Cravas Plains

> *"The weather can quickly get to you. Warm and often way to humid. But the food there! To die for."*
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> Lady Lucille Claremont's answer, after being asked about the conflict in Cravas
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## Cravas Plains

### Government

Theocracy (Tarmenia)Oligarchy (Laiin)

Council Democracy (Boralian Rebels)

### Regions

TarmeniaLaiin

Boralian Isles

The most southern region of Ghalgenia is home to the first Human settlements, after the Exodus. Even though the original Empire fell apart in time, its cultural presence still remains. Here, Human and Dravken first came into contact again and the seed for democracy were planted in the South.

## History

### Exodus

During the Second Era, at the time of the Exodus, some of the Humans of Meridia fled their dying homeland to the west. They crossed the Waals Mountains and settled in the regions of western Ghalgenia. These fertile lands were the crib of the new Human civilisations, amongst them the Hansalands, the Northern Covenant and Tarmenia. Despite having enough land to settle and live on, the Humans started to split into different tribes, fighting each other for centuries over the control of Ghalgenia.

In the most southern part, in the *Cravas Plains*, a chieftain started to successfully conquer several other tribes. With his dying breath at old age, the chieftain proclaimed the tribes and their land as the "first" Human kingdom, after the loss during the Second Era. Soon, the entire south was under the control of the new ambitious kingdom, called Tarmenia. This new world power awoke the other Humans, further north from Tarmenia, during the Third Era. Three siblings started to unite the different kingdoms left as well, founding the Hansalands in the end to protect their land from possible invasions from Tarmenia. But House Romero had no interest in the lands of their neighbours, having brought the peninsula of Laiin and the Boralian Isles between them under rule. Tarmenia prospered and developed a rich culture, returning the Humans partly to their former glory in Meridia.

Around 3:500, a young tarmenian prince sought glory for himself, having been born into peace and prosperity. He started an expedition south-east, intent to cross the Waals Mountains and claim new land for his father. Here, they first encountered the Dravken. Quickly, a war erupted between the Prince and the Dravken. But as quickly, the war ended with the defeat and surrender of the young prince. The Dravken King, instead of killing the boy, sought peace between the two races and instead of returning to his father's court with newly conquered land, the Prince returned with new possible allies. Tarmenia and the Waals Kingdom grew close over the years, having brought their lost cousin back into the spotlight. Even the Hansalands lost most of their paranoia towards Tarmenia, opening trade routes with both the South and the Dravken.

### Division of Tarmenia

Shortly after the conflict with the Dravken, a split appeared within Tarmenia. The peninsula of Laiin was unhappy with the war from the beginning, with its traditional and already self-contained Council speaking out against the young Princes move. Laiin was already known as an outlier within the kingdom, often standing against religious ideologies. When the Divine Right "conquered" Tarmenia, establishing itself as both spiritual and political power, the peninsula officially left the tarmenian kingdom in protest, after they were not given special rights by the royal family.

Both mainland and offshore region separated around 3:370, starting a war of supremacy over the island region between them, Boralis. For years, the people of Boralis, who saw themselves as their own separate culture from Laiin and Tarmenia, had to fight each other, as both "foreign" powers controlled the different islands. An early revolution against both powers was ended bloody around 3:373, turning the region into a battlefield for the coming years.

While Tarmenia became a deeply religious country, following the tenants of the Divine Scripture, Laiin became the first pseudo-democracy. A strict anti-theism was enforced by the ruling Council, making any kind of deity worship, may it be Cults of the Old Ones or the Divine Right, against the law. With its people carefully tuned against religion, Laiin was the only country not partaking in the 4th Crusade around 4:112.

### Rise of the Renetizism

In contrast to Laiin, did Tarmenia follow the call to arms of the Church, joining the Hansalands and the Dravken in the liberation of Vona. Around 4:184, the Crusaders returned successfully, bringing rumours of corruption and questionable behaviour of the both the Crusades leadership and the Church's Magistra, during the campaign against the Valkar. People started to question the intentions behind the Crusade, in which the Church seize a lot of property and funds from the North.

One of the biggest critics of the Church was one of them, Menethile the Martyr. Once a devoted Magistra, he saw greed, decadence and the misuse of power within the Church and started to demand a return to old traditions of spirituality and humbleness. In the year 4:214, Menethile was executed, after the gathered more and more support over the years, while the Church grew more and more wealthy. With the death of their leader, the so called Renetizites disappeared, and the Divine Right could continue unquestioned again.

Around 4:308, the Renetizites returned, having staged a coup in Tarmenia in secret. The not only overthrow the royal House Romero and placed their own puppet king in power, but also started to hunt down Priest and Magistras in the country. They took over Tarmenia, which descended into chaos for a while, with people clashing over the new, reformed version of the Divine Right, which forbid the use of Magic. While the Hansalands gathered troops at their southern border, waiting for another Crusade to be called, Renetizites also entered Laiin, trying to expand their influence. The situation started to escalate, with all sites demanding thing from each other.

Around 4:378, both the Divine Right and the Renetizism came to a consensus: The Renetizites would lay down their arms and accept peace and in return, the current Divinity, Gustav the Prudent, made an official declaration of guilt for the Divine Rights leadership. He promised change and returned many riches, the Church hoarded over the years for themselves. Today, even non-Magi can become Magistra under the reformed Church.

With that, peace returned to the continent, even though relations between the now renetiztic Tarmenia and its neighbours is still cold. The Renetizism started to expand their version of the faith to other parts of the Known World. Also, the people of Boralis, still being used to fight Laiins and Tarmenias war, started to rebel against both sides, enabling total anarchy on most isles of the South. They demand their independence and sovereignty

## Culture

The early meridian settles brought many parts of their previous faith and vulture with them, as they ventured west. Even though, the Pantheon fell out of favour with the Humans, the believe of the minor Old Gods remained. The early Tarmenians, like most Humans during the early Third Era, where worshippers of the Cults of the Old Ones.

At the end of the Third Age, the Divine Right established itself on Ghalgenia as the main believe and many Tarmenian adopted this new ideology. The born attribute of the Southerners to radically devote themselves to whatever cause, made them the perfect followers of the new Church. But, just as extreme, did the sceptics distance themselves from the mainland. In Laiin, they founded their own atheistic nation, separating from the Tarmenian Kingdom. Worship of any deities or the practice of faith is forbidden by law in Laiin, but still active underground. With the rise of the Renetizism during the Fourth Era, many people in Tarmenia changed their faith became Renetizists.

The Southerners are known for they devotion to their causes, often manifesting in either religion, ideologies or other closely held believes. This makes them often undiplomatic in the eyes of others, never steering of their set course and rarely listening to outside opinions.

Beside their personal believes, the South is a area of beauty. White cities, glistening in the heat of the sun. Golden-white palaces decorating the lush and warm foot lands, with colourful cities at the coastlines, like prismatic shells on the beach. The people of the *Cravas Plains*, no matter if mainland or offshore, love their elegant and fine architecture, always fitting to the warm and humid climate of the *South*. Their cloths are normally just as nimble, light, bright and colourful.

## Politics

Tarmenia has been ruled by a monarchy for the longest time. After the split with Laiin and the rebellion on Boralis, the Renetizism overtook the government of the mainland, replacing the royal family of the Romero and hunting down many Magistra and Magi in the region. House Menezes, the new rulers, are a known proxy for the Renetizites, making Tarmenia a pseudo theocracy.

Laiin, in comparison, had long departed from both the ruling monarchies and religion, creating a forced secular society, ruled by a council of elders and other important figures. The common people are allowed to directly vote and new ideas and laws, but are always governed by the council, which has a veto on most elections. The votes, coming from the different counties, are there to show the peoples consent and to influence the council's final decisions.

Even though, Boralis is not an official country by the edict of most other nations of the Known World, its people are constantly fighting for their independence from their neighbours. Some of the freedom-fighter differ though in their vision of the future: Some want their own monarchy, others want to give the power to the people, and some others want a more authoritarian system, after the years of instability. This makes the rebels rather divided and makes progress in their fight against Tarmenia and Laiin slow.

## Regions

* Boralian Isles
* Laiin
* Tarmenia