Paraton

For Campaign 1 finale spoilers, see "The Fate of Paraton" section below.

### Inhabitants

Mainly Humans and Elves. Tieflings, Dwarves and other underdark dwellers previously had a presence here.

## Background

Paraton is a sizable country in the old world. It is the home to the United Clergy of Orun, a religious group which appears to hold a great deal of power, possibly forming a theocratic junta government. Orun has always been the primary deity for the people of Paraton, but in the past 20 years or so the United Clergy of Orun has risen to prominence and enacted many changes to the country that has eliminated what little diversity of races it had and made the worship of Orun the center of all social and civic life. Multiple military actions against races that were deemed hostile have taken place including acts of outright genocide against drow and possibly other dark-dwelling races. Despite this, Paraton is a peaceful place with bountiful agriculture including fruits and vegetables as well as flowers. The citizens are happy and secure in the general belief that they are doing Orun's will.

Paraton is ruled by the Speaker who is the person who has direct communication from Orun, and based on what is said provides the leadership for the country. It is unknown if any in Paraton know the truth discovered by Solly that the voice the Speaker hears is not Orun's but some unknown entity. This groundbreaking discovery means that the entirety of Paraton and the United Clergy's actions could be based on lies.

Specific towns exist in Paraton to perform certain functions for the clergy, such as training Clerics for their inevitable pairing with UCO Paladins.

Due to the beliefs of the United Clergy of Orun, members of certain races are killed on sight or live under extreme restrictions, and have been implied to have happened wholesale in the past.

## Political Relationships

### Alivast

Paraton is threatening war with Alivast. The official justification is their claim that Alivast is holding their oracle (Solly) hostage. Brorc is of the opinion that even if the Council was able to prove Solly is there of her own free will, that it wouldn't make any difference because Paraton is set on the course of conflict and simply looking for a convenient excuse. He also states that one of the only reasons why they have not attacked already is because of the Alivast winter and that unless the political landscape changes, an attack will come in the spring. According to Edward Enrobso, he feels Paraton views the freedom and welcoming nature of Alivast to be a blight upon their (the United Clergy's) values and the city is something they can not control.

The attack did come in the spring while the party was out of the city in the Feywild. The city was completely overwhelmed as Paraton sent not only their elite troops from the United Clergy, but also the bulk of its regular army allowing them to conquer the city and much of the surrounding countryside with relative ease. Paraton was so desperate for success in Alivast that they stripped nearly all regular troops from their home country, leaving only small garrisons behind.

## The Fate of Paraton

With Paraton left leaderless, and the eclipse ended, Solly became Paraton's head of state, and made it her goal to help Paraton move into a new era. It is still a theocracy with Solly and other aasimars of Orun helping guide the nation, but the xenophobic beliefs of the United Clergy are no longer the law of the land and have been replaced by the more moderate style of Orun worship that existed before the UCO's rise to power.

## Aasimar

Aasimar in Paraton live very restricted lives even by the United Clergy of Orun's standards. They are simultaneously deified and controlled and every aspect of their existence dictated by others who believe they are doing what is best. They are not allowed to marry or freely form friendly or physical relationships. They can take lovers or act as a consort, but only with people the Clergy has pre-approved. The justification is that the Clergy values the purity of the celestial-touched aasimar so highly that they feel only people who meet exacting standards of purity, social class, and proven piety should be allowed to interact or produce offspring with them.

## Named Locations

### Crimson Isles

Tiengo supposedly killed every single person on the Crimson Isles single handedly. This location is now considered cursed, though some citizens believe that resources should be used to address the situation there. There were multiple villages that were depopulated indicating a fairly substantial population.

### The Void

A notorious prison for political and religious prisoners who commit "crimes against the light". Regular citizens of Paraton don't know its exact nature, only that it is a terrible place where people go and never come back. The Void is a series of caverns deep underground that are constantly shrouded in a magical darkness that no light can penetrate. Paraton's theocracy reserves The Void for prisoners that deserve a fate worse than death, at least according to their beliefs, because the ultimate punishment is being denied Orun's light, or any light for that matter. The entry to The Void is deep beneath the capital city's most secure prison and consists of a 400 foot deep vertical shaft where prisoners are lowered down and no one ever comes up again. Once in the depths of The Void, the prisoners have to fend for themselves, living in darkness, gathering what food and drink they can from natural sources. The prisoners live a relatively peaceful existence despite their circumstances, and have organized themselves around the main water source in the caverns. A central figure there is The Timekeeper, the oldest political prisoner whose perfect sense of time helps keep order as she can tick off the hours, days, and years in the otherwise unchanging darkness. The prisoners' society tends to weed out the violent and antisocial since cooperation is essential in the harsh conditions of The Void.

## Notable Citizens

### United Clergy of Orun

* The Speaker - the enigmatic leader of the United Clergy
* Viantius Apastrophi - some say he is second only to The Speaker
* Athtar the Herald of the Sun (deceased)
* Ragis Cade
* Diella
* Icarus - an aasimar who is revered and not a disappointment like Solly or Diella
* Hellina (former; receiving asylum in Alivast)
* Solliandris (former; receiving asylum in Alivast)
* Leonel
* Icarus

### Void Prisoners

* The Timekeeper - human female,
* Jabble Gimlyn - gnome male, former smuggler who helped smuggle drow and tieflings out of Paraton in addition to illegal goods.
* Thurston - human male, former woodcutter who was sentenced for distributing anti-theocracy pamphlets
* Hadowyn - human female, poisoned a paladin who killed her father and went unpunished for it
* Travok Trollbleeder - dwarf male, a capable fighter
* Phillipae - half-elf female, a warlock

## Trivia

* Paraton is roughly equivalent in size to France
* In-universe French toast is from Paraton, hence the name Paraton toast
* In terms of the sheer size of its military, Paraton has similar numbers as Tracadia or 5 or 6 of the smaller Alton region countries.
* According to the very likely biased views of its citizens, kobolds in Paraton are savage, bestial creatures that foam at the mouth and don't wear clothes.
* Jabble Gimlyn notes that there are a surprising number of tieflings in Paraton.