Siniath Calenor

In the north-east of the great valley lies the land of Vampires. Siniath Calenor is the supposed revival of the great Dragon empire of Calenor. Yet it has never managed to achieve that same glory. It is the home of the Blood Elves, the only beings that can receive the bloodkiss and turn into Vampires. Vampires and Blood Elves are hated in almost every part of the world and will often be attacked on sight. The great houses of Siniath Calenor manage the territories in name of the god-like emperor Nazarad Sangviatu.

## History

Siniath Calenor's history is long and varied, from moments of greatness to almost complete destruction. In their 4000 year history they've only had a handful of rulers.

### First age of Heroes

During Humanity's rise to civilization, the Blood Elves were born. Under leadership of Nazarad Sangviatu who baptised his followers in a cauldron of Blood to turn them into their new form. With his studies in necromancy Nazarad managed to bestow upon himself the blood kiss. With that he became the first Vampire and immediately started a great war to bring the past glory of the Dragon empire of Calenor. Calenor was the old Elven empire ruled cojointly by Sahrot'Dovah and an Elven emperor which possessed almost the entire northern half of Occidacia. As Sahrot'Dovah left the empire many of the Elves saw that their time of glory was over and accepted that to make space for the new races. However not all agreed. Nazarad Sangviatu was the main leader of the movement that the Elves should stay in power.

The war he instigated later became known as the Blood War. In the Blood War Siniath Calenor conquered vast amounts of land in their initial push. Though after a year or so great heroes arose from the woodwork to fight against this great threat. Nine Human kings stood together to fight against Siniath Calenor, these kings later came to be known as 'the nine lost kings of Humanity' and would form the basis of the Human religion in Occidacia. The Human kings worked together with the High Elves who were the only Elves still living in the Great Valley and started their counterattack. After 11 years of fighting Nazarad was slain at the siege of Erechor. Yet in this battle the Human kings strangely disappeared after they had slain Nazarad. This took the steam out of both sides. Eventually the Blood Elves were allowed to live in Erechor, but with Nazarad slain and most of the initial 60 Vampires either dead or hiding they were but a husk of their former selves.

### Age of Stolling

During the next centuries the daughter of Nazarad took over, Nezera. She was a Vampire that had more cooperative views with the other races. Much to the displeasement of some of the elders of the Vampiric houses. Nezera's power and legitimacy still kept them in check. During this time Nezera became good friends with Druveus Albus Remus, the head of the mages college of Prode. While the Human kingdoms rose and fell in quick succession, Siniath Calenor stayed ever the same, waiting, watching. That is until Nazarad's right hand man finally had enough of the charade.

### Age of Festering

Gharadur Forursu was a cruel man, he cared little for life he deemed below the might of Vampirism. Even Blood Elves he treated with contempt. After he riled the unbeating hearts of the other heads of the Vampiric houses he managed to overthrow Nezera. Nezera went into hiding planning her eventual return. During this time Gharadur desperately tried to prepare the stage for his master's return. Since he was now wearing the blood crown he knew that Nazarad would return once again. Yet was constantly met with failure and disappointment and eventually he was ousted from the throne by Nezera.

### Age of Boiling

During the following ages Nezera once again tried a policy of appeasement, but now she knew her father was coming back like an immenent threat. This caused people to slowly flock to Gharadur's side which advocated for the rightful ruler to once again ascend to the throne. Gharadur and his followers worked from the shadows this time and booked more results than in their previous attempts. But as always, Vampires play the long game after several ages the moment was finally here. Nazarad had returned.

### Nazarad's return

When Nazarad returned he didn't start another Blood War to the surprise of his followers. During his 3000 year vanishment he had come to an understanding. Nazarad started playing a diplomatic game. He slowly but surely managed to regain territory that was originally his. He established relationships with other nations he deemed worthy enough to receive his attention, like Eduvia and Conivia. Siniath Calenor was also a large player in the resistance of the great Daemon invasion. In the aftermath of the invasion Nazarad quickly showed his ambitions and occupied a large part of eastern Ruegla, which was conquered by the Devils. His next move was made 180 years later in the invasion of Romrik. Though this time he met resistance from the other two empires of Eduvia and Conivia and Siniath Calenor was forced to sign a treaty to make the heart of Romrik no man's land.

## Government and Politics

The absolute ruler of Siniath Calenor is the emperor, currently that is Nazarad Sangviatu. He is the face of the country and will do most of the external politics. The internal affairs he often leaves to Vampiric houses. In Siniath Calenor the Vampires are considered to be the nobles, while Blood Elves are its citizens. Other races are considered lesser and are both serfs and lifestock from which the Vampiric nobility can feed off.

### Vampiric Nobility

The Vampiric Nobility is divided into several different houses. While there were way more of them in the first age of heroes, many of them have perished in the Blood War or directly after by Vampire hunters. The current still active houses are: Forursu, Parros, Fuuresti, Pricorbu and Dragum. These five do the administration, internal affairs, peacekeeping, military and espionage in no particular order.

### Foreign politics

Siniath Calenor keeps an agressive but within acceptable limits foreign policy. They have clear ambitions and are not afraid to show it but they do not act in a wolf-warrior policy anymore. Northern Occidacia is used to wars, so making any enemy of the whole continent is a sure death sentence. Therefore Nazarad has made Siniath Calenor become a player in the political scene and not try to stand above it. This is also why the country accepted the treaty of Nullius. Nazarad's biggest obstacle in the close vicinity of siniath Calenor however, has been Sugelan. He has tried numerous times to corrupt the minds of the clan leaders and failed everytime due to the sheer stubborness of the folk. Fighting them head on would pose a major challenge, as they would be fighting in the Sugelan highlands. They would also have to face Tisra, whose many baronies have made a defensive pact with Sugelan. So while Siniath Calenor still keeps one eye focused on Nullius, its other eye it has set on the Devil territories.

## Society

### Demographics

Siniath Calenor is mainly inhabited by Blood Elves. The largest population of Blood Elves is centered around Erechor. In eastern Ruegla Blood Elves have colonized many parts of it, the Devils and Tieflings that were living there have either migrated or fled the region. There is still a minority of them calling the land their home however they are not seen as citizens. The main inhabitants of the parts Siniath Calenor recently conquered of Romrik are Humans. The country has started its colonization effort with Blood Elves. Elven populations grow slowly however.

### Religion

The typical Elven pantheon has been deemed heretical in Siniath Calenor, the only god they still worship of that pantheon is Sangat. For Blood Elves and Vampires Sangat is the only god that matters. Sangat is associated typically with the 10th month Larui. Therefore most Blood Elves will try to let their children be born in that month. This makes Erui, the first month an unofficial mating month. Other than that, blood sacrifices are an important aspect in the Siniath Calenorian religion.

### Culture

Blood oaths are one of the most sacred ways of making a promise to Blood Elves and Vampires. When blood is in play they are not messing around. For example swearing fealty to a master is done through a blood oath. Often times for races Siniath Calenorians deem lesser the only thing they can truly trust Blood Elves and Vampires to do is to keep their blood oath.

In Blood Elven culture one is considered an adult at the age of 50, which is considerably earlier than for the other Elves. While all Elves reach physical maturity at 20 their mental maturity is often deemed only mature enough around the age of 80. Nazarad has made many societal changes to try and increase the Blood Elven population. He has therefore implemented a policy that each pair of Blood Elves has to have at least one child every five decades. With the trade-off being that when a couple has gotten 10 children they have proven themselves worthy of receiving the blood kiss. This policy has been met with much resistance since Blood Elf children are born in blood, taking some of the lifespan of the mother. The only reason why Blood Elves ever had any children was there commitment to the cause and the state.

## Military

### Structure

The Siniath Calenorian military consists of three elements. First is the Vampiric commanders, officers and generals. Secondly the Blood Elven elite units. Thirdly are the cannon fodder which are the raised dead by the Vampiric command staff. With this the nation has both raw numbers and highly trained experts. With the trade-off being that the highly trained experts are not easily replenishable. They therefore like to surround the elite units with the cannon fodder, this is an ideal tactic on an open field but in chokepoints and guerilla warfare it is a huge detriment.

### Elite units

#### Blood Swords

They are the knights that ride their undead steeds clad in armour. Their favoured weapon is the greatsword, but they are well versed in all martial weapons. One of these martial weapons is the blood bow. A bow that does not use ammo but instead uses blood magic to form the arrows.

#### Sanguine Roses

The Sanguine Roses are a group of martial artists that uses blood magic. The martial art involves using blood magic to shape one's blood into different kind of melee weapons and constantly switching between them. This makes the Sanguine Roses an incredibly versatile unit.