Naidelyn - Central Continent

Part of Lorebooks consisting of entries regarding countries, for now a quite unformatted wall of text with no images.

Table of Contents:

1. Skyholm and its leading families

2. Empire of Taria

3. Southern Alliance

4. Forgelands

Skyholm

Skyholm is a floating, independent city-state, built on one singular principle: Beauty is justice. To those good-looking who pass the city's judgement, it is a city that offers wealth, safety and status. To those below the threshold, however, the only thing Skyholm seems to give is a mask to suffer behind

• Date of Establishment:

  • 1129 of Mortal Era

• Formation:

  • Skyholm came to be when three different forces, elven House of Liaven, vampire Cainelis clan and sky dragon Jykos, decided to unite and create a place where beauty could be properly celebrated with the respect it deserved

• Population:

  • Around 544 thousand, mostly Sky Elves, Humans, Vampires and Dragonkin

• Government:

  • Ruled by Council of Four, one representative from each founding force, as well as a fourth member representing the interests of Skyholm's lesser houses. Constructed for balance of power between the city's main pillars

• Social structure:

  • Skyholm society is built completely on beauty. Physical attractiveness is what decides a person's place in its society, with everybody falling into one of four categories:

  • Founding houses: top caste, expected to always sit at the pinnacle of beauty

  • Lesser noble families: Near the top, those who came to the city after its founding and received rank based on the merit of their beauty

  • Citizens: Most populous group, craftsmen and various service workers, well above average in appearance compared to most surface-dwellers

  • The Masked: the lowest caste, people too ugly by city standards to look at (though many falling into it could still be considered average looking by surface standards). Treated more as furniture than as people, required by law to always wear a mask in public and usually prohibited from reproducing, though the exact treatment depends on the house they are owned by

• Social mobility:

  • Despite clear castes, Skyholm society is very mobile. An individual can fall all the way from a founding house to the status of a masked one if their appearance deteriorates, and even a masked one can climb to the top if their appearance changes to a degree good enough to either be granted the title of city lesser nobility, or in rare cases even be married into the Liaven house, be granted the vampiric gift to join the Cainelis, or be made a dragonkin by Jykos. Due to this mobility, power in Skyholm is nearly as important as beauty, because if someone lacks the power to defend themselves, they can be disfigured and lose their status

• Geography:

  • Located near a contested border between the Empire of Taria and the Southern Alliance and reachable through a massive magical elevator, Skyholm consists of a multitude of floating islands, connected through sky bridges, split into four districts:

  • Liaven District: Full of marble halls and exotic gardens, as well as expensive marketplaces. Main gateway to the outside world, a place where both diplomats and traders are welcomed

  • Cainelis District: Darker and more gothic but just as beautiful, filled with various Cainelis-run clinics as well as entertainment venues. Due to the Cainelis nature, it really comes to life only at night

  • Jykos District: Golden and opulent, most inaccessible part of the city, with the Masked and even most citizens fully prohibited from entry, which is allowed only for those fulfilling strict beauty standards

  • Main District: Lived in by lesser noble families and citizens, also serves as Skyholm's main industrial hub, producing various fragrances and beauty products for internal use as well as export

• Culture:

  • As the city of beauty, Skyholm culture is naturally centered around it, reflected in both its architecture and clothing. What is worth showing should be shown, while any ugliness should be hidden away. Revealing clothing that accentuates features is expected, and beauty is meant to be noticed and appreciated. Skyholmians are open about what they like and dislike, honesty is seen as a big virtue there, though to outsiders they often appear judgmental

• Foreigners treatment:

  • Skyholm, especially in Liaven District, is more lenient on people visiting it when it comes to beauty standards than it is on its own citizens. Generally speaking, dignitaries and traders can carry on, only the especially ugly expected to put on temporary masks different from those worn by the Masked, but even that is not required by law, as long as they stay in designated foreigner areas. But while the laws don't force it, there is no escaping Skyholmians forming their own judgmental opinions and acting on them, especially toward those who would refuse a mask when it's warranted by their face

• Economy:

  • Skyholm economy is practically built on beauty, trading a multitude of top-class beauty products as well as silks and artisan works produced in the city to the surface world in exchange for materials and food from there

• Diplomatic relations:

  • Empire and Alliance: Skyholm tries to maintain neutrality with its two big neighbors, engaging in trade with both sides despite constant attempts to be roped into the conflict by either side. The city also welcomes any refugees from both powers, at least as long as they fulfill its beauty standards

  • Forgelands: Tense relations due to Skyholm elites' clear contempt for Orcs' appearance. Skyholm is the only state explicitly banned from buying Resonite directly from the Forgelands, forcing the city to acquire it from proxies and through adventurers

House of Liaven

• Noble house of elves exiled centuries ago from Alfingar

• Masters of hereditary time magic, a hybrid of Yullean and Atisian magic allowing one to stop one's own body's aging process as well as, at a significant cost, slow the aging process of someone else temporarily

• Known for their magic, the house was invited by Jykos to found Skyholm alongside his kin as well as the Cainelis, an offer the Liavens accepted

• Since the city's founding, the Liavens took the role of the city's main diplomats, serving as its main face, their magic granting them immense political goodwill from foreign nobles and rulers as well as Skyholm lesser houses

• Due to constant contact with the outside, the Liavens are the most lenient on maintaining city beauty standards. Masked ones under their rule and living in their district retain some human rights, going as far as being allowed to marry and produce children within their caste, while still being required to wear masks

• Recently the house's power has been dwindling significantly due to Resonite allowing the development of anti-aging magic by other groups, the primary of them being the Cainelis, while the Liavens didn't adapt to the new reality as quickly

• Relationship with other houses:

  • Cainelis: Tense, near-hostile, under its matriarch Lilah, the Cainelis are attempting to marginalize the Liavens' influence, offering their own age treatments outside for cheaper

  • Jykos and his kin: Good with Jykos, who values centuries of the Liavens' efforts to maintain the city, indifferent toward his decadent kin, who prefer to indulge themselves rather than get involved with politics

  • Lesser families: Once dependent on the Liavens' magic for their own beauty, now many lesser families turn their heads, siding with the Cainelis due to Lilah's successful politics

Cainelis Clan

• Established during the magical incident that birthed vampires into the world

• Consisting mostly of humans turned into vampires, though there are also some elves and beastfolk among the house

• Ruthless and proud, the Cainelis worship beauty and power in equal measure, believing that only those who have power deserve to be beautiful and only those who are beautiful deserve to have power

• Wandered the continent for centuries after being founded, until Jykos invited them to form a city alongside him and the Liavens

• Blood magic experts, a type of Atisian magic that allows them to turn their own blood into a weapon and manipulate it with immaculate precision

• Due to the knowledge needed for their magic, after the city's formation the Cainelis became its medical specialists, making the city one of the pinnacles of the world when it comes to healing, as well as the city's spymasters to the outside world

• Under the Cainelis, the Masked Ones are seen only as a sacrifice to the clan's blood magic

• The Cainelis matriarch, Lilah, is said to be a Chosen of Atis

• Cainelis power in the last few years is growing rapidly, due to Lilah's various schemes and development of anti-aging treatments to offer others in competition with the Liavens' time magic

• Relationship with other houses:

  • Liavens: Tense, near-hostile, Lilah views the Liavens as too soft, happy to reduce their power and, if it comes to that, see their downfall

  • Jykos and his kin: Friendly with Jykos, mutual respect of beauty and power, while Lilah sees the rest of Jykos's kin as decadent fools, whom she is happy to capitalize on

  • Lesser families: Many of them currently in the Cainelis pocket, with influence over the lesser families of the city nearly fully in Lilah's control

Jykos Kin

• Created by Jykos after he left the Sun Dragons' Domain in search of the apex of beauty

• Established Skyholm along with the Cainelis and the Liaven

• Riding on Jykos's personal power, those belonging to his kin are mostly decadent and indifferent to anything besides the pursuit of beauty

• Treats beauty as practically a religion, with many practices developed to properly appreciate it

• Indifferent toward the Masked Ones, while Jykos and his kin understand that ugliness is also part of the world and don't prosecute it directly, they also believe that said ugliness should stay away from their sight, allowing only the exceptionally beautiful to enter their district and presence

• Currently left effectively leaderless due to Jykos's absence from the city for the centurial dragon summit, while his replacement on the council is too lazy and decadent to truly care about politics

Empire of Taria

• Date of Establishment:

  • 398 of the Mortal Era

• Formation and History:

  • Taria began as a small city-state along the Tarian Canal, a long waterway connecting the Middle Sea in the south and the Sea of Storms in the north. Initially minor, it grew in power as the nations of the Northern Continent expanded and goods between the Northern Continent and the South began flowing en masse through the canal, bringing wealth to Taria as one of the main trading hubs along its banks. Over the centuries it built on that wealth, absorbing neighboring states and growing to its current size

• Geography:

  • The Empire is the largest state in the world, stretching across most of the northern part of the Central Continent, from the Middle Sea in the south to the Sea of Storms in the north, and from the Torathi Mountains in the west to the Veridian Ocean in the east. It borders the Forgelands in the southwest, the Torathi Wildlands in the west, and the Southern Alliance in the south through a small land bridge

• Population:

  • Around 74.3 million in total, mostly humans, beastfolk, and elves

• Government:

  • A magical empire under the rule of the Tarian Imperial Family, which claims a divine mandate granted by Inara

• Social Structure:

  • Rigidly hierarchical and feudal. The nobility consists of old families with a history of magical talent, as well as a few aura-training houses. There is a clear split between the nobles of "True Taria" and the provincial nobles from distant provinces, with the provincial ones often looked down upon by those from the Capital region. Commoners, on the other hand, are looked down upon by everyone, powerless until recently in the face of magic. Resonite, however, has changed the calculation, giving the common folk a potential fighting chance and pushing the nobles to attempt to fully monopolize it

• Culture and Administration:

  • The Empire is a deeply magic-oriented place, with mages held in the highest regard. The Imperial Family promotes magical academies across the Empire and constantly seeks talent; attending one is often the only way for a commoner to rise in social status within the Empire. It is also deeply diverse, a gathering of numerous cultures and races, all accepted as long as they, in turn, accept their place by bowing to the Imperial throne and faithfully paying taxes. Its sizeable borders are maintained through two channels: granting relatively high autonomy to the reaches, and relying on powerful, magically supported legions drawn from the militarized populace of central Taria

• Diplomatic Relations:

  • Southern Alliance: The Empire's main rival, deeply hostile and constantly switching between direct conflict and cold war. Currently, the Empire seems to be pushed back, slower to adapt its legions to using Resonite in warfare because Tarian nobles are directly competing with their own national army for its supply

  • Skyholm: Relations are positive, though somewhat strained by Skyholm's neutral stance in the conflict with the Alliance. The Imperial Family is trying to draw Skyholm to its side through diplomatic pressure

  • Forgelands: Relations are friendly, but the Empire is heavily dependent on the Forgelands' supply of Resonite. It is openly competing with the Alliance for the Forgelands' goodwill and is in a clearly losing diplomatic position, unable to invade and forced to trade on terms imposed by the Forgelands

Southern Alliance

• Date of Establishment:

  • 1523 of the Mortal Era

• Formation and History:

  • The Southern Alliance came to be as the union of a few small nations, uniting together to stop the growing expansion of the Empire of Taria. Born from desperate self-preservation, it continued to grow, now encompassing most nations in the southern part of the Central Continent in some capacity

• Geography:

  • Nearly fully surrounded by water, the Middle Sea in the northwest, the Pearl Sea in the south, and the Veridian Ocean in the west and east. Its only land border is in the north with the Empire of Taria

• Population:

  • Around 102 million

• Government:

  • Lacks a singular government; military efforts are led by an appointed Grand Marshal

• Social structure:

  • Lacks a singular social structure. The Alliance consists of dozens of various states with their own forms of government, ranging from kingdoms and republics to city-states and theocracies

• Culture:

  • No unified culture, an amalgamation of culturally different states whose ideas often clash with one another

• Military:

  • The only uniting factor of the Alliance is mutual military effort against the Empire. Alliance forces consist of various banners serving directly under the Southern lords, all falling under the orders of the Grand Marshal. Despite a numerical advantage, for years the Alliance was losing on the battlefield due to the difficulty of commanding such diverse forces. However, thanks to quicker adaptation to Resonite by many banners, the Alliance now has the advantage against the outdated imperial army

• Diplomatic Relations:

  • Empire of Taria: Hostile, shifting constantly between open conflict and cold war. The Alliance's various leaders are set on cutting the Empire down to size and preventing its further expansion

  • Skyholm: Friendly, with many Southern houses historically leaning on the Liavens' magic. The Alliance is using soft diplomacy in an attempt to draw Skyholm to its side against the Empire, to no effect so far

  • Forgelands: Friendly. The Alliance is the main buyer of Resonite from the Forgelands, shipping it through the Middle Sea, and is forced to ignore the fact that the Forgelands are also arming their enemy at the same time

Forgelands

• Date of Establishment:

  • Orc clans have ruled the Forgelands since the Mythic Era; formation into the current singular political entity occurred in 1198 of the Mortal Era

• Formation and History:

  • According to legend, settled directly after the Orcs' creation by the gods. For centuries after the Gods' departure and the beginning of the Mortal Era, the Forgelands were a place where warrior clans constantly fought one another. At some point, this competition transformed from war into craftsmanship. Abundant in various ores, the clans no longer competed for resources, but over which of them could produce the best weapons and gear with the materials each clan had available. From that competition came peace, then respect, which in time became a sense of unity; the leader of the whole region gaining acceptance through merit

• Geography:

  • The Forgelands lie on a mountainous and volcanic plateau, bordering the Empire to the northeast through a vast desert, the Middle Sea to the east and south, and the Land of Ash to the west

• Population:

  • 6.2 million, the vast majority of them Orcs

• Government:

  • Meritocratic leadership, with a temporarily chosen Chief Orc selected through a competition between all clans that takes place every decade

• Social Structure:

  • The Forgelands are a full meritocracy, where a person's social position depends entirely on how useful they are to their clan and to the nation as a whole. While being a skilled craftsman or smith is a sure path to power, those possessing other useful skills, such as magic or administrative acumen, can also climb the social ladder easily

• Culture:

  • While each Orc clan has a slightly different culture and traditions, most share a spirit of challenge as well as an appreciation for good craftsmanship, creating a landscape of many clans competing with one another

• Diplomatic Relations:

  • Empire of Taria and Southern Alliance: Semi-friendly to both sides. The Forgelands happily sell Resonite and other weapons to both sides, profiting handsomely from the ongoing war and building prosperity like never before in history. They ensure that neither side receives supplies that would end the conflict too early

  • Skyholm: Tense, due to Skyholm's obvious stance on Orcs and the insults their diplomats have suffered in Skyholm. The moment the value of Resonite became clear, an embargo on exporting it to Skyholm was issued for all Orc clans