The Ascendancy

Overview

The world is set in a technological and cultural equivalent of the 1940s Earth, complete with trains, basic radios, grayscale cameras, and early cars - though infrastructure for them is limited.

Because magic serves as the ultimate weapon of mass destruction, military technology never advanced beyond bolt-action rifles and handguns; tanks, planes, and artillery do not (yet) exist.

Society is highly secular. There is no organized religion; most people believe only in simple superstitions. That doesn't stop people and their nations from having very dogmatic beliefs. Some believe magic users, the Gifted, are superior to the Ungifted. Some believe magic is a curse.

The Gifted

The Gifted are the magic users of this world and are an incredibly small minority (~0.2%). Their abilities are restricted to a single power - from controlling fire or light to shapeshifting. The strongest among them can level cities in an instant.

A Gift typically manifests between the ages of six and ten in a volatile event called an Eruption, which often causes significant collateral damage. Many Gifted end up traumatized after hurting people in this outburst.

Post-Eruption, a Gifted's hair and eye color will gradually change to align with their specific power. For example, a pyromancer would develop red hair and red eyes.

The only countermeasure to magic is a rare metal called Nullsteel. When introduced to a Gifted's bloodstream, it disrupts their abilities for a few hours to a full day. The metal is mined in Whitecrest and used to create bullets and poisons.

The World

The primary conflict in the world is a war between the magic-supremacist Wingfell Empire in the south and The Coalition, a defensive alliance of northern nations. While the Empire actively weaponizes magic, the Coalition strictly prohibits its use in warfare, forcing Coalition Gifted to use defensive environmental tactics—like flooding rivers or triggering landslides—to stall the invasion. The conflict is a cold war of sorts, with the aggressor unwilling to cause too much harm to the Coalition's civilian population.

The Ascendancy / The Wingfell Empire

Located on the southern coast, the Wingfell Empire—commonly called The Ascendancy or the Empire—is an authoritarian, highly nationalist state that believes in Gifted supremacy.

The Empire is ruled by Mistra Wingfell, a narcissistic autocrat with golden hair, golden eyes, and the power to control light. Mistra rules with an iron fist and heavy propaganda, masking her ego-driven expansionism as a crusade for the Empire's greater good.

The average Wingfellan citizen enjoys a high standard of living. Thanks to protected borders and magically assisted agriculture, food is plentiful and the home front remains insulated from the realities of war. The regime is oppressive toward dissenters and discriminates against sexual and gender minorities.

The core of the Empire's military and political might lies in The Ascended. Whenever a child's Eruption occurs, they are forcefully abducted by the state. Their parents are compensated for their contribution.

These children are taken to isolated academies, stripped of their past, and face a life of indoctrination and training to become elite soldiers. Upon graduating, they are given new surnames befitting their powers.

While officially forbidden from pursuing romantic relationships or having families—as they are considered state property—the vital importance of the Ascended have led to overwhelming corruption. Elite Ascended frequently bend the rules and do anything they want. The Empire turns a blind eye, since they cannot afford to punish their greatest weapons.

The Republic of Lucara

Situated in the west, the Republic of Lucara is a rich and heavily urbanized merchant nation. Its wealth is concentrated in its massive capital city, Tristara. Lucarans are a diverse, multicultural people who highly value efficiency and dedication.

The Republic is led by a Consul, elected by fellow merchants every four years. Gifted individuals are legally barred from holding the Consul office, but their powers are frequently bought and weaponized to influence elections regardless.

Power in Lucara is fiercely contested by three rival dynasties, who routinely engage in espionage, kidnapping, and assassination attempts against one another. Nothing is off-limits in the country, as long as it is done in secret.

The Maretti Family: Traditional, proud, and anti-magic. They control the merchant fleets, dominating trade, fishing, smuggling, and piracy.

The Velenne Family: Pragmatic, ruthless opportunists. They control the factories, importing raw materials from Whitecrest and selling processed goods for unreasonable profits.

The Bellavine Family: Innovative, idealistic, and open-minded. They control the mercenary companies, universities, and arts, and are the most willing to integrate and employ the Gifted.

The Duchy of Anthera

Located in the east, the Duchy of Anthera is an enlightened autocracy defined by a strong cultural emphasis on loyalty, obedience and the common good.

The nation is ruled by the massive Anthera dynasty. The dynasty has a rather unique inheritance system - upon ruler death, the title passes to the youngest adult Gifted in the family. The current ruler is Kinne Anthera, a 29-year-old Gifted with earth-manipulation abilities. While unelected, the Duke or Duchess is culturally and legally bound to act solely in the best interest of the Antheran people.

Anthera is the breadbasket of the Coalition. Its economy is almost entirely agrarian, exporting fruits and crops to Lucara and Whitecrest. The nation is stagnating - the main people profiting off Antheran farmers' hard work are the Lucarans.

The Kingdom of Whitecrest

Occupying the sparsely populated north of the continent, Whitecrest is a nation defined by its reliance on the earth and its suspicion of outsiders—particularly the greedy Lucarans—and magic.

Whitecrest is the only true democracy on the continent. It is a constitutional monarchy where all adult citizens have the right to vote for Parliament. The King, Falk Whitecrest, retains significant executive authority but must govern within parliamentary law and can be overruled by a simple majority vote.

Whitecrest operates as a relatively poor extraction economy. Whitecrest is exceptionally rich in raw minerals and metals but are dependant on Anthera and Lucara for food and industrial goods.

Whitecrestian culture is fiercely anti-magic. If a child undergoes an Eruption, they are legally disinherited and stripped of their family name, rebranded with the surname Severed. Denied a proper education, the Severed are forced to the bottom of the social hierarchy, conscripted to spend their lives working in the Kingdom's mines and serving in the lowest ranks of the army.