Democratic Queendom of Kalnasar
The people: The Kalnasarans are a proud, sturdy people who worship the Mountain. Kalnasa marks them much like Manen does her people. Giving them skin like various kinds of rocks, gemstones for eyes and hair made of spun metals.
The terrain: Kalnasarans live mostly within Her caverns in the other half of the western continent. Inside Her caverns are vast glowing rocks that simulate the day and night cycles. No one is sure who or what created them because they are found nowhere else in the world. Some cities sit overground where the snows fall heavy and the cliffs are high.
Deity Gifts: Kalnasa gives Her followers two kinds of gifts: earth elemental magic and a slower magic they can merge with technology. Much like Manen’s followers, Kalnasa’s earth mages can use their raw elements or craft spells and imbue objects. The tinkers create amazing technologies like generators and elevators and other such things not yet seen in the Republic of Manena. She marks Her mages with a silhouette of Her great peaks around their upper right arm.
Economy: Because of the tinker magic, Kalnasar is the most technologically advanced of all the countries. Their exports are in high demand all across the world. Inventions aren’t their only export. They also trade metals and gems. As such, they are quite wealthy as a nation.
Society and Government: Over the years, the people of various rock groups have formed nine Families. The families fall under three groups: Igneous, Sedimentary, and Metamorphic. The Families in Igneous are: Diorite, Granite, and Basalt. The Families in Sedimentary are: Sandstone, Shale, and Limestone. The Families in Metamorphic are: Marble, Quartzite, and Schist. Each Family is governed by a Matriarch much like a Morning Star governs a province in Manena.
Queen-Elect: the leader of the entire country. There is no term limit. The Queen-Elect is the leader until she either dies or gives up her title. When this happens, the people get together and vote for the next Queen-Elect. It can only be one of the nine Matriarchs and unless the previous Queen-Elect was a terrible leader or their heir is too young, the next one is typically from the same Family. The current Queen-Elect is from the Granite Family.
Matriarch: the leader of one of the nine Families
Mountain Mover: title for an earth mage
Rock Tinkerer: title for a mage with the slower kind of magic
The Free Isles
The people: The people of the Free Isles are carefree and bow to no master but Vee. They are a mix of people throughout the world, mostly anyone who can escape Aurinko’s tyranny or anyone who feels they don’t belong. Some would call these people pirates and vagabonds and some of them are, but most live a peaceful existence.
The terrain: The Free Isles sit a little way off the coast of Karhunas. It’s a bigger island chain than most. It’s a cold hard life living there, but the people don’t mind if it means they are free. The Aurinkun Empire says they don’t bother conquering them because they don’t see the islands as a real country since they have no ruler. It’s only partially true. The area around the islands is dangerous, mists and razor sharp rocks surround much of the islands, which makes invading it hard for those who are not familiar with the area.
Aurinkus Empire
The people: The Aurinkuns are proud, cold, and cruel. After Aurinko took over, He made some changes to mark them as His. He gave them hair like sunbeams and shining yellow eyes. Eira fights for control still and sometimes they have a bit of coldness about them, a cooler skin tone, ice-blue eyes, hair as white as snow. Those with more sunlight features are usually seen more favorably, but wintery features are common enough that nothing truly bad happens to those with a colder visage.
The terrain: Though the Aurinkus Empire now spans much of the world, the original country occupied the northernmost part of the eastern continent. Much of it is a flat arctic tundra. A large lake sits in the middle that is frozen most of the year. A few rivers that rarely unfreeze cross the land. Most of the Aurinkuns live in snow covered villages across the frozen wasteland. There is a treacherous mountain range that separates Aurinkus from the rest of the continent. Since Kalnasa resides in those mountains as well, no one lives there as Her people are on the other continent. She did what she could to keep the Aurinkuns at bay, but eventually they made their way through her to the rest of the continent.
Deity gifts: Aurinko gifts his followers with the power of the sun. That mostly manifests in a blinding light that can pierce any darkness and fierce, burning plasma, not unlike Manen’s fire element. He marks them with a blazing sun on their chest.
Sun Emperor: the supreme ruler of the Empire. He is cruel and fierce in his reign.
Eirana
The people: The Eiranese were kinder before they were taken over by Aurinko. Eira marked them as Hers with snow white skin and hair, and ice-blue eyes so that they may better blend into their frozen home.
The terrain: Eirana was no different in terrain than it is now as Aurinkus.
Deity gifts: Eira would bestow her followers with unique gifts. There was the elemental magic of ice and snow, but there was also the ability to withstand the cold and to communicate with frost foxes. She marked them with a band of light blue across their eyes.
Frost Fox: the name of the divine ruler before Aurinko took control
Special note:
The following territories of the Empire have kept parts of their previous cultures intact, some more than others. As long as they adhere to certain strict rules, such as acknowledging the rule of the Sun Emperor and praying at the Sun Temples each week, they are allowed to continue on as before. All able-bodied men are conscripted into the army once they reach adulthood and serve a minimum of four years. This further helps indoctrinate them into the Aurinkun way of life.
Some territories, such as Ardana, have less freedom because they resisted more heavily. Their culture has seen more changes than others, but there are pockets of resistance that wait in secret, keeping hope and the old ways alive. Karhunas and Lillidar are relatively unchanged. Karhunas because they have always recognized the strongest as leader and there was not much fighting when the Sun Emperor killed the last Beast. Lillidar because they are peaceful, pacifistic, and put up no resistance. Some territories have only been occupied for a few months (Efitras) and some a few decades (Raudash) and their assimilation levels vary.
To better understand the people and their magic and their relationship with their original Deity, their cultures will be described as they were before Aurinkus took control.
Efitras
The people: The Efitrans are strong willed and stubborn. They have to be, to withstand the burning deserts of their country. Efitra marks her people with reddish sandy brown skin to match Her deserts so they may blend in better when hunting. She otherwise does nothing special for them. Their hair naturally tends to be darker, warmer browns and blacks.
The terrain: Their country is the whole of the southwestern continent, or what’s left of it. A magical explosion took out a significant portion of the country, leaving behind a dangerous, water-filled crater filled with a black mist crackling with red lightning. Few know what lies within and those that do fear to speak of the horrors they have witnessed.
Deity gifts: Efitra gifts Her people with alchemical abilities and fire and wind elemental magics as strong and unstable as She. Those with magic are viewed by the people to be divine. She marks them with three wavy lines on their left shoulder.
History and government: Before civil war allowed the Aurinkun army to sweep in and take over, Efitras was a divine monarchy. Efitra, before deciding to bless Her people, watched over them to see if they were worthy. One young woman stepped up and led her people through the deserts to the oasis of what would eventually be the capital, Sandsummit. Proud of this woman’s accomplishments, Efitra blessed her line with strength and declared her family to be the divine rulers.
Red Cactus: the divine monarch of Efitra
Desert Mage: title for the elemental mages
Oasis Bottler: the alchemist mages, said to bottle the essence of the divine oases
Raudash
The people: The Raudashians are a creative people. Raud does nothing to mark His people aside from those He blesses with creativity. He thinks their creations are enough to make them stand out as His. Though, since they live near the equator, they are naturally darker skinned and most have dark brown or black hair.
The terrain: Raudash takes up all the southeastern continent. Part desert, part marsh, part jungle, Raudash is a varied land.
Deity gifts: Raud’s followers turn His deposits into art, ceramics, and metalwork. He doesn’t give them magic, but He does give them the ability to make the finest creations the world has seen. He marks them with a thin gold band around their left forearm.
Economy: Guilds are a huge part of their culture and economy. If there is an art or a craft, then there is a guild for it. People strive to join the best guilds and there is much competition. Those who can get into the best guilds are looked upon favorably.
Master Crafter: the democratically elected ruler of Raudash before their subjugation.
Karhunas
The people: The Karhunans are a wild bunch. They worship Karhun, who in turn marks them with animal aspects. While He borrows from many beasts, his favorites are wolves, falcons, starcats, and snakes. Common features are furry manes or long feathers instead of hair, eyes from their animal, stripes, and or spots on their skin, scales on parts of their bodies, sharp talons or claws instead of fingernails.
The terrain: Karhunas is only part of the western continent. It has a vast prairie land and a substantial forest.
Deity gifts: Those he blesses with magic can fully transform into their given animal. He gives them aspects of animals and magic associated with said animals. Wolves are His favorite with falcons a close second. He marks his followers with a paw print over their heart.
Beast: the ruler of Karhunas before they were taken over. They used to choose their leader through trial by combat. Only the strongest may rule their people, which is why, when the Aurinkuns conquered them, they did not resist much.
Lillidar
The people: Before the Aurinkus occupation, it was a small country south of Karhunas. The people there worship Lillid and She marks them as Hers by making their skin green and plantlike and their hair blooming flowers and long green leaves. Their hair changes with the seasons, wilting and browning in the fall and budding and blooming in the spring.
The terrain: The country is mostly made up of one large flower glade. There’s one city and a few smaller towns. The people there are the most peaceful of everyone. When Aurinkus came to their shores, they did not even try to fight. Instead, they handed out flowers and wished everyone a peaceful day.
Rose Petal: the monarch of the country before Aurinkus invaded.
Ardana
The people: The only country before the Aurinkun empire invaded that worshiped a Guardian instead of a Deity. Arda cannot mark her people, but they are distinct nonetheless. Those who live within the Bronzewood, much like the trees, have bronze skin and bronze hair. They believe it is Arda’s doing but in fact it is the result of living in one of the largest pools of Manen’s magic left over from when She first created the world.
The terrain: Ardana consists mostly of the Bronzewood, a vast forest of living bronze trees. At the edges of the territory are grasslands, hill country, and rivers. The people who live in those areas that have spent no significant time in the Bronzewood lack the bronze hair and skin like those from within the forest. Though this is quite rare, as most make yearly pilgrimages to the Bronzewood.
Deity gifts?: Since Arda cannot bless her worshipers, they have no special gifts. Their creativity still comes close to rivaling those in Raudash. This helps them believe they carry favor with Arda when, in reality, it’s the leftover magic flowing through their veins. They focus their artistic efforts into wood working and forging as they can do both with the living bronze trees.
Bronzemen: one of the 11 men who sat on the council that governed the country. Ardana was a patriarchy before the invasion.
Forgemaster: the man with the most power on the council
Audrey Simmons 