souls each. From the strongest of these souls came the Archon Ikkaerus Hessaran, the strongest magical being, and widely considered an avatar of Magikos Himself by Magikanitas worshippers.

## Etymology

Vespera comes from the name of the peoples of the land, the Vespers, who derive their name from the ancient Vesperan word Vaesporus - "of the blood". Blood and ancestry being common themes throughout Vesperan society and caste system.

## History

Vesperan History is dated using the Magikos Calendar, which is divided between BC (Before Communion) and AC (After Communion), marking the advent of the Communion of the Ages (the ritual sacrifice creating the Magisters and Archons).

### Pre-History (BC)

The Vespers emerged and remain around their historic homeland in the plains of north-eastern Brusanica, as series of tribes and clans known as the Altus clans. Not much of this ancient history is recorded, as much of it was spent fighting one another and imposing outside forces. Throughout this time the presence of Magikos in the blood of each of the Vespers (thus resulting in their natural talent for magic) was revealed, and the god started being worshipped.

### Communion of the Ages (1 BC/ 0 AC)

   Throughout their history, the Vespers have always heard Magikos communicate via extremely quiet whispers in their minds coming from the spiritual plane - which they called the Aether. These whispers would get stronger and louder, instructing them to come together and to sacrifice their greatest wizards to each of the different elemental powers involved in magic, and so, coming together, this was done and resulted in the birth of the Magisters, the greatest of which was Ikkaerus Hessaran, the Archon. This marks the beginning of AC (After Communion), being year 0,

### Vesperan Wars of Unification (0-1 AC)

   Shortly after the birth of the Magisters, some of the Vesper tribes broke away from the collective that had performed the Communion of the Ages. The remaining loyal tribes would render oaths and swear fealty to the Magisters and to the emerging Archon. Magister Atelwulf would be sent with an army of Vesperan warriors and battlemages to crush the remaining resisting tribes, and through a series of victories crushed their enemies, bringing them into the fold. Meanwhile, the remaining Magisters had amassed resources around a hill close to the Four Rivers, the heart of their homeland, and began constructing a castle which would become Arcana Castle.

### Proclamation of the Archonate (1 AC)

After the defeat of the Vesper tribals, Ikkaerus Hessaran, the strongest of the Magisters, officially and formally united the tribes under his guidance, forming the first Vesperan state in history. From here the city of Arcana would grow from being simply a castle into a real settlement, and the Arcanalium of Magikos established, being filled by Vesperans with an even stronger ability for magic than usual and who would be able to bring religious congregants into the presence of that which is deemed *holy* (the presence of Magikos Himself through magical ceremonies). For this, Ikkaerus would be called the Hierophant among the Arcanalium.

### Emergence of the Archonate on the world stage (1-2 AC)

The city of Arcana quickly began to expand in population, size and wealth, amassing many riches which then funded the buildings around modern-day Magikos Square close to Arcana Castle. This was not without difficulty, however, as the Archonate and it's ally the Southern Kingdom became targets of The\_Undead\_Duck, a citizen of the dwarf Kingdom of Gabilgathol. After the killing of a few citizens from both the Southern Kingdom and Vespera, an agreement was made that following a duel between the Archon and The\_Undead\_Duck all aggression would cease. While the Archon lost this duel, it was a great diplomatic victory for both the Southern Kingdom and Vespera, as it allowed both nations to continue their expeditions outside of Brusanica without harassment or possible attacks.

## Cities

### Arcana

Arcana is the capital of the Archonate, being the seat of the Archon himself, the Magisterium, and the Arcanalium of Magikos. The city is the first properly founded Vesper city, and is characterised by the number of public squares connected by a series of winding cobblestone roads flanked by buildings on all sides. The future constructions of the city plan a large central Magikanitas temple, an arena, a public market, a series of government buildings, a central library and an academy dedicated to teaching magic.

## Politics and Hierarchy

The Archonate is officially an absolute monarchy headed by the Archon, but the Magisterium - the Council of Magisters that consists of the powerful beings acts as a legislative and advisory body to the Archon.

### Archon

The Archon is the political head of state of the Vesperan Archonate, and the religious head of the Arcanalium of Magikos. He has absolute authority over the Vesperan state, and takes counsel from the members of the Magisterium. The Archon is a powerful being made up of the souls of a thousand of the strongest mages from Vespera's past, and so if his physical form is destroyed, he re-materialises with a new one.

### Magister

A Magister is an elemental master made up of hundreds of mage souls sacrificed in the ritual which created them and the Archon. They specialise in a specific area of magic and sit on the highest council in the Archonate, the Magisterium. They advise the Archon on state policy and are leaders among the nation, leading different institutions.

### Citizens

The Archonate has a caste system, being a magosupremacist society, often giving higher positions in society to those skilled with magic. The distinction made between a magic user and non-magic user is as a **Mage** and a **Mundane**.

* **Altus** (Mage Nobility): old families of the nation, patricians
* **Laetans** (Mage Middle-Class): elevated from the mundanes
* **Soporati** (Mundane Citizens): normal people, tradesmen, can join legions and be centurions

### Servators

Servators are members of Vesperan society who weren't born as a Vesperan and have emigrated to the country. They are kept in their roles as Servators until they are believed to be trusted by the rest of society.

* **Liberati** (Mundane Freedmen): rights of citizen, apart from joining military or pursuing a political career
* **Servus** (Mundane Servants): not citizens, not allowed to server in military apart from being canon fodder, can't own land, can't be tradesmen

## Religion

The state-enforced religion of the Archonate is **Magikanitas**, a monotheistic religion which worships the sole God of the Universe: Magikos.

This religion is ancient to the Vesperans, who are naturally talented in magics, as it is believed that magical powers are a direct gift - and in some way - the power of Magikos Himself. Magikanitas beliefs consider humans, particularly magically talented humans, to be the greatest of Magikos' creations, because through them He imparted some of His powers (magic) onto them. This magical talent flows through the blood of people, and so selective breeding and caste hierarchy is deeply entrenched in Vesperan society, resulting in the seperation of Altus, Laetans and Soporati.

It is believed that Magikos appears sometimes in the form of a wise old man (much like a seasoned wizard) and sometimes in the form of a dragon. Therefore, depiction of him is sometimes of the old wizard, sometimes of the dragon, and sometimes both with the old wizard having a second head as a dragon. The dragon on the Vesperan flag is to represent Magikos and the divinity and legitimacy of the Vesperan state.

In recent times, Magikanitas has been codified following the **Communion of Ages**, a religious ritual sacrifice of the strongest Vesperan mages to Magikos, resulting in their souls being bound together and birthing the Magisters. The Archon of Vespera, Ikkaerus Hessaran, is believed to be the strongest magical being in the world, and an avatar of Magikos Himself, and has pushed for the establishment of an official Magikanitas religious organisation or Church called the Arcanalium,

Magikanitas is not a directly evangelist religion, and solely cares about its prominence in Vespera. Proselytizers of foreign religions are often tortured or sacrificed by Magikanitas priests after being captured by Vesperan hate mobs. The form of sacrifice can range from bloodletting to public burnings.

## Foreign Relations

The foreign policy of the Archonate seeks to peacefully expand the borders of the nation and to properly develop the homeland while maintaining a friendly or neutral stance with the rest of the world. The Archonate tends not to interact with nations on the other side of the world, preferring to remain in the south-eastern corner and interact with other Brusanican nations and with the bordering continent of Horherica. Among the Brusanican nations, Vespera has established strong ties with the Southern Kingdom, and a close cooperation between the two for the defence of the continent against outside intrusions has been well-established.

## Culture

The Vesper people focus their lives around magic, and therefore the Magikanitas religion, as both are inextricably linked. With this comes a strong need for caste hierarchy and selective breeding, as magical powers are inherited by children from their parents. This typically means that Altus do not marry outside of their extremely powerful magical class. Laetans are less powerful magicians, and are raised from the Soporati class after the rare discovery of naturally occurring strong magical ability.