Corvians

Corvians are the former inhabitants of the five holy city-states of the old world as well as their vassals. They trace their lineage back to the founders of those same cities, each one a demigod whose supernatural power allowed them to unite the disparate tribes of the southern islands and form a civilisation that endured more than a thousand years.

### The Five City States

**Kyrapolis**: Founded by **Agamemnon** of Kyra - Statesman beyond compare, Son of the Lord of Lightning, said to have never slain a man despite defeating armies single handedly

**Lineapolis**: Founded by **Atreus** of Lines - Strongest man to have ever lived, Son of the Lord of the sky, wrestled a python that was so big it wrapped it's way round the fledgling nation of Lines thrice over

**Caseia**: Founded by **Alyp** the quick - Great Fisherman, Son of the Lord of the Ocean, broke bread with the merkings and made sea dragons thrall

**Mindaeistos**: Founded by **Anciolon** of Mindos - Great archer, Son of the Lord of fire, Slew many stone giants by taunting them and shooting arrows in their mouths when they shouted

**Thracia**: Founded by **Achilles** the lord of war - Poet, Artist, Warrior, perhaps the mightiest of heroes and, without doubt, the mightiest of cities. All of his followers are either dead or slaves to monsters in the old world after a siege of mythical proportions during the fall.

The five city states. after being founded by their semi-divine patrons fast became centres of culture. Following the examples of the artistically-gifted founders the citizens of the City States set themselves to the pursuit of beauty and skill.

From the walls of their cities, lead by the strongest descendants of the demigod founders, the Corvians saw a world of people barbaric and weak, traits that are inimical to the Corvian people. And so the Corvians embarked on a mission of conquest, founding vassal city states far and wide from the wind-swept coast of the north to the exotic isles of the east.

**Corvian Religion**

God exists, presumably, the world seems to have been created by intelligent design. People worship “Divinity” in the abstract sense. Corvians are agnostic in that they realise they know basically nothing about God or Divinity. This knowledge was lost to the sands of time, only the self-centred demigod messiahs remained.

The one aspect of God Corvians do know of to interpret a religious message is that hundreds of years ago during the zenith of Corvian civilisation there were a number of heroes who claimed to be the children of the gods themselves. These figures were supernaturally powerful and amassed legions of followers into their clans, going on to found the first great city states. The city states came into conflict over land a resources, something not helped by the fact that, unlike prophets of some other religions, the demigods of the Corvians did not preach *should* or *must* but used their power as one would expect a mortal man to do. The Corvian heroes held their power through raw power and great charisma, therefore what came to be revered was principally strength and beauty. So when the heroes grew old they designated a second in command, a “champion” to represent them and the city in war and diplomacy, these champions were the strongest and most beautiful of the citizenry. When the demigods died, the champions took their place as representatives until they too were replaced by a younger, stronger and more wily champion. This practice persists even after the city states of the old world fell and they represent their ancestral leaders spiritually in their new lands.

Miracles, be they of heaven (clerical) or earth (druidic) are mysterious. Unlike magic, which can be catalogued, repeated and exploited, miracles seem to happen based solely on faith with little in the way of rhyme or reason. The field of theology and the doctrines of the various churches have spent centuries trying to create a reliable methodology to inspiring miracles and has got a good understanding of how they are summoned, that is through living virtuously and praising the gods and their prophets