Lycia

Lycia is a kingdom in the northern regions of Izmiranas.

## Geography

Lycia is a very urban city, though it lies only a few miles south of the Carabog Highlands.

### Regions

The central towns and cities are bustling with artisans and other normal townsfolk. The outer towns tend to be farming or mining towns, and some towns are built around war camps.

### Towns and Cities

Silverkeep is the capital of Lycia. It houses the royal palace and the most important temples in the kingdom- one for each of the Warrior Gods- Vili, Tempus, the Red Knight, and Valkur.

Four regions surround the capital: Nostenra (North), Esstenra (East), Sustenra (South), and Westenra (West). Each is considered a duchy and is ruled by a duke.

Blackstone is an eastern city that was abandoned by civilians after it was overrun by vampires. It was turned into a military base by the Lycian Army.

Croydon is one of the farthest urban cities, bordering several farming cities. It is the location of Ironkeg Inn.

Damazat is a region close to the capital and known for making the best weapons and armor. It is populated mostly by dwarves.

Morriward is a farming town bordering the Renfields farmlands. This is the location of Dario Blackmore's lair, which was formerly Parzival von Musel's manor.

## History

Lycia was founded during the Spellplague and held strong anti-magic views. Whether this came out as a distrust or fear of magic or an outright ban of magic varied by the era and ruler.

The only time magic was ever formally banned was in 953 PS, due to a decree known as the "warlock ban" issued by the king at the time, Sebastien Michaelis. The decree banned any Lycian citizen from contacting an extraplanar being and receiving magic from them. He burned two wizards and a warlock at the stake to make an example out of them. Dozens of similar executions happened throughout the kingdom. Warlocks were not the only people affected by the ban: wizards, sorcerers, druids, and bards were all lumped together with warlocks. Clerics and paladins came under scrutiny. The next king reversed the ban, but the general anti-magic attitude remained. History would name this period the time of the Lycian Warlock Hunts.

Following the Lycian Warlock Hunts, the spellcasters that remained in Lycia fled west or began to suppress their magic. Lycian spellcaster immigrants contributed to the influx of spellcasters in the neighboring kingdom, which would later be known as Arcadia.

Lycia has had longstanding tensions with Arcadia, a neighboring kingdom of elves and gnomes, and full of magic. This cultivated into a war due to the meddling of two mages. However, once these mages were defeated, the kingdoms were able to work out a peace treaty.

### Politics

Monarchs:

* Sebastien Michaelis
* Duncan Aranore

Coucils:

* Lycian Councils

## Culture

Lycia is very militaristic. For a while, magic was banned from the kingdom. Even when the law was abolished, the people of Lycia still looked down on the use of magic. Lycia was known to breed the best fighters and assassins, and the kingdom was full of mercenary guilds.

Decades after the warlock ban was lifted, the attitudes toward magic began to lighten up and most people began to condone using it as a tool, especially to keep up with Arcadians or other enemies. Examples of this included House Saxonbury utilizing magic weapons when fighting monsters, or Duncan Aranore hiring the Merkizards during the Arcadian-Lycian War. The clergy was also seen as an exception to the magic rule, given that divine beings granted them magic.

Artificers in Lycia typically did not see themselves as spellcasters, but as scientists.