Ukra

## History

Before becoming one of the ten kingdoms of the Earthborn Empire, it was an isolated but well populated area. Ukra became a hugely prosperous industrial kingdom operating happily under the Earthborn Empire. They were also known for a floating city, Neutralis, which was used for religious pilgrimages for many faiths, as well as a neutral meeting place for all kinds of diplomatic missions. It was seen as a peaceful people who formed a core of the imperial identity, as they were one of the few kingdoms who joined the Empire willingly, ie with no wars for conquest. They were secure in knowing the Empire could never force them to do what they wanted, and they could break away any time, having the majority of the Empire behind the nearly impassable Archerian Marches.

## Kingdom of Ukra

This territory meant a lot to the people of the Empire and so when the Wettan Attacks began, no resource was spared on defending the western shores of Ukra. The wettans came in waves, some bigger than others, and it was unpredictable when or where they'd show up next. Usually, each wave could be cleaned up before a new one arrived, until they started coming in such great numbers, they began to disperse and push back the defenders. About 30,000 years prior to the Great War, Ukra could no longer hold a single front, and the creatures got through the defender lines, as well as started infecting soldiers and peasants who would bring the disease even further into Ukra and the Empire itself. The invasion fizzled and flared up in all regions of Ukra and Dynash and western Serth for thousands of years, and it could never be fully eliminated again. It became a way of life to be on constant alert for wettans. The average homesteader could fight off a few dozen with proper preparation, but they often traveled in groups much larger during bad flareups. But the Empire offered protection, weapons, supplies, and support to anyone brave enough to help contain the wettans' attention to Ukra. During a particularly bad flareup, possibly due to the imperials giving up on the territory, the entire population was eliminated. Imperial forces attempted to firebomb, level, and burn down entire cities including Neutralis. Between the wettans and the imperials, everything in Ukra was razed to the ground. The imperials had switched to the tactic of denying the wettans resources, ie, living humans, and begun to deny all refugees from Ukra, some even accused them of burning down uninfected cities and towns. A new line of defense was established along the mountain ranges of Archerus, all territory containing said mountains were given to the kingdom of Archerus, and the war for Rielli began. The wettan army was larger than ever recorded before, but they were successfully held by funneling them into specially constructed forts in the Archerian mountains.

Ukra is now a place of ruin and ash, where forests have overgrown what little evidence of human civilization there ever was. The Westwatch organization was established to monitor the territory of Ukra and Dynash, in the early days even ranging into that territory to hunt for wettans. Now, it is taboo to set foot there, even though wettans have not been seen for thousands of years.

Part of a series on The Earthborn Empire.