Five Kingdoms

Unity Flag

The **Five Kingdoms** are a set of kingdoms that are located in Azuren and are the main setting in *Challenge of The Shadows*. After the fall of the Founding Demons, many individuals of royal heritage had started kingdoms in order to bring back peace after seeing the fall of the first two generations thousands of years later through history. The establishment of these kingdoms resulted in those who once lived in Runia to immigrate to one of these kingdoms. An even amount of power is distributed between each five, though some abused their power and claimed more than what was given to them, causing strained relations.

Despite the power imbalance, the Five Kingdoms manage to intermingle with one another, whether it'd be through negotiations or other means. Several factors of their peace include societal order, political balance, and economic success between the five regions. Two out of five kingdoms are absolutist, though still have their own court, along with a prime minister, and three are constitutional monarchies, where the king and queen hold equal power to the parliament, where they make decisions on their behalf.

## Leiden & Myria

* Flag of Leiden
* Flag of Myria

## Physical Information

### Location

Western Azuren (Leiden)
Central Azuren (Myria)

## Government

### Form of Government

Autocratic absolute monarchy (Leiden)
Parlimentary consititutional monarchy (Myria)

### Head of State

King of Leiden (Leiden)
Council of the People (Myria)

### Rulers

Acacius I (Leiden)
Ferox Amata (Myria)

## Inhabiters

### Former Inhabiters

Locaster Helios, Soul Kawasaki, Damion Halloreen

Leiden and Myria are two joint kingdoms located in both Western and Central Azuren, bordering Elveria by the Ashuna Sea and Etherin by the Etheric Strait. Both are connected by a land mass that can make it easy to access both kingdoms. Leiden is the second richest kingdom while Myria remains the fourth richest. Leiden and Myria's politics are vastly different from one another; With Leiden having the more authoritarian views, while Myria is seen as a democracy.

Historically speaking, Leiden was one of the earliest kingdoms to come about when the territory was occupied. After its completion people began to migrate and settle there and had made the village. After Leiden's creation, the other part of the land was discovered by Ferox Amata, a man who had royal heritage to the Amata clan and resulted in the creation of the second Kingdom, Myria. As soon as Ferox became king, he rose to power very quickly as he was a very kind and devoted leader to his people: While Leiden was seen to be lavish and extravagant with a rather controversial reputation, Myria was depicted as a peaceful kingdom that did not look much like a kingdom but rather so a forest, still maintaining naturist elements while constructing the kingdoms.

Myria is considered a constitutional monarchy, where Ferox, the ruler of Myria, is not alone in making decisions and has a parliament set up that aid in making a more democratic society: Leiden is shown to be an absolute monarchy, where the king has sole power and strictly

## Government

### Rulers

King Aka Asako (king)
Queen Kaede Asako (queen consort)

## Inhabiters

### Former Inhabiters

Nabi Haluška

Elveria is one of the kingdoms off the east coast of Leiden and northeast coast of Myria. It shares a maritime border with Myria and Misterin and is one of the more relaxed kingdoms out of the five. it is the third richest kingdom, behind both Leiden and Misterin. They are known for exporting their famous Elverian Cod and bread, similar to Etherin's exports. Elveria is also abundant in oil, making them one of the most desired kingdoms to trade with.

Before being listed as one of the main kingdoms, It had sat across the developing state of Emeraldine, that was recognized by Elveria the moment it began development and both quickly became allies. It was in a similar state of development as the other kingdoms, though was slightly more technologically advanced than both Leiden and Myria. Due to being close to Emeraldine, they became close allies and started to supply them to assist the development of the village, often aiding them during their disasters.

Elveria is, like Myria and Misterin, a constitutional monarchy, where the monarchs and parliament have an equal amount of power and receive aid in making decisions. As they are strong allies with Myria and Misterin, they are seen as the Triple Kingdom Alliance, where all would come together to discuss about certain issues within the kingdom walls.

## Inhabiters

### Etherin

Etherin is a kingdom located in Western Azuren, bordering Elveria to the northeast and Leiden to the southwest. Etherin stands as the bread basket of all the kingdoms, being the second largest exporter, behind Misterin and above Myria. It is known for it's architecture and diverse geography, being bordered by several mountains and many oceans that make it a hard kingdom to leave due to its typhoon season

According to Soul, Etherin was supposedly found by someone named Etheric or Etherin, but was actually found by a man named Herec, who created the kingdom in order to bring peace to the land and ruled for many years. However, when Herec had found the kingdom, he was immediately overthrown by the Etheric's, a high in power family, and took the kingdom for themselves, making Herec one of their servants. the Etheric's solidified an absolute monarchy, having the control of the people and all the legislative branches, which they soon abolished and turned towards absolutism, ridding parliament and solidifying themselves as one of the strictest kingdoms.

After the Etheric's had taken control over Etherin, their rule consisted of a dictatorship; Wrongful prosecutions and poverty became common among the lower class districts because of the lack of funding within those designated regions. Elveria, Misterin and Myria had a distaste for Etherin and immediately broke ties with them for their authoritarian views, though became allies with Leiden soon after.

## Inhabiters

### Former Inhabiters

Fēng Xu

Misterin is a kingdom locasted in Northern Azuren: It shares a maritime border with Myria and Elveria. Misterin is one of the richest kingdoms because of being an importer and exporter, and has the largest economy in Azuren. It is also the only matriarchy out of all five of the kingdoms. Once being controlled by three tribes in it's ancient era, it was abandoned shortly after because of it's depleting resources before being found by a descendant of the Emerith clan, creating Misterin after the word, "Mystical land," In Azurian.

The Emerith clan had claimed women in Misterin were seen in high status, the equal to that of men, a rare occurrence for the time because of their patriarchal society. Because of the rulership tracing down the female line, it became the only kingdom with a matriarchal system implemented, the opposite of the more patriarchal systems that were in place. This would mean inheritance, properties, and even heirlooms were preferably passed down to the female lines of family.

Because of Misterin, the other kingdoms that were in development were inspired by Misterin's system and granted more rights to women in the kingdoms of Elveria and Myria, seeing their views as enlightening and hoping to make their kingdoms a better place to reside in. Leiden and Etherin, however, were still confused and puzzled about their concepts, but still attempted to adopt them in order to create a freer civilization despite their controversies. Because of being the richest kingdom, they are also one of the largest

## Geography

The Five Kingdoms' geography is incredibly diverse, ranging from high mountains to being surrounded by oceans to flat lands. Nagano mountain borders all Etherin, Misterin and Myria, while the Yurisvoska Sea that borders Elveria and Leiden. Kingdoms bordering larger bodies of water are more prone to wetter temperatures and environments, while those near the mountains experience more snow and dry weather, though also experience extreme heat waves. In the southernmost isles, it is mainly hotter and drier, hardly receiving any snowfall. The northern and western fronts are more likely to receive snow fall, with the only exception being the North Desolates, where it is damp and rainy because of it's magic instability.

## Flora & Fauna

Most of the flora and fauna consists of chimeras. In areas such as Etherin where the Yurvoska Sea is located, they are known for their peach and apple trees that are used to make herbs or cuisines native to many tribes within the northern Etheric region. In areas where Nagano mountain is located, snow leopards and arctic animals are mostly common because of it's cold climate. Misterin is abundant in spirits because of the damp climates because of their reliance on water, and flora, such as chrysanthemums, are used as herbs, medicine, and tea. Flowers are seen as sacred in some Azurian cultures, seeing them as necessary for their world to flourish and for their herbal use.

## Occupations

Occupations within the Five Kingdoms are diverse in many fields and ranges. Most occupations fulfill citizen needs, along with the social classes and wealth in order to aid in economic growth. The main occupation for many was in the military because of it's well-paid salary. However, other jobs consist of astronomers, scientists, and herbalists, all which are seen as vital occupations many need to fill. Women are also allowed to take occupations in certain prefectures, with most taking on the jobs as herbalists and healers, though are also cartographers and artists who aid in the arts and scaling out maps for war and soldiers. Architects are also vital to Azuren because of their unique planning and designing skills for future projects on building.

## Society

Society within the Five Kingdoms are both distinct, having a different social structure, from the parliamentary monarchies in Elveria, Misterin and Myria, to the absolutism in Leiden and Etherin, though kingdoms such as Lyakon, Ostravik, and Soraya, are excluded due to not being apart of the Five Kingdom Alliance. Classes are usually based on wealth, social notoriety and power, though it mainly depends on rank. Society differs between the kingdoms, as Misterin and Elveria are seen are progressing kingdoms, while Myria, Etherin, and Leiden, are seen as regressing, or "developing" kingdoms, ones who are attempting to loosen restrictions, yet hold onto old values. In the society of all five kingdoms, men are prohibited from cutting their hair due to every part of their body being a gift from their parents, though it is excused when they are younger if the parent desired a child with shorter hair. In the Five Kingdoms, their societies are mainly patriarchal with the exception of Misterin, which is the only matriarchy.

## Government

the Five Kingdoms government mainly consist of hereditary monarchies that go down a succession line. Three out of five kingdoms are constitutional monarchies, where the rulers are not alone in their decisions and their parliament is mostly making laws and codes, though the ruler still gets to keep their position. Two out of five kingdoms are absolute monarchies, where the ruler is mostly responsible for decisions, though sometimes a council is present, an example being in Leiden with the Three Sacred Sages: The council is, however, seen as seers, depicting prophecies and seeing omens to aid in strengthening bonds with kingdoms or marital unions between families.

## Economy

The Five Kingdoms combined have an extremely strong economy. with their currency of runes and silver being one of the highest and most valuable in the world, behind Soraya's currency of RIyadyhs and the Northern and Southern Kingdoms' currency with gold. Because of their strong income, many of the kingdoms have or had developing economies. Wealth wise, Misterin is considered to be the richest kingdom by standard, while Myria is considered to be the least wealthiest, though still has a relatively strong economy.

### Currency

Currency within the Five Kingdoms mainly consist of Runes and Silver, which is considered their official currency: Though, each kingdom has an individualized currency. Leiden's main currency is the Lydia, a currency consisting of a gold coin with the ruler's appearance carved into it, along with the Tyrian, a coin similar to the Lydia but in a coper form with a religious symbol plastered on both the front and back.