Province of Toron

In the **province of Toron** ruled the **Triumvirate of Toron**, led by the House La Toron des Chevaliers, a comital house recently established by legatus Borealis Norsoutha of Maradika, High Priestess Viviane and Magician Helena. Also known as **Toron**, it is a medieval state situated in the ancient province of Tebnine or Tibnine; the name came from a major Crusader castle of the same name before it was rebuilt by the forces of the Roman Catholic Church.

## History

See here: Toron, Tebnine
For reasons unknown to and through intensive studies and "piecing the puzzles" by archaeologists, scientists, investigators, explorers and adventurers, both independent and otherwise (especially those sanctioned by the Coalition Government of Earth), Tebnine was devastated by a previously-unknown event that saw its people to evacuate somewhere. After an unknown number of years (likely within the span of five-eleven centuries), Tebnine was reportedly settled by "peoples from the east" before it became a warzone, after which the "peoples from the west" (later confirmed to be descendants of Europeans) came not just to settle but to convert the local inhabitants.

Piecing the evidences together, the archaeologists, scientists, investigators, adventurers and explorers have agreed on a few hypothetical backstory for the current province of Toron:

* It is possible that Toron was among the many places on Earth-ARCANA that was horrifically bombarded by either orbital bombardment.
* It is possible that Toron was badly hit by a calamity of unknown cause, likely a meteor strike or a still-unknown calamity that forced its people to evacuate.

### As the province of Toron

After being left abandoned, groups of peoples from the east have moved into Tebnine to settle in three months before an unspecified war that was later agreed to be considered a crusade of untold but hypothesized immense proportions. After the crusade was over, groups of peoples from the west moved into Tebnine to settle there and forcibly convert the locals to Christianity. Due to the needs to control such a territory, the Roman Catholic Church established the position of and appointed the first High Priest of Toron, who is the leader of the local priesthood. During the reign of the first High Priest and his successors, the castle of Toron was fully renovated into a full-fledged castle, complete with a large castle town, a keep, walls, fortifications, barracks, stables, militia training grounds, and training grounds. Also as part of its development, Toron would see the establishment of a cathedral and a sizable church town, religious school and a saint shrine, and two-three cities.

After a few decades or centuries, however, the province of Toron would see itself ruled by the corrupt clergymen of its very own priesthood. Because of this, the corrupt priests began embezzling money as well as condemning anyone to be burned at the stakes for their "heresies", imprisoning young women who seemingly committed adultery just to rape them, and blinded the people to the Christian faith. After the previous High Priest died, the clergymen appointed Viviane, a pagan-turned-Christian, to be the first albeit youngest (at age 16) High Priestess; unbeknownst to the people, she was raised in the corrupt clergy's ways and was abused alongside Helena (who would later hold the title of Magician) by them physically and sexually.

After a few years, however, the corrupt clergymen would meet their own end when they made the fatal mistake of demanding the Pope for a proper legion to be stationed at Toron: the legion in question is none than other the Thirteenth Legion of Maradika, led by legatus Borealis Norsoutha. As a result of the Legio XIII being stationed in Toron, High Priestess Viviane was ultimately exposed to the pragmatic yet optimistic mindset of the colonial legionaries and their leader, who agreed to her request to be her lover. After the arrest of the doctor, the legatus learned of the High Priestess's backstory and rallied the entirety of the Legio XIII to prepare a trap for the irredeemably corrupt clergy. After legatus Borealis helped the doctor (with aid from Magician Helena), the legionaries and their leader played their roles in the crucifixion and execution of the corrupt priests; their deaths was later celebrated all across Toron as Righteous Justice Day.

Somewhere after the execution and before the Black Guard's arrival, a number of retired legionaries and their families and friends moved to Toron alongside a number of refugee groups and peoples who needed a place to stay or to start over. Due to the need for security, legatus Borealis authorized the reestablishment of a cavalry legion, the Legio XXVI 'Gemini Aurelia'; with approval from Viviane, all three cities were permitted to form their own militias while a number of legionary officers were sent to recruit retired legionaries and convince them to move to Toron. To the trio's surprise, they learned from a returning legionary officer that Borealis' father has sent two reconstituted legions to Toron alongside their families and friends.

### The Triumvirs, the Voidwalkers and the Fool

A few months (1-6 months) or a whole year after the Star Girl left, an armored convoy of military vehicles operated by the Black Guard under Grand Marshal Borealis III arrived at Toron in search of the warden Moon; Magician Helena, who is exploring the castle city, immediately sent a colonial legionary to alarm legatus Borealis and High Priestess Viviane of their presence. During a meeting with the Grand Marshal discussing on the warden Moon (who is hiding on Earth-ARCANA as a human being), the former warden 'The Fool' appeared out of interest in the voidwalkers and provided a map with which the Black Guard will use to find Moon.

### From the Ashes

After the resolution of the conflict between Emperor Artemis and Empress Ma Li, the subsequent imprisonment of the former, and the restoration of the Cosmos-scape, Toron would become a major trade partner of Eftychiasopolis, formerly the City of Happiness, providing foodstuffs, a small number of livestock and ideas on being self-efficient and self-sustainable in return for some technologies (more specifically, the internet, television and radio and signal communications). It also became a trade partner of the recently-established Coalition Government of Earth and Maradika. On the CGE's request, the inhumane, cruel slaughter of animals was completely abolished and the prices of meat food raised despite the people of Toron eating less meat.

## Politics

The Triumvirate of Toron operates *de jure* under a Conservative Democratic (Agrarianist and Paternalistic Conservative) and Socialist (Agrarian Socialist) regime, with elements of Authoritarian Democracy (Stratocracy) and Social Democracy (Democratic Socialism) mixed in. The rulers of Toron - High Priestess Viviane, Legatus Borealis Norsoutha, and Magician Helena - formed the core of the newly-established House La Toron des Chevaliers.

Despite these ideologies, House La Toron des Chevaliers imposed fair, equal laws and policies and never forced its own people to follow what is and what is not, and is even involved in a number of disputes through officers assigned to handle such cases. Moreover, the Agrarianist and Agrarian Socialist stances of the House La Toron des Chevaliers meant that they don't tell people what to do and instead allocate the plot of land to any family who wish to grow and sell food to the market; also due to the latter stances, there existed agricultural cooperatives that are considered voluntary collective farming.

### Foreign affairs

Eftychiasopolis and Maradika were Toron's major trade partners, selling ideas and food to the former and goods to the latter in exchange for some technology from said former and fur from said latter. Eftychiasopolis and Toron were at odds with each other due to their respective liberal and conservative stances, but this never devolved into a war of politics due to their friendly ties.

Toron has neutral, positive-leaning relations with the Coalition Government of Earth, the restored and reformed Galactic Empire under Empress Ma Li, and the wardens Moon and Hermit.